Views of Lt. Benjamin S. Kelsey posed in flight clothing in the cockpit of a Curtiss P-36A Hawk (Hawk 75L) (probably s/n 38-2) upon his arrival at Buffalo, New York, October 26, 1938, following his flight from Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, at reported speed of 353 miles per hour.
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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:
General Benjamin Kelsey Scrapbooks, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0026, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Left to right: Col. John K. Gerhart, Maj. Cass S. Hough, Col. John N. Stone, Col. Benjamin S. Kelsey, and Col. James E. "Buster" Briggs (Operations Officer, Eighth Air Force Fighter Command) pose standing in front of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning on the ground, probably in England after the first crossing on the North Atlantic Ferry Route as part of Operation Bolero. Print is autographed by each man above his head, and annotated "July 28, 1942" at bottom center.
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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:
General Benjamin Kelsey Scrapbooks, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0026, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
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:
General Benjamin Kelsey Scrapbooks, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0026, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
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:
General Benjamin Kelsey Scrapbooks, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0026, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph at top of page shows Lt. Benjamin S. Kelsey poses in flight clothing seated on edge of the cockpit of Curtiss P-36A Hawk (Hawk 75L) (probably s/n 38-2) upon his arrival at Buffalo, New York, October 26, 1938, following his flight from Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. Photograph overlays letter dated December 21, 1938, to Lt. Benjamin Kelsey from Burdette S. Wright, Curtiss Aeroplane Division, Curtiss Wright Corporation, Buffalo, New York.
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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:
General Benjamin Kelsey Scrapbooks, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0026, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Issue "commemorating the 30th anniversary of the delivery of the first military airplane to the United States Army."
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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:
General Benjamin Kelsey Scrapbooks, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0026, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
U. S. Army Air Forces "Air Route Manual: United States to Great Britain," prepared by Air Movements Unit, Operational Intelligence Section AFDIS – A2, May 25, 1942 (Second Revision). Pilot's briefing document prepared for use by a Lockheed P-38 Lightning pilot who, with three other members of his Group, would be following a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress pathfinder aircraft across the North Atlantic; provides detailed radio and navigational information for all airfields enroute (US and Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and the British Isles) including aerial photographs, prepared strip maps marked with the magnetic course to be flown, and general information. Eight large sectional maps are tucked inside the back cover of the document: two American Airlines Radio Range and Mileage Charts (Presque Isle to Greenland, and Greenland to England), and six Ordnance Survey of Great Britain Aeronautical Maps (Orkneys & Shetlands, North Scotland, Highlands, The Border, North Sea, and Midlands & Wales). Mission was in support of Operation Bolero, the movement of US forces across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom in preparation for the opening of a "second front" in northwest Europe (1943-1944).
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:
General Benjamin Kelsey Scrapbooks, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0026, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Left to right: Col. John K. Gerhart, Col. James E. "Buster" Briggs (Operations Officer, Eighth Air Force Fighter Command), Maj. Cass S. Hough, and Col. Benjamin S. Kelsey, pose standing in front of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning on the ground, probably in England after the first crossing on the North Atlantic Ferry Route as part of Operation Bolero; circa July 28, 1942.
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:
General Benjamin Kelsey Scrapbooks, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0026, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection consists of a photo album and a scrapbook kept by Benjamin Scovill "Ben" Kelsey to document his life and aviation career. The collection also includes Kelsey's U. S. Army Air Forces "Air Route Manual: United States to Great Britain," dated May 25, 1942, prepared for use by the first flights of military aircraft across the North Atlantic in support of Operation Bolero.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a photo album and a scrapbook kept by Benjamin Scovill "Ben" Kelsey to document his life and aviation career. The photo album measures approximately 12.25 by 9.5 inches and documents Kelsey's early flying career and other aviation activities he was involved in from the period of about 1920 to 1932. Many of the photographs were taken around Garden City, New York or in and around Connecticut. Aircraft depicted in the album include the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, Standard (NJ) J-1, Bellanca WB-2 Miss Columbia, Dayton Wright DH-4 Mailplane, Irwin Meteorplane C-C-1, Alexander Eaglerock Biplane, Waco ASO, Martin (Glenn L.) MB-2, Ford 2-AT Air Pullman, Air Transport John Wanamaker, Sikorsky Standard-Sikorsky SN-1, Avro 504, Sikorsky S-31, Sperry Messenger, Burnelli (Remington-Burnelli) RB-1, Curtiss Oriole, Curtiss CR-1 Racer, Udet U 12 Flamingo, as well as numerous other models by manufacturers such as Fokker, Curtiss, Boeing, Stinson, and Sikorsky. Besides Kelsey, other notable aviators pictured in the album include Laura Bromwell, Charles S. "Casey" Jones, Lloyd W. Bertaud, Walter E. Johnson, Earl W. Fleet, Robert Stevens Fogg, Gus Graff, Bertrand Blanchard Acosta, Harold T. "Slim" Lewis, Harry Bradford Chin, Thea Rasche, Richard H. Depew, and Leigh Wade. The album also contains aerial photographs.
The scrapbook, which measures 11 by 16 inches, is mainly composed of newspaper clippings, but also includes magazine articles, photographs, correspondence, certificates and other ephemera. It covers the period of approximately 1934 to 1947 and documents Kelsey's military career during this period. Aircraft seen in the scrapbook include the Curtiss P-36 Hawk, Curtiss P-37 (Hawk 75I), Lockheed XP-38/P-38 Lightning, Douglas XB-19 (XBLR-2), Curtiss CW-21 Interceptor-Fighter, Bell XFM-1 Airacuda, and the Douglas C-54 Skymaster.
The collection also contains a U. S. Army Air Forces document, "Air Route Manual: United States to Great Britain," prepared by Air Movements Unit, Operational Intelligence Section AFDIS – A2, May 25, 1942 (Second Revision). This publication is a pilot's briefing document prepared in support of Operation Bolero. It was designed for use by a Lockheed P-38 Lightning pilot and provides detailed radio and navigational information for all airfields en route (U. S. and Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and the British Isles) including aerial photographs, prepared strip maps marked with the magnetic course to be flown, and general information. It also contains eight large sectional maps, two American Airlines Radio Range and Mileage Charts, and six Ordnance Survey of Great Britain Aeronautical Maps.
Arrangement:
The collection materials are grouped into two roughly chronological scrapbooks and one military document.
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.
The scrapbook, which measures 11 by 16 inches, is mainly composed of newspaper clippings, but also includes magazine articles, photographs, correspondence, certificates and other ephemera. It covers the period of approximately 1934 to 1947 and documents Kelsey's military career during this period. Aircraft seen in the scrapbook include the Curtiss P-36 Hawk, Curtiss P-37 (Hawk 75I), Lockheed XP-38/P-38 Lightning, Douglas XB-19 (XBLR-2), Curtiss CW-21 Interceptor-Fighter, Bell XFM-1 Airacuda, and the Douglas C-54 Skymaster.
Selected items have been digitized for display.
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:
General Benjamin Kelsey Scrapbooks, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0026, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
