The Tim A. Nelson Aviation Photographs is a collection of 350 color photographic transparencies taken by Nelson of various aircraft at air shows, on aircraft carriers, at airports and at aviation museums from 1987-1998. The collection has been divided into four series by subject: Aircraft; Aircraft Carriers and Ships; Airports; and the Museum of Flight. Within each series, the files are organized alphabetically by subject.

The first series, Aircraft, makes up the bulk of the collection with 248 images. The aircraft depicted are a mix of commercial airliners and military aircraft seen at air shows, airports and museums. The images here focus on the aircraft as main subject whereas the other series include images of multiple aircraft or are more broadly of a place. The aircraft in this series were photographed at events and locations including the Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada; the Boeing B-29 Superfortress 50th anniversary celebration at Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, 1992; Flight Fest events at the Museum of Flight in 1993 and 1994; McChord Air Museum, McChord Air Force Base, Tacoma, Washingon; the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Dayton, Ohio; and the Pima Air & Space Museum in Arizona. The images of commercial aircraft were primarily taken at Sea-Tac International Airport, although one was shot at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

The Aircraft Carriers and Ships series consists of 79 images of military ships primarily seen at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington or in Elliott Bay in Seattle, Washington, but two images were taken in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii. Photographs include details of the ships as well as aircraft aboard carriers.

The Airports series includes 13 images of commercial airliners and facilities at Ketchikan International Airport (Alaska), Seattle-Tacoma International Airpo9t (Washington), and Tucson International Airport (Arizona). These images differ from the commercial airliners depicted in the Aircraft series in that these images depict wider views of the airports rather than focusing primarily on the aircraft.

The final series, The Museum of Flight, is the smallest series with 10 images. These are wide views of the Museum's Great Gallery and outdoor views of visiting aircraft. These images include multiple aircraft in each, unlike the photos in the Aircraft series taken at Museum events which depict one or only a few aircraft at a time.

All photographs are color transparencies and are notable for being either 35mm Widelux or 6x17cm panoramic format, offering high resolution wide angle views of their subjects. Image identifications and descriptions were provided by Nelson; additional details are on the folders.