Steel; graphite jet vanes, some wooden construction elements in fuselage; aluminum tanks not present.
Dimensions:
Overall: 11 ft. 8 3/8 in. wide x 46 ft. 1 3/16 in. deep x 5 ft. 5 in. diameter x 44 ft. 5 3/16 in. long, 8427.9 lb. (356.6 x 1405.1 x 165.1 x 1354.3cm, 3822.9kg)
.01 Cubic feet (18 print photographs, 17 film negatives)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Negatives
Photographs
Date:
October 13-14, 1945
Summary:
In October 1945, Wright Field, Ohio, sponsored an Army Air Forces Fair, presented by the Air Technical Service Command, which allowed the public to observe displays of the US Army Air Forces' operational and experimental aircraft as well as German and Japanese aircraft captured during World War II. This collection consists of 18 photographs (17 negatives and one print) taken at the fair.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of seventeen 2.75 x 4.5 inch black and white negatives, with corresponding digital inkjet print enlargements, of military aircraft on display at the US Army Air Forces Fair at Wright Field, Ohio, held October 13-14, 1945. Also included is one digital inkjet print photograph of American Philip E. Johnson posed with Charles Chung, head of Chinese aircraft procurement and support of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) and Liang Po, a Chinese engineer sent to the United States to learn about various aircraft parts repair and servicing. US Army Air Forces operational and experimental aircraft pictured include the Beech XA-38 Grizzly (Model 28) (s/n 43-14407), Bell YP-59A Airacomet "Mystic Mistress" (s/n 42-108783), Bell XP-77, Bell XP-83 (s/n 44-84990), Cornelius XFG-1 (s/n 44-28060), the Northrop MX-324 prototype, a Lockheed P-38L Lightning (s/n 44-246490) modified as a specialized ground strafing version, a Loon Missile (JB-2, KUW-1, LTV-2, MX-544) with booster assembly, and a cutaway display model Pratt & Whitney WASP Major R-4360-4 Engine. Captured Japanese aircraft pictured include a Mitsubishi A6M5 Reisen (Zero Fighter) Zeke (Type 0 Carrier Fighter 52) and a Kugisho MXY7 Model 11 Ohka (Cherry Blossom) Baka (Crazy). Captured German aircraft pictured include a Bachem Ba 349 (BP 20) Natter (Adder), Heinkel He 162 Spatz (Sparrow, Volksjäger, People's Fighter), Junkers Ju 290 A "Alles Kaputt" (WkNr 110196, US registration FE-3400), Junkers Ju 388 L-1 (WkNr 560049, US registration FE-4010, later T2-4010), Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a Schwalbe (Swallow) (US registration FE-111), a V-1 (FZG 76) Buzz Bomb, and a V-2 Missile.
Arrangement:
Images have been assigned NASM Archives image reference numbers in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Biographical / Historical:
From 1943 until 1945, Larry De Haan served as the chief technician in the instrument shop at Wright Field, Ohio, and at the satellite field at Vandalia, Ohio, as part of the US Army Air Forces Material Command's Service Test Branch. On the weekend of October 13 and 14, 1945, Wright Field sponsored an Army Air Forces Fair, presented by the Air Technical Service Command, which allowed the public to observe displays of US Army Air Forces' operational and experimental aircraft as well as captured German and Japanese aircraft.
Related Materials:
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum aircraft displayed at the 1945 Army Air Forces Fair include the following:
Junkers Ju 388 L-1, A19600325000.
Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a Schwalbe (Swallow), A19600328000.
Provenance:
Larry De Haan, gift, 2006, NASM.2006.0046
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
Until the death of the Donor, SIA will notify the Donor prior to, or within 7 days after, the materials have been accessed for research, Transferring office; 9/5/2007 Deed of Gift; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 16-376, David H. DeVorkin Papers
Ernst H. Krause: "High-Altitude Research with V-2 Rockets," 1948
Container:
Box 13 of 21
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Until the death of the Donor, SIA will notify the Donor prior to, or within 7 days after, the materials have been accessed for research, Transferring office; 9/5/2007 Deed of Gift; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 16-376, David H. DeVorkin Papers
John J. Hopfield and Harold E. Clearman, Jr.: "The Ultraviolet Spectrum of the Sun from V-2 Rockets," 1948
Container:
Box 13 of 21
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Until the death of the Donor, SIA will notify the Donor prior to, or within 7 days after, the materials have been accessed for research, Transferring office; 9/5/2007 Deed of Gift; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 16-376, David H. DeVorkin Papers
Plans for Scientific Use of the V-2 Rocket (1945-1946)
Container:
Box 13 of 21
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Until the death of the Donor, SIA will notify the Donor prior to, or within 7 days after, the materials have been accessed for research, Transferring office; 9/5/2007 Deed of Gift; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 16-376, David H. DeVorkin Papers
Until the death of the Donor, SIA will notify the Donor prior to, or within 7 days after, the materials have been accessed for research, Transferring office; 9/5/2007 Deed of Gift; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 16-376, David H. DeVorkin Papers
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) History Office: V-2 Rocket
Container:
Box 13 of 21
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Until the death of the Donor, SIA will notify the Donor prior to, or within 7 days after, the materials have been accessed for research, Transferring office; 9/5/2007 Deed of Gift; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 16-376, David H. DeVorkin Papers
Until the death of the Donor, SIA will notify the Donor prior to, or within 7 days after, the materials have been accessed for research, Transferring office; 9/5/2007 Deed of Gift; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 16-376, David H. DeVorkin Papers
V-2 Rocket and Space Science Research: Correspondence, Notes, and Publications
Container:
Box 14 of 21
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Until the death of the Donor, SIA will notify the Donor prior to, or within 7 days after, the materials have been accessed for research, Transferring office; 9/5/2007 Deed of Gift; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 16-376, David H. DeVorkin Papers
Until the death of the Donor, SIA will notify the Donor prior to, or within 7 days after, the materials have been accessed for research, Transferring office; 9/5/2007 Deed of Gift; Contact reference staff for details.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 16-376, David H. DeVorkin Papers
This collection consists of six feet of material documenting Porter's many scientific contributions. The following types of material are included: photographs, lecture notes, correspondence, trip notes, newspaper clippings, symposium programs, papers, and periodicals, circa 1930s-1980s.
