Curtiss-Wright Corporation Records
Contents of the Collection
The Curtiss-Wright Corporation Records document the development of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation from its roots in the Wright Company in the early 20th century through other mergers and acquisitions until the mid-twentieth century. The collection primarily consists of administrative, legal and financial records documenting the dealings of the businesses, but it also contains 3,797 photographic prints, 463 negatives and additional visual materials. The collection is organized into eight series: I. Wright Company, 1909-1927; II. Simplex Automobile Company, 1912-1918; III Glenn L. Martin Company, 1912-1917; IV. Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation, 1916-1917; V. Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, 1910-1933; Wright Aeronautical Corporation, 1915-1929; Curtiss-Wright Corporation, 1928-1965; Photographic Materials, circa 1900s-1960.
Series I. Wright Company contains about 1.5 cubic feet of material documenting the founding of the Wright Brothers' company and its business operations. The operations of the company are revealed through administrative records such as meeting minutes and copies of outgoing correspondence from the company secretary, Alpheus F. Barnes. The minutes reflect such things as the reorganization of the company in late 1915 and the purchase of Simplex Automobile Company. Legal aspects of establishing the company are represented with a certificate of incorporation, property deeds, and rights paperwork. A small amount of material documents financial matters. Note that the collection does not include personal materials of the Wright Brothers or materials pertaining to their first flight or other efforts prior to the establishment of their company.
Simplex Automobile Company, which the Wright Company took control of in 1915, is represented in Series II by seven files that are a mix of administrative materials, such as general correspondence and financially-related correspondence.
Series III. Glenn L. Martin Company is another small series comprised of just one item: a minute book. The volume spans the majority of the short-lived company’s tenure, beginning in the fall of 1912 when the Board of Directors was established and ending with a January 1917 meeting of directors. Glenn L. Martin’s resignation and other changes in leadership are documented in the volume.
The successor to the Glenn L. Martin Company, the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation, is documented in Series IV., also with a very small amount of material. This series consists entirely of certificates of incorporation and certificates of merger detailing the formation of the company as successor to the Wright Company.
Series V. Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company is the largest of the series on individual companies with about 3.8 cubic feet of material. The administrative records present are primarily made up of meeting minutes. The bulk of this series is legal documentation and includes files on agreements and contracts, certificates of incorporation, and property files. Some files focus on a few specific legal cases. The most significant portion of this series, though, is the set of patent files which include not only Curtiss patents but some earlier patents by other companies and individuals, such as the Wright brothers.
Series VI. Wright Aeronautical Corporation is another small series comprised of about .2 cubic feet of material. The materials primarily relate to real property owned by the company in Paterson, New Jersey, and include deeds, abstracts of title and related correspondence.
Series VII. Curtiss-Wright Corporation is the second largest series on companies with about 2.2 cubic feet of material. A small amount of administrative material illuminates the company’s publicity efforts. The Legal records subseries continues documentation from the previous series regarding Wright Aeronautical Corporation’s ownership of plants in New Jersey. A small amount of material relates to aircraft and engines developed by the company, but more well-documented are airports operated by Curtiss-Wright Airports Corporation and Curtiss-Wright Flying Service with promotional materials, photographs, and some maps and blueprints.
As the collection primarily focuses on the business dealings of the various companies including administrative, legal and financial records, there is relatively little textual documentation on aircraft design and development. The correspondence in the ledgers in Series I. Wright Company contain mention of aircraft being built for orders and being flown in exhibitions. Series V. Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company contains a significant amount of patent files related aircraft design. Series VII. Curtiss-Wright Corporation includes a few files of publicity-type materials related to aircraft and engines. Otherwise, there is little else in the first seven series related to aircraft or the engineering-side of the companies’ operations.
The Photographic Prints and Negatives series, Series VIII., consists of 3,520 prints and 462 negatives. Of all parts of the collection this series most heavily relates to aircraft design. Much of this series includes visual documentation of aircraft from several Curtiss-affiliated companies, including the Aerial Experiment Association, Curtiss, Huff-Daland, Keystone, Loening, Travel Air, and Wright Aeronautical. There are also additional files related to the Curtiss-Wright Flying Service and facilities owned by the various companies. Some files also include images of aircraft designed and built by other manufacturers. A small number of images are of people. Some of the photograph files also include textual items such as press releases or related marketing materials.
