Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of the personal papers of Dr. Arthur Nutt. These papers relate to his career as an aeronautical engineer with the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Wright Aeronautical Corporation, Packard Motor Car Company, Arthur Nutt and Associates, and the Lycoming division of AVCO Manufacturing Corporation. The material include correspondence, photographs, reports, manuals, handbooks, test data, brochures, speeches, and scrapbooks. Included are biographical and autobiographical materials (notes, news clippings, articles, and photographs) compiled by Nutt in an unsuccessful attempt to publish his autobiography. Two smaller collections of Dr. Nutt's papers, NASM.1988.0055 and NASM.1988.0059, have been integrated into the main collection.

Note: The digital images in this finding aid were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping and orientation in addition to color variations resulting from damage to and deterioration of the original objects.

Arrangement note

The collection is arranged into two broad series. First, is the material pertaining to his professional life. This includes Nutt's correspondence, official reports, photographs (mainly of aircraft engines and aircraft), corporate publications (brochures, handbooks, instruction books, manuals, and parts lists), aircraft engine blueprints, aircraft engine proposals, test data, speeches, magazines, and newsletters. The second series contains papers gathered mainly for Nutt's personal use and interest. Of special interest are Nutt's logbook, scrapbooks, and notes for his autobiography.

Nutt's papers are arranged both alphabetically by manufacturer and then chronologically. Correspondence, photographs, reports, speeches, and notes (except miscellaneous biographical notes without dates) are organized by the latter method. Corporate brochures, handbooks, instruction books, manuals, blueprints and test data are grouped alphabetically by corporate name, then by date (and by aircraft engine type when applicable). Magazines, newsletters, and newspapers are also arranged alphabetically by title of publication and then chronologically.

Historical note

Arthur Nutt was an aeronautical engineer specializing in engine design. Born in New Rochelle, New York in 1895, Nutt graduated from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1916 with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and received an honorary doctorate from the Institute in 1941. Shortly after graduation, he was hired by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation (CAMCo) and started in the assembly department. As a motor engineer and eventually, chief motor engineer, Nutt was responsible for the development of the Curtiss D-12, V-1400, and R-1454 aircraft engines. After the merger of CAMCo and the Wright Aeronautical Corporation in 1930, Nutt went to work for Curtiss-Wright as vice president of engineering. He remained there for fourteen years until 1944 when he left to become director of aircraft engineering for the Packard Motor Car Company. He stayed with Packard until 1949 when he started and headed his own engineering sales firm, Arthur Nutt and Associates. In 1951 he joined the Lycoming Division of AVCO Manufacturing Corporation as vice president of engineering. Upon his retirement from Lycoming in 1959, Nutt stayed active in numerous civic and church activities. He was also a member of a number of professional organizations, most notably the Society of Automotive Engineers and served as its president in 1940. Nutt was inducted into the Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame in 1978. He died in Boca Raton, Florida in 1983.