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 Summary

Herbert A. Hazen was a member of the Air Technical Intelligence branch of the US Army Air Corps during World War II. Hazen was sent to Germany to investigate and recover interesting German aeronautical technology. This collection consists of approximately 0.5 cubic feet of material relating to Herbert A. Hazen's military career during World War II, including photographs, news clippings, ephemera, correspondence, a diary, and humorous poems and other writings by Hazen and his fellow service members.

 Biographical / Historical

Herbert A. Hazen was a member of the Air Technical Intelligence branch of the US Army Air Corps during World War II. Hazen was sent to Germany to investigate and recover interesting German aeronautical technology. Arriving in Germany in 1945, he was assigned to recover an experimental aircraft, the Lippisch DM-1 delta wing glider (now in the National Air and Space Museum's artifact collection). The glider was still under construction at Prien am Chiemsee near Munich, and Hazen lived there for some months. He befriended local craftspeople and oversaw their work to complete the glider, and then to build a special crate to hold the glider during shipment to the United States. Once the Lippisch DM-1 arrived in the United States, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) engineers tested the glider in the wind tunnel at the Langley Research Center making it the first piloted delta wing aircraft built to undergo flight tests. Although the DM-1 never flew, information gained from its testing led to the successful design, construction, and flight testing of the Convair XF-92A, which was the first delta wing aircraft to fly.

 Identifier

NASM.2023.0021

Creator

Hazen, Herbert A.

Date

1942-1977

Provenance

Bruce Hazen, Gift, 2023, NASM.2023.0021.

Extent

0.5 Cubic feet (1 document box, 1 map folder)

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of approximately 0.5 cubic feet of material relating to Herbert A. Hazen's military career during World War II, including photographs, news clippings, ephemera, correspondence, a diary, and humorous poems and other writings by Hazen and his fellow service members. The photographs include images of Hazen, the Lippisch DM-1 in Germany and in the United States, test pilot Hans Zacher, and views of various military facilities and operations as well as bombing damage in Europe. Hazen's diary has entries from 1943 to 1945 and includes mention of the Horten IX (Ho 8-229, "Go 229"). Most of the ephemera in the collection is from Paris and includes a booklet of picture post cards, a travel guide with fold-out maps, and a program from the Folies Bergère. The collection also includes pocket German to English and English to German dictionaries.

Arrangement note

Collection is in original order, arranged by topic as received from donor.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Citation

Herbert A. Hazen Papers, NASM.2023.0021, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Aeronautics

Lippisch DM-1

Horten IX (Ho 8-229, "Go 229")

World War, 1939-1945

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Diaries

Photographs

Ephemera