With a single exception, this series consists of draft maps prepared by the Aeronautics Branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce for publication in its List of airports and landing fields, Aeronautics bulletin, no. 5 (Washington, DC: Government Printing office, 1928-1931) and Descriptions of airports and landing fields in the United States, Airway bulletin, no. 2 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1931ff). The maps comprise two series: those prepared prior to 1927 are drawn on 11 x 7 inch heavy paper stock, those prepared after 1927 on heavy card stock of the same size. Each sheet contains two images, the upper a map of the region around the airport, the lower a map of the airport or air field itself. The sheets are marked in pencil with instructions to the printer on resizing the images (those prepared before 1927 were to be 4 1/2 inches high, those after 1927 3 inches wide). Maps prepared after 1927 have one or more Department of Commerce stamps on the back, containing a requisition number and a date, presumably when the map was retrieved from a central file for review or revision; many of these maps are also annotated in pencil, "approval of engraver's proof waived". The maps were found arranged alphabetically by state; this order has been retained. States represented by the largest number of maps are, in descending order: California (70 items), Ohio (37 items), Georgia (22 items), Arizona and Michigan (20 items each), New York and Texas (19 items each), and New Mexico (16 items).

The single map in the series that does not originate with the Bureau of Aviation is a Locher-Hall map of airline routes and great circle distances around the world, based on Los Angeles area, dated 1944.