|
"Honeymoon Joe"
Joe Lewis was born in September 1897 and died September
21, 1938 when he flew too low at an airshow during the performance
of an outside loop. His general biography is presented,
followed by a collection of 49 images from the Golden Age
of Aviation. These images, while related to the Davis-Monthan
Register only because they belonged to Pilot Lewis, provide
insight into the people and machines of the era.
He
was typical of the successful aviation entrepreneurs of the
Golden Age. He
translated his passion for flying into the business of aviation,
working at all the variations of the trade, through good
economic times and bad. Lewis owned a Curtiss JN4D that landed at Tucson, although not piloted by him. Please direct your browser to 2694.
Joe Lewis, Date Unknown
 |
Joe Lewis landed at Tucson once on March 19, 1928 flying
OX-5 Travel Air NC2927. He carried one passenger, Don
Lay. They were westbound from Lordsburg, NM to Long
Beach, CA. According to the Register they were in a
hurry, as they landed at 10:20AM and departed at 10:50, barely
enough time to gas up and use the facilities.
His Travel Air landed twice at Tucson, however. The
second time it was flown by Eloise Burns, one of 41 female
pilots to sign the Register. She landed on October
25, 1929 westbound from El Paso, TX to Los Angeles. She
carried one unidentified passenger. They remained overnight,
departing the next day at 8:30AM.
I have only two images of NC2927 (see the other further
below). It
is tempting to identify the woman standing in front of it
as Ms. Burns, but according to Mr. Back there was no caption
on the photograph. Site contributor John Underwood states the following possibility, "Joe had a sister by the name of Bernadine Lewis King who decided to take up flying with her husband, a wealthy rancher, c. 1932. They soon had an Eaglerock and then a Stinson. I forget who taught them, but it wasn't Joe. Later, Joe taught her aerobatics in a Fleet and she was very good.... until she too got too close to the ground, probably flying inverted, which was her specialty. That was after Joe was killed, possibly in 1940 or '41." From photographs he has seen, Mr. Underwood hypothesizes that the woman might be Lewis' sister. If anyone recognizes the pilot,
please let me KNOW.
NC2927 & Eloise Burns (?) ca. 1929
 |
Joe Lewis was an intrepid entrepreneur who barnstormed,
performed aerobatics at air shows, did movie work and was
President of Lewis Air Service at Union Air Terminal, Burbank,
CA. At its peak, his Air Service employed three pilots,
six airplanes, two mechanics and a helper. According to his
nephew, Mr. Lewis had several women working as pilots for
him off and on. He was ahead of the social curve at a time
when sexism in aviation was rampant.
He was known on the air show circuit for flying upside down
very low to the ground (ten feet), and very fast (150MPH). His
skills were characterized in a contemporary newspaper (Willows,
CA) account as, “…more like a great bird soaring
over head than like a piece of machinery with a man at its
wheel….”
Lewis Air Service performed charter and air taxi
service to points throughout the U.S. He specialized
in carrying eloping couples to Las Vegas and Yuma for quickie
weddings. His so-called “Planelopement” charters
were well-subscribed. He is cited as follows in an
article in Popular
Aviation, October, 1937:
“The Lewis Air Service – Joe
Lewis and two youthful but highly trained transport
pilots in his employ – chalks up thousands of
miles of cross-country flying each year in the active
charter business Lewis directs.
“A stroll along the apron at the Union Air Terminal
at any hour of the day or night is liable to bring
you alongside a Lewis plane warming up for a flight
to far places.
“A goodly portion of his traffic is of a type
that has brought the short, stocky Lewis more than
a little good-natured ribbing from his fellow airmen. They
call him ‘Cupid’ and ;Love’s Little
Messenger’ and ‘Honeymoon Joe’ and
accuse him jokingly of getting ‘rates’ from
scores of Nevada and Arizona ministers and marrying
justices.
“You’ve guessed it – elopers have
found Lewis and his pilots always ready for those aerial
jaunts to nearby Gretna Greens. Mary Astor and
Manuel del Campo; James Ellison and Gertrude Durkin’ Harry
Joe Brown and Sally Eilers; Phillip Karlstein and Dixie
Martin; Manly Danforth and Evelyn Hand, and Howard
Lang and Vicki Astlett are a few of the prominent motion
picture couples that flew to Yuma with Joe Lewis at
the airplane controls.” |
On January 18, 1937, upon return to California after her
service, a local newspaper described Ms. Astor, “Dressed
in a black dress and shoes, a mink fur coat, and wearing
a blue ribbon on her auburn hair, [she] stepped from Lewis’ ship
and asked immediately for a cigarette.” She
then asked a woman reporter to lend her some lipstick. Image,
below, is from that news article, presumably after she borrowed
the lipstick, but still wearing the mink..
