Technical Reports and Standards

L'Aerophile Collection Overview

Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, French balloonist, blowing hydrogen gas into a flame, ca. early 1800s

In January 1893 the French journalist and balloonist Georges Besancon (1866-1934), in collaboration with the Union Aerophile de France, began publishing a monthly illustrated revue, L'Aerophile (published 1893-1947). Quickly, L'Aerophile became one of the premier journals of the early history of aviation. The first years were devoted to balloonists and the importance of meteorology on ballooning (for example, atmospheric effects on equipment, instruments, and humans). In later years, as artificial wings, gliders, man- and engine-powered planes were developed, the magazine brought their stories to the public.

The fifteen thousand or so items contained in the 150 boxes of the Library of Congress collection include blueprints and manufactures' information of early French and foreign aircraft and dirigibles, reports of accidents involving flyers and balloonists, photographs of aircraft, engines, and various aircraft equipment, aerial photographs from World War I, and a series of French cartoons from the period 1909 - 1912 related to aviation. The collection also contains hundreds of photographs of early aviators and designers, including pictures of Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow being feted in Paris during their European trip of 1933.  A large number of L'Aerophile images appeared in the National Air and Space Museum's major exhibition in 2003 celebrating the centennial of the Wright brothers' first flight, titled the Wright Brothers' & the Invention of the Aerial Age.

Guide to the L’Aerophile Collection
CORPORATIONS, 1920’s-1940’s... PHOTOS... TYPES OF AIRCRAFT
MOTORS / ENGINES... AVIATORS / DESIGNERS
Further Reading

   Guide to the L’Aerophile Collection:

Listed below is a brief description of the contents for each box (please note that there are gaps in the numbering scheme).

Box 1:
Henry H. Arnold Collection.

Orville Wright in flight over the parade ground at Fort Myer, Va., on Sept. 11, 1908. (LC Prints & Photographs Coll.)

Envelope 1. A miscellaneous collection of black and white photos of the first aviation designers, philanthropists, test-pilots and first American aviators - Wilbur and Orville Wright, Thomas DeWitt Milling (biography), Howard Hughes, etc. Pictures of first female aviators - Harriet Quimby (biography), Amelia Earhart (biography) are also included. Early pictures of the U.S. Army Air Service (chiefs, pilots, crews and group pictures) and U.S. Army Air Corps in California, with Major Henry H. Arnold (biography).

Envelope 2. A New York Times article (1926) about young Henry H. Arnold, who later became the commanding general of the Army Air Forces (AAF) during World War II (includes photographs).

 

Envelope 3. A booklet: "The H. H. Arnold Collection" (3 copies), along with photos of airplanes in the air.

Box 2:
Auction catalogs for ballooning-related items; 1934, 1935, 1940.

Envelope 1. Collection dite "Au ballon" by M.Leon Bartou, Paris, 8-9-10 Mai 1935.

Envelope 2. Aerostation: a catalogue of books and engravings illustrating the evolution of the airship and the aeroplane to 1938. Maggs Bros.Ltd, London, 1940.

Envelope 3. Aeronautik 26-27 June 1934: auction catalog in German illustrating items such as coins, porcelain, small books, fans, etc., with images related to aviation. Luzern, Schweiz.

Box 3:
Calendars (German aircraft manufacturers), 1926-35. Includes 12 German sheet calendars with photos.

Box 4:
Aerial photographs, worldwide, 1890’s to 1940.

Envelope 1. France. Aerial landscape photos and parts of Paris. 1930-1940.

Envelope 2. France. Photographs taken from a balloon. No date.
- Le palais du Bey in Tunis.
- Courcelles-Epayelles - a good aerial view of a French village.
- Statute of Liberty, New York.
- Balloons (aerostats) before launching.

Envelopes 3-6. German, Italy, and Spain photos. No date.
- Flugplatz Johannisthal - Germany's first airfield.
- Aerial view of Vienna, Austria.

