Dr. Boy Norfleet Collier, ca. 1935 (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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B.N. Collier landed once at Tucson, Wednesday, June 5, 1935 at 8:35AM. Based at Shelton, WA, he was eastbound from Yuma, AZ to Lordsburg, NM. He carried his wife and two children (son B.N., Jr. and daughter Winnifred) as passengers. They were aboard Collier's Waco KNF, NC109Y. The airplane, manufactured June 16, 1930, was owned by Collier for under a year. The portrait of Collier, left, is shared with us by his daughter.
Myra and Boy Collier, ca. late 1930s (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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According to her, Collier borrowed $5,000 to purchace the Waco. Her mother was not too happy about that kind of expenditure by a country doctor during the Depression. Dr. and Mrs. Collier at right.
Collier was a well-known physician practicing in Washington State. I have information from his daughter and son about the flight through Mr. Woodling's (cited, right sidebar) liaison with them. Boy, Jr. was three years old at the time of their landing at Tucson, but he remembers some of the trip's details. His sister also remembers some of the flight. In Mr. Woodling's conversations with her she states, "Flying the airplane from the rear seat, BN Sr. communicated with his wife, who was in the front seat with the kids, via a speaking tube that connected their two helmets. Winnifred sat next to her mother and BN Jr. sat on his mother's lap. One seat belt was used for all three. BN Sr. wore the only parachute on the airplane. ... there was a small notebook that her mother used to write notes.... She wrote notes to her mother like 'I have to go to the bathroom!' And her mother would write back, 'you will have to wait!'"
Below, courtesy of Collier's daughter, Winnifred Ringhoffer, is a photograph of NC109Y with Winnifred and B.N., Jr. posing in front of it. Mr. Woodling states, "The word 'Schnitzel' is written on the vertical tail, but Winnifred has no recollection of the significance of the word."
Boy N. Collier, Jr. (L) and Winnifred, Ca. 1935, Location Unknown (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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Below, a photograph of Collier and his children in front of NC109Y.
Donning Flying Helmets and Goggles, the Collier Children pose With Their Father in Front of the Waco That Transported the Family to Texas (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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Below, the children and their mother.
While the Waco’s Propeller Turns in the Background, Mrs. Myra Collier Holds onto her Children Prior to Boarding the Airplane for an Unforgettable Air Journey From Tacoma, WA to Blanket, TX, June 1935 (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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Even with black and white film it is easy to say the airplane is not vermillion and silver, as is stated in the delivery sheet posted at the airplane's link. Site contributor Andy Heins states, "Quite often, these airplanes were recovered [with new fabric] after about 5 years and generally the colors changed. I can tell you the cowl is not original Waco and it is missing the gear fairings." Given that the airplane was about five years old when Collier acquired it, it was probably recovered and repainted. Winnifred remembers the airplane being painted white, but she does not remember the color of the stripe.
Winnifred expands upon some of the flight in the following note she wrote for us.
FLYING TO TEXAS
Around 1933-34 our father, Dr. Boy Norfleet Collier, decided to learn to fly and went to Tacoma to take flying lessons. Mother told us that after that there was a race held in Tacoma--just who was taking part, she did not say, but Dad decided to enter. What plane he was flying I do not know. She did say that my brother, Boy N. Collier, Jr., who was two or three years old kept asking, "Did Daddy win the race? Did Daddy win the race?"
In 1935, he owned an open cockpit, bi-winged Waco (according to my brother), (NC-109Y) and decided that he would fly the family to Texas to see the families there. Mother said he had borrowed $5000 to buy the plane and she was very much against going into debt for such frivolities. This was the time of the Great Depression. We lived in a bungalow built by putting some sheds together and building on to them. It was a comfortable house with an oil stove and fireplace for heating. Mother was busy landscaping the yard, keeping chickens, and eventually we had a cow, which Dad said he would milk-but that did not last long. "I have surgery today and should not be in the barn." Of course, Mother ended up milking.
Back to flying: Dad put Mother in the front cockpit with my brother (3) on her lap, and I sat beside her. We had helmets, goggles, and warm coats. Dad was in the back cockpit with the only parachute. Mother had a little notebook into which she and I would write notes as the engine noise was deafening, and the wind whipped my curls, which hung below my helmet. I had finished the first grade, and so could write some. I found the notebook in Mother's cedar chest and it often said, "I have to go to the bathroom." "You will just have to wait, dear."
I believe that the notebook is still with the helmets, goggles, etc., in the cedar chest that was shipped to Boy, Jr. after Mother's passing.
We took off from Tacoma and flew south to Bakersfield, CA the east to central Texas near the small town of Blanket, which is about 30 miles from Brownwood, Texas. We landed in the wheat field across the road from Grandfather's house. The whole family was out to watch this plane come in, excited as you can imagine. I have a clear memory of getting off the wing and wheat coming up to my chest. I have no record of what Grandfather thought of the wheat being mowed down by the landing.
A few days later Dad decided to take Mother's youngest brother for a ride. Having to take off into the wind, he made a run for it having to fly over the orchard. He did not make it and the plane nosed into the ground. The two were not seriously injured, though I have a vague memory of Dad sewing a stitch beside his mouth. My cousin recently told me that JR broke his arm, but my vivid memory is my Aunt Margret gathering her children and my brother and me on the front screened porch assuring us that all was okay. Dad sold the remains of the plane and I assume took the train home. Relatives drove Mother, brother and me home to Washington later in the summer.
