On April 6, 1917, when the United States declared war on the Central powers, U.S. naval aviation consisted of 48 officers, 289 enlisted men, 54 airplanes, 1 airship, 3 balloons, and 1 air station. By war's end on November 11, 1918, U.S. naval aviation had expanded to include 6,716 officers and 30,693 enlisted men in Navy service and 282 officers and 2,180 men in Marine Corps service. Total aircraft included 2,107 airplanes and 215 kite and free balloons, while the number of air stations had grown from one to 36, 26 of them outside the United States. The museum's World War I exhibit is divided into four distinct dioramas [Click Here for More Exhibit Images], including a seaplane as it would have appeared on the shores of Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida, and an airfield scene somewhere in France showing a battle-scarred building that serves as a makeshift home for combat pilots complete with wartime music and a flickering flame in a pot belly stove. A machine gun nest guards a muddy airstrip on which a biplane sits ready to launch on a mission. This diorama also includes a period ambulance poised to take wounded airman to a field hospital. The remaining two dioramas explore the impact of the airplane’s participation in World War I, the first conflict in which airplanes served in great number. The accomplishments of wartime aviators captured the public's imagination, continued during the Barnstorming era represented by a JN-4 Jenny sitting on a farmer’s field in the American heartland. Next to it, a Sopwith Camel appears ready for flight from a makeshift wooden deck atop a battleship turret in a diorama reflecting a scene in 1919 when the U.S. Navy began experiments that marked the first steps towards construction of an aircraft carrier. Each diorama includes a touch screen kiosk with interactive programs. Literally at their fingertips, visitors can learn about each diorama, the information complemented by period images. They can also view an animated dogfight, read about wartime aircraft, and hear voices from the past in the form of words from actual letters written by World War I servicemen at Pensacola and overseas. For a more detailed history of US Naval Aviation’s contributions and history during World War I, visit the Navy Historical Center’s official website: http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/avchr2.htm.