Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This is an original propeller from the "June Bug," an airplane designed by Glen H. Curtiss and other members of the Aerial Experimental Association. It was named by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone and the Association's founder, after a beetle known in North America as the June bug because it flew similarly to aircraft. Piloted by Curtiss, the aircraft won the Scientific American Trophy and $25,000 on a flight exceeding a distance of 1 kilometer (0.625 mile) on July 4, 1908 at Hammondsport, New York.

The June Bug was later modified by adding floats to it in an attempt to create a seaplane, renamed Loon. Unfortunately it could not take off, and on January 2, 1909 one of the floats filled with water, causing the aircraft to sink. The propeller was presented as a souvenir by Curtiss to Hugh L. Willoughby, a wealthy aviation pioneer, who donated it to the Smithsonian in 1939.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Date Circa 1908 Country of Origin United States of America Type PROPULSION-Propellers & Impellers Manufacturer Glenn H. Curtiss
 Physical Description Type: Two-Blade, Fixed-Pitch, Wood Diameter: 160.3 cm (63.125 in.) Chord: 19.7 cm (7.75 in. ) Engine Application: Curtiss air-cooled V8, 30 kw (40 hp) Dimensions 3-D: 160 × 19.7 × 15.2cm, 2.3kg (5 ft. 3 in. × 7 3/4 in. × 6 in., 5lb.)
Storage (Aluminum Pallet): 191.8 × 122.6 × 86.4cm, 90.7kg (6 ft. 3 1/2 in. × 4 ft. 1/4 in. × 2 ft. 10 in., 200lb.)
 Materials Unidentified wood, Steel, Paint
 Inventory Number A19390019000 Credit Line Gift of Hugh L. Willoughby Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
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