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This section exhibits sixteen letters written to Aline Rhonie. The largest group of letters was in response to one of her humanitarian efforts, linked below, and described elsewhere in her Collection.
Below, a two-page, undated letter from Register pilot Clarence W. Young who was, at the time, Assistant Secretary of Commerce, a job he acquired in 1929. This letter is probably from sometime in the early 1930s.
Clarence Young, Undated Letter (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Clarence Young, Undated Letter, Page 2 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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In April, 1940, Aline Rhonie returned to the U.S. from Europe after serving with the Section Sanitaire Automobile (SSA) ambulance service in France and Britain. She was authorized by two humanitarian organizations, the Aero-Club de France and the British War Relief Society, to raise funds to establish rest and rehabilitation canteens for French and British fliers while they were away from the front of expanding German aggression and the pending war.
Her intent was to plan and mount a grand air tour around the United States, flying her own airplane, and giving speeches along the way based on her experiences in the SSA. Her intentions and efforts were well-publicized around the country and are exhibited and summarized in her Collection at the HUMANITARIAN ACTIVITITES section.
In the U.S. she connected with and put into motion her wide network of aviation friends and personalities. She wrote personal letters to fellow aviators, corporate officers and dignitaries. From the responses, we learn that she wrote her solicitation letters over May 15-17, 1940. Her correspondents were prompt with their answers. This section of her Collection exhibits some of the responses to her solicitation letters.
She asked recipients to serve on the committee sponsoring her fund raising efforts. In many cases they agreed; some declined. Some agreed with limitations. Some sent money. The letters speak for themselves. You may see the names of some of those who chose to participate listed on the red white and blue air tour brochures in Rhonie's HUMANITARIAL ACTIVITIES section. Follow the link to view the brochures.
In many cases, the letter signers also appear in the Davis-Monthan Register. Those who do are identified with a separate link to their biography page. Think about this. Other than the 218 pages of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register which you can explore via the REGISTER button, above right, you will probably be hard pressed to find on the Web a single page with more original autographs by the giants of the Golden Age of Aviation!
Letter from Richard Depew, May 17, 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Letter from Walter Beech, May 22, 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Sherman Fairchild, whose letter is below, was not a signer of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register.
Letter from Sherman M. Fairchild, May 22, 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Letter from Jack Frye, May 20, 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Harry Guggenheim, whose letter is below, was not a signer of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register. Nor was he a pilot. He did, however, use his wealth to promote and sponsor early aviation. He sponsored, for example, the U.S. Tour by Charles Lindbergh and company just a few months after his trans-Atlantic flight.
Letter from Harry Guggenheim, May 20, 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Letter from Casey Jones, May 21, 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Letter from Dudley Steele, May 27, 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Letter from C.R. Smith, May 21. 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Below, and interesting letter from Cliff Henderson (not a Register pilot or passenger). The stationery is unusual it that it is a bifold brochure that advertised the Pan-Pacific Auditorium. I scanned the brochure spread open to pages 2-3 and 1-4. I exhibit the bifold vertically to keep the texts readable. Henderson's letter was typed on what is essentially page 3 of the brochure, below.
Henderson Letter, May 17, 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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The Pan-Pacific Auditorium shows up with another Register entity, Blackhawk NC730K, which was on display there. Please direct your browser to the link to see some details of the inside of the Auditorium. Compare them with the small images on brochure page 2, above.
Pages 1-4 of the brochure comprise a colorful map of part of Los Angeles, CA with the Pan-American Village at its center. Other popular tourist sights are featured, including MGM, Paramount and 20th Century Fox Studios, the Brown Derby, City Hall, Hollywood Bowl and Planetarium.
Map, Pan-Pacific Auditorium Brochure, Ca. 1939 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Letter from Louise Thaden, June 3, 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Thaden's Pittsburgh address still exists and the home and surrounding neighborhood can be viewed with Google Earth.
Letter from Bernt Balchen, June 3. 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Giuseppe Bellanca, whose letter is below, was not a signer of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register.
Letter from Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, June 8, 1940 (Source: Hofheimer Family)
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Of 42 female pilots who signed the Davis-Monthan Register, Aline "Pat" Rhonie combines the good traits of many of her sister signers. She ranks high among her sisters in hours and miles flown throughout her life in aviation. She stands out in her humanitarian activities on behalf of the French and British just before the outbreak of WWII. She was a member of the WAFS and the WASP.
Across two decades she received awards and certificates of appreciation from the French and United States governments. She held and mutually respected a wide network of friends, among them some of the movers and shakers of Golden Age aviation. She was a fine artist of considerable repute, who has a robost Web presence in that area to this day.
She signed the Register once in 1934 on Tuesday, March 20th. Please refer to her biographical link, above, for details on that landing, including the airplane she flew and the circumstances of her voyage.
Unless otherwise noted, these images were scanned at 300dpi.
Please note also: other than cropping, sizing and optimizing
the images for web display, they are unretouched in any way.
Most of them are published nowhere else but here at www.dmairfield.org. The images are displayed without much technical commentary.
Rather, the links will take you to further information, where
available.
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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 12/11/10 REVISED:
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