The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 63, July 1959 - April, 1960 Page: 29
684 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
"The Dallas Spirit"
crashed into San Francisco Bay while testing; two cracked up on
the Oakland airstrip; and the ninth, the "Air King," was disqual-
ified before take-off. With the loss of Erwin and Eichwaldt in the
"Dallas Spirit," the death toll reached a total of ten.23 Stunned
by the tragedy, sponsors became cautious and stopped offering
huge sums of money for such stunt flights. The aviation world
was not yet ready for them.
As a direct result of the Dole Flight and the flood of fliers
attempting new records, Major Clarence Young, chief of the gov-
ernment's civil aeronautics division, who had been in Oakland
with the Dole entrants, issued a statement from Washington on
August 2o, 1927, saying that long-distance flights by American
aviators thereafter would be subject to federal inspection for the
safety and ability of pilots and planes. The half dozen flights still
being planned on the date of the announcement, Young said,
must be licensed under the Air Commerce Act, legislation that
gave Secretary Herbert Hoover complete power over aircraft in
interstate and foreign commerce. Young added that the National
Aeronautic Association officials were co-operating with the gov-
ernment to take full safety precautions, particularly as to gas-
oline capacity and accuracy of navigation instruments in all
future flights.24
At the same time, Earl Wolfley, vice president of the American
Aeronautical Association, telegraphed William P. McCracken,
Assistant Secretary of the Department of Commerce, protesting
against the staging of future oceanic flights for prize money. He
said that such flights so far had been "wonderful," but declared
that the Pacific Dole air race was too disastrous and that he was
convinced that present-day equipment would not justify any
further attempts to span either the Atlantic or the Pacific.25
28The dead included: Mildred Doran, John A. Pedlar, and Lieutenant R. V.
Knope in the "Miss Doran"; Jack Frost and Gordon Scott in the "Golden Eagle";
and Erwin and Eichwaldt in the "Dallas Spirit." The three other persons who lost
their lives crashed en route to Oakland. They were Lieutenants George Covell and
R. S. Waggener of the United States Navy, who were killed when their airplane
fell in wreckage at Point Loma, California, on August lo, and Arthur V. Rogers,
whose plane, the "Angel of Los Angeles," crashed to the ground on August is at
Montebello, California, before the horrified eyes of his wife. His plane had reached
an altitude of only 125 feet when it went into a nose dive and fell like a rock.
24Dallas News, August 24, 1927.
25Ibid.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 63, July 1959 - April, 1960, periodical, 1960; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101186/m1/55/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.