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There is no biographical file for passenger Hamilton in the archives of the National Air & Space Museum (NASM), Washington, DC.

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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 at the link. Or use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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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 It includes across 277 pages previously unpublished photographs and texts, and facsimiles of personal letters, diaries and military orders.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.

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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, while supplies last.

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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.  Available as a free download at the link.

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WALTER A. "Ham" HAMILTON

Walter A. Hamilton, Kansas City, MO, May 13, 1936 (Source: Boedy's Album)
Walter A. Hamilton, Kansas City, MO, May 13, 1936 (Source: Boedy's Album)

 

Although an accomplished flyer in his own right, Walter Hamilton landed three times at Tucson, each time as a passenger with Jack Frye. Hamilton co-founded Aero Corporation of California in 1926 along with two associates (Paul E. Richter and Frye). "Aero," as their company was called, offered flight instruction and charter flights, and was the west coast distributor for Alexander Eaglerock aircraft of Colorado Springs, CO. A subsidiary of Aero, Standard Air Lines, was formed as the air transport arm if the company. Certified as an aviation mechanic, Hamilton was the Vice President of Operations of Standard Air Lines.

Hamilton's first visit at Tucson was on Friday, December 16, 1927 at 12:25PM. Based at Los Angeles, CA, he and Frye were westbound from Douglas, AZ back to Los Angeles. They flew in the Fokker Universal, NC3193. His fellow passengers were Mel Fickas, Harold Wilson, Mrs. F. D. Bubbel and R.E. Ellenwood. This was a full load for the Universal. They remained overnight in Tucson, departing the next morning at 8:00AM.

His second visit was on Friday, September 28, 1928 at 17:10PM. This time he and Frye were in Standard Air Lines' Fokker Super Universal, NC8011 carrying one other passenger, a captain Gest. They were eastbound from Los Angeles to El Paso, TX. Frye wrote in the remarks column of the Register, "Very Good." They remained overnight, departing the next day at 9:00AM. No reason was given for this flight.

Hamilton's third and final visit was on Sunday, September 30, 1928 at 3:30PM. He was the sole passenger with Frye, again in NC8011. Based at Los Angeles, they were northwestbound from Douglas, AZ to Phoenix, AZ over two legs of the Standard Air Lines route from El Paso to Los Angeles. Below, courtesy of the San Diego Aerospace Museum (SDAM), is an typical aviator photograph of Hamilton.

Walter W. Hamilton, 1936, Location Unknown (Source: SDAM)
Walter W. Hamilton, 1936, Location Unknown (Source: SDAM)

Informally known as the "Three Musketeers", Hamilton, Frye and Richter maintained a career-long work and social bond. They oversaw the merger of Standard Air Lines with Western Air Express, and they were instrumental in forming TWA during the 1930s, and setting the specifications and standards for commercial air transport over the following decades. With his background in maintenance, it was natural for Hamilton to be superintendent of maintenance for TWA. Above is a photograph of Hamilton taken in 1936 as an officer of TWA (identified as "Trans & West Air Inc." in the photocaption.

During WWII he was in the Navy with command authority in the Naval Air Transport Service. After WWII, he was also an officer with Douglas Aircraft, Inc., Burbank, CA. While at Douglas, this link offers an interesting patent for controlling a twin-engine airplane when one engine is lost. Hamilton was the inventor. He passed away in March, 1946 at age 44.

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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 02/24/14 REVISED: 12/03/14

 
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Winners' Viewpoints: The Great 1927 Trans-Pacific Dole Race is available at the link. 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.

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Clover Field: The First Century of Aviation in the Golden State. With the 100th anniversary in 2017 of the use of Clover Field as a place to land aircraft in Santa Monica, this book celebrates that use by exploring some of the people and aircraft that made the airport great.

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