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Dennis W. Jarvi Aviation Collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS-513

Scope and Contents

The collection contains flight manuals, pilot’s operating handbooks, pilot training materials, posters, and photographs acquired by Dennis Jarvi throughout his life. Many of the aircraft for which there are flight manuals and pilot’s operating handbooks, are aircraft which Jarvi flew, including those he flew as a fighter pilot in Vietnam. Similarly, several of the photographs, drawings, and lithographs of aircraft, depict models that Jarvi himself flew. The collection is arranged into three series.

Series I, Crew Check Lists, Handbooks, and Manuals, 1958-1992, is arranged alphabetically by aircraft model. The series starts with several owner’s manuals and pilot’s operating handbooks for Cessna models, mainly from the 1970s and 1980s. Next in the series are flight manuals for fighter planes, including the F-101, F-102, F-104, and F-105. The series also includes manuals and handbooks for Piper Apache, Piper Warrior, and Piper Cherokee models, as well as for the T-37B, T-38A, and T-39A.

Series II, Pilot Training Courses and Publications, 1968-1994, contains pilot training coursework for Cessna private planes. Also included are pilot training materials for the Sabreliner 40/60/60SC models. Finally, a few publications from the Private Pilot series are included, with lesson plans, information on the FAA exams, and an oral study guide.

Series III, Posters, Photographs, and Signed Book, 1942, 1965-1975, 1997, is a significant series in the collection containing both oversize and standard 8x10 size items. Aircraft depicted in the aviation artwork and photographs span from the WWII era through 1975, with the exception of a print of the space shuttle Discovery from 1997. Of note are two rare color lithographs signed by accomplished aces. The first is “Messerschmitt Bf.109E-3 of I Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 27, 1940” signed by Erich Hartmann, a German pilot known as the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. The second lithograph is titled “Supermarine “Spitfire VB” (Rolls-Royce” Merlin 45/46) of No. 92 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 1941” by Keith Broomfield and signed by Robert Stanford Tuck, who was a British fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force with 29 kills during the Battles of France and Britain in WW II. Other aircraft depicted in this series include Flying Tigers from WWII, F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, F-5, F-15, F-16, T-38, and the USAF Thunderbirds. Two large aerial photographs of McConnell Air Force Base in the 1960s are also in this series. Of particular interest is a photograph of Dennis Jarvi as a captain in the USAF, sitting with President Lyndon Johnson at the Officer’s Club at Korat RTAFB Thailand on Dec. 23, 1967, days after Jarvi participated in a mission to Paul J. Doumer Bridge in Hanoi. This series also contains the autograph Jarvi received from Generalmajor Adolph Galland, which is in Jarvi’s copy of the 1969 book Pictorial History of the Luftwaffe, 1933-1945 by Alfred Price.

Dates

  • Creation: 1942-1997
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1965-1979

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Biographical Sketch of Dennis W. Jarvi

Col. Dennis W. Jarvi served a long and distinguished career in the United States Air Force. He began his career by earning a BSME in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University in 1964. He later earned an MBA in Business Management in 1977 from the University of Utah, and attended Air War College from 1984-1985.

In October, 1967, Lt. Jarvi graduated from his F-105 course at Nellis AFB in Nevada, and was assigned to the 469 Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) at Korat Royal Thai Air Base (RTAB), Thailand. He flew 100 missions over North Vietnam as an F-105D pilot from October, 1967 to May, 1968. During this time, he was one of nine F-105Ds pilots from the 469 TFS TFW that flew on the Rolling Thunder mission. He participated in a raid on the Paul Doumer highway and railroad bridge on December 14, 1967, which he spoke about during a visit from President Johnson to Korat RTAB on December 23, 1967. On December 19, 1967, Captain Jarvi, was one of four F-105Ds from the 469 TFS who participated in a morning mission from Korat, striking the south end of the Hanoi Railroad Classification Yard. They each dropped six 750-pound bombs. Capt. Jarvi was awarded the Third Oak Leaf Cluster to the Distinguished Flying Cross.

In June 1972 through July 1975, Jarvi led the F-104 USAF/Luftwaffe Fighter Weapons School as the Chief of the school. The following year, he was in Germany serving as F-104 NATO Evaluator at the Head Quarters of the USAF in Europe where he flew the F-104 with Belgian, Canadian, German, Italian (F-104G and F-104S at Rimini), and Netherlands F-104 Fighter Squadrons. His flight crew list is in the collection.

In 1981, Lt. Col. Dennis Jarvi was Chief of the Crew Equipment and Human Factors Division, and Directorate of Equipment Engineering in the Aeronautical Systems Division of the Air Force Systems Command. In this role, Jarvi authored the technical report Investigation of Spatial Disorientation of F-15 Eagle Pilots published in 1981. In 1982, Jarvi became the Director of Tacit Blue at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Jarvi later became the Commander of Air Force Human Resources Laboratory (AFHRL) at Brooks AFB in Texas from 1985-1990.

Dennis Jarvi is a member of the Pioneers of Stealth, an organization made up of members who were involved in the development of stealth technology. He is an active volunteer, serving as a Volunteer Naturalist with Greene County Parks and Recreation since 2008, volunteering with the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association since 1991, and participating as a member and past president of the Beavercreek (Ohio) Rotary Club.

Extent

3.4 linear feet (5 document cases and 2 oversize folders)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The collection consists of flight manuals, owner’s manuals, handbooks, and pilot training materials for aircraft, many of which Jarvi piloted, including the jet fighter planes he flew during his distinguished career in the United States Air Force. Jarvi served with the 469 Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) during the Vietnam War, completing 100 missions, and receiving the Third Oak Leaf Cluster to the Distinguished Flying Cross. Complementing the flight manuals and handbooks are lithographs, photographs and posters of the aircraft, including the F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, and T-38 Talon.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into 3 series:

Series I:
Crew Check Lists, Handbooks, and Manuals, 1958-1992
Series II:
Pilot Training Courses and Training Publications, 1968-1994
Series III:
Posters, Photographs, and Signed Book, 1942, 1965-1975, 1997

Physical Location

Oversize materials are in Location 115 at the Dunbar facility.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was donated to Special Collections & Archives by Dennis W. Jarvi on Feb. 18, 2016. Additions were received July 1, 2016 and September 8, 2016.

Separated Materials

Several aviation books and publications donated by Dennis Jarvi are cataloged and available in the Special Collections & Archives Reading Room. The titles are searchable in the catalog at https://catalog.libraries.wright.edu/ by a keyword search on “Dennis W. Jarvi.” The topics include aerospace medicine, and studies at Wright-Patterson Air Force on infrared systems in aircraft for night flying. Of note is a publication authored by Lt. Col. Dennis Jarvi (FTC-TIH 64-2005) Investigation of Spatial Disorientation of F-15 Eagle Pilots published in 1981. Also of note are books by Russell Genet from Fairborn, Ohio and published by the Fairborn Press.

Oversize items are located at Dunbar in location 115.

Processing Information

Processed by: Toni Vanden Bos, December, 2016

Title
Guide to the Dennis W. Jarvi Aviation Collection (MS-513)
Status
Completed
Author
Toni Vanden Bos
Date
2016 December
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Wright State University Libraries
Special Collections and Archives
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton OH 45435-0001 USA
937-775-2092