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Archives at The Museum of Flight


United States. Army. Air Service

 Organization

Historical Note

The United States Army Air Service, also known as the "Air Service" and "U.S. Air Service," was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1918 and 1926. Established as an independent and temporary branch of the U.S. War Department during World War I, it replaced the Aviation Section, Signal Corps as the nation's air force.

In 1926, the name was changed to the Army Air Corps. This lasted until 1941, when the branch changed again to be known as Army Air Forces. The last name change in 1947 and continues present-day as Unites States Air Force.

Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:

Herbert Brucker Film

 Collection — Box Film Box 2, Reel: 1
Identifier: 2007-11-16-B
Contents of the Collection The Herbert Brucker Film is a small collection containing one privately shot black-and-white film taken at Mitchell Field in Garden City, New York in 1927. The film is five minutes and 44 seconds long. The footage depicts several well-known aviation events and activities by famous aviators, such as Charles Lindbergh taking off in the "Spirit of St. Louis" for his transatlantic flight; the christening of "America," Richard E. Byrd's Fokker C-2; and James Doolittle performing...
Dates: 1927

Norman E. Horn World War I Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 2006-03-13
Abstract

The collection contains photographs of Curtiss Jennys at Love Field, Texas flown by Norman E. Horn in his training as a pilot during World War I.

Dates: circa 1917-1919

S. E. Hutton Collection of Caproni Materials

 Collection
Identifier: 1998-11-12
Abstract

Sergeant Sol E. Hutton served with the U.S. Army Air Service in Italy during World War I, where he worked with Caproni on aircraft construction. The collection contains items related to the U.S. Air Service program to build Caproni Ca.44 (Military Ca.5, Ca.600) aircraft at the end of the war.

Dates: 1918-1919

Alan Lonsdale Patterson Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 2021-08-03-A
Overview Alan Lonsdale Patterson worked extensively in the field of aviation from the 1920s to the 1980s. Throughout his career he worked as a barnstormer, pilot and established multiple companies that facilitated the sale of aircraft and aeronautical equipment, predominately between companies based in the United States and China. The collection represents both his professional and personal life through correspondence, photographs, business records, clippings and audiovisual materials, as well as...
Dates: 1876-2021; Majority of material found within 1920-1981

Herman J. Sommerhauser World War I Photograph Album

 Collection
Identifier: 1989-12-12
Abstract

The collection contains a photograph album from the World War I career of Herman J. Sommerhauser (1895-1949), who may have served with the U.S. Army Air Service, 650th Aero Squadron in France.

Dates: 1918-1919

J. M. Wilson Notebook

 Collection
Identifier: 1984-04-04
Abstract

J. M. Wilson served in England with the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I. His notebook contains training notes primarily on aircraft engines.

Dates: circa 1917

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