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Douglas Corrigan-“Wrong Way” to Fame at Baldonnel Aerodrome in Ireland

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Douglas Corrigan-“Wrong Way” to Fame at Baldonnel Aerodrome in Ireland Baldonnel Aerodrome 1926. (Irish Air Corps photo) Douglas Corrigan-“Wrong way” to fame at Baldonnel Aerodrome in Ireland. By Ed Martin t 2.30pm on July 18, 1938, an unidentified small plane Calif., where Douglas attended school. He left high school early descended out of a rain streaked sky, approached to work in construction and earn money to help his family. Aand landed at Baldonnel Aerodrome southwest of In 1925 his interest in aviation developed when at an airport Dublin, capital of the Irish Free State. As the surprised ground near his home he observed rides in a Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” personnel approached, the grinning pilot dressed in pants and a biplane being offered for $2.50. He paid for a flight and was leather jacket deplaned and stated, “I just flew from New York. bitten by the lure of aviation. One week later he commenced Where am I?” With those words Douglas Corrigan entered the flying lessons and for the next 20 weeks volunteered fueling aviation history books and forever after was known as “Wrong aircraft plus learning about airplanes from the mechanics at Way” Corrigan. the airport. Corrigan completed his first solo flight in March [Note: Baldonnel Aerodrome was renamed Casement 1926, and then earned his pilot’s license while also becoming Aerodrome in February 1965 after Sir Roger Casement, an an accomplished mechanic. Irish Nationalist executed by the British in 1916, and is the In 1926 Ryan Aeronautical Co. offered Corrigan a job headquarters of the Irish Air Corps. The Irish Free State was as a mechanic at their San Diego facility building airplanes. declared the Republic of Ireland in 1949 and is a member of the At this time there was great competition on being first to fly European Union.] across the Atlantic Ocean and a prize of $25.000.00 was offered to the first aviator to accomplish the flight. Many had made Clyde Groce Corrigan was born in Galveston, Tex., on the attempt without success. A young man named Charles January 22, 1907. As an adult he legally changed his name to Lindbergh purchased a specially designed airplane from Ryan Douglas Corrigan. The Corrigan family was of Irish descent. Aeronautical hoping to make the Atlantic crossing. Douglas His parents divorced and with his mother, brother and sister Corrigan was responsible for working on the wing and extra moved many times until eventually settling in Los Angeles, fuel tanks. The airplane was “The Spirit of St. Louis.” 300 American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Winter 2019 Personnel who worked on the Spirit of St Louis. Red arrow identifies Corrigan on extreme right. (San Diego Air & Space Museum photo) On May 10, 1927, it is reported Douglas Corrigan pulled of 7 feet 9 ½ inches, its standard empty weight was 1,472 the chocks from Lindbergh’s plane as he left San Diego on the lbs and fully loaded weighed 2,440 lbs, its cruise speed was start of his famous flight to Paris. (San Diego-St. Louis-New 84 mph with a maximum speed of 100 mph, maximum range York-Paris). was about 400 miles. Corrigan flew it from New York to San The success of the Lindbergh flight inspired Corrigan to Antonio, Tex., eventually returning to the West Coast. consider making a flight to his father’s ancestral homeland- Making the flight to Ireland was still in his mind as he Ireland. Unfortunately, in 1928 Ryan Aeronautical closed its worked on the Curtiss Robin replacing the 90 hp Curtiss OX-5 San Diego facility and moved to St. Louis. with the installation of a Wright “Whirlwind” J-6-5 he had built Corrigan however decided to remain in San Diego and as a from two old Wright Whirlwind engines and produced about mechanic moved from job to job while continuing to improve 165 hp. The engine was a 5-cylinder air-cooled, supercharged his flying skills in his employer’s airplanes. During 1929 he 540 cubic inch displacement Wright R540 Whirlwind weighing completed requirements for his transport pilot’s license and for 370 lbs. the next few years flew around the country mainly making a In 1935 Corrigan applied to The Bureau of Air Commerce living barnstorming. for permission to make a non-stop flight from New York to In 1933 he and his brother Harry purchased a 1929 Curtiss Ireland. His application was Robin in New York for $300.00. rejected as the airplane was The type certificate for the Curtiss Robin with the determined to be unsuitable “OX-5 engine, was issued in August 1928. Douglas for a non-stop transatlantic Corrigan’s Robin was originally equipped with the flight. It was, however, OX-5 engine. The Curtiss Robin was 25ft, 8 ½ certified for a