Of flight mail carrier to the jet age of the 1950s to today and missiles its all here. I want to share an article from earlier in week on the spirit of st. Louis one of the iconic planes that Charles Lindbergh had. Jeremy kinney is joining us. Talk about the spirit of st. Louis and the interesting things you found . The spirit of st. Louis is true milestone of flight and Charles Lindbergh makes the epic plight in 1927. Since the building opened in 1976. So this opportunity to redo the gallery, looking at this airplane and seeing the elements that are left about the people who made the airplanes, the flags from the europe as well as latin america, so you see these peeking are making the contact and being part of this story in afuation in 1920. Where are you interesting in this area . I have been interested in afuation history. Aerospace history. It was a passion that i had was able to cultivate and grow and end up at smithsonian. Was there a turning point in american aviation history. Lindbergh is the turning point. He shows people that afuation is possible. After that the invention of the jet engine. You see the moment where up increase the popularity of jet airline travel. So you get a new displays some new artifacts, a new vehicle, plight plan, where did you it go. How do you find space for it all . Thats always a challenge. The spacecraft and airliners take up a lot of space. We have over a hundred artifacts here. We have a lot of items on loaner in storage as well. Theres always a challenge. The history is always developing, oefls evolving so we have to think about the big object were going to collect. 2027488901. Youre guest is jeremy kinney. Because of the importance of today 40 years ago. Thats right. The opening of the national air and space museum on the mall. This is the first time this a National Museum has been de dedicated to air and space. Its been popular place for people to visit. Do you have a favorite exhibit . The flight gallery, is my favorite because of that curtis rc 3 air racer. Im passionate about that object. Im working on the new speed gally thats going to be opening in a few years. Behind me is some earlier Computer Technology, it 1960s, early 1970s, its fafing because its a big computerer because we have grown and change and thats part of aviation as well, isnt it. Yes. The cold war that theater in the past you have technology being driven by the need for who is going to get to the moon first. What about Computer Technology . Thats part of the ride. Computer technology is reflection of that. The air and Space Technology influences the development of Computer Technology. Go ahead please. Caller thank you sir. Happy july 4th. I was wondering if the movie was anything like the flight of Charles Lindbergh . The billy wily film comes outs in 1957 is based on that book. Its a story that follows the book well but its changed dramatic affect, for example the ply that you see as lindbergh is crossing the atlantic thats sen namatic. Going back forth between the flight, thats all part of the story. Its a accurate film. Jimmy stuart was a big fan of Charles Lindbergh and wanted to be in the film, the accuracy is there because stuart and wily are passionate. Who are the not so wellknown . Afuation is story of people and community. We have the big names, charles bin burg, jimmy do little. You have entrepreneurs. There are people who come out of the story. The curtis racer, we know jimmy plu it. Unknown person in the 20s and 30s but considered best pilot and he died young in a crash and he disappears from history. But he died in a plane cash just two years after flying the curtis racer. I want you top explain the significant of commercial air traffic to the u. S. To the world to the economy . This great connection between United States and commercial afuation is there. The distance of 48 states connect in terms of the reliability, altitude and the speed. It shapes the technology. Its connected between people who carry mail and passengers. So that puts the United States on the ground floor of this world of aviation where United States is a member of that community. Where did you go to colonelicollege and where did you learn about all this. I went to Albany University for graduate agrees. Thats a place to go to city study at the graduate level. I had professors who cultivated that that enabled me to come to the smithsonian where i have been cur rater since 2000. What is story at the museum. The story is to share with visitors from the United States and the world this epic story about how man went to the third dimension to create flying machine to carry people to carry weapons but also trigger the imagination and stipulate technology. This history science and technology museum. All the levels are interconnected the story how man overcomes the challenge of getting into the air as the primary story of this museum. Earlier as you walk through and see young family and young kids look up in awe at the spacecraft that 1940s plane that is above you what do you think when you see the young people look in inspiration . You have parent or grandparent look at that technology and look at that capsule or airplane, i read about it in school or i know who this person is so these connections that visitors have whether wright brothers, two brothers inventing the technology, the military in world war ii as well as commercial afuation every one flies, its exciting to see how people connect with the technology and the people that are important in the stories they represent in the