views. they are joined by the washington post technology reporter. >> now that the fcc has for the first time gone further than that and said this scheme that governed the monopoly telephone network applies to isp's, opens the door for additional regulation that was never part of the net neutrality debate. returning to fcc the right law, treating it like a transmission system and making a distinction between the carriage and content on the internet. >> watch monday night at a clock eastern on c-span2 -- 8:00 eastern on c-span2. >> each week, american artifacts takes viewers to historical sites across the country. up next, we visit the smithsonian air and space museum. located in washington, d.c., and just down the national mall from u.s. capitol.

our guide is curator jeremy kinney, who shows us some of the museum's rare and one-of-a-kind artifacts to tell the quest to go higher, faster, and further during the first half century of aviation. jeremy kinney: hello. we're going to go through a tour of some artifacts that really stand out in terms of the story of higher, faster, and farther. first, i want to talk about the museum overall. the museum has over 8 million visitors a year. looking at the story of flight in the atmosphere, where i work in, we are looking at 500 aircraft and helicopters. of those aircraft, about 67 are on display in the national mall building. what supports these artifacts is up to 50,000 small and medium artifacts. we're going to talk about the story of higher, faster,

and farther which is seen as a cliche in the history of aviation but has a real meaning. we look at the people who made this quest of flying in the third dimension a reality. the idea of flying to the highest altitudes, fastest speeds, and longest distances tells us a lot about the technical development of the airplane and the reinvention of what the wright brothers did. that is what i would like to talk to you about in terms of the airplanes and people that tell that story. behind me, you see the wright flyer. the world's first airplane. on the morning of december 17, orville wright takes flight for 130 feet. the first time he man has entered the air in a powered flying machine. at the end of the day, after four flights, orville and wilbur alternate.

the fourth flight, 852 feet, 30 miles an hour an altitude of 32 feet and they usher in the aerial age. the age of aviation. how they came to create that moment is very important. not only did they invent the airplane, but they invent aeronautical engineering in the process needed to create actual flying machines. beginning in 1899, the brothers, they are unmarried and owned a bicycle shop. they run a printing business. they are yankee mechanics. they know tools and mechanical devices and take that interest and apply it to solving the problem of building a flying machine. in 1899, they write the smithsonian institution and asked for all the literature on flight. they learn about the secretary

us was sunny and -- of the smithsonian is going to be a competitor. they learn about the conduit of knowledge between aeronautical exterminators in europe and united states. what sets them apart is they break the problem down. they have to look at an airplane as a system of systems. looking at propulsion structures, controls, , and aerodynamics. the science of flight. between 1899 and 1902, they start flying gliders. and theyt with kites had gliders. and in 1902, they have a controllable glider. wing warping. rather than using weight, they have a mechanical system where they can twist the wings. how they came to conclusion is the brothers always complemented each other as intellectuals and

so they argued how they would control the airplane. one day in the bicycle shop, wilbur is talking to a customer and has an inner tube box for a a bicycle tire and is twisting it as he is talking to the individual and he sees in his mind's eye, envisioning the three-dimensional technology and says if we start twisting the wings of the glider, we can control it and it will turn. that is how they come up with new ideas about what the airplane is. they create the world's first working wind tunnel to do the math of previous experimenters. i find out it is wrong on the coefficient. they recalculated and designed wings capable of creating lift. by 1902, they have a working

glider flying for over 30 seconds from the dunes of kitty hawk. they traveled there because it is the one spot in america that has consistent wins and isolation to work in peace without distraction. through 1902-03, they add the last big part of the airplane. they have done the wings, the aerodynamics. they have done the structure influenced by railroad bridges. the at theok at control system, the wing warping. the last ingredient is the propulsion system. they acknowledge it will be a reciprocating system. they create a horizontal force. they know they need that much power to generate the thrust of the propellers. that is another specific choice

the wright brothers make, they will have propellers on their machine. how do they work? they figure they can go to existing data on ship propellers. that does not give them any answers. the same sort of intellectual give-and-take, the brothers are going at it. and they realize the propeller is a rotating wing. they take their wind tunnel to thehey adapt it designing of a propeller and designed propellers capable of two producing up to 60-70% thrust of the 12 horsepower engine. you see the propellers on the back of the wings. they are called pusher configurations. they wanted them to turn in opposite directions. taking their knowledge of a workshop, you twist the belt of the power system. you can see one of the chains twisted on the drive system.

