AeroKnow -- Present and Prospect 

AeroKnow is the new name of the aviation collection
                                                                                            formerly known as AIRCHIVE

  About the author

    Job Conger (pictured below right) was born in Springfield, Illinois in 1947, the same year the city's Capital Airport was dedicated and the United States Air Force became a separate military service. He attended Springfield High School, Springfield College in Illinois and graduated from Sangamon State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs Reporting. His parents delighted in teasing the young model airplane builder of 11 years old how he wailed like a banshee when he and his father were treated to rides in family friend Bill van Meter’s Cessna 170 when he was five. When he was 13, he was asked if he’d enjoy a ride in Bill Castor’s Cessna 172 and he accepted. There were no tears during the trip to St. Louis Lambert Field, and the boy was smitten for life by the life’s perspective from the sky. When he learned that right eye weakness would never permit him to earn a commercial pilot’s license, he focused on aviation history.

  Today, Conger loves to fly in the good company of pilot friends.

  Conger’s writing and pictures have been published in several aviation periodicals including Aircraft Illustrated, Smoke Trails, Air Show Journal, In Flight USA and The Flyer.   When not working on matters aeronautical, Conger is a free-lance writer photographer while looking for a full-time employer. Over the years, his work has appeared in Prime Time magazine, Carousel Magazine, Springfield Parent,  Springfield Magazine, Springfield Business Journal and lllinois Times. He also assists clients with public relations writing: newsletters, brochures, media relations.

  When not doing that, Conger is a guitar-playing folksinger/songwriter, poet and scholar of Springfield poet Vachel Lindsay.

 Table of Contents
                                   Introduction
                                     Historair
                                  Books
                             Magazines
                       Clippings
                       Photographs
                       Other Data Base Files
                        Modelair Museum
                        Straight Aero
                        Springfield Skyways
                        Web Site
                              Abe Lincoln's Air Force
                        Equipment at Present
                              What You Can Do Now
                        They Said It!

Introduction

          A collection of historical information is popularly known as an archive. It was logical, to the founder, that a collection of historical information about airplanes and aviation people could be called AIRCHIVE, pronounced AIR kive. The name AIRCHIVE was first used in 1976. The collection began coming together with a goal of eventual formalized organization starting about 1970. Today it is a collection of aviation literature, pictures and model airplanes. During October, 2002, a newly reconstituted board approved the use of AeroKnow to replace the name AIRCHIVE. The purpose of this prospectus is to seek support of  AeroKnow.

          The evolution of AeroKnow began with founder Job Conger’s realization that keeping track of information about airplanes was a task that required more than simply accumulating stacks of aviation magazines and pictures. First efforts consisting of culling information from periodicals led to the realization that some of the magazines were more valuable intact; not torn apart. Before the word AIRCHIVE was born, the concept of methodically indexing and cross-indexing aviation magazines evolved from concept to practice as Conger organized his growing collection.  The process and terms he developed in the course of at first logging that information onto note cards has remained unchanged to this day, though the medium for inputting the information has changed from paper to computers.

  Components of AeroKnow   are:

 Historair Data Bank             Modelair Museum           Straight Aero                   Abe Lincoln’s
     books                                     built models                         retail support                Air Force
    magazines                                      model kits                                                                membership
    Aircraft Data Index                 accessories                                                                  support
      magazines                              model plans                 AeroKnow.com   
      Magazine Index File               model catalogs                web site
      clippings                                           clippings
      oversize drawings                          data bases in Historair
      pictures
      Picture Index File
    Aircraft Name File

         Correspondence with aviation professionals and hobbyists all over the world led to services later refined in what became AIRCHIVE. Under-capitalization following incorporation as a not-for-profit corporation in the early 70s did not permit   advertising and public relations activities to the extent necessary to adequately inform potential supporters about  AIRCHIVE’s existence. Modest ad and PR efforts failed to sustain a shaky start. Efforts to elicit local support of AIRCHIVE as a not-for-profit entity ceased following the non-renewal of annual reports, but the collection has remained intact and grown.  Methods and servicesdescribed in this prospectus will demonstrate that following years of dedicated private effort, AeroKnow is better prepared than ever to direct serious launch support we hope will follow.

