Recently, a 1/16 scale model of a Benoist XIV Airboat arrived at the Emil Buehler Conservation Lab at the Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in preparation for its display in the reimagined America by Air gallery, at our location on the National Mall. The model was donated to the Museum in 1939 by the Chambers of Commerce of St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida, in commemoration of the opening of the first scheduled airline using a fixed-wing aircraft. This airline, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, opened on January 1, 1914, providing two scheduled daily roundtrip flights between the two cities. 
The model arrived in the lab showing much of its 80-plus years of age. Two American flags were torn off at the outer wing struts and another pennant dangled precariously. Several of the flying wires had broken and the two wires that connected the hull to the upper wing were missing entirely. The water intake from the radiator was broken and loose in the cockpit.
 

Whatever event damaged the model aircraft apparently threw the pilot from the cockpit. The pilot figure suffered two broken ankles, a broken knee, and a loose head. The passenger must have been quite alarmed, as it appears she jumped into the pilot's seat to take over the controls.
 

Luckily for the passengers of the real St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, such a catastrophe never occurred. Therefore, the goal of the conservation treatment was to return the model to a state commemorating the more celebratory nature of its story, with pennants and flags proudly waving in the air.
  

However, the model had a bit of a mystery—the underside of the upper wing is partially lettered and reads, “OF DUI.” Had the model been repaired before, during which time the remaining letters were removed? Should the missing letters be replaced? To answer the questions, I dug through Museum files and expanded my research online. 
The model is marked as Benoist No. 43, which, according to an account written by the airline’s founder P. E. Fansler, was the aircraft that made the inaugural run of the airline. The first female passenger to fly with the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line was Miss Mae Peabody of Dubuque, Iowa. While the model may commemorate the flight of Miss Peabody on January 2, 1914, she never took the controls.
In the image below of Miss Peabody with, presumably, the pilot, Tony Jannus—from the collection of the Florida Aviation Historical Society—the letters “OF DUI” are visible on the underside of the wing at the right, providing evidence that the letters were on the original St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line Benoist. 
 

When digging further into the story of No. 43, I found that it wasn't originally a Florida aircraft. No. 43 had spent the previous summer at the Lark O' the Lake Festival on Lake Superior, where it was known as “The Lark of Duluth,” words that were originally emblazoned on the underside of the upper wing. By the time of the inaugural flight in Florida, enough fabric repairs had been done to leave only the partial lettering which changed “OF DUL” to the letters “OF DUI” that are depicted on the model. In an undated photograph of the Benoist No. 43 (from the Florida Photographic Collection), the Benoist is shown flying low over the water with the festive pennants and flags found on the model.
 

The model maker, Paul R. Robertson, had carefully chosen to depict No. 43 at a specific moment in time. The partial lettering places the aircraft in Florida and the pennants and flags as shown above celebrate this glorious moment when the first scheduled commercial airline came to life. The airline lasted only four months, at which point “The Lark of Duluth” returned to Lake Superior.
Once the story that the model depicted was known, it became more important to design a conservation treatment that would assist in portraying the significance of this event. After a thorough cleaning, the missing wires were replaced and the water intake was reattached. The figure of Tony Jannus was repaired and returned to the pilot's seat and the figure we assume to be Miss Peabody was returned to the passenger seat. The pennants were repaired and the missing American flags were recreated to complete the celebration of the first scheduled airline flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa with a grateful nod in the direction of Duluth. 

You can view the completed model of the Benoist XIV Airboat when it goes back on display in the America by Air exhibition at the Museum’s National Mall building, scheduled to reopen on October 14, 2022.