I N T R O D U C T I O N This entire works is dedicated to the warm memory of the person who had so much to do with its conception, who contributed so much to its infancy, and who was such a friend that time can never erase his presence from my memory, nor from these pages. The spirit of Frank G Tallman III is still very much alive here. -- K O Eckland. Aerofiles -- originally Aero Data Files -- is a major effort based on a 35-year research project that began one evening in Tallman's office at the Tallmantz Movieland of the Air museum at Santa Ana (CA) airport. He and I were relaxing over a glass of dry sherry after a busy day, and I happened to ask if he'd ever heard of an airplane with the amusing (to me, at least) name of Crouch-Bolas. Browsing through his bookshelves, Frank actually found a picture of this creation in an old magazine and handed it to me. This got us into musing about the forgotten birds of history, and how many of them there must be, and how many of them actually contributed some important threads to the enormous tapestry of aviation. We also lamented about how much historical chaff was lost in the veils of time, and how much information had become misinformation because of failing memories, folklore, and a lack or unavailability of records and documentation. "You know?" he said. "Someone really should document all those obscure things before they're lost forever." I looked around. Since there was no one else in the room, I assumed he meant me, so I did... T H E  S C O P E ADF, once the flyer's familiar "Automatic Direction Finder," then seemed a fitting acronym, so the working title became Aero Data Files. The original intent was to produce a book, or a set of books, that would provide basic information on American civil aircraft production since the Wrights' historic flight in 1903. When for various reasons the book fell by the wayside, and Internet happened along, I decided to put everything up in the sky for all to share, where it would do the most good. How much data to present was a problem. Every flying machine ever produced had a story behind it, a human drama full of joys and frustrations, sometimes tragedy, and to get into this depth for what I initially estimated to be four to five thousand types of aircraft would take me well beyond an expected lifespan. So, I decided it would be best to give basic information, necessarily limited because of Webspace, and to feature as many photos of planes as I could find -- primarily the obscure ones first, since most everyone knows what a DC-3 or Cessna 150 looks like. Basic information sometimes proved to be very basic. Found data were bare-bones in many cases, nonexistent in others -- at least for me. Certainly information was out there somewhere, but short of telephoning everyone in the USA to ask who knew what about what, I was limited to accessible facts from books, periodicals, and personal contacts. Aircraft with little or no found data are included herein with the hope that someone, some day, might come forward with documented information. I also decided to limit research to heavier-than-air, manned, powered aircraft as the representative part of aviation. That includes what is perhaps the single most undocumented segment, home-builts (weren't the Wright Brothers essentially home-builders?); however, these are at the mercy of found information, and exclude those that were merely existing designs renamed. Helicopters, while a field unto themselves, are in since there was so much interleaving of technologies and individuals. Gliders and gasbags, space vehicles and missiles are out. T H E  N E V E R E N D I N G  S T O R Y As of January 1999, the paragraph count was almost 13,500, which roughly translates into more than 11,000 entries, discounting incidental paragraphs! Yet Aerofiles is not complete, nor will it ever be. As long as new aircraft appear, they should be documented for history. Presently there are obvious blank spots. Many entries -- primarily military -- are devoid of any information only because they were added to reserve their place. It's not that we don't know what a C-47 is ... its information is just going to have to wait until we find time to add it. Fortunately, I have as traveling companions in Aerofile's Advisory Board some friends whose expertise in aviation history I envy and respect. Yet there is always room for more people with substantial subject knowledge who recognize the value of Aerofiles and wish to help in specific areas. Be aware that the pay is lousy, but the hours are long... Also needed are photos, or clean Xerox copies, of unusual, obscure and one-off creations -- sharp 72-dpi JPEG scans are eminently usable, but limit width of these to about 6" with regard to bandwith conservation. Photos loaned for scanning will be returned in a timely manner. In all cases we wish to avoid copyright infringment, so kindly provide sources with pictures, even if they are generic (USAF, USN, companies, etc). This is my way of paying back aviation in a small way for all the years of pleasure and adventure it has provided for me. Enjoy. (An explanation here about photos and graphics used in Aerofiles.)