Bergen Hardesty Aviation Collection

Hardesty’s collection includes information and photographs on aircraft produced worldwide starting with the Wright B flyer (circa 1915) through the late 1950s. A trained artist, Hardesty’s collection includes his detailed drawings of many aircraft. However, his focus was French, British, and German World War I aircraft; and American aircraft pre-World War II aircraft. He produced and collected many oversized, scale drawings of aircraft structural design and specifications. The notes on the drawings often contain the history of the aircraft and the aviation units that flew them. The collection includes over 10,000 photographs and negatives of aircraft produced during World War I through the 1950s that were part of Mr. Hardesty’s hobby of building model airplanes. The collection includes photographs, histories, coats of arm, and insignia of the WWI American Expeditionary Forces flying units. Of particular interest is an autographed photograph of the 1st Pursuit Group. The collection also includes a variety of aviation maintenance instructions, technical orders, flying manuals, and aviation magazines. The collection is divided into five series:

Series I, Aircraft Design, is divided into seven subseries.

Subseries IA, WWI Aircraft by Manufacturer, contains pre-WWI and WWI American, French, German and British aircraft. There are files for each aircraft filed in alphabetical order by aircraft manufacturer. Each aircraft folder may contain photographs, drawings, magazine articles, and other historical information on the aircraft. Some of the aircraft photographs include pilots and other people associated with the aircraft. There may also be oversized drawings and prints available on these same aircraft in Subseries ID, Drawings and Blueprints of aircraft. Also, in this subseries, are files on associated aviation topics of the era, including the Bessonneau Hangar, Gnome engine, Hispano-Suiza engine, and 30-caliber machine gun.

Subseries IB, Post-WWI Air Force Aircraft by Manufacturer, contain predominately U.S. Air Force aircraft, however a few German, British, and Japanese WWII aircraft are included. There are files for each aircraft filed in alphabetical order by aircraft manufacturer. Each aircraft folder may contain photographs, drawings, magazine articles, and other historical information on the aircraft. Some of the aircraft photographs include pilots and other individuals associated with the aircraft. There may also be oversized drawings and prints available on these same aircraft in Subseries ID, Drawings and Blueprints of aircraft. Also, in this subseries, are files on associated aviation topics of the era, including the racing aircraft, missiles, and radar.

Subseries IC, post-WWI Naval Aircraft by Manufacturer, contains predominately U.S. Air Naval aircraft, however a few international aircraft are included. There are files for each aircraft filed in alphabetical order by aircraft manufacturer. Each aircraft folder may contain photographs, drawings, magazine articles, and other historical information on the aircraft. Some of the aircraft photographs include pilots and other person associated with the aircraft. There may also be oversized drawings and prints available on these same aircraft in Subseries ID, Drawings and Blueprints of aircraft.

Subseries ID, Drawings and Blueprints of Aircraft, includes 13 oversized files organized by country of aircraft production, manufacturer’s name, and aircraft type. Many of the drawings and factory blueprints of British, French, German, and American aircraft contain historical information as well as accurate measurements. The collection contains many pre-WWII American aircraft, with special emphasis on the Boeing P-12 and the Curtiss F-9 and JN-4. Oversized drawings of American WWII aircraft are limited to the Douglas O-43, North American T-6 and P-51, and the Republic P-47. It is noteworthy that Hardesty drew three WWII Japanese aircraft for the ”Tora, Tora, Tora” movie; Aichi D3A1 “Val”, Mitsubishi A6M2 “Zeke.” Smaller drawings, and other aircraft details, can be found in Subseries IA, IB, and IC, filed alphabetically by manufacturer.

Subseries IE, Technical Orders, Reports, and Maintenance Manuals, includes a limited collection of technical orders, reports, parts catalogs, and maintenance manuals on aircraft such as the Curtiss ‘Hawk’, P-51, P82, and A-20C.

Subseries IF, Flight Operating Instructions & Flight Manuals, is a limited collection of copies of original flight operating instructions and flight manuals for the following American aircraft: SE5, P-51D, P-51K, P-51M, and P-82E.

Subseries IG, Model Aircraft, includes prices for Boeing model airplanes, as well as photographs of model aircraft. The photographs include the following models: Albatros D-3, Fokker FVIII, Nieuport 28, and DVIII.

Subseries IH, Aviation Memorabilia, contains aircraft and model aircraft pieces collected by Bergen Hardesty throughout his lifetime. The researcher may find the three pieces of a Nieuport 28 of interest. There is also a piece of airplane cloth that was removed from a Nieuport Type 24 in 1934.

Series II, Military Aviation History, is divided into four subseries Subseries IIA, Aircraft Colors, Coat of Arms, & Insignia, contains drawings of WWI American Expeditionary Force Aviation Unit Insignias and Coat of Arms. These symbols were often painted on the sides of WWI aircraft. Hardesty was meticulous in matching exact colors of the aircraft. Additional prints and drawings of insignia can be found in the oversize location#132, file 2 and file 3. This subseries also includes insignia for the Lafayette Escadrille, a group of volunteer American pilots who flew with the French Air Service during WWI. Subseries IIB, WWI American Expeditionary Force Unit Histories, contains copies of histories of the WWI American Expeditionary Force Aviation Unit. Their mission, aircraft, pilots, and other associated individuals with those units are covered in varying detail. Some units such as the 28th, 95th, and 96th have complete histories. This subseries also contain information and photographs of American, British, and German WWI pilots. Additional photographs of pilots and other persons associated with flight operations may be found with the aircraft these pilots flew in Series I, Subseries IA. In Series I, Subseries ID, there are drawings of specific planes flown by the WWI aviators. Additional information may also be found in Series II, Subseries IIB, with the WW I American Expeditionary Force Unit histories. There is a photo of top Canadian WWI ace, William Bishop, in a Nieuport in Series I, Subseries IA, File Morane Saulnier. This subseries also contains an autographed photograph of the 1st Pursuit Group. Subseries IIC, Aviation Magazines, contains original magazines and aviation history journals that Mr. Hardesty used in his aviation research. Magazines such as American Airman, Air Classics, and Air Pictorial are among those present in this subseries. Subseries IID, Additional Aviation History, contains photographs of U.S. Naval aircraft, post-WWII aircraft, as well as non-military aircraft. This subseries also contains a catalog of WWI Aviation Photographs, along with an index of Aircorp serial numbers. Series III, Negatives and Photographic Prints, contains photographs and negatives of various WWI aircraft including the SE5A. The photographs include aircraft, factory, and aviation blueprints. Series IV, Correspondence, contains letters, and copies of letters, received and sent by Mr. Hardesty from 1937 to 1993. Correspondence includes personal letters, cards, and postcards with aviation experts including three American WWI Aces: Eddy Rickenbacker, Reed Landis, and Reed Chambers. Hardesty also corresponded with many aviation organizations, including the United States Air Force Museum, the Smithsonian National Air Museum, as well as aviation historians such as Robert Cavanagh. A letter from Thomas Hines refers to four rolls of negatives that can be found in Subseries IIIA. Series V, Scrapbooks, is composed of photographs from scrapbooks created by Mr. Hardesty and include photographs that he loaned the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in 1993. This series also includes a variety of photographs and drawings of various insignia for WWI American Expeditionary Force units. There are additional photographs taken at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida in the 1980s, along with personal photographs of Mr. Hardesty and his family and friends.