that last ingredient, the propulsion system enables the , brothers to go to kitty hawk in the late fall/early winter of 1903 where they start their flying program. they have a crash and her down a couple of days. on december 17, 1903, they fly this airplane behind me. that moment of getting into the air under the power and looking at all the technology in terms of aluminum engine, spruce propellers, spruce structural members, metal fitting. you have muslin fabric. that all comes together in the system of the airplane they create. after those flights, a big wind comes up and the flyer tumbles and is demolished.

they claim success, go back to dayton and send a telegram to fuligh ather "success for flight." by 1905, they are flying up to half an hour for long distances doing figure eights outside of dayton, ohio. the 03 flyer is forgotten. it sits in crates. it goes through a flood. all of the crates have been sent water and mud. is starting to reassemble the airplane and put it on display in 1920. in 1926, it goes to england where it is at the science museum. during world war ii, it is stored west of london during the blitz.

but it comes to 1948 when orville donates the wright flyer to the smithsonian institution and has been on public display weather at the old building. and with the opening of the national air and space museum in 1976, the flyer went on display. in 2003, the centennial of their first flight, this gallery is opened to tell the story of making the first airplane and with it aeronautical engineering. what you see here is the original airplane. it has been restored and changed over the years. the fabric that you see here is not the original fabric from 1903. it has been applied in the sewing methods and construction as the 1903 plane. they made the airplane look better when it when to england.

in the 1980's, this airplane underwent a restoration. spruce structural members, the engine, one of the propellers, all original. over and the corner of the gallery is one of the original propellers. tumble, itk its cracked and split that propeller. we just left the wright brothers gallery. we are in the world war i gallery now. the airplane behind me is a spaz 13. in many ways, this is the configuration the french and rest of the aeronautical community takes what the brothers created in 1903 and make it their own. this is a 1917 design and it is the highest performance french fighter of world war i. what that means is it can go 130

miles per hour. 100 miles an hour faster than a wright flyer. it is also just a large strut and wire flyer. the tractor configuration with the engine propeller in the front, central fuselage, a french word, with two bi-lane wings. stabilizer and control at the top for the wings. more french influence. after the creation of the airplane, the wright brothers bring it to the world. there are french and european experimenters flying airplanes. the french run with it and take the lead as well as other nations. looking at this airplane, it is the epiphany of the strut and wire brace configuration the wright brothers create. but it has been improved and enhanced. the spaz 13 is a product of a french designer.

he designed air racers. he designed a very successful series of fighters. it is important in terms of air combat over france over the western front during world war i. it is the spaz 13 that enter s service in may, 1917 that reflects the epiphany of french high-performance fighter design. it allows it to go very fast. it is fabric covered. engine, 220 horsepower v8 engine at the core. you see the radiator shutters. it looks like it is a round engine. there is a v8 engine underneath. tightfitting metal cover that allows the air to flow over more efficiently.

mark burton adapts an important series of automobile engines in the prewar europe. -- era. what he does is unique. instead of having separate cylinders, he casts a row of cylinders out of aluminum. he has cooling passages in the aluminum blocks that allows improved cooling and more power. instead of a rotary engine doing 120 horsepower, you're looking at 220 horsepower. there is always a technological push and pull over the western front in world war i in which the germans have an advantage with their tubular steel fuselage aircraft like you see in the gallery. 13 is the french

