The American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS) is a non-profit organization "dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of he history ofAmerican aviation.""AAHS Mission," Winter 2019, ''AAHS Journal,'' vol.64, no.4, page 242, retrieved May 1, 2021Williams, Tim, with William T. Larkins (former AAHS President)
"The American Aviation Historical Society: The First 50 Years,"
from the ''AAHS Journal'', as reproduced on the AAHS website, retrieved May 1, 2021 AAHS has had an educational program in promoting American aviation through its journal and a periodic newsletter, archives historical aviation documents and photos, maintains multiple websites on aviation history, and assists aviation historians and the public in the acquisition and exchange of aviation history information."American Aviation Historical Society - GuideStar Profile"

Guidestar Candid is an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies. In 2016, its database provided information on 2.5 million organizations.Wyland, Michael. "GuideStar Introduces Program Metrics Section for Nonprofit Profile ...

, retrieved May 2, 2021"Lead American Aviation Historical Society as President,"
AAHS in

VolunteerMatch Impact Online, also known as VolunteerMatch, is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization which provides a national digital infrastructure to serve volunteers and nonprofit organization in America. VolunteerMatch was founded in 1998. The organization al ...

, retrieved May 2, 2021"Historical Groups & Organizations – American Aviation Historical Society"
in "Air Museum Directory," Air Museum Network, retrieved May 2, 2021

Administration, organization and meetings

The Society was founded in 1956, and currently has two offices. Until 2017, all operations were headquartered in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, mak ...

. While the Membership Department remains in Huntington Beach, the headquarters office moved to the historic

Flabob Airport Flabob Airport is a small public-use airport located in Jurupa Valley, California, United States, in Riverside County, seven nautical miles (11 km) northwest of the central business district of Jurupa Valley, California. Location and his ...

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

."AAHS moving to Flabob Airport,"
2nd Quarter, 2018, ''AAHS Flightline'', issue 198, page 4, American Aviation Historical Society, retrieved May 3, 2021"President's Message," Summer 2019, ''AAHS Journal'', vol.64, no.2, page 160, retrieved May 1, 2021 The organization's annual meeting—open to all members—is held in California or Arizona, and commonly includes tours of some aviation historical interest."2020 AAHS Annual Meeting Program", Winter 2019, ''AAHS Journal,'' vol.64, no.4, page 241, retrieved May 1, 2021"2019 AAHS Annual Meeting,"
2nd Quarter, 2018, ''AAHS Flightline,'' issue 198, page 3, American Aviation Historical Society, retrieved May 3, 2021"AAHS 2018 Annual Meeting,"
2nd Quarter, 2018, ''AAHS Flightline,'' issue 198, page 5, American Aviation Historical Society, retrieved May 3, 2021 The national organization is headquartered in the historic aviation-manufacturing region of Southern California, and conducts local activities from time to time.Devorak, J. (AAHS): posting
"Aviation History" - "American Aviation Historical Society: Oral History Presentation Series l, November 20: General Bob Cardenas to Speak at AAHS Luncheon,"
as posted at Sylmar Hang Gliding Association website, retrieved May 3, 2021 Additionally, there are chapters ("wings") in other parts of the United States, including

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

"American Aviation Historical Society Phoenix Wing - GuideStar Profile"

GuideStar Candid is an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies. In 2016, its database provided information on 2.5 million organizations.Wyland, Michael. "GuideStar Introduces Program Metrics Section for Nonprofit Profile ...

, retrieved May 3, 2021 and Northern Virginia,"The Hawaii Clipper breaks its silence at the Smithsonian"
April 11, 2013, "Hunt for the Lost Clipper" website, retrieved May 3, 2021 which conduct meetings and activities of their own. The organization lists chapters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Virginia.
on the website of the American Aviation Historical Society, retrieved May 4, 2021 However, membership in the national organization is available to all interested parties the United States, whether served by a local chapter or not."Membership" page
on the website of the American Aviation Historical Society, retrieved May 4, 2021 In the early 2000s, some chapters separated to become a separate organization. In Northern California, the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

-area chapter (formed in 1985) separated in 2006 to become the Society for Aviation History,"Join the Society for Aviation History"
website of the Society for Aviation History, retrieved May 3, 2021"President’s May 2006 Message"
website of the Society for Aviation History, retrieved May 3, 2021 citing objections to the national organization's insurance requirements. The

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County, Ohio, Greene County. The 2020 United S ...

region chapter ("Huffman Prairie Chapter") formed in 1990, but separated from AAHS in 2006 to become the Huffman Prairie Aviation History Society—citing objections to the national organization's demands regarding dues, officers, and meeting organization."History of Huffman Prairie Aviation History Society,"

OhioLINK The Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is a consortium of Ohio's college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. Serving more than 800,000 students, faculty, and staff at 88 institutions with 117 libraries, OhioLINK' ...

