In-Flight Movie, 1921 -- November 12, 2021

Photoplay, November, 1921

Photoplay says that this was the first in-flight movie. I think I read somewhere that it had been done earlier in Europe. Rothacker produced industrial films. I imagine there was no need for musical accompaniment because the cabin noise would have drowned it out.

1000 and One--the Blue Book of Non-Theatrical Films, 1926

The Fatal Dirigible -- August 19, 2019

Moving Picture World, August 9, 1919

On 22-July-1919, Goodyear Blimp "Wingfoot Air Express" was flying over Chicago. It crashed through the roof of a bank. Many were killed on the dirigible and in the bank. A Hearst-Universal newsreel was in the theater by the 24th.  A newspaper item about the crash:
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com/2019/07/twelve-die-in-balloon-holocaust-july-21.html

Chaplin on a Fokker -- December 1, 2017

Flight, 08-July-1920

On 03-July-1920, the Royal Air Force held a pageant at Hendon, to raise funds for the RAF Memorial Fund.  The photos and the excerpt are from the 08-July-1920 Flight Magazine.  Note the outline of Charlie Chaplin on Longton's Fokker D.VII.

Next came a realistic aerial combat between Flight-Lieut. F. T. Williams, M>B>E (3 Huns) on a Martinsyde and Flight-Lieut. W. H. Longton, D.F.C, A.F.C. (16 Huns, 1 balloon), on a Fokker D.VII.  These two executed every possible kind of manoeuvre to obtain a position of advantage over the other, to the accompaniment of frequent papapaps from their machine guns and we must say that the "Hun" certainly put up a magnificent "defence." 

Flight, 08-July-1920

The Aeroplane Machine Gun -- October 1, 2017

Moving Picture World, 27-October-1917

100 years ago this month, in October, 1917,. Paramount released "The Aeroplane Machine Gun," which described the interrupter gear which allowed a machine gun to fire through the arc of an airplane's propeller.  Animation pioneer John R Bray produced the film and JF Leventhal was the animator.  Note that the airplane in the illustration has a machine gun mounted on the top wing. 

Ormer Locklear, Premier Acrobat of the Air -- May 3, 2017

Aircraft Journal, 07-June-1919

After serving in the US Army Air Service during World War I, Ormer Locklear became a barnstormer who specialized in wing walking. He and his partner Milton (Skeets) Elliot toured the country thrilling audiences. The Great Air Robbery was Locklear's first starring movie role. While shooting his second starring movie, The Skywayman (great title), pilot Elliot was blinded by spotlights during a night dive and both men were killed. The producers left the scene in the movie.  

Josephus Daniels was the Secretary of the Navy. Harry Hawker, who had been chief test pilot for Sopwith, tried to fly non-stop across the Atlantic on 18-May-1919.  His plane crashed in the ocean and Hawker and his navigator had to be rescued.  Hawker criticized the first transatlantic flight, made in May, 1919 by a group of US Navy flying boats.  It was not a non-stop flight and it was not intended to be one. 

Ormer Locklear, Premier Acrobat of the Air

Thrilling Feats Performed by Him and Others Before the Memorial Day Spectators at Sheepshead Bay

Lieut. Ormer Locklear trifled with death standing erect on the upper wing of a speeding airplane and later jumped from one plane to another, May 30, at Sheepshead Bay Speedway.

Lieutenant Locklear’s feats were the most sensational in the view of most of the crowd, but the aerial antics of Lieuts. Shirley Short and Milton Elliott, his pilots, and of Jean Momenjoz, caused the worst shudders to army and navy aviators in the crowd. Lieutenant Elliott, especially, took a long chance on his skill with the stick, when, starting at a thousand feet he come downward, his machine rolling around, upside down, with wings vertical, tail downward, and every which way, seemingly absolutely out of control, but actually under the most rigid guidance. He finished less than 200 feet from the ground with an Immelman turn and a few other rotations which seemed like certain death.

Locklear’s Daring Feat

Lieutenant Locklear’s most daring trick came at the end of the program. Curtiss plane No. 7, with Lieutenant Elliott at the stick, on whose eye and arm Locklear usually depends most for his safety, went out of commission just before the aerial derby, so he went up in the plane of Lieut. H. B. Shields. Higher and higher the plane mounted, followed by another Curtiss plane piloted by Lieutenant Short.

Finally at probably a thousand feet Lieutenant Short dropped over the side a flimsy looking rope ladder, which was sent whirling backward by the force of the speed of the plane. Then the risky work began, the business of getting the two speeding planes sufficiently near and yet not near enough for the collision which would mean death for three men. To add to their difficulty the two pilots, their planes making better than 60 miles an hour, must get together at just the right time so that the public, sitting comfortably in the stands, could see the whole thing at as close range as possible.

