Cosby Harrison began publishing TRADE-A-PLANE in 1937, and an original first copy is in the Ramsey Room at the NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM. The museum also has available 50 years of TRADE-A-PLANE on microfilm, which provides a history of General Aviation.

Mr. Harrison, who began flying in 1930, was the first pilot in his home county of Cumberland and his home town of Crossville, Tennessee. He was among the "self-taught" pilots of his era; but he crashed his beloved Swallow with its OX5 engine in 1932. The need to find "some way to make money out of flying" in order to buy another airplane led to the creation of TRADE-A-PLANE.