Help Wilbur and Orville assemble the 1903 Flyer and compare it to the parts of a modern airplane. While aviation technology has developed a lot since the Wrights time, not much about the basic components of an aircraft has changed!

Early airlines were able to turn a profit through contracts with the federal government to fly the mail. Designed as a trainer for the U.S. Army Air Service, the Curtiss JN-4 first flew in 1916. Known popularly as the "Jenny," the JN-4 taught thousands of Allied pilots to fly during World War I. After the war, surplus Jennys were widely used for "barnstorming"—traveling air shows—and they opened the first scheduled air mail service. 

The JN-4D featured a 90-horsepower Curtiss OX-5 engine. The Army ordered Curtiss to convert six JN-4Ds for the U.S. Air Mail Service by installing a larger 150-horsepower Hispano-Suiza engine and a mail compartment. These airplanes were redesignated as JN-4Hs. The Smithsonian acquired this Jenny in 1918. 

By 1921 modified de Havilland DH-4 light bombers were being used as mail planes. They soon become the symbol of the U.S. Air Mail Service. 

The DH-4 in the Museum's collection was the prototype American-built DH-4, manufactured by the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company. This airplane was used in more than 2,600 experiments until its retirement in April 1919. On May 13, 1918, Orville Wright made his last flight as a pilot in a 1911 Wright Model B alongside this DH-4, flown by Howard Max Rinehart. He then made a flight as a passenger in the DH-4 with Rinehart.

Affectionately known as the “Tin Goose,” the Ford Tri-Motor was the largest civil aircraft in America when it first flew on August 2, 1926. Its all-metal, corrugated aluminum construction and the prestigious Ford name made it immediately popular with passengers and airline operators. Noisy but reliable, the Ford Tri-Motor played a major role in convincing the public that air travel was safe and practical.

The government provided bonuses to airlines if their aircraft could fly at night or had multiple engines, two-way radios, and other equipment that promoted safety and speed. The first aircraft produced under these terms was the Boeing 247 in 1933, the world's first modern airliner. It could carry 10 passengers, fly 50 percent faster than the Ford Tri-Motor, and cross the country in less than 20 hours. The Boeing 247 revolutionized air transportation, featuring a sleek, low-wing, all-metal construction; retractable landing gear; and supercharged, air-cooled engines. Its innovative design launched a new generation of commercial airliners, notably the Douglas DC-2. The Boeing 247-D, the version in the Museum's collection, pioneered the use of controllable-pitch propellers and wing de-icer boots.

The Boeing 307 Stratoliner was the world's first pressurized airliner. While other airliners flew no higher than about 3,000 meters (10,000 feet), the Stratoliner could cruise at 7,500 meters (25,000 feet). By ascending "above the weather," it could fly faster and more efficiently and provide its 33 passengers a smoother and quieter ride. Because of the onset of World War II and the development of improved designs, only 10 Stratoliners were built. The last one, Pan American's Clipper Flying Cloud, is housed in the Museum's collection.

The Douglas DC-7 was an advanced development of the DC-6B piston-engine airliner. It was introduced by American Airlines on its New York-Los Angeles route in November 1953 and was the first airliner to provide nonstop transcontinental service in both directions. 

The fastest transport aircraft in service, the DC-7 cruised at 580 kilometers (360 miles) per hour. A total of 338 DC-7s of all types were purchased by 18 different airlines. Like other piston-engine airliners, it was made obsolete by the introduction of turbine-engine Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s. Some DC-7s later served as cargo and charter planes. 

This nose section from the Museum's collection is from American Airlines' Flagship Vermont, which carried about 130,000 passengers in its nearly 13,500 hours aloft. 

On July 15, 1954, a graceful, swept-winged aircraft, bedecked in brown and yellow paint and powered by four revolutionary new engines first took to the sky above Seattle. Built by the Boeing Aircraft Company, the 367-80, better known as the Dash 80, would come to revolutionize commercial air transportation when its developed version entered service as the famous Boeing 707, America's first jet airliner.

Boeing's 707 was designed for transcontinental or one-stop transatlantic range. But modified with extra fuel tanks and more efficient turbofan engines, 707-300s could fly nonstop across the Atlantic. Boeing built 855 707s. 

Pictured: The Museum's Boeing 367-80, or Dash 80, the prototype for the Boeing 707.

Designed originally for Pan American to replace the 707, the giant Boeing 747 revolutionized long-distance air travel when it entered service in 1970. Carrying more than twice the passengers than the 189-seat 707, the 400-seat 747 offered dramatically lower seat-mile costs and therefore much greater efficiency. Propelled by four powerful and efficient high-bypass turbofan engines, the so-called "Jumbo Jet" spawned a new generation of wide-body airliners from Airbus, Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, and later Boeing. 

The Boeing 747 generated great public interest because of its enormous size. Airlines offered spacious legroom, piano bars, and lounges aboard their 747s to encourage passengers to fly. These amenities quickly disappeared in the face of economic reality and were replaced by revenue-producing seats. 

First flown in 1970, the Museum's 747 was the first built for Northwest and the first 747 to open service across the Pacific. It was retired in 1999. 

The future of commercial aviation appeared to be the supersonic transport (SST), an airliner that could fly faster than sound. U.S. advocates hoped to build a larger and faster SST to compete with the British and French Concorde and the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144.  

But concerns about huge development and operational costs, high fuel consumption, drastically high fares, and sonic booms and other environmental issues proved insurmountable. U.S. airlines placed no orders for Boeing's 2707 SST, Congress withdrew support, and the project died. 

Introduced in 1976, the Concorde was the first and only operational supersonic transport. It could carry 100 passengers across the Atlantic in less than four hours, but its airfares were extremely expensive. All 14 Concordes that went into service were purchased by the British and French governments for their national airlines. Concordes stopped flying in 2003.