The collection contains items reflecting Mr. Reedy’s career and his lifelong passion for aviation. There are papers, photographs, albums, scrapbooks, drawings and patents, reports, models and other memorabilia, from the late 1920s up through the 1980s. Included are Swallow and Stearman files; AiRover/Vega models and the Menasco Unitwin; patents for aircraft design; photos, proposals and specifications for the "Sky Skooter"; and files relating to Hiller and Radioplane. Lockheed files include promotional material, program and engineering notes, corporate information, and photos of the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, Constellation, Electra, Orion, F-104, SST, and L-1011. SDASM also has many of the donor’s scratch and manufacturer models, including the prize-winning TriMotor, and other memorabilia.

Robert Reedy's career in military and commercial aviation lasted over 50 years. He was born on October 7, 1912, in Texas, and as a boy in the Texas panhandle in the 1920's, the plane-crazy boy built scratch models and drew planes at every chance. At the University of Wichita, a top aviation engineering school, Bob flew gliders and was elected branch president of Tau Omega, the national aviation fraternity. When Will Rogers autographed Mr. Reedy’s prize-winning model Ford TriMotor in 1933, Rogers commented, "This is better than some planes I have ridden in." From 1934 to 1937, Reedy worked part-time and summers at the Swallow Airplane Company in Wichita, doing everything from preliminary designs to selling tickets for airplane rides; he took some of his pay in the form of flight instruction.

3 Cubic Feet The collection contains items reflecting Mr. Reedy’s career and his lifelong passion for aviation. There are papers, photographs, albums, scrapbooks, drawings and patents, reports, models and other memorabilia, from the late 1920s up through the 1980s. Included are Swallow and Stearman files; AiRover/Vega models and the Menasco Unitwin; patents for aircraft design; photos, proposals and specifications for the "Sky Skooter"; and files relating to Hiller and Radioplane. Lockheed files include promotional material, program and engineering notes, corporate information, and photos of the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, Constellation, Electra, Orion, F-104, SST, and L-1011. SDASM also has many of the donor’s scratch and manufacturer models, including the prize-winning TriMotor, and other memorabilia. This collection consists of four archival boxes, 12-1/2 x 15 x 9-3/4H, three of which contain folders, and one containing scrapbooks, photograph albums, presentation slides, and photographs. There is also one oversized archival box, 18 x 24 x 6H that contains scrapbooks, photograph albums, and other memorabilia. In addition, SDASM received models, calendars, glass plates, a tea tray, coffee mugs, a leather helmet and goggles, plus other memorabilia, which has been turned over to Curatorial.

This collection is open to research by appointment.