- Books

          Books in AeroKnow focus primarily on the following types of subjects listed in order of
         their importance to the collection:

                                         1.   aircraft monographs and anthologies
                           examples:    Flying Fortress by Edward Jablonski
                            Warplanes of the Third Reich by William Green
           2.   aircraft company histories
                          Of   Monocoupes and Men by John Underwood
            3.  autobiographies and biographies
                            Rickenbacker  by Edward V. Rickenbacker
                            Twelve Seconds to the Moon by Young & Fitzgerald
              4.  air force and combat unit histories and anthologies
                            Strategic Air Command by David A. Anderton
                          Beware the Thunderbolt! The 56th Fighter Group in World War II
                                                                                    by David R. MacLaren
            5.  aircraft and engine erection. flight and maintenance manuals
                           Overhaul Instructions: Allison V-1710, October 25, 1943
                             Service Instructions for Curtiss P-40D & P-40E
                             Pilots Operating Instructions: DeHavilland Vampire 3
           6.  event narratives and anthologies
                           We Dropped the A-Bomb by Merle Miller & Abe Spitzer
                           The Challenging Skies  by C.R. Roseberry
               7.   airline company histories and anthologies 
                           Legacy of Leadership by TWA Flight Operations Department
            8.   aircraft colors and markings
                           RAAF Camouflage & Markings  by Geoffrey Pentland
            9.   type evolutions — histories of how aircraft types (fighters, bombers
               helicopters, reconnaissance aircraft) evolved
                           Unarmed and Unafraid  by Glenn B. Infield
             10.  aircraft recognition manuals
                           Aeronautics and Aircraft Spotters’ Handbook by L.C. Guthman
             11.   aviation museum guides and histories
                          The Air Force Museum  by Nick Apple & Gene Gurney

           These books are accessible to the public and may be copied to the extent permissible by copyright law. Table space for up to five visitors to read books and take notes should be included in the public facility.

 - Magazines

         More than 100 aviation magazine titles are included in Historair, ranging from a November 1910 issue of Aeronautics to the current issue of Air International. Most are indexed into the Magazine Index File. A slightly condensed rendition of a MIF computer report looks like the one presented here.  

             Before the computer came on line, this process used thousands of note card, usually one or two for each magazine indexed. Now it’s on a computer database using File Express software. Sought is a Windows-based database suitable for the transfer of the FE data.

            The MIF is the first step. The second step requires transcription of MIF data to the Aircaft Data Index.

              Abbreviations used in these examples are consistent throughout AeroKnow.
For example P means picture, pr = pilot report, A  = additional text. C = color, xs = cross section drawing and so on. In the right part of the ADIF report, A = Airpower  magazine, ABD = Air Britain Digest,  PAM  = Plastic Aircraft Modelers News and F = Flying.  The system is intended to be easy to learn.  It may be used by anyone without permission from AIRCHIVE and will no doubt be improved upon by others.

 - Clippings

             If simply indexing and cross-indexing magazines had proven the best way to meet the needs of the author of this prospectus in 1967, AeroKnow would not have been created. It was hard to find space for magazines containing only one or two articles  relevant to the author’s criteria.  For example, AOPA Pilot is an outstanding periodical with information about navigation aids, piloting techniques, vacation resorts to visit  and aircraft ownership, but most issues have only two or three articles of interest to what has become AeroKnow. Early in our  evolution, copies of that magazine donated to AeroKnow were culled for articles of interest to the Historair files. Usable clippings were filed and the rest were discarded.  Result: fewer magazines to index and faster access to information.

        Criteria for Historair file clippings parallel book acquisition guidelines:
           -  aircraft development and operational histories, pilot reports, ownership   reports and
                  survivor reports. This includes articles about aircraft in   museums and elsewhere;
           -   any article about any aspect of aviation in Illinois with a major focus on
                  Springfield and central Illinois;
          -  aviation related company histories;
          - articles about people involved with aviation. This ranges from an interview with the head
                 of the Yugolav Air Force to ta biography of Richard Collins to an article about the combat
                 experiences of Robin Olds in   World War II
          -  events ranging from the August 16, 1943 8th Air Force bombing raid on Schweinfurt, Germany
                to the Soviet bombing of Afghan rebels,   to the 1994 Reno Air Races;
          -  articles about model making techniques and product reviews;
          -  articles about aspects of aviation, including airports, aircraft carriers,   dirigibles,
                combat units, air force histories and airline status reports;
          - articles about air show flight demonstration acts and performers

   Not included  in article need criteria are:
        -  articles about engineering and technical aspects of aviation
         -  articles about homebuilt  airplane construction techniques
       - reviews of flying equipment: radios, nav aids, computers, weather services

      When aviation magazines donated are already on hand and filed intact, they are culled
for info of interest. This results in benefits for supporters. For example, if we already have the summer 1985 issue of Airliners,  five more donated copies of that issue results in the articles about Boeing 727s, Pan Am, William Allen biography and Gatwick Airport, all already indexed and cross indexed, will also be found in the Historair files. And when someone wants a copy of the Pan Am article, instead of copying it, we simply trade the original article, culled from surplus issues, complete with color pictures,  for the same fee we would have charged for the black and white copy. In summer 2002, clippings were distributed in 12 twelve four drawer file cabinets and several storage boxes. There is an immediate need for at least eight more file cabinets.

