The Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) was the first US airline associated with railroads (Pennsylvania and Santa Fe) in providing a rapid form of coast to coast transportation service. Daniel M. Sheaffer, as the chairman of the executive committee of TAT, was a pioneer in the development of commercial aviation for mail express and passengers. He assisted in the actual development of the TAT line and with the inauguration of the service.
This collection includes material that Daniel M. Sheaffer collected about Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT), including: tickets, advertisements, brochures, route maps, schedules, TAT business documents, TAT Air Mail and Postal Telegraph documents, photographs, postcards (showing "TAT plane over" various geographical landmarks), correspondence, and scrapbooks.There is also some material pertaining to Curtiss-Wright Corporation. The photographs show TAT terminals and aircraft, and famous personalities including Amelia Earhart and Will Rogers.
Note: The digital images in this finding aid were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping and orientation in addition to color variations resulting from damage to and deterioration of the original objects. In addition, images of some material in the collection have been excluded from online display due to possible copyright restrictions.
Collection is arranged by type of material.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at
No restrictions on access
Mrs. Daniel M. Sheaffer, Gift, unknown, NASM.XXXX.0267
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT), Inc. Collection [Sheaffer], NASM.XXXX.0267, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Arranged and described by Patricia Williams in 1992, updated by Kristin Harley (intern) in 2010. Further updated and encoded by Jessamyn Lloyd, 2020.
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) Photo Album "Construction"
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) Inauguration July 7-9, 1929
Meeting of the Board of Directors held at Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Airplane Division, Buffalo Plant, Thursday, 2/11/1943
Scrapbook
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT), Inc. Scrapbook Vol. I
Curtiss-Wright Corporation Propeller Division Indianapolis Plant Book, 1943
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) Tickets
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) Advertisements and Schedules
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) and Maddux Air Lines Material
"Inauguration of the First 48 Hour Coast - to - Coast Service by Rail and Air"
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) Photographs
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) Illustrated Map (Hard Cover)
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) and Maddux Air Lines Brochures and Schedules
Photo Album
Correspondence
Photographs
Newspaper Articles
Air Mail Documents, Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT)
Curtiss-Wright Documents
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) Documents [Folder 1 of 3]
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) Documents [Folder 2 of 3]
Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) Documents [Folder 3 of 3]
Airway Maps
Miscellaneous