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    Early-Day Flying in Kansas City
    Early-Day Flying in Kansas City
    Early-Day Flying in Kansas City
    Ebook174 pages1 hour

    Early-Day Flying in Kansas City

    By Ken Weyand

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    About this ebook

    "Early-Day Flying in Kansas City" is based on a trade paperback published in 1970. The original book, Aviation History in Greater Kansas City, was compiled by "Historic Aviation" magazine, edited and published by Ken Weyand, a private pilot at the time, with a keen interest in aviation history.

    Ken had met and interviewed several Kansas City aviation pioneers, and was personally acquainted with many pilots and aviation business people who played key roles in local aviation. Ken put the book together with the help of several others who shared his interest in old-time flying.

    This book begins with the area’s first balloon ascensions and dirigible events, continues with exhibition biplane flights in 1910, and follows the development of aviation with the works of tinkerers and homebuilders, early barnstormers, racers, and manufacturers. It includes the beginning of airmail service, the formation of small independent airlines, and ends with the birth of Kansas City’s transcontinental carrier, Trans World Airlines.

    Illustrated with many drawings and photos, "Early-Day Flying in Kansas City" is a must-read for everyone who appreciates flying and enjoys reliving the amazing progress of aviation in Kansas City.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKen Weyand
    Release dateOct 25, 2015
    ISBN9781310709531
    Early-Day Flying in Kansas City
    Author

    Ken Weyand

    After receiving a degree in Journalism at the University of Missouri, Kenneth Charles Weyand worked ten years for the "Kansas City Star", becoming Advertising Copy Chief. Later he published several publications, including "Discover North", a monthly history and travel newspaper. After expanding the distribution from a single county to more than nine states, Weyand sold the publication in 2001, but continued to write for the paper, renamed "Discover Vintage America". For the past ten years, he has written a monthly history and travel column, “Traveling with Ken.”"Fiddling with Friends in the 1920s: A Chautauqua Trouper’s Story" is Ken's first book, capturing the life of his mother who, as a young woman, left her small town behind for a great adventure and a chance to get a first-hand look at a changing America in the early 20th Century. A much larger book, "An Unlikely Love Story," tells the unique story of two people from vastly different backgrounds who overcame great odds to begin a new life in the country during the depths of the Depression.The author's own remembrances of a country life are recounted in "Dirt Road Diary: Recalling a Country Childhood." It picks up where “An Unlikely Love Story” leaves off, and includes a lot of country-style memories. Both books will be published in the near future.Another book, "Early-Day Flying in Kansas City", based on a similar history published in 1970 and including material not in the original book, was released in October 2015.Weyand’s passion is kayaking, particularly in Florida. He is currently working on two eBooks on kayaking, both non-fiction, and plans to release them in the near future."Lost in the Everglades and Other Florida Paddling Adventures" recalls a harrowing experience, but is balanced with other experiences that were equally adventurous but more successful. If you’re a paddler or would like to be, you’ll enjoy reading this one."A Florida Paddling Bucket List" is currently being compiled for paddlers (and would-be paddlers) looking to make the most of their free time on Florida rivers, creeks and estuaries, with helpful tips on where to launch and take out, and what to expect at each location. Factoids of local history are included.Contact Ken at kweyand1@kc.rr.com.

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      Book preview

      Early-Day Flying in Kansas City - Ken Weyand

      Early-Day Flying in Kansas City

      By Ken Weyand

      Copyright 2015 by Ken Weyand

      A Kyakker Book, in partnership with Caroline Street Press

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used in any manner

      whatsoever without the written permission of the author/publisher;

      except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

      Published By Ken Weyand

      Smashwords Edition

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      PART ONE: LIGHTER-THAN-AIR DAYS

      Kansas City’s first balloon ascension

      Horace Wild and his airship

      The balloonists’ union

      The 1911 International Balloon Race

      Kansas City’s dirigible airline

      PART TWO: EARLY FLIGHTS

      Charles K. Hamilton flies in Overland Park

      Cross-country pilots visit Kansas City

      First Kansas City-built airplane flies

      Altitude record set in Overland Park, KS

      PART THREE: BUILDERS & BARNSTORMERS

      The T-L-R Flying Circus

      Tex LaGrone, self-taught barnstormer

      Clarence Melton and his Houpisine

      The versatile Ben Gregory

      PART FOUR: THE RACERS

      Setting the stage for speed

      Art Goebel and the Dole Derby

      The Inland Sport: made in K.C.

      Benny Howard makes his mark

      Harold Neumann: a brilliant career

      Joe Jacobson: a survivor

      Bill Ong: air racer and businessman

      PART FIVE: MANUFACTURERS

      Ed Porterfield’s American Eagle

      The Rearwin story

      Evolution of the Butler Blackhawk

      Birth of the Luscombe

      Porterfield – the ‘skinny bird’

      Other manufacturers

      PART SIX: AIRLINE BEGINNINGS

      Carrying the mail

      The early independents

      The trans-continentals

      About the Author

      Introduction

      Generations of dreamers, tinkerers, and entrepreneurs combined to make Kansas City a center of aviation activity during the first half of the 20th century. It was an exciting time to be a pilot – or to even dream of being one. From the first public flying exhibitions in 1910 to the mighty fleet of TWA jets in the early 1950s, Kansas City saw aviation grow from scary barnstorming to an accepted and dependable form of transportation.

