United States General Accounting Office

GAO Testimony

Before the Subcommittee on Government Management,

Information, and Technology, Committee on Government

Reform and Oversight, and the Committee on House

Oversight, House of Representatives

For Release

on Delivery

Expected at

10:30 a.m. EDT

Wednesday

September 25, 1996

SMITHSONIAN

INSTITUTION

Care of National Air and

Space Museum Aircraft

Statement of J. William Gadsby

Director, Government Business Operations Issues

General Government Division

G O A

years

1921 - 1996

GAO/T-GGD-96-192

Summary

Smithsonian

Institution: Care of

National Air and

Space Museum

Aircraft

At the request of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, GAO last year reviewed the

care of the aircraft collection of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space

Museum (NASM). In its October 1995 report, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION:

Better Care Needed for National Air and Space Museum Aircraft

(GAO/GGD-96-9, October 19, 1995), GAO found that NASM committed relatively

few resources to aircraft restoration, compared to other museum

activities. However, even if NASM restored more aircraft, the museum

lacked adequate storage facilities to protect them from deterioration.

NASM’s storage facilities, located mainly in Suitland, Maryland, consisted of

buildings lacking humidity controls or air-conditioning, some buildings

had leaking roofs, and only some were heated. As a result, the aircraft in

storage were deteriorating, including previously restored aircraft. NASM has

consistently requested increased funding for collections management and

for storage facilities repairs in recent years, but NASM must compete with

other Smithsonian museums for limited resources and had been unable to

obtain needed funding. NASM officials cited plans for a new extension

facility at Dulles Airport, Virginia, as the solution. As currently structured,

the Smithsonian will have to raise at least $100 million in private funds for

its construction.

GAO made several recommendations to address the care of the collection.

In August 1996, NASM’s Director said actions were underway that addressed

the GAO recommendations. Further, in September 1996, the Smithsonian

Board of Regents approved a resolution encouraging the formation of

partnerships with other museums that could care for Smithsonian artifacts

as a means of reducing storage problems. It appears that the Smithsonian

is taking steps in the right direction to improve the care of aircraft in the

NASM collection. To be successful, the Smithsonian will have to carry

through on its initiated actions to develop a more clearly defined mission,

collection priorities, and plans for the care of aircraft. Further, it remains

to be seen how successful the Smithsonian will be in raising private funds

for the Dulles extension and how long this effort will take.

Page 1 GAO/T-GGD-96-192
Statement

Smithsonian

Institution: Care of

National Air and

Space Museum

Aircraft

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

We are pleased to be here today to discuss the report that we issued last

October to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on matters relating to aircraft

restoration at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space

Museum (NASM).1

 Senator Hutchison asked us to review whether NASM

restored a sufficient number of aircraft to prevent deterioration of its

collection. Our review included an assessment of the rate of aircraft

restoration, an examination of the adequacy of facilities for preserving

aircraft, and an identification of options to better care for the collection.

In general, we found that NASM committed relatively few resources to

restoration, compared to (1) other NASM museum activities and (2) the

resources committed by the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. But we

also found that even if NASM increased its restoration efforts, the museum

would not have enough space with environmental controls to properly

store or display the restored aircraft.

Let me now summarize our findings with respect to NASM’s preservation of

its aircraft collection.

Background In October 1995, NASM said that of the 344 aircraft in its collection, 62 were

on display at the museum on Washington’s Mall; 210 were stored at the

Paul E. Garber facility, in Suitland, Maryland; 58 were on loan to other

museums; 12 were stored at Dulles International Airport, Virginia; 1 was

stored at Department of Defense facilities in Tucson, Arizona, and 1 at

Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. NASM also estimated that 245 of its 344

aircraft were exhibitable, 55 needed minor work to be exhibitable, and 44

needed major restoration work.