Joe Lewis & Mary Astor
 |
Another of Lewis Air Service's satisfied customers: the
Danforths..
Manly Danforth and Evelyn Hand, Date Unknown
 |
In the same Popular Aviation article cited above,
Lewis provides the following table of cost comparisons between
airline and charter flights from Los Angeles to various cities.
Airline vs. Charter Rates
 |
Lewis Air Service also gave flight instruction and local
rides. George O’Brien and Cecelia Parker, movie
stars, came to the Lewis Air Service when they wanted background
for a series of aviation publicity pictures. They became
interested in the Lewis Ryan and Lewis made them regular
customers by giving them a ride. Sadly, this airplane, a Ryan ST-A, was the airplane in which Lewis was killed at Modesto, CA on September
21, 1938.
George O'Brien, Cecelia Parker, Joe Lewis, Date Unknown
 |
One of his airplanes, a Lockheed Vega, was modified as an
air ambulance, with bed, medical supplies and room for a
patient, doctor and nurse as well as the pilot. With
a range of 900 miles it was advertised as being able to transport
patients just about anywhere in the country.
---o0o---
The 49 images below also come to us from Mr.
Back. The airplanes and people, except for Pilot Lewis, have
no known connection with the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register.
However, we include them because the airplanes either belonged
to Mr. Lewis or the Lewis Flying Service (below, et seq.),
or we hope someone in global Web land will be able to identify
some of the people and let us KNOW who
they are. There are no dates on the images.
Below, eleven images of Ryan 6584
with and without people standing by. It is not cited in the Register. The Ryan is in Lewis
Flying Service livery and named "Spirit of St. Louis".
Like many Ryan aircraft
built after the "Spirit", it was dubbed the "sister ship"
of Lindbergh's airplane.
Ryan 6584
 |
The location of this image,
identified by the storage tank in the background, is Long
Beach, CA. The
Rehbock hangar was owned at one time by Register pilot Paul T. Adams?
Ryan 6584
 |
Ryan 6584
 |
Ryan 6584
 |
Ryan 6584
 |
Ryan 6584
 |
Ryan 6584
 |
Ryan 6584
 |
Ryan 6584
 |
Ryan 6584
 |
Image, below, shows the same women as the image above.
Ryan 6584
 |
Below, another image of NC2927 with Eloise Burns (?), date
unknown.
NC2927
 |
Lewis 03
 |
Below, identified by a site visitor, is an Arrow "Sport" powered
by a 5 cyl. LeBlond.
Lewis 04
 |
Below, five in-air shots. Locations unknown. The first image
looks like it was taken either from a wing- mounted camera
or by a fellow pilot in close formation. From the aileron
deflection, the last two images are during a violent maneuver,
perhaps a roll. Your challenge for the day: Figure out the
roll direction!
Lewis 26
 |
Lewis 05
 |
Lewis 20
 |
Lewis 08
 |
Lewis 14
 |
Below, unknown pilot. Aircraft looks like NC2927.
Lewis 01
 |
Lewis 06
 |
Lewis 07
 |
Below, identified by a site visitor, is an Arrow "Sport" powered
by a 5 cyl. LeBlond. Appears to be the same as image 04, above.
Lewis 09
 |
Lewis 10
 |
Lewis 11
 |
Lewis 18
 |
Below, NC6488 is not cited in the
Davis-Monthan Register.
Lewis 28
 |
Lewis 12
 |
Lewis 13
 |
Below, an interesting aerial shot above the clouds with
a mountain in the background. The airplane is NC531 or NC53V,
neither of which are cited in the Register. Could be the same
Arrow "Sport" powered
by a 5 cyl. LeBlond as images 04 and
09, above.
Lewis 15
 |
Lewis 16
 |
Below, a formal portrait of Joe Lewis, date unknown.
Lewis 17
 |
Lewis 19
 |
Below, Earl Daugherty. Follow the link to see more images
and read his biography.
Earl Daugherty
 |
Lewis 22
 |
Lewis 23
 |
Lewis 24
 |
Lewis 25
 |
Below, an unidentified wreck.
Lewis 27
 |
Lewis 33
 |
Lewis 34
 |
Lewis 29
 |
Lewis 30
 |
Lewis 31
 |
Lewis 32
 |
Lewis 35
 |
Lewis 36
 |
Lewis 38
 |
Below is an image of Joe Lewis' first airplane, which, according
to family legend was built in his grandmother's barn. Date
unknown.
Lewis 39
 |
Dossier 2.1.172
UPLOADED: 03/27/07 REVISED: 03/30/07, 01/24/08, 03/26/08, 11/13/08
|