Black against the blue sky the figure of Lieutenant Locklear suddenly appeared in the upper wing of Shields’ plane. He stood erect, his body inclined against the rush of air which would throw an average man to his face on the ground, his arms stretched outward and his head up, with eyes fixed on the swaying ladder dangling from the plane above. Slowly, almost imperceptibly the machines drifted together, while Locklear somehow retained his footing on the smooth, curving surface of the plane.

Has No Imitators

Then the ladder swung for an instant within reach. Locklear grasped at it, and as he did so the plane below dived downward and the one above loomed upward with his body swinging below the ladder. He had successfully accomplished once more the feat in which he has as yet no imitators.

Lieutenant Locklear had begun his exhibition in or rather on Lieutenant Elliott’s plane at a much lower altitude, walking out on the lower wing and thrusting one arm and leg outward into space, standing erect on the upper wing, sliding down to the tail and crawling up again and dangling by his knees from the axle of the plane with head downward.

The Aerial Derby

Four men started in the aerial derby, an alleged race of 20 miles in which the pilots, Domonjoz and Lieutenants Shields, Short and Micelli, rested themselves and their spectators by some straight flying. Little Domonjoz and his Bleriot, which, it is said, is a 1913 model, were left far behind by the other pilots. To soothe his feeling Domonjoz left the race flat and went further aloft to comfort himself and soothe his machine by a little more upside down flying. He refused to come down until long after the race was over and Locklear was about to perform his most dangerous trick.

The other pilots buzzed around the 2-mile track and over the stand about ten times, and then speeded up for the finish, making real speed for a few moments. Lieutenant Shields was officially first, with Lieutenants Short and Micelli following. The time was 16 minutes 45 seconds.

==============================================================

Resents Hawker’s Slur

Ormer Locklear, airplane acrobat, has wired to Secretary Daniels as follows:

“Like all red-blooded Americans, I resent the slur cast by Mr. Hawker on the great flight across the Atlantic by our naval fliers. To prove that Britain has no corner on courage among fliers I deeply desire to make an attempt to fly to Europe under conditions identical with those surrounding the Hawker attempt. I wish no convoys nor assistance from the government, except to be supplied with an able navigator. I am sure there are many men in your service who gladly will volunteer to make the trip with me. I am asking the American airplane and motor builders to join me in the attempt.

“I propose to defray all my personal expenses, pledge the London Daily Mail prize, if won, to the Red Cross, and agree not to accept one penny from any source as a reward.”

Locklear purposes to start within thirty days without any long drawn out preliminaries.

Why Our Film Capital is Air-Minded -- April 5, 2017

The International Photographer, June, 1930

This article, from the June, 1930 International Photographer, talks about the popularity of aviation in Southern California.  The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Motion Picture Machine Operators were having a convention in the area. 

Why Our Film Capital is Air-Minded

Delegates to the I. A. T. S. E. Take Notice) 
Written for The International Photographer by WILLIAM WAGNER, 

Curtis Wright Flying Service 

In no section of the country has aviation development been more marked than in Southern California.

So often has this statement been made that it seems unnecessary to repeat it again here, but in spite of the wide publicity given aeronautical progress in this section, the great majority has not yet been fully appraised of the rapid strides made here.

With pride California points to the fact that this state is easily the leader in number of pilots, mechanics and licensed aircraft, but with greater pride does Los Angeles County remind the rest of the world that more than two-thirds of the state's aviation activity is concentrated in this area.

Of the state's 2076 licensed pilots, 1461 licensed mechanics and 1476 licensed aircraft, approximately 70 per cent are in Los Angeles County.

By no means has this section's rapid growth been wholly in the actual opertion of aircraft, for last year a total of $5,500,000 in aeronautical products were produced in the county. At the present time there are 18 airplane and 11 aircraft engine manufacturing companies engaged in business here.

In the transportation of passengers, mail and express by air, Southern California has fully contributed its share in developing this phase of the industry. Every day 19 scheduled commercial runs are made in and out of Los Angeles. The planes used on these airlines are flown 21,000 miles daily, bringing into and taking out of this section a steady stream of rapidly growing air commerce.

Due to climatic conditions principally we have been able to accomplish much which would not be possible to undertake in any other section of the country.

Particularly has this advantage been shown in the development of our splendid airports and in the training of students. In this line have our own organizations -- Curtiss-Wright Flying Service and Grand Central Air Terminal -- been unusually active.

Of the county's 67 airports and landing fields, none is better equipped or more active than Grand Central, which is ideally situated with relation to downtown Los Angeles. Due to a great extent to the operation from this field of T. A. T.-Maddux Air Lines, this airport now handles approximately one-fourth of all scheduled air transport operation in the country.

