Airline historian R.E.G. ‘Ron’ Davies dies at 90

R.E.G. “Ron” Davies, a leading authority on airline history and a curator at the National Air and Space Museum for almost three decades, died July 30 at a hospital in Bedfordshire, England, after a series of strokes. He was 90.

Mr. Davies had left his home in McLean and returned to his native England after retiring from the museum in February. At the time of his retirement as curator of air transport, he was the oldest full-time employee of the Smithsonian Institution, said Bob van der Linden, chairman of the Air and Space Museum’s aeronautics division.

Aviation experts called Mr. Davies the dean of airline historians. When he was born, one of the Wright brothers was still alive, and the first flight of their rickety machine hadn’t yet marked its 20th anniversary....