The 1st pilots and plane to grace the Fairbanks skies.

In 1913 some merchants in Fairbanks decided that a demonstration flight there could pay for itself. They arranged for James V. and Lilly Martin to bring their airplane from Seattle for such a flight on July 4, 1913. The Martins shipped their crated airplane from Seattle to Skagway by ocean steamer and from Skagway to Whitehorse to Fairbanks by steamboat. Once at Fairbanks , Martin and his wife, who was England's first aviatrix, assembled their airplane. On the evening of July 3, Martin took off from a ball park and flew the plane over Fairbanks at an altitude of 200 feet and speeds of up to 45 miles per hour. Later the Martins lectured on flying at the Fairbanks opera house.  In all, the couple made five flights in three days at Fairbanks. During that time they tried unsuccessfully to sell their airplane. Since it could not be sold, they crated it up again and shipped it via St. Michael to their home in San Francisco.

The museum is a collection that ranges from:

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