Thomas J. Town was a deep sea diver and was in the U. S. Navy submarine force in the 1920s-1930s. Subsequent to his naval service, Town enrolled as a student at the Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in the late 1930s. Town later worked as an engineer at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, California. This collection consists of 35 mm black and white negatives for 42 images taken in the late 1930s at Grand Central Airport in Glendale, California and at San Jacinto, California by Thomas J. Town.
Thomas J. Town was a deep sea diver and was in the U. S. Navy submarine force in the 1920s-1930s. Subsequent to his naval service, Town enrolled as a student at the Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in the late 1930s. During this time, Town photographed numerous aircraft at the Grand Central Airport in Glendale, California and also took photographs at San Jacinto, California of the Tupolev ANT-25 (RD) piloted by Mikhail Gromoff during his 1937 transpolar flight. Town later worked as an engineer at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, California where he gave the negatives in this collection to a fellow engineer, Bruce R. Ward.
Identifier
NASM.2010.0024
Creator
Town, Thomas J.
Date
1930s
Provenance
Bruce R. Ward, Gift, 2010, NASM.2010.0024
Extent
0.05 Cubic feet (1 folder)
Archival Repository
National Air and Space Museum Archives
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of 35 mm black and white negatives for 42 images taken in the late 1930s at Grand Central Airport in Glendale, California and at San Jacinto, California by Thomas J. Town. Aircraft depicted in the images include the Northrop A-17 (8A); Lockheed Model 10 Electra; Seversky P-35; Boeing Model 247; Vultee V1-A; North American BT-9 Yale; Martin (Glenn L.) B-10 (Model 139); Curtiss Condor T-32 (Condor II); and the Tupolev ANT-25 (RD) piloted by Mikhail Gromoff during the Moscow, USSR to San Jacinto, California transpolar flight of 1937. In addition to the negatives, the collection also includes contact sheets showing each image. The contact sheets include some identification information.
Arrangement note
Collection is in original order.
Rights
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Restrictions
No restrictions on access.
Citation
California Aviation Photographs [Town/Ward], NASM.2010.0024, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Topics
Aeronautics Airports Airports Lockheed Model 10 Electra Family Northrop A-17 (8A) Seversky P-35 Boeing 247 Vultee V1-A North American BT-9 Martin (Glenn L.) B-10 (Model 139) Curtiss Condor T-32 (Condor II) Tupolev ANT-25(RD)
