“Design in Brazilian Aviation,” a museum exhibit that opened in São Paulo on June 1, focuses on Embraer and runs through this year’s LABACE show.
The prototype of the Super Tucano single-engine light-attack turboprop dominates the garden of the Museu da Casa Brasileira. Other full-size exhibits include an EMB 110 Bandeirante twin-turboprop commuter and the landing gear of an ERJ 145.
A timeline of Brazilian aviation reaches backward from Embraer’s 2017 E2 back to Bartolomeu Gusmão's hot air balloon in 1709 and includes sixty-eight 1:50 scale models of each aircraft. “All these models are seen together for the first time in this panel,” said exhibit designer Guto Lacaz.
The oldest design is a half-scale model made from a Leonardo da Vinci drawing, which visitors can pedal to flap the wings. The exhibit also shows the evolution of the process of design, with original drawings from Embraer archives in India ink on tracing paper and the analog tools used to make them. There's also an interactive display of current computer-aided techniques. A virtual walk-through of the KC-390 military transport displays on a 10- by 18-foot screen.
Lacaz produced an exhibit for the museum in 2006, commemorating the centennial of Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos Dumont’s first flight. Regarding the appropriateness of the exhibition for one of the state’s leading art museums, Lacaz quoted a museum official who said, “We've done exhibits on the design of cars and of refrigerators, why not aircraft?”
Although the exhibit naturally focuses on Embraer, the panel includes aircraft and designs by other Brazilian firms, individuals and universities. United Technologies, Saab, Goodyear and Boeing are also sponsors. Boeing's support includes educational activities for children on Saturdays, helping them learn concepts of physics and engineering.
The display is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until August 20.