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Nine of the following eleven images are of people who signed
the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register. One is of a letter to
John Collings, and one is of the descriptive data on the back
of H. Campbell's picture.
George H. Benefield, below, was an Air Corps pilot and officer,
and one can only imagine the time it took to shine and
lace the boots. In1929 he became manager of the new Pioneer
Hotel in Tucson.
George H. Benefield, ca. 1918, France (?)
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Regarding that new Pioneer Hotel, click here to
see another image of Benefield "on duty" at the
Hotel and to have some fun with that Tucson landmark of the
Golden Age!
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Image, below, is of "Ace" Bragunier, the Davis-Monthan
pilot I have identified as having the perfect pilot name.
This must be an early image, because he looks very young.
"Ace" landed at Tucson four times during 1928-29. Each time
he carried passengers. Two of his aircraft, Ford NC1781 is
pictured here and
Ryan NC3648 is pictured here.
He worked for a time for Maddux Airlines out of Los Angeles,
CA.
Clarence "Ace" Bragunier, Date Unknown
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Pilot Cy
Caldwell was a writer and editor.
Cy Caldwell,
1927
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Pilot H. Denny Campbell, below, shows proof that he was
fired upon down in Mexico.
H. Campbell,
ca. 1924
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The data below, from the back of the image above, tell the
story. I did modify the contrast of this image for better
readability, typos and all.
Campbell Image Data
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Pilot Ray H. Clark, below, date and location unknown, landed 14 times between 1925
and 1931. He was a military pilot during those years, based
mostly in Texas and California. In this photo, his airplane
was designed by George H. Prudden, 1896-1964. None of his landings was in a Prudden aircraft. Is that a parachute
under the horizontal stabilizer?
Ray H. Clark, Date Unknown
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John Collings landed once at the
Airfield flying Ford trimotor NC1102 probably
under the auspices of Maddux Air Lines. He carried his wife,
and H.L.
Russell. Later in his career Collings was operating
head of TWA, in which role he was sent the letter below by
one of his line pilots, who proved to be a master of comic
alliteration. The letter's author, Harry Campbell, was the
5th pilot hired by TWA. He taught C.B. Cosgrove, III to play
chess.
The letter to John Collings, below, is shown
without comment. It is one of the wonderful, fun items that
illustrate the wit and comic sensibilities of the close-knit
Golden Age pilot community.
John Collings Letter, 1940
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B. Connell, 1930
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Harvey Weir
Cook is memorialized in Indiana by having his
name attached to the Indianapolis International Airport.
He was connected with aviation since 1917.
H. Weir Cook, Date Unknown
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Joe Crosson, below, signed the register May
19, 1929 flying Lockheed Vega NC857E. He was the pilot for
the first Wilkens-Hearst Antarctic Expedition, which sailed
from New York on September 22, 1928. He was the brother of
Marvel Crosson, a budding female pilot who was killed 1929
Powder Puff Derby. A well-known arctic pilot, Crosson was
tasked to fly the bodies of Will Rogers and Wiley
Post back
to the US from Alaska after their crash in 1935.
Joe Crosson, Date Unknown
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Col. Clarence
C. Culver is the brother of Harry
Culver, Los Angeles
real estate developer and passenger signator of the Davis-Monthan
Register. As the image below might suggest, Col. Culver
was at the forefront of communications for aircraft.
Clarence C. Culver, Date Unknown
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UPLOADED: 01/10/07 REVISED: 12/25/11
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