PLEASE NOTE: If you are a journalist, the most recent PRESS RELEASE from Delta Mike Airfield, Inc. is available at the link.

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APRIL, 2008 Your Webmaster was interviewed for the "Timeless Voices of Aviation" series being promulgated by the Experimental Aircraft Association. As I understand it, there is a backlog of editing and implementing interviews for the site. Our video should show up on the Timeless Voices web site in about 24-months.

To collect thousands of first person video oral history recordings from individuals who have impacted aviation’s development.

To document and preserve these recordings for future generations of family members, teachers, students, historians and others.

To make the recordings accessible through an on-line video history archive, and initiatives such as Museum displays and TV productions.

To engage thousands of volunteers in the rewarding process of gathering video oral history recordings.

 

OCTOBER, 2007 Cosgrove, C.B. III, M. Gerow, E. Russell and G.W. Hyatt. 2007. “Three New Historic Aviation Photograph and Document Collections.” AAHS Journal. 52.4 (Winter, 2007), pp. 291-303 (PDF 785KB). Paper presented simultaneously at the Conference of Historic Aviation Writers, Memphis, TN October 19-21, 2007.

SEPTEMBER, 2007 This link from the Tucson-based Arizona Daily Star (quoted below) was part of an article published on Sunday September 9, 2007.  The article announced the 80th anniversary celebration for the Davis-Monthan Airfield, which Your Webmaster attended dressed in authentic 1930s clothing (below). The article features the film clip on this site of Lindbergh's visit to Tucson, September 23-24, 1927.

Click this link to see the program for the 80th anniversary celebration (PDF download; 3.9MB). The guest speaker was Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ).

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“Accent

Watch clip of Lindbergh arriving in Tucson

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.09.2007

Webmaster in 1930s Garb

Pure luck and a family's generosity have given us a treasure: a short clip of Charles A. Lindbergh's arrival and reception in Tucson on Sept. 23, 1927.

However, the clip, at www.dmairfield.org/flvs/lindbergh/lindbergh.html, is but a small slice of Tucson history filmed from about 1916 to the late 1920s by John Pheiffer. Watch it HERE.

"He was my dad's stepfather," says Tucson contractor Les Wolf, who discovered eight reels filmed by Pheiffer after his widow — Wolf's grandmother — died in 1988.

"We opened a steamer trunk and inside was a camera, a projector and eight reels of film, stored in mothballs."

Wolf got a friend who knew how to operate the projector. Among the footage: the building of the Temple of Music and Art, which opened in 1927, and the first Tucson rodeo, held in 1925.

Wolf donated the camera and projector to the Arizona Historical Society and the film to the city archives — on the condition that video cassettes were made for the family and for Tucson television stations.

"We appreciate that people enjoy it," says Wolf, who revisits the films from time to time.”

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JULY, 2007 The AOPA (Aircraft Owner's and Pilot's Association) Magazine for July, 2007 published a review of the "Register of the Davis-Monthan Airfield" book at right. Special thanks to reviewer Nate Ferguson, who continues to be a real friend of dmairfield.org (see the other press and internet coverage of dmairfield.org by AOPA, below).

This book is the first volume of Oldairfield.com® 21st Century Editions. All 21st Century Editions are directly related by pilot(s), airplane(s) or event(s) to the contents of the Davis-Monthan Register.

The reprinted portions of Oldairfield.com® 21st Century Editions are in the public domain, as indicated in official notifications from the U.S. Copyright Office. The 21st Century Editions are "built around" these old, public domain works.

In all cases, the old works are augmented with information (texts and images) specifically based on my research of the subjects, and, in most cases with data from the original Airfield Register.

You may order a copy of the Register for your personal use. See the entries below for additional examples of the Oldairfield.com® 21st Century Edition line of books. Please check back for additions to the list from time to time.

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MAY, 2007 The book review at left was printed in the Newsletter (#159, Second Quarter, 2007) of the American Aviation Historical Society. Special thanks to reviewer Butler.

