"Business Wings," a new exhibition exploring the role of aircraft in the business community, opens Friday, June 12, at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W.
The exhibition, made possible through the support of the National Business Aviation Association, features two business aircraft-- a Beech King Air Model 90 and a Cessna Citation 500. The exhibition will close on May 31, 1999.
Museum visitors will learn about the concept of business aviation. Early in the exhibition these facts are presented:
- The United States has more than 5,000 public-use airports, but fewer than 500 are served by commercial airlines.
- Approximately three-quarters of all commercial flights are to less than three dozen "hub" airports.
- A direct nonstop business flight typically avoids the congested airspace and airports used by commercial carriers, using instead more than 3,000 smaller airports.
In the first section of the exhibit, "Business Wings" explores the two principal factors that lead businesses to use private aircraft--time savings and flexibility. Aircraft used in business aviation are introduced in this section through photographs and objects. Small, propeller-driven airplanes such as the four-passenger, single-engine piston-powered Mooney Ovation often are used for short hops. Fast, well-appointed "bizjets" such as the Bombardier Challenger 604 can fly internationally, nonstop, and can carry up to 19 passengers.
The roots of business aviation are found in the years following World War I. Initially, open-cockpit biplanes were used for promotion and direct marketing, with company logos painted on the sides of the fuselages. Closed-cabin monoplanes with more reliable engines were designed in the late 1920s. Exhibit photographs show the Travel Air Model 6000-B--the "private air office" of H.L. Ogg, president of the Automatic Washer Co. in the early 1930--and the Beech Staggerwing.
A Beechcraft C17L Staggerwing once owned by E.E. Aldrin (father of Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin) is on display in an adjacent gallery, "Golden Age of Flight."
The first universally known business jet was the Learjet, introduced by William P. Lear in 1963. Several speed records were set in Learjets, including separate records by golfer Arnold Palmer and astronaut Neil Armstrong. The museum's Learjet, which is pictured in the exhibition, is currently on loan to the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond.
In 1971, Cessna introduced the Citation, named for the famous thoroughbred racehorse. It quickly proved to be a success, twice winning aviation's highest honor, the Collier Trophy.
The Citation was developed to fill the gap between turboprop aircraft, and larger and more expensive business jets. The Cessna Citation 500 on display in "Business Wings" was the second model to be built. It made its first flight on Jan. 23, 1970, and was primarily used as a test-bed vehicle for subsequent Citation series aircraft and engines, instruments and components, systems evaluations, and icing testing and certification.
In the "Business Wings" exhibition, a Beechcraft King Air 90 hangs above the Cessna Citation. This Beechcraft model was introduced in 1964 and is considered to be the world's most popular turboprop business aircraft. Like its successful predecessor, the Queen Air, the King Air has a slow landing speed that makes it ideal for landing at small airports with short runways. Visitors will be able to view the interior of the King Air by using a joystick that operates a camera inside the aircraft.
An 800-square foot photograph of an open hangar in Smyrna, Tennessee and a large photo collage serve as backdrops to the two airplanes on display in "Business Wings." The photographs in the collage mix images of businesspeople with aircraft drawn from various aspects of business aviation. An interactive in the gallery allows visitors to locate airports across the country, in or near their hometowns. A second electronic display shows the multitude of instruments and screens that are in a typical cockpit.
Visit the online version of the "Business Wings" exhibition.
The Smithsonian's National Air and Space is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free.