answer to that airplane. it is not as maneuverable but has speed and can die the way. so they are going to take this airplane and develop new group fighter tactics in response to german fighter tactics. this first generation of significant airplanes fly in the french squadrons. this becomes the highest performance airplane that has 30 caliber machines guns. the ability to fly fast, dive, come back and attack gives the french fighter squadron advantage. one of the major technological for fighter aircraft the less technological -- technological innovations in world war i for fighter aircraft is the creation of a gun system. you can mount a machine gun in front of a pilot with a site and as you point the airplane, you

can point the machine gets a hit your target. the problem is that you have a spinning propeller in the way. the creation of a mechanical linkage set up to a camera on the propeller shaft at the propeller blade crosses in front , it turns off the machine gun and that the propeller blade is passed, it turns back on. with the entry of the united states into the war, you have american air service pilots coming to the western front being equipped with french aircraft. there is not a frontline ready american fighter for the conflict. what you see here was built by one of the manufacturers contracted. there were 8400 made total. the 22nd aero squadron was assigned this airplane. a young pilot named ray brooks painted the name of his fiancee. 's college.

he goes into combat with this airplane. he scores one aerial kill. pilots in the same squadron shootdown at least five more. this flew with the first generation of american combat pilots. ray brooks names this airplane after his fiancee's school. most people would name their airplane after their girlfriend. but he made a conscious decision. he did not want to have this airplane damaged and have a mechanic saying she's damaged, we have to fix her. he wanted to keep her out of that situation, and so he named her after a college. smith the fourth is in the 1980 -- 1918 camouflage. you also see small black squares that have german crosses. those represent bullet holes

shot through the fabric in combat. there's a small indication of it being a combat airplane and surviving. the squares would have been applied by ground mechanics in the field. one of the interesting advantages of a strut and wire brace fabric covered airplane is that if the bullet goes through the fabric it passes through the , other side. it just needs a patch. the job of the mechanic is to patch that and restore the integrity and keep fighting. at the end of world war i, in november of this airplane is set 1918, aside by the army air service and brought back to the united states. to display what type of aircraft americans flew, a high-performance french fighter. it is given to the smithsonian. it stays in the collection for decades. it is not until the 1980's that the airplane is fully restored. and put on display in the world

war i gallery. if you look at this panel, you can see fabric from the original airplane on display. the fabric you see here is not original. it is restored fabric. nonetheless, this is one of four remaining in the world. it tells the story of how the wright brothers original airplane was maximized and changed but was still essentially the same in terms of materials and the propulsion system. it was a formidable combat fighter of world war i. from the spad 13, we now look at the air racer of the 1920's. behind me now is the curtis racer. this is an air racer. what is unique about it is that it is built by a national

government, the united states, to compete in international air racing against the air forces of other countries to win a prize. the schnider cup. this technology is built in the name of performance making pursuit and fighter airplanes better. what results is this grand spectacle of aviation. but it is a military spectacle in which military officers are getting in these airplanes. take notice that the u.s. army on the tail of the air racer and you will see they are in bloodless campaigns against each other. they are promoting their own branch of service. to see if they can become independent and push the technology. it is a twofold public relations and technical campaign they are waging. what results is an improvement of the airplane in terms of its high-speed technology.

this is an international event created by a french industrialist to influence, develop, and encourage the --elopment of speed flame plain technology. it is between the international aviation clubs of each country and the military takes over in the early 1920's. the curtis is the world's fastest airplane in the fall of 1925. this racer with a young air service pilot, wins the competition northeast of baltimore maryland.

he breaks the world record of 230 miles per hour. this shows the importance of the military and military aviation overall. just two weeks before, the same installedith wheels wins the pulitzer trophy race. it is not international. it is a national race pitting the army and navy and marine pilots against each other. it is an aerial army-navy football game. at mitchell field, he flies the same airplane with the wheels and skid installed to win the race at 248 miles per hour. jimmy doolittle and another man are the world's fastest men. he was faster than any wind in