This modern air terminal, owned by the Curtiss-Wright Airports Corps., is also the headquarters in Southern California of Curtiss-Wright Flying Service, the world's oldest flying organization, which operates 42 bases throughout the country.

During 1929, Los Angeles county's five leading airports spent in excess of $1,500,000 each on new developments. Grand Central during February of this year celebrated the opening of its new $150,000 terminal station on the airport.

At Los Angeles Airport, the municipal field, Curtis-Wright Flying Service conducts its flying school, which holds the government's highest approved rating. This school has just been approved by federal immigration authorities as an institution of learning for alien students, placing it on the same level with leading universities and colleges. This is the first aviation school in the country to receive this sanction.

In Los Angeles County there are now more than 1600 registered aviation students, with every indication pointing to a rapid increase in this number during the summer months. Due to its excellent climatic conditions and geographical location, Southern California bids fair to become an international aviation training ground.

Already a steady flow of aviation students are coming to this section for advanced flight training from Central and South America, Mexico and Canada, as well as from Japan and China across the Pacific.

One of the most novel and successful experiments in stimulating the use of air travel was recently put into effect by Curtiss-Wright Flying Service at Grand Central Air Terminal.

This new idea, credited to the fertile brain of Major C. C. Moseley, vice-president and general manager in the west for Curtiss-Wright, is now the much-talked of "Penny-a-Pound" flights.

Knowing that once people have made an initial flight in an airplane they are almost certain to be won over to this newest and most rapid method of transportation, Curtiss-Wright put into effect new low rates of "penny-a-pound" for men and a flat $1 for women and children for short scenic flights.

During a single month nearly 5000 persons were carried at these novel low rates, without the slightest mishap of any nature, nor a single report of air-sickness.

Due principally to the interest shown by Col. Charles A. Lindbergh during his and Mrs. Lindbergh's recent visit to Southern California, glider flying has shown rapid progress during the past few months. Today the county boasts more than a dozen glider clubs, composed of from 10 to 30 active members in each club.

Not only is this section favored with a semi-tropical climate, which makes flying and student training throughout the year possible, but high winds that prevail in other states are almost unknown. Records of the local weather bureau reveal that the highest wind ever recorded here was 48 miles per hour, and that in January forty-seven years ago.

Aviation in Southern California is now represented in all of its phases by four of the dominant groups in the industry -- Curtiss-Wright, Western Air Express, United Aircraft and Detroit Aircraft. In addition there are a great many smaller concerns who are doing their share to see that this state maintains its impressive leadership of America's Fastest Growing Industry.

The International Photographer, June, 1930

Reaching the Stars by Aeroplane -- March 3, 2017

Aerial Age Weekly, 24-April-1922

ONE of the dreams of the average movie fan is to gain an interview with his or her favorite star; to sit down in a quiet little corner and ask all the intimate questions he or she has wanted to for a long time. But, to the layman, most of the screen lights are harder to reach than a bank president during a Bolshevik riot. Only in exceptional cases does the admirer of the silver sheet get a chance to get in personal contact with the luminaries of the silent drama.

One of the surest ways, figuratively speaking, of getting the ear of a star, is to mention aeroplanes. Almost the entire movie colony in Hollywood is aeroplane struck. Directors, stars, scenario writers, authors and even cameramen are aviation enthusiasts, many of them being licensed pilots.

What may come as somewhat of a surprise to many movie fans is that Mary Miles Minter, one of the youngest and best known of the ingenues on the screen today, has qualified for a license as pilot. Miss Minter successfully passed the test over a year ago but parental objection has prevented her from taking advantage of her pilot's card. She is not permitted to ascend with the controls in her own hands.

Cecil B. DeMille, director-general of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, is one of the pioneers of aviation in the motion picture center of the world. Mr. DeMille, for a long time, was part owner of a passenger aeroplane company which made regular trips from Hollywood to nearby cities. He is also one of the most prominent figures in aviation on the coast and often takes his "bus" out for a few dips and tail spins in order to forget the cares of his office. Mr. DeMille asserts that there is. no better tonic in the world for "that tired feeling."

Dorothy Dalton, star in Paramount Pictures, is another ardent advocate of the "travel by aeroplane" slogan. Miss Dalton's specialty is hydroplaning, for she much prefers the water route than the solid earth below.

A more recent addition to the ranks of the flying stars is Betty Compson, the girl of "The Miracle Man" fame. Although kept extremely busy out on the coast Miss Compson manages to find an occasional hour or so every few days to devote to the thrills of flying. Miss Compson has yet to win her pilot's license but hopes to secure the coveted card before she is many months older.

