1 FLIGHTPLAN! A VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER FOR VOLUNTEERS Your Newsletter Staff- Co-Editors: Ann Trombley, [email protected] Katha Lilley, [email protected] Feature writers: Bob Peterman, Spencer Vail, Bob Osborn, Bruce Anderson, Earl Scott , John Jennings, Lynn Gelinas Contributors: Don Trombley, Jim Lilley Guest Contributors: Melba Smith, Bob Ruck, Wayne Swanson FEBRUARY 2013 Volume Issue9 2 “A Volunteer Newsletter by Volunteers” by Newsletter Volunteer “A FLIGHTPLAN ! FLIGHTPLAN EVERGREEN AVIATION & SPACE MUSEUM 2 FLIGHTPLAN! A VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER FOR VOLUNTEERS ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE. BUT A LITTLE CHOCOLATE NOW AND THEN DOESN’T HURT. CHARLES M. SCHULTZ 2- Marlene Lee FEBRUARY 3- Alexander Dondaville BIRTHDAYS 3- Jack Dowty 3- Steve Thomson 3- Roger Weeks Our Mission- 4-Wesley Lawson 16- Michael Bell 4- John Persha 18- Nick (Walter) Majure 4- Sylvia Morley 18- Marlane Wood To inspire 5- Jack Burock 19- Elinore Henderson and educate 5- George Heimos 20- Lee Danielson 6- Bruce Bothwell 20- Mary Lou Lunde To promote and 6- Dick Johnson 21- Michael Eastes preserve aviation 8- Terry Dickerson 22- Myron Cline and space history 8- Dee Hemmendinger 23- Matthew Lowry 9- Hal Augee 23- Dick Wood To honor the 9- Edward Shellenbarger 24- Dave Reitz patriotic service of 11-Erich Hintz 24-James Winters our veterans 11- Loren Otto 25- David Hatfield 11- Lois Berry 25- Ray Mader 12- Rod Church 26- Vivian Peterson 12- John Holliday 27- Wayne Swanson 12- Ed Onstott 28- Ron Toxler 13- CM Stordahl 28- Larry Smith 14- Dwayne Cole 31- Jim Hermans 14- Robert Ames Is your Birthday missing from the list??? Send an email to Katha Lilley [email protected] 3 FLIGHTPLAN! A VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER FOR VOLUNTEERS tin’s seaplanes and had it shipped getting his hair cut in San Diego, back to his home in Seattle. At the when the barber mentioned that same time, Bill Boeing hired away the “town’s aviator” was in jail for Glenn’s personal mechanic. Later, smuggling Chinese illegals up from after Boeing’s seaplane crashed in Mexico. Claude found out that if he Puget Sound, he placed an order replaced the pilot “sitting in the to Martin for replacement parts. pokey,” he would be able to lease BOB’S BANTER Still chafing from having his best the town’s airfield for $50 a month mechanic “swiped,” (a trick he later – BUT he also needed to agree to often used himself), Martin decided fly North and East – BUT not to take his sweet time and allowed South! EARLY AMERICAN Bill Boeing to “stew” for a while. Bill Northrop’s original location was AVIATION HISTORY Boeing wasn’t known to be a pa- an obscure Southern California tient man and began fabricating his hotel. It was available because the own aircraft parts -- an activity that police had raided the hotel and morphed into constructing entire found that its steady residents How many of you know that in airplanes and eventually the Boe- were money-minded gals enter- 1910, mighty Martin Marietta got ing Company we know today. taining transitory male hotel its start in an abandoned California A former small shipyard nick- guests. church? That’s where Glenn L. named “Red Barn” became Boeing Source: Denham S. Scott, Martin with his amazing mother, Aircraft’s first home. Soon, a cou- North American Aviation Retiree’s Minta Martin, and their mechanic ple of airplanes were being built Bulletin Roy Beal constructed a fragile bi- inside, each of them having a re- Continued in the March 2013 plane that Glenn taught himself to markable resemblance to Glenn issue of Flightplan fly. Martin’s airplanes…that, interest- BOB OSBORN Needing more space Martin ingly, had its own remarkable re- moved to a vacant apricot cannery semblance to Glenn Curtiss’ air- Questions, comments: in Santa Ana. He was a showman, planes. [email protected] traveling the county fair and air A few years later, when the meet circuit as an exhibitionist Great Depression intervened and aviator. From his exhibition pro- Boeing couldn’t sell enough air- ceeds, Glenn was able to pay his planes to pay the bills, he diversi- factory workers and purchase the fied into custom-built speedboats necessary wood, linen, and wire. and furniture for his wealthy His mother, Minta, and two men friends. After WW I, a bunch of ran the factory while he risked his sharpies from Wall Street gained neck and gadded about the coun- control of the Wright Brothers Co. try. One of his workers was 22- in Dayton and the Martin Company year old Donald Douglas who was in L.A. and “stuck” them together the entire engineering department. as the Wright-Martin Company. A Santa Monica youngster named It has often been told how Larry Bell