Plane Spotting: The Photography of Rudy Arnold and Hans Groenhoff

If you are an aficionado of aviation photography, then chances are you have seen the works of Rudy Arnold and Hans Groenhoff. In the 1930s and 1940s, you could open up almost any aviation magazine or mass circulation publication and find a photograph from one of these two men.  The photos of Arnold and Groenhoff have been part of the collections of the National Air and Space Museum Archives for many years, but now you can view their amazing work through the Smithsonian OnlineVirtual Archives (SOVA)!

Photographer Rudy Arnold posed looking through the viewfinder of his modified Graphlex Speed Graphic camera; probably somewhere in or near New York City, circa early 1930s.  NASM 89-20553

Photographer Hans Groenhoff, holding his Graflex Speed Graphic camera (a second camera, an Ikoflex twin lens reflex, is slung around his neck), poses leaning out of the right side of a Piper J-3 Cub camera plane with an unidentified US Army pilot at the controls, circa 1941. Here he demonstrates a hand signal to ask the pilot of a target plane to close the gap between the two aircraft in flight. Groenhoff's Speed Graphic is fitted with a shield around the bellows (seen here decorated with decals) to protect it from collapsing in the wind stream during flight.  NASM-HGC-1587

Rudy Arnold was born in 1902 and began his career by studying at the New York School of Photography. Around 1928, he started his own business, with a focus on aviation photography. He primarily worked out of Floyd Bennett Field, Roosevelt Field, and LaGuardia Airport in New York.

Sikorsky HO3S-1G on the ground outside a U. S. Coast Guard hangar at Floyd Bennett Field, New York, 1949. A Crosley convertible is parked in front of the helicopter; photographer Rudy Arnold (standing up in the automobile) has just arrived for a flight in the helicopter.  NASM XRA-6092

Arnold was known for his extensive use of air-to-air photography.

Distant right side aerial views of 9 U. S. Navy Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless, members of Scouting Squadron 5 from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown, flying in left echelon formation, ca. 1941.  NASM XRA-0490

Hans Groenhoff was born in Germany in 1906 and emigrated to the United States in 1927.  A glider pilot and amateur photographer, Groenhoff's photography career took off when he inherited two cameras following the death of his brother, Gunter, (a famous German glider pilot) in a glider accident in 1932.

Grumman G-21A Goose (r/n NC1294) in flight over suburban area, probably somewhere over Long Island, New York; 1938. NASM HGD-157-18

In his retirement, Groenhoff worked as an aviation tourism publicist for the Bahamas.  He founded the popular "Bahamas Flying Treasure Hunt" and the collection includes many photographs from this event.

Piper PA-24-260 Comanche C (r/n N9308P) in left bank passing Hope Town Lighthouse, Elbow Cay, Abacos, Bahamas. NASM HGC-1281

The two collections came to the Archives in many formats including print photographs, black and white and color film (sheets and rolls), color transparencies, etc.  The Arnold collection even contains glass plate negatives in varying conditions.

Amelia Earhart poses standing on the right wheel pant of her Lockheed Model 5C Vega Special (r/n NR-965Y) at Floyd Bennett Field, New York, June 30, 1933. [Cracked glass plate negative.] NASM XRA-8381

Although the arrangement varies slightly within the two collections, most of the images are arranged by format (black and white negatives, color transparencies, etc.) then by subject (aircraft, armament, biographical, etc.) then by name or manufacturer.  Negatives, transparencies, and slides are stored in labelled envelopes with captioning information, which can also be viewed in the collection.

What will you spot in the Rudy Arnold and Hans Groenhoff Collections?!

Aircraft spotter Elinore Leo at observer post holding telescope and looking up at sky, in New York area, 1942. NASM XRA-1453

Elizabeth Borja
Archivist
National Air and Space Museum Archives