When established in 1941, the Museum was the first children's museum in Texas and one of the first children's museums in the nation.
WORLD WAR I AVIATION
Omni Theater “Link”
This Collections Showcase highlights the Royal Canadian Air Corps and Fort Worth during World War I. Arriving during the fall of 1917, Canadian pilots trained at three air bases—North Richland Hills, Benbrook and Everman—until they departed for the European War in April 1918. U.S. Army pilots trained at the fields until the war ended in November 1918. The collection includes uniforms, instruments, and pictures, plus a half-scale model of a “Curtiss JN-4 Can” biplane, or “Jenny” as it was affectionately known.
The “Curtiss JN-4 Can” biplane (“Jenny”)
The “Curtiss JN-4 Can” biplane or “Jenny” served as the main aircraft flying out of the Fort Worth area airbases during World War I. Technologically unremarkable, it was the first mass produced airplane. In fact, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company assembled more than 6,000 Jennys during the war or more than any other American plane until that time.
It is estimated that some twenty percent of all Jennys were destroyed during flight training. While designed and used primarily as a trainer, the Jenny also saw service as a reconnaissance, bomber, ground attack, seaplane, and fighter aircraft. After the war, the plane became extremely popular and widely available, serving as the primary aircraft for the barnstormers of the 1920s.
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