SUPERB WWI Aviator photos, painted fabric--VC winner

[grimble-nibitz]

From a great WWI Aviator's lot come these unpublished photos...the men in them are all famous for one reason or another, these are taken c. 1919, and one image has been positively ID'ed as an unpublished photo of Ace South African RAF pilot Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor (54 kills, if you please). He comes first...then all the other guys, who I cannot ID but are important enough to be photographed with this Victoria Cross winner...any ideas about them?

[grimble-nibitz]

More unidentified pilot images...the first wears the French Made flat bullion wing often seen from men who attended the 3rd Aviation Center at Issoudon. I love images that do NOT follow rules, just to show those who are too concerned with the manual--he still wears signal corps brass and the war is over...2 terms overseas too, but still the crossed flags. More to come.

[grimble-nibitz]

Still more pilots, does anyone recognize these guys?

[grimble-nibitz]

And still more...

[grimble-nibitz]

And now the painted fabric...WWI noseart, being toyed with by the guys who flew them. I love it.

[grimble-nibitz]

Are those bullet holes on the plane with the dice in the last reply? More here.

[R Michael]

Awesome set of photos! Very good quality if I may add.

 

Mike

[Terry K.]

Really great pics! Did anyone notice the second man in #2 is standing in front of what looks like a German Fokker with lozenge camo?

Terry

[grimble-nibitz]

Yes, its a german plane with lozenge pattern for sure, I will attach a full image of it from another shot. I wonder why they have gathered all these planes in one place? I will attach 4 of that plane and 2 more of interest afterwards. ANY ID'S???

[grimble-nibitz]

2 More of the 'enemy'

[grimble-nibitz]

Fish Scale pattern camo, and a pilot making out with his plane...an unusual fetish.

[Terry K.]

Most likely at end of war and surrendered planes.

Nice pics.

Terry

[chris3bs]

From a great WWI Aviator's lot come these unpublished photos...the men in them are all famous for one reason or another, these are taken c. 1919, and one image has been positively ID'ed as an unpublished photo of Ace South African RAF pilot Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor (54 kills, if you please). He comes first...then all the other guys, who I cannot ID but are important enough to be photographed with this Victoria Cross winner...any ideas about them?

 

Is that an oceanliner in the background behind the aviator. Wonder what the name of it was?

[R Michael]

I really got a kick out of the photo showing the pilot thumbing his nose! :thumbsup:

 

Mike

2 More of the 'enemy'

[aef1917]

Those DVII serial numbers turn up on the list of those in US possession in 1919:

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/aircraft...mccook-usa.html

[AZSunDevil]

(L to R) Photo 1 is Capt. Anthony Beauchamp-Proctor, 84 Squadron RAF, who was then assigned to assist the Middle-West Flight of the Victory Loan Flying Circus (VLFC) during their tour of the Midwest, April-May 1919. All of his 54 victories were scored while flying SE-5as. Location/date unknown. Note that the “5” behind Proctor appears to be on the fin of the VLFC Middle-West Flight, Curtiss JN-6H from the 50th Photo Section, Ellington Field.

 

Photo 2 is 1st Lieut. Donovan R. Phillips, advance agent for the VLFC Middle-West Flight, who travelled one week in advance in order to make arrangements for their flying field, police protection, gasoline, food, etc. This photo was taken in Chicago, between May 8-10, 1919, since these were their last air shows of their tour and Phillips no longer needed to travel ahead. Note the buildings surrounding Grant Park and the thick smog.

 

Photo 3 shows 1st Lieut. Leland R. Hewitt, a VLFC Middle-West Flight, SE-5 pilot. Location/date unknown.

 

Photo 4 shows 1st Lieut. Frank B. Estill, a Middle-West Flight Curtiss pilot, standing alongside Fokker D.VII 8525. Location and date also appears to be Chicago, May 8-10, 1919. Photo 5 shows 2nd Lieut. Edward H. Hill with goggles over his flight helmet, a Middle-West Flight Curtiss pilot. Location/date unknown. Photo 6 shows Capt. Howard H. Powell, Grant Park, Chicago, May 8-10, 1919. Powell flew mostly Curtiss JN-4Hs on the Middle-West Flight tour.