I got a chuckle out of his comment that the book is, "...somewhat limited ... as a research tool because of the need to manually cross-reference the data from page to page...."

In fact, the three chapters of alphabetically and numerically ranked tables I put in the book make the Register INFINITELY more easy to use and find things than NOT having the tables.

It was that primary difficulty of trying to remember where I had previously seen an airplane or pilot listed as I thumbed through the Register that led me to write the database (from which the three chapters of tables are derived) in the first place: to make it easier to find and return to repetitive entries by pilots, passengers and aircraft.

Be that as it may, reviewer Butler is right on when he recommends to use the book, "...in conjunction with..." this website. Doing so you'll discover about 500 pilot biographies and aircraft technical descriptions, as well as descriptions of some of the places the pilots and aircraft called home. This number is increasing monthly, with the goal of eventually having all 3,689 landings researched and documented online.

Please order a copy of the Register yourself and try it out. Consider also, please, the other books listed immediately below. All profits from sales of these books go toward supporting the research and hosting of this website.

 

 

 

 

 

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APRIL 2007 Skyways magazine, "The Journal of the Airplane 1920-1940", No. 82, included this brief mention of the Register of the Davis-Monthan Airfield. Brief, and they also got the web reference wrong. It should be www.oldairfield.com.

 

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March 2007 Book published entitled: "Military Aircraft of the Davis-Monthan Airfield 1925-1936" edited by G.W. Hyatt.

"Military Aircraft of the Davis-Monthan Airfield 1925-1936" Cover

What happens when you take a cold training manual and wrap it with humanity? The core of this book is TM 2170-35, “Identification of Aircraft”, issued originally in 1929.  It is a training manual to help U.S. Army Air Corps personnel identify contemporary military aircraft. 

TM2170-35 is reproduced in its entirety, including crisp photographs of airplane types, with 3-view silhouettes of each type on facing pages.  Twenty-eight of the 41 aircraft types illustrated in TM 2170-35 were flown to Tucson during the time of the Register.  Further, 850 landings were made at Tucson by these aircraft and their gifted pilots.

Black & white images with technical captions are “cold”.  But, add the people from the Register and an intimate parallel emerges between this book and the website.   For each aircraft type, the book tabulates their pilot names and dates of arrival at the Airfield.  It lists the registration numbers for the aircraft they flew in case you care further to research them.  The tabulated information comes from the database that drives this website.  

The book interweaves with the people of the Register and introduces us biographically to the pilots as unique human beings. We feel warmer when we learn that it was the people who drove the technology, not the other way around.

Perfect-bound; 179 pages; soft cover. ORDER HERE!

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February 2007 Book published entitled: "Art Goebel's Own Story" by Register signer Art Goebel.

"Art Goebel's Own Story" Cover

An Oldairfield.com® 21st Century Edition, this is an autobiographical vignette cast around the life of one pilot from the Golden Age of Flight.  Arthur C. Goebel was born October 19, 1895; he died in Los Angeles, CA at age 78 on December 3, 1973. 

Edited by G.W. Hyatt, none of Goebel’s words have been changed in this new, augmented edition.  From Foreword to Chapter Eleven the story, typeset and images are faithful reproductions of Goebel’s original 1929 book.  The cover art, left,is based on the original cover of Goebel's slim, autobiographical volume. The smudges and scrapes of age have been left for you to enjoy.

Goebel's is the language that dilates for us the life of the Golden Age aviation entrepreneur, who used his aviation exploits to build a business around his passion. We also get to SEE what things were like.  His book brings us 47 black and white images of people and airplanes that have not enjoyed the light of day for nearly 80 years. 

Your editor extends the biography in his Introduction and provides a summary look at the airplanes Goebel flew and the landings he made at the Davis-Monthan Airfield, Tucson, AZ between 1928 and 1931.  He also provides an annotated bibliography.  There you will find recommendations for, and comments about, books, magazines, newspapers and web resources.

