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7.

3. Accessions for the Year

The total number of accessions for this fiscal year is 18. The total number of specimens received is 267. Both of these figures exceed corresponding numbers for the past four years. In comparison to the last year in which the present curator was employed at the Museum prior to his departure for Naval service in mid year, the accessions for 1946 - 47 are one less than 1941 - 42 but the number of specimens is 151 more. In fact, the number of specimens exceeds those recorded in any year since 1933 when Aeronautics was first identified as a separate section. Some of the material received during the closing weeks of the year could not be processed for accessioning because of the pressure of more urgent work.

The outstanding accession for the year in point of historic importance is the collection of parts remaining from the gliders which were produced by John J. Montgomery. These were received from the University of Santa Clara, California, with the consent and cooperation of the family of John J. Montgomery. Montgomery's accomplishments in gliding date back to 1884 when he constructed and successfully operated a craft of tandem monoplane design which glided a distance of about 600 feet. During the following decade he maintained the lead in the construction and operation of successful gliders. He then decided to conduct further experiments 
for a while by laboratory tests and technical analysis. He was also required to devote much of his time to remunerative business. The leading position in gliding was then taken by Otto Lilienthal of Germany. Montgomery resumed full-scale experiments in 1905. This was two years after the Wright Brothers made their first powered flight. Montgomery's method for launching his gliders in 1905 was to elevate them to a height of several thousand