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Your copy of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register with all the pilots' signatures and helpful cross-references to pilots and their aircraft is available here. Or use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author.

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I found no biographical file for pilot Corkville in the archives of the National Air & Space Museum (NASM), Washington, DC.

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This link leads you to a book that 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. Or use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author.

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Davis-Monthan Aviation Field Register
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JOHN D. CORKILLE

John Corkille signed the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register once on Wednesday, January 5, 1930. He was flying an army Boeing P-12-B, 29-329. He was based at Dayton, OH, Wright Field and cited his itinerary as arriving eastbound from Seattle, WA to Dallas, TX. He remained overnight in Tucson and departed next morning at 9:30AM. He did not list a reason for his flight, but it could have been delivery of his airplane from the Boeing factory in Seattle. Below, courtesy of the San Diego Aerospace Museum Flickr Stream (SDAM), is an undated photograph of Corkille.

John Corkville, Date Unknown (Source: SDAM)
John Corkville, Date Unknown (Source: SDAM)

The photograph above was doctored (notice the light pigment near his shoulders) and cropped, probably for a formal ID portrait of some kind. Image, below, shows Corkille sitting at lower right. This informal portrait, below, from the NASM, is captioned, " ...Wright Field test pilots. Left to right, front: Capt. Street [sic, it should be Streete], Lt. Harrison G. 'Scotty' Crocker, Lt. John D. Corkille. Back" Capt. Moffat, Lt. Parker, Lt. Beery. In front of the group is a small trophy labeled Trophy 1931." There is a Lt. L.L. Beery signed in the Register in 1927. There is no clue as to whether he is Lt. Beery in this photograph.

John Corkille, Front Row, Right, 1931 (Source: NASM)
John Corkville, Front Row, Right, 1931

Below, from SDAM, is another informal portrait, date and location unknown.

John D. Corkille, Date & Location Unknown (Source: SDAM)
John D. Corkille, Date & Location Unknown (Source: SDAM)

 

J.D. Corkille, Popular Aviation, August, 1930
(Source: PA)

 

 

 

 

J.D. Corkille, Date Unknown (Source: NASM)
J.D. Corkille, Date Unknown (Source: NASM)

 

 

At left is an article from Popular Aviation magazine (PA) from August, 1930 that describes Corkille's harrowing experience with fire in the cockpit. This forced landing probably occurred only months after his visit at Tucson.

According to Joe Baugher's site, Army aircraft numbers 29-329 to 341 were Boeing P-12Bs, c/n 1170 to 1182. He cites 29-329 as converted to XP-12G configuration, but later reverted to B configuration. Although there are no dates given for this remodeling, this could be a post-conversion flight from the factory by pilot Corkille.

 

 

 

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Dossier 2.2.193

UPLOADED: 02/04/09 REVISED: 06/17/14, 11/26/14, 04/24/17

 
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I'm looking for photographs of pilot Corkille and his airplane to include on this page. If you have one or more you'd like to share, please use this FORM to contact me.

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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.

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OTHER BOOKS FOR YOU

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.

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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.

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