I Fly Again!!

View products that support dmairfield.org

OTHER RESOURCES

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. ISBN 978-0-9843074-0-1.

---o0o---

http://www.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifThe 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 It includes across 277 pages previously unpublished photographs and texts, and facsimiles of personal letters, diaries and military orders.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, or use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author.  ISBN 978-0-9843074-4-9.

---o0o---

OTHER BOOKS FOR YOU

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. ISBN 978-0-9843074-2-5.

---o0o---
 
Davis-Monthan Aviation Field Register
CulturalMotion PicturesFriendsNon Profit statusProducts and services
ReferencesPublicationsCollectionsGuest EditorsPress Coverage

LAWRENCE A. BICKFORD

Lawrence A. Bickford landed once at Tucson, Sunday, July 29, 1934, as a passenger with pilot Harvey Parks. They were based at Parks Airport, East St. Louis, IL. Please direct your browser to Harvey Parks' link for details about their airplane and itinerary.

Bickford was also a pilot, who later was employed by Pan American-Grace Airways (Panagra). Three years after he visited us at Tucson he was killed in a crash of a Panagra Sikorsky S-43 near the Canal Zone (see below) on August 2, 1937. The other crew member and eleven passengers were also killed. The Panagra airplane, an amphibious model able to land on water and on land, was of U.S. registry, NC15065 (not a Register airplane). Details of the flight are available in the official report, which is available online at the Department of Transportation Library. You may download a copy of the report at this link (PDF 1.5Mb); missing page 10. As happens many times in our Registers, the life of one pilot moves to impact those of others. Such is the case of Parks Airport Register pilot Garnett Q. Caldwell. He was a coincident passenger on Bickford's flight and was killed when the Sikorsky crashed. Details of Caldwell's life are at his link.

The official accident report is dry reading, but here are the top lines. The airplane departed Guayaquil, Ecuador at 11:05AM headed north to Cristobal, Canal Zone, with an estimated time of arrival of 7:10PM. Bickford was the co-pilot on the flight, with pilot in command, and Panagra Chief Pilot, Stephen Dunn. The accident report described Bickford as follows: "Mr. Bickford held Department of Commerce Transport License No. 23586 and co-pilot rating, Department of Commerce Engine Mechanics License No. 12653 and Federal Communications Commission Radio License T-3-653. He had never received formal instrument or night flying instruction from Panagra."

Portsmouth (NH) Herald & Times, August 4, 1937 (Source: Woodling)

 

The accident took place about 10 miles off-shore of Cristobal as pilot Dunn spiraled down for a water landing in what was described as marginal weather. The time was early evening, when, during the summer, clouds and rain are common.

The U.S. Navy mounted a search party involving aircraft, destroyers and submarines. Parts of the airplane were discovered about 12 hours later scattered over an area of 15-20 square miles (due to currents). Other than a small amount of scorched fabric, no indication of equipment failure was evident. No victims were found.

The passengers on the flight were listed in the accident report as Thomas Wakely, Garnett Q. Caldwell (see his link, above), Rex Martin, Amy Levering, Jessie Mary Levering, James Walker Levering, Oscar F. Miller, Ernest W. Woods, Percy Wallace Kumle, Samuel W. Oliver and Isidor Sousa.

The article, right, from the Portsmouth (NH) Herald & Times, describes the search results. It appeared under the headline, "Find Debris From Wrecked Airplane." Bickford was from Rochester, NH, about 25 miles northwest of Portsmouth.

---o0o---

THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 12/09/14 REVISED: 05/31/16
 
Home
The Register
People
Places
Airplanes
Events
YOU CAN HELP

I'm looking for information and photographs of passenger Bickford and his airplane to include on this page. If you have some you'd like to share, please click this FORM to contact me.

---o0o---

Thanks to Guest Editor Bob Woodling for help researching this page.

---o0o---

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.  Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author. ISBN 978-0-9843074-1-8.

---o0o---

Winners' Viewpoints: The Great 1927 Trans-Pacific Dole Race is available at the link. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author. 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. ISBN 978-0-9843074-3-2.

---o0o---

 
 
Contact Us | Credits | Copyright © 2008 Delta Mike Airfield, Inc.
This website is best enjoyed in a 1024 x 768 screen resolution.
Web design by The Web Professional, Inc