Adolph F. Herzog (1906-1997) was an aeronautical engineer who worked for the Pitcairn Aircraft Company (1926-1928), the Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company (1935-1938), and later for the Platt-LePage Aircraft Company. In the course of his career, he collected books and memorabilia relating to the development of autogiros and helicopters.

The Platt-LePage Aircraft Company was a manufacturer of aircraft for the armed forces, including the first helicopter to be acquired by the U.S. Army.

The company was founded by Haviland H. Platt (1890-1982) and Wynn Laurence LePage (1902-1989) with the backing of the Rockefellers in 1938. LePage, a British aeronautical engineer living in Pennsylvania, was impressed by the performance of the German Focke-Wulf Fa 61 and acquired the manufacturing rights to the aircraft, with the intention of Platt-LePage manufacturing helicopters. Two early helicopter prototypes developed by the company failed to meet with any success. However, their luck would change in 1940; under the Dorsey-Logan Act, the company was declared the winner of a competition to supply the Army with its first helicopter.

Having employed Grover Loening (1888-1976) as a consultant and helicopter enthusiast Frank Piasecki (1919-2008) as a junior engineer, Platt-LePage set to work developing the helicopter, using a similar rotor arrangement to that of the Fa 61. The aircraft, designated XR-1, was three months behind schedule in 1941. It suffered several issues, and the company faced financial difficulties, resulting in significant delays in resolving the aircraft's problems. Flight testing continued through 1944.

In early 1945, the Army elected to cancel its contracts with Platt-LePage, after Vought-Skorsky built YR-1A service-test helicopters, which proved to be far superior and able to pass its flight trials.

With the Army contract canceled, the company did not have sufficient funds to continue operating and closed its doors on January 13, 1947. McDonnell Aircraft purchased the company's intellectual property.