The Flight Deck

Air traffic control has come a long way since the early days of aviation in the 1930s, and our very own Helen Parker Wall takes us back to the technologies that evolved to create the current state of safe flying.

Air traffic controller Helen Parker Wall discusses the technologies and incidents that prompted change in navigation and communication between the ground and the pilot to keep the skies and the runways safe. Before WWII, pilots and air traffic controllers relied on the triangulation of radio transmissions to track flights, and in 1934 the Department of Commerce set up en route facilities, the first one being in Newark, New Jersey. This was all before the development of radar, so there was nothing for pilots or controllers to look at to track flights. Arrival times were determined the old-fashioned way: mental math that calculated a plane’s speed, distance, and altitude. It wasn’t until a 1931 crash that killed all its passengers, including famous Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, that regulatory agencies like the FAA were established to ensure the safety of all air travelers, pilots, and air traffic controllers. When radars and advanced communications tools became popular after WWII, air traffic safety improved and air travel increased. Despite those early chaotic days of air traffic control, Wall says that she wouldn’t mind going back to the 1920s to be an air traffic controller: “I just love being around planes, no matter what decade they’re in or what technology is around.”

Learn more about air traffic safety by checking out the Safety by Design exhibits in our Great Gallery and Aviation Pavillion!

Host: Sean Mobley

Producer: Keny Dutton

Web Master: Layne Benofsky

Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

First Korean astronaut SoYeon Yi tells that story of determination that took her from backup astronaut to primary, securing her place in aerospace history.

SoYeon Yi spent a year in the Russian cosmonaut program, half of which was classroom-based and half of which was focused on work in the simulators. SoYeon recalls that the classroom portion focused on aircraft systems, safety, mechanics, and theory along with Russian language training. This classroom portion was followed by time in the simulator, when SoYeon really began to appreciate life as a backup astronaut. It meant that she could avoid the spotlight, unlike her male colleague and primary candidate, who was under constant media scrutiny. She also accepted her place within the context of Korean society: “I knew I would always be a backup. In male-dominated Korean culture, that would just be the reality.” Her self-awareness as a woman and minority—from her experiences as a working-class child navigating upper-class society, and as a woman in a mechanical engineering program—actually helped her advance to the primary position. SoYeon excelled in collaboration and listening, remained humble, and always learned from her mistakes. Over time, her Russian supervisors noticed these qualities, along with her work ethic (did we mention she was also writing and defending her PhD dissertation at the same time as her astronaut training?) and recommended to the Korean government that SoYeon take the primary position. After some discussions amongst the Russians and Koreans, it was decided the SoYeon replace her male colleague as the primary astronaut, and the rest was history.

Want to learn more about how astronauts train and live in space? Check out our Space Gallery and visit our newest exhibition “Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission!”

Host: Sean Mobley

Producer: Keny Dutton

Web Master: Layne Benofsky

Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Airships are lighter than air craft whose history goes back to mid-nineteenth century France and comes to a screeching halt after World War Two. Learn more about what makes air ships such a unique part of aviation history in our latest Flight Deck Podcast episode!

Joshua Carver, a student in our Museum Apprentice Program who’s about to begin his freshman year at Embry-Riddle University, created a fascinating presentation about airships as part of his apprenticeship at the Museum. During this time, he learned all about dirigibles, explosions, and how an aircraft carrier could fly back in 1931. Joshua traces airship history back to France in the mid-nineteenth century: “Balloons really were the posterchildren of France . . . they were the first country use balloons in combat.” Soon enough, balloons appeared on Civil War battlefields in the United States and were reborn in Germany as Zeppelins, created by none other than Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. By the time World War One erupted, the Germans developed their Zeppelins to bomb and surveil the UK. And while the Zeppelins weren’t the most accurate war machines, they did fulfill the goal of psychological warfare: the British never knew where the zeppelins would be or where the bombs would drop. But airships in the US never quite succeeded militarily, as seen in the example of the USS Akron and the USS Macon.

Learn more about the Museum Apprentice Program to get involved in fun Museum projects!

And don’t forget to explore more amazing World War One artifacts via our Digital Collections.

Host: Sean Mobley

Producer: Keny Dutton

Web Master: Layne Benofsky

Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Bessie Coleman is the world’s first black woman pilot, and her great-niece Gigi Coleman carries on the pilot’s legacy by performing her life story. Learn more about how Bessie Coleman’s bravery and persistence helped her make aviation history.

