Adolph F. Herzog (1906-1997) was an aeronautical engineer who worked for the Pitcairn Aircraft Company, the Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company, and later for the Platt-LePage Aircraft Company. 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 collection contains several items related to the Platt-LePage Helicopter Company and Wynn Laurence LePage (1902-1989).

Formed in 1939 to protect the interests of general aviation pilots and private aircraft owners, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) grew to be the world's largest civil aviation organization during the twentieth century. The photograph collection largely comprises images of private planes, helicopters, and parts from various manufacturers who supplied the images for use in AOPA publications. AOPA activities, military aircraft, and experimental aircraft are also represented.

All American Engineering Company was an aeronautical engineering and research firm which was incorporated on October 31, 1952. The company was originally a division of All American Aviation, Inc. This small collection of photographs depicts air pick-up testing, airplanes, equipment, and personnel.

All American Engineering Company was an aeronautical engineering and research firm which was incorporated on October 31, 1952. The company was originally a division of All American Aviation, Inc. This collection consists primarily of films. There is a small amount of photographs which corresponds directly to the film material. The collection is organized into two series: Films and Photographs, both series are arranged alphabetically. Dating from 1937 to 1984, the Films series documents the company’s innovations in the aviation industry, including pickup and recovery systems, catapults and arresting gear. The photographs document different design projects and tests; most of this research was related to the aviation industry. There are photographs of the facilities at the DuPont Airport on Centre Road near Greenville, Delaware, and the Georgetown, Delaware, test plant. Richard du Pont and other personnel appear in some of the images.

The engineering and research unit of All American Aviation, once the principal feeder airline for the mid-Atlantic region, became the All American Engineering Company in 1953. Their records document the early evolution of All American Aviation, the development of its system of air pick-up service, and its use in postal and military applications.

All American Engineering Company was an aeronautical engineering and research firm that was incorporated on October 31, 1952. The records consist of scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and news releases that document the development, testing, and applications of the company's products.

Atlantic Aviation was begun by Henry Belin du Pont (1898-1970) in 1927 to provide services for business aviation. In 1948 it moved from the Du Pont Airport to the new New Castle County Airport south of Wilmington, Delaware. Soon it expanded to other airports around the country. The collection includes portraits and views of Atlantic Aviation facilities at various airports. There are also a few photographs of airplanes, including the Spirit of St. Louis.

The Aviation equipment series consists of direction finders, transmitters, receivers, antennas, control panels, ground controls, radio compasses, commercial airline equipment and aircraft, helmets, radio sets, and other aviation related parts and equipment. These images date from 1933 to 1971. Related materials can also be found in the Government projects series.

In its various iterations, the Boeing Vertol Company has been a major developer and builder of helicopters. These records reflect development, manufacture, testing, improvement, and sale of helicopters, especially for military use in Vietman. This includes information relating to reports on factories visited, military needs of the United States and foreign countries, sales, conferences, and meetings with military personnel, government agencies, and representatives of foreign countries.

Bowlus-Du Pont Sailplane, Inc. was a short-lived company which combined the financing of record holding glider pilot, Richard du Pont (1911-1943), and the engineering skills of Hawley Bowlus. This reproduction drawing (there are two copies) includes elevations and cross sections of an Albatross II.

C. Bruce Brooks (1931-2016) was a chemical engineer and program manager for Thiokol Chemical Corporation (later Morton-Thiokol) from 1958 until his retirement in 1995. Thiokol is a leader in aerospace research, design, manufacturing, and testing of solid propellant rocket motors. This small collection of Brooks' papers provides valuable information about the development of solid rocket motors and early space flight. Of particular interest are trial materials related to the 1984 loss of two communications satellites, the Westar VI and the Palapa B-2. Brooks was program manager for designing and manufacturing the STAR 48 motors used in the satellites. The collection has been arranged into six series: Space programs publications and reports; Solid rocket motors (SRM) files; McDonnell Douglas Corporation v. Thiokol Corporation files; Newsletters, magazines, and technical papers; Company histories and personal papers; and Additional work papers.

