Don Roetman Papers (MS-381)

The Don Roetman Papers contain personal information about Don Roetman and his professional career as an aeronautical engineer. The collection also contains a large amount of technical and corporate reference material that would be of use to researchers interested in the development of helicopters primarily used by the United States Air Force during the 1960s and 1970s.

Series I, Professional, includes documents related to Don Roetman's professional development and career as an aeronautical engineer working at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. It includes his thesis on Ram Jets from Parks College, and certificates of further education throughout his career. This series also contains multiple performance reviews and acknowledgements of achievement concerning Roetman's career. There are multiple folders containing documents in regard to the multiple research and development projects that he worked on. The majority of this series consists of newsletters from aeronautical organizations and corporations, such as Sikorsky Aircraft and the American Helicopter Society, as well as aircraft manuals and corporate guides to aircraft, which are primarily helicopter related. Box two in the collection contains a large amount of materials about the HH-53B helicopter, produced by the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation that has been removed from a binder, but has remained in its original order. This series contains oversized materials that can be found in Location 74 File 9. These oversized materials are blueprints of aircraft and a few maps of Wright-Patterson AFB.

Series II, Photographs, contains photographs from Don Roetman's personal life, including his childhood, family, and time at Parks College in the Air Force ROTC program. However, the vast majority of the photographs in this series are of aircraft, primarily helicopters, and most are unidentified. This series also contains a folder of oversized material that can be found in Location 74 File 10. The file contains a few larger photographs and posters.