Morten S. Beyer Papers
Acc. 2007-0060

Morten S. Beyer (b. 1921) was one of the first aviation consultants and the author of articles and newsletters analyzing the economic trends of aviation. Beginning in 1943 Mr. Beyer worked with many large airline companies, establishing many of the standards and procedures we still follow today. In 1974, Beyer established AVMARK, an aviation international consulting company. As a regular feature he established one of the first aviation newsletters. He also published a book of Transport Aircraft Values (TAV), which forecast aircraft values twenty years in to the future, using a formula that accounted for inflation, fuel price fluctuations and labor cost variables. This formula became a standard for aircraft appraisals and made Beyer a trusted appraiser and marketing expert. Beyer retired in 2003. This collection consists of 15 cubic feet of documents relating to the aviation career of Morten S. Beyer, documenting both his time with various airlines and his career as an aviation consultant. The following types of material are included: speeches, cartoons, correspondence, financial reports, newsletters, conference programs, newspaper articles, scrapbooks, and aviation market research reports. Collection size 15.52 cu. ft. (36 boxes)

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A. Scott Crossfield Papers
Acc. 2006-0041

Albert Scott "Scotty" Crossfield, Jr. (1921-2006) was an aviator, U.S. Navy veteran, and aeronautical engineer best known for his work as a test pilot with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), where he made history on November 20, 1953 in the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket as the first pilot to exceed Mach 2, and for his involvement, both as Project Pilot and as a Design Specialist, on the North American X-15 program. Crossfield was also an executive at Eastern Airlines for several years before leaving to serve as Senior Vice President for Hawker Siddeley Aviation's U.S. subsidiary branch (an office he helped establish). After leaving Hawker Siddeley, Crossfield served for many years as an independent technical advisor to the U.S. Congress. In the later part of his life, Crossfield traveled extensively to give talks, attend events, and make various professional appearances. Crossfield was killed in 2006 when the plane he was piloting was caught in a thunderstorm. This collection consists mainly of correspondence, photographs, records relating to various organizations in which Crossfield was active, writings by Crossfield, news clippings, flight reports, and business records, as well as audio tapes and film. Collection size is 18.71 cubic feet (42 boxes).

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Herbert Stephen Desind Collection
Acc. 1997-0014

Herbert S. Desind (1945-1992) was a science teacher and free-lance writer on aerospace topics. Also an avid model rocketeer, Desind collected air and space material to support his teaching, his writing and his hobby. Desind placed emphasis on illustrating his work, and his scale models depended on accurate portrayal of markings and layouts. Both of these needs were supported by photographic materials. The collection is therefore primarily photographic, with press releases, news clippings and correspondence rounding out the material gathered before his death. 109 cubic feet (305 Boxes)

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Glen A. Gilbert Collection, 1935-1982
Acc. XXXX-0187

Glen A. Gilbert (1913-1982), pilot, administrator and aviation consultant, played a key role in the development of the United States and international Air Traffic Control (ATC) System. He helped develop and operate collision-avoidance procedures for aircraft operating under instrument conditions until this service was taken over by the federal government. Mr. Gilbert represented the United States at a number of international conferences on aviation and played a key role in the formation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 1944. This collection contains seven bound volumes of Gilbert's written work. Collection size is 1.5 cu. ft. (3.5 document boxes)

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Glennan-Webb-Seamans Project Interviews
Acc. 1999-0036

This collection contains the transcripts for the Glennan-Webb-Seamans Project Interviews which analyze a variety of facets revolving around NASA management and its handling of contractors during the Apollo program. The collection consists of 193 hours of interviews with 26 individuals. The audiotapes for these interviews have yet to be remastered and due to their fragility, are not available to researchers. Most of the transcripts to these interviews are available to researchers though, there are restrictions placed on a small number of them. A National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Archives staff member will advise the patron which transcripts are available for copying and viewing. Collection size is 3.01 cu. ft. (16 boxes)

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Pat Hassett Collection
Acc. 1991-0044

Pat Hassett had a long career in both military and civil aviation. This collection consists mainly of manuals and charts, the tools of such a career. 2.01 cubic feet (4 boxes).

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Jet Propulsion Laboratory Publications Collection
Acc. XXXX-0612

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was established by the California Institute of Technology in 1936. During and after World War II JPL concentrated on jet and rocket propulsion research under the auspices of the US Army until transferred to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958, after which time its research expanded to include trajectory analysis, planetary reconnaissance, and space communications. This collection consists of 32 cubic feet of reports published by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory between 1947 and 1980 and collected by the National Air and Space Museum from a variety of sources.

