Vintage Airplane - Mar 1977

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Restorer'sCorner

: lJJ/ .J.R. NIELANDER• .JR.

Your Editor has appointed three Associate Editors to

help him with the publication of your magazine. Hewould very much like to appoint at least three more. To

become an Associate Editor the writer must have sub-

mitted at least five articles which were published in THEVINTAGE AI RPLANE during the previous calendar

year. For each subsequent calendar year in which he

continues to submit at least five articles which are pub-

lished, he will continue to be appointed an Associate

Editor for the succeeding year. An Associate Editor will

receive a free membership in the Antique/Classic Divi-

sion each year that he holds the office. Further, he will

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contains its author's byline at the head of the article.

Of course your Editor and his three Associate Editors

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from you. Write the stories of your restoration or your

flying experiences in an antiq ue or classic aircraft and

submit them directly the the Editor, THE VINTAGE

AI RPLANE, Box 229, Hales Corners, Wisconsin 53130,

for publication in your magazine.

s;56,. latM' . '''. U . ~ ,

For those of you who are relativefy new members in

the Division we repeat excerpts from our February,

1976, Restorer 's Corner which contained our short

course in writing for publication.

Writing for publication is easy. Just tell the story in

your own words exact ly as it happened , Don't worry

about punctuation, misspelled words or grammar. Most

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your editor will make the necessary corrections.

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the mechanics, not the grammar or punctuation. If youwrite for publication and do not use a typewriter, it is

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The only other points of importance concerning

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zine writing yo ur editors will expect to be deluged with

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rations. Please don't let them down.

, :dt-



ditorial

taffEditor Assistant Editor

Paul H. Poberezny AI Kelch Lois Kelch

c i a t ~ Eaito f'

H. Glenn Buffington

818 W. Crocken St. No. 201

Seattle, Washington 98119

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THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE is owned exclusively by Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc. and is published monthly atHales Corners. Wisconsin 53130. Second"class Postage paid at Hales Corners Post Office Hales Corners Wisconsin53130. Membership rates for Antiqu e Classic Aircraft, Inc. at $14.00 per 12 month period of which $10.00 is for

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OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

ANTIQUE CLASSIC

IVISIONof

THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

P.O. Box 229 Hales Corners Wis 53130

MARCH 1977 VOLUME 5 NUMBER 3

The Restorer's Corner . .. .. . . . . 1

Some thoughts on Fairchild PT Aircraft (by Ed Escallon) . 3

Cowboy Aviator (Roman Warren) (by Ray Cocking) 7

Vintage Album , . . . . . . 11A Silver Eagle Part (by Robert Elliott, Assoc. Ed.) ,13

P.A.T. (pacific air transport) (by Edward D. Williams Assoc. Ed.) .. 18

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PICTURE BOXON THE COVER (hck Cover)

Dale Browders Fairchild in a Flor Tattered leather vest helmet, gog-ida setting. See article page 3. gles boots, grease smeared britches

- every inch a barnstormer. (Pilot

unknown) Photo Courtesy o BobMcDaniels,

Copyright © 1977 Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc . All Rights Reserved .

2



Some thtmghts on lair hildPT i r c r t:J 26

By: Ed Escallon335 Milford Dr

Merritt Island, FL 32952

The Fairchild PT Series Trainers are in a metamorphous stage between being a commonplace, unwantedairplane, and a sought-after, practical antique for generalsport flying activity. My love for them grew quicklysome five years ago, when I purchased Nl 75N at

Arlington Field in Washington State, and has reachedproportions of an inseparable friendsh ip between ven-

erable air machine, and affectionado.My first thoughts on the aircraft proved correct in

that it is a fairly complex, not too economical machine,as compared to my background in owning Taylorcrafts.

Because of its military necessities and overweight airframe, it is a rugged airplane. The control system, typical

of many Fairchilds, is a joy to manipulate, and leavesyou a friend at first flight. The aircraft was well suited

for its purpose of Primary/ Basic flight training as stu

dents could feel that the airplane was und er their control

from the onset, and consequently become more attentive to other matters, as learning the particulars of flying

the aircraft. Earning the reputation of being the Cradleof the Air Force", the Fairchilds did some fine work for

many allied nations in their training role.

This initial feeling of confidence in the airplane has

proven to be the undoing of several PTs within my briefacquaintanceship with the breed. Essentially , the prob

lem is common to many heavier aircraft with high wing

loadings and low power loadings, coupled with suchitems as slotted split flaps, and low breakout stick

forces. The pilot has either gotten the airplane on thebackside of the power required curve on approach, or

they have fancied themselves fighter pilots, and stalled

out of a pull-out, done at low altitude. Fortunately, in

all the instances I'm familiar with, the airframe has

proven rugged enough to protect the pilots with minimalinjuries. Unfortunately, in all cases, the airframe proved

beyond economical repair.

Dale Browder his wife Juanita and ''The Taintsville Air Corps

Accidents of these sorts are completely preve ntablewith proper airspeed control. As long as 80 MP IAS is

maintained on final approach all the way down to about

3 to 5 feet off the gound, there will be no surprises, evenunder the most adverse conditions. But with the light

controls, it is very easy to nudge a few MP off the ship

that require prompt, attentive action to replace. Thenose-low appearance of the cowling, and a healthy

descent rate seems to encourage pilots to start flaring 25feet off the ground. The subsequent series of bounding

(Uncredited Photos furnished y author)

hops will prove to ail observers present, that the landinggear just isn't that tall Stalls are normal and break

evenly, with little tendency to falloff on a wing. Rudder

control, from this oversized surface is excellent. Sta recovery is good, but the altitude loss, especially in awell developed stall can be considerable, especially if asecondary {or accelerated stall} follows the first. Thesecondary caused the other portion of accidents forun expecting low l eve l fighter pilots. I've been doing a

considerable amount of flight training in what Wichita

3



would like to call a trainer these days,

and it is often very educational to show a

new private pilot an accelerated stall oc

curing at 120 MPH lAS out of the back

side of a loop with the airplane in a ver

tically nose-down attitude. This is no air

plane to be doing low level acrobatics in,

and this should be respected by all.

Many old wives tales arise out of the

Ranger engine. While I am by no means

the most experienced Ranger expertin

the world, I've made it a point to listen

carefully to what the old salts , and a

host of other self proclaimed experts have

had to say, and my conclusion is that the

Ranger is an exceptionally fine vintage

engine.

My first Ranger was ready for removal

at 10 hours time, despite a supposed

major overhaul. Later inspection showed

that it never belonged on an airplane in

the first place. With such faults as galled

thrust bearings, improperly installed rod

bearings, plugged oil passages and alike, it

is a testament to the engine that it held

together.

My luck wasn't much better with the

second engine, purchased from a commer

cial operator of Grumman Widgeons. Not

too long after a most enjoyable trans

continental flight, this Ranger developed

a severe case of low compression (which I

was tempted to overlook), but even

worse, a random low frequency vibration

which was finally attributed to the crank

shaft having over 1/8 endplayin

it. Ihaven't disassembled this engine yet to

find out the whole story, but I suspect it

is serious. Once again, significantly, this

engine did not give up in flight despite

major internal problems.

With this background of trouble (and

expense), I very carefully overhauled the

third Ranger myself (under A P super

vision), doing everything my Mechanical

Engineering background demanded of an

Apollo Spacecraft. Some 900 hours later

this Ranger runs like a top, with no in

ternal work, good compression, and clean

screens, despite several thousands of take

offs and landings, and an occasional over

speed at the hands of an acrobatic stu

dent.