who later founded Bell Douglas Aircraft started operations Aircraft, which today is Bell Heli- in 1920 in a barbershop’s back- copter Textron, ran the shop. room on L.A.’s Pico Blvd. Interest- Another part of Glenn Martin’s ingly, the barbershop is still operat- business was a flying school with ing. The Lockheed Company built several planes based at Griffith the first of their famous Vegas in Park and a seaplane operation on 1927 inside a building currently the edge of Watts where his in- used by Victory Cleaners at 1040 structors taught a rich young man Sycamore in Hollywood. named Bill Boeing to fly. Later In 1922, Claude Ryan, a 24- Boeing bought one of Glenn Mar- year-old military reserve pilot, was 4 FLIGHTPLAN! A VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER FOR VOLUNTEERS ROSCOE TURNER publicity; complete with a cub-sized search I came away with a completely parachute, Turner would frequently different opinion than that of my take “Gilmore” on tour with him. grandfather, and I now have another Who are your heroes of the 20th cen- Roscoe also had an eye for busi- hero to add to my book of famous tury? ness. His Nevada Airlines would fly aviators. When asked a question like that, wealthy passengers throughout the Bob Ruck my head spins because the last cen- Reno, Nevada, area. He was granted References: Carroll V. Glines; Roscoe tury produced so many people who, the title of Colonel in the Nevada Na- Turner; Smithsonian Institution Press, because of their experiments and tional Guard by the Governor of Ne- 1995 through their work during their time in vada for his efforts. 1.” Indianapolis Auto greats”. Cele- the service, had a profound impact on During Turner's air racing career, brating Automotive Heritage at Crown our lives. he set the east to west transcontinen- Hill Cemetery. 2011. Retrieved 2012- The name Roscoe Turner may not tal airspeed record at 12 hours and 33 09-10. be one of the first names that comes minutes, from New York to Burbank, 2. “Browse Object Collections- Turner to mind if at all, but he went on to California, on November 14, 1930, two RT-14 Meteor”. Retrieved 26 Septem- make his mark in aviation. As a hours and 17 minutes faster than the ber 2011. young boy in a family of pilots, I saw previous year's winner Frank Hawks. External links: Roscoe the Lion- plenty of aviation publications. One He also won the Bendix Trophy in contained a picture of an aviator hold- hearted 1933 and the Thompson trophy in ing a lion cub while standing next to 1934, 1938, and 1939. He retired from an airplane. I asked my grandfather if racing after the 1939 Thompson race he knew who this man was. He gave a stating that, at age 44, he was too old short chuckle, “That's Roscoe Turner”, to race. then he went on to explain, “Oh, he is Turner established a flying school just an actor, a showman.” The pilot during World War II, ultimately training was wearing a German uniform. My some 3,000 pilots. He was also asso- new mission was to find out why Ros- ciated with the Porterfield Airplane coe Turner was famous for more than Company in Kansas City, Missouri. his picture holding a lion cub. For a time, Porterfield aircraft were Roscoe was born September 29, marketed as Porterfield-Turners. 1895, lived an exciting life, and died Later in life, Turner founded the on June 23, 1970. Roscoe became Roscoe Turner Aeronautical Corp. a interested in aircraft in 1913. When large fixed-base operator in Indian- America entered World War I, he ap- apolis, Indiana. In 1947, the Civil plied for flight training but was turned Aeronautics Board granted authority down because he did not have a col- to operate Turner Airlines, later lege education. Because of his back- named Lake Central Airlines. He was ground with automobiles, he was also an honorary official with the Indi- given driver duties in the Army. As anapolis 500 car race for many years. the need for pilots grew, the education In 1952, Roscoe Turner was requirements were lowered; and he awarded the Distinguished Flying was trained as a balloon observer. Cross by the US Congress However, he trained privately to re- for his contributions to aviation. That ceive his aircraft pilot rating. same year Gilmore the lion died. His Roscoe was discharged as a First body was stuffed, mounted, and put Lieutenant in 1919; with his discharge on display in the Turner home. Cur- pay, he purchased a surplus aircraft rently, Gilmore is owned and spent the 1920's barnstorming. by the Smithsonian Institution who He also worked for a time as a stunt keeps him preserved in cold storage. pilot for the movies. His Sikorsky S-29 Roscoe was inducted into the Mo- stood in for a German bomber in How- torsports Hall of Fame of America in ard Hughes movie Hell's Angels.