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George Chapline was born July 9, 1894 in Lincoln, NB. He
entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1912, graduated
in 1916, then entered a varied service in the Navy. He was
selected for training in aviation and was transferred to
Pensacola in 1920. He became Naval Aviator #2945.
In 1922
he was assigned to post graduate work in aeronautical engineering
at the Naval Academy, supplemented by a year at the Naval
Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia. He completed his post graduate
work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1925,
and was assigned to organize a ground school for midshipmen
at Annapolis.
In June 1927 he was commissioned Lieutenant-Commander and
placed in charge of Squadron No. 2 of the U.S.S. California fleet. In the spring of 1928 he was transferred to the Planning
Division of the Bureau of Aeronautics where he remained until
1929.
He landed at Tucson during the summer of 1928, on July 20,
while still in the Navy as a Lt. Cmdr. He was flying a Vought
Corsair, A-7813. He carried as passenger W.A. Russell. Based
at the Naval Air Station, San
Diego, CA, their itinerary was westbound from El Paso,
TX to San Diego.
He resigned the Navy in June 1929 to become service manager
for the Wright Aeronautical Corporation, holding this position
until promotion to assistant director, then director of sales
and service in 1932. In 1934, he became VP in charge of sales.
Just after joining Wright, from October 5-21, 1929, he flew
the Wright Company's Whirlwind-powered tri-motor Ford (NX7864,
not in the Register) in the Ford Reliability Tour for 1929.
He was not competing. Rather, the transport was used to carry
press and Wright service personnel. He was busy his first
year with Wright, flying 30,000 miles and landing in 42 states
as well as points in Canada.
On November 13, 1940, he resigned his post at Wright and
took on the responsibility of president and general manager
for the Brewster Corporation (manufacturer of Brewster Buffalo).
Brewster was ramping up toward war and had $100,000,000 in
military contracts to handle.
When WWII came, he returned
to the Navy and saw active service in the Pacific as a Captain
on Admiral Nimitz' staff. After the war, in 1946, he joined
the Ranger Aircraft Engines Division of the Fairchild Engine
and Airplane Corporation.
That's all I know about pilot Chapline. If you know more,
please let me know.
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Dossier 2.1.70
UPLOADED: 03/20/06 REVISED: 02/01/11
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