While many mergers and subsidiary companies are documented in this collection, the history of Curtiss-Wright company is very complex and not all subsidiaries are represented by the materials. For example, Lawrance Aero Engine Company is not documented in the collection at all and Keystone is only represented in the photographic series. Additionally, it is worth emphasizing that not all companies represented in the collection have equal amounts or types of documentation and that this collection does not contain a complete business record of any of the included organizations. The records are also lacking in information on individual employees who worked for the companies, as there are no personnel records or other listings of employees.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1900s-1965
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1909-1947
Creator
- Curtiss-Wright Corporation (Organization)
Language of Materials
All materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research. The bound volumes and some documents may not be photocopied due to condition. Negatives may not be handled; copies and digital versions are available for access. Some oversize items are in need of conservation treatment so access may be limited.
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.
Historical Note: Wright Company
The Wright Company was founded on November 22, 1909 by aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright with the intent to capitalize on their creation of the first flyable airplane. They established headquarters in New York City but had their factory in Dayton, Ohio.
The Wrights had first flown in 1903 and then applied for a patent for their method of flight control using both roll and yaw control. Their initial patent application was rejected but with the help of patent attorney Henry Toulmin they were granted Patent 821,393 on May 22, 1906. With a patent in hand, the Wrights began demonstrating their planes, flying at exhibitions in the U.S. and in Europe. Among their pilots were Walter Brookins, Frank Coffyn, Arch Hoxsey, Ralph Johnstone, Roy Knabenshue, Phil O. Parmalee, and A.L. Welsh. The Wrights made an agreement with the Aero Club of America that aviators flying their planes in airshows would pay licensing fees for the exhibitions. They also closely guarded their patents and engaged in a “patent war” with rival Glenn Curtiss and other companies who, the Wrights believed, built planes with similar control systems.
The Wright Company’s first airplane for sale was the Model B. The U.S. Army was one of their early customers, purchasing what became known as the Wright Military Flyer in 1909, the first military aircraft in the world. The U.S. Navy purchased a Wright Model B in 1911 but generally preferred planes built by Curtiss which were more suited for operating on water. A Wright Model B became the first plane to serve on a commercial transport flight on November 7, 1910 when Phil Parmalee carried two bolts of fabric from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio.
Wilbur Wright died in 1912 and after a few years, in 1915, his brother Orville sold the company to a syndicate controlled by T. Frank Manville, William B. Thompson, and Harry Payne Whitney. By 1916 the company merged with the Glenn L. Martin Company to become the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation. Orville Wright sold his patent rights to the Wright-Martin company, and the company continued battling patent infringements. Upon the U.S.’s entry into World War I, the U.S. government intervened in the patent wars because the military needed many more aircraft to be built. The government pressured the industry to form the Manufacturer’s Aircraft Association to create a patent pool which would collect and distribute licensing fees to the Wright-Martin and Curtiss companies. By the end of World War I, the patent war had effectively ended.
Historical Note: Simplex Automobile Company
The Simplex Automobile Company was a car manufacturer based in New York, New York in the early 20th century. Originally S&M Simplex, it was founded by Albert P. Smith and Carleton R. Mabley in 1904. That iteration of the firm only lasted about three years before they went bankrupt. During that time they manufactured about 120 “S&M Simplex” model cars. S&M Simplex was taken over in 1907 by the textile importer Herman Broesel who renamed the company Simplex Automobile Company. They continued to manufacture the S&M model but added additional models to their line, including the Toy Tonneau and the Touring car. Under Broesel’s management the company produced about 230-250 cars. Some of the production was in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Broesel died in 1912 and his sons sold the business in 1913 to bankers Goodrich, Lockhart and Smith. Around 1915 the Wright Company acquired control of the Simplex Company so that they could increase their production of engines, and were granted rights to manufacture the Hispano-Suiza engine in the U.S.
By 1917 the company had merged with Crane Motor Car Company based in Bayonne, New Jersey to become Crane-Simplex. During World War I they manufactured aircraft engines. By 1919 the company was absorbed by Mercer Motor Company of Trenton, New Jersey but would soon be consolidated with other holdings of Hare Motors.
Historical Note: Glenn L. Martin Company
The Glenn L. Martin Company was an airplane manufacturing company formed in August 1912 by aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin. Martin designed and built his own aircraft and had broken many flight records before founding the company. The company established a factory in Los Angeles, California.