There are a few minor items that will

help the operation of the engine. First, is

to run the 200 HP version of the engine

on 100 low lead aviation gasoline. This

engine was originally designed for 87/91

Octane fuel, and 80/87 has been knownto cause detonation under hot days,

climb-out conditions, and cylinder failure

can result. Typically, even with this

malady, enough power is available out of

the other five to get you home, with a

not too comforting trail of smoke

marking your path. The 175 P version

of the Ranger can be run acceptable on

80/87, although finding it can be a little

academic these days.

During overhaul of the engine, im

proved results can be obtained by the

simple addition of intake valve guide

seals. These are nickel-and-dime items

from local auto parts stores, sold under

Perfect Circle No. 2014. Additionally,

some individuals have added exhaust

valve seals as well, but my preference

would be otherwise, as their tendency to

d ry up this adequately clearanced

passage could result in coking the lubri

cant, and cause sticking valves. Another

highly recommended change is sealing up

the sludge plugs in some manner superior

to the chill-fit originally specified. Theseplugs are intended to centrifically sep

arate impurities in the oil, but with the

use of modern Ashless Dispersant oils,

their importance is diminished greatly.

Long term engine operation loosens these

plugs and causes excess flow from the

pressure oil pump, and proportionately

increases its consumption. Two ways of

sealing up these plugs are to Locktite

them in place upon installation, or to

send the whole lot out to Bob Yates, in

California, where he will machine an 0

PT-LHS Cutaway



ring groove in them, and supply you with the appropriate pre-formed packings for a nominal fee.

There is a low oil consumption factory bulletin No.

116, detailing methods of reducing main bearing clear

ances and alike, but I am not personally acquainted withthe report.

One modification I would not recommend, is the useof the Cadillac Oil Control Rin gs. These were highlytouted as the cure for oil consumption a few years ago,

but our experience in Florida is that the oil scraper ring

tends to work its way out of the piston's groove, gouges

the cylinder walls, and provides unwanted parts in thecrankcase. Most who acclaim th is modification have notpersonally run a Ranger over a couple hundred hours. It

is also said the FAA frowns on Cadillac ring usage. Goahead and put a quart or two an hour in your Ranger,

and figure that's part of the 'cost of dancing'.

Many owners have become disgruntled to hear resultsof differential compression tests on apparently good run

ning Ranger engines. Ofttimes carbon particles underthe valves will cause indications of valve problems. It is

suggested that seating surface areas be kept on the smallside during valve work. For apparent valve problems

during compression checks, it is recommended that youtake the airplane up and "wring it out then re-check

the compression while the engine is hot. At the very

minimum, this will work some of your frustrations out

Quite often, the numbers will come out in your favor on

the second test. Cylinder work on Rangers is quiteexpensive due to the extent of disassembly required.

Air-frame-wise, the Fairchild is a rugged bird, with

large box spars that would look good in a DouglasDolphin. Being of partially wood construction, outdoor

storage and long periods between flights do not agree

with it. Most owners find some small work to be done

every year along trailing edges, or around fittings. Center

section drainage is not especially good and it is important that AD note No. 48-45-1 be complied with, and

that moisture not be allowed to build up thru prolonged

sitting. While the Fairchild had few wartime problems,

poorly done repairs and deterioration in th is area have

caused wings to come off. Frequent inspections, good

repairs, and flying the aircraft within the published

limitations can avert any unpleasant surprises.There have been persistant rumors of a metal center

section replacement, but the nearest th ing I ve found is

the t h e r ~ y Ag Plane, built in Hollister, California,

largely around the configuration of the PTs fuselage. Its

Above T over Tainstville FL Photo by Frank Belle

design includes a thick, constant chord aluminum

construction wing of considerable proportions. Dave

Hamilton , of Anderson, Indiana is building new woodcenter-sections to factory drawings, and this would be

my choice for any major rework of a PT.

Manuals of repair are still available for the aircraft,

and these go into great depth in the maintenance of the

PT. However, if you don't plan on doing at least a

portion of it yourself, choose your mechan ic with care,

as wood, fabric and inverted engines are rapidly becoming unknown around the old airdrome these days.

Brakes and tail wheels give some of the more typical

day-to-day problems on the aircraft. Keep the inflation

on the tailwheel to about 60 PSI, and use a channel

tread tire to cut down on shimmy. On the Hayes

Expander Tube Brakes, use only automotive fluid, or

Lockheed No.5 Brake Fluid, and expect to occasionallycut down the pucks with some coarse sandpaper when

the brakes start bind ing up on you.

FI ightwise the old standard C I GAR C andGUM P checklists will cover all the particulars. Warm

Below T Rolling Photo by Frank Belle

5



the Ranger up for a few minutes, especially in colderclimates, before you put a big load on it. Heavy weathercocking tendencies, and high apparent torque suggestthe stick "full back" for the start of the takeoff run,expecially in a left crosswind . Lots of rudder pressurecan be expected on takeof f and climb out, and it is bestto hold the tail down hard till 45 MPH lAS. Rotationcan be effected at 65 MPH lAS, with prompt acceleration following to a Best Rate of Climb of 80 MPH lAS.Other than the low speed, high power rudder pressure,the controls are all very smooth, light, well balanced andresponsive. Rolls of all sorts are just plain good funFull flap landings should be made only after consid

erable experience is gained in the airplane, as the descentrate and angle would make a Tri-pacer blush. It is veryimportant to maintain 80 MPH lAS till the ground is notfar below. At this speed the elevator response will bequite adequate to arrest the sink rate. The drag of fullflaps increases that of the basic airplane by severalhundred percent. With experience, you can make an 80MPH wheel landing and tu rnoff at the same intersectionas the Cubs, in 300' or less.With the narrow profile fuselage and underslung

power plant, visibility out the front , hole is comparableto a jet fighter. The rear seat visibility is obstructed bythe wing, but is fair looking forward because it isdesigned to be a little higher than the front. Takeoff andlanding visibility is excellent in the front, and the backseat is not indecent during landings with flaps down.

The Fairchild PT Series was designed to a specification series of nu mbers generated by the Army Air Corpsin the late 30's. Performance, limiting speeds, and otherfactors are quite comparable to its sister aircraft such asthe Stearman, Ryan, Waco and others. However, theFairchilds are placarded against certain rather wildmaneuvers, capably performed in some of the others.Comparison amongst the PTs will no doubt lead to endless controversy as to which is superior. In overall,consideration of long range, high speed cruising, excellent maneuverability, docility and tolerances to strongcrosswinds, the Fairchild would generally come out

favorably.Many have asked about how the PT 19/26 Ranger

powered version compares to the PT 23 Continental 220HP powered aircraft. From my limited experience withthe PT 23, it is probably a I ttle more of a work horse,with superior upper cylinder cooling. However, it has thegreater vibration typical of a radial, a louder exhaust

system, and the acceleration and glide performances are :markedly reduced. iMy Fairchild is equipped with a Hartzell Controllable i

Propeller, wh ich makes takeoff and cl imb performance iquite good, pulling slightly in excess of rated power i(2450 RPM) at the Best Rate of Climb. At cruise, a ipower setting of about 1700 to 2000 RPM and 20 Hg. ican be used with apparent noise reduction, smoothness, iand low oil consumption. One other minor point is that :the Hartzell goes supersonic at the tips at takeoff, and iwhile not adding measurably to thrust, it provides a igesture of contempt to those in the modern world who iWOuld try to muffle this beautiful aircraft sound . I also ..

have a Curtiss Reed Prop for the ship, for use during ..

overhaul periods on the Hartzell. With this prop, several :crankshaft resonances are apparent in the idling and ..

gl id ing RPM ranges, and takeoff performance is not as ..

