Warbird Information Exchange

Recently, I managed to acquire a first edition copy of Charles Baptie's book "Capital Airlines: A Nostalgic Flight Into the Past". Baptie was Capital Airlines' official photographer from about 1936 until 1961 when Capital merged with United to avoid bankruptcy. Baptie struck out on his own, becoming a very successful commercial photographer.

In the late 1990s, almost his entire portfolio was turned over to George Mason University's Special Collections and Archives, with one very glaring omission: the Capital Airlines photos. Baptie died in 2000 and apparently had no direct heirs as far as I can tell. So far, I've touched base with some of the few members of the now defunct Capital Airlines Association, George Mason University, a number of local historians and historical groups, photographers that had known Baptie "back in the day" and, so far, not even a hint of the photos whereabouts. I figured WIX has a wonderful reputation of being able to pull rabbits out of hats, so I'd throw it out there. If you have any clues, suggestions, advice, etc. feel free to post of PM me.

I'll eventually scan in some of the photos from the Baptie book to share. Lots of really unique stuff. Stemming from my original wreckchasing quest, Capital Airlines as a whole has become a topic of considerable interest to me. In the upcoming weeks, I'm hoping to have a sit down with three former Capital pilots to go through the Baptie book and get their feedback and stories. Yes, I will be recording it.

You might want to check with the publisher of his book, if they are still around. They might have an idea where the photos went or maybe even have a few more that weren't used in the book.
Jerry

The book was self-published by Baptie himself. I am throwing out a bunch of feelers to just about anyone who was connected to Capital or to Baptie. Like I was telling someone, sometimes the pursuit will reveal other items worthy of following up on. The search for the pictures is two degrees of separation from my original research regarding a training crash that occurred in 1957. That led me to another topic, which led me to the pictures.

Have you contacted the Mid Atlantic Air Museum in Reading PA? I don't know if they have them or not but the do have a Viscount in Capital markings and a display case of Capital memorabilia

hbtcoveralls wrote:Have you contacted the Mid Atlantic Air Museum in Reading PA? I don't know if they have them or not but the do have a Viscount in Capital markings and a display case of Capital memorabilia

I did. They do not have the pictures, but not from a lack of trying. They did try to get Baptie to share some of the pictures with them when they acquired the Viscount, but Baptie did not wish to part with them. That's pretty consistent with the fact that Baptie's portfolio was donated to George Mason University except for the Capital photos while Baptie was still alive.

The good news is that I have apparently located someone who says she has some of the Baptie photos. The not-so-good news is this person doesn't want anything to do with me. I don't know if she thinks I'm a "picker" or some kind of "publicity hound", but I apparently rubbed her the wrong way after our initial conversation regarding the Clarksburg accident in 1957. She gave me a fairly stern brush off when I asked to speak with her again regarding another Capital related topic. I know she had some family health issues, so I can totally understand the brush off. I've reached out again and tried to convince her that I am genuinely interested in helping to preserve the history and legacy of Capital and that I have no ulterior motives.

So far, no response. I'm trying to work through an intermediary to be able to obtain the photos. Even if that fails, at least I've got a solid lead on the whereabouts of at least some of these pictures.