 - Photographs

           A major part of AeroKnow Historair  activities involves the indexing of the more than 20,000 slides, photographs and negatives now residing in the collection. Though primary focus has been the maintenance of the slide index, , a negative index, similar to the slide format,  was developed in 90s.  The need for a detailed index became apparent early on when we realized that there is more to say about a picture of a Beechcraft AT-11 than you can hand-write on the slide mount, on the back of a print, or on a negative envelope label.  Today, a simple visual check of a slide in the collection can reveal specific details as follows.

  Consider  slide   1-42- 9-356-38-1-198

By looking at the number, legibly printed on the slide mounting and transcribed into a computer database, we can determine that
            1 —  (1-)    the airplane was made in the United States
           2  —  (42-)   the plane was manufactured by Boeing
           3  —  (9-)   it’s the ninth Boeing aircraft to be indexed here, a B-52
           4  —  (356-)   it’s the 356th slide of a B-52 in the AIRCHIVE collection
           5  —  (38-)  the picture shows a B-52 in flight, photographed from another airplane
            6  —  (1-)  it’s a copy of a non-copyrighted slide and can be used in a publication
           7  —  (198)  the photographer is Chris Volpati

             A writer, collector, publisher or curious enthusiast looking for pictures of B-52 can contact AeroKnow for a printout of slides on hand, and for nominal cost, will receive a report that resembles the excerpt  here.

          From the Picture Index report we can tell the model number, serial number, when the picture was taken, who it flew with,  where it was photographed and the kind of view, more than we could write around the slide mount.

         If a query asks if we have a picture of the B-52 his father flew and all he knows is that the serial number of the plane was 52-008, less than a minute after getting to the computer, we can reply that we have a picture of that airplane taken at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base’s boneyard in August 1991, that the view is a side view of the right side of the airplane.   If a person is looking only for in-flight pictures of B-52s, a glance for any second number element of 38 and we learn we have a picture of a B-52D taken from an aerial refueling tanker directly at the pilot’s 12:00 position slightly above the airplane. A complete guide to the reference system is
included at the back of this prospectus on page 18.  The process is easier than it sounds.

         We can copy the slide, scan and print the image from a needed slide or loan the slide to a reputable publisher.

      AeroKnow has only a few slides of some aircraft, including RA-5 Vigilanties and most US Navy fighters, but we have up to 1,700 slides of F-4 Phantoms, mostly USAF.

        The index to negatives is so similar that it’s included in the same data base. The difference is the addition of a “locator line” that indicates the page and row in our negative storage pages where the specific negative will be found.

        No other aviation collection uses a similar system for indexing photographs.   Sides in the collection have been used in the production of slide presentations and lectures about many aspect of aviation history. Civic organizations, model clubs, Civil Air Patrol, pilot groups, Jefferson Middle School, Lincoln Land Community College’s summer aviation school, the University of Illinois at Champaign School of Aeronautics, Rantoul Public Library, Illinois Historical Library, Lincoln Library, White Oaks Mall, the 183d Fighter Wing and even hospital patients have hosted AeroKnow presentations of our slides and/or models. 

 - Oversize Drawings

       Scale drawings, intended to assist modelers, artists and historians with their understanding of aircraft and engines, are usually filed with the clippings. A large number of oversize drawings, magazine articles and newspaper front page headlines are filed separately to minimize the number of fold creases. Within the guidelines applicable to copyrighted material, this information is available for examination on site.

 - Other Data Base Files

       In addition to the data bases already described, Historair Files include the following. All are available via on site computer but not via internet. Printouts are available for minimal fees.

  Point in Time File  (PITF)What happened on a particular day. Visitors often receive a demonstration of the PITF when the host asks for a birthday, month and year so this information can be added to the file. Many are given printouts that reveal their birthdays coincide with significant events in aviation history, similar to the one on the right.

 Aircraft Name File (ANF) contains official, unofficial, NATO code and Pacific war code names given aircraft and engines. If your uncle says his grandfather flew Buzzards when he was in the Royal Air Force in the 20s, but that’s all he remembers, the ANF can better identify  the airplane, allowing research to proceed with AeroKnow and other resources.

