Aircraft Registration Files, "Celebrity" Aircraft

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of the original aircraft registration files from the Aeronautics Branch, US Department of Commerce (and its successor organizations the Civil Aeronautics Administration, Federal Aviation Agency, and Federal Aviation Administration) on several historically significant aircraft. The aircraft covered in the collection include the first aircraft registration issued; Curtiss J-1 (Model 50H), NC-9243 (Douglas Corrigan); Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, NR-16020 (Amelia Earhart); Travel Air Model 5000 , NX-869 (Art Goebel); Hughes H-4 (HK-1) Hercules, NX-37602; various aircraft pertaining to Charles Lindbergh including the Ryan NYP , N-X-211 and the Lockheed Model 8 Sirius ; Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, NC-16059 (Dick Merrill); Cessna 180 , N1538C (Jerrie Mock); Lockheed Model 5B Vega, NR-105W (Wiley Post); Standard (NJ) J-1 #249 (Edwin and Lars Ockander); Turner-Laird LTR-14 , NX-263Y (Roscoe Turner); and Wedell-Williams Model 44 (44 III), NR-61Y (Roscoe Turner). These files contain registration and license applications, modification documents, and correspondence relating to the aircraft. The collection also includes pilot files for Douglas "Wrong-Way" Corrigan, James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle, and Charles Augustus Lindbergh.

Arrangement

Collection is in numerical order in keeping with the original numbered file folders.

Biographical / Historical

The Aeronautics Branch of the US Department of Commerce was established by the Air Commerce Act in 1926 to provide oversight of aviation activities including air commerce, creating and enforcing air traffic regulations, pilot licensing, and aircraft certification. In 1934, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce and soon became responsible for recently established air traffic control centers that had been created by various airlines at the Bureau's encouragement. The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 created the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA), which took over the duties of the Bureau of Air Commerce, and the aviation-related responsibilities of the Post Office Department and the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Authority consisted of two branches: the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), responsible for regulating air commerce and accident investigations, and the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), responsible for air safety, control of air traffic, operation of Federal airways communication systems, and airport improvement. In 1940 the Authority was split, with the CAB remaining an independent body, while the CAA was placed under the Commerce Department. In order to keep pace with the rapid growth in civil aviation after World War II, which proved beyond the capabilities of the CAA, Congress established the Federal Aviation Agency in 1958 as an independent body incorporating the CAA, the Airways Modernization Board (est. 1957), and portions of the CAB. The Federal Aviation Agency became part of the newly created US Department of Transportation in 1967 and was renamed the Federal Aviation Administration.