The International Aerial Derby - 1919 Old Photo Album - Fall 2020
By Douglas W. DeCroix
All Images Courtesy of the Buffalo History Museum.
Though many in the Army remained skeptical of its military value, the airplane captured the imagination of soldiers and civilians alike during the First World War. And with the war over and the world at peace, it seemed like folks were almost standing in line to accomplish a new aerial feat or devise a new way to utilize this exciting new piece of technology.
It was in this context that the American Flying Club of New York and the Aero Club of Canada teamed up to sponsor an international aerial derby from August 25-29, 1919, the first to feature a flight route between Canada and the United States. The purpose of the event was to “promote the science and sport of aviation in a manner reflecting its safety and reliability.” Aircraft of all types were eligible to compete, with the exception of seaplanes.
Fifty-two fliers in all would participate, some starting out in Toronto with others taking off from Roosevelt Field, near Mineola, NY—the same field from which Charles Lindbergh would begin his historic transatlantic flight eight years later. The rules called for contestants to make a round trip between these two starting points within two days’ time. In addition, three “control stops” were set up along the route at Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany. Pilots were required to circle the field at each of these stops, land for refueling and any repairs, then wait at least 30 minutes before taking off again.
John McEntee Bowman of New York’s Commodore Hotel put up a sum of $10,000 in prize money, to be awarded in two categories. One was a pure speed contest, with the fastest round-trip time being declared the winner The second category was dubbed a “handicap,” in which each contestant’s actual performance would be judged against the theoretical performance of their respective aircraft. Thus, aircraft of vastly different capabilities could compete against each other on relatively even terms in this second category—much like dog shows judge each entry against the theoretical standards of its respective breed.
A significant number of U.S. Army pilots competed in the derby, though the military had ruled that they were ineligible for any prize money. As it happened, American military fliers captured the first 17 spots in the speed race, with Lieutenant B.W. Maynard completing his winning round-trip in seven hours, 45 minutes and 15 second in an American-made DeHavilland D.H.4 aircraft. First prize money was awarded to Curtiss test pilot C.S. “Casey” Jones, who placed 18th flying a Curtiss JN-4D “Jenny.” Top honors for the handicap category also went to a military pilot, Major Rudolph Schroeder, who flew a Vought VE-7.
The Buffalo control stop was located at the Curtiss Aerodrome, near the modern intersection of Eggert Road and Niagara Falls Blvd. Support for the pilots, maintenance crews and other personnel were provided by the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, the American Red Cross’s Canteen Service—the same women who had been providing sandwiches and coffee to soldiers passing through Western New York by rail during the war—and other similar organizations. The event not only drew an impressive collection of famous and soon-to-be-famous aviators, but also a variety of Buffalo civilian personnel as well.
Among the records of the Greater Buffalo Chapter of the American Red Cross held by the Buffalo History Museum is a photo album featuring many images of the women of the canteen service greeting and feeding soldiers and sailors as they passed through Buffalo by rail. While perusing this album, however, we discovered several blank pages towards the back of the album, followed by a mostly unrelated series of pages filled with candid shots of the activities at the Curtiss Aerodrome from August 1919. Also included is a nearly complete list of the contestants along with their aircraft number and type. These images and the associated labels and list of pilots provides not only some fascinating insight into this pioneering event, but also a valuable visual treasure trove of early aircraft and their pilots.
So, sit back and enjoy as we “take to the skies” with a sampling of this unique collection of photographs. And for additional images from this section of the album, visit our website at: wnyheritage.org.
Support Personnel and Visitors
“Maj. Lanphier.” Thomas George Lanphier Sr. was the officer in charge of the Buffalo control stop. A 1914 graduate of West Point, he was a classmate and friend of Dwight Eisenhower. He received pilot training in France in WWI, returning to U.S. two months prior to aerial derby. In 1925, he provided supporting testimony for General Billy Mitchell at his court martial and the following year was an unofficial observer for Hubert Wilkins’ flying expedition to the arctic. A friend and business partner of Charles Lindbergh, he actually flew the Spirit of St. Louis over Selfridge Field, Michigan, in July 1927, following Lindbergh’s historic transatlantic flight. During World War II, he served as an intelligence officer on George Marshall’s staff. Perhaps more famously, his son, Thomas Lanphier Jr., was one of the two USAAF pilots who, in 1943, shot down Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. The photo at right above shows Lanphier speaking with Colonel Gerald Brant. In the background are John D. Larkin Jr. (left background) and Charles Rohlfs (center), father of Curtiss test pilot Roland Rohlfs.
Harry McCorry (at right in both photos) was the chief timer for the Buffalo control stop. He is seen here (and in several other photos from the album) with John D. Larkin Jr., who took over control of the Larkin Company when his father died in 1926.