Envelope 7. Balloon View of Girard College, Philadelphia, July 4, 1893 (Samuel A. King aeronaut) .

Envelope 8. Balloon View of San Diego City's Harbor, 1923.

Envelopes 9-10. Aerial view of countryside and cities in France, Germany and Switzerland. 1890-1910.

Envelope 11. Worldwide. 1920-1937.
- Aerial views ( Versailles, Château de Champlâtreux, Vaux le Vicomte, Rochefort en Yvelines).
- Aerial views in Africa: Egyptian pyramids and ruins in Sahara desert; running elephants in Tchad.
- Tigre river and Baghdad city. Dubrovnik in Croatia. Pompeii amphitheater in Italy.

Boxes 9- 9A:
Publications, USA: A-N.
- Liberty Engine Service Bulletins, November, 1918
- Notes on Liberty Engine Ignition System, 1919
- Manual for Balloon Cutters, October, 1918
- History of the 96'th Aero Squadron - First American Day Bomb Bardment
- Ercoupe, the instruction manual, June 1946
- The Ambassador, a brochure about the first modern civil aircraft, its features and specifications. Hampshire, England. July, 1948
- Civil Aviation: Industry Studies - Report of the Air coordinating committee, Washington DC, 1947
- Civil Aviation: Industry Studies - Analysis of Air Transportation Industry by Henry Beecken. October, 1942

Box 10:
French intelligence reports on WWI German airplanes, translated into English for US intelligence
Loessel paper (critique).

Box 11:
Publications, USA: T-Z.

Main wing of the Santos-Dumont

Box 12:
French aeronautical publications (Ae-Av), misc., some prior to WWI.

Box 13:
French aeronautical publications (Ae-E), including aviators, balloons, dirigibles, some prior to WWI.

Box 13A:
French newspapers, 1911; special report on German gliders, 1937; Propeller shafts, French, 1932; Engines, Hispano-Suzia, misc. articles and magazine clippings (E-Mi).

Box 13B:
Small aircraft; transatlantic flights; international flights; Newspapers, French, 1910.

Box 14:
Publications from Britain; propellers; automobiles; trains; flight training schools.

Box 14A:
Publications from Germany, Japan, Italy; parachutes; meteorology; military aviation.

Box 15:
Societe du Duralumin.

Box 16:
Newspaper clippings: ‘Plane News’ 1918-19; Spanish language publications 1912; French publications 1920-27, 1937.

Box 17:
Model building (blueprints).
Blueprints: Allison Eng; Navy Bureau of Aeronautics (1923); Wittemann airliner, 1936; Kite balloons.

Box 18A:
Brigadier General William Mitchell, 1879-1936 (biography).

Box 18B:
Earhart, Amelia.

Boxes 18C - 18D:
Lindbergh, Charles A.

Box 21:
Lindbergh, Charles. L’aerophile photographs, newspaper clippings, portraits.

Box 22:
Handbook of instructions for airplane designers’ 1920-22.

CORPORATIONS, 1920’s-1940’s

Box 23:
Abrams, Aera, Aerocessories Simonds, Aerodesign, Air France, Airspeed, Am.Armament, Amiot, Antifuite, Argus.

Box 24:
Automotive Products, Beechcraft, Bellanca, Ben Jones, Boeing.

Box 25:
Bleriot, Bloch, Brequet, Brewster, Bronzavia, Burnelli, Campbell, Caudron-Renault, Cellon, Centre d’Aviation Populaire, Centre d’Information du Nickel, Centro Studi et Esperience per il Volo a Vela, Cessna, Chamoy Chantiers, Le Chimiste, Compteurs Montrouge, Concorde, Consolidated Aircraft, Consolidated Vultee, Controleur ACDFK Corben

Box 26:
Cunliffe-Owen, Curtiss-Wright, Reichsverband der Deutschen Luftafahrt Industrie, Devoitine, Dispostif Cinematique Perfetti, Douglas, Electric Auto-liter, L’Epopee Aerienne, Fairchild.

Box 27:
Farman, Fleetwings, Fokker.