history. this belief in speed and the pushing of technology and justification of national governments to encourage this development resulted in what we see here, the curtis rc3. it is a racing system. look at the gold wings. you see the lines running between the fuselage and wingtips, that is a brass radiator. instead of having it at the front that creates drag, you have the air traveling over the profile of the wing. it is cooling the engine through the radiators. you see minimal struts and wires on the construction of it. you see a tightly fitting caroling over the engine. you see a metal propeller. one of the latest innovations in the mid-1920's. innovation in terms

totransitioning from wood meddle in construction materials. probably the most important innovation is it is plywood. it is built like a wooden boat and built in spruce shaped to form the fuselage. it is a hollow shell. it incorporates an overall streamlined shape and a blouse it to go faster because of the ability to have less things causing drag along the fuselage. what you have to realize is it is built for a very high-speed, high-turning environment. a 20 mile course, a virtual racetrack in the sky. the short wingspan and compact nature allows it to make a tight

turn around the pylons. jimmy doolittle had a technology -- technique where he would start at one pylon and pull up and turn around another pylon to get speed. the short wingspan facilitated that. if you are a spectator watching the race, you would see doolittle climbing, turning, and diving toward the pylons. you also hear the airplane and so this engine, the short stacks are working and making popping noises. the propeller is going supersonic at its tips. propellers are the first devices that go supersonic. you hear a banging noise. the barking noise of the exhaust and then this airplane zooming by at eyesight level is an amazing thing to see.

after he wins the pulitzer, after jimmy doolittle wins the snyder, the next year in virginia, a marine pilot comes in second. in the same airplane. after that race, it is given to the smithsonian institution where it is on display for a number of years. then he goes to the national museum of the u.s. air force and is restored by personnel there and returns for installation in the flight gallery where you see it here today. jimmy doolittle goes on to fame in aviation. he is a famous test pilot, a certified aeronautical engineer. he is an air racer again in the 1930's racing across the united states in the bendix trophy. ii,he opening of world war jim doolittle becomes a national hero as he leads the famous raid

named after him against japan in april 1942. he wins the medal of honor and goes on to become one of the leading bomber generals of world war ii. the curtis racer is a fast airplane and it boosted the career of a pilot we are all going to know jimmy doolittle. now we will look at an era- defining airplane connected to individualning charles lindbergh. , this airplane in may, 1927 flew 3600 miles from new york to paris. flow by charles lindbergh, an unknown male pilot. his goal was to win for the first nonstop flight from new york to paris. the hotel entrepreneur wanted to join his former country of france with the united states.

that was the impetus for the flight. what it represents in the history of aviation is part of the telling of the airplane and the transformation of the airplane from what the wright brothers created and how it transitioned to the modern airplane. lindbergh was an unknown pilot in 1926 flying from st. louis to chicago thinking about if it was possible. building upon that idea, he he gets financiers from st. louis. he trained them to fly and interacted with them in aviation circles. he gets the backing to either purchase a long-distance airplane or to build one. what happens, he ends up in san diego and meets the chief engineer and they design a purpose built transatlantic airplane from new york to paris. he calls it the spirit of st. louis in honor of his backers in

saint louis. this is a product of his vision. it is not necessarily the most advanced airplane. it represents many of the known ideas of technologies that are reliable and durable with some gambles he includes as well. working with don hall through lindbergh of 1927, creates this airplane. it is a wood wing, tubular steel frame work and innovation that emerged in world war i. that is a diversion from the wood bracing that we saw since the wright brothers. but it still uses wires and framework like you would see with the strut and wire internal construction. but you know it works.

it is also the basic design of the n2 they based it on. this aircraft is designed for one thing, flying across the ocean. lindbergh makes a gamble and says the lighter the airplane, the more simple i can control it. this is an airplane built for endurance. 450 gallons of gasoline which doubles the weight. almost 4000-5000 pounds. he has to learn how to handle the airplane. when it is finished in april 1927, the first thing he does is breaks the san diego to st. louis transcontinental speed record. he flies on to new york, which is the jumping off point to paris. this is where his choices come into play. you don't see a canopy on the airplane. you see a door on the side.

