USAF Engineering Division Finding Aid
Ordering Microfilmed Memorandum Reports
 |
Unlike most Engineering Division Organizations covered by the AEHS Engineering Division Finding Aid, one can obtain copies of Aircraft Laboratory, Flight Test Division, Power Plant Laboratory and Propeller Laboratory microfilmed memorandum reports from the US National Archives. These are available on 16mm microfilm or as digital images on DVDs. The Memorandum Reports of other Engineering Division Organizations are also available, but these have not been cataloged by the AEHS and are not part of this finding aid.
The following describes how to get personal copies of Power Plant Laboratory microfilmed memorandum reports. Reports from the Aircraft Laboratory, Flight Test Division and Propeller Laboratory can also be ordered from the National Archives and Records Administration Archives II Facility using the same forms and process.
|
By way of example, let us assume we are interested in the Type Test of Y1G1-S R-1860-B Engine, Mfrs. No. 1653 report from the Power Plant Laboratory search results. Nearly everything we need to order the microfilm roll containing this report is found in the Document #. Notice the first letter of the Document #, P010245, is a "P", which indicates a Power Plant Laboratory Microfilmed Memorandum repor. The first two digits after the "P" indicate this is on Roll 1. The remaining four digits identify the starting frame within Roll 1, and are not applicable to orders of full rolls (but ARE applicable to orders of individual reports from the AEHS, see below). Other first letters are:
A = Aircraft Laboratory,
F = Flight Test Dividion and
R = Propeller Laboratory.
The Aircraft Laboratory, Flight Test Division, Power Plant Laboratory and Propeller Laboratory are stored in a series of boxes in located Archives II beginning at stack location 190/78/1/6. Archives personnel will know how to interpret this number, which, in combination with Box # and Roll #, allows one to complete a Microfilm Order Form.
Again, this example is a Power Plant Laboratory Microfilm Order, the the process is applicable to the other Organizations if you know the Box #. The following allows one to determine Box #s:
Aircraft Laboratory
Rolls 1-24 are in Box 13
Rolls 25-48 are in Box 14
Rolls 49-61 are in Box 15
Flight Test Division
Rolls 1-24 are in Box 1
Rolls 25-48 are in Box 2
Rolls 49-73 are in Box 3; Rolls 67 and 68 are missing
Power Plant Laboratory
Rolls 1-12, 14-20, 27-42 are in Box 5; all others are missing
Propeller Laboratory
Rolls 1-13 are in Box 9
For ordering purposes, a complete description of this Power Plant Laboratory microfilm Roll 1 is RG 342, Loc 190/78/1/6, Power Plant Laboratory, Box 5, Roll 1
One should be able to place orders by visiting http://www.archives.gov/research/order/microfilm-pubs.html
But wait! There is a catch; the NARA has not assigned Microfilm Publication Numbers to any of these microfilms. This rules out ordering online, which leaves ordering by using the Microfilm Order Form, by letter, by telephone, or by FAX. In all cases you must supply the Record Group 342, Location 190/78/1/6, Organization, Box # and Roll # as indicated above.
Upon further examination of the Power Plant Laboratory Memorandum Reports, we also determined we wanted to order some additional rolls. Below is an example of how the Microfilm Order Form would be filled out to order Rolls 1 - 4 and Roll 36 of the Power Plant Laboratory Microfilmed Memorandum Reports.
Please note that the above process is for ordering FULL microfilm rolls from the US National Archives, which can get quite expensive. All Flight Test Division, Power Plant Laboratory and Propeller Laboratory Microfilmed Memorandum Reports are available from the AEHS as individual reports at a considerable savings. Please e-mail the AEHS web master using the link below for further information.