While I have been intentionally brief in my remarks,Table 1 lists some good thorough references for the ..

enthusiast/owner, and I should be happy to assist inwhatever way I can personally to preserve th is breed of :F airch ild) horse. ..

The Fairchilders have a Type Club, which can be ..joined for a very nominal fee ($3/Year) by writing the ..

Editor of the Fairchild Flier, Mr. Don Coleman at 2750 ..

Broadway, Highland, IL. 62249. ..

.--------------------------------------TABLE 1

PT 19/26

CAA Aircraft Type Certification Number A-724US Army Air Corps Technical Orders No. 01-115GA-1,-2, -3,-4.

Airworth iness Directives:43-7-1 47-7-446-14-1 47-7-5 i46-14-2 47-7-647-7-2 48-45-147-7-3

Ranger Overhaul Manual Ranger Parts Manual iii

~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ ..

The Scene StealersSome of the wildest, most daring, death-defying

aerial stunting ever seen took place in the moviesduring the twenties and early thirties. The stuntpilots, whose exploits were featured in such greatfilms as "Wings," "Lilac Time," "Hell's Angels,"and in hundreds of serials and adventure movies,were Barnstormers and veterans of the air circus.

These magnificent stunt pilots beat death withsplit-second coordination and precision movement.A mysterious unity of man and machine seemed to

take place during their stunting. Many of them are

now legend, Dick Grace, Frank Clarke, Dick Curwood, Ormer Locklear, Art Goebel, AI Johnson,Frank Tomick, Ivan Unger, Bobby Rose, Paul

Mantz.But aerial stunting in the cinema was a lot more

than spectacular aerobatics and dogfights. It wasrunning on the top wing of a biplane in flight. Or aman-to-man brawl on the top wing of an aircraft inflight. Midair transfers from one plane to anotherwithout a parachute

It was dropping from an aircraft onto a gallopinghorse or a speeding train. Crashing planes into theground, water, or walls. Being dragged through thesea on the end of a flying rope ladder. Midair explosions. Flying a plane off the top of a building

Aerial stunting in the cinema was a deadly,dangerous business. Many stunt pilots lost theirlives; most suffered injuries. Why did they do it?

Money? The thrill of danger? The desire to provethey were the best? There doesn't seem to be an

easy answer . But millions of Americans in thetwenties and thirties went to the movies andescaped into a world of adventure and excitementcreated by the daredevils of the sky-the StuntPilots.

6



Roman

By: Ray Cocking

3468 Barnaby CtRiverside CA 92504

Photos furnished y author

uring an overcrowded bicentennial year, anunheralded 50th anniversary celebration was takingplace at Flabob airport, near Riverside, California. Theevent, on June 13, 1976, was celebrating the 50thanniversary of the Cowboy pilot, Roman Warren, who,in 1926; catapulted into international publicity over-night, by flying under the center span of the Santa AnaRiver Bridge, in Riverside, Calif. He was a little known,and slightly hungry pilot, who was trying to scratch out

a living with a small airport, giving plane rides to payingcustomers with a fare ranging from 2 .50 to 10.00.Warren explained that during those times, the northwinds blew so hard sometimes that he couldn't take off,and when he didn't fly, he didn't eat. One day in 1926the news reported on the national wire system, that aFrenchman had been killed in an unsuccessful attemptto fly his plane under the Arch of the Eiffel Tower in

Paris. The news struck Warren with an idea. While thenews was sti hot, he announced he would fly under thecenter span of the Mission Bridge, which didn't allow

Upper Left. Roman Warren flying under Mission

Bridge june 73,7926.

Below Left. Roman Warren and Ethel Berry who

later became Mrs. Warren Riverside Fairgrounds

7927 or 28.



Warren

IRight Roman Warren on horse y his Thomas Morse

Scout

but bare feet on either side, top and bottom much less

clearance than the Eiffel Tower offered the Parisian.

Warren said that he never doubted his own ability to

make the flight, but suspected that the great crowd of

5 000 people that congregated. were there to see nothing

more than the crash. Posed under the bridge, waiting for

Warren to do his thing, was Bob Bennett with his news

camera representing Pathe, World News, a very popular

news reel company of the day. With the wires screaming

at about the same pitch as the female voices n the

crowd of 5 000 people with the Tommy Morse s LeRhone

Rotary whining, Warren made his infamous dive under

the bridge successfully, probably pulling out and doing a

salute and snap roll , as was his custom over the airport.

Bennett the newsreel cameraman who stood under the

bridge with his camera posed, recalls that n order to get

the best shot of the bridge flight, he had to put himself

n mighty close proximity to the bridge opening n what

some people might have thought was a very dangerous

Right Roman Warren flying under arch at Riversideair in 7927. Note Ethel Berry standing on top

waving hat



position, but he said he never had any doubts that

Roman would make it , and he stood his ground and got

his newsreel footage.

The event hit the National newsreel screens, and

b r 0 ugh t international fame to Riverside for first

performing such a stunt.How Warren came to be in Riverside is a story in

itself. is connections go back to 1922 when the barn-

storming pilot made a forced landing on a street in the

town of Riverside in July 1922 on a plot of ground,

which is now part of the University of California at

Riverside. The aviator spent the next two days givingplane rides to curious Riversiders, to whom aviation was

still a novelty. The ride business was so good that

Warren decided to come back to Riverside a few weeks

later. After trying several different locations around the

city, he picked a permanent base at the foot of M .

Rubidouix, famous for its Easter services, and just over

the Santa Ana River from the downtown section. e thus

established Riverside's first airport, and the beginning of

a legend.

A later newsreel coverage that added further fame to

Warren's stature was footage covering the horseback·

marriage of Warren and his bride Ethel, which took placein the Santa Ana River bottom shortly after the bridge

flight in 1926. The bride was Ethel Berry, a well known

female rodeo star. One of Warren's other accom-

plishments than flying, was being an excellent horseman,

which probably contributed to the attraction between

the two. They were actually married astride their horses,

and through this publicity, he became known as The

Cowboy Aviator .

Sunday, June 13, 1976 was officially proclaimed

Roman Warren Day, 50 years to the day from the time

he flew his little Tommy Morse Scout under the center

span of the Santa Ana River Bridge.

At a young 84, he is held in reverence by all who

Upper Left. Roman Warren racing against car at

Riverside Fairgrounds, 7927.

Lower Left. Ethel Berry and Roman Warren pose

with Thomas orse Scout, under the arch he flewunder at Riverside Fairgrounds, each day for 2 yrs.



remember his many flying feats of the 20's and 30's.

The center of festivities for Roman Warren Day was

the Flabob Airport. The operator there, and many of his

friends, planned a long day of festivities, and the airport

restaurant even named a sandwich after him, The

Roman Warren Special . The activities for the day

included multiple runnings of both the footage of news

reel film on the Tommy Morse Scout, with its rotary

engine, skimming under the bridge, and the marriage

film. The original newsreel photographer was on hand to

show it. It is estimated th t nearly 2000 people attended

during the day, and many acquaintances were renewed.

Earlier Warren had said I wonder how many of the

people who saw the original flight will be there? . I

hope they'll all come . Many did of course. The remark

You gave me my first plane ride or I saw you fly

under the bridge was repeated time and again during

the day. Warren's quotation after the affair was th t he

never dreamed that so many old friends would come out

to greet him.

