On the 75^th anniversary of Amelia Earhart’s departure from the U.S. for her ill-fated world flight, TIGHAR will host “Earhart Search 75,” a three-day conference to explore what has been learned in three-quarters of a century of efforts to discover Earhart’s fate. Researchers, scientists, historians, archaeologists, and forensic experts will present their findings on a wide range of topics in support of a variety of theories.

TIGHAR has been researching and searching for the crash site of legendary pilot Amelia Earhart. The group has produced a hypothesis on what happened during the infamous flight in 1937.

 Having failed to find Howland Island, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan continued on the navigational line Amelia said they were following. That line led them to uninhabited Gardner Island where Amelia landed the Electra safely on the island’s fringing reef. For the next several nights they used the aircraft’s radio to send distress calls. Radio bearings taken on the signals crossed in the vicinity of Gardner Island. One week after the flight disappeared, three U.S. Navy search planes flew over Gardner Island. By then, the distress calls had stopped. Rising tides and surf had swept the Electra over the reef edge. The Navy fliers saw no airplane but they did see “signs of recent habitation.” They thought that all the islands in the area were inhabited so they moved on. In fact, no one had lived on Gardner since 1892. Earhart and Noonan lived for a time as castaways on the waterless atoll, relying on rain squalls for drinking water. They caught and cooked small fish, seabirds, turtles and clams. Amelia died at a makeshift campsite on the island’s southeast end. Noonan’s fate is unknown. Whatever remains of the Electra lies in deep water off the island’s west end.

More information on the Earhart Project and the upcoming conference can be viewed on TIGHAR’s website.

The Library & Archives has over 100 photographs of Amelia Earhart on our Flickr site. Also, the Lockheed Vega 5B used in the movie Amelia is on display on the floor of the museum.

We have a couple more photos of this interesting aircraft on our Flickr site.

AVG P-40

One of the unique collections that the Library & Archives hold is our American Volunteer Group (AVG) Special Collection. The AVG is more famously known as the Flying Tigers.  One of our outstanding Library interns, Cindy, has recently completed an extensive cataloging process and has produced a valuable finding guide to the Flying Tiger collection. In addition Cindy and our digital archivist Alan have  placed the finding guide  on the Online Archive of California (OAC).  The finding guide is now available for scholars, researchers, students, authors, World War II buffs, and other aviation enthusiasts to view what we have in our collection without having to travel to our archives.

Here is just a small sample of what the OAC Flying Tigers finding guide includes:

Biographical/Historical note

The 1st American Volunteer Group, also known as AVG, and more famously as the Flying Tigers—was a group of volunteer American pilots from various branches of the military, led by Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault. Answering a call from Madame Chiang Kai Shek, Chennault initially gathered together the AVG to perform a survey of the Chinese Air Force. The AVG was comprised of 3 squadrons: 1st Adam and Eves, 2nd Panda Bears, and 3rd Hell’s Angels. The group saw combat after Pearl Harbor in 1941, and went on to produce multiple victories against the Japanese, and emerged with multiple Flying Aces. Chennault employed his fighter doctrine, which was based on careful study of the enemy’s tactics, while employing their strengths in altitude. The Flying Tigers were famous too for their successes in the air battle over Rangoon. In addition to their combat victories, the Flying Tiger members and Chennault were highly celebrated, and in 1992, AVG veterans were finally recognized as members of the military services, and all members were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The ground crew were rewarded the Bronze Star. In popular culture, the Flying Tigers are readily recognizable in their iconic shark face nose art. They have also been featured in various movies, books and documentaries.