(State Library of Ohio), retrieved May 3, 2021

Operations and media

Publications

AAHS's primary activity is publishing a peer-reviewed quarterly aviation history journal, the 150-page glossy ''AAHS Journal',' distributed to members. The publication is available in both print and digital formats. The organization also produces a quarterly online newsletter, ''AAHS Flightline'', which was originally distributed in print to members, but went online in the early 2000s, at the organization's website. The publications provide a venue for presentation of aviation history articles, historic documents and photos, and the exchange of information and resources among aviation historians.

Websites

AAHS has its own website (aahs-online.org), but also hosts the restored site of the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission—a large online encyclopedia of U.S. aviation history."AAHS Moves to Preserve ''Centennial of Flight'' Website,"
Third Quarter 2013, ''AAHS Flightline,'' Issue Number No. 184, American Aviation Historical Society, retrieved December, 2017 It also provides links to an affiliated site, APT Collectibles, which catalogs and markets past issues of the ''AAHS Journal''. To help AAHS resolve its photo-identification backlog, AAHS's webmaster and managing editor, Hayden Hamilton, developed a web-based application called AAHS Planespotter,https://www.aahsplanespotter.com/ to allow scanned images to be downloaded by aviation enthusiasts, who can then fill in information to help identify the depicted aircraft by type, location, serial number or other characteristics, and then submit that information to AAHS's photo database.

Public service

AAHS is, from time to time, a venue for the exchange of information and ideas about aviation history, and a source for aviation history services. AAHS members are sometimes called upon give presentations on aviation history, to assist museums, educational institutions, or media, work in aviation history projects, programs or events, or engage in research, discussions and debates about issues of aviation history.press release
"Airplane Photography by William T. Larkins Presented in New Exhibition at San Francisco International Airport,"
September 8, 2004, San Francisco Airport Museums,

San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middl ...

, retrieved May 3, 2021"Golden Gate Wing Guest Speaker Archive: Larry Rinek,"
Presentation: June 25, 2009, website of the Golden Gate Wing of the

Commemorative Air Force The Commemorative Air Force (CAF), formerly known as the Confederate Air Force, is an American non-profit organization based in Dallas, Texas, that preserves and shows historical aircraft at airshows, primarily in the U.S. and Canada. The CAF h ...

, retrieved May 3, 2021"About KAC"
website of The Wichita Aviation Centennial / Kansas Aviation Centennial, retrieved May 3, 2021"AAHS Supports Disney’s Restoration of Glendale’s Grand Central Air Terminal,"
3rd Quarter, 2014, ''AAHS Flightline,'' issue 188, page 9, American Aviation Historical Society, retrieved May 3, 2021 They have provided assistance to the development of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the N ...

."Volunteers Bringing Order To Tons of Air Documents,"
January–February, 1967, ''The Smithsonian Torch,'' page 4,

, retrieved May 3, 2021photo
"American Aviation Historical Society Sorting Material,"
from January–February, 1967, ''The Smithsonian Torch,'' page 4, as excerpted online

, retrieved May 3, 2021; Summary: ''"American Aviation Historical Society at Wednesday evening 'work session,' sorting material for the National Air Museum on one of the balconies in the Arts and Industries Building."''

Key and notable people

The organization's advisory board has included aviation historians Gerald Balzer,

Richard P. Hallion Richard P. Hallion is Senior Adviser for Air and Space Issues, Directorate for Security, Counterintelligence and Special Programs Oversight, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. He is responsible for analysis and insight regarding the conceptualization, ...

, Robert L. Lawson, and (until 2019)

Walter J. Boyne Walter J. Boyne (February 2, 1929 – January 9, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, Command Pilot, combat veteran, aviation historian, and author of more than 50 books and over 1,000 magazine articles. He was a director of the National A ...

, founding curator and later director of the

.masthead, Winter 2019, ''AAHS Journal'', vol.64, no.4, page 242, retrieved May 1, 2021 Key ''AAHS Journal'' authors have included: * Ray Wagner, co-founder of the AAHS; former director and enshrine of the International Air and Space Hall of Fame"Ray Wagner,"
International Air and Space Hall of Fame, retrieved May 3, 2021 * Harold E. Morehouse, co-developer of the first

Aeronca Aeronca, contracted from Aeronautical Corporation of America, located in Middletown, Ohio, is a US manufacturer of engine components and airframe structures for commercial aviation and the defense industry, and a former aircraft manufacturer. Fr ...

airplane and pioneer developer of the modern, air-cooled, light-aircraft engineHarris, Richard
"Aeronca/Champion History: Beyond the Bathtub — Chiefs, Champs & Citabrias,"
(Condensed from articles first appearing in ''In Flight USA'', 2003-2004 (updated and expanded version i

retrieved May 2, 2021)Meadowcroft, Bill
"Driggs Skylark: Rover Engine"
February 1982, ''Vintage Aircraft'', Vol.10, No.2, p.8, EAA / Vintage Aircraft Association, retrieved from Issu.com May 2, 2021"Morehouse, Wright-Morehouse, Lincoln (US)"
in "Compilation by Manufacturer (US)" in "Horizontally-Opposed Aircraft Engines (HOAE)" at Enginehistory.org, retrieved May 2, 2021), who wrote the regular column "Flying Pioneers" profiling key early aviation pioneers (many of whom he had personally known)"AAHS Journal Volume 6 (1961) Table of Contents,"
APT Collectables (AAHS affiliate), retrieved May 1, 2021
APT Collectables (AAHS affiliate), retrieved May 1, 2021"Harold E_ Morehouse Flying Pioneers Biographies collection · SOVA_0450"
Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives (SOVA),

, retrieved May 1, 2021 * Peter M. Bowers, an EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame enshrinee, author of 26 books and over 1,000 articles,"Homebuilders Hall of Fame,"
at

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...