Although the Smithsonian started collecting aircraft artifacts in 1876,

much of its collection was acquired after World War II by Smithsonian

employee Paul E. Garber, an aviation buff who joined the Institution in

1920. Mr. Garber obtained many of the Smithsonian’s aircraft from a

collection assembled at the conclusion of World War II by General Hap

Arnold, who believed that it was in the national interest to obtain one

example of each type of World War II aircraft. Around 1950, the

Smithsonian’s share of that collection was moved to a 21-acre tract of

federally owned land in Suitland, Maryland, for the Institution’s then newly

1

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: Better Care Needed for National Air and Space Museum Aircraft

(October 19, 1995, GAO/GGD-96-9).

Page 2 GAO/T-GGD-96-192
Statement

organized National Air Museum. The aircraft were mainly stored outside

from the early 1950s until they were moved into temporary storage

buildings, which were constructed primarily in the 1950s, 1960s, and

1970s.

In 1966, Congress changed the name of the National Air Museum to the

National Air and Space Museum and indicated that NASM should

“memorialize the national development of aviation and space flight;

collect, preserve, and display aeronautical and space flight equipment of

historical interest and significance; serve as a repository for scientific

equipment and data pertaining to the development of aviation and space

flight; and provide educational material for the historical study of aviation

and space flight.”

NASM operates on both federal funds, which are used primarily to pay

employee salaries, and private donations, which largely fund exhibits. In

fiscal year 1994, NASM received about $15.4 million in federal

appropriations, grants, and contracts. It also received $10.6 million in

nongovernmental funds, such as private donations and theater and gift

shop revenues.

Few Resources

Devoted to

Restoration

We found that NASM devoted relatively few resources to aircraft

restoration. In fiscal year 1994, NASM devoted about $2.7 million, or

14 percent of its total expenditures, on collections management, which

includes aircraft restoration.2

 From 1990 to 1995, NASM completed seven

aircraft restoration projects, while continuing four other restoration

projects. We estimated that it would take about 100 years to restore the 99

aircraft in its collection needing restoration work at current staffing levels.

Inadequate Storage

Facilities Were

Causing the

Collection to

Deteriorate

We reported that even if NASM were to restore more aircraft, the museum

did not have adequate storage facilities to protect them from deterioration.

Although the indoor storage facilities at Suitland were an improvement

over conditions when much of the aircraft collection was stored outdoors,

the buildings did not have humidity controls or air-conditioning, some had

leaky roofs, and only a few were heated. Because the storage facilities

were not environmentally controlled, the wood, fabric, and even metals

used in aircraft were susceptible to deterioration and corrosion when

exposed to great fluctuations in temperature and humidity. NASM had

2

NASM’s collections management department includes the restoration staff; personnel who handle the

shipping, receiving and storage of artifacts; the conservator’s staff; and the archival staff.

Page 3 GAO/T-GGD-96-192
Statement

consistently requested increased funding for collections management and

for storage facilities repairs in recent years, but it had to compete with

other Smithsonian museums for limited resources and was unable to

obtain needed funding.

From 1991 to 1994, NASM undertook a conservation assessment, examining

the condition of the museum’s 13 storage buildings in Suitland and the

condition of the artifacts contained in them. According to the assessment,

the buildings containing artifacts suffered from wide temperature

fluctuations, leaky roofs, structural problems, and dirt and dust

accumulation. An assessment of aircraft engines and wing sections housed

in one building revealed corrosion, dirty surfaces, and peeling paint.

Another building was reported to be in poor condition, with its concrete

slab showing several major cracks and crumbling along the edges as well

as a rusting steel structure.

The conservation assessment also commented on overall preservation

practices, stating that the condition of many objects stored at Suitland

illustrated what can happen when a collection is permitted to grow and

develop without providing direction and funding for its preservation.

We reported that the Smithsonian had spent $9.1 million over the previous

decade to improve the Suitland facility, including roof repairs, asbestos

removal, and storm-water structures. The Smithsonian estimated that 35

percent of these improvements were made for NASM’s share of the Suitland

facility, which is also used by other Smithsonian museums. Also, a new

artifacts storage facility that NASM shares with the Smithsonian’s National

Museum of American History and a new chemical facility for NASM were

recently constructed at Suitland at a cost of about $1.4 million.

