Chanute’s glider (by P.B. Kline), 1939

Aeronautical engineer Peter B. Kline collected articles, drawings, mechanical specifications, photographs, and research pertaining to a variety of aircraft and aviation topics. He specialized in materials about the WWI era and military aircraft, in general, but his collection covers a wide range of aviation subjects. Arranged into six series, the bulk of the collection is about aviation, but one small series of personal papers does provide a glimpse into Peter and his wife’s lives.

Series I: Aircraft Identification, contains files on a wide variety of aircraft spanning as early as 1913 up to the mid-1980s. The series is divided into subseries by categories of aircraft, such as aircraft by manufacturer, racers, war planes, U.S. aircraft, and international aircraft. Subseries IG: Scrapbooks, contains clippings, aircraft histories, descriptions, photographs, and 3-view drawings of aircraft, arranged by manufacturer. The scrapbooks in this series were removed from binders and foldered.

Series II: Aircraft Construction (full size and models), focuses on drawings and blueprints of aircraft, which are organized alphabetically by manufacturer. Series IIB: Aircraft Components and Accessories/General Pilot’s Manuals Theory of Aerodynamics (P. B. Kline’s class notes), includes notes and papers written by Kline as part of his coursework at the University of Virginia and Virginia Polytechnic Institution. Also included in this series are research files on aircraft colors and insignia, and scale models, many of which come from publications. The entire series spans 1917-1984.

Series III: Aviation History, 1918-1985 spans a wide scope of aviation history and sources of aviation history. Files on air shows; military squadron, unit, and base histories; and on aviators and aviation figures are included in this series. Aviation figures include the early Birds, WWI aviators, American Aces, and recognizable names such as Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Also included in this series are aviation materials reflected in popular culture such as aviation poems, songs, cartoons, lists of movies, and magazines like Dare-Devil Aces, a pulp magazine from the 1930s and 1940s.

Series IV: Personal Papers, 1822-1981, consists of just four folders, but it provides details into Peter Kline’s career as an aeronautical engineer, and some insight into his service during WWII, and includes a photograph of Kline in uniform, a few diary entries, his identification card as a 2nd Lt., and a letter written on Boca Raton Field stationary dated September, 1943. The series also provides some history on Janet Forrestel Kline, Peter’s wife. It includes the oldest item in the collection, a scrapbook from the family of Janet Forrestel Kline, dated 1844, containing news clippings about family members and of poetry. The clippings mostly refer to people living in the area of Saratoga, New York. Inside the front cover, which is completely detached, are loose pages from a ledger book with entries dated 1822-1832. Note that the scrapbook is very brittle and in poor condition. The cover and several pages are detached. Finally, an oversize charcoal portrait of Jeanette Forrestal Kline is also included in the series.

Series V: Photographs, contains black and white photos of aircraft arranged alphabetically by aircraft manufacturer. Following the manufacturers are photo scrapbooks, which are also photographs arranged alphabetically by manufacturer.

Series VI: Aviation Art (primarily by Peter Kline), 1942-1944, contains six works of aviation art, five of which were created and signed by P.B. Kline. Of those five Kline works, four are of WWII aircraft and one features ink drawings of WWI fighter planes. The artwork is on acidic board and paper, but all are striking. They range in size from 10” x 14” to 15 ½” x 20 ½”. Also in this series is a color print with a poem titled “The Last Bouquet” by Gill Robb Wilson.