Capital Airlines was a commercial airline for the eastern, southern, southeastern, and midwestern United States from 1936 to 1961. In the 1950s, it was the fifth-largest airline in the United States. The airline was the first to offer service from the west to Washington D.C., coach class service, in-flight television, and jet-powered commercial aircraft. This collection is of material that would have been presented to a passenger on a flight around 1957, apparently from Buffalo, New York, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and then back again.

Clarence Ferrier (1908-1990) was a photographer for more than twenty-seven years at All American Engineering Co., an aeronautical engineering and research firm incorporated in Georgetown, Delaware, on October 31, 1952. This small colletion of slides depicts the facility, hanger, aircraft, and employees.

Colonel J. (John) Victor Dallin (1897-1991) was an aviator and photographer who founded the Dallin Aerial Surveys Company in 1924. This small collection of films were shot by Dallin. There are five films, three are home movies, one is the reception for Charles Lindbergh in Philadelphia, and the fifth film contents is unidentified at this time.

The records consists of contract and production documents for two celebrated IMAX films sponsored by Conoco, Inc., and made for the National Air and Space Museum, with an accompanying juvenile storybook.

For what appears a brief moment in early aviation history, the Wright Brothers competed their airplanes in public demonstrations. The Curtiss Exhibition Co.'s Glenn Curtiss piloted one of his biplanes, and Walter Brookins piloted a Wright biplane. Three photos show the Curtiss biplane on the beach before take-off with a Boardwalk crowd nearby. Two others show the Curtiss and Wright airplanes separately in flight.

Cyril C. Thompson (1892-1976) had a long career in the accounting, management and public relations sides of the aviation industry, joining near the beginning of commercial aviation in 1928 and retiring just as the era of commercial jets began. Thompson was as an executive of United Air Lines for eighteen years, and later an airport planner, consultant, and prolific author and speaker. The papers of Cyril C. Thompson consist of a selection of items that he retained as mementos of the different stages of his career, plus materials and drafts for an unpublished biography of Idaho Senator William E. Borah and a never-completed personal history of United Air Lines on which he was working at the time of his death.

Daniel Rochford (1900-1989) spent the bulk of his career as a publicist in the Employee Relations Department of the Standard Oil Company. Before joining Standard Oil in 1944, he worked a series of jobs trying to utilize his skills in publicity and public relations throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. Rochford's papers are a mix of business and personal items, assembled over the course of his varied career.

The DuPont Airport was a private flying field located on the west side of Wilmington, Delaware. The miscellaneous records include notices from the Federal Communications Commission and Civil Aeronautics Administration, tower materials, and airport arrival and clearance forms.

The DuPont Airport was a private flying field located on the west side of Wilmington, Delaware. The register gives time of arrival, make of aircraft, name of owner and pilot, origin and destination, and the number of passengers.

Eastern Air Lines operated from 1927 to 1991 and was one of the Big Four airlines (others included United, Delta, and American) that for almost fifty years dominated commercial airline travel in the United States. This item is a postcard with the illustration of Eastern's Modern DC-4 Silverliner airplane.

Elmer Sperry (1860-1930) was one of America’s electric pioneers. He founded the Sperry Gyroscope Company in order to develop, manufacture, and market marine gyrostabilizing devices. The papers document Sperry's research and development work and entrepreneurial activities.

Elmer A. Sperry (1860-1930) was an electrical engineer who established the Electric Light, Motor, and Car Brake Company in 1883 and then founded the Sperry Electric Mining Machine Company in 1886. After selling his patents to General Electric, he went to work for the company as a consultant. This collection includes original materials, as well as copy work from other sources and images which show Sperry's inventions; there is some ephemera, family photos, employees, and views of the Sperry Company's Brooklyn drafting rooms.

George J. Frebert (1929-2002) was a pilot and aviation enthusiast. He authored the book Delaware Aviation History. The collection contains both materials used in the preparation of Delaware Aviation History and other items that Frebert collected dealing with Delaware aviation, aviators and airports. Much of the material was copied from historical repositories, but Frebert also collected original materals and photos from other early aviators.

