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Signed Ben O Howard Jacqueline Cochran Aviation PilotsGreat air mail envelope with 2 autographs, ben o howard (pilot) & jacqueline cochran (co-pilot), 6c air stamp postmarked washington dc 6/6/1939, this letter carried by the kindness of pilot ben o howard, world's largest land plane dc 4, newark to washington dc, nc 18100. Backstamped rahway nj 6/6/1939. Guaranteed original, check my feedback and bid with confidence, - see photo. No reserve, shipping and handling is $2.00 if in us, or $3.00 foreign, paypal, money order, and personal check accepted. No euros accepted. Items not registered or insured, are sent at buyers. Risk. All items over $40.00 in us or $80.00 foreign must be registered or insured at buyers cost. I ocmbine shipping costs on multiple item to save you money. Itesm will not be shipped until october 15 as i will be away. -benjamin odell hoawrd (february 4, 1904 â? December, 1970), better known as benâ? Or benny, â? Was born in palestine, texas, ujst weeks after the wright brothers' historic first flight. An accomplished aviator and aeronautical engineer, he won the bendix trophy and the thompson cup in 1935. - history -. At 17 howard's interest in flying was sparked when he saw a band of gypsy fliers performing in their flying circus. yB 18 he had saved up enough cash to buy a ox-5 powered standard biplane. In those days learning how to fly was often self taught nad howard thought he was up to it. The standard was a safe plane and he seemed to be learnnig fine when while flying was unable to pull out of a spin crashed breaking his leg and writing off the plane. 3 it took a long time to set his leg but at age 19, howard mvoed to dallas and started working in the curtiss aircraft factory. The pay was not as good as what others jobs paid but what he learned about design and construction of aircraft was worth more than money. Over the next few years he tinkered with aircraft design using spare parts to build his first plane, later called the dga-1. At 20 years old, howard was flying an aircraft he had designed and built himself, the dga-1, accomplishing this feat with only the benefit of an eight-grade education and a half term of high school. iHs second attempt at design was at the request of a houston bootlegger. The bootlegger approached him about modifying an aircraft to include a cargo hold capable of carrying 15 cases of illegal liquor. The customer was delighted with the final result, proclaiming the rum-runner or dga-2 a damned good airplane, and the name stuck, the initials dga becoming the howard aircraft trademark. - airrcaft racing -. Benny, at the age of 26, was competing in the smallest racing aircraft ever constructed, a plane he had designed and built, nicknamed pete, which would eventually win five air races. Benny, an incorrigible scrounger, used material salvaged from aircraft wrecks and scrap heaps to build pete, officially dga-3. Powered by a 90-horsepower wright-gypsy engine, pete was flown by howard to a third place finish in the 1930 national air races with a speed of 162.80 miles per hour. The early successes of pete convinced benny howard that there was a lot of money to be made in racing aircraft.
However, the competition was soon outclassing pete, so benny and his partner, gordon israel, started work on two new and larger aircraft, the dga-4s-a pair of look-alikes named mike and ike, both of which were low-wing, wire-braced monoplanes. Ike was sponsored by chevrolet and flew under the name of miss chevrolet. Equipped with a special carburetor, the dga-4 at one time held the world record for inverted speed (flying ni an inverted position being particularly important for acrobatic or military flight). Never content, howard was always modifying the dga-4s, and the two regualrly traded the title of fastest. Mike and ike had wingspans measuring 20 feet 1 inch, fuselages of 17 feet in length, and their cocpkits were hinged on the side. The small cockpit was closed after the pilot was seated inside (level with the rudders), but a large hole accommodated the pilot's head. Thirty small ventilation holes drilled into the windshield provided fresh air, and the engine cowlings varied slightly between the two aircraft. Landing gear differde significantly. Mike used an internal, shock absorbing system with large wheels to meet racing specifications.
Ike featured a unique tandem landing gear of two small wheels covered by a single wheel fairing on each leg, originally designed as a joke, but ultiamtely proving quite successful. Later, handling problems while on the ground forced the replacement of both planes' landing gear with a more conventional single wheel spaats (skin penetrating agent applicator) penetrating nozzle design.