, retrieved May 3, 2021 Peter M. Bowers — 1918-2003: Historian - Photographer - Homebuilder,"
on the website "BowersFlyBaby.com", retrieved May 3, 2021 who was a principal contributor from the initial ''AAHS Journal'' issue in 1956, through the late 1990s
APT Collectables (affiliate of AAHS), retrieved May 1, 2021
APT Collectables (affiliate of AAHS), retrieved May 1, 2021
APT Collectables (affiliate of AAHS), retrieved May 1, 2021
APT Collectables (affiliate of AAHS), retrieved May 1, 2021 * Joseph P. Juptner, EAA Hall of Fame inductee,"1995 Hall of Fame Inductee - Joseph Juptner"

, retrieved May 1, 2021 whose book series ''U.S. Civil Aircraft'' is the principal historic catalog and encyclopedia of U.S. civilian aircraft from 1927 to 1948Bilstein, Roger E. (reviewer)
"Reviewed Work: ''U.S. Civil Aircraft. Vol. 8'' by Joseph P. Juptner"
April, 1982, ''Technology and Culture,'' Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 272-274, retrieved from

JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...

May 1, 2021''U.S. Civil Aircraft Series Volume 2,''
summarized, WOTN Library, in LibraryCat, retrieved May 1, 2021"Joe Juptner"
in ''Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame,'' EAA / Vintage Aircraft Association, retrieved May 2, 2021 *

Edward H. Phillips Edward H. Phillips is an American writer/historian, aviation industry reporter, and aviator who has specialized in the general aviation industry of the central United States—with particular emphasis on the aviation history of Wichita, Kansas and ...

, principal aviation historian of the

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

industry, and the "Air Capital City" (

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

), and its various historic aircraft manufacturers (

Cessna Aircraft Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing ...

, Beech Aircraft,

Stearman Aircraft Stearman Aircraft Corporation was an aircraft manufacturer in Wichita, Kansas. Although the company designed a range of other aircraft, it is most known for producing the Model 75, which is commonly known simply as the "Stearman" or "Boeing ...

Travel Air The Travel Air Manufacturing Company was an aircraft manufacturer established in Wichita, Kansas, United States in January 1925 by Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman. History The company initially built a series of sporting and tr ...

, Laird/Swallow, and others)"AAHS Journal Volume 25 - 1980 Table of Contents,"
APT Collectables (AAHS affiliate), retrieved May 1, 2021 * Paul R. Matt, noted aviation historian, principal U.S. historical illustrator/draftsman of early aircraft
APT Collectables (AAHS affiliate), retrieved May 1, 2021Wildenberg, Thomas
"A Visionary Ahead of His Time: Howard Hughes and the U.S. Air Force — Part I: The Air Corps Design Competition,"
Fall 2007, ''Air Power History,'' Vol.54, No.3 (which notes: "As Paul Matt, the noted aviation historian explained in his classic article on Howard Hughes and his racer,..."), retrieved May 2, 2021Cronenwett, Fred
"Scale Documentation,"
in '' Model Aviation (magazine),'' retrieved May 2, 2021 * Len Morgan, prominent aviation columnist, author and publisher * John W. Underwood,"AAHS Journal Volume 19 (1974) Table of Contents,"
APT Collectables (AAHS affiliate), retrieved May 1, 2021 author of 12 aviation history books, and numerous articles, and leading aviation history photographer/archivist. EAA / Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame inductee"2011 Hall of Fame Inductee-John Underwood,"
December 2011, ''Vintage Aircraft'', as reprinted on the website of the Vintage Aircraft Association, retrieved May 2, 2021"John Underwood Photographic Collection,"

San Diego Air and Space Museum San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM, formerly the San Diego Aerospace Museum) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California, United States. The museum is located in Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building, ...

, retrieved May 2, 2021"John Underwood Hall of Fame Inductee"
Fourth Quarter 2011, ''AAHS Flightline'' No. 177, AAHS retrieved May 2, 2021"John W. Underwood"
in ''2011 EAA Halls of Fame'' EAA / Vintage Aircraft Association, retrieved May 2, 2021

References

External links

American Aviation Historical Society official site

at Archive.org
Centennial of Flight website
as archived by the American Aviation Historical Society
AAHS Planespotter

APT Collectables
(''AAHS Journal''

{{Western U.S. historical societies History of aviation Aviation magazines History of Orange County, California Historical societies in California Organizations based in Santa Ana, California Aviation organizations based in the United States