 

Photo 7 shows Capt. Thomas C. Traill, an 8-victory ace with 20 Squadron RAF, the other British ace on the VLFC Middle-West Flight tour. Location/date unknown. Photo 8 group photo, Wichita, May 1, 1919. (L to R) front, 1st Lieut. George H. Belser (Fokker pilot), 2nd Lieutenant Alvin M. St. John (Spad pilot), 2nd Lieutenant Grafton Wiggins (Photographic Officer), 1st Lieutenant J. M. Sullivan (Lecturer and Assistant),1st Lieutenant Harry C. Roberts (Jenny pilot kneeling behind Sullivan). Standing L to R: 2nd Lieutenant Charles M. Potter (Photo pilot), 1st Lieutenant P. E. MacGregor (Recruiting Officer), 1st Lieutenant Leland R. Hewitt (SE-5 pilot), 2nd Lieutenant Edward H. Hill (Jenny pilot).

 

Photo 9 shows Capt. Howard H. Powell tweaking the tail of the black cat on the JN-4H “Black Cat” Jenny. This was also the insignia of the 163rd Aero Squadron, which served very briefly in France at the end of the war (slightly modified then with bomb underneath the cat), flying DH-4s. Seen behind the pilot’s cockpit is M.E. Emmett Wood, Flying School Detachment, Kelly Field, Texas. Location is Shreveport, May 6, 1919, although the air show was rained out there, after which their train went to Chicago.

 

Photo 10 shows 1st Lieut. Leland R. Hewitt admiring his dice painted on SE-5 C.8747. The other side had 6 and 5 dice painted on it. Location, Wichita, May 1, 1919. What you see on the fuselage is the wear and tear from setting the airplanes up every day, and then breaking them down to load them back onto railroad baggage cars, starting from April 11, 1919 in Jackson, MS. The paint is chipped and the fabric is stretched.

 

Photo 11 shows 1st Lieut. Paul A. Smith (Curtiss pilot), standing along the left rear of the “Black Cat” Jenny where there was a witch riding a broom. This insignia was probably black. Note the light blue diamonds on top of the fuselage, which extended from the tailplane to pilot’s cockpit. Location, Shreveport, May 6, 1919.

 

Photo 12 shows Fokker D.VII 8538, one of five Fokkers the VLFC Middle-West Flight brought with them on their month-long tour of the Midwest. All of them were taken from a cohort of factory-new machines manufactured by the Ostdeutche Albatros Werke, and accepted by the U.S. Air Service at Coblenz, Germany on January 1, 1919, in accordance with the Armistice agreement. Location/date unknown.

 

Photo 15 shows 1st Lieut. Paul A. Smith snubbing his nose at Fokker D.VII 8503 in Kansas City on April 30, 1919, after it was unloaded from the Pullman end door baggage car behind him. Photo 16 shows the rudder of the Curtiss JN-6H Photo Ship, from the 50th Photo Section. If you saw the entire rudder, you would see a woman holding an aerial camera. Because of the light reflection, you can’t tell that the rudder is actually painted a dark red and the woman is painted either white or a light blue.

 

Photo 17 shows the “Dragon Jenny,” the most ornately painted of the four Curtiss JN-4Hs flown by the VLFC Middle-West Flight in April-May 1919. The scales were red, the intervening lines were light blue, and the eye was white. I have a multitude of better photos of this ship. Location and date unknown. And finally, the one photo I don’t have that I would like to somehow obtain a good copy of to study further is Photo 14. I do, however, already have 600 dpi copies of 8 of these 17 photos.

[kammo-man]

Awsome pictures!!!

Really enjoyed them

Thanks for posting

Owen

 

 

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