American Aeronautical Federation

After the Aeronautic Federation of America (AFA) delegates were seated at the meeting of the [[American Aeronautic[al] Association]] (AAA) on 22 June 1910, a break was called. Upon convening again, over half the delegates walked out. Those who exited met at the Aero Club of America and perfected what became the National Council of the Aero Club of America. Those who remained were said to include delegates of 12 clubs, 10 of which formed the American Aeronautical Federation (AAF), the name already selected had the AFA and AAA merged as expected. Officers were elected and a constitution adopted. The Aeronautical Society offered the courtesy of its grounds at Garden City to all desirous of qualifying for pilot's licenses of the AAF. On 24 June, the AAF mailed a brief to "every" club and society in the US discussing the events of 22 June and its formation and criticizing the National Council. After that, the AAF seems unreported upon as an organization and it appears that at least some of its members later became affiliates of the ACA.

Officers elected 22 June, according to news reports on 23 June, were: Hudson Maxim (New York, NY), president; L. J. Sealy (Rochester Aero Club), George W. Clark (Jacksonville Aero Club). Dr. Thomas E. Eldrige (Aero Club of Philadelphia), Wilbur R. Kimball (Aeronautical Society), Oscar J. Needham (Aero Club of Dayton); J. C. Eberhardt (Dayton Aeroplane Club), vice presidents; Thomas A. Hill (New York, NY), secretary; Dr. R. C. Northwood (West Side YMCA), treasurer; and Lee S. Burridge, supervisor. The Aero Clubs of Amherst College and Springfield, Massachusetts were reported as the two of the 12 remaining clubs who had dropped out. However, the 10 clubs named in 23 June and later news reports -- the Aero Clubs of Jacksonville (Florida), Philadelphia, Rochester, West Side (NY) YMCA (as a junior club, it is not in this table), and Canada, as well as the Aeronautical Society of New York, the Aeronautique [or Aeronautic] Society of New Jersey, the Philadelphia Aeronautical Recreation Society; the (West Side) YMCA Alumni Aeronautic Aeronautic Club, and the Southern Aero Club -- did not include the two Dayton Clubs whose representatives had been elected as officers; they, too, went on to withdraw their credentials the evening of 22 June.

It appears that when the officers were elected on 22 June, their clubs were identified as still remaining in the American Aeronautical Association. It was only after the constitution and by-laws were adopted that the new organization became the American Aeronautical Federation. When listing the new officers in its August 1910 issue, Aeronautics did not not name the officers from Dayton but it did call the new organization the Aeronautic Federation of America. The National Air and Space Museum has in its archives from the William J. Hammer Collection a copy of the constitution and by-laws of The American Aeronautical Federation dated 22 June 1910.

Sources

• 1910 NYT 23-25 June; 1910 New York Tribune, 23 June; 1910 Boston Evening Transcript, 23 June; 7 Aeronautics (NYC) 52-53 (1910); William J. Hammer Colletion Finding Aid, www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/findaids/

Organization names	American Aeronautical Federation
Entity type
Country	US
City	New York City, New York
Affiliated with
Scope	National
Started aero	1910
Ended aero	1910 ?
Keywords
Key people
Wikidata id

• Address: 170 Broadway, NYC (1910)

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