Box 28:
Gallus, General Aircraft, General Aviation, Glenn L. Martin, Goodrich, Handley Page, De Havailand, Hawker, Hobson, Institute Aerotechnique Deutsch, Jaeger, Karman, Kellett Autogiro, KNILM, Kellner Becherau, Koolhoven.

Box 29:
Koolhoven, Labinal, Latecoere, Levasseur, Lignez, Licre & Olivier.

Box 30:
Lincoln Arc Welding, Lockheed, Loire Nieuport, Lorenz, Luscombe, Martin, Material Telephonique, Maubousin, Moulet & Cie.

Box 31:
Max Holste, Messier, Mojneau, Morane-Saulnier, Mureaux, Nardi, Noordnyn, Normalair, North American, Northrop.

Box 32:
Paul Aubert, Phillips & Pain, Phillips & Powis, Piper, Platt – LePage, Porterfield, Potez, Potterat Metalworking, Rear Vin, Rellumit.

Box 33:
Renard, Richard, Ryan, Seversky, Short Brothers, Siebee, Sikorsky, SNCA.

Box 34:
SNCA (Hanriot), Soc. Aerienne Bordolaise, Son. Anon. Belge, Soc. Constr d” Aviation Legere, Soc. d’Etudes Aeronautiques, Soc. Fran. d’ Aviation Nouvelle, Soc. Franc. de Construct. Aeron., Soc. Gen. du Magnesium.

Box 35:
Soc. Mecanique generale, Soc. Nat. de Constr. Aeron. du Centre, Soc. Provencale de Constr. Aero., Spartan, Stinson, Taylor, Tecalemit, Timm. Tipsy.

Box 36:
TWA, United, VIA, Vickers, Vultee, Waco, Walter, Weick, Weir, Westland, Williamson Photographic.

Box 37:
Books:
a. Album: drawings of Montgolfiere-type balloons which ascended from Tarragona (Spain) in 1876.
b. Variable Pitch propellersLog Book, London: HMSO 1949.
c. Instructions on Setting up, Adjusting, and Care of Clerget Rotary Engine, Washington, GPO 1920
d. L”Ecole” d’Ader.
e. DERULUFT – “German-Russian Aeronautical Company.”
f. Le Spactateur Militaire. Paris 1887.

Box 38:
Books:
a. Les Usines – publications of Hispano-Suiza Corp.
b. L’Aviation Francaise. Special ed. of L’Illustration Economique et Financiere (20 Mai 1922).
c. Two Aerial Voyages of Dr. Jefferies & Mons. Blanchard. London 1786. reprinted, 2 copies.
d. Rallye du Hoggar (1936).
e. George H. Dowty: Retractable Undercarriages (1935).
f. 4th Internationales Flugmeeting, Zurich 1937 and other programs.

Box 39:
Photo Album: Congresses Int. de Fiat; Germans marching into Paris 1940; liberation of Paris, 1944.

Box 40:
Ads for flying events.
Aero Club conference notes (1924).
Aerodromes de la Region Parisienne.
Air shows in Italy, Spain.
R. Alkan & Cie.
Anniversary notices for balloonists Charles, Montgolfieres, Duro.
Aviation events, 1948.

Box 41:
Test bombing of ships by U.S. planes, 1921.
French cartoons.
Aircraft drawings.
Austria: dirigibles.

Bréguet General Factory Workshop

Box 42:
   Aeronautical articles 1940.
   L’Ecole Nationale Superieure de
      L’ Aeronautique (program) 1949.
   Gliders (magazine clippings).
   Grand Prix, France, 1912 (maps).
   Gyroplanes (1930’s).
   “Humorous Aviation” (1908-12).
   Kites (pre WWI).
   Aeronautical maps (France, Romania).
   McFarland correspondence.
   Military Air Transport (clippings), WWII- .

