Jump to content

Vintage Aircraft Photos - 1930's


TimHortman

Recommended Posts

Hello all,

Below are some photos that I have here. The short story is that my Grandmothers' Sister's Husband was a professional photographer and pilot. He was working for one of the local newspapers when he was killed in a crash while in the first aircraft shown - a Piper Cub. What follow are some vintage photos that you don't see too often. I posted a link to them in another posting, but had some time today & wanted to get them out for everyone to see & enjoy.

 

Cheers!

Tim

 

TaylorCub-ArtYoung.jpg

 

 

 

PiperJ3Younga.jpg

 

 

 

TaylorCubNC15335a.jpg

 

 

 

 

TaylorCubNC15335cplus.jpg

 

 

 

Biplane.jpg

 

 

 

snow.jpg

 

 

 

snow2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some more:

 

Biplane2.jpg

 

 

 

unk2.jpg

 

 

 

unk1.jpg

 

 

 

BoeingNC13335b.jpg

 

 

 

BoeingNC13335a.jpg

 

 

 

 

Racing.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And Finally:

 

 

 

unk3.jpg

 

 

 

AANC12121a.jpg

 

 

 

AANC12121b.jpg

 

 

 

AANC12121c.jpg

 

 

 

Any Ideas on this one?? I can't find any info on who this may have been.

 

autograph.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Ed,

 

These are scans from the photos themselves. (I wish I did have the negatives!)

 

Cheers!

Tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are great shots. I especially like the Boeing 247 and the Northrop Alpha. I recently received a bunch of photos from my Grandfathers collection as well as his pilot log books. He was an instructor pilot during WWII for the RCAF and a corporate into the mid 1990s. One of the shots is him in a Piper Cub on his first solo flight. I have the logbook with the entry for that flight in it. I agree with Gil in that flying was so exotic than. Theres some great modeling motivation here. Thanks for posting them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Guys,

 

I have one of his early log books, which is why I started looking through the albums for some help in trying to find photos of his aircraft. Most of his early flights seem to have been in a Taylor Cub, and he later bought his own aircraft - a Piper Cub.

I never knew the man, as he died many many years before my time.

 

I got the sense from looking at these that you could indeed get in the plane, fly to where you wanted to go, have lunch, then fly back home.

 

I may have some more, but I will have to get through the rest of the albums to make sure.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All,

Just wondering about Dreamsof51's comment above:

He mentions the ""Northrop Alpha""

I assume that he's talking about the Gar Wood Industries aircraft (?).

I don't have a huge amount of material here on these early aircraft, but what makes the Alpha different than the Gamma? Was the Alpha a passenger aircraft (& how do you tell them apart)?

Thanks for the help!

Tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's an EXCELLENT article on the military Gammas (up to the A-17 attack a/c) in the summer 2007 Aerospace Modeler Magazine. I'm not sure what the differences are bewteen the Alpha and Gamma models, except that the Alpha is obviously an earlier variant...Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Racing.jpg

 

 

 

 

All,

This was posted on ARC from user ""onetrack"" about the Northrop Gamma. I wanted everyone here to see the details. Looks like this is something worth looking at the old Williams Bros kit for!

Anyone have an idea of what is written on the cowl??

Cheers! Tim

 

user "onetrack" on ARC vintage aircraft forum:

 

"The picture of the classic low-wing monoplane with "Gar Wood Industries Inc" on it, is most definitely a Northrop Gama, and a very rare and famous plane indeed. This plane is one of only 12 built, and there is only one survivor, and it is in the Smithsonian.

 

The Gammas were direct descendants of the landmark 1930 Northrop Alpha which pioneered all-metal stressed-skin fabrication, multicellular wing and empennage construction, integration of the wing center section as a part of the fuselage, and butt-joint attachment of the outer wing panels.

Concepts pioneered in the Alpha led directly to, among others, the Northrop Beta, Gamma, and Delta, the Douglas DC-1 (DC-2 & DC-3), and Douglas SBD Dauntless.

 

This particular aircraft, the 1st Northrop Gama built, was built as a high speed special mail and cargo plane, and this plane set a U.S. trans-continental speed record on June 2, 1933, by flying the 2,500 air miles from LA to NY in 13 hrs and 27 minutes.

 

This airplane also has the distinction of being the 1st plane ever fitted with the "new" Sperry automatic pilot. Pilot Frank Hawks, who flew it, was a famous aviator, and the aircraft was named "Sky Chief", after Hawks had been recently honored by the Sioux as a chief.

 

This aircraft was sold to "Gar" Wood (who is the gentleman standing by the wing), and it was piloted by Joseph P. Jacobsen. "Gar" Wood was a multi-millionaire and part-owner of the industrial giant, "Gar Wood Industries", as Holmes has correctly pointed out. "Gar" was also owner of "Gar Wood Incorporated", a huge luxury speedboat builder, and "Gar" had many speed boat records to his name, holding the world water speed record in 1933 with a speedboat powered by 4 x 1800HP Packard aircraft engines, in which he cracked 124.915mph to take the record.