Entertainment for the event included precision flying

by Debbie Garey and Tim Lasley, plus a parachute

event. There was also a band, the Scorpions, which

played throughout the day. Mr. Warren was presentedwith 3 plaques commemorating his flight. They included

a framed proclamation th t it was Roman Warren

Day , presented by the County Supervisor, a beautiful

original photo of the bridge was presented to him by

Lois Evans, and an inscribed silver plaque depicting the

flight under the bridge, presented by Ray Cocking, the

latter on behalf of the Antique Group from the airport,

who are all Warren's close friends.

For a big finale, to finish the festive day, Roman and

his wife Ethel went for their first helicopter ride. There

is little doubt th t this was one of the biggest days in

Roman Warren's life, and the old time twinkle of Daring

Dos was prevelent on h s face throughout the day.

Inset. Roman Warren - Cowboy Aviator at 8 yrs.

standing y Ray Cockings replica Thomas Morse

Scout.

Right. Roman Warren snap rolls his Thomas Morse

Scout. Bridge he flew under is in lower right corner.

is airport is visible at left of road. Light streak ingrass worn y landings.



VintagMen and Th

Vintage Albl.

H Glenn BU

878 W CrocJ

qrZS ing can be beautlfuZ -

Upper left. Myrtle Brown (License No. 7707), formerly ofOmaha Nebr., sister of Mrs. Guiseppe (Dorothy) Bellanca,learned to fly at the Bellanca factory field Wilmington, Del.and afterwards operated her own airport at Panters CrossRoads near Concordville, Pa. She is pictured here with an OXWaco in which she trained.

Lower left. Louise McPhetridge Thaden (License No. 7943),

preparing to leave Santa Monica the 29 Derby with her j 5Travel Air. She won the race to Cleveland that year and alsothe 36 Bendix Trophy Race in a Stagger wing Beechcraft,New York to Los Angeles ..... currently lives at High Point,N.C.

Below. josephine Wood Wallingford, left, (License No. 9729)and her sister Frances both formerly of Vernon, Texas withtheir instructor, Burdette Fuller during training at jim

Granger s operation, Clover Field Santa Monica. One of theearly-day sister-flying teams, 99-charter member josephinenow lives in the Dallas area.





SILV R

P RTagle

LINTON E. HERBERGER

By: Robert G. Elliott (Associate Editor)7227 Oakwood Ave.

Daytona Beach Fla . 32074

(Photos Courtesy of c.£. Herberger)

(continued from january 7977 Issue)

Directing my attention back to his photograph of the

Sikorsky, Clint continued to say This was made near

the end of the picture showing some of the pilots. You

know that thing was so heavy the fuselage would lit-

erally sag in the middle while on the ground, and in the

air, the tail would drop a bit. Angle iron formed the

main fuselage framework, together with wire truss

members.

We had shot all the sequences around the plane but

they decided on an added scene showing it spinning

down from a cloud bank. None of our pilots had spun it

as we were somewhat leery of its size.

Finally AI Wilson decided he could do it. A mechanicwas to ride in the passenger compartment and operate a

smoke generator. Keep in mind now that the pilots'

cockpit was open and quite far back in the fuselage.

Well . with all camera planes in position, the

Sikorsky began to spin. Quite soon we saw one chute,

but after breathless minutes none other appeared. By

then the 'Gotha' bomber had crashed with the mechanic

inside.

AI was a particular friend of mine and because I had

known him so long, I'm convinced he would not have

bailed out intentionally leaving a crewman inside. Going

over it all later, we concluded that the Sikorsky, being so

large, whipped around quite violently, throwing AI out

before he was ready.

After a moments' silence in reflection, I askedClint, do you know of many other Hell's Angels pilots

who may be still living?

I don't really know of any, though there could be a

few he answered. Chubby Gordon, I know is gone

Frank Tomick, we knew him as Swacco may still

be around. Garland Lincoln may also still be living

because I know he quit flying. Of course, Roscoe andFrank Clark have passed on, as you know.

The succeeding years saw me as either a camera pilot

or doing stunts. Occasionally I'd have an acting part as a

pilot. Faintly reminiscent of the rugged flying in Hell'sAngels, was an incident which occurred during the filming

of 'Lilac Time'. I was hired as a camera pilot, flying a

low wing monoplane. I was rigged for photography

through the floor as one certain scene called for a

German plane to rise underneath me burst into flames

from 'gun fire' and spin down out of control and out of

camera frame.

We were flying from a small fieldin

Culver Citywhich had a dog leg layout. One day I cranked up for

takeoff, was barreling down the field, when suddenly the

plane turned. It shook me up and I thought. Maybe

I'm not as good as I think I am so later, after the

filming, I came in to land and as I slowed up WHAM 1 turned again. This went on for about two

days till one of the boys standing in front of my ship

exclaimed Good Lord, Herb Iook at those wheels

and both were chocked sideways. Someone had

landed pretty hard earlier and actually bent the axles so

both wheels pointed off to one side. That was one time

that I began to doubt my ability.

Clint kept passing prints from his collection and Icouldn't help but pause over one. Isn't this Clark Gable

in his younger days? to which Clint replied You

bet it is That was made when he and I were in theatre,

before he began his film career. We were playing in

'What Price Glory'. Clark was Corporal Kiper and my

role was the Red Cross man. I had particularly wanted a

role in this, as the script had some real salty lines for

those days but the producer fooled me, as my role

had the most proper language of the play. We had a lot

of fun in that show and shared a dressing room

throughout its run.

Clark Gable during his theatrical career in the role ofCorporal Kiper in What Price Glory . (Photo courtesy ofC £. Herberger)

Clinton £ Herberger in a studio portrait used to publi-cize the pilots who received credits during the filming ofSky Bride by Paramount. (Photo courtesy of c.£.

Herberger)

PART II OF A SILVER EAGLE

The Florida Chapter has honored these men with a

membership and the distinctive title to go with it.

Robert Elliott (Cont. Edit.) has put in many hours

researching and gathering these articfes, we will lookforward to more of them in the future.

13



PILOTS

CHIEF PILOT - - - - FRANK CLARKE

STAFF

COL.ROSCOETURNER ROY WILSON

FRANK TOMICK EARLW.G ORDON

HARRY CRANDALL

C. ,v.Angf'i l\f H. Murphy}erty.o\ndrt'wl nilly Marlin

Bob H ai r George M.vt5E. O. 8axln K. Mcinud

Howard Batt R. C. ML rri.m

J. A Carmichael Roy MinorG.G. Cabhart H. F. MurchieH. ry C a n ~ r o f Leo Nomi,Milo Campbell L.M. OwenIkn Catlin GtoRC H. PuhrROIl Coo h 0.\,(' PO&dc

Virgil eliOt: C. K. h i l l i p ~Ray Cuwford Thor H. Pol!\QnVerll()nDorrell TOOl PenfieldC. E. fHJwling John P rJllidd8 FOiler R. A P lIIC'rs(w1

V.A. Grant C. P.fA Cr«r John H. R.nd

/J . ; . ; /..... E.H .,, Jr. ReedC C ~ t . ; 1,«Henry Louis R ~ p k e : .:r..._ i 97 ) (ffl)rltt A. H "4din&e r Geora:e D. Relm

, LPI H.ytl Robert O. Shallain:AI J o h n j:act SchneiderNdwn D,jenkils $, SWN: Morty JohnlOfl O'V( StilI\'H.J.Kebcy OoUI,:/I Schillill;H G K l<tft ErnieSmithAI L.ry Rudo lph SchadBurtonLane 80b StarkeyGarland (.il1ooln C. F. Su ll ivanR. S. M"C.lilJltr Jul i n W aesR. P. McDonald J.G. \V.ls hR. B MtGulEin Ted

A F.Mid:d

Grora;c: H.W Ui KhllffiStuart Murphy AI WibonJack Miller Dewey \Vard

iI

A page from the opening night program of Hell'sAngels, May 27, 7930, presented y Howard Hughesat Graumann's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, Cali-fornia. These were the pilots who received screencredits for their spectacular flying during the monthsof production, Clinton Herb Herberger has auto-graphed this copy. It would be interesting to have astory on others in this group. I f you know anyone

who can write such a story, encourage them to do so.(Photo y R.G. Elliott)

"Speaking of portraits" . . .Clint continued. . . "how

about this one of Frank Clark? You may not know it,

but Frank was half Indian. About the only time itshowed though, was when he had imbibed heavily. He'd

lower his head andglareatyouthrough thoseeyebrowswithan expression that almostliftedyour scalp."