The one adventure I remember vividly was a forced landing somewhere probably over New Mexico or Arizona. Headwinds became so strong that the little plane could not buck them. So, Dad told Mother over the speaking tube that went from his helmet to hers that he was going to set the plane down, to get the children out of plane and away from it, that he was going to have to stay in the cockpit and keep the engine going or the wind would whip it over. I remember Mother waking me up and telling me to take my brother's hand and help him down from the plane wing and get away from the plane, that Daddy was going to set the plane down. Dad landed the plane in the pasture or desert, kept it upright! But! the most exciting thing; the first cowboy we had ever seen came loping across the field on his horse. They tied the plane to a fence with his lariat rope. Since we were always following the highways, there was a little crossroads store across the field; So, we walked over there, Dad bought us some oranges, and we sat on the ground, ate oranges until the wind died down and then flew on to the next stop. Mother always said the people there thought we must be crazy and had dropped from Mars-they never spoke to us.
Winnifred Collier Ringhoffer (5/6/12)
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The "small notebook" is still with us and below is the cover of it. It is actually a book of coupons for flight instruction in 20-minute blocks.
The Cover for the Little Notepad With Which Mrs. Collier Communicated With Winnifred, Age Seven (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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Below, one of the coupon pages. The backs of the individual coupons were blank.
Notepad With Which Mrs. Collier Communicated With Winnifred, Age Seven (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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The following notes were written by Mrs. Collier on the backs of the blank coupons. The note at left is self-explanatory. She also used the little notepad to document major stops along the way. At right, she noted when they departed Eugene, Oregon, and when they anticipated arriving at the next “port,” (Medford, Oregon).
Notepad With Which Mrs. Collier Communicated With Winnifred, Age Seven (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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Notepad With Which Mrs. Collier Communicated With Winnifred, Age Seven (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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As stated by Winnifred, above, when they passed through Tucson, the Collier family was flying from Shelton to Blanket, TX, where Dr. Collier's wife grew up. They landed in a wheat field near Blanket and visited with all of the relatives. At some point, Dr. Collier began giving demo flights to the relatives, one of whom was on board when the plane lost power and plunged to the ground. Her father suffered a cut lip, which he sutured himself. Her relative, J.R. Damron, was the passenger and he suffered a broken arm. She said it was really a very hard landing with the airplane remaining intact but definitely not flyable. She remembers that the "wreckage" was sold but she does not remember it being hauled away. Please direct your browser to the airplane's link, above, to explore it's chain of custody.
Collier subsequently bought a Waco coupe to replace the crashed NC109Y. Below is that airplane, NC13443, with his wife and children posed in front. The two women at far left and right are identified as Mrs. Florence Pearson and Mrs. Gage, respectively.
Dr. Collier’s second airplane, Waco UIC, NC13443, ca. 1937 (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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Collier Entered His Waco Coupe in an Air Race in Seattle, ca. Labor Day, 1937 (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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On Labor Day, 1937, Collier and his wife and another couple flew from Shelton to Seattle, WA to see an air show at Boeing Field. Seemingly on a whim, he entered his Waco UIC in the free-for-all handicap race. Against expectations he won the event and took the $25 prize money. Article, left is from an undated Shelton-Mason County Journal.
In 1938, Dr. Collier severely injured his hand while attempting to prop-start the Waco UIC Coupe. It was surgically repaired and he was able to continue his work as a physician. Below, a news article from the Shelton-Mason County Journal, Thursday, February 17, 1938 describing his injury.
Unsourced News Article, Thursday, February 17, 1938 (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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Later, Collier bought his third and final airplane, a Taylorcraft on floats. Below, Taylorcraft NC22230, preparing to take off in front of Collier's home on Hammersley Inlet, an arm of Puget Sound.
Taylorcraft NC22230, Date Unknown (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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The Colliers’ home included a basement hangar, built to house the Taylorcraft on floats. Compare the house at left in the photo above with the one below. The little floatplane was carried to the beach on a dolly that ran on railroad tracks. Below, a photograph of that arrangment. The lack of windows and the concrete forms awaiting backfill suggest the home was under construction or modification at the time.
Built-in Basement Hangar for Taylorcraft on Floats, Ca. Late 1930s (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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All private planes, including Collier’s Taylorcraft, were grounded during WWII. The little floatplane sat in the basement garage with its engine removed. After WWII Collier became interested in boating, built two boats, and thereafter did not own an airplane.
Boy Norfleet Collier was born in Texas in 1900 and died in Washington State in 1985. He attended the University of Texas, but spent his younger years in Tipton, OK. He practiced medicine in Shelton, WA for 50 years, retiring in 1982.
POSTSCRIPT Let's give credit where credit is due. This page was initiated and sourced by Guest Editor Bob Woodling (cited, right sidebar). His research led him to find and contact both of pilot Collier's children. Through Bob's outreach and efforts, and the cooperation of Collier's children, this page has become more than a biography. Rather it is now a warm vignette of what one flying family experienced during the Golden Age of Flight. Below, Winnifred and Bob, May 6, 2012. Thanks.
Winnifred Collier Ringhoffer and Bob Woodling, May 6, 2012 (Source: Woodling)
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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 04/14/12 REVISED: 05/10/12
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