This collection consists of the corporate records of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Included in the collection are technical and engineering reports of Curtiss-Wright Airplane Division's operations in St. Louis (Robertson), MO (1935-1945) and Buffalo, NY, (1932-1945), as well as AAS Material Division and AAF Air Technical Services Command memorandum reports collected by Curtiss-Wright's St. Louis and Buffalo technical reference libraries. The collection also contains the files of Curtiss-Wright's Patent Department, which hold records of patents filed by Curtiss-Wright and patent-infringement cases involving Curtiss-Wright. Also included in the collection are specifications issued by and photos commissioned by the Keystone Aircraft Corporation (Huff-Daland Airplanes, Inc. until March 1927), which had been acquired by Wright in 1928 along with Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corp., and formed the Keystone Division of Curtiss-Wright until 1932 when Keystone's Bristol, PA factory closed its doors. The collection also contains financial records of the Curtiss-Wright Airports Corporation, which was liquidated in 1936, as well as an extensive negative collection featuring Curtiss-Wright aircraft from the 1930s and 1940s, concentrated especially on the war years.
Scope and Contents:
The Curtiss-Wright Corporation Records collection contains approximately 212 cubic feet of material. The collection contains the following material:
Army Air Service Material Division & Army Air Force Technical Services Command Memo
Reports & Technical Reports which include testing of various Curtiss-Wright models of aircraft and/or various parts of aircraft
Technical & Engineering Reports from the St. Louis, MO plant [Robertson] & Buffalo, NY plant
Patents, Patent Dockets, Patent Serial numbers, Suits, License Agreements, Patents filed by Curtiss-Wright & Patent Infringement Cases [1800s to 1940s]
Miscellaneous Research Files
Corporate & Financial Records [1923 to 1972]
Correspondence
Blueprint Drawings
Advertisements from Newspapers & Magazines in Scrapbooks
Engine Decals
Photographs
Negatives & Glass Plates
Arrangement:
This collection was arranged into Series and Subseries:
Subseries I: Air Corps Materiel Division, Reports [ACMR]
Subseries II: Buffalo Reports
Subseries III: St. Louis
Series III: Glass Format Photography
Series IV: 1969 Accretion - Listing of Archival Material
Series V: Master Print Books [this part of the collection has not been processed]
Historical note:
An historic event in aviation occurred on June 26, 1929 when two major aircraft companies: the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company merged with the Wright Aeronautical Corporation to form the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. After this merger, the former Wright organization took over all of the engine and propeller manufacture while Curtiss concentrated on airplanes. This merger was completed by organizing two major divisions under their original names, but under the direction of a corporate headquarters located in New York City. However, there was a recognized separation of spirit as well as specialized facilities that was never completely resolved in succeeding years. The election of former Wright personnel to key corporate positions soon led to Wright becoming the dominant division. At the height of the Lindbergh Boom during the 1920s and 1930s, the Curtiss-Wright Corporation was made up of the following identified organizations: The Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Company; The Curtiss-Caproni Corporation; The Curtiss-Robertson Airplane Manufacturing Company; The Keystone Aircraft Corporation; The Moth Aircraft Corporation; The Travel Air Manufacturing Company; The Wright Aeronautical Corporation; Curtiss-Wright Flying Service; The Curtiss-Wright Sales
Corporation; The Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation. Curtiss-Wright was quickly becoming the 'General Motors of the Air' until the great depression in October 1929. Sales dropped and Curtiss-Wright was forced to close certain satellite plants and transfer some of their product lines to the St. Louis facility. It looked like even the Buffalo plants would also have to close when Curtiss-Wright received an order from Colombia, South America for Hawks and Falcons. This was the largest military order to Curtiss since the war. The Colombia sale saved the Curtiss-Wright organization at this low point in its history. This order kept the production lines going until new military and civil markets began to open up as the depression waned and the build-up for World War II began. During the U.S. military build-up prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, all existing Curtiss-Wright plants were expanded and new aircraft factories were built at Columbus, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky. The dropping of the two atomic bombs on Japan resulted in an unexpected early end to World War II. All of the major U.S. airplane builders including Curtiss-Wright were hit by massive contract cancellations because of the Japanese surrender. In 1946 Curtiss-Wright had only two experimental military models at hand for postwar delivery and no assurance of production orders. Curtiss-Wright was forced to shut down all airplane plants and transfer all units of the Aeroplane Division to their Columbus Plant. The eventual sale of the Airplane Division to North American included design rights to the former Curtiss-Wright airplanes. The Curtiss-Wright Airplane Division, which manufactured airframes, finally closed down in 1951.
