S M I T H S O N I A N I N S T I T U T I O N
N A T I O N A L A I R & S P A C E M U S E U M
Washington D.C.

PIONEERS OF FLIGHT

My next stop is the Pioneers of Flight Gallery. This exhibit aims to display many of the important distance record breakers in aviation.

Many planes adorn the gallery, some look quite antiquated while others look a bit more modern. Planes in this exhibit include:

Of all the displays, the first world flight catches most of my interest.

Here's the blow-by-blow on the trip. In a nutshell, the trip took four U.S. Army Air Service aircraft 175 days to circumnavigate the world, starting and ending in Seattle, Washington. The airplanes were named after the cities who supplied their crews, namely, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, and New Orleans. After 74 stops, lots of drama, and 27,550 miles, only the Chicago and the New Orleans made it back home.

The Chicago, a Douglas World Cruiser, is the airplane that's on display in this exhibit.