Here's a photo one should appreciate,". . . Iaughed

Clint as he passed me a full figure shot of someonestanding in front of a plane. Iasked. . . "Who is that?"

. . .and he replied laughingly. . . "That's me, one of the

worst makeup jobs I eve r had fro m a studio makeupman. It was intended to make me look like a fakeOri ental,and ittrulydid."

" Now this photo, though in itse lf is not especially

outstanding, was made on the picture 'Sky Bride' by

Paramount. The significant poin t of it all was that the

producers gave screen recognition to all us pilotsfor the

spectacularaerial sequences.Screencreditsfor individual

pilots were rare indeed and credit goes to Howard

Hugh es forourearly recognition in Hell'sAngels.

"Th is last photo from the'old days'isagroup of usin the last picture Imad eas astunt pilotforthe studios.

Left to right are. . . Frank Tomick, my se lf, Lyle Talbotthe Starof the picture, FrankClark and Rinaldi. Itwas

ca ll ed, 'Murder in theClouds'and was shotnortheastof

San Bernadino.

Shortly after this I entered Sp ec ial Effects work at

Mascot Studios, which later became Republic Studios.

Republicwas independentat thetime, about 1931,but

was forced to become Union, so each of us received a

Union Card for no fee.That's abouttheeasiestwayof

joiningIknow."

"About nine years later, at Universal Studios, mySp ec ial Effectswork brought me back tominiatureplane

crackups. Thismodel".. .a photowhich Clintwasrefer-

ring to. . . "was built to crackapart in a pre-determined

place. This method, called break-a-way, provided a pos

itive result as required by thescript "andwas certainly

more safe. Techniques and materialsimprovementsover

theyearsallowed us to produceminiatureeffects whichdef ied detection from the real thing, if properly executed."

"I could go on and on tellingyou of the numerous

Special Effects creations but that's drifting away from

our prime interest in aviation. So , I'll conclude this

ph ase of mycareerwithaquickrecap .Mostmemorable,I'd say, would beminiatureanimation for Walter Lantz

on apre-historicdinosaur picture;acitywithinamoun

tain for the FlashGordon series;manufacture and useof

the Tesla Coil in the Frankenstein pictures;the church

destruction in JonHall's'Hurricane'and thetwentytwo

foot longoperating model of an oceanlinerfor 'Historyis Made at Night'."

AmongClint's various items of memorabilia, my in-

terest was drawn to a small card issued by the Federation Aeronautique Interna tionale. "That's my licensetofly, nu mber 397, issued in 1928 and signed by Orville

Frank Clark one of the film industries most flam-boyant pilots, and Chief Pilot during the filming ofHell's Angels. (Photo courtesy of C.E Herberger)

Wright. It's something Itreasureverygreatly" . .offered

Clint."To return briefly to theearly Thirties, Irecall long

ago, Clint...when we were discussing the Lockheed

Vegas, that you had an unusual experience with one"

. . . prompting Clint to continue. . . "Yes. . . 1 was flying

for an airline in Mexico known as C.A.T.whose equip

ment was primarily the wooden Vega. Well. . .one day

the owner of the line called me in and said. . . "Herb,

someonemadea hard landinganddamaged aVega...doyou think it can be fixed?". . .You won't believe this,

but there was a crack justahead of the stabilizerabout

two thirds of the way around the fuselage, on thebottom.

"We had no means whatever of repairing anything

that serious so heasked. . . "00 you thinkyoucouldfly

it to thefactory in Burbank?". .and I said. . . Yeah, IthinkIcan."

It was fueled, Igot ready and climbed in. Isetthebrakes, cranked it up, revved itup.. .lifted the tail off

the ground, taxiedto the endof thefield, turnedaroundand took off withoutever lettingthe tail down. Itwasan uneventful trip to EI Paso, my fuel stop. There, Irepeated the tail up technique in landing,taxi to ramp,

14



Camera plane, ahead in foreground, with cameramanjust visible to rear o upper wing during a film se-quence in which c.£. Herberger was flying the subjectplane in the rear. (Photo courtesy o c.£. Herberger)

Above. c.£. Herberger center, during the days atUniversal Studios where he was engaged in SpecialEffect s work with miniatures. (Photo courtesy o c.£.Herberger)

Below. Last picture in which C.E. Herberger flew as astunt pilot was called Murder in The Clouds . Shownhere are left to right, ... Frank Tomick, Herberger,Lyle Talbot, Star o the picture, ... Frank Clark andRinaldi. (Photo courtesy o c.£. Herberger)

then gently letting the tail down. In the morning I flew

it on into Burbank. The Lockheed field in those dayswas near an old ceram ics plant renovated for aircraft

manufacture. When the engineers came out to inspectthe plane they were thunderstruck with the seemingly

incredible flight. It should be noted for the youngerpilots of today, that the Vega fuselage was molded of

thin sheets of veneer combined with a special glue, laid

up in a mold and cured under pressure.I wasn't able to stay around for the repairs because a

new Vega had been prepared for me to fly back toMexico.

Early in WWII the nation's theatres featured a film

called, 'Air Force'. Clint had participated not only in the

flying sequences but also had a part in script review, all

of which prompted him to recall We had A and 'B'

model B-17's at Hendricks Field in early 1942, using

them as school planes. Having been formerly active in

the Signal Corps for Air, I had been recalled back into

active duty just prior to WWII. As it happened, the c o

received a Department of Defense request to support the

film production which was being filmed at Tampa,

Florida by sending a few planes over for the aerialsequences.

My Commander, knowing I was from Hollywood,said Herb, would you like to take the flight over?

and I replied Yes, I'd love to, there'll probably be

one or two people I might know. So we flew over,and being a big ham, we flew low over the field in'V'

formation, then we broke into single line and landed. I

had it pre-arranged that we'd all taxi to a stop in line,

wing tip to wing tip, then on signal, we'd stop engines,

get out and stand in front of our respective planes.

Down the line came the Director and Cameraman.

The Director was 'Wild Bill' Wellman for whom I had

flown numerous times. As he hesitated in front of ourplane he gave a double take and said to me . What in

hell are you doing in that uniform?

The Cameraman was another good friend, Jimmy

Wong Howe. Within minutes, I learned that all the

Special Effects people were old friends and associates.

In a day or so, Wellman called me aside and said . . .

Clinton E. Herberger made up as an Oriental

pilot during his career as an actor-pilot.

