As part of my involvement with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences History and Technology Subcommittee, we have been hard at work getting the Dykstraflex cleaned up and ready to be exhibited at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. This was a long and tedious process, involving a fair amount of logistics, cleaning, adjusting, testing, and hauling, to make the Dykstraflex ready for its second public appearance. Opening just in time for Star Wars day this Saturday, May the 4th, the Academy Museum will present the Across the Galaxy Celebration featuring the Dykstraflex on display in the Spielberg Family Gallery and with scheduled demonstrations of the Dykstraflex happening until July 8th 2024. It was an honor to be part of the team that made this happen. My thanks go out to Gene Kozicki who coordinated much of this project, Joe di Gennaro, Peter Anderson, Les Bernstien, Andre Bustonaby, Joe and Miles Lewis, and the crew from the museum, all of whom made this exhibition possible. I hope you will all come visit this seminal piece of special visual effects history and May the 4th be with you!
![Preparing the Dykstraflex motion control camera crane for exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures: cleaning and lubricating the main track, servicing and lubricating the trojan helmet pan tilt head, cleaning the main track rack gear, pointing out the very high tech paper clips that are gaffers taped to the Trojan head as witness marks for positioning, testing and preparing the motion control computer ready, loading the Dykstraflex onto to truck.](https://cinemagear.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dykstraflex-at-Academy-Museum-1-1024x1024.jpg)
![Top: Determining position of cable loom for camera crane; Bottom left: running all axes of Dykstraflex by hand; Upper right: measuring out cable loom; Lower right: getting ready to remove the transport support.](https://cinemagear.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dykstraflex-at-Academy-Museum-2-1024x1024.jpg)
![Top: Testing the swing axis at the museum; Lower left and center: removing the transport support; Lower right: getting cable ready to test the pan/tilt/roll axes of the Trojan head](https://cinemagear.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dykstraflex-at-Academy-Museum-3-1024x1024.jpg)