Fred E. Anderson Collection

The Fred E. Anderson Collection includes material used by Fred E. Anderson in the operation of fixed wing aircraft, both with Air America and other companies. This material consists of flight data, charts, operations manuals, forms, training material, navigational aids, and his personal logbooks. The Fred E. Anderson Collection is housed in four manuscript boxes and one nonstandard box totaling 2.5 linear feet.

The collection arrived in good condition and was initially processed with only a container list as description. Due to a change of the content management system, further description proved to be necessary. At a later point subsequent accessions were incorporated into the existing collection, which was reprocessed with a new arrangement.

The archivist identified five series with the first series being the Biographical Material Series which is further organized into seven subseries: 1. Memory Book, 2. ID Cards and Permits, 3. Ephemera, 4. Pilot Logs, 5. Bell Helicopter Directory, 6. Civil Air Transport (CAT), and 7. Air America.

Subseries 1. consists of a collection of final memoirs by Fred E. Anderson spanning ten years of service with Air America. The memory book, dated 1965-1975, includes photographs, work correspondence sent to and/or about Anderson, newspaper clippings, identification cards, and various forms of currency.

Subseries 2. consists of personal identification cards and driving permits issued in Vietnam.

Subseries 3. consists of a membership flyer containing information about Turtles International, Inc. and a officers’ mess menu from 1945.

Subseries 4. consists of detailed Pilot’s Logs spanning thirteen years of flying with Air America.

Subseries 5. consists of a 1978 Bell Helicopter International Iran employee directory.

Subseries 6. consists of Civil Air Transport (CAT) organizational newsletters, American Legion Newsletters with markings by Mr. Anderson, American Memorial correspondence, and a letter written by Sue Hacker about CAT personnel killed in the line of duty.

Subseries 7. consists of Air America Club and Log newsletters, performance reviews and flight check records for Mr. Anderson, flight operations circulars, Air Pacific International Air Taxi forms, Office of Civil Operations and USAID flight schedule, and a numerical listing of airfields by V-number.



The second series is the Publications Series that includes Anderson’s collection of commerative publications, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, Air Pacific International flight and procedural manuals, flight instructor reference material, and a flight operational manual by Dolphin Aviation. This series is subdivided in three subseries: 1. Books, 2. Clippings, and 3. Manuals.

Subseries 1. contains commerative publications including: a historical reflection of the first fifty years of Pan Am, Penscola Navy history, the Turbo-Commuter, and Saipan. The book How We Invented the Airplane by Orville Wright is also located within this series.

Subseries 2. includes magazine articles and newspaper clippings on the war in Southeast Asia, collected between 1981 and 1997. The articles reflect on the events that took place during the war as well as the immediate and long-term post-war effects.

Subseries 3. contains manuals related to Air Pacific International procedural training and aircraft. The subseries also consists of a pilot examiner’s manual, flight manuals, a flight guide for model C-46 and a directed study program for model C-47.



The third series is the Photograph Series. These photographs include photographs related to Fred Anderson’s time with Air America, Inc. The series contains eight images and depicts various types of aircraft, a few pictures of Anderson himself and Air America workers.

The fourth series is the Navigational Aids Series which is further organized into two subseries: 1. Maps and 2. Artifacts. This series includes flight information maps, terminal information, and an undated navigational computer and ruler.

Subseries 1. contains a Laos Air Facility data pamphlet, information on the Saigon terminal arrival and departure routes from 1971 and three Pacific and South Asia flight information maps.

Subseries 2. includes a Jeppesen E6B-2A navigational computer with original casing and a twelve inch acrylic contruction navigational ruler.

The fifth series is the Artifacts and Memorabilia Series that includes various items from Anderson’s flight career. This series is subdivided in three subseries: 1. Portrait, 2. Nameplate, and 3. Uniform Regalia.

Subseries 1. contains a (26.0 x 29.0 x 3.0) framed portrait of Fred E. Anderson.

Subseries 2. includes a (12” x 3”) blue and white acrylic Air America Inc. nameplate for Mr. Anderson.

Subseries 3. contains a (4” x 2”) gold cherub hat badge pin and two sets of black and gold captain’s epaulets worn by Civil Air Transport pilots.