Posts Tagged flying
You may know that the Sikorsky VS-300A helicopter on display in Heroes of the Sky in the Henry Ford Museum was the first practical helicopter in the United States. Inventor Igor Sikorsky piloted this craft for about an hour and a half on May 6, 1941, setting a world endurance record. In 1943, as shown in this photograph, Sikorsky demonstrated the machine on the front lawn of the Henry Ford Museum just before donating it. Attendees at the event included Henry and Clara Ford, Henry Ford II, Charles Lindbergh, and Les Morris, Sikorsky’s chief test pilot. We’ve just digitized a number of photos related to the ceremony, Sikorsky, and helicopters in general—view them all in our digital collections.
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections and Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
20th century, immigrants, Heroes of the Sky, inventors, Henry Ford Museum, flying, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl
On October 23, 1934, the husband-and-wife team of Jean and Jeannette Piccard navigated a balloon as high as 10.9 miles above the earth, starting from Dearborn, Michigan, and landing many hours later hundreds of miles away in Ohio. This flight reached the stratosphere, and set the women’s altitude record for Jeanette, which she held until the early 1960s. The Henry Ford has digitized about 40 photographs and documents related to the flight, including this quirky photo of Charles Roscoe Miles, a Lincoln portrayer visiting Dearborn at the invitation of Henry Ford, examining the gondola a few days before the flight. Find more material documenting the adventure before, during, and after the flight on The Henry Ford’s collections website. (If you want even more, browse additional Piccard material in the digital collections of the Detroit Historical Society, and read their accompanying blog post.)
Ellice Engdahl is Digital Collections & Content Manager at The Henry Ford.
aviators, women's history, Michigan, Dearborn, flying, digital collections, by Ellice Engdahl
By 1925, Americans could travel long distances by train or automobile. Rail lines and new numbered highways nearly spanned the country. Though air travel was an interesting suggestion, it seemed unreliable. Airplanes were incredible inventions that had crossed oceans and navigated the globe. But there had been accidents, and too many had been fatal. Americans thought it best to leave planes to the brave—soldiers who’d flown in World War I. Entrepreneurial barnstormers. A few intrepid airmail pilots. Continue Reading
Henry Ford Museum, Heroes of the Sky, 20th century, 1930s, 1920s, travel, flying, by Saige Jedele, aviators, airplanes, #THFCuratorChat