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Gigi Coleman, great-niece of the world’s first African American and Native American pilot Bessie Coleman, carries on her great-aunt’s legacy. Bessie was the tenth of thirteen children and the sister of Gigi’s grandmother. As Gigi was growing up, she didn’t fully grasp the historical importance of her great-aunt Bessie, but Gigi does recall local reporters interviewing her grandmother about Bessie. Despite a disappointing start to her aviation career, which included getting rejected from a number of aviation schools in the Chicago area, Bessie set off for France, where she hoped she would have better luck learning to fly. Bessie learned French and eventually earned a flight certification that’s recognized around the world. Gigi comments that Bessie’s achievement was remarkable at that time, “because at that time no one thought people of color had the intellect to operate an aircraft, let alone a woman of color!” Back in the states, Bessie applied her flight skills to barnstorming shows, which helped her earn money that would go towards establishing her own flight school. Today, Gigi’s own nonprofit inspires students of color to pursue aviation careers, a goal that Bessie surely would have supported.

Learn more about Gigi’s amazing work and support her upcoming event in April!

Check out our Calendar for info on Museum programs about the history of flight, and get a Membership so you can enjoy these events by visiting the Museum for free!

Host: Sean Mobley

Producer: Sean Mobley

Web Master: Layne Benofsky

Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

: Jerry Coy, who was featured in our episode about the 747, isn’t just an experienced commercial airline pilot—he’s also a military veteran, and his experiences during Vietnam warrant their very own episode. Coy tells us about the time his pilot duties took him outside his usual routine and placed him in charge of a complicated rescue mission. One night Coy gets a call from a staff sergeant to support an operation by the Green Berets. “I always carry a bag of hand grenades in my plane,” says Coy, and explains that the staff sergeant instructed him to fly over a particular location to break the Green Beret’s contact with the Northern Vietnamese Army. After he was almost shot down by an NVA mortar, Coy directed the Green Berets to head east as he continued throwing grenades from his cockpit. Eventually, the Green Berets reached a secure location where they met with the USAF Green Hornet helicopters that lifted them out of the conflict zone. The Green Berets were so grateful for Coy’s assistance, they nominated him for the Silver Star.

Want to hear more great stories from pilots? Check out our Digital Archives Oral Histories, which are made possible through the generous support of Michael and Mary Kay Hallman.

Host: Sean Mobley

Producer: Sean Mobley

Web Master: Layne Benofsky

Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Today, Air Traffic Control towers loom over airports, bringing order and safety to a huge network of airplanes crossing the globe. But what was it like to fly in the earliest days of aviation, before radios or signal towers? Retired FAA Air Traffic Controller Helen Parke-Wall shares stories from the beginnings of ATC.

If you’ve hiked the prairies of the Midwest or the backcountry of the Southwestern United States, you may have stumbled across a massive, concrete arrow embedded into the ground. No, this wasn’t a relic of some long-forgotten civilization. It was one of several early attempts to help pilots find their way through the perilous skies of early aviation history. Museum of Flight Docent and retired FAA Executive/Air Traffic Controller Helen Parke-Wall sat down with us to talk about the origins of the Federal Aviation Administration.

See some of the early tools for aviation navigation and organization yourself in The Museum of Flight’s Red Barn and Great Gallery exhibits. Plan your visit at http://museumofflight.org/.

Check out Airplane Geeks Podcast episode 539, featuring Museum of Flight Docent/Boeing 747 first flight test team member Thomas Gray and The Flight Deck host Sean Mobley here: http://www.airplanegeeks.com/2019/02/13/539-boeing-747-first-flight/. Thanks Airplane Geeks for the chance to chat!

Host: Sean Mobley

Producer: Sean Mobley

Webmaster: Layne Benofsky

Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

*NOTE: During this episode, you may hear the interviewer and interviewee refer to “the 400” or “dash 100.” These numbers refer to variants of the 747. Just like apples have different varieties—fuji, honeycrisp, MacIntosh, etc—planes have their own variations, too!

When Boeing released the 747, it changed the aviation industry forever. The story of the 747’s development, however, must be told alongside the stories of the pilots who flew it. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 747’s first flight, we feature an oral history with pilot Jerry Coy, who flew the 747 during its heyday. Coy has piloted planes for 40 years, including 330 combat missions, but his commercial career is just as fascinating. This week he shares the story of how difficult it was for pilots to be chosen to fly the Queen of the Skies, because it was all based on seniority. And once a pilot was chosen to fly, they were in charge of transporting hundreds of passengers all around the globe. Coy flew from Seattle to Tokyo, and he recalls a scary instance in which an engine failed. Coy’s stories are an ideal way to celebrate the amazing history of this incredible plane!

