National Treasures

Our collection features pioneering airline transports and cherished family heirlooms.

William Bushnell Stout was unswerving in his belief that the future of the airline transport industry depended on aircraft of all-metal construction. Stout was the chief engineer of the aviation division at Detroit’s Packard Motor Car Company in the 1920s, a time when many aircraft had fabric-covered wood airframes and external bracing. Stout believed, however, that airplanes could be sturdier and still lightweight—if they were made from aluminum alloy. His visionary idea attracted the attention of Edsel Ford, the son of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford.

In 1925, Ford Motor acquired an aircraft engineering firm Stout had started a few years earlier. After a setback with an initial version of an all-metal transport, the Ford company found success with the Tri-Motor 4-AT, clad in a distinctive corrugated aluminum-alloy skin. For decades after the era of Ford’s Tri-Motor, airplane fuselages were constructed mostly from aluminum. (Today’s airliners, though, often have fuselages that include composites.)

To mark the 100th anniversary of the Tri-Motor’s first flight—on June 11, 1926—David Kindy has written a story that reports on the days of the airplane’s dominance as a passenger transport (see “Ford Tough”). The Tri-Motor’s influence on the design of subsequent airliners is why we have a 5-AT model prominently displayed in the National Air and Space Museum’s America by Air gallery. During your next visit, take a moment to observe this aircraft’s wonderfully robust construction. 

Something else you should plan on seeing at our Museum is a vintage leather flight jacket. The jacket once belonged to Janice Christensen, who wanted to be a military pilot as World War II was unfolding. No one thinks twice when seeing women fly fighters and bombers today, but in the 1940s, women’s opportunities in U.S. military aviation were limited. But Christensen didn’t give up on her dream.

The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program, which began in 1943, gave American women the opportunity to ferry military aircraft to and from air bases throughout the United States. Christensen was an excellent pilot, and she was one of only 1,074 women to complete training in the elite program. The WASP pilots were issued A-2 jackets—of the same design as the A-2s worn by male pilots flying for the U.S. Army Air Forces overseas. I can only imagine the pride that Christensen and the other WASPs must have felt when wearing their smart A-2 jackets while serving their country stateside. (In 1977, the WASPs were granted retroactive military and veteran status.)

When Christensen’s family donated the jacket to the Museum in 2019, it was fragile. We could have kept it safely in storage, but these iconic World War II flight jackets are scarce—and should be seen. Fortunately, Beth Knight, a textiles specialist in the Museum’s conservation unit, knew how to stabilize and reinforce Christensen’s jacket for public display. I look forward to seeing it take its rightful place in the new Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air gallery, which opens in summer 2026.

Christopher U. Browne is the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the National Air and Space Museum.

This article is from the Winter 2026 issue of Air & Space Quarterly, the National Air and Space Museum's signature magazine that explores topics in aviation and space, from the earliest moments of flight to today. Explore the full issue.

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