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Archives at The Museum of Flight


John Fornasero Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 2011-06-24
The John Fornasero Papers are comprised of documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera pertaining to the life and work of John B. Fornasero. A significant portion of this collection is made up of photographs. Major topics include the Ryan School of Aeronautics, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, Fairchild Aircraft Company, and Boeing Aircraft Company. Some files contain contextual information provided by Janet Fornasero Burton.

Series 1, Ryan School of Aeronautics, 1926-1982, consists of correspondence, photographs, a scrapbook, newspaper clippings, ephemera, and publications related to Fornasero’s career at the Ryan School of Aeronautics and the Ryan Company. The correspondence consists of incoming letters, primarily from Ryan historian Everett Cassagneres concerning John Fornasero’s work. The photographs are primarily large, black-and-white images of various aircraft. Some feature Fornasero. There are also smaller 3x5” snapshots of aircraft, most of which have been identified by the donor. Aircraft pictured include the Ryan ST, the Spencer S-12, and the Aeronca TG-5A. The scrapbook of Fornasero’s early years at Ryan, compiled by his wife Elouise Fornasero, includes Fornasero’s pilot’s diploma as well as newspaper articles about Fornasero and Ryan aircraft. Also included are large portraits and small snapshots, some of which have inscriptions provided by Elouise. Some photographs in the scrapbook have been autographed. The loose newspaper clippings, spanning 1968-1982 were collected by Elouise. A significant portion of the clippings concern the death of T. Claude Ryan in 1982. Other topics of interest include Jacqueline Cochran and the Ryan Company. The ephemera includes materials related to the Ryan School reunion from 1980 that Elouise attended. The publications include official Ryan School of Aeronautics program brochure booklets, Ryan Company Sky News newsletters, a 1937 Ryan School of Aeronautics catalog, and a guidebook to Ryan aircraft, dated 1975. Many of the publications include notes and identifications made by the donor.

Series 2, Civil Aeronautics Administration, 1927-1945, consists of correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, certifications, and reports related to Fornasero’s career at the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA). The correspondence is comprised of incoming letters concerning Fornasero’s resignation from the CAA. The photographs are small black-and-white snapshots of Fornasero either alone or with unidentified men. Also included are his CAA credentials dated September 20, 1938 and his CAA certificate dated 1957. The newspaper clippings are undated but include a photograph of Fornasero with G. Willis Tyson, Len Povey, and Carloyn, the Carlstrom Aviation Field mascot, as well as a brief tribute printed in the Ryan School of Aeronautics newsletter about his work at the CAA. The reports included in this series focus on atmospheric data.

Series 3, Fairchild Aircraft Company, 1943-1944, consists of photographs and newspaper clippings related to Fornasero’s career at the Fairchild Aircraft Company. The photographs are primarily large black-and-white images related to the Fairchild AT-21 and include images of the aircraft itself and its debut ceremony in September, 1943 as well as images identified by the donor as “company dignitaries.” Newspaper clippings include profiles of Fornasero, the Fairchild Company, and the progression of the AT-21 project.

Series 4, Boeing Aircraft Company, 1943-1966, consists of photographs, a scrapbook, newspaper clippings, ephemera, and publications related to Fornasero’s career at the Boeing Aircraft Company. Photographs include large black-and-white images of the Boeing 707, B-50, B-52, B-57, C-97, and 377 both in-flight and on the ground. Also included are large photographs and snapshots of Fornasero with other Boeing test pilots and personnel. Individuals identified by the donor include President Eisenhower, Colonel Guy M. Townsend, W. D. Showalter, George Haldeman, and Tex Johnson. The scrapbook of Fornasero’s time at Boeing was compiled by his wife, and is comprised of newspaper clippings, snapshots of Fornasero with other Boeing pilots, airmail covers, and Fornasero’s Boeing identification cards. Topics covered in the loose newspaper clippings include the 707, B-52, C-97, 377, and profiles of Fornasero. The ephemera includes materials collected by Fornasero’s grandson at the Boeing customer service center. Publications include an issue of American Aviation from 1966 with notes from the donor.

Series 5, Rheem Manufacturing, 1955-1959, consists large black-and-white photographs of surveillance drone prototypes, a company portrait of Fornasero, and newspaper clippings profiling of Fornasero from 1955 and 1959.

Series 6, Pilot Logbooks, 1928-1957, consists of the private pilot logs of John B. Fornasero throughout his entire piloting career.