(Photo courtesy o C. E. Herberger)

Herb want you to go through this script. Well .

the writer wasn't all that familiar with airplanes, thus a

number of errors were written in, which I had to correct

technically.

Another week's extension was arranged through the

15



;:::;... ... --,

It was during the filming o Glider Pickup that aCG 4 glider crashed while attempting a landing in aclearing. (Photo courtesy o Robert G. Elliott)

A set during the filming o 'bombing' runs on theisland o japan during WWII. This set, constructed ona closed stage at the former Hal Roach Studios was oextremely fine detail, and the use o the orientationfilms were considered extremely valuable in planningo aerial bombing missions from the Pacific basesduring WWII. (Photo courtesy o Robert G. Elliott)

efforts of the Base Commander and Wellman so I couldcomplete my recommendations.

With the film 'Air Force' a thing of the past, bothClint and I were to become members of the First Motion

Picture Unit, located at the Hal Roach Studios in CulverCity. The year was late 1942.

As you recall continued Clint our flight

echelon was located at Van Nuys. Here's a group shot in

front of one of our AT-11 's.The photo showed Tom Tutwiler on the left, holding

an Eyemo camera, on his left an unidentified flight of

ficer, Frank Clark in the center, Clinton Herberger andCaptain Nolta on the right. A reliable, rugged Akeleycamera, well suited for aerials, but now obsolete, topped

the tripod.

This foursome in chute harnass was made on loca

tion in Laurenburg, N.C., while filming 'Glider Pickup'

and 'Tactical Use of the CG-4 Glider ' exclaimed Clintas he produced the next photo. On my left is the British

technical advisor, whose name I have forgotten, TomTutwiler, and my co-pilot, Captain Nolta.

Those action-filled days of that location came backinto memory focus and I said Clint. . . ecall the day

the glider crashed in the clearing? Sure he re

sponded 1 was overhead flying the AT-11 in preparation of filming the landing where were YOll?

I was in a corner of the clearing tracking him with

the Mitchell as he disconnected from the tow plane onthe down wind leg. When that left turn onto the base leg

was made, the left wing went straight down and thegl ider fell sideways from over five hundred feet. The

whole thing was on film. Being a little closer to the crashthan others of the crew, I was first on the scene and

found both pilots severely injured.

Interrupting me, Clint added When I saw it fall I

called the tower for an ambulance and the site beingso far in the boondocks, I had to direct them from theair.

Later we learned that a soaking rain had filled the

wood and fabric wing sections with water. It was still

inside when flight began , and with the left wing downthe water rushed to the tip. They had no chance underthose conditions.

Of all the film projects underway at FMPU during

those war years, without a doubt the most importantwas the activity related to th e miniature set on the closed

stage. Special effects had designed and built a sectionalrelief map of important target areas of Japan.

Let me add right there interrupted Clint .'that

I was involved for two very good reasons. One .becauseof my extensive flying career for motion pictures and

the other because I had been in Japan earlier. Initially, Iflew the Special Effects crew along the entire Californiacoast, concentrating on areas that were similar to those

found in Japan. In this way the technicians could gain avivid impression of how their miniature set was to

appear.Using available maps and photography, they built six

foot square sections that were mounted on table-likestructures with casters. Contour projections were made

onto masonite, cut out, mounted to create a general land

contour, then filled with plaster, Fullers earth, sponge,fabric and finally painted. When complete, the realism

was magnificent. A regular house was about one eighth

inch square, to give one an idea of scale.An overhead crane was devised to operate on tracks

high above the set, while on a platform suspended from

this crane was mounted the camera, which could traverse

at ninety degress to the crane travel. Simulatedbombardment missions would be 'flown' as they would

appear from a B-29. The film would be rushed to all

Pacific bases for briefing. A unique feature too, was thatof creating similar damage to various areas after seeingstrike photos, providing an illusion of continuity in the

assault on Japan.The project was without a doubt one of the best kept

secrets of the War. Intelligence people related later thatby comparison of actual areas and our simulated sections, we were more than 80% accura te in the placement

of important buildings.

Clint, having been a friend of Frank Clark, was

encouraged to relate, as he knew it, circumstances

leading to that fatal accident which took Clark's life.

Frank Clark's tragic accident was really ludicrous.All that bunch of pilots were great practical jokers.

Frank Tomick, known as Swacco Frank Clark, and

a sound man from Warner Brothers, had a gold mine up

in the mountains. Tomick was up there working the

mine, when Clark and the sound man dec ided to fly up.They had a short landing strip nearby the mine, as they

were often there. Frank Clark was flying a WWII trainingplane think it may have been a BT-15

anyway. as a gag they filled a large sugar sack with

'road apples'. Their intention was to buzz the mine site

and bomb Swacco with it. The sound man was in therear cockpit with the bag and as Clark brought the plane

around into a dive, the sound man dropped the doggonebag down behind the stick. Wh en Frank went to pullout

of the dive he couldn't and they went right smack into

the ground.

Tomick phoned me right away from up there and hewas really sobbing. That's what happened to one of thegreatest stunt pilots of all time. Frank Clark could get in

a plane he had never flown . ake it up . test it out then put it through maneuvers it was never built toperform without straining the plane. I think he was

the greatest natural born pil·ot I ever knew.

Following WWII , CI int served a tour of duty in Korea

6

and later joined the staff of the Air Force Motion



Picture studios in Orlando, Florida. While in Orlando, hewas Officer in Charge of the Special Effects department.

Outer space, Science Fiction miniatures brought alive

for camera under Clint s expert craftsmanship back in

the late thirties were now being revita li zed in conceptfor our growing Space Exploration program. Films of

fantasy had now become fil ms of fact.Most unfortunately, an accident occurred which

brought bout his entry into the life of retirement. Clint

was on a ladder, in a room painted black, hanging a

miniature spacecraft from a wire. Suddenly someoneentered and spoke to him. In quickly turning around

in this blackened void . he lost his visual reference and

tumbled off the ladder.

Several months of recuperation left him with a slight

limp. The accident had become the deciding factor for

his contemplated retirement.

So it is then, th t Lt. Colonel Clinton E. Herberger, in

his leisure, says he s more busy now than before. What

with travel, raising orchids, visiting the host of friends he

and h s wife Virgin ia see weekly, along with h s regular

coffee sessions with cronies at the Naval Base Exchange

he is indeed rounding out a colorful, unusual, fas-

cinating, one-of-a-kind career as a former Hollywoodmotion picture stunt and camera pilot and he never

owned a plane.

Above Right. A part of he flight echelon of he FirstMotion Picture Unit during WWII days. Left to rightare; Tom Tutwiler, an unidentified officer, FrankClark, Herberger, and Capt. Nolta. They are standingin front of a Beech A T-7 7 converted for motion pic-ture use. (Photo courtesy of C.E. Herberger)

Center Right. The production crew from First MotionPicture Unit, AF while on location at LaurenburgA FB, in North Carolina during 7944. Extreme left isR. G. Elliott, ... fifth from left, in trench is CaptainTed McCord, who later won world acclaim for hisphotography of 'Sound of Music . (Photo courtesy ofRobert G. Elliott)Below Right. On 'location' at Laurenburg A FB,North Carolina during the filming of 'Glider Pickup'Left to right are; Herberger, Chief Pilot for the pic-ture, the British technical advisor, Tom Tutwiler, andCapt. Nolta. (Photo courtesy of c £ Herberger)

17



9 ~ Ry: Edward D. Williams, (Associate Editor)

EAA No 5 7070, 77 Eastman Dr

Mt Prospect, III 60056Photos courtesy of United Airlines

The year 1976 was a big one in aviation as it markedthe 50th anniversaries of a number of airli ne com

panies.One of the lesser known early pioneers was Pacific

Air Transport, established by a bus lines operator andwhich inaugurated the first scheduled air service alongthe West Coast on Sept. 15, 1926.

