Founded in 1953 by Gen. Carl A. "Tooey" Spaatz and other air power pioneers, the Air Force Historical Foundation is dedicated to preserving the history and traditions of American aviation, with emphasis on the U.S. Air Force, its predecessor organizations, and the men and women whose lives and dreams were devoted to flight. The Foundation’s primary activities include a quarterly journal Air Power History, a book program, a biennial symposium and an awards program.
Samuel Pierpoint Langley, the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, flies an exact-scale gasoline model miniature (one-quarter scale) of his Aerodome A, which he intended to launch from a houseboat on the Potomac River.