 

 

Box 43:
Miscellaneous aircraft (French) paintings.
L’Aerophile correspondence.
McFarland correspondence.
German model aircraft kits.
Seaplane design (East Germany).
The NC702 aircraft (French).
New aircraft (1946-47).
Records attained by aircraft.
On-board instruments.
Organizational chart of the U.S. Bureau of Aircraft Production, 1918.
Air-Mail pigeons.

Box 44:
Radiogoniometers.
SIPL 250 aircraft (French).
Societe des Moteurs Gnome & Rhone.
Aircraft production (Art drawing).
Technique Heroere.
Theatre des Champes Elysees: "Gala costes et Le Brix."
Cathode tube.
Uniweld machine.
Flight of birds: studies.
Wind-tunnel studies.

PHOTOS

Box 45:
Aircraft accidents.

Box 46:
Commercial airlines (various countries, inc. Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, U.S.).

Box 47:
Air Mail.

Box 48:
Air Maneuvers, military, various countries, prior to WWII.

Box 49:
Personalities (post WWI).

Box 50:
Air shows/Exhibits 1909-1930.

Box 51:
Air Shows/Exhibits 1931-1948.

Box 52:
Receptions, festivals, banquets prior to WWII: A-C.

Box 53:
Receptions, festivals, banquets prior to WWII: D-Z.

Box 54:
Coupes (spherical balloons): Gordon Bennett (1906-13), Schneider, Deutsch.

Box 55:
Aeronautical equipment.

Box 56:
Meetings, Conferences.

Box 57:
Aerobatics, aerodromes, airports.

Box 58:
Automobiles, including electric, Avion Laboratoire, challenges de tourisme, cinema, circuits.

Box 59:
Courses (routes), destroyed aircraft, eclipse 1905, factories, floating islands, ground lighting, hangers, human-powered flight, inventions, Laboratoire Eiffel, memorial services, monuments.

Box 60:
Monuments, indignia, museums, observatories, medical experiments, polar flights, refueling in air, saloons.

Box 61:
Schools for aviators, sports, Wellman Polar Expedition, wind tunnels, wings (experimental designs).

Box 62:
Misc. Photos by country.

Box 63:
Parachutes.

1913 Hydravion Race

Box 64:
Propellers.

Box 65:
Record Flights.

Box 66:
Research/Testing.

Box 67:
New Technology.

Box 68:
Commercial, medical and military-medical aviation.

Box 69:
Alaska Flight 1934 (U.S.).
Army-Air generals (U.S.).

Box 70:
Bombs and missiles: Atomic Bomb, V1, civil air defense, guided missiles, Pearl Harbor, war photos (WWII).

Box 71:
Drawings: "Aviation made popular," 1940.

Box 72:
Drawings: "Aviation made popular," 1940-44.

Box 73:
Graphs, charts, diagrams of equipment.

Box 74:
Misc. Apparatus: radiocompass, photography, stroboscopy, etc.

TYPES OF AIRCRAFT

Box 75:
Czechoslovakia.

Boxes 76-78A:
England.

Boxes 79-83:
France.

Hanriot 1911 Military Version

       Boxes 84-91:
       France, Pre-WWI.

       Box 92:
       Germany.

       Boxes 93-94A:
       Italy.

       Boxes 95-101:
       United States.

       Box 102:
       Unidentified countries.

       Box 103:
       Austria-Germany.

       Box 104:
       Holland.

       Box 105:
       Russia-Yugoslavia.

       Boxes 106-106A:
       Misc. Aircraft and parts.

 

Box 107:
Balloons, France, pre-WWI.

Boxes 108-109:
Balloons, misc.

Boxes 110-113:
Dirigibles, misc. countries.

Box 114:
Gliders.

Boxes 115-116:
Hydroplanes.

Box 117:
Model aircraft.

MOTORS / ENGINES

Boxes 120-129:
Companies, alphabetical

AVIATORS / DESIGNERS

Boxes 130-141:
France.

Flight Training School Simulator, ca. 1911.

Box 142:
America-Australia.

Box 143:
Austria-England.

Box 144:
England-International.