Series 7, Personal Records, 1904-2006, consists of three subseries: family, personal documents, and death. The family subseries includes family photographs, primarily from Fornasero’s childhood, and newspaper clippings concerning his brother James’ death in a plane crash in 1960. The personal records subseries includes a personal photo album and documents from throughout Fornasero’s life, including birth records, school diplomas, and marriage license. The photo album contains photographs dated 1924-1927. These are small black-and-white snapshots from Fornasero’s work with the California Edison Company as well as snapshots of early aircraft. There is also a short biography of his life. The death subseries incudes letters of condolence written to Elouise Fornasero as well as obituaries for Fornasero from local newspapers, the Ryan company newsletter, and the Boeing company newsletter. Also included is one copy of Fornasero’s funeral program.

Dates

  • 1904-2006

Creator

Language of Materials:

All materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access:

This collection is open for research and is accessible in the Dahlberg Research Center by appointment. For more information contact us.

Conditions Governing Use

The Museum of Flight (TMOF) Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from TMOF archives before any publication use. TMOF does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

Extent

1.85 Cubic Feet (1 full-width legal size box, 1 full-width letter size box, 1 half-width letter size box, and 1 flat box)

Abstract:

The John Fornasero Papers are comprised of documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera pertaining to the life and work of flight instructor, aviation inspector, and test pilot John B. Fornasero. A significant portion of this collection is made up of photographs. Major topics include the Ryan School of Aeronautics, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, Fairchild Aircraft Company, and Boeing Aircraft Company.

Biographical Note: John B. Fornasero

John Bernard Fornasero (1904-1967) was a flight instructor, aviation inspector, and test pilot who had a long career working for the Ryan School of Aeronautics, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, Fairchild Aircraft Company, Boeing Aircraft Company, and Rheem Manufacturing.

Fornasero was born on March 5, 1904 in Tulare, California to John Fornasero and Marguerite Cometto Fornasero. He graduated from Tulare Joint Union High School in 1922. During high school, Fornasero was a member of the California High School Cadets (now the California Cadet Corps), first as a Corporal in 1919 and then as a Sergeant in 1920. After graduation, he attended the National Automotive Engineering School in Los Angeles until 1923. From 1924-1927, Fornasero worked for the California Edison Company laying electric cables. In November of 1928 he enrolled in the Ryan Flying School and graduated just seven months later in June of 1929 with a commercial pilot’s license.

In 1930, he began working for Ryan as a flight instructor and by 1931 he had been promoted to the position of Chief Pilot. He also worked as a mechanic and Ryan’s Director of Maintenance. Fornasero received another promotion in 1932, this time to Director of Training. In his role as an instructor, Fornasero taught both in the classroom and in flight, and his notable students include Jacqueline Cochran, Douglas Corrigan, and his brother James Fornasero. In his role as test pilot, Fornasero was responsible for testing the Ryan Company’s premier design, the Ryan ST in 1934. In 1937, Fornasero resigned from Ryan to join the Bureau of Air Commerce as a Flight Engineering Inspector for the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA).

His new job as an inspector required Fornasero to work out of Roosevelt Filed on Long Island, near Minneola, New York. His job responsibilities included accident investigation, pilot examination, inspection and supervision of manufacturing facilities, and certification of new aircraft. After a brief reassignment to Kansas City, Kansas in 1940, Fornasero was promoted to Director of the Branch in New York City in 1941. In 1943, he resigned from the CAA to join the Fairchild Aircraft Company.

Fornasero was hired as the Chief of Test Flight with the Fairchild Aircraft Company in Burlington, South Carolina to test their military training plane, the AT-21 Gunner. While in Burlington, Fornasero also helped manage the local airport. When the AT-21 was deemed unsuitable for use in 1944, he decided to leave the company and accepted a position as the Functional and Engineering Test Pilot for the B-17G models with the Boeing Aircraft Company in Seattle, Washington.

While working for Boeing, he was the co-pilot for a record breaking flight in the C-97 Stratofreighter which flew coast-to-coast in six hours, three minutes, and fifty seconds. As a result, he was chosen as the project pilot for the 377 Stratocruiser. In 1948, Fornasero was promoted to Chief of Flight Test Section and formally put in charge of the B-47 testing program. In 1949, the program was moved to Wichita, Kansas. When the project was concluded he returned to Seattle and was assigned to lead testing on the B-52 and later the 707. After about six years as Chief of Flight Test, Fornasero stepped down and returned to test piloting. In 1955 he resigned from Boeing. In July 1955, Fornasero started as the Director of Flight Test with Rheem Manufacturing in Downey, California. He was hired to develop a flight test program for the company’s surveillance drone project. In 1956 he was transferred to Dayton, Ohio and then in 1957 he was reassigned to Tucson, Arizona to work on an unidentified United States Army project. In 1958 he resigned from Rheem and began a short career in real estate. Fornasero focused two years on his career in real estate investment. After his brother James’ death in 1960 due to a plane crash, Fornasero officially retired.