museum. How often do you see military pilot that says i used to be one of those. I see that a lots. Theres personal connections that are astounding for me. I came up in interesting afuation i did not have personal they had connection where they operated thats amazing to see that. Do you fly yourself. I do not. I have other hobbies. Were live at national air and space museum in washington, d. C. 40 years old this weekend. Go ahead. I was there 15 years ago, in the event, number one how does new art fact gets into the museum do people want to donate. Whats on the drawing board can you answer the question fwi what do you have on the board that youre trying to get into the museum . Thanks for the call. Thats a great question its really a story of ou people connect with the museum with own personal way, the museum gets the art facts from transfers from the National Government as well individuals content. It can be a cold call on the phone email from contacting ussen its website. Another staff member. People contact us in a variety of ways to offer their stories to the museum. Once we idea the object we take it to the collections economy, we have to argue for the art fact. Once it passes muster it can come in, we discuss and argue for the art fact. An example thats coming on the horizon for us is the air racing collection. Theres a small racer that were having come into the fall thats going to go on display the World Fastest airplane 400 Miles Per Hour. It tells the story of High Technology produce by one of the areas, air racing teams and designers. These are the stories we want to share with the American Public and the rest of the world and its way we have to justify that technology those art facts coming into the mus museums. Are there other museum like this in the world . There are. We have National Military museum, the National Museum of the air force. Afuation boeing excuse me. We have National Museum such as the le, outside of paris. You have museum looking at aviuation and they have pretty art facts as well in their collection. Whether we come back in 2022 or 2023 what going to change . Its going to be a completely changed museum. Over 20 exhibits. To do that in ways that really stimulate early 21st century audience. Looking at the development of civilian and commercial afuation looking at idea of where the planets what the idea of earth in our story of human kind. So its going to be very bold. But the idea is to prevent a new take on aerospace history. We have current generation of designers collections people, we are excited about telling the story. Lets here from kevin. Go ahead. I was wondering what kind of display about the b 36 and 47 because its so large and youre strings do you have plans of having like a small display about the history of this airplanes . Kevin was asking about the b. 36 bomber and the boeing 347 which is important cold war bomber, we dont have examples of that in the collection. So we do the size constraents and the fact they are covered in other National Museum where its a important air force stories. We dont have plans to do anything with the aircraft we may be offered one we cannot pass up but at this time we have not selected one for our collection. Bimike go ahead please. Mike go ahead in michigan. Well try one more time. How many people work with you as a cur cure rater. We have entire teams of collections processing and preservation and designers. We have 150 employees total on the staff. One thing we expand is the idea of outreach so we have been doing programs in reaching out side of the museum too connect with visitors around the world. Dan, go ahead with your question. I was wondering two part question. I was wondering about the how what was the fasest sr 71 was ever flown and who flew it . Fastest it was flown, do you know. Was the sr 71 the fastest. Is the the fastest airplane wit airbreathing engines. So the pratt engines that are installed make it the fastest. The air breathing engines are the key. The fastest object besides the Space Shuttle and the rockets and the capsule and all that from the spaceage is the north american fx15 which we saw on the tour. But the sr71 itself, for example, the one we have in our collection, its a 2,000 Miles Per Hour airplane. It goes up to 3,000. And its delivery flight to the air and space museum in the early 1990, it broke a transcontinental speed record in over two hours. So this is a fast airplane. The one interesting thing about aviation especially in the late 20th century is we dont really connect people specifically with that airplane. But we have some pilots who flew sr71s that we have as docents that give tours in our museum, especially the sr71, such as buzz carpenter. These interest the airport quintessential professional pilots that flew them in the late 20th century as the reconnaissance pilots. Back to your calls. Logan in florida, youre next. Go ahead, please. Caller hi. I wanted to know what the relationship between scott crawfield and chuck yeager was during the age of trying to break the sound barrier. Logan, how old are you, by the way . Caller im how old are you, logan . Caller im 9. And youre interested in aviation . Caller yes. Youre interested in aviation. Thank you for the call. Maybe a future curator. Thats right. And theyre always welcome. Thank you for your question, logan. So chuck yeager is the first man to fly the speed of sound in 1947, the bell x1. You can see here in the gallery. Scott crisfield is the Quintessential Research pilot who flew for north american. We