News from Carolinas Aviation Museum

From the Carolinas Aviation Museum

THE CAM News. A Changing Newsletter for a museum on the move!

From the Director

Recently the museum received a grant from UTC Aerospace Systems allowing us to create a new and exciting educational program. The Girls STEM program is a hands-on educational opportunity targeting middle school girls. The goal of the program is to provide a fun, yet educational experience giving participants the opportunity to learn more about aviation and aerospace opportunities, inspire students to study STEM and to demonstrate exciting career opportunities in these fields in hopes that students in this underrepresented population will pursue STEM related careers.

Why are we undertaking this program?

The STEM workforce is crucial to America's innovative capacity and global competitiveness. Women are vastly underrepresented in STEM fields. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, although women comprise 48% of the labor force in the U.S. economy, they hold less than 24% of STEM jobs. This leaves an untapped opportunity to expand STEM jobs in the U.S. The museum is an obvious community resource for teaching girls STEM because of the museum's commitment to work with youth and inspire them with inquiry based hands-on learning in an exciting environment. The aviation innovations of the past can be used to inspire future generations, and this program is a great example of how we can achieve our mission in this community.

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Spooktackular 2015

Staff member Katie Swaringen helps some of the younger guests to make various flying machines...including, you guessed it, bats!

Guests who attended our SpookTackular Halloween event were excited about the fun activities offered for all ages. Activities included the Hypothermia Penny Challenge, Egg Drop, Wind Tunnel flight test area, Halloween Costume Contest and open cockpits to climb into. There were bats, spiders, zombies, ghouls, and of course treats for everyone. Staff and volunteers joined in the festivities by dressing for the occasion. Check out the details here.

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Spotlight on the Savoia Marchetti S.56

The Wright Brothers Flight in 1903 created a world wide interest in aviation but it got a real boost in 1927 with the flight of Charles Lindburgh. This flight along with others ushered in the "golden age of aviation" and created a demand for an inexpensive aircraft for the recreational pilot. Rather than go through the process of designing and testing an aircraft, American Aeronautical Corporation (AAC) of Port Washington, New York decided to market an Italian, 3 seat, open cockpit amphibian aircraft designed by Savoia Marchetti for training and touring. AAC became a licensed-producer of the model S.56 aircraft - the selling price was about $7800.

Zachery Smith Reynolds, the youngest child of R. J. Reynolds and an avid, amateur pilot took his first flying lesson at age fourteen. At sixteen, he was the youngest licensed pilot in America. Zachery (known simply as Smith) was planning to fly around the world in an aircraft and the Savoia Marchetti was the perfect fit for the trip. He bought a model S.56B and had it modified with additional fuel tanks and the two side by side cockpits were made into one to make room for various items he would need on the long trip. The new designation for the modified aircraft was Savoia Marchetti S.56C. His flight over Europe, North Africa, and Asia-17,000 miles in an open cockpit--marked Smith as a competent aviator and avid sports pilot.

The original aircraft (NR-898W) was destroyed in a fire after that historic flight but another Model S.56B (NC-194M) like the one Zachery flew (without the modifications) was restored by a private individual and in 1988 it flew on a tour through England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The aircraft won several awards and in 1990 it flew around the Statue of Liberty during the Italian Aerospace Expo in NYC and at some point the aircraft was purchased by the Reynolda House Inc. in Winston Salem, NC. The Reynolda House Museum of American Art loaned this very rare aircraft (there are only 2 in existence) to Carolinas Aviation Museum where it is now on exhibit for all to see.

This Savioa Marchetti S.56

Restored: 1984

Engine: 125 HP Kinner B-5

Cruising Speed: 70 MPH

     Landing Speed:      40MPH
     Range:                    3 1/2 Hours
     Wheels can be manually retracted for amphibious use.

If you'd like to read more about this fascinating story,
click here.

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Famous Aviators
Can name this famous aviator?

