1932 SUPER, SIGNIFICANT ORIGINAL TYPED MANUSCRIPT LOG BOOK DETAILING AN EARLY AVIATION EVENT OF STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT IN AN OPEN AIR BI-PLANE BY AN EARLY AVIATION PIONEER AND GREAT FRIEND OF CHARLES LINDBERGH

Katz Fine Manuscripts Verified independent store

→

On offer is a superb and quite rare logbook detailing a cross-continent flight in an open-air biplane. Measuring 11 inches by 8 inches, the log book contains 19 typed pages plus 2 pages of orders The log book has a hard bound cover and it is in excellent condition. It is one of only five copies made. The log details a cross-country flight in 1932 in a two-seat open-cockpit BT-2B Douglas biplane, by First Lieutenant Air Corps Charles Dawson McAllister and Captain Gaylord S. Gilbert, Cavalry, National Guard. The flight was a training flight authorized by the chief of the Air Corps via Special Orders No. 188. Its purpose was to attend the Legion Convention in Portland OR. The flight log describes the details of their flight and personal reactions in a very informal, sometimes humorous style. Includes a page detailing takeoff and landing points, times of arrival and departure, miles and time in the air for each leg of the journey. Tucked inside is an article from Purdue's alumni magazine The Triad, published March 1933, describing the flight; the article has two photographs. Charles Dawson McAllister (1896-1997) was born in Logansport, Indiana. He entered the military service in May 1917 and served in WWI as a lieutenant in infantry. He later graduated from Purdue; at one time, he was head of the Purdue Alumni Association. In 1924 he transferred to the Air Corps and eventually became Chief, Electrical Unit Engineering Section of the Air Corps. In the 1940s he ran the country's only B-24 training program. McAllister had a storied flying career. Before retiring as a colonel, he flew 6,200 hours for the Army. He also flew 5000 hours in his own planes - including a 19,000-mile trip to the southern tip of South America. McAllister was associated with a young Charles Lindbergh. On March 26, 1925 McAllister and Lindbergh, who were both in flight school, were involved in a much-reported mid-air plane collision out of Kelly Field. At the time, McAllister was an officer and Lindbergh only a cadet. The two, along with an instructor, were on a three-plane training maneuver, during which Lindbergh, according to McAllister, hit McAllister's plane. Both safely bailed out. The two had a relationship which continued over the years. He passed away in 1997 at the age of 102. Co-pilot Gilbert graduated from law school in Louisville, KY and was a captain of cavalry in the Kentucky National Guard. Casual research did not turn up any additional biographical information on Gilbert. They flew a BT 2B Douglas biplane. Built as an observation aircraft for the United States Army in the 1920's, this was a very reliable plane. The Douglas Aircraft Company was founded in 1921. In 1967, it merged with McDonnell Aircraft to become McDonnell Douglas. In 1997, McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing Aircraft. The flight detailed in the logbook began and ended at Wright Field, Dayton, OH. They took off on September 7, 1932, and made 10 stops along the way -- Minneapolis Municipal Airport, Minneapolis, MN; Great Falls Municipal Airport, Great Falls MT; Boeing Field, Seattle, WA; Pearson Field, Portland, OR; Crissy Field, San Francisco, CA; Clover Field, Santa Monica, CA; March Field, Riverside, CA; Phoenix Airport, Phoenix AZ;, Biggs Field, El Paso, TX; and Fort Sill, OK. They returned to Wright Field on September 21, 1932. The log was written mostly by Gilbert. In addition to flight and navigation details, Gilbert makes frequent personal comments. September 7th - Wednesday 9:30 A.M (E.S.T.) left Wright Field, Ohio; weather - perfect. Wind - north. Temperature - mild. 12:15 P.M. (C.S.T.) left CHICAGO Terrain flat to MT. HOREB WIS. Good landing. Then rough rolling to LACROSSE. Poor Landing. Weather - prefect. Average calm, flying low all the way, under 1000 feet to take advantage of wind Rough over Wisconsin. I had apple pie too early this morning. May not keep it. Just got rid of apple pie, etc., over WISCONSIN…I climbed up to 3000 feet altitude where it was smooth but wind too strong to make speed... September 8th - Thursday 9:50 A. M. We are cruising at 112 mph and compass reads two points north of west. Over the plains now. There is a nice herd of cattle. I will have these notes typed when I return to the office with extra copies. I am passing the note book forward to MAC. Maybe he wants to say whether or not this country is worth fighting for September 9th - Friday It was too rough to do any writing in the plane yesterday P.M. but I will try to describe in a very few words our experience over the ROCKIES at the CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. About 3:30 P.M., we were flying due west at 5000 feet over the desert of SOUTHERN MONTANA. We had taken off our jackets and opened our shirts, trying to keep cool through the desert climate. Just as we were nearing the foothills a "LINE-SQUALL" struck us and the ship dropped several feet and then twisted right and left and up and down. MAC's life belt was unfastened and he was trying to control the ship with one hand and fasten his belt with the other. This air disturbance lasted for several minutes immediately we encountered a 65 mile wind from the northwest. The air was exceedingly rough and we were tossed up and down, right and left. We continued fighting this storm for over an hour with the nose of the 'plane pointing northwest into the storm but the 'plane actually travelling a due westwardly course. It seemed to me that the 'plane was hardly moving. For another one and one half hours we continued to freeze and fight that windstorm 9000 feet over the rocky peaks of the CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. Arriving at the convention in Portland, OR, Gilbert comment on the outstanding hospitality: I never saw a CONVENTION CITY give so much away free to the VETS as PORTLAND did this year ... [p7] The log details some of the activities in which they participated and them documents their return trip to Wright Field. There is a summary of the flight data for each 'leg' of the journey. And, on the last page, Gilbert identifies who received each of the 5 copies of this log. This is a rare and valuable document that provides an excellent 'cockpit view' of the state of flying in 1932. The dry flight data is accompanied by the wry and frequently humorous comments that Gilbert makes in his entries. An aviation historian would find this log a goldmine of information about this plane - only one of which exists today. A geographer would appreciate the detailed descriptions of the terrain they flew over, much of it a low altitudes.; Manuscript; 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, CHARLES DAWSON MCALLISTER; GAYLORD GILBERT; LEGION CONVENTION PORTLAND OR 1932; BT-2B DOUGLAS; DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT COMPANY; MCDONNELL DOUGLAS; BOEING, EARLY FLIGHT, CROSS CONTINENTAL AIRPLANE FLIGHT, CHARLES LINDBERGH, OPEN COCKPIT, OPEN AIR BIPLANE, AEROPLANES, TRAINING FLIGHT, AVIATION PIONEERS, AMERICANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, DIARY, DIARIES, JOURNALS, PERSONAL HISTORY, SOCIAL HISTORY, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL Show more