Newspapers from all over the U.S. and Canada covered the progress of the pilots, and correspondents from the Buffalo press were fixtures at the aerodrome. At left is Charles Kimberlein of the Buffalo Courier, while the female correspondent from the Buffalo Enquirer remains unidentified.
Members of the Red Cross Canteen Service relax, laugh and watch the aircraft with an identified only as “Capt. Fleugel,” who appears—usually looking “large and in charge”—in several of the album’s photos. The lack of wings on his tunic suggests he is not a pilot, but he appears to be wearing a French Croix de Guerre so it is possible he was one of the officers assigned to assist Major Lanphier in running the Buffalo control stop. Regardless, everyone in the photo appears to be enjoying themselves.
Ladies of the National League of Women’s Service pose in front of a Curtiss Oriole. The NLWS was a civilian organization formed in 1917 in concert with the American Red Cross. They provided a variety of services to soldiers and returning veterans, including food service and transportation. Along with the local chambers of commerce and the War Camp Community Service, they provided support for the pilots, mechanics and other personnel at each of the derby’s control stops.
“Mrs. & Mr. Bleistein.” George Bleistein Jr., son of the publisher of the Buffalo Courier before its sale to William “Fingy” Conners, sits on the back of a Red Cross canteen truck with his wife, Dorothy Bryant Bleistein. George had been a captain in U.S. Air Service and served as executive officer of the 3rd Aviation Instruction Center at Issoudun, France (the largest aviation training school in the world at the time). George’s wife was a member of the Red Cross Canteen Service, which was providing support services for the event.
“Mrs. Stowe & her friend.” The British S.E.5a (Number C8746) these women are standing in front of was built by the Austin Motor Company and was one of 56 S.E.5a’s shipped in pieces to the Curtiss Aeroplane Company in 1918, which had an order to produce 1,000 licensed copies. In the event, only one was actually built and the arrival of the Armistice ending World War I caused the cancellation of the other 999 aircraft. Unfortunately, we were not able to track down an equally detailed background on the Mrs. Stowe named in the photo.
Some of the Men and Their Machines
Aircraft Number 1 (left above) was an American-made DeHavilland D.H.4, piloted by Colonel Gerald Brant (shown above right, with “Mrs. Fernow”). Brant was commissioned a cavalry officer upon graduation from West Point in 1904. After 10 years in the Philippines, he was assigned to the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps in 1917. The following year, he was commander of Kelly Field, TX, and eventually Assistant Director of Military Aeronautics for the Army’s air service. Like his colleagues, he took part in a number of air races in the post-WWI era and went on to an auspicious training career in U.S. Army aviation through the Second World War, retiring in 1944. The Mrs. Fernow mentioned in the photo is possibly Ethel Howard Fernow, wife of attorney and retired artillery officer, Fritz Fernow of Buffalo. Her father was George Rumsey Howard, capitalist and president of the Niagara Radiator Company.
Two of the three pilots flying the new Curtiss Oriole in the derby were Bert Acosta (left) and Roland Rohlfs (right).
Both were test pilots for Curtiss. Acosta went to work for Glenn Curtiss in 1915 and later went to Canada to instruct pilots for the RCF and RNAS in a school run by the Canadian Curtiss Company. In 1917, he was appointed chief civilian instructor for the U.S. Army and trained pilots for U.S. Air Service. The following year, he was appointed a Captain in the Air Service reserve, and tested aircraft for Curtiss and other manufacturers. After the war, he would go on to be one of the most colorful figures in the aviation world and would set airspeed and endurance records among his other antics.
Roland Rohlfs was the son of famed detective novelist Anna Katharine Green and noted furniture craftsman Charles Rohlfs. Like Acosta, he too would later set both altitude and speed records in Curtiss aircraft.
The Curtiss “Oriole” (center) was a new, three-seat civilian aircraft manufactured by Glenn Curtiss in 1919, anticipating the demand for civil aircraft following the end of the First World War.
Interestingly, both pilots would be disqualified during the race for failing to circle the field prior to landing at one of the control stops—Acosta at Albany and Rohlfs at Buffalo.
Robert “Bob” Midkiff flew aircraft Number 44 in the race, one of many DH.4s to participate. A pursuit (fighter) pilot in WWI, he returned to attend Knox College, then went to work for the Curtiss Aeroplane Company and was put in charge of Curtiss’ southwest airplane sales. He was nearly killed in a plane accident in July 1919, just one month before the air derby, but finished in 11th place with a time of 597.5 minutes. Tragically, he was later killed in a stunt flying demonstration when the aircraft he was flying lost a wing in a dive.
