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Boeing's B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War II and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments. Although designed to fight in the European theater, the B-29 found its niche on the other side of the globe. In the Pacific, B-29s delivered a variety of aerial weapons: conventional bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons.
On August 6, 1945, this Martin-built B-29-45-MO dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Bockscar (on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio) dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Enola Gay flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. A third B-29, The Great Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on both missions
Affectionately known in Germany as Tante Ju, or "Auntie Ju," the Junkers Ju 52/3m was one of the most successful European airliners ever made. Designed for Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1932, the Ju 52/3m was a tri-motor version of the single-engine Ju-52. It could carry 17 passengers or 3 tons of freight and had excellent short-field performance. By the mid-1930s, airlines throughout Europe and Latin America were flying them. In World War II, they were the Luftwaffe's primary transports, and some served as bombers.
A total of 4,835 Ju 52/3ms were built, including 170 under license by Construcciones Aeronauticas (CASA) in Spain and more than 400 by Ateliers Aeronautiques de Colombes in France. This airplane is a Spanish-built CASA 352-L. Lufthansa German Airlines acquired it for promotional flights, then donated it to the Smithsonian in 1987.
Near the end of World War II, Vice Admiral Onishi Takijino recommended that the Japanese navy form special groups of men and aircraft to attack the American warships gathering to conduct amphibious landings in the Philippines. The Japanese used the word Tokko-tai (Special Attack) to describe these units. To the Allies, they became known as the kamikaze. By war's end, some 5,000 pilots died making Tokko attacks.
The Ohka (Cherry Blossom) was designed to allow a pilot with minimal training to drop from a Japanese "Betty" bomber at high altitude and guide his aircraft with its warhead at high speed into an Allied warship. While several rocket-powered Ohka 11s still exist, this Ohka 22 is the only surviving "Campini" jet-powered version of the aircraft. It was captured in Japan in 1945. Unlike the Ohka 11, the Ohka 22 never became operational.
Beginning in the mid-1950s, most new helicopter designs utilized gas-turbine engines in place of reciprocating (piston) models. When Frank Robinson introduced the R44 in 1992, he altered this trend in the light-utility class by utilizing a low-cost reciprocating powerplant combined with a simple teetering rotor system to significantly lower acquisition and operating costs without substantial reductions in performance.
G-MURY has flown around the world twice with Jennifer Murray at the controls. From May 10 to August 8, 1997, with her instructor, Quentin Smith, she became the first person to pilot a piston-powered helicopter around the world and the first woman to fly a helicopter around the world. Between May 31 and September 6, 2000, Murray made her second around-the-world flight, becoming the first woman to do so solo in a helicopter.
Gift of Frank Robinson and Robinson Helicopter Company.
Dimensions:
Rotor Diameter: 10.1 m (33 ft 0 in)
Length: 11.8 m (29 ft 9 in)
Height: 3.3 m (10 ft 9 in)
Weight: Empty, 635 kg (1,400 lb)
Gross, 1,088 kg (2,400 lb)
Shown in the photo are, from left to right, the entrance, the Donald D. Edgen Observation Tower, and the Airbus IMAX Theatre
The Arrow Sport A2-60 is a rare example of an alternative design, depression-era biplane. It complements the Smithsonian's Kreider-Reisner Challenger and Waco 9, conventional tandem open-cockpit biplanes. The Arrow Sport offered a side-by-side, dual-control cockpit arrangement. Its cantilever wings were attached only to the upper center section strut and lower fuselage-they had no other struts or external flying wires for bracing. However, enough pilots were uncomfortable without some sort of visible wing support that "N" struts later became standard.
Equipped with 60- or 90-horsepower LeBlond engines, Arrow Sports made excellent trainers. About 100 were built through 1931, then more, at a slower pace, through the 1930s. This airplane had a succession of owners and even spent some time in England.
Affectionately known in Germany as Tante Ju, or "Auntie Ju," the Junkers Ju 52/3m was one of the most successful European airliners ever made. Designed for Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1932, the Ju 52/3m was a tri-motor version of the single-engine Ju-52. It could carry 17 passengers or 3 tons of freight and had excellent short-field performance. By the mid-1930s, airlines throughout Europe and Latin America were flying them. In World War II, they were the Luftwaffe's primary transports, and some served as bombers.