Listen to more fascinating oral histories by visiting our digital archives page, and then take a moment to learn more about the very first 747 ever flown.

The Oral History Program is made possible by the generous support of Michael and Mary Kay Hallman.

Host: Sean Mobley

Producer: Sean Mobley

Webmaster: Layne Benofsky

Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Sometimes the story of how we acquired an artifact is just as interesting as the artifact itself. Such is the case with the Soviet-built MiG-21 that stands in our Great Gallery. Bruce Florsheim, one of our docents and an active player in getting the MiG to Seattle, explains the historical significance of the MiG and how it ended up in our Museum. “In its time, the MiG 21 became the most produced supersonic jet in aviation history and the most produced combat aircraft since WWII,” says Florsheim. The Soviets loved it because it was rugged—it could easily take off from unprepared fields—and inexpensive to produce: you didn’t have to be a mechanical genius to build it or maintain it. Back in 1994, the MiG caught the eye of Boeing VP Jim Blue as he was touring an aircraft factory in the Czech Republic. Blue saw that a large group of them were covered in a tarp, and he asked his host what the plans were for the jets. “They will be scrapped,” said the Czech guide, and Blue, then a Museum trustee, knew that he had to acquire one. At first the Czechs refused to sell the plane, but Blue persisted, and eventually the plane was disassembled and embarked on a months-long adventure across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and up to Seattle, where it was rebuilt and displayed in the Museum. The two Czech mechanics who were flown over to help rebuild it experienced an adventure of their own when Blue introduced them to American-style supermarkets.

Learn more about the MiG 21 here and then come see it in person in our Vietnam Divided: War Above Southeast Asia exhibit.

Host: Sean Mobley

Producer: Sean Mobley

Webmaster: Layne Benofsky

Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

What do you get when a WWII American Fighter Ace has the same name as a Hollywood icon and doesn’t get rid of anything? The Lt. Col. James C Stewart Collection! Amy Heidrick, Associate Director of Collections, delves into the archives of the American Fighter Aces Association to reveal the stories that these objects tell about being a fighter ace during WWII. One of our most robust collections belongs to Lt. Col. James C. Stewart, or Jimmy Stewart as he was known. He happened to be serving in the European theater at the same time as the Hollywood actor Jimmy Stewart, which led to some interesting items being included in his collection, like misdirected fan mail. According to Heidrick, “Jimmy Stewart didn’t get rid of anything, it seems,” which leaves us with a robust collection of uniforms, survival gear, and photographs. The survival kit, which hasn’t been opened in 70 years, contains some interesting items. “There’s a fishing kit,” says Heidrick. “If you had to bail out, perhaps over the ocean, and you were in a raft, you would have a fishing kit. There’s different kinds of lures, different kinds of fish hooks, lines, anything you would need to potentially fish in the middle of the ocean.” Some more notable items include food items with directions not to leave the wrapper laying around after use; loose lips sink ships, after all.

Looking to learn more about the American Fighter Aces? Check out our J. Elroy McCaw Personal Courage Wing and our Digital Archives Oral History Collection.

Host: Sean Mobley

Producer: Sean Mobley

Webmaster: Layne Benofsky

Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

The clock was ticking in 1968, and the race to the Moon was on. The Apollo 8 mission, which came about by accident as NASA was finalizing tests on weight and vehicle performance, sent a crew to the Moon to see if humans could fly safely on the Saturn V rocket. They did, and one of the most amazing takeaways of the mission—aside from the safe return of the astronauts—was the famous Earthrise photo taken on Christmas Eve and the unexpected lesson it taught us: our place in the Universe. NASA historian Dr. Bill Barry says that the “barren, lifeless terrain of the Moon, set against a black sky with nothing out there, and this one little blue and white dot that’s our planet, impacted our perspective of Earth, humanity, and our shared future.” That photo, along with the astronauts reading from the first book of Genesis, is a testament to how space exploration inspires people to do their best, be creative, and work together in a positive way.

Want to learn more about how the APOLLO missions changed the world? Stop by our APOLLO exhibit, which closes on January 2, 2019, and then mark your calendars for the opening of Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission in April 2019, which features the original Command Module that landed on the Moon.

Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission is an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. This traveling exhibit comes to our Museum in 2019.

Host: Sean Mobley

Producer: Keny Dutton

Webmaster: Layne Benofsky

Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla