'Genesis of Flight' now available online Published May 2, 2014 By Amber Baillie Academy Public Affairs U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- One of the Academy's most prominent special collections is featured online, in a detailed and interactive tour. The Aeronautical History Collection of Colonel Richard Gimbel was brought here in 1970 and features more than 10,000 aviation prints, engravings, books and artifacts revealing man's fascination with flight from the earliest times. "The Genesis of Flight," a book published by the Friends of the Academy Library, highlights 300 items from the collection and was launched online in February to allow users to browse scholarly analyses, voiced introductions and to search for and enlarge items. "With the online tour you can use your phone or any other platform to access it," said Dr. Mary Elizabeth Ruwell, the chief of special collections here. "You can zoom in and link to different information. It's aimed at the general public to let them know the collection exists and for people take interest in it." The book was published in 2000 followed by a CD - both are no longer available. "We wanted to make "Genesis of Flight" available online for people to have a better understanding of the Gimbel Collection and expose it to a wider audience," said retired Brig. Gen. Phil Caine, president of the Friends of the Academy Library. "We wanted it in an interactive, web format to allow anyone access to it such as those interested in flight or for research." The collection traces back 5,000 years and includes ancient seals carved from semi-precious stones, color prints depicting early aviators and parachutists, and manuscripts written by aviation pioneers such as the Wright brothers. The collection is stored in the Gimbel Room at the McDermott Library. "It is one of the best aviation collections in the world," Ruwell said. "We get requests from researchers interested in ballooning or the economics of early aviation. We also have cadets visit if they're writing a paper, such as on civil war ballooning." Col. Richard Gimbel served in the 8th Air Force, and his family owned the Gimbels department store chain. He began collecting in 1942 after visiting a bombed bookstore in London. His Charles Dickens collection is located at Yale University and his Thomas Paine collection is stored at the American Philosophical Society. "He was a big collector," Ruwell said. "I think he wanted to give a sense of heritage and that is why he collected the seals dating back to 2700 B.C. His collection here deals with flight which is appropriate for the Academy." The "Genesis of Flight" project took about a year to launch online and is now available on many Web platforms. "The McDermott Library continues to load many collections on its website and has over 5,000 digital entries of its collections," Ruwell said. "There are over 1,000 more Gimbel images available at the McDermott Library website." The essays preceding each section of the tour and items featured in the "Genesis of Flight" were chosen by the foremost scholars in the U.S. and Europe, Caine said. The tour is a great way for people to learn more about the collection," he said. "We will continually monitor the website to make sure all the information is compatible with every web browser." To access the "Genesis of Flight" tour, visit www.friends.usafalibrary.com/Collections.htm. To access images and information on the Academy's special collections, visit the McDermott Library website, afac.sdp.sirsi.net.