Scope and Content:
The Richard Porter Collection reflects Porter's career as an electrical engineer, rocketry expert, and a corporate manager and consultant. Almost the entirety of this collection consists of materials related to his professional work. This includes correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, reports, notes, speeches, photographs, brochures, pamphlets, programs, magazines, newsletters, papers, articles, newspaper clippings, miscellaneous materials (directories, mailing lists, transcript, etc.), as well as a scrapbook. It is worth singling out a few of the aforementioned materials for their particular historical significance pertaining to the development of rocketry and space exploration. Some of the correspondence, memoranda and notes reveal the inner workings of Operation Paperclip: the U.S. plan to seek out, debrief, recruit and evacuate German rocket scientists from war-torn Germany to America. Additionally, other examples of correspondence and notes give candid appraisals of some key figures in the aerospace field, as well as to illustrate exchanges between Porter and such scientific luminaries as Carl Sagan, Wernher von Braun, Simon Ramo, Holger Toftoy, Fred Durant III, Edith Goddard and Clyde Tombaugh.
The Porter Collection is arranged both chronologically and alphabetically. Correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, notes, notebooks, speeches, photographs, brochures, pamphlets, programs, magazines, journals, articles, newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials are organized by the former method. Reports are arranged alphabetically by organizational name while newsletters and papers are grouped alphabetically by title and then chronologically.
The reader should note that the Porter Collection was exposed to a fire in Porter's office sometime during the late 1970s. The fire, along with the subsequent dousing of water from the firefighters, destroyed much of this collection. All that remained are the materials described here. While the surviving materials generally suffered only minor damage (mainly to their original folders), scorch marks can be occasionally observed on some correspondence, speeches, reports, etc.. More serious problems exist with seven folders containing photographs. For conservation purposes, they have been separated from the rest of the photographs in this collection and are currently unavailable to researchers.
Arrangement:
The Porter Collection is arranged both chronologically and alphabetically. Correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, notes, notebooks, speeches, photographs, brochures, pamphlets, programs, magazines, journals, articles, newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials are organized by the former method. Reports are arranged alphabetically by organizational name while newsletters and papers are grouped alphabetically by title.
Biographical/Historical note:
As an established authority on rockets, GE placed Porter in overall charge of the company's guided missiles department in 1953. By the mid-1950s, his great knowledge in this field also lead to a position as head of a panel of scientists tasked with developing a U.S. space program in time for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58. On February 1, 1958, Porter was given the honor of announcing to reporters that the U.S. had launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, the previous night. The booster employed for this endeavor, an Army Jupiter-C, was designed and built mainly by the German rocket scientists (including their leader, Wernher von Braun) Porter helped to bring to America thirteen years earlier. By this time, GE assigned him as a company-wide consultant. Besides serving as leader of the U.S. IGY effort, he also served on many other boards and panels such as the International Relations Committee of the Space Sciences Board, U.S. National Academy of Science, the U.S. Academy in the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and the U.S. delegation for the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. During his long career in engineering and aerospace development, Porter was also the recipient of numerous honors and awards. These included the Coffin Award, Goddard Award and the Scientific Achievement Award given by Yale University.
Aside from his career, Porter had a busy personal life. In 1946, he married Edith Wharton Kelly. The couple had two daughters and a son. Porter enjoyed horticulture -- especially growing orchids, as well as skiing and playing the clarinet. He died on October 6, 1996 at the age of 83.
General note:
Dr. Porter had a fire that destroyed most of his papers. These six boxes are all that remain.
Provenance:
Susan Porter Beffel and Thomas Andrew Porter, Gift, 1997, 1997-0037, NASM
