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10.

represented in that one of the Naval Officers who assisted in setting up and maintaining this project was the curator of the division of Aeronautics who was loaned to the Navy and commissioned for this specific undertaking.

Another war development by the curator was the Navy Target Kite. This differs from the conventional kite in that it is flown with two lines and is maneuverable. In the air it resembles an airplane in appearance as well as in performance and can execute loops, figure eights, wide lateral swings, climbs and descents of any angle, and vertical dives. Its speed in the air is two to three times as fast as the prevailing wind. It provides a constantly moving target which requires skilled dexterity by the gunners to hit it. These target kites were extensively used not only during basic gunnery training but also to maintain the alert efficiency of gunners aboard ship and in advanced areas. It was patented by the Navy in the name of the inventor who has donated a complete assembly of kite and handling equipment to the collection.

Another very interesting kite received this year operates on the autogiro principle. It is the gift of Carl Chubb, the inventor, who performed an important part in the development of the full-scale autogiro in America. During the war the Germans adopted the basic features of this kite in the construction of a man-carrying rotor-craft which was carried, knocked-down, aboard their submarines. It could be quickly assembled and used to elevate an observer several thousand feet to sit aloft as a lookout and communicate his observations to the ship by telephone.

Our background of aeronautical history has been augmented by a group of objects associated with Salomon August Andree, who in 1897 with two companions made a balloon ascent in the Arctic which it was believed might carry them over the North Pole. Their fate was a mystery for many years, but in 1930 their remains were discovered by an exploration party. Their