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View products that support dmairfield.org
OTHER RESOURCES
Some of this information comes from the biographical
file for pilot Fisher, CF-252000-01, reviewed by me in the archives of the
National Air & Space Museum (NASM), Washington, DC.
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THANK YOU!
YOUR PURCHASE OF THESE BOOKS SUPPORTS THE WEB SITES THAT BRING TO YOU THE HISTORY BEHIND OLD AIRFIELD REGISTERS
Your copy of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register with all the pilots' signatures and helpful cross-references
to pilots and their aircraft is available at the link. Or use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.
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 The Congress of Ghosts is an anniversary celebration for 2010. It is an historical biography, that celebrates the 5th year online of www.dmairfield.org and the 10th year of effort on the project dedicated to analyze and exhibit the history embodied in the Register of the Davis-Monthan Airfield, Tucson, AZ. This book includes over thirty people, aircraft and events that swirled through Tucson between 1925 and 1936. It includes across 277 pages previously unpublished photographs and texts, and facsimiles of personal letters, diaries and military orders. Order your copy at the link.
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Military Aircraft of the Davis Monthan Register, 1925-1936 is available at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.
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Art Goebel's Own Story by Art Goebel (edited by G.W. Hyatt) is
written in language that expands for us his life as a Golden
Age aviation entrepreneur, who used his aviation exploits to build
a business around his passion. Available as a free download at the link.
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Winners' Viewpoints: The Great 1927 Trans-Pacific Dole Race is available at the link. What was it like to fly from Oakland to Honolulu in a single-engine plane during August 1927? Was the 25,000 dollar prize worth it? Did the resulting fame balance the risk? For the first time ever, this book presents the pilot and navigator's stories written by them within days of their record-setting adventure. Pilot Art Goebel and navigator William V. Davis, Jr. take us with them on the Woolaroc, their orange and blue Travel Air monoplane (NX869) as they enter the hazardous world of Golden Age trans-oceanic air racing.
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Clover Field: The First Century of Aviation in the Golden State. With the 100th anniversary in 2017 of the use of Clover Field as a place to land aircraft in Santa Monica, this book celebrates that use by exploring some of the people and aircraft that made the airport great.
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THOMAS GEARY "BUBBLES" FISHER
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T.G. Fisher landed three times at Tucson, all during 1928 and all with a single passenger. All his flights had their origins at San Diego, CA and he remained overnight on at least two of his visits. He flew exclusively Vought aircraft: A-6478, A-6877 and A-7036. His flights appeared to be routine, with no annotations in the Register regarding reasons or itineraries past Tucson. Below is the only photograph of him that I have found. It is courtesy of the San Diego Aerospace Museum Flickr Stream (SDAM).
Thomas G. Fisher, Date & Location Unknown (Source: SDAM)
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Fisher has the slimmest of NASM biographical files (left sidebar), with only one article from The New York Times of June 23, 1927 which cites a harrowing tale of survival, below.
The New York Times, June 23, 1927 (Source: NASM)
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Fisher has an equally slim Web presence. The good news is we find captured in one source a relatively complete summary of a Register pilot's life. On December 14, 1929 Fisher was awarded the Schiff Trophy for aviation safety by President Hoover. The event was documented in the Bureau of Aeronautics Newsletter of December 18, 1929 as follows. The irony should not be lost regarding the fact that Fisher dropped his trophy at the ceremony!
Bureau of Aeronautics Newsletter, December 18, 1929 (Source: Webmaster)
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It was fortunate, in the light of his 1927 accident reported in The New York Times, that his award for safe flying was conferred in 1929. Indeed, on July 24, 1930 Fisher bailed out of an aircraft, a Boeing F3B-1, A-7691, of VF-6B on the U.S.S. Saratoga. He entered an inverted spin while attempting to roll out of the top of a loop at San Diego. He was executive officer of his squadron at the time and jumped from 2,000 feet.
His luck ran out a year later when he was killed after his aircraft shed its wings in a dive while "strafing" the radio controlled target ship U.S.S. Stoddert on July 30, 1931. He was still serving on the Saratoga at the time and was probably flying a Boeing FB. There is no record of his death in the Social Security Index.
Further insight on his personality is found on page 113 of the 1918 edition of the U.S. Naval Academy Yearbook. It had this to say about Fisher. His athleticism and drive are probably what got him through his night in the sea off Malibu in 1927.
THOMAS GEARY FISHER Oxon Hill, Md. " Touche " " Fish " " Shorty " " Tommie " Football Squad (4, 3, 2); Football N (2); Football Captain Baseball Squad (4, 5, 2, 1); Baseball N (4, 5, 2); Baseball Captain; Academy Middleweight Boxing Championship (2). GENTLEMEN, this product of Oxon Hill is as fine a specimen of the " he-man " or " man's man " as the Academy has turned out for many a moon. He came to us from ' 17 and in the old days was considered famous as a running mate of Whisky Luth. Tom doesn't measure a great deal overall, neither is his displacement so much, but he is without doubt a first-class fighting man. He has had not the slightest trouble in making the baseball team for the four years, and broke into the football line-up as a regular his second class year. He played such a gritty game against the Army that he was elected captain.
Like Caesar, he wanted more worlds to conquer, so he stepped out and copped the welterweight boxing championship. In justice, however, we are forced to admit that he might not have won this had it not been for the co-operation of Madame Fatima, and his able second, Sol Phillips. How did he get that name, Touche? Oh, yes, when it came time to elect a manager of that famous and brutal sport, the art of sword pushing, Tom was the coming contestant; he was the popular candidate, and it can be safely said that his defeat was due only to the cunning intrigue of the "Greek."
But to come down to brass tacks, you can always count on Tom. When things are going bad, and a real man is needed for the job, he's there with the stuff. A thoroughbred Irish scrapper, you can recognize him by the grin that so closes his eyes, that you can hardly see their twinkle, and by the jumble of words rushing over one another in their hurry to express his denial or his " come-back. " " Hey! you want to get a poke in the nose?
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Dossier 2.2.81
THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 04/09/11 REVISED: 11/21/14, 01/13/18
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looking for photographs of pilot Fisher and his airplanes to include on this page.
If you have one or more you'd like to share, please click this FORM to
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