D-H-4 Equipped with Curtiss D-12 Motor, 8-25-24. [One-half right rear view of Dayton Wright DH-4 on the ground, buildings in background.]
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Curtiss-Wright Corporation Records, Acc. XXXX-0067, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Dayton Wright DH-4 Family, Shipping and Crating [Documents]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
Dayton Wright DH-4 Family, Shipping and Crating [Photos]
Collection Creator:
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
The majority of the Archives Department's public reference requests can be answered using material in these files, which may be accessed through the Reading Room at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. More specific information can be requested by contacting the Archives Research Request.
John Matthew Miller III (born June 3, 1896) was active in aviation throughout his life, as a naval aviator, air mail pilot, transport pilot, autogiro pilot, flight instructor, aircraft manufacturer, airport operator, agricultural pilot, and helicopter test pilot, working at different times for the United States Navy, the U.S. Aerial Mail Service, Pitcairn Aeronautical Corporation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture; from 1927-1929 Miller operated his own business, the Miller Aviation Corporation of New Brunswick, New Jersey. The collection includes Miller's pilot licenses and log books, scrapbooks, photographs, newspaper clippings and assorted ephemera, predominantly from the 1914 to 1939 period of Miller's life.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains both original materials and photocopies of materials loaned by the donor for copying. Original materials include Miller's United States Navy Naval Aviator Certificate, an aircraft log book for the Curtiss Seagull "Jacques Cartier" (owned by The Chicago Tribune), a photo album entitled "The Miller Corporation, New Brunswick Airport" featuring images of the Miller (Corp) MCA-1 Amphibian Biplane, assorted loose photographs, correspondence from Robert Woods Johnson (of Johnson & Johnson), two panoramic group photographs of the US Navy Flight A Naval Aviation detachment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1917, newspaper clippings (several covering James G. Ray's autogiro flight over Washington, DC in 1934), assorted ephemera relating to Miller's aviation career, and two bound books: Flying Officers of the U.S.N. (US Navy): 1917-1919 and Saga of the US Air Mail Service: 1918-1927, (Air Mail Pioneers, Inc., 1962). Photocopied materials include two of Miller's pilot log books, two of Miller's pilot licenses, a scrapbook, and selected pages from additional scrapbooks from which individual photographs were copied by the National Air and Space Museum in 2001. The collection also includes Smithsonian Institution numbered copy prints of these selected photographs.
Arrangement:
Materials in this collection are grouped into Series by type; materials within a series are generally arranged chronologically, grouped by subject.
Biographical / Historical:
John Matthew Miller III was born June 3, 1896, at Tacoma, Washington. As a teenager, Miller came east to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and found summer employment with the Burgess Company aircraft manufacturers at Marblehead, Massachusetts. In 1917, following the entry of the United States into World War I, Miller was accepted into the Massachusetts School for Naval Air Service (Flight A Naval Aviation detachment at MIT), and, after two months, moved on to elementary flying instruction at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and then advanced instruction at Pensacola, Florida. He was commissioned into the United States Naval Air Service as an Ensign on March 16, 1918, and stationed at Naval Air Station Rockaway Beach, New York, where he performed patrol and convoy work off New York harbor, until ordered to inactive duty on December 15, 1918. Miller promptly joined the US Aerial Mail Service; after training in Dayton Wright DH-4 air mailplanes at Belmont Park, Long Island, Miller was posted to Bustleton, Pennsylvania, as station manager. Following his two years of air mail service, Miller worked at a number of aviation jobs, including time with the America Trans Oceanic Company (Miami, Florida, 1920), survey flights in Quebec (Canada, 1922), and managing operations for Pitcairn Aeronautical Corporation at their base adjacent to Hadley Field in South Plainfield, New Jersey (the New York terminal for the New York to Chicago and New York to Atlanta air mail routes). Miller was an active member of the New Brunswick (NJ) Aero Club, owners of a Pitcairn PA-3 Orowing based at Pitcairn's field. On August 1, 1927, Miller organized the Miller Aviation Corporation, operating out of New Brunswick Airport (a.k.a. "Miller Field"), a short-lived airfield located southwest of the city of New Brunswick. Miller Aviation offered flying instruction, local sightseeing flights, and charter passenger flights in the mid-Atlantic seaboard region. In 1928-1929, the Miller Aviation Corporation designed, constructed, and tested the Miller (Corp) MCA-1 Amphibian Biplane; sadly, the aircraft crashed during its first ground landing. After his company failed, Miller returned to Pitcairn Aeronautical as an autogiro pilot, making a number of flights through the 1930s for Pitcairn, the US Department of Agriculture, and others. During World War II, Miller temporarily rejoined the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, serving as a helicopter test pilot at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. Miller later worked for the Department of Agriculture until his retirement in 1956.
