MANAGEMENT IN AVIATION HISTORY BENCH MARKS
Frank Byerley (leſt ) and his editor, James Piersol, both worked for the Detroit News during the 1930s. Their specially designed
Lockheed Vega [NC32M] interior included a dark room to develop photographs rushed to the newspaper.
Byerley piloted this autogiro in the 1930s while a photojournalist for the Detroit News. Images from the web site of the Davis-Monthan Register [
www.dmairfield.com/register].
Eielson quit to join the Army and, like Frank Byerley, earned his pilot’s license in 1917. The war ended before Eielson could serve and he returned home. Intent on remaining in the air, he convinced his town to buy a WWI surplus Curtiss “Jenny” with which he successfully generated interest in the local commerce. Eielson was described by author Jean Potter as “restless” and unable to stay in one place very long. When the “Jenny” reached the end of its airworthiness, Eielson took a job in Washington, D.C. There he met a politician from Alaska who encouraged him to accept a teaching job in Fairbanks. Once there, Eielson became a favorite resident, endearing himself to his students and gaining the support of local offi cials for the use of a ballpark as a landing fi eld for an airplane – again purchased with town funds. With his new “Jenny” Eielson made the fi rst commercial airplane fl ight
26
DOMmagazine.com | dec 2018 | jan 2019
out of Fairbanks in 1923. He soon won a government contract and a Dehavilland aircraft with which to deliver the fi rst mail by air between Fairbanks and McGrath. Several harrowing fl ights wrecked the Dehavilland but not Eielson. Nevertheless, his mail contract was not renewed. After discouragement on several levels Eielson returned home to resume college studies, although Alaska and fl ying were never far from his mind. Without hesitation he accepted an off er in 1926 as pilot for Australian Capt. George Wilkins based in Alaska while conducting expeditions to the Arctic Ocean. Eielson and pilot, Major Thomas George Lanphier, Sr. were assigned two Fokker aircraft for the initial expedition, partially sponsored by the Detroit Aviation Society. Newspaper reporters including those from the Detroit News, descended upon Fairbanks to document the
takeoff . One reporter walked into Lanphier’s prop on the airfi eld and was decapitated. Despite the tragic delay, it is likely that Byerley and Piersol remained to document the fi nal take-off . During 1927 Wilkins relied on Eielson at the controls while he plotted navigation. They set up a base at Barrow to store supplies and, fl ying a Stinson aircraft in 1928, they became the fi rst to cross the Arctic Ocean from North America to Europe, landing in Norway. It cost Eielson the amputation of one frozen fi nger following a crash forced them on a 20-day trek to a remote, but warm cabin. That same year Eielson and Wilkins fl ew a Lockheed Vega [NX3903] over the Antarctic and continued discovering unchartered islands until 1929. With high international honors, Eielson was able to gain fi nancing and formed Alaskan Airways. Eielson’s family breathed a sigh of relief when he vowed to
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
