Creator	Custer, Willard R.
Title	Custer Channel Wing Collection
Description	Born in 1899 in West Virginia, William R. Custer at an early age became interested in the concept of flying. Custer's work began in 1927 with test models and continues in 1964 with the completion of the Custer Channel Wing N-5855. While living in Hagerstown, Maryland and working as an automobile mechanic, Custer, with the assistance of his business partner Frank Kelley, worked on the theory of vertical flight. Custer decided to concentrate on his concept of the channel wing, whereby air was pulled through the wing by the props and combined with forward motion for short takeoffs and landing rolls. Due to various problems, Custer's aircraft were never financially successful. Custer, called the Father of STOL (Short Take Off and Landing aircraft), died in 1985. Custer's CCW-1 is located at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The collection, referred to as National Aircraft Corporation, Custer Channel Wing (C.C.W.) and Custer Channel Wing Corporation, contains eight series. The series are: correspondence (1943-1979), aeronautical reports (1934-1952), general flight reports (1047-1955), financial reports (1947-1965), photographs and negatives (1940-1961), collected data of National Aircraft Corporation, Custer Channel Wing Corporation, and Frank Kelley (1940-1969), newspaper clippings (1946-1982), news releases and articles on the Custer Channel Wing (1949-1965), and articles and magazines of interest to Custer and Kelley (1949-1970). In addition, this collection contains information on Frank Kelley's photography business.
Date	1920-1964
Time Period	1920-1964
LC Subject Headings	Custer, Willard R. Kelley, Frank Aeronautics--History Short take-off and landing aircraft
EOA Categories	Business & Industry -- Transportation History -- 1875-1929: The New South Era History -- 1929-1945: The Great Depression and World War II History -- 1946-1987: Post-World War II and the Era of Civil Rights
Type	Text
Format	PDF
Record Group	RG 0187
File Name	0187-04-0040cb.pdf
Link to catalog	http://aubiecat.auburn.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=2503038
Repository	Auburn University. Special Collections and Archives
Digital Publisher	Auburn University Libraries
Language	eng
Rights	This finding aid is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information and questions about the collection described in this finding aid, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archives@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732.
Submitted by	Coates, Midge