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  • National Air and Space Museum in DC
  • Udvar-Hazy Center in VA
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View of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center tower at sunset

One museum, two locations

Visit us in Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA to explore hundreds of the world’s most significant objects in aviation and space history. Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in DC.

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Apollo 11: Buzz Aldrin on the Moon

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space shuttle launch

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Women in Aviation and Space Family Day

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Bob Hoover Gives an Air Show Performance

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Archival Collections

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Archives
  3. Archival Collections
Archival collections
  • Technical and scale drawings
  • Aircraft technical manuals
  • Captured German & Japanese air technical documents
  • Technical reference files
  • Film Archives
  • Photo Archives
  • Audio collections
  • Aircraft history cards
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FAQ
Archival collections
  • Technical and scale drawings
  • Aircraft technical manuals
  • Captured German & Japanese air technical documents
  • Technical reference files
  • Film Archives
  • Photo Archives
  • Audio collections
  • Aircraft history cards
Donating to the Archives
Contact us

Our archival collections span the history of flight and include a wide range of visual and textual materials, including documents; photographs; motion picture film and video; and more than two million technical drawings. Below you will find a selection of our archival holdings that have been made available online.

Search the Collection

These selections are designed to help you dive into our archival holdings, however if you're looking for a specific topic or something outside these categories you can search the entire collection here. 

Search Now

 

A line drawing of a biplane

 

Technical and Scale Drawings

Our Archives is the repository for more than two million aircraft and spacecraft technical and scale drawings, donated over the decades by manufacturers, the armed services, and by individual illustrators. 

Explore Now >>

 

A manual cover for a B-17F

 

Aircraft Technical Manuals

We have over 40,000 technical manuals covering aircraft, engines, and other air-related equipment. Most of these manuals were developed and published by the military for their own use from circa 1915 through 1970, with the bulk of the manuals covering World War II aircraft (1940-1945). 

Explore Now >>

 

A diagram with German writing on it.

 

Captured German & Japanese Air Technical Documents

In the final days of World War II, the advancing Allies captured a number of German and Japanese documents on various technical subjects. This microfilm series, which includes more than 5,000 reels of microfilm, contains documents pertaining to aircraft and aeronautical subjects, including aircraft manuals, flight test reports, and engineering studies of aircraft.

Explore Now >>

 

Multiple colorful files in a folder.

 

Technical Reference Files

The Technical Reference Files comprise an artificial collection that currently contains 1,900 cubic feet of aviation and space related materials, organized in 22 subject series.

Explore Now >>

 

A black and white photograph of a man on a lift filming a battle damaged plane.

 

Film Archives

Our Film Archives has catalogued a collection of more than 20,000 motion picture titles. This collection documents the history of aerospace flight from the Wright brothers to the space shuttle. 

Explore Now >>

 

A photo taken from underneath an aircraft. One man leans out with a camera, the other is a pilot.

 

Photo Archives

Our holding include glass plate negatives of early Wright brothers flights, photography of Apollo astronauts, detailed shots of aircraft components, and much more. 

Explore Now >>

 

Men sit with headphones on and devices at the center of a table.

 

Audio Collections

The Archives holds a number of audio collections, including oral history interviews and recordings of Museum events. The recordings, made between the 1950s to the early 1990s, include interviews with notable aerospace personalities and numerous events in the development of flight.

Explore Now >>

 

A card with hand-written and stamped details.

 

Aircraft History Cards

Our Archives holds microfilm copies of aircraft records created by the United States Air Force and its predecessors and the United States Navy. 

Explore Now >>

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National Air and Space Museum

6th St. and Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20560

202-633-2214

Open daily
10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Free Timed-Entry Passes
Required

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151

703-572-4118

Open daily
10:00 am - 5:30 pm
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