45.1 cu ft
Call No. 168.6501-168.658
IRIS Nos. 00122060, 00123458, 00124351, 00124470-00124520, 00124660-00124663
Lieutenant Colonel. Air Service, 1917-1920; USAFR, 1941-1948. Editor and publisher of several aviation magazines, 1907-1915, 1921-1926, 1931-1934. Born in Haverstraw, NY. Commissioned First Lieutenant, Aviation Section, Signal Officer Reserve Corps, Air Service, June 1917; released from active duty as Major, November 1920; reappointed Major, USAAF, August 1941. Career assignments include: Secretary, Aero Club of America, 1906; Founder, Editor, and Publisher, Aeronautics, 1907-1915; Air Exhibits Collector for first aircraft building in exposition history, Jamestown Exposition, 1907; Secretary, Jamestown Aeronautics Congress; Assistant for financing, construction and flight of first Curtiss airplane; President, Aeronautics Manufacturers Association, 1912; Advertising and Publicity Manager, Wright and Wright-Martin Companies, 1916-1917; various duties as company grade officer, Air Service, 1917-1918; Chief of Information Section and Historian, Air Service, American Expeditionary Force (AEF), 1918-1919 (compiled History of the US Air Service AEF and initiated series Air Service Information Circulars, 1918-1919); Officer in Charge, Dissemination Division, Information Group, 1919-1920; discharged from Air Service, 1920. Civilian expert, Information Group, 1920-1921; Editor, National Aeronautics Association Review, 1921-1926; Aero Expert, Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce, 1926; Founder-Organizer, Bureau of Air Commerce (forerunner of Civil Aeronautics Administration) 1926; Chief, Information Division, Department of Commerce and Editor, Bureau of Aeronautics Bulletin, 1926-1929 (inaugurated present system of sectional air area navigational charts); Representative, Bureau of Aeronautics, Lehigh Airport Competition Committee and Guggenheim Fog Committee, 1926-1930; Compiler-Publisher of air-mail statistics articles, Airport and Airlines, 1931-1934; Technical Expert, New York State Aviation Committee, 1935; Assistant Experimental Engineer (wing tunnel tests), Carnegie and Georgia Institute of Technology, 1935-1937; Aeronautics Research Engineer and Technical Expert, various aviation firms, 1937. Recalled to active duty, USAAF, August 1941; various staff duties, Intelligence Division, Office of Chief of the Air Corps, 1941-1943; Chief, Sources and Editorial Branch, Historical Division, Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence, HQ USAF, 1943-1948. Retired June 1948. Civilian employee, Historical Division, HQ USAF, 1948-1952; Co-founder, Officer and Trustee of Early Birds.
Personal and official papers primarily for 1886-1951,relating to Jones' efforts to compile a detailed chronology of military aviation in the United States. Includes a few published accounts by participants in early aviation events (1786-1863). Also includes two papers on the military uses of balloons in the Civil War (1862-1863). Unofficial materials, largely for 1886-1940, include numerous articles collected by Jones pertaining to general topics of world aviation, particularly in the Unites States and Europe, largely discussing balloons and powered flight. Includes materials relating to the Wright brothers - Langley dispute on the invention of the airplanes (1914). Also includes several folders of clippings and other items pertaining to aviation events (1903-1945), especially the National Geographic's coverage of various notable flights (1921-1936). Official materials include reports, studies, and other publications relating to military aviation in the United States. Contains materials on early pilots, the Air Service in World War I, the organization and function of the Air Service and Air Corps, aviation legislation, aircraft procurement and production, aviation equipment, and other related topics. Also contains information on balloons, parachutes, and US and international civil aviation.
Related materials located in the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, include other personal papers.