he used a periscope that he would deploy to see forward or would swivel the tail to look out the side. what is in front of him are the oil and mean fuel tanks and then the engine. it ine he crashes, he has forward him instead of having it crush him to death or catch him on fire and burn him alive. he is making these choices. where it says spear to st. louis, you see the engine. a cornerstone technology of what will become the aeronautical revolution. the creation of modern airplanes. it is a radial engine cooled by the air traveling over the cylinders. you see them sticking out there so they can be cooled at the air flows over them. it is a reliable engine.

it stays running for 33 hours. he knows that. he makes a conscious choice. that is advanced technology he is embracing. wood wings, externally braced. those are known technologies that work. but the state-of-the-art is the engine and in front of the an aluminum alloy propeller. it is just like a wright brothers propeller but has this andle innovation included is ready by the time lindbergh who in his memoir says i want a metal propeller. what he means is a standard ground adjustable pitch propeller. you can't change the angle of the blades in the air but if you , need to change the pitch on the ground, you can loosen the rings to change the pitch.

they can get you off the ground with a heavy weight of the fuel but give you enough efficiency. it is a compromise. in many ways, the airplane is a compromise to get lindbergh across the atlantic ocean. lindbergh didelf, not have advanced navigational tools like gps. he did have a compass and he had a method called dead reckoning where he would use the stars and maps to plot the past. he would fly the circumpolar route instead of flying over the shipping lanes. he is flying a much shorter distance over the curvature of the earth. he gambles that he will fly this route and as soon as he gets to europe, he will figure out where he is and make his way to paris. he does that over the course of a day and a half and he lands north of paris and is met by over 100,000 adoring fans, people cheering him on.

at that moment, the unknown lindbergh, the flight technologist, enters into this legendary status as the supreme aviator of the world, especially in the united states. he becomes a household name. the growth of the aviation industry is seen as a result of what he has done in the flight even though it is an indication of things moving along and he really exacerbates and improves the idea of the aviation industry. people want to learn to fly as a result of him. by christmas, you could get a copy of the book of the flight. this pop-culture phenomenon that lindbergh becomes is a result of the flight. america turns the page in terms of understanding the power of the airplane.

in the wake of this flight to paris, he returns with the spirit and is going to do a national tour through 1927 in which hundreds of thousands of americans will see him flying. the flight.ad about now they get to see them come to their hometown. by the end of the year, he goes on a tour of latin america. he's extending friendly relations with latin america and doing long-distance flying there as well. when you look at the front of the spirit, you see the flags of the nations that he visited during his latin american tour. you also see military insignia from the army and marine units that he interacted with over the course of the tour. upon return of that flight in february and in the spring of

the spiritergh gives of st. louis to the smithsonian. it stays on display throughout the history of the old national air and space museum and that is on display in 1926 with the opening of the national wall dizzy and where it has been on display ever since. the artifact that you see behind me is the original spirit of st. louis. it has had conservation work, but that is the original fabric. it is one of those one-of-a-kind, original artifacts that makes the smithsonian aviation collection so important and why you need to see it. lindbergh's flight from new york to paris is a very important moment in the history of aviation. there are aviators and aircraft that follow that show how the airplane evolved and this idea

of reinventing the airplane and pushing the higher, faster, farther equation that builds to a crescendo in the 1930's. a few months after lindbergh's flight across the atlantic, on july 4, 1927, the first lock air, liketakes to the the one behind me. this is the result of launching an aircraft company with a self-taught designer. not being educated in engineering school, he has a feel for what an airplane should look like. what you see behind me is his idea of what a clean air flying machine looks like. no supporting braces or wires. you have a cantilever or internally supported wing. you also see a plywood fuselage. taking the heritage of the

kurdish racer before world war i, you have a plywood fuselage that does not need the extra bracing. his idea of a clean airplane is manifested in this. it also has a radial engine installed in the front of the airplane and a metal fixed pitch propeller. this enginewith that becomes a cornerstone hereology, and seeing it the problem with this engine is that it is situated like a far -- flower petal on the front of the fuselage. it is the equivalent of a model t radiator on a car. it creates drag. it needs the air to travel over to cool the cylinders. designers are making a choice. do you have an exposed radial engine or do you cover the engine to get some sort of aerodynamic efficiency to clean

