A contender in the Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Competition. In 1931 it was sold the NACA and used for wind-tunnel and air testing of full-span slots. The Elizabeth S. Keast Photograph Collection/The Museum of Flight

Participant in the Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Competition held in New York. The winner was the Curtiss Tanager which used without approval Handley-Page's patented slotted wing. Curtiss admitted the transgression in court. G-AACN has been preserved by the Science Museum in London. Photo from: The Elizabeth S. Keast Photograph Collection/The Museum of Flight

Lt Jack Conroy of the California ANG flew from Van Nuys, California, to Mitchel AFB, New York and back in 11 hours hours and 26 minutes total elapsed time, making two refuelling stops eastbound and three westbound. Photo by: Ralph Morse / Life

The O-46, which entered service in 1936, was overtaken by the need for observation aircraft to be nimble, small and able to use rudimentary airfields. The O-46 was a large, lumbering aircraft that would have been a sitting duck for fighters. A few were in the Philippines at the start of the Pacific war in 1941 but mostly they were US based with the Air National Guard or on mundane utility work. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

On display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. Successor to the F9F Panther, this F9F-7 was one of 168 built that was powered by the Allison J33 engine. Most of these were refitted with the Pratt & Whitney J48 and redesignated as F-9H.

Full-scale replica on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum.

On display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. This Wildcat flying from USS Sable ditched in Lake Michigan on Jan. 16, 1944. At the time, many pilots qualified for deck landing on USS Sable and USS Wolverine, which were side paddle-wheel aircraft carriers. Quite a few aircraft were lost in Lake Michigan, and this Wildcat was recovered in 1988.

On display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. This aircraft was built as a CV-340-68 and was converted to a CV-440. It served with a number of airlines, and with the Luftwaffe as 12+01. Its last civil registration was N24AT. This nose section has been painted to represent a Lufthansa Convairliner. Lufthansa flew four CV-340s and seven CV-440s on short-haul routes, inaugurating its domestic services on April 1, 1955.

One of five "Intruder II" development aircraft built, on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. Intended as an upgrade for the successful A-6E, it was to feature the GE F404 turbofan, new avionics and two more wing pylons, bringing the number of stations to seven. The first flight of the A-6F was on Aug. 2, 1987. The A-6F program got cancelled when the US Navy preferred the A-12 Avenger II, which in turn was cancelled.

On display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. In the aviation boom following Lindbergh's transatlantic flight, the Robin became popular with its enclosed cabin and monoplane design. Designed in 1927 in Garden City before production shifted to St. Louis, Robins made several historic flights including a world endurance record of over 647 hours with refuelling in 1930. This Robin is equipped with EDO model 2880 floats.

"Long Island Duck II" on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum.

Nose section on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. This aircraft served with El Al for 23 years. It established two world records; one for the longest flight between New York and Tel Aviv, and the other for a speed record of 9 hours 33 min. between the two cities.

Registration cancelled on 13 February 1981