 

The Northrop Gama "Sky Chief" was entered into the 1936 Bendix Transcontinental race, but blew up in mid air, near Stafford KS, resulting in total loss of the aircraft. Pilot Jacobson parachuted to safety. Here are some good links ...

 

Frank Hawks - The Legendary Speed Flying King .. http://www.historynet.com/frank-hawks-the-...flying-king.htm

 

"Gar" Wood - the speedboat King .. http://www.speedboatclassics.com/gar_wood.htm

 

Thanks to vfa127 for posting these great pics of some classic aircraft from an era when flying was still in its infancy, and air crashes still a common occurrence, unlike today. We have come a long way, and owe a lot to the pilots and designers of this era."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All,

Just wondering about Dreamsof51's comment above:

He mentions the ""Northrop Alpha""

I assume that he's talking about the Gar Wood Industries aircraft (?).

I don't have a huge amount of material here on these early aircraft, but what makes the Alpha different than the Gamma? Was the Alpha a passenger aircraft (& how do you tell them apart)?

Thanks for the help!

Tim

 

I stand corrected. I built the Williams Bros kit of the "Gamma" a long time ago and it was very much ahead of its time. Finished it in the colors of the Polar Star if I remember correctly, but don`t remember the history behind that.

 

I had the great fortune of flying a lot with my grandfather and the stories he used to tell me sounded to amazing to be true. When he passed away and I received his logbooks, its turns out they were all true. It really was (1920-40s) the golden age of flight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you again for the info.

I have to say my library is very lacking when it comes to the "early days" of flight.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
I stand corrected. I built the Williams Bros kit of the "Gamma" a long time ago and it was very much ahead of its time. Finished it in the colors of the Polar Star if I remember correctly, but don`t remember the history behind that.

 

I had the great fortune of flying a lot with my grandfather and the stories he used to tell me sounded to amazing to be true. When he passed away and I received his logbooks, its turns out they were all true. It really was (1920-40s) the golden age of flight.

 

This has indeed been a wonderful thread. So often memorabilia like these photos just get thrown out by non-enthusiast heirs. I would have loved to have my father-in-laws personal files (military orders, "Form 5" flight records, and the like) since his career had started in 1923. That was in the Army Air Service as an Aviation Cadet in "Lighter Than Air" ...flying the same type captive balloons with a wicker basket as used in World War ONE! That was obviously about as good a military career as being a saddle-maker, so he soon became an "airplane observer" in WWI left-over DH-4's at posts including Crissy Field on the shores of San Francisco Bay at the Presidio. He then went to "heavier than air" pilot training, which was in equally vintage WWI JN-4 "Jennies" at Brooks Field, San Antonio.

 

But virtually none of his records, pictures, and "things" survive, so all I have is memories of his telling me some really great stories. He retired in 1954 and lived until 1993, so there were many, MANY great stories, but almost no artifacts.

 

I do have his 1938 I.D. card issued by the Army Air Corps Adjutant General which lists his aeronautical ratings as "balloon pilot", "airship (blimp/dirigible) pilot", "airplane observer" (equivalent to today's navigator), and "airplane pilot".

 

Now I have to contemplate what happens to my own "stuff" from an Air Force pilot career, which began in 1955. Right not we're in the "downsize-move nearer to the kids" phase of life, so there is heavy pressure to get rid of "all the old junk".

 

At least, I have thousands of my pictures and slides digitized ..I'll have to hope that when I'm gone they don't all get erased at a flick of the switch.....

 

Fred Horky

IPMS/USA #6390

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those are some nice pictures, kinda makes you think of your childhood whether you were born 20yrs ago or 50yrs ago. Just brings back wonderful memories.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Guys.

Fred - good to hear from you!

 

I was really surprised when I came across them. I was happy to share them with everyone, as they are "things you don't see everyday"

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Sorry to bring back an older thread, but I have found a few more images. I decided to post them here to keep everything in one place.

 

This first image appears to have been taken on a family trip.

 

IthacaFlyingService.jpg

 

 

 

Secondly, my Grandfather standing in front of another aircraft: Can anyone identify this aircraft??? Any guess on a location?

AleckHortman.jpg

 

 

Stay tuned, as I think I saw a few more in another album - more stuff that I'll need to identify!

Thanks, Tim

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

800px-P-36C_27th_PS_1939_National_Air_Races.jpg

{copyright USAF}

U.S. Army Air Corps Curtiss P-36C Hawk fighters of the 27th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, at Wright Field, Ohio (USA), in 1939. The P-36s were camouflaged just for public relations for the U.S. National Air Races in a paint scheme that was never used by the USAAC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...