George J. Frebert (1929-2002) was a pilot and aviation enthusiast who served in the Air Force during the Korean War, operated the Dover Litho Printing Company in Dover, DE, published "Delaware Aviation History," and restored vintage airplanes as a hobby. This collection contains both materials used in the preparation of "Delaware Aviation History" and other items that Frebert collected dealing with Delaware aviation, aviators and airports.

ILC Dover outfitted every astronaut in the Apollo program and continued to design and manufacture space suit components for the space shuttle missions and on the International Space Station. The ILC Dover Apollo program records consist primarily of files maintained by Jim McBarron (1938-2020) while he was lead suit engineer for NASA, overseeing ILC’s development of the space suits. Also included are many other files gathered from ILC Dover and from ILC Dover retirees who were employed by ILC Industries during the Apollo program.

Capital Airlines was a commercial airline for the eastern, southern, southeastern, and midwestern United States from 1936 to 1961. It was the fifth largest airline in the United States. The airline was the first to offer service from the west to Washington D.C., coach class service, in-flight television, and jet-powered commercial aircraft. This collection includes materials related to Capital Airlines predecessor company, Clifford Ball Airlines, and materials created under its former name, Pennsylvania Central Airlines. There is also materials related to the Capital Airline Association. The collection documents the history of the airlines, its aircraft and employees.

Eastern Airlines was a major U.S. domestic airline from 1926 to 1991. It was considered to be one of the four largest carriers during the mid-twentieth century, the other three being American, TWA, and United. Eastern Airlines dominated the air travel market between New York and Florida from the 1930s through the 1950s. This small collection of Eastern Airlines photographs and ephemera predominantly reflects the company's aircraft fleet between 1938 and 1991. In addition, there are materials that document the company's route system and later decline. This collection has been arranged into three series: Photographs, Publications and ephemera, and Newspaper clippings and magazine articles.

Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) was the principal international airline in the United States for most of its existence and the nation's only international carrier before World War II. Pan Am was originally founded as Pan American Airways in 1927 as an international carrier only. On January 8, 1991, Pan American World Airways filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company was subsequently dissolved and liquidated. This small collection of Pan American World Airways photographs and ephemera predominantly reflects the company's aircraft fleet between 1930 and 1991. In addition, there are materials that document the company's route system and later decline.

Lammot du Pont, Jr. (1909-1964) was Assistant Vice President of the Wilmington Trust Company. He began his employment there in 1931, previously he was employed at the Fokker Aircraft Corporation. Lammot, Jr., assembled a large collection of books, manuscripts, prints, drawings and photographs. This collection documents the history of aviation and primarily consists of images of aircraft which date from 1915 through 1950. A majority of the images are various views of aircraft only and are devoid of people, though there are a number of images that include pilots. There are prints and lithographs of early aircraft and balloons (dirigibles) which date as early as the 1780s. The collection has been arranged into five series by format.

The Lawrance Engineering and Research Corporation manufactured auxiliary power plants for airplanes. The firm was founded in 1930 in Linden, New Jersey, by aviator Charles L. Lawrance (1882-1950). This small collection of blueprints shows auxiliary power plant equipment.

Northwest Airlines was a major commercial airline in the United States from 1926 to 2010. From 1947 until 1986, the airline was known as Northwest Orient Airlines. This small collection consists of a publicity kit for the Lockheed Super Constellation airplane. It contains several booklets and brochures about the airline's new aircraft, routes, and services. Materials date from around 1955.