up the disturbed air that drags? this is a fundamental question that is being investigated by the national advisory committee for aeronautics in langley, virginia. has a 20 footer wind tunnel and start playing with the idea of an engine. it is designed number 10 that results in flowing air through to cool the engine while controlling the streamline of the air on the outside. that technology is what makes the vega such an important aircraft in terms of efficiency and maximizes the ability to fly 165 miles per hour at cruise in and the ability to fly passengers, the original design of the airplane. it wins the highest award for achievement in aviation.

it is still given today. jack northrop takes it. a high wing airplane. but where would you put the landing gear? you have six landing gear sticking out and you have the big rubber tires and wheels that create drag. his idea, i will put tents on the tires so there are teardrop pants ared wheel to make the landing gear as streamlined as possible. pantsdial engine, the over the wheels creates the performance and efficiency of the vega. this becomes known as a high-performance airplane. it is taken by several individuals like amelia earhart who the spring of 1932 flies this airplane across the atlantic ocean.

the first woman to fly across the atlantic nonstop. in august of 1932, she flies nonstop across the united states. she is becoming this leading aviator in the united states flying a vega. after she flies nonstop across the united states, she sold her airplane to the frequent -- franklin institute. in 1966, it became available to the smithsonian institution and entered the collection. the vega because the airplane of choice for record breakers. 1931, wiley post, he started flying. he chooses the vega. his characteristic white and blue. he flies around the world with a navigator in 1931 in 8 days.

in 1933, he flies around the world by himself in 7.5 days. he starts learning these new phenomena a leaders will come to know after world war ii. the jet stream. 120 miles additional per hour on the tailwind flying on the jet stream. he is experimenting. he is also the first individual to experiment with the pressure suit. the vega is the choice of aviators who want to push the limits of not only speed and distance, but also altitude. this is amelia earhart's characteristic red vega. this shows her story of being the leading pilot flying across the u.s. and atlantic. it is in another airplane where she disappears trying to fly

around the world. lockheed become synonymous with high-performance, long-distance aircraft that important aviators choose to make these lights. but still, this is a wood airplane. it is interesting to see the performance being pushed, which seems counterintuitive for what the airplane is. it does not have a tubular steel fuselage like the spirit of st. louis, but it is looking towards the future in terms of it shape. and if we look at this very dynamic 1926-34 period of innovation where a lot of these airplanes emerge, the vega is one of the first to represent how the airplane will become modern over the course of the 1930's. through pilots like amelia earhart and wiley post ramped up the spectacle of flight. enthusiasm for flights across

oceans and around the world. the next airplane is an example of a commercial airliner that embodies new innovations that enable airplanes to fly higher, faster, and further. in this case, carrying passengers for airlines in the 1930's. it is called one of the first modern airliners and is one of the first modern airplanes overall win it is introduced in 1933. it reflects this heritage of reinventing the airplane after world war i. it has all metal construction. there has been a significant transition from strut and wire brace construction of the wright brothers to the construction of the vega, the spirit of the st. louis, and now, you're looking at an all metal airplane. you make these aircrafts bigger. you put engine pods on them. and you have jet airliners of the 1950's.

we are looking at the beginning of that with this airplane in which the late 1920's and early 1930's, boeing company, they want to build upon this new aircraft design called the b -9 bomber. they want to develop that into a commercial airliner. the 247 is the result of that which embodies all metal construction, but also the idea of the streamlined design. you have incorporated it into an airplane to make it go faster. with the unveiling of the 247, you have a 170 mile per hour airplane capable of carrying passengers. that is a jump over the ford tri motor. it is carrying people longer distances.