A number of aerial derby pilots flew various models of the venerable Curtiss JN-4. The “Jenny,” as it was known, would go down as one of the most popular American aircraft of all time. At least 10 Jennies were flown in the derby, including several Canadian-built variants.
Not all of the aircraft participating in the air derby were sleek fighters. The three-engined beast pictured above left was an Italian-made Caproni Ca-3 series bomber, flown by Lieutenant P. Melville. The “handicap” category included in the derby made it possible for this aircraft to compete with the smaller, faster entries. It is possible that this is the aircraft sent to the United States in 1917 by the Italians for testing at the Army’s Aviation Experiment Station in Hampton, VA.
Another large aircraft spotted at Buffalo during the derby (above right) was extremely unique. Simply labeled “aeroplane carrying passengers” in the photo album, the Lawson airliner was actually the first of its kind in the world—and in fact the first to utilize the term “air-liner.” Built in Milwaukee by Alfred W. Lawson and assembled at the Wisconsin State Fair Park, it had a 95-foot wingspan and could carry 16 passengers and two pilots. The pioneering aircraft made its maiden flight on August 28, landing at Ashburn Field in Chicago. So thrilled was Lawson with the results of this flight that he decided to continue on to Washington, DC, with stops at Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo and Syracuse along the way. As it happened, the aircraft never reached Washington. A landing mishap at Syracuse damaged its nose and, once repaired, poor weather forced it down in Pennsylvania, causing more damage. The aircraft was then dismantled and shipped to Dayton, OH, where it was repaired and flown to the Speedway racetrack in Indianapolis, finally returning to Milwaukee for good on November 14. Thus, the photographs taken in Buffalo are probably some of the few “civilian” images of the original Lawson airliner in existence.
Meet the Fokkers
The two German Fokker DVII’s flown in the derby understandably received much attention. Following the end of World War I, the U.S. received 142 of these aircraft as “war booty,” while the other allied nations also received some. In the U.S., these were primarily used for training purposes. In the spring of 1919, the Canadians managed to negotiate the transfer of 20 of the captured Fokkers from the Royal Air Force. Some of these eventually made their way to the Toronto area, where they were flown in preparation for an air display during the Canadian National Exhibition. The aircraft in the foreground of the photo at left (Number 50) was flown in the derby by William Barker, Canadian ace and recipient of the Victoria Cross. Barker is still considered the most decorated Canadian soldier of all time to this day.
Apparently, with no armed enemy to engage, Barker did not live up to his reputation in the air derby, placing an uninspiring 25th. To add insult to injury, he ran short of fuel on his approach to Buffalo, having been blown off course by stiff winds as he headed south from Toronto. This forced him to land near the village of Williamsville instead of pressing on to the Curtiss Aerodrome, though he did not know the name of the town when he landed. One has to wonder about the reaction of Williamsville residents to a German fighter landing in their midst after hours—and piloted by a Canadian war hero no less!
Captain Harvey Weir Cook (above left) placed 16th in the derby, flying the other Fokker DVII (Number 56, above right) with a time of 759.5 minutes, including a 48-minute penalty for changing a tire innertube. This was likely one of the American-acquired aircraft. Cook was a pilot with the famous 94th Aero Squadron in WWI, gaining seven aerial victories including four balloons, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his service. After the war, he helped develop the Army’s air mail service and also played a large role in bringing a municipal airport to Indianapolis, which was eventually named for him. He rejoined the Army Air Corps in 1941 and was killed when his plane crashed on a mission out of New Caledonia March 24, 1943.
Fighting Mother Nature
“Snow balls in August” At about 6:00p.m. on August 28, a severe storm—consisting of heavy rain and significant hail—swept through the Buffalo area and headed east, wreaking havoc with the pilots and their fragile aircraft. Most of the fliers that found themselves between the Albany and Buffalo control stops were affected, while others who had been notified of the storm prior to takeoff, opted to sit it out on the ground before continuing on their journey. Several photos from the album show individuals holding what they claim to be “snowballs,” but which were actually huge chunks of hail from this storm. It is incredible that more aircraft on the ground did not suffer significant damage, as their fabric and wood construction would have made them extremely vulnerable to such falling projectiles.
Of the 52 aircraft to take part in the air derby, about half failed to finish for one reason or another. This photo captures the aftermath of one of several accidents that occurred during the flights around Buffalo, though accidents also occurred elsewhere. Captain Felix Steinle was making his landing approach to the Curtiss Aerodrome on August 26 when a sudden gust of wind caused one of his wings to partially buckle. Steinle was unhurt, but as can be seen from this photograph, the landing gear of his S.E.5a crumpled in the landing and the aircraft was written off for the race.