Despite these improvements, officials from the Smithsonian’s Office of

Design and Construction, which is responsible for maintaining and

repairing Smithsonian facilities, said last year that over the next 5 years,

the Suitland facility needed at least $7.4 million in repairs and the Mall

museum needed at least $33.8 million in repairs. However, the officials

said that it was unlikely that NASM would receive the needed repair funds

because NASM must compete with other Smithsonian museums for scarce

repair funds. The officials said that the Smithsonian had a backlog of

$250 million in deferred maintenance for all of its museums, could only

afford to make about $25 million in repairs each year, and accrued another

$32 million to $35 million in additional repair work each year.

Page 4 GAO/T-GGD-96-192
Statement

Future Plans for the

Dulles Extension and

Additional Aircraft

Are Uncertain

NASM officials cited plans to build an extension at Dulles Airport as the

solution to the museum’s storage and restoration problems. NASM plans to

finance the extension through private fundraising and funds pledged by

Virginia. Federal funds will be used for planning and design of the facility.

However, it was uncertain when or whether the extension will be built,

given the museum’s need to raise at least $100 million in private funds for

its construction. The Smithsonian plans to begin fundraising for the

extension after construction of the project is authorized.3

 Also, NASM had

plans to acquire 80 aircraft over the next 30 years, which would have

exacerbated its storage problems.

Consideration of

Other Alternatives

Could Lessen NASM’s

Restoration and

Preservation Burden

During our review, several experts familiar with NASM’s aircraft collection

questioned whether NASM should have collected certain aircraft, such as a

large collection of World War II Japanese aircraft, a Boeing 727—a

commercial aircraft still widely used—and two McDonnell F-4s. It was not

clear whether such aircraft fulfilled Congress’ original intent to establish a

national museum that showcases this country’s most important aviation

achievements. We indicated that reducing the size of the collection and

undertaking second-party aircraft restoration with temporary display loans

were viable alternatives to lessen NASM’s burden of caring for a large

aircraft collection.

NASM reported that it had deaccessioned 11 aircraft from 1990 to 1995 and

loaned 18 aircraft to other museums for restoration and storage from 1993

to 1994. However, NASM had not developed a strategy to deaccession

aircraft and had not accelerated pursuing second-party restorations with

temporary loans, despite repeated recommendations to do so by its

advisory committee.

Conclusions and

Recommendations of

Our October 1995

Report

We concluded that although NASM is popular with the public and has

preserved many of our nation’s historic air and space artifacts, the

management of the aircraft collection that is not generally seen by the

public needed improvement. We also reported that since NASM was

established, certain aspects of the museum’s mission as a national air and

space museum have been vague. For example, NASM’s authorizing

legislation does not specify whether the museum should duplicate

collections at other federally funded air and space museums or whether a

national museum should include foreign aircraft. We reported that NASM

3

Legislation authorizing construction of the Dulles extension was recently approved by Congress (S.

1995) and had not yet been signed by the President as of September 19, 1996.

Page 5 GAO/T-GGD-96-192
Statement

should determine if its current collection is too large in view of the

resources and facilities available.

We also concluded that the planned extension at Dulles could help

alleviate NASM’s storage facility problems, but funding was uncertain and

the extension may take several years to complete.

We recommended that the Secretary of the Smithsonian, together with the

NASM Director:

• consult with the appropriate Committees of Congress to better define the

mission of a national air and space museum, and within that definition,

establish criteria for historically and technologically significant aircraft. As

part of this effort, the Secretary and NASM Director should specifically

consider the extent to which the museum should (1) include foreign

aircraft in its collection and (2) duplicate aircraft contained in the

collections of other federally funded museums;

• determine the relative priority of the aircraft contained in the NASM

collection;

• determine the number and types of aircraft that should be retained, after

establishing criteria for historically and technologically significant aircraft

and considering expected levels of funding and storage capacity; and

• deaccession those aircraft in the NASM collection that either do not meet

the historically and technologically significant criteria or cannot be

adequately stored and maintained with available resources. In pursuing

the latter, we recommended that consideration should also be given to

second-party restorations and temporary loans of aircraft to other

institutions.