Modelair Museum

         From its inception, AeroKnow has considered the notion of displaying well-built, accurately finished model airplanes as a key to public education and public support. Its development has been focused on five goals:

  1. Display a history of human flight through the medium of static display models;

  2. Display a variety of types of model aircraft, including all forms of those intended       for static display and flying models, from simple hand-launch gliders to radio controlled powered models.

  3. Display a history of model aircraft as they evolved (in parallel with human flight)  from early stick and tissue flying and static display renditions to solid and flying models in the 30s and fort0s to plastic and advanced flying models of today. The display includes built models and models which remain un-built in their original kit boxes.

  4. Maintain a data bank of information about model aircraft; information that includes how models are and have been used in full-scale aircraft development, construction techniques, historical articles,        model plans, model company histories and more.

  5. Share these resources at AeroKnow and beyond.

           The lamentable public perception of model airplanes as “toys” has been the catalyst leading to the development of the Modelair Museum. AeroKnow has changed many minds by displaying models of consistent scale (1/72 scale for example) together in a single grouping.  With a B-52 “flying formation” with a Rockwell Space Shuttle and a Douglas DC-3, the size differences become more appreciated than if a visitor was standing beside actual aircraft on a flight line or in another museum.

          Modelair’s collection includes more than 500 built models in 1/144, 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scales.

         Exceptions to the consistent scale presentations include displays that share the history of model planes in their various forms, from early shelf models to the most recent. A small collection of factory-built promotional models, die cast and cereal premium models is also a part of the Modelair Museum.

         Some of the un-built model kits date back to 1932. Many will never be guilt because the historical record of kit production is worth sharing with posterity.

          The history of model aircraft is also preserved in model plans, catalogs and clippings. All cross-indexing of magazines includes articles of interest to model aircraft historians.

           It is anticipated that Modelair Museum will provide the major draw for more people to visit AeroKnow when a facility separate from its present location is acquired. Though most museums have relegated models to backwater shelves in shadows with poorly-built models seemingly shoveled into displays with little consideration given to them and their organization, Modelair has proven that models shared via displays motivate people to take closer looks.  Limited marketing data suggests that most people won’t bother crossing the street to look at “information” about airplanes. Still, with the model aircraft displays, we anticipate, people will do more than cross the street. They will support Abe Lincoln’s Air Force!

 Straight Aero 

The Straight Aero Gift Shop in the entrance to the collection will sell and trade materials, donated to AeroKnow  that are surplus to our needs. For a nominal percentage of sale price, AeroKnow will sell used aviation related merchandise on consignment.  We will also sell selected merchandise purchased wholesale for re-sale.   Straight Aero, will avoid the appearance of competing with area hobby retailers whose support we consider essential for our success. We will not sell model kits or supplies. Hammer’s Hobbies on 10th Street has far more visitors than we may anticipate at   AeroKnow initially, and we will refer “model kit” customers to them as we hope that they, in turn, will refer aviation enthusiasts to us.

 Supporter Publication

 - Newsletter 

In March 1999, AIRCHIVE launched a newsletter entitled Wing Nut Review which we hoped would be supported by advertising from aviation-minded businesses. In April, with the second issue of the newsletter, we announced the name of a new informal organization, which would meet monthly for the purpose of sharing news about area aviation activities and channeling AIRCHIVE volunteer assistance. The name announced in April was Abe Lincoln’s Air Force. After publication of six issues, the newsletter was re-titled Springfield Skyways in March 2000.

          We were confident that we could sustain a bi-monthly publication schedule. Seven issues had been distributed free of charge at Capital Airport’s Terminal, Capital Aircraft Inc., Air Jiffy, Hammer’s Hobbies and Food Fantasies and a growing roster of Abe Lincoln’s Air Force members who received their issues by First Class mail.

           Included in each issue were columns about model airplane building, reviews of new books and magazines, updates about activities with Springfield Airport Authority, our advertisers, and extensive coverage of area air shows, Lincoln Land Community College’s new aircraft and engine maintenance school, airline news, aviation events and aviation people. An eighth issue was ready for press when the events of September 13, 2001 forced a hiatus that continues today. Every issue featured a calendar of Illinois aviation-related events and a 5 x 7 inch black & white historical airplane picture, suitable for framing. Many readers considered the pictures alone to be “collectors’ items,” and we hoped to produce them in color when finances permitted.

           Though well received by readers and retailers who distributed it, the advertising base was not large enough to support continued publication. We are confident that with requisite support, our periodical, under a different title, will be revived.

 Web Site

  For two years, Job Conger’s personal web site has included web pages about Springfield area and historic aviation. When Springfield Skyways was active, web pages included those devoted exclusively to Springfield airline news, Springfield Air Rendezvous, general aviation and a glider club in Monticello, Illinois. Today, with a new domain of our own, the site concentrates on historic aviation and model airplanes.