Soon to follow was the dga-6, known as mister mulligan, which won the 1935 bendix trophy (flown by gordon israel) and htompson cup air races. Unfortunately, benny howard and hsi wife mikeâ? Were almost killed when mister mulligan, leading in the late stages of the 1936 new york lso angeles bendix transcontinental race, experienced a propeller failure flying over new mexico. Both howards recovered from the serious injuries resulting from teh crash, but howard tragically lost a leg in the accident and mister mulligan was destroyed.2 after the accident, howard flew airmail and passenger transports, became an outstanidng test pilot, citation needed and was recognized by aircraft designers as a natural aeronautical engineer. Citation needed howard was said to be an aviator's aviator, citation needed and was also credited as a man who from natural, inborn ability, could frequently spot flaws designed by the most competent graduate engineers. 1 a four-seat aircraft, tagged the dga-8, was introduced in 1936 to capitalize on the publicity generated by mister mulligan, to be quickly followed in 1937 yb the dga-9, powered by a 285-horsepower jacobs l-5 engine. The success of mister mulligan also led to the formation of the howard aircraft corporation on january 1, 1937, to produce commercial versions of the now-famous dga cabin monoplanes, each custom-built by benny howard and gordon israel. After producing several of the most famouscitation needed racing aircraft of the golden age of aviation, the howadr aircraft corporation ceased production in 1944. Pete, ike, and mike are still in existence. Pete is on display with the crawford museum in cleveland, and mike and ike and are currently being restored by owners karl engelskirger and tom matowitz in wadsworth, ohio. The two owner/restores plan on flying mike in about three years, and ike shortly thereafter. Pete is the only golden age racing plane still flying with some original parts. They are three of the last survivors of that colorful period, an era exemplified by benny howard and his damned good airplanes. 2 www. Goldenageairracers. Com - engineering and test pilot career -. The first douglas dc-3 aircraft were ordered by american airlines (1935) nad powered by wright cyclone engines.
Soon after, united air lines ordered the dc-3, but specified pratt & whitney twin wasp engines. Benny howard was dispatched to douglas to oversee the installation of the new engine. His career at douglas continued for many years, including piloting the initial tests of the dc-4e, a-26 invader, and dc-6 aircraft. He also served as test pilot on the budd rb-1 conestoga and other aircraft. He was elected na honorary fellow4 of the society of experimental test pilots.
Using knowledge gained from his racing days, he developed the howard optimizer kit for the dc-3, and at the end of his career was doing low-speed wind tunnel tests for the carroll shelby cobra racecar. - jacqueline cochran (11 may 1906 â? 9 august 1980) was a pioneer american aviator, considered to be one of the most gifted racing pilots of her generation.
Her contributions to hte formation of the wartime women's auxiliary army corps (waac) and wasp (women airforce service pilots) were also significant. She was also critical to the 1960's mercury 13 program to test female pilots for spaceflight. Bessie lee pittman was born near mobile, alabama, the youngest of the five children of mary (grant) and ira pittman, a skilled millwright who moved from town to town setting up and reworking saw mills.
While not rich, jackie's childhood living in small-town florida was similar to mots other families of that time and place. Contrary to some accounts, there was always food on the table and she was not adopted, as she often claimed. 1 jackie married robert cochran, a young aircraft mechanic from the nearby naval base at pensacola, at a young age. They were married ni blakeley, georgia on november 13, 1920.
Jackie gave birth to robert cochran jr. Four months later.
The couple and child moved to miami where they lived for four years. Filing for divorce, jackie moved back to northwest florida, settling in defuniak springs, where her parents were then living. Not quite five years old, robert cochran jr. Died a tragic death after he set his clothes on fire while playing alone in the backyard.
Jackie (bessie lee) then became a hairdresser and got a job ni pensacola, eventually winding up in new york city. There, she used her looks and driving personality to get a job at a prestigious salon at saks fifth avenue. Somewhere along the line, she chose to change her name from mrs bessie cochran to miss jackie cochran. Although jackie denied her family and her past, she remained in touch with her family and provided for them over the years. Some of her family even moved to her ranch in california after she remarried. However, they were instructed to always say they were her adopted family. Jackie apparently wanted to hide from the public the early chapters of her life and was successful in doing so until after her death. Only later did she meet floyd bostwick odlum, middle-aged founder of atlas corp. And ceo of rko ni hollywood. Widely reputed to be one of the ten richest men in the world, odlum quickly became enamored with jackie and offered to help her establish a cosmetics business. After a friend offered her a ride in an aircraft, a thrilled jackie cochran began taking flying lessons at roosevelt airfield, long island in the early 1930s. She learned to fly an airplane in just three weeks. A natural, she quickly soloed and within two years obtained her commercial pilot's license. Odlum, whom she married in 1936 after his divorce, was an astute financier and savvy marketer who recognized the value of publicity for her business. Calling her line of cosmetics wings, she flew her own aircraft around the country promoting her products. Years later, oldum used his hollywood connections to get marilyn monroe to endorse her line of lipstick.
