The Beginning of an Historic Journey
In 2002, The Henry Ford received funding from Northwest Airlines, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities to create an exhibit that would tell the gripping history of flight. We had 15 planes to display; however, we did not merely want to present the planes in a linear narrative; rather, we wanted to tell how aviation came to the pivotal role it plays today.
“For years we followed the traditional practice among aviation museums of ‘park plane, place plaque,’” said Bob Casey, former Curator of Transportation. “This time we decided to make the connections between the larger story of aviation within our culture and the specifics of people’s individual stories.”
In evaluating the museum’s aircraft collection, the project team chose to highlight themes and personal stories. These are divided into five categories: inventors, barnstormers, record-breakers, explorers, and entrepreneurs.
“We want the widest possible audience to be engaged, not just flight enthusiasts,” says Donna R. Braden, Curator of Public Life and Exhibit Project Director. “So in every topic there are multiple ways to become engaged emotionally—it’s not an exhibit in which one size fits all.”
The Center of Sky Travel
The centerpiece of the exhibit is a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer, built by Ken Hyde of the Wright Experience in Virginia. The rest of the planes revolve around the Flyer, demonstrating that no advancements in aviation would be possible without the Wright brothers’ original invention. However, while the brothers were brilliant engineers, they were not good businessmen. They failed to discover a practical use for their airplane, rais ...More...
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