it compresses the 27 hours of transcontinental flight time across the united states into 19.5 hours. here's another element that plays into the equation, the vast distances of the united states pushed the development of commercial aircraft. by 1933, you have an airliner capable of flying faster than most advanced army percent airplanes. -- pursuit airplanes. that shifts the knowledge and perception of what these airplanes can do. the united aircraft and transport organization is the parent company of boeing aircraft. it also owns preston woody and also owned several airlines including united airlines. airplanes andhese under the corporate umbrella, they go through the united aircraft transport company.

other airlines don't have this airplane available. what results is twa under jack fry asked other aircraft manufacturers, can you help us out? we want to replace the tri motor. what results is a winning it for thatthe douglas company becomes this. as the 247 starts, it has some innovations built into it which are quite traditional. it has six pitch propellers. a forward sloping wind screen. and the result of the need to compete with the dc series of airlines from douglas, you have what results in the 247 d model. rear slanting windscreens and

variable pitch propellers. what i mean by that is hydraulic mechanisms that change the blade pitched as the propellers are rotating. it increases the cruise to 188 miles per hour. but the 247 can't compete. series after 1935 becomes the preeminent modern airplane of the 1930's. there's a very interesting story in which the dc-2 and 247 get into a race in the fall of 1934. this australian millionaire sponsored a long-distance race connecting great britain to australia, melbourne. it is 11,300 miles. it is an international race. they want to see who can win. at the end, a douglas dc 2 and a boeing 247, come in second and third.

the first airplane is a purpose built air racer. and 247 show how american aeronautical technology has surpassed and jumped ahead of european technology. it is the ability of those airplanes and the dc flies and makes stops along the way. thes the 247 flown by flamboyant pilot and his copilot they come in third. , a 92 hour flight, they make stops and get lost and have engine trouble, but they make it. it is the airplane here that made the flight and it is part of the story in which the international press says, the united states has jumped ahead in aeronautical technology how , do we catch up? it is a shock.

this aircraft, goes back into the airlines inventory and goes out of service eventually and has several owners. in the early 1970's, it is given to the smithsonian from united airlines and it is restored. and the view that you see here on the right side is in its united airlines markings during the race. on the other side are the markings the airplane cover had during the mcrobertson race. in 1976, this was put on display in the transport gallery to show the story of the first crucial moment of the modern airplane, in this case, an airliner , appearing in the 1930's. the boeing 247 d we were

discussing was the state-of-the-art in 1933. it epitomized the technology that would become the modern airplane. power, bigger, different but it is the aircraft that we know in terms of the structure and shape, especially in terms of jet airliners today. the airplane behind me, a very different airplane that emerged in the late 1950's. it is a research plane. beginning with the bell x1, the airplane designed to investigate supersonic flight. there's this new generation of aircraft created through the naca, building airplanes just for investigating aerodynamic phenomenon or some sort of aeronautical challenge that could be overcome fundamentally.

x1 was the supersonic machine. you have a succession of airplanes that will look at construction techniques and different types of wings. it is the x15 program that investigates the hypersonic regime, speeds beyond mach 4. looking at the partnership between industry, the military, u.s. air force, the primary benefactor of high-speed naca whichd the transitions into nasa, this program investigates the hypersonic regime and does this by testing this aircraft as an aerospace plane. the longer are we talking that about airplanes in the atmosphere. here is a vehicle designed to transition from the earth

atmosphere into space. taking that idea and pushing the idea of higher and faster, you're looking at a vehicle that in its present form, designed for the hypersonic regime. that means, it has to be a vehicle that can fly in the atmosphere that has traditional controls that allow it to maneuver in the atmosphere, but also needs a new system. if you look at the nose of the aircraft, there are two holes in front of the white rectangle. those are reaction controls. as the aerodynamic ability goes away, it uses reaction controls to control the aircraft. this is a true aerospace plane designed as a research airplane to investigate the hypersonic regime. the idea is to do this and make the aircraft survived. shape is there