A total of 4,835 Ju 52/3ms were built, including 170 under license by Construcciones Aeronauticas (CASA) in Spain and more than 400 by Ateliers Aeronautiques de Colombes in France. This airplane is a Spanish-built CASA 352-L. Lufthansa German Airlines acquired it for promotional flights, then donated it to the Smithsonian in 1987.
The one-of-a-kind Gulfhawk was flown from 1930 to 1936 by Al Williams, former chief test pilot for the U.S. Navy and famous aerobatic pilot. Originally built by Curtiss as a Hawk I export demonstrator with a Curtiss D-12 liquid-cooled engine, it was converted to a Hawk 1A with a Wright Cyclone air-cooled radial engine, then further modified by Williams several times. He flew the Gulfhawk in military and public air shows to promote military aviation during the inter-war years, when aviation budgets were low.
By 1933, Williams managed and flew for the aviation department of Gulf Oil Company, which painted the Gulfhawk in its familiar color scheme of orange with white and blue trim. After Williams' death, movie stunt pilot Frank Tallman restored and flew the airplane and displayed it between shows at the Tallmantz Movieland of the Air Museum.
The Arrow Sport A2-60 is a rare example of an alternative design, depression-era biplane. It complements the Smithsonian's Kreider-Reisner Challenger and Waco 9, conventional tandem open-cockpit biplanes. The Arrow Sport offered a side-by-side, dual-control cockpit arrangement. Its cantilever wings were attached only to the upper center section strut and lower fuselage-they had no other struts or external flying wires for bracing. However, enough pilots were uncomfortable without some sort of visible wing support that "N" struts later became standard.
Equipped with 60- or 90-horsepower LeBlond engines, Arrow Sports made excellent trainers. About 100 were built through 1931, then more, at a slower pace, through the 1930s. This airplane had a succession of owners and even spent some time in England.
This Japanese design is based on the Fairchild F-8, a lightweight, focal plane lens camera for training, military, and miscellaneous aerial and ground photography. Three filters are also displayed
Transferred from United States Department of the Navy
Country of Origin: Japan
Dimensions:
13 3/8 x 16 1/8 x 10 5/8 in. (34 x 41 x 27 cm)
Physical Description:
340 x 410 x 270mm; hand-held oblique, hexar 1 4.5 lens. With instructions and accessories but different sighting device than F-8. Four filters; A-6 red, K-50 yellow, D-55 orange, K-45 cyan.
The one-of-a-kind Gulfhawk was flown from 1930 to 1936 by Al Williams, former chief test pilot for the U.S. Navy and famous aerobatic pilot. Originally built by Curtiss as a Hawk I export demonstrator with a Curtiss D-12 liquid-cooled engine, it was converted to a Hawk 1A with a Wright Cyclone air-cooled radial engine, then further modified by Williams several times. He flew the Gulfhawk in military and public air shows to promote military aviation during the inter-war years, when aviation budgets were low.
By 1933, Williams managed and flew for the aviation department of Gulf Oil Company, which painted the Gulfhawk in its familiar color scheme of orange with white and blue trim. After Williams' death, movie stunt pilot Frank Tallman restored and flew the airplane and displayed it between shows at the Tallmantz Movieland of the Air Museum.
Helicopters, including light training models, are often several times as expensive to operate as comparably sized airplanes because of the inherent complexity and maintenance requirements of rotor and transmission systems. Beginning in 1973, Frank Robinson developed a new light helicopter design that was simpler than most certified helicopters, yet was just as rugged. It utilized light alloy construction, honeycomb-core rotor blades, and a simple teetering (semi-rigid) rotor system. The R22's low acquisition and operating costs reduced the financial barriers to helicopter training and private helicopter ownership, resulting in it becoming the one of the most prolific training helicopters from the 1980s on.
This is the first production R22 built and is the oldest surviving example of the type. This aircraft saw extensive flying as part of its FAA certification trials. As of the end of 2004, Robinson Helicopter had produced over 3,700 R22s.
Gift of Frank Robinson.
Epic Covers All Corners of the Globe
Epic Aviation the leader in the International Airline Pilot Training industry, covers all corners of the Globe. Epic‘s March Class has students from Ukraine, Jamaica, India, Mongolia, Nepal, St. Maarten and now for the first time Vietnam. Students from around the world continue to start and complete their training with Epic Aviation FL USA. Epic’s newly approved Multi Engine Commercial Pilot course allows students to complete their training in as little as 6 to 8 months and as low as $33,640.00 using state of the art New Generation Glass Cockpit Aircraft, preparing graduates for the airlines.