Box 145:
Italy-Russia.

Box 146:
South Africa-Yugoslavia.

Box 147:
Misc. Aircraft.

Box 148:
Aviators, articles.

Boxes 149-150:
Group photos.

   Further Reading:

Subjects:

Aeronautics--Flights
Airplanes --Design and construction
Air pilots -- Biography
Ballooning--History
Women air pilots--Biography
World War, 1914-1918--Aerial operations
World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations

Sample Titles:

L’Aerophile. Paris: Blondel la Rougery, Vol. 1 - Vol. 54 (1893-1947).
LC CALL NUMBER: TL502 .A16

The Aeronautical journal. London : Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, Vol. 1 - Vol. 26 (1897-1922).
LC CALL NUMBER: TL501 .R7

Anderson, John David. The airplane : a history of its technology. Reston, VA : American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2002.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL670.3 .A49 2002

Chambe, Rene. Histoire De L'Aviation. France: Flammarion, 1958. 521 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL515 .C37 1958

Chant, Christopher. Aviation: An Illustrated History. London: Orbis Publishing Limited, 1983. 352 p.
CALL NUMBER: TL515 .C383 1983b

Deutsche Zeitschrift für Luftschiffahrt. Berlin: Vereingte Verlagsanstalten Gustav Braunbeck & Gutenberg-Druckerei Aktiengesellschaft, 1908 - 1919.
LC CALL NUMBER: Microfilm 27692

Flight: A Journal Devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport. London: St. Martin's Lane, Vol 1 - Vol. 9 (1909-1917).
LC CALL NUMBER: TL501 .F5

Jackson, Robert. Fighter pilots of World War I. New York : St. Martin’s Press, 1977. 152 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: D600 .J33 1977

Lindbergh, Charles A."We": the famous flier’s own story of his life and his transatlantic flight, together with his views on the future of aviation. New York : G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1927. 308 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL540.L5 A3 1927c

Lomax, Judy. Women of the air. New York, N.Y. : Dodd, Mead, 1987. 216 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL539 .L55 1987

Mouillard, Louis Pierre. L'Empire De L'Air: Essai D'Ornithologie Appliquèe A L'Aviation. Paris: G. Masson, 1881.
284 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL575 .M6 (Rare Book Collection)

Matthews, Hart. Pioneer aviators of the world : a biographical dictionary of the first pilots of 100 countries.
Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., 2003. 208 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL539 .M3235 2003

Rolt, L.T.C. The Aeronauts: A History of Ballooning - 1783-1903. New York: Walker and Company, 1966. 267 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL616 .R63 1966

Smith-Gibbs, C. H. A History of Flying. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1954. 304 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL515 .G5 1954

Villard, Henry Serrano. Contact! : the story of the early aviators. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, 2002. 277 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL670.3 .V55 2002

Winter, Frank H. and F. Robert van der Linden. 100 years of flight : a chronology of aerospace history, 1903-2003. Reston, Va. : American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, c2003.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL515 .W526 2003

Wohl, Robert. A Passion For Wings: aviation and the Western imagination, 1908-1918. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1994. 320 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL526.E85 W65 1994

Wragg, David W. Flight before Flying. New York: Frederick Fell Publishers, Inc., 1974. 191 p.
LC CALL NUMBER: TL515 .W7 1974

Online Sources:

Aerodynamics (Mechanics of Flight). Library of Congress Science Tracer Bullet 00-3.

National Avaiation Hall of Fame. Includes the stories of NAHF enshrinees.

Pioneer Aviators. Website containing brief biographies and photos of early aviators.

Taking to the Skies: the Wright Brothers and the Birth of Aviation . Smithsonian Institution Libraries on Display.

United States Copyright restrictions prevent copying entire copyrighted documents. However, the fair use provision does permit reproduction of relevant portions (small parts) of these documents. Photocopiers, microform reader/printers and computer terminals are available for patron use in the Science Reading Room. TRS materials are non-circulating and are not to leave the Science Reading Room area.