On that date, a 90-mile-an-hour Ryan M-1 coveredthe 1,000 miles between Los Angeles and Seattle in 14hours - - and six stops. Other cities on that first routewere Bakersfield, Fresno, San Francisco, Medford (Ore.)and Portland.

In contrast, airline jets today cruise at 550 miles an

hour nonstop between Los Angeles and Seattle in just

over two hours. But 50 years ago such schedules werenot even in anyone's wildest dreams.acific Air Transport had 12 aircraft and 75

employees in 1926, and in the first six months of operation carried only a handful of passengers and cargo totaling only 34,000 pounds. The few passengers, whowere not afraid to fly in an open cockpit plane, sat onmail sacks on flights between Los Angeles and Seattleand paid 132 for the privilege. Coach fares todaybetween the two cities is only 93, in super comfortab e

jets.The original PAT fleet consisted of seven Ryan M-1s

one Swallow, two Travel Airs, one Waco and one de

Havilland DH-4 and the 1926 schedule called for oneround trip daily between Seattle and Los Angeles or atotal of 2,198 miles of flying daily.

Right. PA T ROUTE SUR VEYORS: Groundwork for the

first Pacific Coast air transportation service 50 years agowas laid by Vern C Gorst, (left), president of Pacific Air

Transport, and T Claude Ryan, president of the firmbearing his name. They are shown here on arrival March78 7926, at Sand Point Field near Seattle after a surveyflight from San Francisco. PA T's Los Angeles-Seattlemail run began September 75 7926, thus opening scheduled service along the Pacific Coast.

~ H



pacf J=fc afr<Lr<aospor<LAids to flying such as are standard today were vir-

tually unknown 50 years ago . There were no suitablelanding fields, and beacon lights, installed over portions

of the route which were to be flown at night, consistedof second-hand automobile headlights mounted in

clusters on revolving bases. Airway weathermenconsisted of farmers, railroad station agents, roadhouseproprietors or almost anyone else who would answer apilot's telephone call for weather information.

Vern C Gorst, pioneer operator of an Oregon stageline and other bus lines, was the prime mover in establish ing Pacific Coast air service in 1927. In 1928, PacificAir Transport was acquired by the Boeing interests of

Seattle which had started flying the San FranciscoChicago route in 1927. With this change in ownership, afleet of Boeing 40-B-4's replaced the route's originalplanes. In 1930, San Diego was added to the run and in

1931, Ford tri-motored transports were placed in serv-

ice. In the latter year also, PAT became a part of UnitedAirlines' nation-wide system.

As with most aviation pioneers, Vern C Gorst gotinto aviation early. In 1915, he bought a Martin sea-

plane, saying that Flying sort of got me then. He anda partner in the bus lines business got Glenn L Martin,who was located in Los Angeles at the time, to buildthem a seaplane with pontoons. They brought it up toCoos Bay and did a lot of flying, but they finallycracked it up.

The partners were struggling to develop their littlebus lines on a shoestring, so for the next ten years theywere not able to afford the luxury of a plane, but Gorstsaid that he read everything in the magazines on aviationth t he could find. Just before the post office advertisedfor bids on the air mail carrying contracts in 1925, agroup of pioneer business men held a meeting in whichthey were discussing highway problems. Gorst tossedthem a new idea, saying, They will soon be flying rightover your heads, carrying mail and passengers. He askedhow many of them we re interested in the new methodof transportation, and all but one put up their hands.

Gorst proposed forming a company to investigate thepossibilities of air transport and to determine whether ornot they should bid on the air mail contracts. The

money trickled in from the bus line owners and alsofrom other investors.

Vern Gorst went to San Francisco, where he rented aplane and employed a pilot named Pat Patterson of

Santa Cru z to fly a survey trip of the proposed PacificCoast route and to determine whether or not it was

feasible to fly planes on schedule over the rugged mountainous count ry. Gorst and Patterson picked out anumber of possible landing fields between Los Angelesand Seattle, although the only established air strips t

the time were in Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno andChrissy Field t San Francisco.

Gorst got together about $250,000 cash for PacificAir Transport, but the government wanted him to raise a

half million within a year. Gorst's own investment was

about $50,000. Raising this sum forced him to sell hisinterests in all but one of his bus lines. For a time the

post office hesitated about turning the contract over tohim because of PAT's limited cash capital, but since no

one else wanted to fly the line, they gave it to him.

Below: November, 7926. No 7 of the Ryan series purchased by Pat. This was the second plane in this seriesbuilt by Ryan, his first mass production venture . At left:unknown mechanic. Center: unknown passenger. Right:pilot George Allen. Picture taken at Angelus Mesa field.Schedule out of this field by PA T called for all nightflights, leaving at 72:07 a.m. providing planes were inshape). Incidentally, the first night-scheduled flights inthe country were made by PA T. Note landing light onwingtip. This was battery-powered, as were navigation

lights. Bowman says these would fade out after one landing as would the landing light.

; ; ..

19

rain at 11:4 a.m . The plane finally touched down at



Above. FIELD CONFERENCE: This 7926 view of the original Los Angeles airport Angelus

esa Field shows a Ryan monoplane of Pacific Air Transport and from left) an unidentified

official of he pioneer airline Pilot Art Starbuck and j immy Mushett P.A. T field manager.

PAT started out with whatever planes could bepicked up, but settled on Ryans. Claude Ryan flewGorst on a demonstration trip from Los Angeles toSeattle and back, and among Gorst's treasures is an oldSeattle paper with their pictures on the front page, thephotograph having been taken when they arrived in

Seattle after their trip.

Looking for the ideal mail plane, Gorst talked toHenry Ford and William B. Stout about the tri·motoredFord . He also saw Igor Sikorsky, but was finally persuad·

ed that the Ryan, outfitted with the new Wright Whirl·wind JAs, was the plane to do the job. Gorst ordered tenof them and got the first seven of the new model thatClaude Ryan built. Walter T. Varney of Varney AirLines had had forty·two forced landings with his plane's,so Gorst loaned him the first four Wright Whirlwindpowered Ryans to get started again. The Wright Com·pany ran an ad when Gorst ordered them, announcing itas the biggest order they had received. Gorst got the firstten Whirlwinds, Lindbergh got No. 16 for his Spirit ofSt. Louis, the plane that flew the Atlantic in 1927. Thatput the engine over. Lindbergh once told Gorst that the

successful use of the planes with this engine by PAT waswhat persuaded him to order the Spirit of St. Louis fromRyan.

In the Seattle Times of March 10, 1926, was a photoof the survey plane of Pacific Air Transport with Vern C.

Gorst and Claude Ryan standing beside it. On thissurvey, Gorst and Ryan flew an alternate route via CoosBay . They started flying on November 21 and completedthe survey on December 10.

The 12 planes and motors PAT started with cost

$73,097. Another motor was borrowed. Another costitem was the purchase of parachutes for $3,665.Hangars were constructed at Los Angeles, Seattle,Vancouver, Wash. and Medford at a total cost of $7,408

in the beginning. Airway lights and beacons cost$19,235. Two Ford delivery trucks and three Ford road·sters were purchased for a total of $2,349.44. Pacific AirTransport was ready to go.