      Inspired by the accomplishments of the Wright brothers, the Glenn Curtiss team, and others, garage and basement tinkerers attempted to conquer the challenges of flight. Later, others took a variety of engines leftover from World War I, and along with some creative designs, put together small manufacturing companies. Like the plethora of automakers that flourished in the same era, most of the aircraft manufacturers failed to make it past the prototype stage.

      Many of those who succeeded were felled by the forces of nature, or thwarted by the man-made obstacles of the marketplace. But others went on to perfect new designs, establish viable companies, or make their mark in air racing. The pioneers are gone now, but many of their dreams became reality. Those of us who casually board airliners or fly in private planes from local airstrips are the beneficiaries of their careers.

      (Original book cover)

      This eBook is based on Aviation History in Greater Kansas City. A trade paperback published in the early 1970s, it was compiled by Historic Aviation magazine, which I edited and published at the time.

      In those days, I was fortunate enough to meet with and interview several of Kansas City’s aviation pioneers, and compiled the book with the help of others who shared my interest in flying and its history. Many of my evenings were spent at meetings of the OX-5 Club, an organization of pilots who had flown planes powered by the Curtiss OX-5 engine, the first American-designed, mass-produced aircraft engine. First built in 1915, the OX-5’s were used in many aircraft, including the JN-4 Jenny World War I trainer. After the war, many surplus OX-5s found their way into homebuilt and commercial airplanes.

      Most of the pilots in the organization were old men by the time I met them, and anxious to tell their stories. Unfortunately, it was a last man club, and each year the roster got smaller.

      One of the men I interviewed in those days was Ben Gregory, a fascinating man who had been an automotive engineer and inventor, as well as an aviation barnstormer. Besides developing a tiny jeep-like vehicle called the Mighty Mite for the Marine Corps during World War II, Gregory built several other vehicles, including his own sports car, which he often drove around his hometown of North Kansas City, MO.

      In the basement of his home, besides relating his flying exploits, Gregory showed me mechanical drawings of his automotive inventions, including an improved front-wheel drive system. In his early eighties, he also shared some thoughts he had on getting older. I get tired of hanging around with old farts, he exclaimed. I don’t feel like I’m old. I really enjoy being with young folks a lot more.

      Bill Ong, air racer and aviation entrepreneur, was a key member of several organizations when I first met him, including the OX-5 Club. His gruff persona and lofty credentials intimidated me at first. But he contributed articles to my struggling aviation newspaper, and as we worked together, he became an advisor and mentor. I was flattered to be asked to produce Ride the High Wind, his book of memoirs and air history.

      Another veteran pilot was living in a nursing home when I interviewed him. During our visit, he offered me a hefty sum if I would help him leave the home and find another residence. Reluctantly, I declined. However, his recollections contributed much to the original book.

      During the mid-1960s I learned to fly, bought an interest in a Luscombe tail-dragger and couple of Piper J-3 Cubs, and dabbled in aerial photography. Family responsibilities, work conflicts, and the fact I wasn’t that great a pilot convinced me to turn to other hobbies as time went on. But for a few years I published a tabloid newspaper, Pilot News, that was distributed through fixed base operators and covered Midwest flying events. I attended antique airplane and sport aviation fly-ins, and spent a week or so each summer at the EAA Convention and Fly-In at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Along with the fascinating aircraft, there were scores of interesting people and many great stories. Looking back, these were wonderful times, and I enjoyed chronicling the stories of the people who made aviation history in the Midwest and the Greater Kansas City area.

      The original book sold out most of its limited press run in a couple of years. Although the printing negatives are gone and many of the original photographs have been returned to private collections or no longer exist, I’m happy to have brought much of it back to life, with several additional stories, images and details not included in the original book.

      Several dedicated aviation historians, pilots, and others gave me invaluable assistance in compiling the original book, and I’m indebted to their work. Thomas N. Cannon served as the publisher, and stored most of the original pressrun at his home in Kansas City, KS. Nat Cassingham was my associate editor and provided much of the original research. Contributing editors included Dan McGrogan, who chronicled TWA history; Winston Golitz, an active sport and antique pilot and air history buff; John Doohan, librarian for the Kansas City Star; Arnold B. Crank, the Star’s photo editor and a pilot; and Ben H. Morrow, a pilot/historian who later worked with the FAA. Don Pratt, a noted air historian and sport aviation pilot/owner, was a valued contributor.

      This book, like its predecessor, is dedicated to the memory of the air pioneers, and to the spirit of keeping their histories alive.

      Ken Weyand

      Return to Beginning

      PART ONE: LIGHTER-THAN-AIR DAYS

      Kansas City’s first balloon ascension, 1869

      The first recorded lighter-than-air flight in Kansas City occurred July 4, 1869, when a local jeweler, H.H. Holman, thrilled a large crowd with an ascent in a hot-air balloon.

      The occasion was the completion of the Hannibal Bridge, the city’s first bridge across the Missouri River, built for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. Octave Chanute, who laid out the city’s stockyards and later would serve as an engineering advisor to the Wright brothers as they built their first aircraft, designed the structure.

      The bridge linked the town of 10,000 souls with a world of new markets between Kansas City and Chicago, and a celebration was in order. The event attracted journalists from all over, including a writer for Harpers Weekly, who wrote that the balloon ascension "attracted a crowd of 40,000 in the riverfront

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