In 1916 the Wright Company approached Martin and proposed a merger of the two companies, forming the Wright-Martin Company.
Martin resigned from the company in 1917 and formed a new Glenn L. Martin Company based in Ohio. The Wright-Martin company would reorganize after World War I and become the Wright Aeronautical Corporation.
Historical Note: Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation
The Wright-Martin Company was a short-lived aircraft manufacturing company formed in 1916 through a merger of the Wright Company and Glenn L. Martin Company, both aircraft manufacturing firms. The company was incorporated in the state of New York. The merged company also included ownership of the Simplex Automobile Company. The company operated the Martin plant in California, the Wright factory in Ohio, and the Simplex plant in New Brunswick, New Jersey. They also controlled flying fields in Los Angeles, California and on Long Island, New York.
Upon the merger of the companies, Glenn L. Martin became vice president overseeing aircraft production and development, though he remained in Los Angeles. During World War I Wright-Martin focused on engine production, delivering 5,816 Hispano-Suizas by November 1919.
Just as the Wright Company had done before, the company guarded its patents protectively, in particular continuing in the “patent war” against Glenn Curtiss and other aviators. The patent wars were effectively ended through U.S. government intervention during World War I when a patent pool was created. The company’s only original aircraft design was the Wright-Martin Model V.
Within a year of the founding of Wright-Martin Company, Glenn Martin resigned. He then re-formed the Martin Company. By 1919 the Wright-Martin Company reorganized and became the Wright Aeronautical Corporation.
Historical Note: Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was an aviation company established by Glenn H. Curtiss in 1916 but had roots in earlier companies created by Curtiss.
Glenn Hammond Curtiss was an aviation pioneer who had worked with Alexander Graham Bell and the Aerial Experiment Association in 1907-1909. While working with that group, he designed and built the "June Bug" biplane. When the association split up, he realized he had an aptitude for aircraft design and started the Herring-Curtiss Company with Augustus Moore Herring on March 20, 1909. A year later that company was bankrupt and Curtiss formed the Curtiss Aeroplane Company. It was based out of Hammondsport, New York.
In 1916 Curtiss Aeroplane Company merged with Curtiss’s motorcycle manufacturing business, Curtiss Motor Company to form the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Curtiss Aeroplane and Motors Ltd was its Canadian subsidiary under the direction of J.A.D. McCurdy. Burgess Company of Marblehead, Massachusetts also became a subsidiary in 1914, continuing to produce aircraft under the Burgess name.
With the beginning of World War I and an increase in military orders, the company moved its headquarters and facilities to Buffalo, New York. Additional production and flight training facilities were set up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Curtiss Company was especially important to the U.S. Navy as a designer and manufacturer of “flying boats” and seaplanes. The first large order was for the Model F flying boat. Around the same time, they also developed the JN-4 biplane for the Army, which was also subsequently ordered in large quantities by the U.S. military and its allies. The company had 18,000 employees in Buffalo and 3,000 at its Hammondsport facility and by the end of the war the company was the largest aviation manufacturing company in the country. Because of the “patent wars” with Wright Company (and its successors, Wright-Martin and Wright Aeronautical) which had curtailed aircraft production in the U.S., the company was required by the government to participate in a patent pool in order to allow for increased production necessary during the war years.
In 1920, Glenn Curtiss retired to Florida continuing as a director for the company. Clement Keys gained control of the company at that time. After the war and into the 1920s the company tried to develop a commercial market but met with little success. However, Curtiss seaplanes performed successfully in several races: they won the Schneider Cup in 1923 and 1925 and a Pulitzer Trophy race in 1925. During the Great Depression the Curtiss Robin, a light transport plane, became a successful model with 769 being built, keeping the company afloat. Though military contracts were not once they had been, the company also developed new fighter planes and new engines.
In 1929, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company merged with the Wright Aeronautical Corporation to form the Curtiss-Wright Corporation.
Historical Note: Wright Aeronautical Corporation
The Wright Aeronautical Corporation was the successor to the Wright-Martin Company, manufacturing aircraft and aircraft engines from 1919-1929. The company grew out of the Wright Company which had merged with the Glenn L. Martin Company in 1916. That combined company was short-lived as Martin resigned in 1917 and by 1919 Wright-Martin was reorganized and renamed as Wright Aeronautical Corporation. The company was based in Paterson, New Jersey.
