The Ray McPherson Boeing Test Pilot Collection documents the career and personal life of test pilot Ray McPherson. The collection contains visual materials, audiovisual materials, and textual documents that date from 1941 to 2010. These documents bring to light McPherson’s work in engineering and testing aircraft for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the Boeing Company. There is an emphasis on his employment with Boeing in the collection, specifically his contributions to Boeing Model YC-14 as the first test pilot to fly the aircraft. In addition to materials related to McPherson’s professional work, there are documents that reflect upon his military service and his involvement with Society of Experimental Test Pilots. The collection is organized into two series: I. Test Pilot Career and II. Personal.

Series I. Test Pilot Career (1946-1993) is divided into the following subseries:

Subseries A. Early Career and Assorted Boeing Projects is the most extensive part of the collection and chronicles McPherson's beginnings as an aeronautical research engineer and test pilot with NACA followed by the range of programs he was associated with during his employment as an experimental test pilot at Boeing. It is composed of both visual and textual materials dating from 1946-1993.

The visual materials are made up of 284 photographic prints and 12 negatives. The bulk of the photographs are from two albums compiled by McPherson. The albums provide a substantial amount of documentation of McPherson's test flights, as well as individuals that he worked with during his career. The pictures were arranged in rough chronological order by him and begin with NACA at Ames Aeronautical Laboratory in the 1940s to his final days at Boeing in the 1980s.

While there is some overlap in content between the two albums, the first one focuses on images of McPherson and other test pilots. Some of the pilots featured include George E. Copper, Lawrence “Larry” Clousing, Rudolph “Rudy” Van Dyke, and William H. "Bill" McAvoy from NACA. Some of the Boeing test pilots are David Bittenbinder, John Bernard Fornasero, James “Jim” Goodell, Ed Hartz, Edward “Ed” Hensley, Curtis “Curt” McNay, Clayton Scott, Dick Taylor, Jack Waddell, Lew Wallick, and Brien Wygle. There are many professional group shots of crew members in front of aircraft like the B-47, B-52, as well as the 737 and 747 certification test crews. The second album in the subseries is centered around McPherson’s individual career and the specific aircraft he flew. There are many images of McPherson pictured in the cockpits or in front of aircraft, as well as aircraft in flight.

The remaining files contain images grouped together by specific test flight programs McPherson participated in at Boeing that include the B-47, B-52, E-3A, Model XB-47, and the Compass Cope Program. Many of the photographs have hand-written annotations providing names, dates, and locations.

The textual materials supplementing the photographic documentation are clippings, correspondence, newsletters, pilot logbooks with detailed flight records, handwritten notes, and mileage reports. In addition to the logbooks, there is a notebook of McPherson’s with handwritten notes related to aircraft flight tests with detailed technical information, lists of air carrier classifications, and operational rules. The files provide documentation of this period of McPherson’s career and illustrate his achievements at Boeing.

Subseries B. Boeing YC-14 dates from 1976 to 1978 and contains visual materials, audiovisual materials, as well as textual documents that illustrate McPherson’s significant role in the testing, demonstration, and engineering development of the Boeing YC-14. The documents provide insight into the design and testing of the YC-14, including its first flight. The audiovisual materials consist of a videocassette, DVDs, and an 8mm film. There are 63 photographs, 146 slides, and 3 negatives that make up the visual materials. In addition, there is a booklet with photocopied images of the personnel and crew members from the YC-14 Joint Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base. The remaining documents relate to the publicity of the YC-14, such as the rollout program, newsletters, clippings, brochures, correspondence, illustrations, and decals.

Subseries C. Assorted Files is the final subseries and dates from 1953 to 1982. The materials include DVDs related to aircraft and operations. There are documents from internal operations and personnel of Boeing, such as pilot permit, objectives, job descriptions, memorandums, first flight covers, and news releases. There are professional portraits of McPherson, and an image of the company’s bowling league, as well as materials associated with the Boeing Flight Test Wives Club and their social activities.

Series II. Personal (1941-2010) consists of both textual documents and visual materials, including 199 photographic prints. These materials reflect upon McPherson’s education, certifications, military service, membership with the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and his knowledge of aircraft projects he participated in, particularly the YC-14 aircraft.

The materials that chronicle McPherson’s military service consist of certificates, diplomas, combat records, discharge paperwork, orders, correspondence, graduation announcement, pilot logbook, as well as a scrapbook compiled by McPherson. Within the scrapbook there are 180 photographs that capture his time aboard in India, China, and Tinian in the Marianas Islands during World War II. The images capture McPherson in uniform and other servicemen. There are also patches, clippings, printed ephemera, correspondence, a cloth with printed Chinese flag with ink lettering, typed speech by Kay Robinson Domalik, and newsletters.

After retiring from Boeing McPherson remained active with the Society of Experimental Test Pilots through attending conferences and presenting specific aircraft that he piloted for Boeing. He presented on the YC-14 at the Society of Experimental Test Pilots 51st Symposium and the XB-47D at the society’s 52nd Symposium. Materials that document his work with SETP are programs, articles, fact sheets, photographs, presentation booklet with slide deck, notes, correspondence, articles, coordination sheet, presentation booklets with slide decks, correspondence, articles, McPherson’s membership card, postcards, and photographs.

The remaining documents in the series are certificates, diplomas, correspondence, handwritten notes, manuscript draft related to the YC-14 sent to McPherson to review, clippings, menus, star charts, birth announcement, financial records, course work, biographical material, and an obituary. In addition, there is an assortment of printed ephemera consisting of decals, postcards, photographs, photomechanical prints, poster, lithograph, calendar page, and comic strips.