But perhaps the most enthusiastic, for aviation, of the movie people on the coast is Jeanie Macpherson, scenario writer for Paramount Pictures. Miss Macpherson has been flying for at least three years and is one of the most prominent aviatrices in California. She numbers among her acquaintances many of America's leading aviators, and she has participated in more "stunt" and "circus" flying than any other person connected with the motion pictures who is not paid for risking his or her neck. She has made a number of trips with Ormi Locklear, world famous "stunt" man, from whom she learned many of the finer points of the art of flying. The news of Locklear's tragic death some time ago came as a genuine shock to her. Speaking of Locklear, Miss Macpherson said, "Ormi Locklear was, to my mind, a natural flyer. His judgment in the matter of height, and in that of keeping the plane level, was uncanny. I remember one trip I took with him out on the coast in which he took me out to sea. We unexpectedly ran into a dense fog. I was frightened to death, as we could hardly see each other, but Locklear, without even bothering to consult his instruments, kept right on going, and when he thought we had gone far enough he turned his machine and headed back again.

"If I had had the machine there is no doubt that I would have been flying for Canada, Mexico or the open sea, but in a short time we were out of the mist and to my great surprise, and greater relief, found that we were headed straight for our own landing place. I believe Locklear, with that sixth sense of his, could fly his 'boat' in the dead of night, without a light to guide him, and get through safely. That's why I can't understand some of the reports which were circulated about Locklear losing control of his machine on a difficult loop."

Eddie Rickenbackcr, America's famous ace, is another close friend of Miss Macpherson's. In fact, Rickenbacker was Miss Macpherson's tutor at one time.

The writer knows of a little incident that shows Miss Macpherson's love for flying. Some time ago Miss Macpherson came East preparatory to sailing for Europe for a well deserved vacation. As is the case with all motion picture celebrities of the motion picture world, a great deal of Miss Macpherson's time during her short stay in New York City was taken up by interviewers from newspapers and magazines. One interviewer, who had been in the flying corps overseas, had been pumping Miss Macpherson on the cut and dried subject of scenario writing. The conversation was lagging when the gentleman in question suddenly looked at his watch and mentioned the fact that he would have to leave as he had an appointment with some one at the Aero Club. That proved to be the opening wedge for a conversation that lasted far beyond Miss Macpherson's dinner hour and incidentally, long past the time set for the appointment at the Aero Club. Needless to say, the subject discussed was aeroplanes and, much to the surprise of the ex-service man, Miss Macpherson spoke fluently upon the respective merits of aeroplane motors of foreign and domestic make. The writer can testify to the above fact, for he had to sit through many weary—-to him—-minutes of technical descriptions of the Hipsano Suiza, Liberty, etc. Than which, to the layman, there is nothing more complex.

News of the Week February 6, 1915 -- February 6, 2015

The 06-February-1915 Motography featured "News of the Week as Shown in Films," with items from current newsreels.

"Carrying wounded away after riot at Roosevelt, N. J.  Copyright 1915 by Pathe Daily News."  On 19-January-1915, police shot strikers at the American Agricultural Chemical Company.  They killed four and wounded ten others.

"French troops retreat from Ypres, Belgium.  Copyright, 1915 by Universal Animated Weekly."  Fighting took place around Ypres throughout the war. 

"Roads in Loum, Belgium, in awful condition because of rains. Copyright, 1915, by Pathe Daily News."  I don't know of a town called Loum in Belgium.  The European winters during World War One were some of the worst during the 20th Century. 

"Ready to stow a torpedo in the K-5, new U. S. submarine.  Copyright, 1915 by Hearst-Selig News Pictorial."  K-5 operated along the east coast the in the Caribbean until 1923. 

"Pres. Tenner, Gary Herman and Pres. Johnson, baseball kings.  Copyright, 1915, by Hearst-Selig News Pictorial." John K Tener was the president of the National League.  Garry Herrmann was president of the National Baseball Commission.  Ban Johnson was the president and founder of the American League.  The three men made up the National Commission, which ran baseball before the position of Commissioner was instituted in 1920. 

"The German Zeppelin 'Victoria Luise' in flight.  Copyright 1915 by Universal Animated Weekly."  LZ-11, Viktoria Luise was a pre-war passenger Zeppelin taken over by the German Army.  In my other blog, we saw Viktoria  Luise star in a 1912 movie:
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com/2012/06/sky-monster-june-1-2012.html

The Aviator Spy -- October 3, 2014

"The Aviator Spy" was a three-reeler produced in Britain.  An upcoming four-reeler, "The Loss of the Birkenhead" was about the 1852 wreck of a troop transport which is often credited with establishing the ideal of "women and children first."  I like the image.