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Beginning with the 1903 Wright Flyer, lightweight aircraft engines made of aluminum were vital to the advancement of aviation. The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior is a nine-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine. It was developed as a smaller version of the R-1340 Wasp radial, Pratt & Whitney’s first engine introduced in the late 1920s. The Wasp Junior was designed for the mid-size engine market and was installed in numerous civil, commercial, and military aircraft. Louise Thaden (1905–1979) and Blanche Noyes (1900–1981) won the 1936 Bendix air race trophy in a Beechcraft Model C17R Staggerwing powered by a Wasp Junior engine. The Wasp Junior was constructed of a combination of aluminum and steel. The cylinder barrels were machined from steel, while the heads were cast from aluminum. The flat-head, full skirt type pistons were machined from aluminum forgings, and the crankcase was also forged from aluminum. "Aluminum: The Miracle Metal of Aviation" is on display, pre-security, in the Aviation Museum and Library in the International Terminal. http://bit.ly/AviationAluminum This image was posted on June 20, 2019.

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This post mentions the following things involved with the SFO Museum collection:

Aluminum: The Miracle Metal of Aviation
This aviation exhibition was on display between March 2019 and 2017~ in the AML Aviation Museum Gallery 01 gallery, located in International Terminal
Aluminum: The Miracle Metal of Aviation
This aviation exhibition was on display between 2017~ and July 2019 in the AML Aviation Museum Gallery 01 gallery, located in International Terminal