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Personal Correspondence, Apr. 15, 1921-May 23, 1921

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 8

Scope and Content

From the Collection:

This collection contains 44 letters, written between 1919 and 1921. While they are love letters mainly focusing on the distance between Stella and Harland, they do contain some interesting material concerning a young woman's life on McCook Field as well as events on the base.

The following is a list of some interesting events mentioned in the letters:

July 1, 1919 7 DH-4's finished trip from Dallas to Boston, 3,276 miles in 2,091 minutes for an average speed of 93.96mph. Trip uneventful until landing when 2 children were killed.

Sept. 9, 1920 Camouflaged Rollin German Plane caught fire and burned.

Sept. 13 Tank, Tractor and Trailer Division in Washington interested in air-cooled engine developed by Mr. Kettering.

Sept. 17 Commander Bellinger, who flew across the Atlantic, flew the Thomas-Morse.

Oct. 14 Mr. McNeil, a draftsman, sent to Hollbrouck Heights, N.J. where building Barling Bomber.

Oct. 15 Flew modified Briguet with American Liberty or Packard engine, testing all foreign planes with American engines.

Feb. 7, 1921 Mr. Boulton, technical advisor on aircraft wing structure feels it's a crime that "the gov't spent a fortune on the Barling Plane." Stella notes, "It does seem strange that they should have chosen Mr. Barling to do it when the only other plane he ever built had such disastrous results."

Feb. 21 Night Flying at Wilbur Wright field: Lt. Harris will fly Martin Bomber using flares.

March 8 Caproni passenger plane, 3 sets of triplanes with rudders attached to last set of wings. Powered by 8 Liberty engines developing 3,000 h.p.

March 23 Stella attended dinner at Woman's Club, Orville Wright and his sister are guests.

March 25 Debate concerning parachute jump at Rantoul Field, Ill. An officer claims to have jumped from a DH at 24,000 ft., but Lt. Harris says DH can only climb to 20,000 ft. unless it has a supercharger, only 2 superchargers at McCook Field. Record was set by Sergeant from McCook at somewhat over 19,000 ft.

March 21 Photograph of "Officers of the Engineering Division at McCook Field."

April 11 Balloon department from Ft. Crook Neb. To be moved to McCook field bringing 2 dirigibles as well as captive and free balloons.

Dates

  • Creation: Apr. 15, 1921-May 23, 1921

Creator

Restrictions on Access

There are no restrictions on accessing materials in this collection.

Extent

From the Collection: 0.5 linear feet

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Wright State University Libraries
Special Collections and Archives
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton OH 45435-0001 USA
937-775-2092