Fornasero and his wife Elouise, who he married in 1929, sold their home after his retirement. They devoted the next seven years to traveling around the country in an Airstream travel trailer visiting old friends and family, and enjoying outdoor activities such as fishing. They ultimately settled down in a retirement park in San Diego where they were able to spend time with their two daughters and grandchildren. John B. Fornasero died in his home of heart failure on July 6, 1967.

Source: Biography derived from collection materials, information provided by the donor, and Reach for the Skies: John Fornasero, Aviator by Janet Fornasero Burton (2010).
Biographical Note: Elousie D. Fornasero Elouise D. Fornasero (1910-1996) was the wife of test pilot John B. Fornasero. She was born in Tulare, California in 1910 and graduated from high school in 1928. In 1929, at the age of 19, she married John B. Fornasero and moved to San Diego where he worked at the Ryan School of Aeronautics. She was also the stay-at-home mother of two daughters: Barbara Fornasero Grimes and Janet Fornasero Burton. Fornasero served as de-facto family chronicler, acquiring and organizing an extensive collection of information about her husband’s career. She died in 1996.

Source: Biography derived from collection materials, information provided by the donor, and Reach for the Skies: John Fornasero, Aviator by Janet Fornasero Burton (2010).

Arrangement:

The records are arranged in seven series, one of which has been further arranged into three subseries. Items within the series and subseries are organized first by record format and then chronologically. Original order of items was maintained whenever possible. The series and subseries arrangement is as follows:

Series 1, Ryan School of Aeronautics, 1926-1982

Series 2, Civil Aeronautics Administration, 1927-1945

Series 3, Fairchild Aircraft Company, 1943-1944

Series 4, Boeing Aircraft Company, 1943-1945

Series 5, Rheem Manufacturing, 1955-1959

Series 6, Pilot Logbooks, 1928-1957

Series 7, Personal Records, 1904-2006

  • Subseries 1, Family, 1906-1960
  • Subseries 2, Personal Documents, 1904-2006
  • Subseries 3, Death, 1967

Immediate Source of Acquisistion:

The John Fornasero Papers were donated to The Museum of Flight by Janet Fornasero Burton.

Related Materials:

Related Materials at The Museum of Flight:
  • The A. Elliott and Mildred (Filz) Merrill Collection (accession 1985-09-27)
  • The Elsie Anderson Collection (accession 1997-04-17A)
  • The Tandy C. Hennings Collection of E. Scott Osler Materials (accession 2015-07-08)
  • Reach for the Skies: John Fornasero, Aviator by Janet Fornasero Burton (2010, call number TL540.F676 .F67 2010)
Related Materials at Other Institutions:
  • The Autograph Collection (collection no. SDASM.SC.10007-O/S) from the San Diego Air and Space Museum Library and Archives

Separated Materials:

The following items have been removed from the archival component and are kept in the Library:
  • A Passion for Flying: Exciting Stories of a Boeing Test Pilot by Marvin Michael (1999)
  • Flying the Hump: Memories of an Air War by Otha C. Spencer (1992)
  • B-17 in Action by Larry Davis (1984)
The following items have been removed from the archival component and are kept in Object Storage:
  • Quiet Birdmen certificate folder
  • Flight Safety Foundation Award, 1953 plaque

Processing Information:

Records were originally grouped by general topic and format, which was maintained as collection series’ and folder titles. All photographs were placed in archival sleeves and newspaper clippings were photocopied and sleeved. The photo album was disassembled due to preservation concerns, but the original order of the photographs was maintained and is indicated on the sleeves. One scrapbook was disassembled due to preservation concerns, but the original order was maintained. Loose items, ephemera, and photographs were removed from both scrapbooks. Items were sleeved and labeled with the accession number and original location. Photocopies were taken of each scrapbook to provide access and contextual locations for the removed items. A few oversize items were removed from their original order. These records have been clearly marked with their originating folder information and stored in box four. All materials in this collection were identified, labeled, and sleeved by Janet Fornasero Burton prior to their donation. Most sleeves were removed, but the labels have been copied to acid free paper and are present in the collection.
Title
Guide to the John Fornasero Papers
Status
Completed - Level 3
Author
H. C. Galper
Date
2018
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
English

Revision Statements

  • November 2018: Finding aid migrated to ArchivesSpace.

Repository Details

Part of the The Museum of Flight Archives Repository

Contact:
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874


The Museum of Flight | 9404 E. Marginal Way South | Seattle WA 98108-4097 | 206-764-5874
Contact us with a research request
curator@museumofflight.org