  Its address is  http://www.AeroKnow.com

Abe Lincoln's Air Force

With Springfield Skyways going strong and limited promotion, Abe Lincoln’s Air Force offered three benefits to paid members.

        1. The membership certificate and membership   card were given to all who attended meetings and joined the organization; mailed to members from as far   away as Texas  Unhappy with the elite   comportment of “colonels” in other aviation    organizations, our certificate recognize members as   “second freaking lieutenants.“

       2. Free access to resources at the facility. Since “the facility” is the author’s home, there   has never been any charge to access the information. Borrowing privileges for members, included now, will be discontinued since we will have copy equipment on hand   and a place where visitors can browse files without removing them.

  3. Members also received their copies of Springfeld Skyways via first class mail.

 Equipment at Present

A scanner with slide scanning and copy making capability, a computer used for freelance employment pursuits and AeroKnow development, an adequate assemblage of digital and film cameras, a hodge-podge of shelving and storage equipment and an unstoppable desire to see AIRCHIVE become what it should become are the assets of note as this prospectus is revised on August 4, 2002.

          Recent encounters with Springfield area developers suggest that the growth of AeroKnow into a facility of its own may be within sight, if not within our immediate grasp.  All the organizational achievements of one aviation enthusiast starting in 1975 will not transform dream into reality. Now is the time to gather the remaining pieces of the puzzle together. Now is the time to make that dream come true.

What You Can Do Now

Our first priority is to find a facility of our own where we can reach and serve three potential public support bases: visitors to Springfield, local aviation enthusiasts, and the world at large via the internet and conventional correspondence. We know that many who come to see the aviation collection will stay overnight to also visit the Lincoln lore at other sites in the city and nearby New Salem, Petersburg and Athens.

          In early October 2002, AeroKnow filed papers with the Illinois Secretary of State to incorporate as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation to be known as AeroKnow, Inc. Today, more than ever, AeroKnow needs community-focused leaders who will share their expertise at monthly executive committee meetings apart from general membership monthly meetings. The latter will be directed by Job Conger. All board members are welcome to attend. Experience has shown that the most expensive contribution by big-league talent is not knowledge, but time. Our established local support base must expand to take the next step toward becoming a true community resource.

         We urgently need clean file cabinets, book shelves, glass-enclosed display shelves, an office desk, a second and third computer and printers, office chairs and a conference table.

          AeroKnow is looking for pictures (including 35mm slides) taken at Illinois airports, model airplane kits and well-built models, aviation-related postcards, books, magazines and memorabilia. We are not looking for airplanes or pieces of airplanes.

          To stay informed of our activities, we invite you to become a member of Abe Lincoln’s Air Force by sending a check for at least $20 and your name and address, including your email address to the AeroKnow. We will send you minutes of monthly meetings via email.  Donations $20 or more will net you, via first class mail, the official Abe Lincoln's Air Force membereship certificate. With your donation of $20 or more, please include a nickname similar to a radio call sign or what your friends call you in good fun.

 They Said It!

   “I want you to know that I really appreciate your help with
      my F11F project. You’ll get due credit when I submit my work.”
                     — James Jones
                          Auburn, California

   “. . . While I am not an authority on aviation history, I do know enough about
  museums, archives and libraries to be impressed by the scope and variety of your
effort. You have managed to gather a treasure of books, articles, magazines,
  photographs, models and paraphernalia dealing with the last half century of
  aviation history . . . I am very impressed by what you are doing and want to
  offer   you congratulations and my enthusiastic encouragement.”
                      — Cullom Davis, Professor of History
                           Sangamon State University, Springfield, Illinois

“. . .You have indeed undertaken a major service and I am sure many
 will find it beneficial to their projects. We will keep AIRCHIVE in
mind and refer others to it in the event we are unable to fill their requests.”
             — Robert Mikesh, Curator of Aircraft
                 National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC

   “On behalf of the Illinois Wing, Civil Air Patrol Cadets, the Cadet Advisory Council would like to thank you for your displays and the work involved with  them at our conference.”
                                  — Daniel J. Marszalek, Cadet Colonel
                                       Civil Air Patrol, Chicago, Illinois

                   “You are to be congratulated for the incredible job you are doing
                   in compiling and maintaining all of this air memorabilia...I am sure
                    that a collection like yours would be appreciated more if it were
                    located in an accessible building. More space would also allow you
                    to do justice to your displays. The Convention and Visitors Bureau
                   would be glad to advise you on promotional possibilities if you could