Scope and Contents note

Box I – AVG General Series I: AVG Veteran Status Essay Series II: Manuscript Copies Series III: Personal Correspondences Series IV: AVG Roster/Inventory Series V: AVG Mailing Lists Series VI: Bibliographies Series VII: AVG – China

Box 2 – AVG General

Series I: Flying Tigers Artifacts/Miscellany Series II: Magazine Articles Series III: News Clippings Series IV: Reunion Brochures/Yearbooks Series V: Papers of Ed McKellar, Executive Director, San Diego Air & Space Museum

Box 3 – Walter Pentecost 1 of 2

Series I: Books (Autographed) Series II: Interviews Series III: Ferry Pilot Forms/Aircraft Record of Reception Series IV: Aircraft Service Logs/Maintenance & Operational Procedures Series V: Letters of Recommendation, Military Forms for Service Series VI: Correspondence: AVG Family Letters Series VII: Maps and Blueprints Series VIII: News Clippings: Pentecost, AVG Series IX: Personal Daily Calendar Series X: Vultee Aircraft, Inc. Employment Agreement Series XI: Correspondence regarding AAHS Journal Article, AVG Series XII: Correspondence: Chennault, Employment in China Series XIII: Correspondence: Miscellaneous and other Papers Series XIV: Outline/Notes, AVG book

Box 4 – Walter Pentecost 2 of 2

Series I: Walter Pentecost Publications, AVG Series II: Souvenirs Series III: Thiokol Trip Log, 1959-1961 Series IV: Museum Correspondence

Box 5 – Book, Pictorial History of the Flying Tigers

Series I: Books

Box 6 – 14th Squadron AVG

Series I: Pictorial Magazine and Other Publications Series II: Miscellaneous Articles Series III: Operations and Graphs Series IV: Research Correspondence Documents Series V: Military and Other Documents

Helen Richey

The Library & Archives have had a busy couple of months. We continue to expand our digitization efforts and have expanded into to new media formats. Our Associate Archivist continues to digitize our two million plus photographs and to make them available, at a low resolution, on our Flickr website. We have over 114,000 images on our Flickr site and are leading the way in Balboa Park through the hard work of our staff and volunteers.  We continue to digitize our film collection and place them for viewing on YouTube. Over four hundred films have been converted into digital format and placed for viewing. So far we have sold reproductions of these historic films, in DVD format, to patrons from America, Australia, and Europe.

One of the new ways that we are starting to expand our efforts is through digital rolled drawings. The L&A has a large collection of original rolled drawings of aircraft from sundry aircraft companies from the early days of aviation to the modern. Many patrons purchase copies of our drawings, which require staff to travel offsite to make large industrial sized scans. (Some of the rolled drawings are eight to ten feet long) Since many of these drawings are over seventy years old (some older!) the wear and tear on going through a scanner became impractical and damaging to preserving our collection. So to address this problem the rolled drawings are being scanned as PDFs and placed on secure servers. While it requires us to place the drawings through a scanner it allows us, in the long run, to preserve them by only having to scan them once. This process is an order by order basis and so far plans for twelve different aircraft have been scanned and made into PDFs. The patron reviews of the plans have been sensational so far.

In the future other archival material will also be made into PDF format for viewing online.

PEARL HARBOR EXPERIENCE PRESENTATION

Recently one of our Library volunteers attended the Spirit of ’45′s 2012 National Leaders Conference at the San Diego Veterans Museum & Memorial and the San Diego Air & Space Museum. He then gave a presentation of what happened at the conference. This blog post is based on his power point presentation and conference brochure.

The Spirit of ’45 mission is to keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive and to honor the men and women who made up the greatest generation.

The Conference kicked off on Friday, February 17th with a recap of the previous year’s events and activities followed by workshops. A special lunch was held that honored Pearl Harbor Survivors.

In the evening a welcome reception in honor of African-American WWII Veterans was hosted at the Regal Theater at Horton Plaza.  San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders was present at the event. The highlight of the evening was a special screening of the blockbuster hit Red Tails for the participants.

On the second day of the conference working sessions were held on the theme, Bringing Youth and Seniors Together to Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive. Local High School Students and World War II veterans gave presentations during the day on the theme of youth and seniors working together to remember the greatest generation. At the event were members of the Famous Navajo Code-Talkers.

