SECRETARY'S REPORT 121 



IMPROVEMENTS IN EXHIBITS 



The historic "Vin Fiz," "Winnie Mae," and "XIl-4" airplanes were 

 completely restored and preserved, the "Phantom" and "Bell X-1" 

 were renovated, and all have been placed on exhibition in the Aircraft 

 Building. Also, a dozen famous engines and many other historic 

 objects were restored, preserved, and placed on display. New methods 

 of display and protection are being tested in this new exhibit. 



REPAIR, PRESERVATION, AND RESTORATION 



The facilities for accomplishing proper restoration and preservation 

 of the Museum's aeronautical collections were improved considerably 

 during the year. Utilizing one of the storage buildings at Silver 

 Hill, Md., the Museum can now undertake the extensive program of 

 restoration and preservation in preparation for the new building. 



ASSISTANCE TO GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS 



The Air Museum continued its service to various Government de- 

 partments during the year. Among these were the Department of 

 Justice (in patent litigation), the Voice of America, the Department 

 of the Air Force, and the Department of the Navy. 



PUBLIC INFORMATION SERVICES 



Through its information service, the Museum has handled thousands 

 of requests during the year for technical, historical, and biographical 

 information from publishers, authors, schools, colleges, research 

 workers, students, and teachers. The historical research required for 

 this service requires a substantial part of the time of the curatorial 

 staff and assistants. 



REFERENCE MATERIAL AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Many useful and valuable additions to the reference files, photo- 

 graphic files, and library of the Museum were received during the 

 year. These records and documents are helpful to the Museum staff in 

 providing information, authenticating data, and for historical 

 research. 



The cooperation of the following persons and organizations in pro- 

 viding this material is sincerely appreciated : 



Aero Design & Engineeeinq Co., Bethany, Okla. : A series of 8-x-lO" photo- 

 graphs and brochures pertaining to the Aero Commander. 



AiB FoBCE, Depabtment of the, Aik Force Museum, Wright-Patterson Air Force 

 Base, Ohio: Transfer of 15 reels of varying lengths of film on early flight; 

 Technical Reports (Army), four boxes of duplicate reports. 



AiB Photographic and Charting Service, USAF, Pentagon, Washington, D.O. : 

 40 photographs of different aviation subjects. 