NOTE: John Matthew Miller III (born 1896, died circa 1980s), the subject of this collection, should not be confused with fellow air mail and autogiro pilot John McDonald "Johnny" Miller (1905-2008), occasionally referenced in this collection. Johnny Miller was more closely associated with the Kellett Autogiro Corp (Philadelphia, PA), and was famous for being the first to land an aircraft on the roof of a building.
Provenance:
Lee M. Gunther-Mohr, Gift, 2001, NASM.2001.0036.
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
This collection consists of sixteen 35mm color slides of photographs taken by Kenneth Olsen showing the Dayton Wright DH-4 Mailplane #249 at the Elko Airport in Nevada after its reconstruction by J. W. "Bill" Hackbarth and the Air Mail Pioneers.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of sixteen 35mm color slides of photographs taken by Kenneth Olsen showing the Dayton Wright DH-4 Mailplane #249 at the Elko Airport in Nevada after its reconstruction by J. W. "Bill" Hackbarth and the Air Mail Pioneers. Hackbarth is visible in several of the pictures, and some show the aircraft taking off or in flight.
Arrangement:
Slides had numbers written on the mounts when they were received in the Archives and they were arranged in numerical order by those numbers.
Biographical / Historical:
Henry George Boonstra was flying Dayton Wright DH-4 Mailplane #249 on December 15, 1922 when he crashed into Porcupine Ridge near Coalsville, UT. Boonstra was able to exit the badly damaged aircraft and seek help and the mail was eventually recovered, but the aircraft remained in place until it was located by J. W. "Bill" Hackbarth and retrieved in pieces by a local rancher and his son. Hackbarth and the Air Mail Pioneers Association planned to reconstruct the aircraft using as much of the original airplane as was useable in time for the 50th anniversary of the air mail service which was to be celebrated on May 15, 1968. After many months of work, a wildfire consumed Hackbarth's ranch and the Dayton Wright DH-4 Mailplane #249 along with it. Hackbarth and the Air Mail Pioneers resumed work on the aircraft and located a new Liberty engine to replace the one that was destroyed thanks to the media attention that resulted from the story of the reconstruction and the fire. After the reconstruction was complete, Hackbarth flew "Old 249" on a transcontinental west to east flight, arriving in Washington, DC on May 9, 1968. Dayton Wright DH-4 Mailplane #249 was donated to Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum by the Air Mail Pioneers and, as of August 1922, is currently on loan for display at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum.
Kenneth Olsen worked for Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, later Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, from around 1958 until the late 1990s. In 1968, Olsen was working at a seismic station in the Elko, Nevada area and took photographs of Dayton Wright DH-4 Mailplane #249 while it was at the Elko Airport.
Provenance:
Allen Olsen, Gift, 2022, NASM.2022.0044
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.
Orville Burch Freeman (1893-1966) served with the US Army Air Service as an aviator, and later as a flight instructor, at Kelly Field, Texas during World War I and in the interwar period.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of one photo album created by Orville Burch Freeman documenting his career with the US Army Air Service. The album measures approximately 11.5 x 7 inches and contains more than 130 photographs. Photographs in the album, many of which were taken at Kelly Field, Texas, show other pilots and aircraft including air to air views of various aircraft in flight and aircraft accidents. Cyrus K. "Cy" Bettis (1893-1926) is shown in several photographs, including one with an erroneous label that states he died in 1924. Aircraft shown in the album include various models of Curtiss JN-4 including the Curtiss JN-4H Hisso Jenny and the Curtiss JN-4HB Hisso Jenny, as well as the Dayton Wright DH-4. There also aerial photographs of various locations in Texas. The album contains captions written by Freeman.
Arrangement:
Collection is in original order.
