The original awards were 24-inch-tall bronze statues. The aviator trophy depicts World War I flying ace Raoul Lufbery launching a biplane set next to an eagle about to take wing. The statuette was created by sculptor Roumanbona M'Divani. The Smithsonian Institution acquired the aviator's trophy in 1950 from the Clifford B. Harmon Trust. The aviatrix trophy depicts a winged goddess cradling a falcon with outstretched wings. The aeronaut trophy was lost in Germany between May 1940 and October 1953 and was believed to have been sold as scrap. The three-foot-tall, 150-pound statue of five aviators holding the globe on their shoulders was found in a junk store and subsequently given to the Smithsonian after the presentation of the 1952 awards.