In the evening the Annual Awards and Celebration Dinner was held at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. The event was co-hosted by the Spirit of ’45 and the San Diego Air & Space Museum.  Museum President and CEO Jim Kidrick gave the welcome address.  Addresses were then given by Linda Laurie the National Event Coordinator of the Spirit of ’45 and Warren C. Hegg the National Supervisor of “Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive.”

A special tribute was held in honor of veteran and actor, Ernest Borgnine. After the tribute the various awards were given to distinguished veterans.

Distinguished guests included Gen. Bob Cardenas, Bob Hoover, and Gen. Chuck Yeager, Col. Steve Pisanos, and Lt. Col. Jerry Coleman.

The 2012 Spirit of ’45 Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to General Chuck Yeager.  The Spirit of ’45 also gave out awards to various corporations. The 2012 Arsenal of Democracy Awards went to General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler Group, the Boeing Corporation, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman.

On Sunday, February 19th A Tribute to a Generation was held at the Greatest Generation Walk- Tuna Harbor Park. The Spring Valley Middle School Marching bands played music and Col. Dave Severance and Miranda Hope gave talks to the assembled group.

The annual conference weekend was a tremendous success. The San Diego Air and Space Museum was pleased that it was able to work with the Spirit of ’45.  The conference brought together veterans, their families, friends, local youth, and various local corporations, non-profits, and WWII enthusiasts for a fun, educational, and informative weekend.

The Tuskeegee Airmen

The month of February is African-American history month. The San Diego Air and Space Museum Library & Archives has two online collections dealing with the important contributions of African-Americans to aviation.

Celebrating African-Americans in Aviation

This online exhibit is dedicated to the story of those who overcame the restrictive social circumstances of the time to broaden Black participation in the growing world of aeronautics, and to those who answered the call and, even now, continue to make history.

African-Americans in Aviation

This Flickr set highlights African-American aviation pioneers.

Louis "Slim" Gordon and friends

The Library and Archives has a wonderful collection of papers, photos, and other archival materials belonging to “Slim” Gordon.

Louis Edward “Slim” Gordon was born Louis Elwood Avaritt March 4, 1901 in San Antonio Texas. In 1919 Mr. Gordon joined the Army Air Corps as a flier. He had a love for motors which lead to his career as a flight mechanic as well as a pilot. Mr. Gordon was transferred to the 20th Bombing Squadron at Kelley Field, San Antonio Texas for motor school. He then worked on two tri-motored Caproni and one Handley Page plane. Gordon subsequently became chief mechanic at the proving grounds Aberdeen, Maryland and later transferred to the bombing squadron at Mitchell Field where he was involved in the International Air Races. During the War he also was foreman of servicing operations in Natal, Brazil which was then the jumping off point for flights to Africa. He was honorably discharged from the Army Air Services in May, 1926, with the rank of Staff Sergeant after seven years in the service.

Known as the “Red Tails” because of their unit markings, the Tuskegee Airmen overcame much adversity to become one of the most respected units of the Army Air Corps. In June 1941, the Tuskegee Airmen program officially began at the Tuskegee Institute, a highly regarded university founded by Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Airmen, including ground support crews, were placed under the command of Capt. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., one of the few African American West Point graduates.  The Tuskegee Airmen saw their first combat in North Africa in 1943 and were initially equipped with P-40 Warhawks, P-39 Airacobras, later with P-47 Thunderbolts and finally with the airplane that they would become most identified with, the P-51 Mustang.  By the end of the War, the Tuskegee Airmen achieved a very impressive combat record, shooting down well over 100 German aircraft, receiving 3 distinguished unit citations as well as, The Tuskegee Airmen were awarded several Silver Stars, 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 8 Purple Hearts, 14 Bronze Stars and 744 Air Medals.  Their valiant efforts lead the way to the desegregation of the armed forces in 1948.

The Tuskegee Airman were inducted into the San Diego Air and Space Museum’s International Aerospace Hall of Fame in 2008. Our P-51 painted in the markings of the Tuskegee Airman.

Make sure to check out the movie and also our Flickr collection of Tuskegee Airman