Wings in the Museum

No single wing shape works best for all airplanes or for all speeds. Here are a few examples of different kinds of wings on view at the Museum.

The Wright 1903 Flyer (in the Milestones of Flight gallery) was the first successful airplane. It flew at very low speeds-- about 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour.

The Spirit of St. Louis (in the Milestones of Flight gallery), in which Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean, flew at about 170 kilometers (110 miles) per hour.

The Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis (in the Milestones of Flight gallery) was the first airplane to exceed the speed of sound, about 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) per hour.

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter (next to the Einstein Planetarium on the second floor) could fly at twice the speed of sound, about 2,200 kilometers (1,400 miles) per hour.

The X-15 (in the Milestones of Flight gallery) was the world's highest flying and fastest flying airplane. It reached speeds of six times that of sound--7,200 kilometers (4,500 miles) per hour.