know him best as the first pilot to fly the x15 in 19589. But in the early 1950s chuck yeager and Scott Crisfield are duelling in the early 1950s. So theyre competitors. And thats one of the very interesting and dynamic things about pilot, especially in the 1950s is theyre hyper competitive. They want to see who is the best. And they want to really outdo each other. And chuck yeager and scott crawfield are a great example of that. Obviously you have done your research at auburn. But where are some of the leading institutions in this country . A lot of ways you can go to a focused program like auburn had or you can go to any first rate graduate school. And you can study history. And as part of your theme is you can put aviation into the story. So weve had through our fellowship program, weve had students from yale. Weve had them from princeton. Weve had them from other ivy league schools, major land grant universities. You pretty much tailor your History Program at the graduate level to fit what you want in terms of how you want to study. But it all really falls down to your own initiative. You study with what youre writing about and how lucky you are in terms of getting that original idea out there. You can send us a tweet at cspan history. This is from one on the spirit of st. Louis. Before 1976, before this building opened, where was it stored . So the spirit of st. Louis came to the smithsonian in 1928. And it was stored and on display in the arts and Industries Building where it was hanging over the traditional oak and glass cases and other objects, not just aviation artifacts. So it was there more or less over the years on display in the arts and industries. But what you can still see today, that was this in a lot of ways, this building was intended to put the spirit of st. Louis in that very important spot in the milestones of flight gallery display. Think about this for a moment as we listen to dave from new york. But what questions, what things are unanswered in terms of aviation History History . Think about that. Lets go to dave in new york. Hi, jeremy, just had a question, two questions, actually. I visited the museum in 1976. And i remember it very well when it first opened. How have the artifact, have any of them degraded over the past 40 years . Thats my first question. The second question is what is on your most wanted list as far as things that you want to collect. Those are great questions. Thank you. The first question, have objects degraded in the museum since it opened. Yes. Thats the short answer. Objects get old, and they do break down. And so in terms of we take these opportunities like the boeing milestones of flight gallery to reassess and to address things that have been happening to these artifacts. So the spirit of st. Louis is a great example, the wright flier. Weve also had things on display that we have taken out, discovered oh, the Museum Standards of the 1970s werent as up to par with the Museum Standards of today. So we learn a lot of lessons from that. So thats always constantly evolving. Its a constant battle to keep the artifacts safe and stable. Yet no shortage of visitors. Thats correct. No shortage of visitors. Well go to your home state of north carolina. Ted is next. Go ahead, please. Good afternoon. First of all, i want to express my appreciation. I was just at huber hazy. I happened to be one of the guys who fly it. So it was really neat to watch it. See it how its displayed. You did an outstanding job on that. I was just wondering if there is any additional thought about continuing additional history of the Coast Guard Aviation like hurricane rescue, the new orleans rescue, things of that sort. Were at the coast guard centennial celebration this year. Its been exciting to put on the display case at hazy center. As we expand our idea about what constitutes aviation history and especially military history, we will look at how we can incorporate story likes the coast guard in them. I cant speak to if we have any specific plans beyond what we have done this summer. But thats always a dynamic topic. I have to say that some of our Staff Members are former coasties. And theyll take any chance they can get to talk about Coast Guard Aviation. Theyre very proud of it. Chris, youre next in marc massachusetts. Thanks for being with us. Caller hey, jeremy. Hello. You hear me . We sure can. Caller i think that the 234b that you have in the museum is pristine. Its so beautiful. That aircraft was so influence on american aviation. The b47, a lot of designs from the 234 came from were incorporated to the b47. My question i want to ask about, ne163. Does the museum have a ne163 . Yes, the comet is a rocket display. You can head out there and see it any time you like. Next call is jeff in nevada. Thank you for being with us. Were talking to jeremy kinney. He is the curator here at the air and National Space museum here in washington, d. C. First, i like to say that you probably have the best job on the planet. Thank you. And migrations to you for acquiring it. With the renovation coming up here, you say what, its going to be a fiveyear thing. Are people still going to be able to come in to the museum and understand, you know, what you have there as you switch things around . The goal for the renovation of the museum is to close it in stages so there will always be a part of the museum that soap. That way visitors can still come and see exhibits. They can experience the air and space museum on the National Mall. So there are galleries such as