National Air and Space Museum Archives

Caterpillar Club Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.XXXX.0576
Creators:
Caterpillar Club
Dates:
1922-1940
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1.35 Cubic feet
(3 legal document boxes)
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection includes photographs of most of the members, and some of their aircraft and crash sites. There are also detailed reports of each of the 700 documented emergency parachute jumps as well as newspaper articles and correspondence about the Caterpillar Club and Lt. Col. Falk Harmel, who maintained this collection.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
The Caterpillar Club originated in October 1922 at Wright Field, Ohio, when a suggestion was made to start a club composed only of persons whose lives were saved by the use of the parachute when forced to leave an aircraft in flight. The name comes from the fact that parachutes were made from silk, produced from the caterpillar cocoon. By 1940 there were some 700 members of the Caterpillar Club, including such noteworthy members as Charles Lindbergh

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Falk Harmel, gift, 1967, XXXX-0576, 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
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aircraft accidents Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Parachutes Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aircraft survival equipment Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Periodicals Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Publications Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Caterpillar Club Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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