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HALLS: A
PUZZLE
J.R. Hall, 1913
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This one is confusing. It is a good indication of some of
the problems that arise when trying to research 80-year old
archives about people who share a relatively common name,
and who aren't on the leading edge of fame. The challenge
is how to differentiate between "J. Hall", "J.R. Hall" and
"Jack Hall"?
The
NASM folder (left sidebar) for "J.R. Hall" is very sparse.
It contains only two news clippings. At left is an image
of "J.R. Hall", obviously a pilot, and possibly the "J. Hall"
that signed our Register.
Of interest is the other clipping
about a "Jack Hall" (below) which references one of our best
known pilots, John
Miller.
One "J. Hall" landed at Tucson once on January 12, 1935
flying a Stinson registered NS-7, a U.S. Department of Commerce
(DOC) number. Based in Washington, DC, Hall was inbound
from Tulsa, OK. He did not enter his destination in
the Register. He carried two passengers: M.G. Kenney
and J.W. McKenzie. Hall wrote in the remarks section
of the Register "Mapping".
His airplane is also a puzzle. Identified by J. Hall
as a Stinson, NS-7 was also the registration number of the
DOC Fairchild that accompanied Lindbergh on his U.S. Tour
(follow this link to
see moving picture footage of Lindbergh, the “Spirit
of St. Louis” and NS-7 on the ground at Tucson).
Without
further data, the Stinson may be another DOC airplane that
replaced the Fairchild that accompanied Lindbergh. Or
the pilot may have misidentified it in the Register. Misidentification
doesn’t seem probable in that the number is written
very boldly and clearly in pencil.
John Miller Reference, 12/1/39
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So, is "J. Hall", the pilot who signed the Register, the
same person as "J.R. Hall", the pilot archived at the NASM,
and is either one of them the same person as "Jack Hall"
who flew with John Miller? To find out, I sent an email to
John Miller to ask what he remembered about "Jack Hall".
This is what he said (04/07/07):
| "I remember that I did fly Jack Hall
from the roof, the only passenger I can remember. He
was an employee of EAL on the roof while I was flying
there for a year. He died later. Jack Hall was not a
pilot. He was just hired to take care of the office on
the roof. As I said, he died quite a long time ago. John" |
Now we know that "Jack Hall" is neither "J. Hall" nor "J.R.
Hall". But we still don't know if "J. Hall" of the Register
is "J.R. Hall" of the NASM archive. Is that clear? Does
anyone KNOW?
---o0o---
You
may view a film of John Miller flying the EAL autogiro off
the roof of the Philadelphia Post Office here.
Dossier 2.1.94
UPLOADED: 04/07/07 REVISED:
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