A. Glenn Curtiss

B. Orville Wright

C. Dave Bonivtch

D. Ralph Johnstone
E. Arch Hoxsey

F. None of the above

The answer will be in our January Newsletter.

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Last month's Famous Aviator -
Lincoln Beachey

Perhaps this article should be called, "Lincoln Beachey -
One of the Most Famous - UNKNOWN Aviators."

Born on March 3, 1887, Lincoln Beachey would became a true master of the skies and one of the most famous people in the United States.

Shortly after the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903, airplanes had become the marvel of the world. "Exhibitions" (air shows) were held all over the world and some aircraft manufacturers like the Wright brothers hired pilot "teams" to demonstrate their aircraft while others like Curtiss used the publicity of the pilot using a Curtiss aircraft. In either case, the pilots were well paid and although the Wrights focused mostly on speed and distance, the more daring the pilots, the more fame and money they received. Thus the motivation to continue to push the limits.

After seeing one of these exhibitions, Lincoln Beachey developed burning desire to be the best aviator and to that end he learned to fly, then studied the science of aircraft and how they worked. Unlike the Wright brothers who studied the aircraft using wind tunnels, math and science, Beachey took a more "hands on" approach. He flew the aircraft up to a few thousand feet and then learned how it behaved in different attitudes and speeds.

Some pilots would inadvertently get into a tail slide and lose control of the aircraft. Beachey learned how to put the aircraft into a tail slide on purpose and how to recover both inverted and right side up...and he could do it at will. He wanted to set an altitude record but planes couldn't carry enough fuel to go very high and then get back down so he loaded his aircraft with as much fuel as he could and climbed until the engine quit at just over 11,000 feet, then "volplaned" (glided) down and landed where he started. Pilots were killing themselves by accidentally getting into a "tail spin" and not being able to recover. Beachey took his aircraft up to about 6000 feet, put it into a spin and figured out how to recover on the way down...knowing that if he failed it would be certain death. He learned to push opposite rudder to the turn to make the aircraft stop spinning. Once successful, he tried it 11 more times to be sure he had it right. He put it in his show as the "Cork Screw Twist". This was a case of where pilots thought, "If he can do it, so can I." Many died trying. The widow of one of the well know pilots who was killed, wrote to Beachey saying, "God punish you Lincoln Beachey. Gene would still be with me now if he had not see you fly!" This note did have an effect on Beachey and he began to encourage pilots to focus on safety. He encouraged them to wear seat belts and shoulder harnesses (up until this time most didn't wear either), perform a preflight before flight, avoid trying maneuvers that were beyond their experience levels, etc.

Beachey was a showman and during one of his routines, he introduced a French lady pilot he had trained who he said could fly as well as any man. She took off almost crashing, diving toward the crowd causing folks to scatter, appeared to almost hit a ferry boat (people on board all ran to one side of the boat causing it to capsize) then after nearly diving into the ground was able to land in front of the grandstand. The 'lady' then removed her wig to reveal that it was Beachey himself...(This would foreshadow the farmer and the J-3 Cup routine seen in many more modern airshows). The Wright Brothers and Thomas Edison both joined the public and news media proclaiming that Beachey was the best of the best. And for that reason other pilots saw him as "one to beat."

Beachey could loop, roll, fly inverted (which most thought was impossible) and in each exhibition, he seemed to come up with an even more death defying stunt. One of his most famous ...the one that the media called the forerunner of his 'air deviltry' was called the Dip of Death.

Read more.

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The Early Years of Aviation

More literature from the early years of aviation.

Editor's note: With increasing interest in aviation after the Wright Brothers 1903 flight, "aeroplane" companies often popped up and tried to cash in on this booming business, then just as quickly, they disappeared. The aircraft in this photo looks as though it may have been private labelled from Curtiss...or possibly copied. In either case, the company itself didn't last, but the aviators were able earn extra money by endorsing various aircraft. Here, Lincoln Beachey's older brother Hillary performs one of Lincoln's stunts in the Chicago Exhibition where he extends both arms out and off of the controls.