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www.facebook.com/pages/New-Smyrna-Beach-FL/Epic-Flight-Ac...
n 1950, the Fulton Airphibian became the first roadable aircraft, an aircraft designed to be used as a car or an airplane to be certificated by the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA). Other roadable aircraft had already been built, for example Waldo Waterman's Arrow/Aerobile and William Stout's Skycar, both of which are in the NASM collection--as well as other designs, but none won certification.
Robert Fulton Jr., developed his Airphibian as a flexible means of business and personal transportation. During World War II, he flew his own aircraft around the country for government contract work, and quite often he had been left at airports with unreliable or inadequate means of transportation into towns. The roadable aircraft would be flown to an airport and, with the disengagement of the wings and tail, it would become a car, capable of being driven to the final destination. Fulton designed the Airphibian as a high-wing monoplane, similar in appearance to a Stinson Voyager but with a distinctive four-wheel landing gear with fairings/fenders. It had a conventional fabric-covered steel-tube aft fuselage and empennage, straight tapered cantilever wings of metal rib and fabric construction, and a semi-monocoque forward fuselage that detached and converted into a car.
Following Fulton's desire for secrecy, Army Air Force Captain Frazer Dougherty piloted the first flight of the prototype off of a remote grass strip near Middleburg, VA in the spring of 1945. Dougherty and Fulton had met at a dinner party at avation entrepeneur and engineer Grover Loening's New York home and Dougherty soon became the company test pilot. Engineers Ted Polhemus and Franz Alverez and veteran mechanic Wayne Dasher were the technical team that worked on Fulton's aerial gunnery simulator and also built the Airphiban prototype. To acquire the funding for design, certification, and production, Fulton formed Continental, Inc. at the Danbury Airport, Danbury, Connecticut.
The first production prototype test flight was May 21, 1947. Ground handling was considered excellent in both the roadable and airplane configurations. Normal turning of the steering wheel provided steering on the road. The right rudder pedal provided normal brake operation, the left pedal operated the clutch, and an accelerator provided power. The engine drove the rear wheels through a torque converter, drive shaft, combined transmission and differential, and universal joints. All four wheels could be braked for ground operations; only the rear two wheels could be braked for taxiing. Normal speeds were 110 mph in the air and 55 mph on the ground.
The propeller, rear fuselage, and wings were removed for road operations. Attachment to the aircraft was accomplished by backing the car to the fuselage, leveling the tail and wings, moving three locking levers that inserted and locked large pins into fittings. The spar and tail parts slid into horizontally-inclined U-fittings. After locking into place, the two outrigger wheels that support the wings and the retractable tail wheel were cranked up into storage position. The propeller was removed from its bracket on the side of the fuselage, the prop spinner was removed, the propeller screwed on with a built-in wrench, and the spinner replaced again. The engine would not start if everything was not properly connected. The design is actually composed of seventeen different inventions.
In December 1950 the CAA approved the FA-2 with a strut-braced wing and 150 hp electric drive engine. The first production model, FA-2-101, N74153, flew in 1950. It had an Aircooled Motors 6A4150-B-3 modified engine. A cantilever wing model, the FA-3 was certificated by the CAA in June 1952 and the production model, FA-3-101, was flown shortly thereafter. This aircraft, N74154, is NASM's aircraft. Robert Fulton received an order for eight production models, to be used by CAA inspectors themselves, and they were built but not delivered. Instead, several company officers felt that that they were not getting enough of a return on their investment in the certification process, so, in 1953, they pulled out of the deal, taking the financial backing and several Airphibians with them.
In 1960, Joseph J. Ryan, a former Continental officer, donated N74154 to the Museum. Three other Airphibians remained near Charlottesville, Virginia, for many years but were returned to the Fulton workshop in Connecticut; one went to Europe, and one is in New Jersey.
The Airphibian represents a technical success as a flying car, but, despite being a media favorite during public demonstrations around the U.S. and in Great Britain, it did not become a marketable design. The prototypes were driven over 200,000 miles and made more than 6,000 car/plane conversions. The conversion process, however, was judged to be too complicated and lengthy. Performance in the air was considered sluggish due to the weight penalty of automotive parts, a perennial problem in aerocars. Therefore, the search for a practical flying car continues today. Nonetheless, the Airphibian was the first aircar to receive CAA certification and only the Taylor Aerocar, which was inspired by the Airphibian, has received certification as well.
