Ray W. Brown Collection

Scope and Contents

Ray W. Brown (1896-1946) was the Manager of the Aviation Department for General Tire and Rubber Company in Akron Ohio, and received a NAA award for being the first pilot to guide an airplane entirely by radio directional compass. Besides his military flying, Brown learned to fly at Gerstner Field, Louisiana, in 1917, when he joined the US Army Air Corps. He was a member of the Air Corps Reserve from 1920-1927, and he served with the US Naval Reserve from 1938 until his death in 1946. Brown worked for several aircraft companies, including Travel Air Manufacturing Company and Detroit Aircraft Company, before joining the aviation branches of first the Shell Petroleum Corporation and then the General Tire and Rubber Company. Brown was an accomplished transport pilot, with over 10,000 hours, and he was an active figure and official at national aviation meets. He died on August 1, 1946, when the Consolidated PB4Y-2 he was piloting crashed.

Biographical / Historical

This collection consists of the following records relating to Ray W. Brown: a copy of birth certificate; a copy of death certificate; a copy of US Naval Reserve information sheet; and copies of requested military and personnel records.