At 12:01 a.m. September 15, 1926, the first north·bound plane left Los Angeles. Stops were made at

Bakersfield, Fresno, San Francisco, Medford andPortland, where the plane arrived on time in a driving

Seattle at 1 30 p.m. and everyone hailed the achieve·ment of delivery of mail from Los Angeles to Seattle inone day.

The first south·bound plane left Portland at 5:45a.m., made all of its required stops and arrived at LosAngeles at 5 p.m., on time.

The Seattle POST·INTELLIGENCER the followingday, Sept. 16, 1926, reported:

Eleven minutes ahead of schedule, the first consign·

ment of mail over the new postal air route between' LosAngeles and Seattle arrived here (Seattle) yesterdayafternoon (Sept. 15, 1926) in a plane piloted by GroverTyler, superintendent of the Pacific Air TransportCompany.

The significance of this newest contract air mail

route, officially known as No.8, was df'monstratedwhen the six large pouches containing 12,000 letters andother matter landed in Seattle just 13 hours and 49minutes after the first plane had left Los Angeles, 1,009miles to the south.

All of the mail going to addresses within the citylimits was delivered yesterday afternoon.

In a special delivery pouch was a package sent to thePost·1 ntell igencer from Los Angeles by InternationalNews Reel containing photographs covering the latedevelopments in the Aimee Semple McPherson investi·gation.

Fifteen years later, Grover Tyler, who died in 1966,recalled the early days of PAT.

Pacific Air Transport was awarded the contract earlyin the summer of 1926, he said. The contrac t calledfor us to start operations on September 15 of that year,giving us a few short months to start from scratch. Thecompany had the actual cash on hand to pay for just one

of the five airplanes on order. We had to have funds, sotwo or three enterprising employees pounded pavementsup and down the coast, rang doorbells, and urged peopleto buy one or more shares in a financial propositionwhich, even to its sellers, looked doubtful.

The planes we started with· . barely enough to keepthe schedules· . were of different makes, mostly second·hand, all under-powered, with speeds ranging from 75mph to 100 mph. They were in a dilapidated conditionto begin with, and continued so for lack of cash withwh ich to maintain repairs.

There were no suitable landing fields and no emer·

20

gency fie lds whatsoever. t w s necessary for the

personnel to scout around, this time for field sites. The

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2,349.44

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2,349.44



property for terminal fields w s promoted from

municipalities, but due to lack of appropriations, these

were mostly makesh ifts. Many delays were occasioned

by ships getting stuck in the mud of these fields, and

many times it w s necessary for a pilot to roust a farmer

from his bed in the middle of the night to borrow a team

of mules or horses to pu the ship out of the mud before

he could continue his flight. Emergency fields were

simply pastures or farms, consent to land in emergency

having been secured from property owners, Tylerrecalled.

To comply with the requirements of the m il con-

tract, suitable beacon lights had to be installed over

Right. EARL Y DA Y IR PASSENGERS: Speeds of

about 700 miles an hour were reached by the Boeing40-B-4. The plane with the pilot in an open cockpit

carried only four passengers.

Below. Fokker Universal used briefly in 7927 by

P.A. T. Taken at P.A. T. s Field in Seattle in 7927

2



Upper left. PACIFIC COAST AIR PIONEER: The original single-engine open cockpit

Ryan monoplane, "Old No.7, used in 7926 on the pioneer Los Angeles-Seattle route ofPacific Air Transport.

Upper right; AIR MAIL BIRTH: Fresno, where this picture was taken, was along the

original route of Pacific Air Transport, which pioneered Pacific Coast air mail service with

a 74-hour flight from Los Angeles to Seattle on September 75 7926. Shown (from left)

are Richard Downs, Chamber of Commerce manager of publicity; Postmaster Turner;Vance Breese, pilot of P T second pilot and man on right unknown.

portions of the route that were to be flown by night. ahead of the informing telegraph. We then tried the telePAT bought some second-hand automobile headl ights, phone, with what was then known as the phone codemounted them on a revolving base in clusters of three system, and this, from an operating standpoint, was

and set up a revolving mechanism. more successful, but the cost was prohibitive.In addition to financial troubles, PAT had the weath- Gorst recalled events of his career in an interview in

er hazard to put up with. There were no government- 1950.operated bureaus with personnel trained to give accurate One of his recollections was that when he was in

and frequent weather reports. It was entirely up to the Washington, right after getting his contract, he was takenpilot's then unscientific weather knowledge, gained from over to see President Calvin Coolidge. I never met acocking his weather eye to the sky and noting the dif- more common man to talk with, recalled Gorst.ferent types of clouds, to make his decision as to wheth- One of Gorst's unusual deals was the hiring of Ralpher or not he could get through with any degree of safety. Virden of Grass Valley. Virden had a DH Liberty plane,As a further aid to the pilot's judgment, a system of so Gorst had to make a special deal, hiring both Virdenweather reporting was established with farmers, inn- and the plane. He recalled that most of the pilots got akeepers, roadhouse proprietors, and others along the dollar an hour for flying time and averaged about $250 aroute at strategic points. month. Part of this was in cash and part in stock.

A typical weather report for visibility would be that Another of Gorst's innovations was buying a par-

the observer could see the roof of the barn or the turn of achute developed by a California inventor. This was athe road (previously determined upon) and for ceiling, parachute for the plane rather than for the pilot. It wasthe white rock on a prominent hill 200, 300 or 400 feet designed to dro p the plane easily in case of enginein altitude above the location of the weather reporter. failure. Gorst hooked it onto an old Jenny, then cut the

At the time we commenced operations, Tyler engine and pulled the cord. The drop broke only arecalled, communication was carried on in several dif- propeller and a landing strut. He was able to patch upferent ways. Our financial condition would not permit the plane and flyaway the next day. The parachute costus to install a radio station-to-station code system. There $2000, but Gorst got it,as usual, at a bargain price of

was no voice radio established for plane work at that $400. He wasn't able to sell the idea to his pilots, andtime. We first used the telegraph system, but found this finally sold the entire parachute, made of silk, to a shirtto be very unsatisfactory due to doubtful delivery serv- maker for shirts.

4ce, as often-times a plane would reach its destination During the fifteen months that he ran PAT, Gorst and

USEIRM ILm :GINNING

SEPT 5 976

his ten pilots, whom he picked from 200 barnstormerson a list, with Tyler as chief pilot, put up beacons upand down the air lane, most of them big auto lights,bought planes, and got the service well established. By

the time Gorst soldout

to Boeing, he hadput

up$19,000 worth of beacons. At the time the Richfield Oil

Company was putting up beacons up and down thecoast, but unfortunately, said Gorst, they put up thebeacons where they could sell gasoline to motorists andnot where the airmen needed the beacons. Gorstpersuaded Standard Oil Company to paint the names of

towns on their buildings. But even with this help thepilots sometimes had to buzz railroad stations in orderto find out where they were.

The death of so many of his associates finallypersuaded Gorst to get out of the business, and whenBill Boeing came down from Portland with a check for

$98,000, just about double what Gorst had in the airline, he took it. That was a pretty nice looking check,he said. Gorst said that he spent all of the moneypioneering an air line from Bremerton, Washington, toJuneau, Alaska, wh ich was about the same distance as

the Los Angeles-Seattle run. He offered to carry mail forthe government for $450 a trip, but for some reasoncouldn't get the contract and later folded up the Alaskaline, but continued to operate a flying service for sportsmen. He died in 1953 at the age of 77, but his belovedairline, as part of the present-day United Airlines system,lives on.

22



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