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Reedy (Robert) Personal Papers
SDASM.SC.10163
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Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
San Diego Air and Space Museum Library and Archives
Title: Robert Reedy Personal Papers
Identifier/Call Number: SDASM.SC.10163
Physical Description:
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.
Date (bulk): bulk
Abstract: 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.
After graduating cum laude from the University of Wichita in 1934, Mr. Reedy joined Stearman Aircraft (later Boeing) in Wichita.
He was design engineer on detailed aspects of more than a dozen models, including variants of the Stearman Kaydet, PT-13,
and XOSS-1. In 1937, Reedy and Mac Short, VP/Chief Engineer of Stearman, produced a design for a "4-place monoplane with
dual geared engines, powered by Menasco." Ties between Stearman, Lockheed and Menasco led to the establishment of the AiRover
Company in Burbank. Mac Short took Reedy and three other engineers out to Burbank to form the engineering nucleus of the
new company.
In 1938, AiRover became the Vega Airplane Company, where Reedy headed Preliminary Design. His team was involved in development
of the 'Unitwin' Model 2, guided missiles and targets, patrol and scout-observation types, the PV-2 and early development
of the P2V Neptune. By 1944, Vega had become part of Lockheed. Reedy was Chief Project Engineer in the Special Projects
Branch at Lockheed, focusing on the Model 33 "Little Dipper" and the Model 34 "Big Dipper." Work ended abruptly after Big
Dipper crashed in February 1946.
Later in 1946, Mr. Reedy joined his former Lockheed colleague, John Thorp, at the new Thorp Airplane Company as VP Sales for
the "Sky Skooter." The postwar period was difficult for private aviation; many on the Thorp team were working on reduced
pay, so Reedy also worked for Radioplane as Assistant Chief Engineer to make ends meet.
In late 1949, Mr. Reedy rejoined Lockheed full-time as Manager of Sales Engineering, and there his team promoted the Constellation
and Electra worldwide. When President Kennedy announced a competitive National Supersonic Transport (SST) program in 1963,
Reedy became Program Director for Lockheed's SST project. When Lockheed's SST ambitions ended in December 1966, Reedy was
needed on the new L-1011 TriStar. He led Commercial Programs and Marketing Administration until 1981, when Lockheed announced
it would soon cease production. Bob Reedy continued to represent Lockheed in a number of industry bodies until retirement
in 1984. He passed away on December 20, 1995 in Los Angeles.
This collection is open to research by appointment.
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated to the San Diego Air and Space Museum.
Lockheed aircraft files.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Lockheed Aircraft
Lockheed Model 34 Big Dipper
Lockheed Model 33 Little Dipper
Thorp Airplane Company
Vega Aircraft Corporation
Lockheed R7V-1 Super Constellation
AiRover Company
Thorp Sky Skooter
Reedy, Robert
Thorp, John
Short, Mac