A life reviewed so long ago deserves another look.  “Art Goebel’s Own Story” by Art Goebel was published in 1929, nine years after he learned to fly and 44 years before he departed to his Final Horizon.  His story takes place just shy of half way through his life. Barely a quarter century had passed since the Wright Brothers’ first short flights.  Yet Art Goebel’s flights that comprise his major claims to fame spanned not only the Pacific Ocean but the Continental United States and the National Air Races.

He had prodigious skills as a pilot, yet his book emphasizes a more fundamental character strength from which arose all success in his life: careful, thoughtful, exhaustive analysis and preparation. 

This is a rare volume. Originals are available at only three libraries in the United States as of the publication date of thisOldairfield.com® 21st Century Edition. Now you can have your own copy!

Perfect bound; 82 pages; soft cover. ORDER HERE.

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Davis-Monthan Register Book

January 2, 2007 Book published entitled: "Register of the Davis-Monthan Aviation Field, 1925-1936 With Cross-References to the Pilots Who Landed There and Their Aircraft" by G.W. Hyatt.

Book may be ordered exclusively HERE.

As the very first volume of Oldairfield.com® 21st Century Editions, this 341-page book contains greyscale images of all 218 pages of the original Davis-Monthan Airfield Register. But that’s not all.  The book is augmented with three chapters with extensive computer-generated tables that cross-reference the pilots and airplanes with the Register page numbers.

These three chapters, which total near 100 pages themselves, enable readers to look up a pilot name or airplane brand or registration number in an organized table and go directly to the page of the original Register where they are signed in. It is a useful book to researchers, as well as those with interest in the people and airplanes of the Golden Age of Aviation.

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November 22, 2006 Online e-magazine article highlighting this website published at this link.

April 2006 Article published in the 50th Anniversary issue of the Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society.

Hyatt, G.W. 2006. "Standard Air Lines: A Productivity and Operations History for Davis-Monthan Aviation Field, 1927-1930" JAAHS. 51:1. 17-24. PDF download (1.01MB) here.

March 14, 2006 The Davis-Monthan Airfield Register website is linked to the Wiley Post Heritage of Flight Center.

February 12, 2006 The Davis-Monthan Airfield Register website is linked to the South Central Region website of the Ninety-Nines, and the websites of the International Women's Air & Space Museum, American Aviation Historical Society, The Web Professional (the Naples, FL company that designed dmairfield) and The Velocity XL Aircraft.

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January 24, 2006 The Davis-Monthan Airfield Register website is the "Website of the Week" in Flying Magazine. Coincidentally, pilot Leighton H. Collins signed the Davis-Monthan Register on July 17, 1930 flying Cardinal NC991K. Richard L. Collins, son of Leighton, is Editor-at-Large at Flying Magazine.

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October, 2005 From the "Airways" column of Flying Magazine, Volume 132, No. 10, page 24

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September, 2005 PowerPoint presentation of website project to the Order of Daedalians, Tucson, AZ. Research meetings Tucson and Phoenix, AZ.

August, 2005 The Davis-Monthan Aviation Field Register website is linked from the OX-5 Club website as follows:

"Davis-Monthan Airfield in Tucson, AZ.
There you will find the pilot signatures and aircraft information for 261 landings made by OX5 members between 1925 and 1936 at the Davis-Monthan Airfield in Tucson, AZ.
Added on: 05-Aug-2005"

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July, 2005 From the MAPA Log, Volume 28, No. 7, p.44 (monthly magazine of the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association).

"Aviation History Website Launch

Aviation historian and enthusiast Gary W. Hyatt (MAPA 8117) has launched the website, www.dmairfield.com. “My site is built around one of the most significant Golden Age civil, commercial and military aviation artifacts in the country.” says Hyatt. The artifact is a folio-sized, leather-bound transient register, signed by pilots visiting the original Davis-Monthan Airfield in Tucson, AZ between 1925 and 1936.

Hyatt’s website exhibits color images of all 218 pages of the register. The pages feature signatures of many famous pilots, including Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and Pancho Barnes. The site also features a database of all 3,689 pilot names and associated register information, which, through built-in menus, enables site users to investigate individual pilots, their vintage airplanes, and passengers. “The database is the core of the website.” says Hyatt, “It drives and coordinates for viewers the images and texts I’ve developed to make the 80 year-old register come alive to 21st century internet users.”