Much of Wright Aeronautical’s business was in supplying engines to other manufacturers, and the company had only about seven original aircraft designs. They held the rights from the French government to manufacture Hispano-Suiza engines in the U.S., though after World War I the Hispano-Suiza name was no longer used and their engines were branded as Wright engines. In response to demands from the Navy, the company worked on designing radial engines. In 1923 Wright Aeronautical purchased the Lawrance Aero Engine Company, bringing Charles J. Lawrance on board as chief engineer. Under Lawrance’s leadership, the company designed the J-5C Whirlwind engine which would be used on Charles Lindbergh’s record-setting flight across the Atlantic in 1927.
In 1929 the company merged with Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company becoming the Curtiss-Wright Corporation.
Historical Note: Curtiss-Wright Corporation
The Curtiss-Wright Corporation was formed on July 5, 1929 by the merger of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company and the Wright Aeronautical Corporation, including numerous subsidiaries and affiliated companies. Its headquarters was in Buffalo, New York and, at the time, it was the country’s largest aviation company. Curtiss-Wright operated in three main divisions: the Curtiss-Wright Airplane Division, which manufactured airframes until 1951; the Wright Aeronautical Corporation, which produced aeronautical engines; and the Curtiss-Wright Propeller Division, which manufactured propellers. The company supplied aircraft for the military, commercial uses, and private market.
The company’s assets included The Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Company; The Curtiss-Caproni Corporation; The Curtiss-Robertson Airplane Manufacturing Company; The Keystone Aircraft Corporation; The Moth Aircraft Corporation; The Travel Air Manufacturing Company; The Wright Aeronautical Corporation; The Curtiss-Wright Flying Service; The Curtiss-Wright Sales Corporation; and The Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation.
With the onset of the Great Depression, the company had lower sales than expected and faced difficult times. Among the many changes the company was forced to make: all engine manufacturing was consolidated to the Wright Aeronautical plant in Paterson, New Jersey; an engineering facility on Long Island was closed; subsidiaries Travel Air Corporation and Curtiss-Robertson Airplane Manufacturing Company were reorganized into the Curtiss-Wright Airplane Company; and the Curtiss-Wright Flying Service reduced their aircraft holdings and shut down numerous sites. The commercial market was very weak, but military orders, including ones from foreign countries, sustained the company until World War II. During this time, they developed new products including air-cooled engines, radial engines, and engines that exceeded 1,000 horsepower.
World War II was a time of high production for The Curtiss-Wright Company: they produced 142,840 engines, 146,468 electric propellers and 29,269 airplanes. They opened new facilities in Buffalo, New York; Columbus, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; and St. Louis, Missouri. Among the aircraft they produced were the P-36 Hawk Fighter, the P-40 War Hawk, and the C-46 Commando. The Wright Aeronautical division opened additional plants in Fair Lawn, East Paterson and Wood Ridge, New Jersey as well as in Lockland, Ohio. The propeller division opened new facilities in Clifton, New Jersey and later in Indianapolis, Indiana and Pennsylvania.
After the war, when military contracts were severely curtailed, the company sold its aviation division to North American Aviation. The company tried to break into the jet market, supplying engines for such planes as the Douglas DC-7 and Lockheed Super Constellation. Over the next few decades the company moved away from the aviation industry and diversified its activities, becoming involved in plastics, electronics, automotive, earth-moving equipment, metal-extrusion, and industrial valves among other things. The company is still in operation as of 2026.
Chronology: Curtiss-Wright Corporation
- 1895
- Wright Cycle Company opens in Dayton, Ohio.
- 1898
- Glenn H. Curtiss opens bicycle shop in Hammondsport, New York.
- 1902
- G.H. Curtiss Manufacturing Company is established, building motorcycles and bicycles.
- 1903 December 17
- First powered flight by Orville Wright takes place at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
- 1906 May 22
- Wright brothers granted patent 821,393 for “new and useful improvement in Flying Machines.”
- 1907
- Aerial Experiment Association founded by Alexander Graham Bell.
- Simplex Automobile Company founded when Herman Broesel takes over S&M Simplex Company.
- 1908 July 4
- Glenn Curtiss flies the June Bug and wins the Scientific American Trophy.
- 1909 March
- Herring-Curtiss Company founded in Hammondsport, New York.
- 1909 March 31
- Aerial Experiment Association disbanded.
- 1909 November 22
- Wright Company incorporated in the state of New York.
- 1909
- “Patent wars” between Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss begin.