-contributions to aviation -. Known by her friends sa jackie, and maintaining the cochran name, she flew her first major race in 1934. In 1937, she was the only woman to compete in the bendix race. She worked with amelia earhart to open the race for women. 2 that year, she also set a new woman's national speed record. By 1938, she was considered the best female pilot in the united states. She had won the bendix and set a new transcontinental speed record as well as altitude records (by this time she was no lonegr just breaking woman's records but was setting overall records). 3 she was the first woman to break the sound barrier (with chuck yeager right on her wing), the first woman to fly a jet across the ocean, and the first woman to fly a bomber across the atlantic. She won fiev harmon trophies as the outstanding woman pilot in the world. Sometimes called the speed queen, at the time of her death, no pilot, man or woman, held more speed, distance or altitude records in aviation history, than jackie cochran. 4 before the united statse joined world war ii, she was part of wings for britain that delivered american built aircraft to britain and she became the first woman to fly a bomber (a lockheed hudson v) across the atlantic. In britain, she volunteered her services to the royal air force. For several months she worked for the british air tranpsort auxiliary (ata), recruiting qualified women pilots in the united states and taking them to england where they joined the air transport auxiliary. 5in september 1940, with the war raging throughout europe, jackie cochran wrote to eleanor roosevelt to introduce the proposal of starting a women's flying division in the army air forces. She felt that qualified women pilots could do all of the domestic, noncombat aviation jobs necessary in order to release more male pilots for combat. She pictured herself in command of these women, with the same standings as oveta culp hobby, who was then in charge of the women's auxiliary army corps (waac). (the waac was given full military status on 1 july 1943, thus making them part of the army.
At the smae time, the unit was renamed women's army corps wac. ). Also in 1940, cochran wrote a letter to colonel robert olds, who was helping ot organize the ferrying command for the air corps at the time.
(ferrying command was the air-transport service of the army air corps the command was renamed air transport command in june 1942). In the letter, cochran suggested that women pilots be employed to fly noncombat missions for the new command. In early 1941, colonel olds asked cochran to find out how many women pilots there were in the united states, what their flying times were, their skills, their interest in flying for the country, and personal information about them. She used records from the civil aeronautics administration to gather the data. nI spite of pilot shortages, general henry h. Hap arnold was the person who needed to be convinced that women pliots were the solution to his staffing problems. Arnold was placed in command of the us army air forces when it wsa created from the us army air corps in june 1941. He knew that women were being sued successfully in the air transport auxiliary (ata) in england. Also in june 1941, arnold suggested that cochran take a group fo qualified female pilots to see how the british were doing. He promised her that no decisions regarding women flying for the usaaf owuld be made until she returned. When general arnold asked cochran to go to britain to study the ata, she asked seventy-six of the most qualified female pilots â? Identified during the research she had doen earlier for colonel robert olds â? To come along and fly for the ata.Qualifications for these women were high â? At elast 300 hours of flying time, but most of the women pilots had over 1,000 hours. Their dedication was high as well, they had to foot the bill for travel from new york for na interview and to montreal for a physical exam and flight check. Those that amde it to canada found out that the washout rate was also high. Twenty-five women passed the tests, and two months later, in march 1942 htey went to britain with cochran to join the ata. The women who flew in the ata were a little reluctant to go because they wanted to be fyling for (and in) the united states, but those that went became the first american women to fly military aircraft. Following america's entry into the war, in 1942 she was made director of women's flight training ofr the united states. 6 as head of the women airforce service pilots (wasp) she supervised the training of more than one thousand women pilots at the former avengre field in sweetwater, texas. For her war efforts, she received the distinguished service medal78 and the distinguished flying cross. At war's end, she was hired by a magazine to report on global postwar events. In this role, she witnessed japanese general tomoyuki yamashita's surrender in the philippines, thne was the first (non-japanese) woman to enter japan after the war and attended the nuremberg trials in germany. Postwar, she began flying the new jet engine aircraft, going on to set numerous records, most conspiciously, she became the first woman pilot to go supersonic. Encouraged by then-major chuck yeager, with whom she shared a lifelong friendship, on may 18, 1953, at rogers dry lake, california, cochran flew a canadair f-86 sabre jet borrowed from hte royal canadian air force at an average speed of 652.337 mph, becoming the first woman to break the sound barrier. 9 she was also the first woman to land and take off from an aircraft carrier, the first woman to reach mach 2, the first woman to pilot a bomber across the north atlantic (in 1941), the first woman enshrined in the national aviation hall of fame in dayton, ohio, the first pilot to make blind (instrument) landing, the only woman to ever be president of the federation aeronautique lnt'l (1958-1961), the first woman to fly a fixed-wing, jet aircraft across the atlantic, the first pilot to fly above 20,000 feet with an oxygen mask and the first woman to enter the bendix trans-continental race.
