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Early pre WWII civilian flying service group


pfrost
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I recently picked up an interesting grouping of an ID bracelet and WWI style wing.  The bracelet/wing belonged to an A B Babbitt (it is beautifully engraved).  The bracelet has his name and the Aereco Flying Service of Fort Wayne Indiana on it.  This company was founded in Fort Wayne in the 1920's by a WWI pilot named "Clarence "Cap" Cornish.  Cap was an Indiana pilot whose life spanned all but five years of the Century of Flight. Born in Canada in 1898, Cornish grew up in Fort Wayne, and began flying at the age of nineteen, piloting a "Jenny" aircraft during World War I, and continued to fly for the next seventy-eight years. In 1995, at the age of ninety-seven, he was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest actively flying pilot. 

 

In 1926, the Fort Wane Auto Electric and Radio company decided to start an Aviation Division and Cornish was hired to serve as the manager and chief pilot of the new Aereco Flying Service (the 29th in the US and the first in Indiana).  By the early 1930's Aereco was one of only 20 schools nationwide who were approved to train commercial pilots.  During the 1930's Cap Cornish was a leader in civilian and commercial aviation (locally in Indiana, as well as nationally).  In 1938 or so, Aereco was closed. But for almost a decade Aereco Flying Services contributed a great deal to US civil aviation -- and likely many of their instructors and trainees had significant military careers when WWII started.

 

This small grouping includes a beautifully engraved bracelet with one side having a nice pair of pilot wings and the name A B Babbitt and the other side saying "Aereco Flying Service Fort Wayne Indiana").


A quick search for "A B Babbitt" brings up a Amby Babbitt who is specifically mentioned in a book written by the daughter of Cap Cornish.  Amby Babbitt was a student/flyer at Aereco and an avid golfer. Apparently, he won the Indiana City "Championship" when he tossed a golf ball onto the course from his airplane and then played the hole after landing.  There was also an Albert Bradford Babbitt who lived a few miles away in the Chicago area.  According to Ancestry, Albert Bradford Babbitt worked for an automotive company and my have been involved in the supply/maintenance of electrical equipment... which could link him to the Fort Wayne Auto Electric and Radio company.  Albert Bradford Babbitt was a WWI veteran, but wasn't in aviation at that time.  However, I think that Amby Babbitt and Albert Bradford Babbitt is the same person.  I suspect that Amby/Albert was involved with Aereco as a private civilian pilot. Albert died in 1952.

 

The other part of the grouping is a gold colored wing (about 2 7/8th inches) WWI style wing.  I recall seeing this pattern wing being offered for sale in a number of vintage catalogs from the 20's and 30's.  I suspect that this is one of those wings, made available to anyone who wanted a "pilot wing".  I sometimes see this wing dismissed as a fake.  My sense is that it isn't a fake, it was just one of the items that you could get from various mail order catalogs (like Sears, Blackinton, AECo) during that time.  I recall seeing a vintage Sears or similar catalog showing a variety of aviation related jewelry, but cannot find that specific image.

 

I have always been interested in this "Golden age" of American aviation.  It was a mixture of old WWI pilots future WWII aces and astronauts, barnstorming dare devils, fearless wing walkers, explorers, racers and other future aviation pioneers. 

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