- 1910 March 19
- Wright Flying School established in Montgomery, Alabama.
- 1910 July
- Curtiss Exhibition Company founded.
- 1910 December
- Herring-Curtiss Company re-formed as Curtiss Aeroplane Company.
- Curtiss Motor Company established.
- 1910
- Burgess Company and Curtis, Inc. founded by W. Starling Burgess, Greely S. Curtis and Frank Henry Russell in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
- Wright Exhibition team formed.
- 1911 February 1
- Burgess Company receives license from Wright Brothers to build a Wright aircraft.
- 1911 November
- Wright Exhibition team disbanded.
- 1912 May 30
- Wilbur Wright dies.
- 1912 August
- Glenn L. Martin Company founded.
- 1914 January
- License agreement between Wright Brothers and Burgess Company and Curtis terminated; company changes name to Burgess Company.
- 1915 October 15
- Orville Wright sells Wright Company to William B. Thompson, Harry Payne Whitney, and T. Frank Manville.
- 1915
- Wright Company purchases interest in the Simplex Automobile Company.
- 1916 January 13
- Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company formed from the Curtiss Aeroplane Company and the Curtiss Motor Company.
- 1916 February
- Burgess Company acquired by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company and continues manufacturing as a subsidiary.
- 1916 September
- Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation formed through merger of Wright Company and Glenn L. Martin Company.
- 1917
- Glenn Martin resigns from Wright-Martin; forms a new Glenn L. Martin Company.
- Simplex Automobile purchases Crane Motor Company and becomes Crane-Simplex.
- 1918
- “Patent wars” effectively ended.
- 1919 October 9
- Wright Aeronautical Company formed.
- 1920
- Glenn Curtiss retires to Florida.
- 1923 May
- Wright Aeronautical Corporation purchases Lawrance Aero Engine Company.
- 1928 January
- Curtiss Company establishes partnership with Robertson Aircraft Corporation.
- 1928 September 11
- Curtiss Flying Service incorporated.
- 1929 May 6
- Curtiss Airports Corporation is organized.
- 1929 July 5
- Wright Aeronautical Company and Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company merge and form Curtiss-Wright Corporation.
- 1929
- Keystone-Loening company taken over by Curtiss-Wright.
- 1930 July 23
- Glenn Curtiss dies.
- 1932
- Keystone Aircraft Corporation closes.
- 1948 January 27
- Orville Wright dies.
- 1951
- The Curtiss-Wright Airplane Division closes.
- 1955 December 5
- Glenn L. Martin dies.
Full Extent
22.8 Cubic Feet (1 records carton, 11 5-inch legal size document boxes, 22 5-inch letter size document boxes, 1 2-inch letter size document box, 24 letter size expandable folders, 1 oversize box (20x24x3"), 1 oversize box (25x32x3"), 1 oversize box (32x40x3"))
Abstract
The Curtiss-Wright Corporation Records contain business documents from the Curtiss-Wright company and its predecessors, including the Wright Company, Simplex Automobile Company, Glenn L. Martin Company, Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation, Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, and Wright Aeronautical Corporation. The records, which span the first half of the twentieth century, include administrative, financial and legal records documenting business dealings as well as photographic documentation of aircraft and facilities.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in eight series. The first seven series are groupings by company organized chronologically by founding of the company and the last series consists primarily of photographic materials. Within each series for companies, files are primarily organized by function, including subseries for administrative records, legal records, financial records. Series VII. Curtiss-Wright Corporation, has additional sub-series on aircraft and airports. Series VIII. Photographic Prints and Negatives has been subdivided by subject.
- Wright Corporation
- Administrative Records
- Legal Records
- Financial Records
- Simplex Automobile Company
- Glenn Martin Company
- Wright-Martin Company
- Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
- Administrative Records
- Legal Records
- Financial Records
- Wright Aeronautical Corporation
- Legal Records
- Financial Records
- Curtiss-Wright Corporation
- Administrative Records
- Legal Records
- Financial Records
- Aircraft documentation
- Airport documentation
- Photographic Prints and Negatives
- Aircraft -- Curtiss-Wright affiliated companies
- Aircraft -- other companies
- Curtiss Flying Service Photography Division
- Curtiss-Wright Flying Service and Airports Corporation locations
- Facilities -- Curtiss-Wrigth affiliated
- Facilities -- other companies
- People, Organizations and Events
Physically, the materials are organized by type and size. Bound volumes of text documents are in box 1. Other textual materials are in boxes 2-13. Photographic prints are in boxes 14-35. Cellulose acetate negatives are in expandable folders, numbered as boxes 38 and 40-60; those in box 38 are showing signs of deterioration. Cellulose nitrate negatives are in expandable folders, numbered as boxes 39A and 39B. Oversize materials are in boxes 36, 37, and 61 depending on size.