We further recommended that the NASM Director:

• develop a management plan for those aircraft that are to remain in the

NASM collection, and

• further explore private funding alternatives and the feasibility of options

to better care for aircraft, such as constructing a smaller, environmentally

controlled facility to house those aircraft that will remain in the collection

and are currently in inadequate storage facilities, as an initial phase of the

Dulles extension.

Page 6 GAO/T-GGD-96-192
Statement

Status of Smithsonian

Actions

We recently asked NASM officials about the status of action taken regarding

our recommendations. In response, the NASM Director wrote us in

August 1996 that NASM

• has drafted a new mission statement, which is expected to be completed

next month, that emphasizes the basic values outlined in the original

legislation establishing the National Air Museum in 1946. Further, the

Director indicated that as NASM prepares to move to the Dulles extension

in about 5 years, it will assess each artifact to ensure that it rightfully

belongs in the collection and plays a meaningful role in exhibits and for

research, or whether it could be deaccessioned or traded;

• has not yet established collecting priorities that are linked directly to its

mission statement and prioritized the aircraft in its collections based on

their historical and technological significance;

• is preparing a list of artifacts that will be relocated to the Dulles extension

for public display and plans to assess the condition of, and develop an

action plan and treatment schedule for, each aircraft on the list. For those

aircraft that cannot be displayed immediately, a preservation and storage

strategy will be developed; and

• will launch a major capital campaign this fall for the Dulles extension after

Congress has authorized construction of the facility.

We also note that a resolution just approved by the Smithsonian Board of

Regents on September 16, 1996, addressed the issue of loaning objects to

other museums:

“The formation of partnerships with existing or emerging museums throughout the country

could make the Institution more reflective of our nation. It would also address the problem

of . . . . exhibiting the constantly growing collections. By dispersing these in a responsible

manner, public access . . . . could be enhanced. Such partnerships also would help to

ameliorate the lack of space and funds to build new museums on the Mall.”

This resolution is a first step toward providing NASM with new guidance on

loaning aircraft to other museums. According to the Smithsonian, the

Board of Regents adopted this resolution with the understanding that the

Secretary will ensure that new operational guidelines will be issued.

Further, NASM will have to implement this policy for the aircraft collection.

In general, it appears that the Smithsonian is taking steps in the right

direction to improve the care of aircraft in the NASM collection. To be

successful, the Smithsonian will have to carry through on its initiated

actions to develop a more clearly defined mission, collection priorities,

Page 7 GAO/T-GGD-96-192
Statement

and plans for the care of aircraft. Further, it remains to be seen how

successful the Smithsonian will be in raising private funds for the Dulles

extension and how long this effort will take.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my prepared statement. We would be

pleased to answer any questions.

(240222) Page 8 GAO/T-GGD-96-192
Ordering Information

The first copy of each GAO report and testimony is free.

Additional copies are $2 each. Orders should be sent to the

following address, accompanied by a check or money order

made out to the Superintendent of Documents, when

necessary. VISA and MasterCard credit cards are accepted, also.

Orders for 100 or more copies to be mailed to a single address

are discounted 25 percent.

Orders by mail:

U.S. General Accounting Office

P.O. Box 6015

Gaithersburg, MD 20884-6015

or visit:

Room 1100

700 4th St. NW (corner of 4th and G Sts. NW)

U.S. General Accounting Office

Washington, DC

Orders may also be placed by calling (202) 512-6000 

or by using fax number (301) 258-4066, or TDD (301) 413-0006.

Each day, GAO issues a list of newly available reports and

testimony. To receive facsimile copies of the daily list or any

list from the past 30 days, please call (202) 512-6000 using a

touchtone phone. A recorded menu will provide information on

how to obtain these lists.

For information on how to access GAO reports on the INTERNET,

send an e-mail message with "info" in the body to:

info@www.gao.gov

or visit GAO’s World Wide Web Home Page at:

http://www.gao.gov

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
United States

General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548-0001

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

Address Correction Requested

Bulk Rate

Postage & Fees Paid

GAO

Permit No. G100