SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Air & Space Museum recently acquired the Vought archive collection from the Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation in Arlington, Texas.
The recently acquired collection is the largest component of the surviving archive of the Vought Aircraft companies, according to museum officials.
For 70 years, Vought was one of the prime contractors providing fighter aircraft to both the U.S. Navy and other naval forces around the world. Vought’s more famous aircraft designs include the F4U Corsair, the F7U Cutlass, the F8U Crusader and the A-7 Corsair II. Vought was also a major subcontractor for other prime contractors.
The collection was assembled over a 50-year history and spans the entire evolution of aeronautics, encompassing records well beyond those of Vought Aircraft, according to museum officials.
The collection includes a library and photography collection for virtually every aircraft designed or built around the world, from the earliest aircraft designs to gliders, helicopters, missiles, spacecraft and satellites.
The Vought collection acquired by the San Diego Air & Space Museum consists of hundreds of thousands of photographs, as well as a spectrum of other technical reference material, currently housed in 500 storage containers on 30 pallets. It is one of the largest known privately held collections of aviation history.
In addition to the Vought archive, the San Diego Air & Space Museum also houses three other significant aviation company collections; the Convair/General Dynamics, Ryan Aeronautical, and Rohr/Goodrich.