The Museum received Fulton Airphibian FA-3-101, with a Franklin 6A4-165-B3 engine. The car portion was briefly displayed in the new National Air and Space Museum's General Aviation gallery in 1976 and at the Pate Museum of Transportation in Arizona. In 1997 and 1998, Robert Fulton, Jr.'s son, Robert III, restored the Airphibian at the family home in Newtown, Connecticut. Robert Fulton, Jr. and his Airphibian were the centerpiece of the 1998 Louis-Vuitton Car Show at Rockefeller Center in New York City. The Airphibian was then displayed at the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa, Ontario for several years before being installed at the Udvar-Hazy Center in 2009.
Before designing the Airphibian, Robert Fulton, a trained architect, bought a Luscombe and taught himself how to fly. He began his career in aeronautics as a motion picture photographer recording the progress the Boeing Clipper flying boats across the Pacific Ocean in a film for Pan American Airways entitled Trans Pacific; Pan American’s New Horizons Magazine also featured Fulton photography.
When the United States entered World War II, Fulton conceived of a ground flight trainer with controls that tilted and swung a horizon on a screen, the Aerostructor. It failed to gain support, but was transformed into the Gunairstructor for gunnery training. The U.S. Navy ordered 50 of these trainers.
The Fulton Skyhook Air Rescue System and Aerial Recovery System, also in the Museum collections, are perhaps his most unsung but bold aerial successes. The U.S. Air Force, from the Korean War through the Vietnam War and beyond, used the Air Rescue System for the retrieval of personnel from covert maneuvers or crew downed in hostile territory, day and night, land and sea. Dr. William Leary’s Operation Cold Feet tells the story of this critical life saving device for deep reconnaissance missions. Before the heavy lift helicopter, the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army used the Skyhook Aerial Recovery System for the retrieval of equipment and materiel. Characteristically, Fulton invented seven separate components that were integrated into one single effective system. The ingenious system was based on the inflation of a small blimp that was dropped or carried by personnel. Aircraft spotted the blimp to which was attached a nylon rope and the personnel in a harness. A wide hooking device attached to the nose of the aircraft, either an HC-130H Hercules or AC-1 Caribou, would snag the line and begin the lift and reel-in process at the back of the aircraft. Skyhook evolved into derivative retrieval systems including: Skyrange (recovery of objects in the air), Searange (recovery of items lying on the water), Seasled (high-speed recovery of quantities of persons in the water with a boat) and others.
Robert Edison Fulton was a Renaissance man whose life transcended one technology or one career. As a young man, he rode around the world on a motorcycle using a 35mm motion picture camera to document the individual cultures and societies of the inter-war years (early 1930s) and produced a film, One Man Caravan. He established the Robert Fulton Company on a hilltop in western Connecticut, complete with a grass airstrip. His home revealed his architectural talents and he also pioneered aspects of sound recording technology, electric pianos, and modern glass panes. Overall, Robert Fulton held a minimum of 70 patents. Later, in his 90s, his artistic career continued to flourish in sculpture and photography and he even had a one-man show in a New York City art gallery. He died in 2004 at age 95.
Fulton’s dream of a roadable aircraft was impossible for him to bring to reality, and it might even be considered a bit impractical, however, the idea lives on and the potential is appreciated. The Fulton Skyhook system was a highly successful retrieval system that is a hidden success. Used for several decades, it nonetheless remains one of those unknown marvels of technology that do not make the headlines or are not widely marketed. The importance of the system can be attested to by those whose lives have been saved and by the operations that were completed but, unfortunately, many of these operations were covert and thus truly unknown. The Gunairstructor was an early flight simulator and a progenitor of today’s video displays and games.
His Airphibian, though seemingly whimsical, tugs at our desire for better air and ground transportation and provides a practical starting point for future designs. His willingness to work with the military to improve and produce new systems reveals the depth of the man serving his country and using his immense imagination and technical skill for the greater good. All inventors bubble with ideas and we depend upon these ideas to improve our lives and take us to the future. His son remarked that perhaps his father’s legacy might not be understood “because he makes everything look too easy. There is no evidence of effort. There is only clear and severe application.”