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NASA F-8 Supercritical Wing Collection
Acc. XXXX-0104

The supercritical wing concept was developed by Dr. Richard T. Whitcomb of the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Whitcomb's airfoil was designed to delay formation of shock waves at high speeds. Initial wind tunnel tests of the supercritical wing indicated that the new airfoil shape could allow highly efficient flight near the speed of sound. The blunt leading edge of the supercritical wing led to better takeoff, landing, and maneuvering characteristics. Subsonic transports, business jets, STOL (short takeoff and landing) aircraft, and remotely piloted vehicles make use of the supercritical wing technology, using less fuel and flying more efficiently than aircraft with conventional wings. The F-8 Supercritical Wing Collection came to the National Air and Space Museum's Archives Division from the Langley Research Center.

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Race to the Stratosphere Photo Collection
Acc. 1997-0034

David DeVorkin, a Space History Curator at the National Air and Space Museum, completed Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in America in 1989. The book traces the history of manned scientific ballooning from the 1930's to the 1960's. This collection consists of the photographs used in the book and collected by David DeVorkin for research. The collection is organized by chapter. There are also a few engineering drawings of the gondola of balloons. Collection size 1 cubic foot (3 document boxes).

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RAND History Project Interviews
Acc. 1999-0037

This collection contains the transcripts for the RAND History Project Interviews which explore the non-profit research firm's efforts to study the various problems of U.S. national security during the Cold War, in particular, from the perspective of the U.S. Air Force (USAF). The collection consists of 104 hours of interviews with 38 individuals. The audiotapes for these interviews have yet to be remastered and due to their fragility, are not available to researchers. Most of the transcripts to these interviews are available to researchers though, there are restrictions placed on a small number of them. A National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Archives staff member will advise the patron which transcripts are available for copying and viewing. Collection size is 1.85 cu. ft. (10 boxes)

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Revista Aérea Collection
Acc. 2003-0028

Revista Aérea, which began publication in 1937 as the Spanish-language edition of the US monthly Aero Digest, is the leading aviation journal in Latin America. This collection consists of portions of the magazine's reference files containing primarily photographs and trade literature covering the 1970s through 1990s. Collection size 61.8 cu.ft. (158 boxes)

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Betty Skelton Collection
Acc. 2002-0002

Betty Skelton was an aviatrix in the 1940's. She held multiple records in the field and upon retiring became a race car driver and automotive test driver. By the mid 1950's she had branched out and become an advertising executive for Campbell-Ewald, the firm that handled advertising for Chevrolet. In 1959, she trained with the Mercury 7 astronauts, undergoing the same tests as the astronauts. She married Donald Frankman in 1965 and eventually moved to Florida and began a fourth career as a real estate agent. Betty donated her famous plane, "Little Stinker" to the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in 1985. It currently hangs at the entrance to NASM Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center in Dulles Virginia. This collection consists of news clippings, photographs, magazine and four scrapbooks. Collection size is 4.23 cubic feet (11 boxes).

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Space Astronomy Oral History Project
Acc. 1999-0034

This collection contains the transcripts for the Space Astronomy Oral History Project which explore the early use of rockets and satellites over the period 1946 through the early 1960s to investigate the upper atmosphere and space. The collection consists of 225 hours of interviews with 67 individuals. The audiotapes for these interviews have yet to be remastered and due to their fragility, are not available to researchers. Most of the transcripts to these interviews are available to researchers though, there are restrictions placed on a small number of them. A National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Archives staff member will advise the patron which transcripts are available for copying and viewing. Collection size is 3.59 cu. ft. (19 boxes)

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Space Telescope History Project
Acc. 1999-0035

This collection contains the transcripts for the Space Telescope History Project which examines the early planning and development of what would eventually be known as the Hubble Space Telescope. The collection consists of over 235 hours of interviews with 94 individuals. The audiotapes for these interviews have yet to be remastered and due to their fragility, are not available to researchers. Most of the transcripts to these interviews are available to researchers though, there are restrictions placed on a small number of them. A National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Archives staff member will advise the patron which transcripts are available for copying and viewing. Collection size is 3.70 cu. ft. (20 boxes)

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Lee Ya-Ching Papers
Acc. 2008-0009

Lee Ya-Ching was a Chinese aviatrix in the 1930's and 1940's. Beginning her flying career in Switzerland in 1934, Ms. Lee was the first woman to receive a pilot's licenses from the Ecole Aero Club de Suisse, the Boeing School of Aeronautics and the government of China. In partnership with several other pilots, Ms. Lee opened a civilian flying school in Shanghai. Despite being instrumental in the formation of a Chinese air force prior to World War Two, Ms. Lee found she was not allowed to fly for her country when Japan invaded. Finding other ways to serve her country, Ms. Lee helped form hospitals and flew Red Cross planes from Hong Kong to Canton. Wishing to do more, Ms Lee embarked on a goodwill tour of the United States, Canada and South America, raising money for the war effort in China. Following the war, Ms. Lee returned to China, where she receded from public life. This collection consists of news clippings, photographs, magazines and three scrapbooks. The majority of the collection is in English; however, there are significant occurrences of Chinese, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Dutch. Collection size is 11.9 cubic feet (22 boxes).

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