Provenance:
Curtiss-Wright Corporation, gift, XXXX, 1969
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
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.
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.
Collection Citation:
Revista Aérea Collection Collection, Acc. 2003-0028, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection consists of 125 black and white photographs that Cecil Tucker collected during his tenure at the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. The photographs include the following Curtiss-Wright aircraft: the Curtiss-Wright Robin, including "Wrong-Way" Corrigan's aircraft; the Curtiss-Wright Kingbird, built for the Marine Corps; the Curtiss-Wright Condor, including images of the Condor T-32 built for the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, the two Condors modified for the Navy for use by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as the Condors sold to Eastern Airlines, Switzerland, and Argentina; and the Curtiss-Wright AT-9, CW-19R, and CW-22B. Famous individuals pictured include: Amelia Earhart, Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Lowell Thomas, the famous radio broadcaster. Also of interest are severala few images of aircraft with Latin and South American insignia.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 125 black and white photographs that Tucker collected during his tenure at Curtiss-Wright. The photographs include the following Curtiss-Wright aircraft: the Curtiss-Wright Robin, including "Wrong-Way" Corrigan's aircraft; the Curtiss-Wright Kingbird, built for the Marine Corps; the Curtiss-Wright Condor, including images of the Condor T-32 built for the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, the two Condors modified for the Navy for use by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as the Condors sold to Eastern Airlines, Switzerland, and Argentina; and the Curtiss-Wright AT-9, CW-19R, and CW-22B. Famous individuals pictured include: Amelia Earhart, Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Lowell Thomas, the famous radio broadcaster. Also of interest are a few images of aircraft with Latin and South American insignia.
Note: The digital images in this finding aid were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping and orientation in addition to color variations resulting from damage to and deterioration of the original objects.
Arrangement:
The Curtiss-Wright Photography [Tucker] Collection is arranged by subject.
Biographical / Historical:
Cecil Tucker worked for Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri,from 1928 until 1945. Tucker started as a wire man and worked his way up to the Assistant Superintendent of Factory Administration for the St. Louis plant.
Provenance:
Paul B. Tucker, gift, 2000, 2000-0033
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
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
Whatever happened to Curtiss Wright? : the story of how a very successful aircraft company took itself out of the business, 1945-1953 : the aviation view / Robert W. Fausel
This collection consists of five cubic feet of photographs, negatives, books, and documents collected or produced by Francis Dean. Included are approximately 10,000 - 11,000 2 x 3 and 4 x 5 inch black and white negatives, from a variety of sources; 8 x 10, 4 x 5, and 2 x 3 inch mostly black and white prints, with a few color prints; color slides of aircraft; Curtiss-Wright Corporation brochures, manuals, and publications, including a Propeller Design Manual, April 1953, and a Design Report on the Curtiss-Wright X-100 VTOL Aircraft, 1961; Profile Publications for various aircraft; a green notebook filled with information on the Brewster F2A; a blue notebook of correspondence; and other miscellaneous aviation documents.
Biographical / Historical:
Francis H. Dean served in the United States Navy during World War II. After his discharge, Dean graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an aeronautical engineer. He worked for thirty-eight years at Curtiss-Wright Corporation and Boeing. At Curtiss-Wright, Dean headed preliminary design work on efforts in the development of a VTOL aircraft. Dean was also the author of aviation books, including the following titles: America's Hundred Thousand: US Production Fighters of World War II; America's Navy and Marine Corps Airplanes: 1918 to the Present; America's Army and Air Force Airplanes: Post-World War I to the Present; and The Curtiss X-Planes: Curtiss Wright's VTOL Effort 1958-1965. Dean was a long time member of the American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS)
Provenance:
Evelyn G. Dean, Gift, 2005
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
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
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
Collection Citation:
Captain Michael Gitt Papers, Acc. NASM.2003.0033, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
