SECRETARY'S REPORT 127 



tion was received from Stanford University, namely, the experimental 

 test model of a controllable pitch propeller embodying features de- 

 veloped in 1918 by Dr. W. F. Diirand and his associate, Dr. E. P. 

 Lesley. Dr. Durand has made many important contributions to 

 aeronautics. 



Other accessions worthy of note are an original oil portrait of 

 Wilbur Wright done from life by J. A. Herve Mathe, received from 

 Gen. Frank P. Lahm, U. S. A. (ret.), and his sister, Mrs. Frank 

 Parker; and the Harmon Trophy established by Clifford B. Harmon 

 in memory of tlie Lafayette Escadrille of World War I and awarded 

 for outstanding accomplishments in aeronautics. The Air Museiun 

 is recognized as a logical repository for renowned trophies. 



A full list of the year's accessions is presented at the close of this 

 report. 



STORAGE 



With more than two-thirds of the collection of full-sized aircraft 

 in storage because of the lack of an adequate building, storage-facility 

 operations loom large in the bureau's management. The principal 

 storage facility during 1951, as in the previous 2 years, was the former 

 Douglas DC-4 plant at Park Kidge, 111. The program of operations 

 there concerns the guarding, preservation, and cataloging of aircraft, 

 engines, and components, and their preparation for eventual shipment 

 to Washington. Other programs include evaluation of specimens, 

 screening and salvaging of material, research on design details of 

 aeronautical items, and special informational services. All opera- 

 tions were advanced during the year with the result that of the 82 

 full-sized aircraft on a retained status, 33 had been boxed for ship- 

 ment, 11 liad been disassembled for boxing, 27 were ready for dis- 

 assembly, and 11 were assembled and made flyable. Of the 106 

 engines only 6 remained unboxed. About 5,000 components are now 

 boxed, but many of the containers require repair. 



Technical research by the staff resulted in the selection and segrega- 

 tion of a number of details of aircraft construction which are being 

 prepared for display. These include samples of Japanese wing-rib 

 stitching, a German rocker box hold-down fitting, a German saw- 

 toothed entering edge from an He-177 wing for severing cables of 

 barrage balloons, a German cable clamp, German pulley, and other 

 items believed in each instance to incorporate features that are of 

 interest to designers and engineers. 



Informational service included furnishing data on aircraft details 

 to pilots and mechanics servicing airplanes of t^'pes similar to those 

 in the collection, guided tours of the collection for groups of United 

 States Air Force personnel studying design features of foreign air- 

 craft, loans of significant specimens for official educational and re- 



