This is primarily a subject collection compiled by Daniel M. Burns in the 1980s. It also contains correspondence, membership material, a commercial rigid airship proposal, a partial manuscript, airship event ephemera, and photographs of airships.

Daniel M. Burns was a researcher, enthusiast, and hobby photographer of lighter-than-air airships. He was a member of the San Diego Aerospace Museum and the International Aerospace Hall of Fame (as a donor member). He was also a member of the Lighter-Than-Air Society, the Association of Balloon and Airship Constructors (ABAC), and the Aerophilatelic Federation of the Americas. Mr. Burns held drawings of the Graf Zeppelin, which he sold to individuals. He exhibited and sold those drawings and other airship-related materials and exhibited them at airshows in California. He also donated copies of these drawings to the San Diego Aerospace Museum’s Archive.

Mr. Burns organized his research, photographs, and other materials into 11 binders. Some of the material consisted of his personal research and photos, while some was gathered from Museum resources, including newspaper clippings. Mr. Burns' own account of this history can be found in a letter located in Box 1, Folder 4 (specifically the letter in images Burns_0007 and Burns_0008).

These were stored in the Museum's Library until they were transferred to the Archive to be maintained as an archival collection. The material was rehoused and kept in its original order. Folder names incorporate original binder names.