Custodial History
The Museum acquired the collection from Joseph Gertler, an aviation and automobile memorabilia dealer. He had acquired the collection from a former Curtiss-Wright Corporation employee who had saved the files from destruction by the company. The Curtiss-Wright Corporation had received the records of predecessor companies through a series of corporate mergers.
Accruals
No further accruals expected.
Separated Materials
The following items have been separated from the archival component of the collection and sent to the Library:
- Numerous issues of The Blade, 1942-1945
- 1 issue of The Curtiss-Wrighter, 1969 March
- 2 issues of Electronics Division News, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, 1951 November
- 12 issues of Propeller Division Records, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, 1951-1952
- 16 issues of Service News, Service Department, Wright Aeronautical Division, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, 1955-1957
- 38 issues of Trade Winds, Wright Aeronautical Corporation, 1937-1947
- 7 copies of the miniature edition of Trade Winds
- The Curtiss Electric Propeller, Caldwell, N.J.: Curtiss-Wright Corporation, 1943
- Electric Propeller Maintenance Tips, Caldwell, N.J.: Curtiss-Wright Corporation, undated
- General Specification for the Design and Construction of Airplanes for the United States Navy Navy Department, Bureau of Aeronautics, 1932
- Installation and Maintenance Instructions, Curtiss Electric Propellers, Clifton, New Jersey: Curtiss-Wright Corporation, 1938
- Instruction Book for Wright Whirlwind Engines, Paterson, N.J.: Wright Aeronautical Corporation, 1937
- Overhaul Manual for Wright Cyclone Engines, Paterson, N.J.: Wright Aeronautical Corporation, 1938
- Pilot's Manual: Curtiss Electric Propeller, Caldwell, N.J.: Curtiss-Wright Corporation, 1943
- Prop Tips: The Hydromatic Propeller and Constant Speed Control, East Hartford, Connecticut: Hamilton Standard Propellers, 1943
- Rumph, L.B. and Roland J. White, Description and Aerodynamic Characteristics of the Curtiss-Wright "Vee" Tab, Report 20-Y48, St. Louis: Curtiss-Wright Corporation Airplane Division, 1945
The following items have been separated from the archival component of the collection and sent to Objects Storage:
- 1 corporate seal: "Curtiss-Wright Corporation, 1929, Delaware"
- 1 corporate seal: "L.G.S. Spring Clutch Corporation, SEAL, Indiana"
- 1 corporate seal: "The Marquette Metal Products Company, SEAL"
Sources
- Curtiss-Wright. “Company History.” Accessed January 23, 2020. https://www.curtisswright.com/company/history/
- Eltscher, Louis R. and Edward M. Young. Curtiss-Wright: Greatness and Decline. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998.
- Roseberry, C.R. Glenn Curtiss: Pioneer of Flight. New York: Syracuse University Press, 1991.
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. “The Wright Brothers & Invention of the Aerial Age.” Accessed January 23, 2020. https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/
- U.S. Air Services, Volume 13 (1928)
Processing Information
Original processing work on the collection was done circa 2006-2011. From 2020-2026 the collection was reviewed, organization refined, and finding aid updated to align with best practices. While the overall arrangement has been imposed on the collection to reflect the many individual companies that eventually became Curtiss-Wright, the organization of documents within files remains largely intact. Original folder titles are indicated in the container list by quotation marks.
Subject
- Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation (Organization)
- Curtiss-Wright Corporation (Organization)
- Glenn L. Martin Company (Organization)
- Simplex Automobile Company (Organization)
- Wright Aeronautical Corporation (Organization)
- Wright Company (Organization)
- Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation (Organization)
- Title
- A Guide to the Curtiss-Wright Corporation Records
- Status
- Completed Level 4
- Author
- K. Williams, N. Davis
- Date
- 2026 June
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
- Edition statement
- 2nd Edition
Repository Details
Part of the The Museum of Flight Archives Repository
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-5874
curator@museumofflight.org