This collection consists of ten cubic feet of magazines, newspaper articles, flight sequences, photographs, correspondence and airshow programs chronicling the aerobatic career of Patty Wagstaff.
Biographical / Historical:
In 1991, Patty Wagstaff became the first woman to win the title of US National Aerobatic Champion, a title she then successfully defended in 1992 and 1993. Wagstaff, now based in St. Augustine, Florida, was raised in Japan and worked as a model and a shipwreck diver in Australia before moving to Alaska in 1978. There she began flight instruction in a Cessna 185 on floats and earned her private pilot license in 1979. Wagstaff moved quickly to earn her commercial and instrument ratings for single and multiengine aircraft and seaplanes. She entered her first aerobatic competition in 1984 and moved to the Unlimited category (most proficient) in only two years. Wagstaff was a six-time member of the US Aerobatic Team, which competes in world competition every two years, until her retirement from competition in 1996. Today, Wagstaff is a premier aerobatic pilot in air shows throughout the United States, performing dynamic and precise routines in her Extra 300L. She is also a commercially rated helicopter pilot, a flight instructor for unlimited aerobatics, and she flies for motion pictures and television. Wagstaff is a four-time winner of the Betty Skelton First Lady of Aerobatics Trophy and was the 1995 recipient of the National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement in Aviation. She has written, with Ann Cooper, her autobiography, Fire and Air: A Life on the Edge. The aircraft in which she became US National Aerobatic Champion is the Extra 260, a German-built aircraft which is on display in the Pioneers of Flight gallery of the National Air and Space Museum. In 2004, Wagstaff was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
Provenance:
Patty Wagstaff, 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
This collection consists of approximately 1.44 cubic feet of material pertaining to Clinton A. "Clint" McHenry, Jr.'s career including log books; photographs; correspondence; news clippings; and aviation event posters. The log books are from McHenry's time at Eastern Airlines and date from 1950 through 1968. There are twenty photographs in the collection, both black and white and color prints, that range in size from 8 by 10 inches up to approximately 11.5 by 15 inches. Some are mounted or matted, and many are signed by various pilots. Aircraft pictured in the photographs include the Extra EA230; Sukhoi Su-26; Extra 300S; Mudry CAP 231; Christen Eagle I; de Havilland (Canada) DHC-1A Chipmunk; Taylorcraft BC (BC-65); Loudenslager Laser 200; Pitts S-1T Special; Extra 260; Fouga CM 170 Magister (Schoolmaster); Bücker Bü 133 C Jungmeister, Beverly "Bevo" Howard; Panavia Tornado F.Mk.2 (RAF ADV); and the Pitts S-2A Special. In addition to McHenry, other pilots in the photographs include Patricia "Patty" Rosalie Kearns Combs Wagstaff; Kermit Weeks; Henry Haigh; Deborah Jean Rihn-Harvey; Don Taylor; Rick Bastian; Greer Parramore; Bob Abernathy; George Zimmerman; Chipper Melton; Leonard "Leo" Loudenslager; Bill Thomas; Betty Stewart; Bob Carmichael; Bob Cole; Duane and Judy Cole; Beverly E. "Bevo" Howard; Brigitte de Saint-Phalle; Linda Meyers-Morrissey; Patti Johnson-Nelson; James "Jim" Roberts; Bill Witt; Ray Williams; Dave Wood; Herb Cox; Ben Lowell; Terry Tubb; Charlie R. Hillard; Thomas Poberezny; John Eugene "Gene" Soucy; Art Scholl; Ian Groom; Bob Herendeen; Ellen Dean; and Harley Lawrence. Also in the collection are magazine covers (some enlarged) featuring images of Clint McHenry and posters or promotional materials from various aviation events and of various aerobatic teams from around the world, many of which are autographed.
Biographical / Historical:
Clinton A. "Clint" McHenry, Jr. is a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran, commercial airline pilot, flight instructor, and aerobatic pilot who is best known as a three-time National Aerobatic Champion (1986, 1987, 1989). McHenry began flying aerobatics as a young man and served in varying leadership roles for the Aerobatic Club of America and the International Aerobatic Club from 1970 to 1990. He served as a National and International Aerobatic Judge and was also a well-respected instructor and air show pilot whose students included Patty Wagstaff and other champions. McHenry was a captain and instructor pilot for Eastern Airlines for his "day" job from 1950 to 1968, flying a range of aircraft such as the Douglas DC-3, including the example in the National Air and Space Museum's collection; the Martin (Glenn L.) Model 404 (4-O-4); Convair 440 Metropolitan; Lockheed Model 1049 Super Constellation; Douglas DC-7; and the Boeing Model 727. He joined Pompano Air Center (PAC) as Chief Aerobatic Instructor in 1976. McHenry was inducted into the International Aerobatic Hall of Fame in 1993.
Provenance:
Clinton A. McHenry, Jr., Gift, 2016
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
In plane view : abstractions of flight / photographs by Carolyn Russo ; foreword by Patty Wagstaff ; introduction and essays by Anne Collins Goodyear ; captions by David Romanowski
