National Air and Space Museum Archives

George B. Patterson Papers

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.2021.0003
Creators:
Patterson, George B.
Dates:
1920-1950s
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1.5 Cubic feet
(4 boxes)
Repository:
This collection consists of 1.5 cubic feet of material chronicling George B. Patterson's aviation career.
This collection is in English.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of 1.5 cubic feet of material chronicling George B. Patterson's aviation career and includes the following types of material: military records and certificates; correspondence; photographs; technical publications, including ones written by Patterson; and a pilot log book.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Arrangement by archival type.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
George B. Patterson (1895 - 1968) was a World War I flight test pilot and later served at McCook Field where he helped to develop the first scientific methods of measuring flight test performance. Patterson enlisted in the Aviation Section Signal Corps, Reserve, in 1917, and was first stationed at Chandler Field at the Signal Corps Aviation School in Essington, Pennsylvania. There he first soloed in a seaplane before Chandler Field was transferred to Gerstner Field in Louisiana. Patterson served stateside for the whole of World War I, and after the war he was stationed at Wilbur Wright Field and then McCook Field, both in Ohio. During this time, Patterson served as Assistant Chief of Flight Branch and then as Chief of the McCook Technical Data Branch. Patterson's only overseas assignment was in 1922 when he was stationed at Camp Nichols in the Philippines. Later that year he requested, and was granted, discharge from the service. Patterson then went to work for Curtiss Wright in 1929. A bad aircraft crash in 1934 left Patterson injured and he left military aviation and went to work as an aviation staff engineer at Socony Company for 15 years. Patterson returned to the Air Corps during April of 1942 and served with the Air Service Company until 1945 as a Chief Liaison Officer.

Administration

Author
Patti Williams
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Stephen Allen, Gift, 2020, NASM.2021.0003
Processing Information
Arranged, described, and encoded by Patti Williams, 2021.

Using the Collection

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.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Preferred Citation
George B. Patterson Papers, NASM.2021.0003, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautics, Military Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
World War, 1914-1918 -- Aerial operations Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Logs (records) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence -- 19th-20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Military records -- 20th century -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Papers, technical Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
McCook Field, Ohio Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wright Field, Ohio Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Air and Space Museum Archives
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