Ever since military pilots began flying, they needed to carry supplies in case they crash landed or bailed out. During WWI, pilots carried a pistol and a knife; by the start of WWII, aircraft began carrying more sophisticated survival kits. The military quickly learned that when pilots and crew bailed-out, or crawled out of a crashed aircraft, the only supplies they usually carried out was what they had strapped, tied, or worn on their person. The solution, in mid-1943, was the C-1 Survival Vest, designed to carry the supplies needed for individual survival. The C-1 vest continued as the standard survival vest until 1963, when a new 2nd generation Survival Vest, the SRU-21/P, replaced it for all military services.
The Library & Archives has a signed copy of astronaut Euguene (Gene) Cernan’s book, The Last Man on the Moon. The Library’s book is hardcover with a protected dustjacket. Although the book itself is not necessarily remarkable in its rarity or accessibility, our copy is a rare signed edition. It is a First St. Martin’s Griffin Edition, published July 2000. The cover design features a composite image of Gene on the lunar roving vehicle with the waning Earth in the background, and a close up of Gene in his space suit.
Inside the Museum, near the back door to the café, is a glass case with about a dozen aviation-related trophies. Most of them represent some of the most important air races flown: the Harmon Trophy, the Gordon Bennet International Race Trophy, and the Bendix Trophy. This small display is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the number of trophies that the Museum has in its collection. Three of these are the Bendix Trophies that belonged to aviation super-precision pilot, Paul Mantz.
anging from the rafters of the Museum, in the Barnstorming exhibit, is a Standard J-1 airplane that has a famous background. This particular plane, serial #1598, was built in 1917 and purchased as Army surplus in 1920 by B.A. Bower of Knoxville, Tennessee. Our Standard is a movie star, appearing in two films, "It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and "The Spirit of St. Louis" (1957).
Early in the summer of 1929, Cleveland buzzed with excitement about the National Air Races scheduled to come to town. Mr. Lee Clegg of Thompson Products was approached by a volunteer worker of the National Air Races to ask if Thompson Products Co. would provide a trophy for one of the many races being held for the first time in Cleveland.
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The San Diego Air & Space Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Federal Tax ID Number 95-2253027.
