National Air and Space Museum Archives

Thomas Towle Ford Tri-Motor Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.XXXX.0102
Creators:
Towle, Thomas, 1887-
Dates:
1921-1967
bulk 1925-1926
bulk 1953-1967
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1.09 Cubic feet
(1 records center box)
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of material gathered by Towle to support his claim as the designer of the Ford Tri-Motor. The material consists of the following: newspaper and magazine articles; pamphlets; photographs pertaining to the history of the aircraft and its role in early air transportation; drawings; early flight test reports; technical notes relating to early Tri-Motor models; a short autobiography and resumeof Towle; and assorted postcards, stamps, articles, and so forth relating to Island Airways, an airline still flying Ford Tri-Motors

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Thomas Towle (1897- ) was a mechanical engineer and main designer of the Ford Tri-Motor. Following graduation from Yale University (1920) Towle worked as an engineer for a number of aircraft companies, including Dayton-Wright (1921-22), Martin (1922-23), Aeromarine (1923-24), and Stout Metal Airplane Co (1924-25) before joining Ford Motor Company's Airplane Division (1925-27). While at Ford, Towle designed a three-motored aircraft to replace the Stout 'Air Pullman:, the rights to which Ford purchased with Stout in 1925. Towle left Ford in 1927 to form his own company, Towle Marine Aircraft (1927) and Towle Aircraft Company (1928-32). In 1933 Towle joined Monocoupe and later moved to Lambert Aircraft (1933-35) before leaving the aircraft industry.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Tom Towle, Gift, unknown, XXXX-0102, unknown

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
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

More Information

General

General
NASMrev


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Ford Tri-Motor Family Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Airlines Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aircraft industry -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aircraft industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautics, Commercial -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautics, Commercial Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Blueprints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pamphlets Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clippings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Towle, Thomas, 1887- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ford Motor Company. Airplane Division Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Island Airways Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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