for the hypersonic regime. it is more the shape of the fuselage. you don't see a big fat wing. it is a very compact structure. the tail is to facilitate control in the hypersonic regime. the air traveling over the surface of this vehicle was estimated to be up to 1200 degrees fahrenheit. that warranted the creation of a new material to make the aircraft out of that would influence other high-speed aircraft. it is a nickel alloy, these are space-age materials being put into an aerospace plane. ear pressurized suits like astronauts. this is a concurrent program with the mercury, gemini and apollo program. the last element is the reaction motors. this is not an airplane designed

to take off and land from the ground. it is designed to be carried by a b-52 bomber connverted into a mothership. carried up to 40,000 feet, it would be dropped. the pilot would engage the rocket engine and do whatever he needed to do. beginning in 1959, scott crossfield, the north american research engineering test pilot, makes the first test flight with the x15. seeing where it can fly, how it can fly. by the mid-1960's, you have a flight program that is influenced and encouraged how the space program developed this program. there is a high range they are operating and flown over. they are trapped.

you are tracking this aircraft. by the mid-to late 1960's, x15 flights are pushing the regime in terms of flying 67 miles high or about 3400 feet or at a high speed of mach 6. 4500 miles per hour. the pilots of these vehicles are primarily nasa pilots or air force pilots. these are missions pushing people to believe that this is the way into space. is this what will be developed to make this transition? you have to think, when this in 1959,first flies charles lindbergh is alive. these generations of flyers and their memory, the idea of

higher, faster, further is being symbolized by the flight of the x15 through the 1960's. this was flown by scott crossfield and a number of nasa test pilots. including neil armstrong who was employed as a nasa research test pilot. it was something he was proud of in terms of flying. this was an alternate path that another type of vehicle was chosen for the atmosphere to space access but also in terms of the capsules for the mercury, gemini, and apollo programs. in a lot of ways, this was an alternate pathway that never happened, but the knowledge of the technology of designing a hypersonic vehicle in which, the x15 holds the record as the fastest man carrying vehicle to

this day. but the x15 is still a symbol of what might be the next plateau in terms of hypersonic flight. there are many individuals, especially in nasa today, who believe hypersonic travel is possible and there is research in unmanned hypersonic engines and they see these as a direct result of this work of this research airplane, the x15. i hope you have enjoyed this look at some of the one-of-a-kind path-breaking aircraft to illustrate this game of higher, faster, and further at the collection of the smithsonian. you can choose other examples, but i feel these illustrate the ideas of pushing the envelope, reinvention as well as looking at the spectacle of flight, how people get excited about seeing these and that touches upon the

ways of experiencing flight. we have our pilots and engineers who create the aircraft, we have passengers on airliners and we also have people watching and reading and learning about these stories about aviation that have shaped and transformed our world. in looking at these artifacts, that is one of the primary roles of the smithsonian to preserve these artifacts and share them with the american public and the rest of the world. in many ways, that has resonated with our visitors in terms of our success and in terms of us telling these stories and try to present these in new ways to share that, to show the different levels of experience as well as the importance of the technology. in many ways, the museum has grown from a celebration of technology and these important milestones to show how society and culture has been affected as well as how that has affected the technology itself. this is what has been exciting

to talk about my take on this it to share that with visitors. >> you can watch this or other programs and any time by visiting our >> i am a history buff. i do enjoy seeing the fabrics of our country and how they are made. >> american artifacts is a fantastic show. >> with american history tv, it gives you that perspective. >> i am a c-span fan. >> u.s. house of representatives historian and house curator join associate historian of the

senate catherine stott in a presentation about the u.s. capitol h program. using of a right of images, they discuss their latest research into the program, recent acquisition of artifacts, and historic milestone such as the first african-american page and the first women pages. the u.s. capitol page alumni association hosted this hour-long event as part of a reunion of pages. >> welcome back. panel to moderate and introduce the panel of house and house historians, a historian himself. we at the alumni association have developed a great relationship with the house and senate history offices and i'm reminder,ded -- a what you heard in the previous panel, sometimes the historians arlo