All Stories

For the Lindberghs  flying over vast stretches of water and wilderness in the early 1930s, reliable radio equipment was a necessity.

 The Wrights’ family helped to shape them into the enterprising aeronautical engineers we know them as today.  

If you were the Wright brothers, you would turn your attention not to perfecting your flying skills but securing a patent and finding customers for their groundbreaking invention.

When the Wrights built and flew their 1903 Flyer, it was not a national treasure. To them it was a research tool in their path toward a practical airplane. Its transformation into a priceless piece of American heritage, displayed in the nation’s capital, took some interesting twists and turns.  

The first air races, meets, and flight exhibitions kicked off a wave of public enthusiasm for aviation that circled the globe.

A 1/16 scale model of a Benoist XIV Airboat (Benoist No. 43) recently underwent conservation treatment in preparation for its display in the reimagined America by Air gallery. Learn about how it was treated and discover the story behind the model and the actual aircraft.

In 1929, Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) started passenger service between New York and Los Angeles using a combination of trains and planes.

Learn about Glen Curtiss—who was at one time known as the fastest man on Earth.

Kitty Hawk, NC—where the Wrights made their world changing flights. 

Orville and Wilbur Wright weren't always pioneering aeronautical engineers.