Exhibition: 'The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the
Aerial Age'
Of all the many
celebrations we've either seen or come to expect in light of the
100th Anniversary of Manned Flight, few would seem to be as
exhaustively prepared as that accomplished by the Smithsonian.
The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum has formally added
their weight to the celebration of 100 years of powered flight with
the opening of "The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the
Aerial Age" last Saturday, Oct. 11. The exhibition, featuring 170
artifacts, provides an engrossing look at the lives of Wilbur and
Orville Wright, their technical achievements and the cultural
impact of their breakthrough in the decade that followed.
The centerpiece of the new exhibition is the original 1903
Wright Flyer (none of this replica stuff for the Smithsonian...
RHIP), displayed at eye level for the first time since it was
acquired by the Smithsonian in 1948. Visitors have a
once-in-a-lifetime chance to study up close the intricate workings
of the world's first airplane, which flew only four times-all
within a few hours at Kitty Hawk, N.C., on Dec. 17, 1903.
The exhibition, which will run for at least two years, reveals
how two seemingly ordinary people accomplished a feat that had
eluded others for so long. Wilbur (1867-1912) and Orville
(1871-1948) Wright's creative process and inventive method have
been presented in comprehensive terms that refute the notion the
brothers were simply two bicycle makers who got lucky. Interactive
mechanical models in the gallery offer visitors unique hands-on
examples of the brothers' design concepts.
"The airplane has now defined our world for 100 years," says
National Air and Space Museum Director Gen. J.R. "Jack" Dailey.
"This exhibition is a tribute to the unyielding curiosity that made
the technical triumph possible. With this gallery, the Wrights come
to life to provide special inspiration for the next century of
innovation."
Among the artifacts featured in the gallery:
- School report cards attesting to the brothers' dedication to
learning
- One of only five Wright-built bicycles still in existence
- Wilbur Wright's 1899 letter to the Smithsonian requesting
publications on aviation
- A Wright wind tunnel test instrument used in unlocking the
secrets of aerodynamics
- The stopwatch used to time the first powered flights
- Orville Wright's mandolin
- Wood and fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer carried to the moon
in 1969 by Apollo 11
- Full-size reproductions of a Wright experimental kite and two
experimental gliders are also displayed.
An array of popular culture artifacts and artwork helps
illustrate how powered flight was received in the first years after
Kitty Hawk. The exhibition explores the unlimited possibilities
aviation represented for public spectacle, adventure, commerce,
warfare and creative expression. Also examined are the Wright
brothers' sudden massive fame and their direct influence on
fledgling inventors and aviators. Some artifacts have been loaned
for the exhibition by individuals and organizations in the United
States and Europe, complementing the museum's renowned collection
of early flight materials.
The gallery's design, from lighting fixtures to display cases,
conveys a feeling of the Wrights' era. The barrier that surrounds
the 1903 Wright Flyer is inspired by iron fencing that was at the
Wright home in Dayton. Wright-related sites including their home
and bicycle shop were the inspirations for the gallery's life-size,
three-dimensional facades. These representations will be used on
occasion by actors performing educational vignettes commissioned
for the exhibition through the theater department of George
Washington University. Other exhibition features produced by the
museum's Education Unit include live video "field trips" to the
gallery by students in other parts of the United States; a teaching
poster; online lesson plans; special "Family Day" programs; and
staffed "Discovery Stations," which provide hands-on explorations
of Wright methods and designs.
A touch-screen computer interactive, "Riding the Winds," gives
visitors a simulated look at the 1903 Wright Flyer in flight, along
with an understanding of flight control and testing. Another
computer station, "Inside the Invention," allows visitors to study
the Flyer through a virtual model of the airplane and detailed
photographs including those of the aircraft disassembled during its
1984-1985 restoration. A Wright-era listening display, "There's
Music in the Air," will offer newly made recordings of early
aviation-themed songs from the museum's vast sheet music
collection.
A companion book to "The Wright Brothers & The Invention of
the Aerial Age" has been published in collaboration with National
Geographic.
The National Air and Space Museum also marks the centennial of
powered flight with the Dec. 15 opening of its companion facility
adjacent to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
The much-anticipated Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will ultimately
house the 80 percent of the national collection not currently
displayed at the museum's flagship building on the National Mall in
Washington or on loan. Artifacts will include the space shuttle
Enterprise, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the original prototype of
the 707 jetliner and the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay. The aviation
hangar alone at the new center is 10 stories high and the length of
three football fields.
The Air and Space Museum, comprised of the Udvar-Hazy (pronounced
OOD-var HAHzee) Center and the building on the Mall, will be the
largest air and space museum complex in the world. The flagship
building, with just over 161,000 square feet of exhibition floor
space, is the most popular museum in the world, attracting on
average more than 9 million visitors each year. Attendance at the
Udvar-Hazy Center is projected at some 3 million people a year.
The museum building on the Mall, located at Sixth Street and
Independence Avenue S.W., is open daily from 10 a.m. until 5:30
p.m. (Closed Christmas Day.) Admission is free.
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