Biographical / Historical:
Orville Burch Freeman (1893-1966) served with the US Army Air Service as an aviator, and later as a flight instructor, at Kelly Field, Texas during World War I and in the interwar period. This collection consists of one photo album created by Freeman documenting his military career.
Provenance:
Glenn Farris, Gift, 2020, NASM.2020.0021
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.
Anas Tommy Economy (born Anastasios Economou) served in the Aviation Section, US Army Signal Corps. This collection consists of a photo album documenting the years from 1917 to 1920 when he was stationed at Love Field, Texas with the 868th Aero Squadron at the Aviation Repair Depot.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a photo album documenting the years from 1917 to 1920 when Anas Tommy Economy (Anastasios Economou) was stationed at Love Field, Texas with the 868th Aero Squadron at the Aviation Repair Depot. The album measures approximately 15.5 by 11.25 inches and features a black leather-type cover and a string-tie binding. The album contains approximately 155 black and white photographs of varying sizes and includes some caption information and personal recollections by Economy. The photographs show daily life at Love Field; aircraft maintenance operations; various aircraft crashes; aerial photographs of the Dallas, Texas area; and photographs of Economy and his family. Aircraft shown in the photographs include the Martin (Glenn L.) (MB-1) GMB-M Night Bomber; Dayton Wright DH-4; Thomas-Morse MB-3; Curtiss JN (Jenny); and the Caproni Ca.3. The collection also contains a disc with scans of the entire album and a disc with a detailed biography of Anas Tommy Economy.
Note: Blank pages have not been digitally reproduced in slideshow. Any gaps in numbering are due to their omission.
Arrangement:
Collection is in original order.
Biographical / Historical:
Anas Tommy Economy (born Anastasios Economou) emigrated from Greece to the United States in 1912 at the age of eight. Economy attended Detroit Technical college for a year and later obtained a degree by correspondence in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University. Economy worked for the Great Northern Railway and Dodge Brothers Company before enlisting in the Aviation Section, US Army Signal Corps in 1917 where he was stationed at Love Field, Texas with the 868th Aero Squadron at the Aviation Repair Depot. During his time at Love Field, Economy was promoted to sergeant first class. Economy remained at Love Field until he was transferred to San Antonio Intermediate Air Depot in 1921. Economy was injured in a large hangar fire at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma and retired from the military in 1947 at the rank of colonel while still under treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. During his military service, Economy was the recipient of the American Defense Service Medal; the American Theater Service Medal; the American Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal. Anas Tommy Economy died in 1987 at the age of 89.
Provenance:
Constantina Economou, Gift, 2014, NASM.2015.0003
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.
From August 18 to September 2, 1919, the Scranton Aero Club held an aerial meet at an airfield near Clark's Summit, Pennsylvania. This collection consists of two album pages containing photographs taken at this event.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of two scrapbook pages containing nine black and white, mounted photographs. The pages measure approximately 10 by 7 inches and the photographs each measure approximately 2.75 by 4.75 inches. The photographs date to 1919 and most have a handwritten caption by Dora Bertha Wilson on the obverse. Six photographs were taken at an aerial meet held at an airfield near Clark's Summit, Pennsylvania from August 18 to September 2, 1919. Aircraft depicted in the photographs include the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny and the Dayton Wright DH-4. People depicted in the photographs include Hiram W. Sheridan (misspelled as Sheriden in the caption information) and Fred C. Nelson. The pages also include three family photographs of a young child playing outside.
Arrangement:
Collection is in original order.
Biographical / Historical:
From August 18 to September 2, 1919, the Scranton Aero Club held an aerial meet at an airfield near Clark's Summit, Pennsylvania. Lieutenant Hiram W. Sheridan flew exhibition flights in his Dayton Wright DH-4 Maple Leaf and Lieutenant Fred C. Nelson made flights in a Curtiss JN-4 Jenny. Sheridan also attempted to set a speed record flying from Clark's Summit to Hazelhurst Field, New York. Dora Bertha Wilson is believed to have attended some part of the aerial meet as a young woman.
Provenance:
Thomas Arnold, Gift, 2014, NASM.2015.0007.