speed, earth will be opening and closing as we go along through the successive stages. There will always be something open. Jay is next. He is joining us from pennsylvania. Go ahead with your question or comment. Good evening. Caller hello. I wanted to know a little bit more about the bell x1 and the man that broke the speed record for sound, and how fast was he going . So the bell x1 is the airplane that first breaks the speed of sound. Its flown by chuck yeager. Yaeger is a former b51 fighter pilot. He is an ace. He becomes a test pilot in the high desert of california, what becomes Edwards Air Force base. So the x1 is the First Research airport. Our x15, i talked about this as this idea of a partnership between the u. S. Air force, the National Advisory committee for aeronautics, nasa, and bell aircraft. And the whole premise of that aircraft is to investigate the supersonic regime. So on october 14th, 1947, yaeger in this airport flies 714 Miles Per Hour which is mach1 in this aircraft and breaks that mythical sound barrier and helps initiate the thinking, the ideas of what becomes the jet age through the 50s and 60s. So back to my question for you. What are your questions . What are the unknowns . What answers are you looking for . Aviation is a very interesting topic to be studying right now because a lot of ways that weve gone through 100 years. Were well past that after the flight of the wright brothers. Many people said well, flight, the story has been told. Its a Mature Technology there is nowhere else you can go with that. What is fascinating to me is this idea what are the next steps. And how will that be traced as historical evolution today. We watching the first hypersonic scram jets taking to flight . Are they going to lead to aircraft that actually will be able to enable you toe fly to new york to tokyo in two and a half hours . How are we going to track that . Are we seeing those technologies, those ideas being formulated . Are we aware of them . Thats a big question for me. What about private billionaire Entrepreneur Missions to space. Thats always been a major impetus in aviation history and aerospace history, especially with the x prize with the spacex and all that. The process was to stimulate aviation and to promote harmony between france and the u. S. The mcrobertson race, another prize for flying long distance. These ideas of entrepreneurs providing funding, Building Companies with new innovation is always part of that idea of pushing that envelope of technology. A few more minutes. John is next in massachusetts. Go ahead, please. Caller hello . Yes, john, go ahead. Caller okay. Yeah, i was just at the air and space museum a few weeks ago, actually both of them. And i was very impressed with everything that was there. And i want to thank everyone for what they have done. Thank you. Caller my question is will they be expanding at some point the world war ii section that is there . Its a great question because world war ii is this major story in aviation that draws people to it. And so the current gallery today is gallery 205 world war ii aviation. It was made by people who flew Fighter Airplanes in world war ii. And so the reference there is that people know what theyre seeing. And so now we are looking at through this transformation in the museum, were going to do a new world war ii gallery. Were going to combine the seaair operations gallery world war ii and provide a larger contextual story of world war ii. So the goal is to present it for new visitors. And here is the scary thing. And this gallery opens in 2023, 2025. 2029 is the 100th anniversary of world war ii. So were thinking than. Were thinking about preparing for that. So we really want to do the story right and tell the stories of people, technologies, and events in a way that really gauges all levels of visitors, in ages, backgrounds, and wherever they come from in the world. Rick, you got the last call in the segment from wisconsin. Good evening. Hi, my name is rick. And im calling from madison, wisconsin. I have two comments to make. The first one is i really appreciate your show. I think its great. Especially seeing all the artifacts that you have. And my question is do you think that there are many items missing from your display, and how many do you think that you have money to purchase over the next few years . As part of our professional duties we have what is called a collection rationale. And that actually lists the objects what we have, discusses why theyre important, and also says what we need. What are the new objects that we would take. Kit range from a complete airplane like a boeing b17 from world war ii to a part of an airplane such as a drop tank. So a p51 mustang used drop tanks to fly all is the way into europe in world war ii. We do not have a drop tank. We are looking for one. Those are the kinds of objects we do want to accentuate to improve our displays as well as to record that story of the technology and the people in the events. And as general daley pointed out earlier, only a small percentage is here. You have more in storage that youre able to show at museums like this one. Thats correct. So we have a certain percentage here on the National Mall and over at the hazy center. But quite a few of the objects are on loan or in storage. Jeremy kinney, thank you so much for your time. Happy 40th birthday. Thank you so much. Its more than just aviation, but its Space Exploration from moon to mars as we continue our otour inside this museum. Each week american artifacts