WACO Aircraft Company Photographic Collection

The collection is an invaluable photographic history of the WACO Aircraft Company from 1923 through WWII. Included are negatives and prints (mostly black and white) of aircraft and glider models, instrument panels, engines, owners with their WACOs, pilots (including Freddie Lund), company executives, and interior and exterior views of the WACO factory in Troy, Ohio. The airplanes are photographed on the ground and in flight. Also included in the collection are 17 films, several of which are training films depicting WACO gliders.

Raymond H. Brandly wrote several books on WACO, and many of the photographs in this collection appear in those publications. For an explanation of the meaning of the letters designating each WACO model, please see his book WACO aircraft production, 1923-1942.

The collection is arranged into three series, which largely reflect a photographer's numbering scheme. While the Photographer Numbers provide a sequence of order, they do not fall in order by subject. If looking for a particular plane, model, person, or place, it is easiest to view the finding aid electronically and use the keyword searching. When possible, the descriptions include registration number, serial number, WACO aircraft model, names of people and places, and picture angle.

Every effort has been made to match up a print to its corresponding negative. However, not all prints have a negative, and not all negatives have a corresponding print. As a result, the inventory is arranged by the Item Number, regardless of whether the image is a print, negative or both. Accordingly, the inventory has columns indicating the item's location in a print box, negative box, or both.

Series I: Barton Images, contains a relatively small number of prints (41) and negatives (8) that are signed in the lower corner by Barton with a number. These images, when dated, primarily date from 1924-1932. The images are arranged by Barton's number when present. When illegible or not visible, the image is assigned an item number. All of the prints are item numbered 1-38. The negative number corresponds to the print number as well. These images are in the first box of negatives and prints. A few of the Barton signed images also have a Photographer's Number on the image that would place it in Series II. When this happens, the images are cross referenced in the inventory and the image is physically filed with Barton images.

Series II: Images by Photographer Number, contains the bulk of the images. The Photographer Number is an alpha-numeric number assigned by the photographer, which appears in the lower right corner. The series is divided by 4 subseries which reflect four different, yet similar Photographic Number sequences. Subseries A includes all the images labeled A-1 through S-18. For instance, the images begin with A's, which number from A-1 to A-998, and which are followed by the B's ranging from B-3 to B-977. Next, the C's span C-5 to C-778. A few I's range from I-100 to I-104. Then the P section follows from P-1 to P-519. The subseries ends with a small run of R's from R-1 to R-23 and S's S-1 to S-18. At this point, the Photographer number takes on solely an alphabetic sequence, starting with Subseries B: A-Z, then Subseries C: AA-ZZ, and finally Subseries D: AAA-ZZZ. These alphabetic subseries tend to duplicate several images in Subseries A. Duplications are indicated when possible.

Series III: Images Without a Photographer Number consists of photographs and a few negatives that may have been taken by several different photographers. The series is divided into two subseries. Subseries A: Negatives, contains 23 negatives listed in sequential order starting with #10. Subseries B: Prints, is also arranged by an assigned sequential number and housed in three binder boxes. For the most part, these are not grouped by topic, with the exception of Box 6. Included in this series are photographs of several models of WACO aircraft, the WACO factory, military gliders, Aviatrix Lady Grace Hay, and pilots Freddie Lund and John Livingston.

Series IV: Film includes 17 films originally from the Mike Murphy estate. Murphy was an important person in the glider training and operation program. In addition to glider training films, there are home movies of the 1939 National Air Races. Murphy won the National Aerobatic Championships. The movie shows part of Murphy's aerobatic routine, and his "upside-down airplane", other race pilots including Roscoe Turner, and a stunt demonstration with a Ford Tri-motor.