National Air and Space Museum Archives

Norman Mayer Lighter-than-Air (LTA) Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.2016.0022
Creators:
Mayer, Norman
Dates:
bulk 1940s-2000s
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
16.6- Cubic feet
(17 boxes)
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of approximately seventeen cubic feet of LTA material created or gathered by Norman Mayer during his career, 1941-2000s. The material spans from early Goodyear, Navy and Zeppelin design material, to later LTA designs from the 1970s-2000s, including those from Airship Industries Ltd, American Skyship Industries and CargoLifter AG. The types of material include: photographs, drawings, manuals, patents, conference reports, notebooks, design and feasibility studies/reports, scrapbooks and 16mm film.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Norman Mayer (1916-2015) was an aerospace engineer, whose professional career spanned 65 years in the airship industry. Mayer graduated from the Academy of Aeronautics in Queens, New York, in March 1941 and immediately began his career at the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation in Akron Ohio as a design, research and flight test engineer for Naval patrol airships. After his work at Goodyear, he worked for the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington, D.C. as an expert in lighter-than-air (LTA) technology. In 1961, Mayer joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) where he managed research in space stations, lunar and planetary bases, orbiting telescopes and composite materials. While at NASA, he served as a consultant to the State Department and the World Bank on LTA systems. He retired from the government in 1984 and continued to consult in LTA systems for government and industrial organizations. He was an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, an Associate Member of the Society of Naval Architects, an Honorary Life member of the Lighter than Air Society and of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society and technical chairman of the Naval Airship Association.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Margaret Mayer, Gift, 2016

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access.
Preferred Citation
Norman Mayer Lighter-than-Air (LTA) Collection, Accession 2016-0022, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Airships Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuals Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Motion pictures (visual works) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Airship Industries Ltd. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
American Skyship Industries Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
CargoLifter AG Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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