National Museum of the United States Air Force
Where was Tingmissartoq exhibited from 1955 to 1959?
Tingmissartoq Tingmissartoq was the name given to a Lockheed Model 8 Sirius flown by Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh in the 1930s . Tingmissartoq means one who flies like a big bird ; the plane was thus christened by an Inuit boy in Godthaab ( Nuuk ) , Greenland , who painted the word on its side . First flight . Lockheed had introduced its Sirius model in 1929 ; this particular craft appears to have been built to specifications sometime between then and 1931 , when the Lindberghs planned to fly to the Orient via the Great Circle Route . A low-wing monoplane , Tingmissartoq was outfitted with Edo floats , as much of the planned route was over water . The trip was described solely as a vacation flight , with no start or finish , no diplomatic or commercial significance , and no records to be sought . It began in North Haven , Maine , from which point the couple flew to Ottawa . From there they flew to various other sites in Canada , including Moose Factory , Churchill , Baker Lake , and Aklavik , before heading to Point Barrow , Alaska . They continued on to Shismaref and Nome , after which they crossed the Pacific Ocean to Petropavlosk . From here they continued over the Kuril Islands to Tokyo , where they were enthusiastically welcomed . The trip continued on to China , with its final stop on Lotus Lake near Nanking made on September 19 . Anne Morrow Lindbergh described the trip , and her impressions and experiences , in her book North to the Orient . Accident at Hankow . While at Hankow , the plane , with the Lindberghs aboard , was being lowered into the Yangtze River from the British aircraft carrier when it capsized accidentally . One wing hit a ships cable and was damaged , necessitating the crafts return to the United States for repairs . Second journey . Tingmissartoq was to see action again in 1933 as a result of international interest in the development of commercial air transport . Pan American Airways , Imperial Airways , Deutsche Luft Hansa , KLM , and Air France collaborated on a study of international air routes . The assigned areas were Newfoundland to Europe via Greenland ; Newfoundland via the great circle route to Ireland ; Newfoundland southeast to the Azores and Lisbon ; Miami , Bermuda , the Azores , and Lisbon ; and across the South Atlantic from Brazil , to Cape Verde . Pan American was given the responsibility for the first of these , and sent Lindbergh , as the companys technical advisor , to survey the route . Accompanied once more by Anne , he took off from New York City on July 9 in the rebuilt craft . The purpose of the trip was to gain as much data as possible on the area to be covered . The plane had been fitted with a Sperry artificial horizon and a directional gyro since its previous flight . The engine , too , was new , a Wright Cyclone SR1820-F2 of 710 hp . All possible spaces were used , including the wings and floats ; these contained the gasoline tanks . There was also plenty of emergency equipment for use in the event of a forced landing . To maintain radio contact with the couple , Pan American hired a Danish ship , the Jellinge , to stay within range in the area of Labrador , Greenland , and Iceland . It also delivered advance supplies for them to Halifax , St . Johns , Cartwright , Greenland , and Iceland . Tingmissartoq flew first from New York to Hopedale , Labrador , hugging the eastern Canada–US border along the way . From here the Lindberghs made the first major hop over water , flying 650 miles to Godthaab . The couple then crisscrossed Greenland to Baffin Island and back , and then flew to Iceland . They continued the trip by flying around the world ; visiting first the major cities of Europe , they continued to Moscow , then down Africas west coast , and across the South Atlantic to South America . Here , they flew down the Amazon River , and then turned north through Trinidad and Barbados before returning to the United States . They returned to New York on December 19 , having traveled 30,000 miles and visited four continents and twenty-one countries . The information they provided proved invaluable in planning transatlantic air transport routes . Tingmissartoq was on display in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City until 1955 , when it was acquired by the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton , Ohio . It was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1959 , and is currently on display in the Pioneers of Flight gallery of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington , DC . References . - History at NASM website