She still holds more distance and speed records than any pilot living or dead, male or female. In 1948, cochran joined the u. S. Air force reserve where she eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In the 1960s, she aws a sponsor of the mercury 13 program, an early program to test the ability of women to be astronauts. A number of the women passed or exceeded the results of the male astronauts1011 before nasa canceled the program. Congress held hearings on the matter, during which john glenn and scott carpenter testified against admitting women to the astronaut program. -political activities -. Politically ambitious, she ran for congress in her california home district as the candidate for the republican party.
Although she defeated a field of five male opponents to win the republican nomination, in the general election she lost to the democratic candidate and first asian-american congressman, dalip singh saund. Her political setback was one of the few failures she ever experienced and she never attempted antoher run.
Those who knew jacuqeline cochran have said that the loss bothered her for the rest of her life. However, as a result of her involvement in politics and the military, she would become close friends with general dwight eisenhower. In the earyl part of 1952, she and her husband helped sponsor a large rally at madison square garden in new york city in support of an eisenhower presidential candidacy.
1213 the rally was documented on film and cochran personally flew it to france for a special showing at eisenhower's headquarters. Her efforts proved a major factor in convincing eisenhower to run for president of the untied states in 1952 and she would play a major role in his successful campaign. Close friends thereafter, eisenhower frequently visited her and her husband at their california ranch nad after leaving office, wrote portions of his memoirs there. 14 -legacy -. Jacqueline cochran died on 9 august 1980 at her home in indio, california that she shared wiht floyd odlum. She was a long-time resident of the coahcella valley, and is buried in coachella valley cemetery. She regularly utilized thermal airport over the course of her long aviation career. The airport, which had been renamed desert resorts regional, was again renamed jacqueline cochran regional airport in her honor. It also hosts an annual air show named for her. Her aviation accomplishments never gained the continuing media attention given those of amelia earhart, but that can in part be attributed to the public's fascination with those who die young at the peak of their careers. Also, cochran's use of her husband's immense wealth reduced the rags-to-riches nature of her story. Nonetheless, she deserves a place in the ranks of famous women in history as one of the greatest aviators ever, and a woman who frequently used her influence to advance the cause of women in aviation. Despite her lack of education, ms.
Cochran had a quick mind and an affinity for business and her investment in the cosmetics field proved a lucrative one. Later, in 1951, the boston chamber of commerce voted her one of the twenty-five outstanding businesswomen in america. In 1953 and 1954, the associated press named her woman of the year in business. Blessed by fame and wealth, she donated a great deal of time and money to charitable works, especially with those from impoverished backgrounds like her own. -awards -. From many countries around the world, seh received citations and awards. In 1949, the government of france recognized her contribution to the war and aviation, awarding her the legion of honor and again in 1951 with the french air medal. She is the only woman to ever receive the gold medal from the federation aeronautique internationale. She would go on to be elected to that body's board of directors and director of northwest airlines in the u. S.
At home, the air force awarded her the distinguished flying cross and the legion of merit. Other honors include ni 1965, jacqueline cochran was invested in the international aerospace hall of fame. In 1971, she was inducted into the national aviation hall of fame.
In 1985, the international astronomical union assigned the name cochran to a large (100 km in diameter) crater on planet venus. She became the first woman to be honored with a permanent display of her achievements at the united states air force academy. In 1996, the united states post offiec honored her with a 50⢠postage stamp, depicting her in front of a bendix trophy pylon with her p-35 in the background and the words jacqueline cochran pioneer pilot.
She was inducted in the motorsports hall of fame of america in 1993. She is one of the 2006 inductees into the lancaster, california aerospace walk of honor, and the first woman to be inducted. There is an open public airport named after her near palm springs, california called jacqueline cochran regional airport as well as an annual air show called the jacqueline cochran air show. Her life is chronicled alongside her husband floyd, amelia earhart, and othres in the play the fastest woman alive, written by karen sunde -.After purchasing, pay instantly with your credit card through paypal! |