Ransome Airlines, Pan Am Express (PAE), and Trans World Express (TWE) are predecessor and successor domestic airline companies. Ransome Airlines was a regional commuter service that operated between 1967 and 1986. Pan American World Airways acquired Ransome Airlines in April 1986 and renamed the company Pan Am Express. It operated domestic routes for the first time in the parent company's history. When Pan American World Airways went bankrupt in 1991, their wholly owned subsidiary was purchased by Trans World Airlines and became Trans World Express. It continued to fly domestic routes until 1995. This collection of Ransome Airlines, Pan Am Express, and Trans World Express records documents the three airlines from the initial establishment, through each transition, to the final dissolution. While not a complete company archive, the records provide a representative and detailed view of high-level operations at Ransome Airlines, PAE, and TWE through the activities of various executives. The collection contains the papers of five company presidents, three directors of finance, two directors of public relations, one director of personnel, one director of planning and administration, and one member of the accounting department. It will be of high research value to aviation historians interested in the effects of deregulation, aircraft acquisitions, financial planning, company mergers and transitions, and bankruptcy. The collection will also interest labor historians involved in collective bargaining research.

Richard C. du Pont (1911-1943) was an aviator and businessman. In 1938, he purchaseds stock of an inactive company called All American Aviation, Inc. and became PresidentThis collection encompasses the time of Richard C. du Pont's marriage to his death, with a particular focus on his work with gliders. The establishment and growth of Summit Aviation, his son's private air transportation company, is heavily documented from the early 1960s onward. The majority of the collection consists of newspaper clippings and photographs.

This collection includes materials related to Richard C. du Pont (1911-1943), pioneer in early aircraft and gliders and includes news clippings, official governmental documents related to his work as well as the logbook of his yacht, Nahma.

The Sperry Gyroscope Company was originally organized by electrical inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860-1930) for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing his ship gyrostabilizer, gyrocompass, and high-intensity searchlight. Their card file documents over sixty years of the company's history.

The Sperry Gyroscope Company researched, developed, and manufactured navigation equipment; three of the premiere products were the marine gyrostabilizer, the gyrocompass, and the high-intensity searchlight. The company was founded by Elmer A. Sperry (1860-1930) in 1910. Sperry Gyroscope Company photographs and films consists primarily of images of products and inventions developed between 1912 and 1965, a bulk of materials date from 1940 through 1960. The collection has been organized into five series: Personnel; Plants, Sperry School, and Museum; Products; Public Information Department; and Visitors, exhibits, models, and patents.

The Sperry Gyroscope Company was originally organized by electrical inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing his ship gyrostabilizer, gyrocompass, and high-intensity searchlight. The records describe the development and marketing of the marine and airplane stabilizer, the high-intensity searchlight, fire control systems, the gyrocompass, airplane automatic pilot, bombsights, and the aerial torpedo. They trace the evolving relationship between Sperry and the military and the impact of World Wars I and II.

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline from 1925 until 2001. It was created by the 1930 merger of Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express. TWA was plagued through its history by financial deals that were not in the best interest of the company. These deals led to heavy debt and its eventual acquisition by American Airlines after its third bankruptcy filing. This airline timetable includes photographs illustrating the airline's sleeper service on cross country flights.

The collection consists of photographs taken during the first years of the United States Post Office Department air mail service. Many of these photographs are portraits of individual air mail service pilots. The first use of air mail in the United States occurred in September, 1911, while the first air mail route from Washington to New York via Philadelphia started in 1918. A transcontinental route was established by 1920. In 1925 the government transitioned out of the air mail business with the passage of the Kelly Air Mail Act, which called for commericial airlines to bid on air mail routes established by the Post Office.

The Walter G. Bain papers contain correspondence with various organizations including Republic Aviation Corporation, the United States Air Force, General Motors Company, Midwestern Instrument, and Hergenerather Associates. Along with RCA internal correspondence, the papers also include a scrapbook, newspaper clippings, and membership information related to a variety of organizations.

For over sixty years, Zachary Taylor Vinson (1933-2009) amassed a large and comprehensive collection of printed material documenting on the history of transportation, particularly automobiles. This small collection of French lithographs depicts early aeronautical and motor vehicle subjects. All but one were designed by either Ernest Montaut (1879-1909) or his wife, Marguerite Montaut (1883-1936). The final print is by poster artist Georges Hamel (1900-1972).