On loan from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the Navy/Curtiss NC-4 flying boat is one of the most famous aircraft in the world. In May 1919, it became the first aircraft in history to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.  To learn more about this technological marvel and view images taken during its service in 1919 and 1920, click here.

Complementing the display of the famous NC-4 flying boat is an exhibit telling its brief, but eventful, career. The exhibit, built to look like the interior of a wooden hangar from the era in which the NC-4 operated, tells the story of its construction, transatlantic flight, recruiting tour of the Southeastern United States, and eventual restoration by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Included are artifacts from members of the crew.

Walter Hinton joined the Navy in 1908, serving as an enlisted man in various ships before reporting to Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida, for flight training in April 1917. He was the co-pilot of the NC-4 on its transatlantic flight and participated in the aircraft's recruiting tour. Walter Hinton was a born adventurer and after resigning his commission in 1922, he completed a goodwill flight between New York City and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, sponsored by the New York World newspaper. During 1924–1925 he conducted an aerial mapping of 12,000 square miles of the Amazon in Brazil as part of the Rice Scientific Expedition. He lived long enough to see the unveiling of the NC-4 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the transatlantic flight and visited it after it was placed on display in Pensacola. He was the last surviving crew member of the NC-4.

Pioneer aircraft manufacturer Glenn H. Curtiss even before World War I had visions of an aircraft flying the Atlantic.  Teaming up with the Navy to produce the NC flying boats, he was justifiably proud of the accomplishment of the NC-4 and awarded each member of the crew a watch.  The one that belonged to Lieutenant (junior grade) Walter Hinton, NC-4's co-pilot, displays a unique design on its face that spells out the letters "NC" to commemorate the aircraft.