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5.

2. Preservation of Collections

Upon returning to the Museum from Naval service and making a tour of the areas devoted to aeronautical exhibits it became evident to the curator that, although the limited staff which had remained during the war had done their best to maintain the collections in order, there were many exhibits in damaged condition.  Adding the Bell P-59 "Airacomet" to the collections in the Aircraft Building, had resulted in extreme over-crowding of the other aircraft there.  Repair and adjustment of specimens was, therefore, an urgent need.

In the early part of this fiscal year a decision by the head curator of Engineering and Industries, whereby the exhibits of Mineral Technology were condensed, made available for Aeronautics the West South Range of the Arts and Industries Building.  The first step in renovation of the collection took advantage of this increased space and the Curtiss Army Racer R3-C2 was removed from the western end of the Aircraft Building and installed in the West South Range.  By moving several cases from the crowded aisle, more visitor-space was provided.  The Douglas World Cruiser was next moved west and north to open up the central area of the building and finally the group of World War I airplanes [[strikethrough]]were [[strikethrough]] ^[[was]] adjusted so that the eastern end was improved.

Many of the unit cases containing scale models were greatly in need of straightening up and individual repairs.  In this category the groups of "Early Birds," Navy types, airplanes of World War I, amphibious models, Thompson Trophy Racers, and Transatlantic flyers, have been renovated.  All of the lighter-than-air exhibits have been cleaned and repaired. The plastic windscreens on the Loening Amphibian, "San Francisco" which had