Leo Mulcahey landed two times at Tucson. The first was on Sunday July 31, 1932. He flew the Fairchild NC2K and carried as sole passenger C.W. Quinton. Quinton was the owner of the airplane. Based at San Francisco, CA they arrived from Riverside, CA, March Field enroute to Douglas, AZ. No purpose was stated for their flight.

However, the present owner of the airplane states, "For approx. 34 yrs., between 1932 or so and 1955, N2K was operated by Fairchild Aerial Surveys.  Often it was flown from its base at Hollywood Burbank Airport to far flung destinations for aerial mapping purposes, many times to the east coast. I imagine that on those occasions when it landed at Tucson NC2K was on her way to a job in the East."

Hope, AR Star, January 7, 1935 (Source: newspapers.com)

His second landing was on September 9 or 10, 1932 (interpolated from the Register) with the same airplane. Still based at San Francisco, this time he arrived from Cleveland, OH carrying five unidentified passengers. They were westbound from Cleveland, OH to an unnamed destination. The National Air Races were held at Cleveland from August 27 - September 5, 1932. We can conjecture that Mulcahey and his passengers were on their way back to the west coast from attending the Races.

L.E. Mulcahey(C), Ca. 1928 (Source: Link)

Earlier, we know that Mulcahey attended (perhaps not as a competitor) the Ford Reliability Tour of 1928. You can see a poor photograph of him, at right, on page 78 of this document in a group photograph taken at the time of that race. He was apparently affiliated with Stinson Aircraft at the time.

A little over two years after his last appearance at Tucson, Mulcahey suffered through an aircraft accident. He suffered serious injuries near Texarkana, AR. The article at left reports on his accident and injuries. It states he, "...has seen service on passenger and mail lines."

According to his draft registration for WWI, he was born July 10, 1891. Mulcahey flew West on January 11, 1935 as a result of this accident, His passing was reported in the Amarillo, TX Globe, below.

Amarillo, TX Globe, January 16, 1935 (Source: newspapers.com)

According to his death certificate, dated January16,1935, he died of, "Fractured skull and concussion of the brain." Complicating factors were, "Shock and pneumonia."

I found no evidence that he had served in the military as mentioned in the article above, left. Indeed, he may have been exempt from WWI service, given the ages of his two children at the time he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917.

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Sterling Daily Gazette (IL) May 31, 1929 (Source: newspapers.com)

During his youth, his name was changed to McAvoy and he was moved around. He was born in 1891 the son of Nellie Kiley and Michael Mulcahey. Michael died (date unknown, but before 1905) and Nellie remarried to Henry McAvoy, date unknown. The U.S. Census for 1900 reported Leo McAvoy at 7, living in Chicago's Hyde Park area with his mother and stepfather, sibs and step-sibs. Nellie's mother lived with them. His stepfather worked as a "pipe welder."

The Wisconsin State Census for 1905 placed him living with his family in Walworth, WI. His stepfather worked there as a gardner.

In 1910, Mulcahey was 18 and out on his own, living as a lodger in Chicago with two other, older men. Mulcahey and one of the other lodgers drove for a livery company. He was also listed as a "mechanic."

Four years later, in April 1, 1914 at age 22, he married Margaret M. Curran (20) in Chicago, IL. The 1920 Census listed their residence on Dickens Street in Chicago. They had their two children living with them, Margaret (age 5) and Patrick (3; 1916-1983). As well, his stepfather and half-brother also lived with them. He was then working as a "Chauffer."

Trouble must have occurred in their marriage over the next three years (divorce probably), because I found a municipal record dated November 30, 1923 that reported that Mulcahey planned to marry one Marguerita Carnahan in Chicago. A news clip from a few days later, below, corroborated that record and misstated his middle initial. I am sure this is our Mulcahey, because the municipal record cited correctly his mother's name. His occupation was now defined as mechanic. I found no Census data for Mulcahey or Marguerita, for 1930.

Logansport (IN) Pharos-Tribune, December 1, 1923 (Source: newspapers.com)

Below is Marguerite Carnahan (1904-1989) from findagrave.com. She looks to be an adolescent in this view. Regardless, she and Mulcahey gave birth to a son in 1926.

Marguerite Carnahan, Date Unknown (Source: findagrave.com)

I did find a puzzling 1930 Census for Margaret, Mulcahy first wife. In 1930 she was head of household living in Chicago at age 37 with young Margaret and Patrick, and her mother. Curiously she was listed as widowed. The only explanation for this is that she might have remarried after Mulcahey and then been widowed later in the 1920s. Her address and family members living with her were the same for the 1940 Census.

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Mulcahey entered aviation as an avocation probably sometime in the 1920s. He had his share of mishaps before the accident that finally killed him in 1935.

The article at right describes a misjudged takeoff from the Speedbowl Park Airport, which resulted in a hangar strike. The strike caused the right landing wheel to depart from the airplane, which continued to fly. Mulcahey carried three passengers and they proceeded to the nearby Sterling, IL airport to land uneventfully. Information about Speedbowl Park follows from the link, “Before Speed Bowl [sic] Park existed, the property was once an airport. It was called Speed Bowl Park Airport and was established in the early 1920’s. The first plane landed on what would be called the infield of the old speedway.

The park first opened in 1939 at the corner of Route 2 and McCue road in Sterling, Illinois. It featured a short half-mile dirt track for the racing of stock cars, midgets and go-karts. Over the years many racers found their way around this track until a tragedy in 1968 brought about an abrupt end of the park a few years later.”

The sepia-tint photograph, below, is from a Facebook public group specifically discussing Speedbowl Park.

Speedbowl Park, Date Unknown (Source: Facebook)

Sterling Daily Gazette (IL) August 13, 1929 (Source: newspapers.com)

But, I digress, Mulcahey suffered another accident, reported at left. The frequency of his mishaps seemed to be known to the author of the article.

I know little else about Mulcahey's flying life between these two May and August 1929 articles. The article below was a typical news filler of the era, but provides no information regarding what Mulcahey was doing there.

Idabel, ID, McCurtain Gazette April 11, 1934 (Source: newspapers.com)

The statement exhibited in the two articles at the top of this page is confusing, namely, "...having served in the World War as a transport pilot and since has seen service on passenger and mail lines." Other than his mention, above, as one of the "Stinson people" in a group photograph from 1928, I found nothing related to any work he did for any other aircraft manufacturer or for any airline, or any military experience. That he was flying the Stinson Detroiter owned by the Becker Roofing Company in the article at left does not mean that he worked for either Stinson or Becker.

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Dossier: 2.1.31

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