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
This collection contains two groups of photographs. The first group, mounted on pages removed from a photo album, contains views of aircraft and facilities at the United States Army Air Service Fairfield Intermediate Air Depot, Fairfield, Ohio, circa 1921. The second group consists of loose photographs of aircraft, most of which are historic views of early Aerial Experiment Association and Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company aircraft by photographer Harry M. Benner.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 86 photographs collected by the donor's father, roughly divided into two groups. The first group, most of which is mounted on black paper pages removed from a photo album, shows facilities and aircraft at the Fairfield Air Intermediate Depot in 1921, including aerial views of the field. Many of the aircraft pictured (circa 1918-1921) were undergoing technical assessment by the Army Air Service at nearby McCook Field and Wilbur Wright Field. Several photographs show the wreckage of Dayton Wright DH-4 and Curtiss JN-4D Jenny training aircraft crashed in the local area. Aircraft pictured in this group include Bristol Fighter F.2B (Brisfit) [McCook Field no. P-37], Engineering Division USD-9A (D.H.9) [McCook Field no. P-43], Fokker D.VII (V.18) [McCook Field No. P-108], LePère 11 (C-11, C II, LUSAC 11), Martin (MB-1) MP Mailplane, Martin (Glenn L.) (MB-1) GMB-TA Transatlantic Aircraft, Nieuport 24, Orenco Type B [McCook Field no. P-41], Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a, SPAD XIII (S.13), Standard (NJ) Handley Page O/400 "Langley", Standard (NJ)-Built Caproni Ca.5 Night Bomber, Thomas-Morse S-4C, Verville (Alfred) VCP-R (R-1), and Vought VE-7 [McCook Field no. P-23].
The second, smaller group of photographs consists of historical images (circa 1908-1913) relating to the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Hammondsport, New York, most of which were taken by Curtiss photographer Harry M. Benner. This group contains photographs of Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) aircraft (the Aerodrome No 1 Red Wing, the Aerodrome No 2 White Wing, the Aerodrome No 3 Loon, the Aerodrome No 4 Silver Dart, and the Cygnet II) and an assortment of Curtiss models, including Lincoln Beachey at the controls of his Curtiss Beachey Special, Curtiss C-2 (AB-2), Ruth Law at the controls of her Curtiss Model D Headless, Curtiss Flying Boat No.2 "The Flying Fish," Curtiss Flying Boat Model F, the twin-engined Curtiss Model H "America" (H-1), Curtiss J (floatplane version), Curtiss JN-2 Jenny, Curtiss NC-1, Curtiss 18-T Wasp (Curtiss-Kirkham), and the Curtiss 1914 Rebuild of the Langley (Samuel P.) Aerodrome A. These widely reproduced images also appear in other NASM Archives collections from the period.
Biographical / Historical:
The Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot, opened by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in Fairfield (Ohio) in January 1918, was designed to provide supply and logistical support for wartime aviation training operations. The largest of the depot's buildings was constructed around a double spur of track connecting it with the main railroad lines (still in use decades later as Building 1, Area C, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base). As World War I came to a close, the Army Air Service made plans for reducing training operations and managing war surplus materiel; accordingly, in January 1919 they shut down training at adjacent Wilbur Wright Field and shifted control and use of that field to the depot, now renamed as the Wilbur Wright Air Service Depot. In November 1919, the facility was transferred to the Air Service's list of permanent depots and renamed as the Aviation General Supply Depot, Fairfield, Ohio. As post-war demobilization continued, millions of dollars of property flowed into Fairfield from Europe and closed-down Air Service facilities in the continental United States, and a large civilian workforce was hired to deal with the massive influx of materiel. The name changed to Air Service Supply and Repair Depot after an aviation repair unit was transferred to Fairfield in September 1920; the depot's Engineering and Repair Section was tasked with the repair and maintenance of Air Service aircraft and the overhaul of engines. After undergoing four name changes in just over two years, in January 1921 the depot's name and mission as a center for supply and repair was clarified by the War Department with the establishment of four "air intermediate depots" at San Antonio (Texas), Rockwell (California), Middletown (Pennsylvania), and Fairfield, which became the Fairfield Air Intermediate Depot (FAID).
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Donald G. Williams, Gift, 1992, NASM.1992.0040
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
Topic:
Aerial Experiment Assoc Aerodrome No 3 June Bug Search this
Aerial Experiment Assoc Aerodrome No 4 Silver Dart Search this
