Research

The ATA Museum is located in the Maidenhead Heritage Centre.

Aviation historians have described the ATA collection as a ‘gold mine’ and material from the archive has been used in three recent documentary films including ‘Air Transport Auxiliary’ (available from our shop). Historians, students, journalists, novelists, film-makers and family historians have also used the ATA archive at Maidenhead. Our collection has featured on Breakfast-time TV in Australia and on BBC TV ( “Celebrity Antiques Road Trip”) .

ATA ARCHIVE

The archive includes over 130 logbooks of ATA pilots, both male and female, including log books from two American and one Canadian pilot. A wide range range of documents related to Air Transport Auxiliary, mostly from private sources, includes diaries of one American man and one American woman; also that of ATA’s chief technical pilot Flt Capt G A V Watson, and at the other end of the scale the diary of a woman trained from scratch by ATA. Copies of the full ATA pilots notes are held for many but not all of the 148 aircraft types flown by ATA. The extensive photograph collection includes many from private albums which are not in the public domain. The photo collection is widely used by researchers and authors but many of the photos are subject to copyright.

The Museum holds a complete list of all ATA employees. The service records of ATA aircrew (pilots and flight engineers) are held by RAF Museum Hendon, but these are available to next of kin only.

ACCESSING THE ARCHIVE

Most of the 2-dimensional objects have been scanned and can be accessed online. We recommend you visit the sister website https://atamuseum.org in the first instance to begin your researches. It contains a complete personnel database of aircrew and ground staff, copies of logbooks, newspaper cuttings and over 6,000 photographs. Parts of the website require registration (free-of-charge) for you to enjoy the full benefits, which is done to discourage copying. Where possible, we encourage researchers to use the digital copies to reduce handling of the originals.

The same material is available on computers at Maidenhead Heritage Centre where advice and assistance can be given – by personal appointment only (see below).

ATA CONSULTANCY FEES

The Museum’s knowledge of ATA is second to none. Advice can be given to writers of historical articles, film/TV scripts etc. The finished material can be checked for errors by our team of experts. The consultancy fee is currently £100/day, minimum charge £50.

RESEARCH ENQUIRIES

We regret that the Museum is unable to answer research enquiries by post or email which require more than one hour per enquirer. Our volunteer staff will try to answer simple queries and advise on likely sources for the information requested, but are unable to undertake extensive research for enquirers without payment in advance. Research fees: first hour free, then £20/hr.

If your enquiry requires any extensive research you will be asked to arrange an appointment to visit the Museum in person. Overseas enquiries please email us on info@maidenheadheritage.org.uk to discuss your research. We aim to reply to queries within 20 working days.

PERSONAL RESEARCH – BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

The ATA archive is available from Tuesday – Saturday, opening hours 10am to 4pm. Charges apply. A range of finding aids is available and volunteer staff are usually available to assist. Please contact us in advance to discuss your area of research. Due to the small size of the Search Room, a limited number of appointments are available and prior booking is essential.

To make an appointment, or for further information, contact the Administrator on 01628 780555 or by email info@maidenheadheritage.org.uk, or complete the form in the Contact us page.

RESEARCH CHARGES:

Personal visitors Half Day (10.00 – 13.00 or 1300-1600) £20.00
Full Day (10.00 –16.00) £30.00

Reduced charges for two or more days.

Photocopying charges for visiting researchers:

Per A4 sheet: black & white 20p colour 50p

This charge includes photocopying 10 A4 sheets; postage is extra. We do not provide copies of entire documents.

PHOTOGRAPH COPY CHARGES:

Print: 7” x 5” (b/w or colour) £8.00
Print: 10” x 8” (b/w or colour) £12.00
Digital image, per scan £6.00
CD £1.00
Postage and packing: UK from £4.00 , Overseas at cost, subject to change without notice

REPRODUCTION FEES for still images, charged per image used:

Academic Lecture or Thesis – not for publication £10.00
Not-for-profit publication £15.00
Profit-generating/commercial publication £25.00
Website use from £100.00
Commercial Exhibition (Stills) from £100.00
Commercial – other from £110.00
Film from £250.00

Reproduction fee discounts:

1-10 images charged at flat rate
11-25 images 10% discount
26+ images – Please contact us

PHOTOGRAPHS

Requests for copies of photographs should be phrased as precisely as possible. Photograph research by the Museum is an extremely limited service. Currently we will commit a maximum of one hour per enquirer, charged at £20 per hour. Those requiring large numbers of photographs MUST make an appointment to do their own research. Copyright and Data Protection legislation apply. Please note that many images in the collection are subject to Copyright.

COPY PHOTOGRAPHS

Copies of many of the images in the collection are available to order; digital copies are also available.. Please allow ample time for the order to be processed. You may visit as a researcher to select photographs.

Copies of items in the Museum’s collection may NOT be used in the public domain without prior permission in writing. For reproduction fees, see below.

PAYMENT MUST BE MADE IN STERLING

Payment may be made by PAYPAL or BACS transfer, cheque or cash.

At present the Museum does not accept credit/debit cards unless the cardholder is present.

Cheques should be payable to ‘The Centre for Maidenhead Heritage’.

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO ALTER OUR CHARGES WITHOUT NOTICE