E.C. McLeod, 1930, Age 28

This section exhibits documents related to the Central and South American travels of Elmer C. McLeod. Some are embellished with customs and visa stamps for the countries visited.

The portrait, right, is enlarged from his pilot identification card issued in Mexico on February 4, 1930, below.

Pilot ID Card, Mexico, February 4, 1930

The photo identification card, above, accompanied his pilot license, below. He held Mexican license number 76. This one was valid through August 4, 1930.

Pilot License, Mexico, Valid Through August 4, 1930

McLeod flew many trips to and from Mexico and the United States, and within Mexico. These are logged in abundance in his pilot log books. When he flew for Pickwick Airwaysand the Aviation Services Company, Nogales, Los Mochis, Mazatlan and Obregon were typical destinations.

Later in the 1930s and 40s when he worked for Lockheed, there were no minor trips to Mexico and only one to Vancouver, BC, but his mileage spent in major international travel increased sharply. Besides Central and South America, McLeod flew internationally in India, Java, China, South Africa and Europe. All his international flights are very well documented by his pilot flight log books.

Central America Trip, National Aeronautics, June, 1939

At right, documentation of one of the trips highlighted in the June, 1939 issue of National Aeronautics. The caption says, "Flying over some rough terrain is this Lockheed 212 military fighter. It's off on a 25,000-mile good will demonstration throught the major countries of Central and South America. The crew, shown in insert, is made up of James W. Fisher, radio operator; E.C. McLeod, pilot; Carl B. Squier, Lockheed sales manager and navigator for the flight; and Ed Cruz, mechanic. Equipped with a fixed gun in the nose, a machine gun in revolving turret at the rear, and fitted with bomb racks, the 212 is a most versatile military plane."

To support his southern flights, he accumulated Letters of Reference from the Lockheed company, the local police department and Los Angeles County health authorities to smooth his passage.

Below, a letter verifying McLoed's good character from the Burbank Police Department. The stamps (apparently visas), left to right from the top right corner, are from Argentina, Guatemala (October 28, 1938), Brazil, Venequela, Columbia Columbia again, Nicaragua (August 9, 1937), El Salvador and Costa Rica. His Guatemala visit dated during 1938 is over a year after most of the other dates. Perhaps this letter was used on more than one trip.

Letter of Introduction, Burbank Police Department, August 4, 1937

Below, a letter verifying good health from the Office of the County Health Department, has similar stamps and dates. The Argentinan visa at lower right dated August 10, 1937 exhibits a handwritten note that says, "valid only for travel in first class."

Letter of Introduction, Los Angeles County Health Department, August 7, 1937

Below, another letter verifying McLoed's good character from the Burbank Police Department. Stamps include Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela and El Salvador.

Letter of Introduction, Burbank Police Department, May 16, 1838

---o0o---

Besides the items exhibited above, we are fortunate to have other raw materials from across twenty years of pilot McLeod's life in aviation. As sometimes happens, the items in this Collection were at auction on eBay during February, 2011. Friend of dmairfield.org, Tim Kalina, bid, won and donated all the items to Delta Mike Airfield, Inc. We owe Tim great thanks for sharing these artifacts with us. To review these other items, please direct your browser to the index for the Elmer C. McLeod Photograph and Document Collection.

---o0o---

THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 05/07/11 REVISED: