All Stories

Turkeys are generally considered to be flightless birds, but as this postcard from the files of the Museum's Archives Division vividly illustrates, they are capable of short hops, especially when at the controls of biplanes. If you're flying to your Thanksgiving destination, bon voyage, and keep your eyes peeled for flying turkeys. Allan Janus is a museum specialist in the Archives Division of the National Air and Space Museum.

We gathered a few images, objects, and posters that feature inspiring views of Lady Liberty in the context of flight.

Blogs across the Smithsonian will give an inside look at the Institution’s archival collections and practices during a month long blogathon in celebration of October’s American Archives Month. See additional posts from our other participating blogs, as well as related events and resources, on the Smithsonian’s Archives Month website .

If you're still stumped over what your costume will be for next Saturday's big Air & Scare at the Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center (October 29 from 2 - 8 pm), the photograph shown above, from the July 1918 issue of Die Luftflotte, might provide some inspiration.

You know when you're packing up for a move to a new house — boxes everywhere — frantic activity to get everything stored away before the movers arrive,  and you still have to clean out the fridge.

This piece is a follow up to the posts below, in which I describe my experience flying a PT-13 Stearman that was used to train Tuskegee Airmen during WWII, from Moton Field, Alabama to Andrews AFB.

This post is a follow up to Preserving and Displaying the "Bat-Wing Ship" published on June 24, 2011.

"'Spirit of Tuskegee' Arrives at the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar -- Part II." Curator Dik Daso describes highlights from his flight on the "Spirit of Tuskegee," a PT-13 Stearman recently donated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and soon to be on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

This post is a follow up to Tuskegee Bird Flies North. ...So I was on the phone Monday evening and my wife asked me, "Well, what did you do today?" With subtle nonchalance I said, "Well, I strapped into the front seat of Matt's Stearman, ya know, the one that was flown by the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, and flew over Appomattox Court House, ya know, where Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army to Gen.

A reflects on the end of one exhibit, the beginning of the next.