Ross G. Hoyt arrived at Tucson as both pilot and passenger. Biographical information for him, as well as a chronology of military promotions, is nicely covered at this link, so I won't repeat them here.

Ross G. Hoyt, Date & Location Unknown (Source: Kranz)

His first landing was, in fact, as a passenger on Saturday, April 24, 1926 at 11:10 AM. Based at Fairfield, OH, he was westbound from Biggs Field, El Paso, TX to Santa Monica, CA. He was with fellow passengers W.L. Burge, H.C. Colliver and W.J. Hanlon. Their pilot was Captain Henry Pascale flying a Douglas C-1 Transport, 25-425. This airplane was assigned McCook Field P number P-394. It had been shipped to Fairfield Air Intermediate Depot October 27, 1925.

He signed the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register as a pilot the first time on Wednesday, May 5, 1926 at 9:00 AM. He was flying a Douglas O-2-A, 25-396. Based at Langley Field, VA, he carried a single passenger, W.J. Little. They were eastbound from Yuma, AZ to El Paso, TX.

His second and final landing as a pilot was on Friday, December 21, 1928 at 1:45 PM. He carried two passengers, Lt. E. Quesada and a Sgt. Rockenback. They were flying in a Douglas C-1 Transport, 25-432. Based at Bolling Field, Washington, DC they were westbound from Midland, TX to San Diego, CA, probably to participate in the flight of the "Question Mark".

Hoyt was one of the "Question Marks", and as such landed at Tucson as a passenger with the other members of the "Question Mark" crew: Maj. Carl Spatz, Capt. Ira Eaker, Sgt. Roy Hooe, Mr. H.J. Adamson, and Lt. E.R. Queseda. They arrived from San Diego, CA (Rockwell Field) January 21, 1929 at 4:15 PM, stayed overnight, and continued eastward to Washington, DC the next morning. They flew in the Fokker C-2, 28-120, named the "Question Mark". Please follow the link to the airplane to learn about the significance of the "Question Mark" flight on New Year's Day 1929. They were returning east from the events of earlier that month.

Six-months after the flight of the "Question Mark", Hoyt was assigned an elapsed time flight from Mitchel Field, NY to Nome, Alaska during July 1929. Below, we see his airplane, a Curtiss Hawk with a Curtiss Conqueror engine being christened by Mrs. F. Trubee Davison, wife of the Assistant Secretary of War. The airplane was named "Newalaska" We can only imagine what was in the bottle, as Prohibition was the law of the land during 1929.

Mrs. Trubee Davison and Ross Hoyt, July 13, 1929 (Source: Kalina)

Below, the annotation on the back of the image above. While the image was take July 13, it was probably filed on the 21st. I enhanced the contrast of this image for better readability. For a closeup and personal view of a Curtiss Hawk variant flown by a Register pilot, please direct your browser to this motion picture sequence on this site.

Data for Mrs. Trubee Davison and Ross Hoyt, July 13, 1929 (Source: Kalina)

Below, a classic photograph of an interwar Army pilot. This photo was taken the same day as the one above. Note the waxed moustache and the well-conditioned A-1 jacket. He completed the grueling 8,460-mile flight in 48 hours, flying day and night. His six-hour rest must have felt very brief.

Ross Hoyt, July 13, 1929 (Source: Kalina)

Below, the annotation on the back of the image above. I boosted the contrast of this image for improved readability.

Annotation for Ross Hoyt, July 13, 1929 (Source: Kalina)

Below, courtesy of site contributor Andy Heins, is another photograph of Hoyt probably taken on the same day as the two above. The huge girth of the Hawk with the Conqueror engine installed is apparent.

Ross Hoyt, July 13, 1929 (Source: Heins)

Below, Hoyt appears to be engaged in flight planning. Readable on one of the charts is "Alberta." He is probably laying out his route across Canada on his way to and from Alaska.

Ross Hoyt, Ca. July , 1929 (Source: Heins)

Unfortunately, on his way back from Nome, Hoyt flipped his airplane during a forced landing southbound at Valemont, BC, as captured in the photo below. From the relative position of cockpit and ground, Hoyt didn't have a lot of room to wriggle out of his airplane. He looks only slightly worse for wear, however.

Hoyt with Flipped Hawk, August, 1929 (Source: Web)

Below, courtesy of site visitor Joe Kranz, a signed U.S. postal cachet dated September 4, 1932.

Ross G. Hoyt, U.S. Postal Cachet Postmarked September 4, 1932 (Source: Kranz)

This cachet commemorates the National Air Races held at Cleveland that year. I pushed the image with PhotoShop with the results below. The imprint with Races logo shows up.

Ross G. Hoyt, U.S. Postal Cachet Postmarked September 4, 1932, Pushed (Source: Kranz)

Brigadier General Hoyt passed away April 7, 1983. His official Air Force biography is at the link.

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Dossier 2.2.9

UPLOADED: 03/24/08 REVISED: 07/02/11, 09/09/11, 12/02/13