“My website represents five hard years of research, interviews, writing, photography, and flying around the country.” says Hyatt. “It brings my efforts to life as a tribute to the people and airplanes that brought us modern aviation.” Hyatt will update the website, and asks users to submit contributions about people, airplanes, places and events surrounding the Davis-Monthan Airfield during the Golden Age. For more information, please contact him on the website at www.dmairfield.com."

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June 21, 2005 The Davis-Monthan Aviation Field Register website is linked from the Aerofiles website as follows:

"Davis-Monthan Airfield A cursory look suggests much dedication to detail in documenting this early airport and the flyers who dropped in to sign the log between 1925-36. Search engine."

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June, 2005 From the website of the Swedish Aviation Historical Society:

"www.dmairfield.com/
Här finns ett unikt historiskt material i form av faksimil och sökbara data från flygplatsliggarens noteringar under de gyllene åren 1925 -1936 vid Davis-Monthans kommunala flygplats i Arizona. Kända namn skymtar som Amelia Earhart, James Doolittle och Charles Lindbergh. När, varifrån, vart och med vad (och vem). Lennart Andersson har tipsat."

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May 27, 2005 From www.airdisaster.com. (Looks like they picked it up from AOPA, below)

"Aviation History Web Site

Aviation History Web Site Brings Past Alive

Aviation historian Gary W. Hyatt has launched a unique Web site, capturing a snapshot of the Golden Age of flight. The Web site exhibits color images of all 218 pages of a register signed by pilots who visited the historic Davis-Monthan Airfield in Tucson, Arizona, between 1925 and 1936. These include Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and Pancho Barnes. The site also features a database containing 3,689 pilots' names with built-in menus so users can research individual pilots, vintage airplanes, and passengers. Hyatt also is accepting information from visitors to help him piece together the past. See the site at: http://www.dmairfield.com/"

A comment from that site:

"Man, What a site! 1.5 hours reading names that made aviation what it is today.
I made it all the way to 1930." dmm.

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May 25, 2005 From the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) members website:

Aviation history Web site brings past alive
Aviation historian Gary W. Hyatt has launched a unique Web site, capturing a snapshot of the Golden Age of flight. The Web site exhibits color images of all 218 pages of a register signed by pilots who visited the historic Davis-Monthan Airfield in Tucson, Arizona, between 1925 and 1936. These include Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and Pancho Barnes. The site also features a database containing 3,689 pilots' names with built-in menus so users can research individual pilots, vintage airplanes, and passengers. Hyatt also is accepting information from visitors to piece together the past. See the Web site.

(May 25)

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July 25, 2003 From the Friday issue of "Desert Airman", the weekly newspaper of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Abridged from the article.

"TUCSON'S GOLDEN AGE OF AVIATION...ITS SPIRIT STILL LIVES ON" by SSgt. Tammie Clark

A man who has dedicated more hours than can be counted to researching Davis-Monthan's history gave a briefing July 16 to discuss a significant piece of that history.

"The Davis-Monthan Aviation Field Transient Register is the most significant civil, commercial and military aviation artifact from the southwest U.S.", said Dr. Gary Hyatt. The register is a book, which is maintained at base operations. The pilots who landed at D-M signed the book between 1925 and 1936.

"We should feel lucky that he [Hyatt] has 'adopted' Davis-Mothan's aviation history to explore," said Gwen Lisa, 355th Civil Engineer Squadron natural and cultural resource manager.

"The register is a testimony of the importance of Tucson in Golden Age aviation history. Some very special people came through here in the 20's and 30's who still affect our lives today," said Hyatt. The most rewarding part according to Hyatt has been meeting people who actually signed the book. Shaking hands with Bobbi Trout, John Miller and William Piper, Jr. has been very satisfying.

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UPLOADED: 05/27/05 REVISED: 12/17/05, 02/02/06, 02/14/06, 07/04/07, 09/20/07, 01/31/08