SECRETARY'S REPORT 81 



door exposure; cleaned and gave preservation treatment to 24 en- 

 gines, of which 9 were boxed, and 2 shipped ; boxed and shipped 142 

 component items; disassembled 10 aircraft, several being large twin- 

 engined foreign airplanes; packed 5 of them, requiring 11 boxes, and 

 partially packed 4 of them into 8 boxes ; repaired and weatherproof ed 

 86 large aircraft boxes which had been badly damaged by high winds, 

 and spray-coated 17 big boxes with protective covering. There were 

 also numerous maintenance projects including care and repair of han- 

 dling equipment, machinery, and tools. All this work was accom- 

 plished largely by a group of four men : the manager, Walter Male, 

 two mechanics, and one carpenter, while the five guards assisted, be- 

 tween patrols by sorting and tagging material being packed, and 

 v^ith preservation and maintenance projects. For two of the moves 

 the Air Force assigned enlisted men to help carry material. 



In 1951, when the Air Force believed that Building T-6 could be 

 reactivated as an airplane factory, and the Museum was sent the first 

 notice to clear its material from the building, arrangements were made 

 to fly out several airplanes that were serviceable. They were stored at 

 Pyote Air Force Base in Texas. In September 1953, the Museum was 

 notified that they could not remain there as that base was to be closed. 

 Andrews Air Force Base, near Washington, agreed to receive these 

 airplanes and permit them to remain there until the Museum can take 

 tiiem on its own premises, and the Air Force graciously furnished the 

 flight crews and flew these planes in. 



At the Suitland, Md., storage area, located about 5 miles from the 

 Smithsonian exhibition premises, the principal accomplishment dur- 

 ing the fiscal year was tlie construction under contract of a large 5-unit 

 prefabricated storage building, which adds 20,000 square feet of in- 

 door space to the 24,000 provided the previous fiscal year. The ship- 

 ments from Park Ridge and the aircraft and material received from 

 other sources were accommodated within Buildings 1 to 6, the large 

 Building 7 not being completed until after their arrival. By the mid- 

 dle of May plans were under way for extending the road to give access 

 to sites for the remaining five buildings to be erected. Economies 

 in Smithsonian expenditures, and cooperation from other bureaus of 

 the Institution, made it possible to purchase material for four of those 

 five buildings and to finance a fence to enclose the entire 21-acre area. 

 Contracts for these improvements were made through the General 

 Services Administration, The U. S. Army Engiiieering School at 

 Fort Belvoir, Va., was very kind to consider the extension of the road- 

 way as a practical school project and assigned officers and men with a 

 huge bulldozer to cut the way through the wooded area. Air Force 

 personnel and equipment from nearby Boiling Air Force Base then 

 covered that roadway with gravel brought from Andrews Air Force 

 Base, and lent trucks, a scraper, and small bulldozer to smooth and 