cross- inches long with a wing span of 41 feet and a height country flight. Curtiss JN-4 Jenny similar to the one Corrigan learned to fly. (From the Gerald Balzer collection, AAHS archives, AAHS-D100399) 301 Douglas Corrigan in the cockpit of his aircraft at Long Beach, California. Note the instrument cluster just behind his hand. (Long Beach Airport photo) was grounded for six months due to the unapproved flight. Douglas Corrigan continued to work buying and installing upgrades on his airplane until his overall expenses reached $900.00. He named his airplane “Sunshine” because to him it was a ray of sunshine. On July 9, 1938, having obtained an experimental license (NX9243) he departed Long Beach airport in California on a planned round trip flight to New York, Curtiss Robin. (Model Airplane News, March 1984 ) New York. En route to New York the Robin developed a fuel leak Corrigan was disappointed with the decision and made but it did not affect the flight. Approximately 27 hours after additional modifications and improvements to the Curtiss leaving Long Beach he landed at Roosevelt Field, N.Y., as Robin but increased regulations continued to restrict his planned having completed the 2,700 mile flight non-stop with planned flight to Ireland. His aircraft was deemed unsafe and five gallons of fuel remaining in the tanks. its renewal license was rejected. It is believed the frustrated At the time New Yorkers were excited about Howard Corrigan decided to continue his plans for a transatlantic flight Hughes starting a potential round the world flight and Corrigan’s and took lessons in “blind flying.” arrival on July 10 attracted little attention. Following several In 1937 he completed a cross-country flight to New York days working on his airplane and with his return flight to Long where mechanical problems and weather delayed any further Beach being delayed due to bad weather, Corrigan decided onward flight. He returned to the West Coast where his aircraft to fly over to Floyd Bennett Field, N.Y., as the runways were Douglas Corrigan’s Curtiss Robin, circa 1937. (Photo from the Gerald Balzer collection, AAHS archives) 302 American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Winter 2019 This cartoon entitled “Whatta They Mean – It was a Solo Flight!” appeared in the Washington Daily News, July 19, 1938. Twenty-eight hours and 13 minutes later on July 18, 1938, completing 3,150 miles flying Douglas Corrigan landed at Baldonnel Aerodrome, outside Dublin, Ireland, asking “I just came from New York. Where am I?” After the initial surprise customs officials requested his papers. He had none. They requested his passport, and he did not have one. Corrigan insisted he thought he was flying to California, he stated: “I was at 6,000 Washington Post photos published July 19, 1938, showing Corrigan preparing feet in the clouds all the time and my compass for his “return” flight to California. “Unfortunately” his compass “malfunctioned” was broken, which caused me to misread it, causing him to end up in Ireland instead. and I did not see land for more than 26 hours, until I saw the coast and mountains.” longer. Corrigan then filed a return flight plan from New York He was very lucky to complete the flight to Long Beach, Calif., and requested permission to take off as the fuel leak re-occurred in the cabin with fuel wetting his at 1am, saying “he wanted to cross the California desert in feet; he used a screwdriver to punch a hole in the cabin floor to the early morning.” The early takeoff was rejected and re- drain away from the engine exhaust to avoid an explosion. He scheduled for daybreak. landed with 40 gallons of fuel in his tanks. He purchased 320 gallons of fuel and fueled the airplane Although a slightly shorter distance Corrigan had completed himself. He also contacted the Weather Bureau for a report on the Atlantic crossing in approximately five hours less than his flight to the West Coast. His provisions for the flight were Charles Lindbergh to Paris in “The Spirit of St. Louis”. two chocolate bars, two boxes of Fig bars and a quart of water, the only map he carried was in a westerly direction. Only a few people were present at 5:15 a.m. on July 17, 1938, when Douglas Corrigan dressed in a leather jacket, light shirt and pants took off in his Curtiss Robin weighing 3,800 lbs from Floyd Bennett Field on his return flight to Long Beach, California. Because there was a fog that morning airport authorities had told him to take off towards the east and then make a turn west over the ocean. The administration building was located off the end the west-facing runways and authorities were very concerned he might not get off the ground. The installation of the extra fuel tanks blocked his forward view and he could only see out the side of the aircraft.
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