James Joseph Mattern was born March 8, 1905 and died December 17, 1988. The University of Texas, Dallas, holds Mattern's papers. If you go to that link and review pages 3-5, you will find a succinct biography, which I won't repeat here. This link also documents the contents of the University's Mattern collection, donated by his wife in 1989.

Mattern learned to fly in 1926. He engaged in the obligatory Hollywood movie work and stunt flying of the era, as well as flying cargo in 1929.

Around this time he also touched the life of another Regsiter pilot. Beginning May 19 and extending to May 26, 1929, Mattern served as the pilot of the refueling ship for Reg Robbins' endurance record attempt in Ryan B-1 Brougham NR1766. Later he also helped with the refueling of the Lockheed Vega NR/NX7429 for Robbins' trans-Pacific attempts during the summer of 1931. It was probably his role in endurance flying that made his signature on postal cachets valuable during that summer. Below, from site visitor Jeff Staines, is a cachet signed and postmarked June 24, 1929 at Milwaukee, WI.

U.S. Postal Airmail Cachet, June 24, 1929 (Source: Staines)

On October 22, 1929, Mattern was hired by Carl Cromwell, and his chief pilot Gordon Darnell, in San Angelo, TX to be a pilot of the line for the newly incorporated Cromwell Airlines, Inc. This Carlson REFERENCE details the Cromwell business for the three years of its short life.

We find Mattern landing at Tucson August 2, 1930. He flew the Lockheed Vega NC869E, carrying a single passenger identified only as “Henshaw”.  Based in San Angelo, TX they were westbound from El Paso, TX to Los Angeles, CA.  Mattern worked for Cromwell Air Lines at the time.

Jimmy Mattern with NC869E, "Century of Progress", Ca. 1932 (Source: NASM)

Cromwell was killed in an auto accident in 1931 and his airline went out of business in 1932. Mattern mounted an effort to better the time of Wiley Post's recent (1931) round-the-world record.

His airplane was Vega NC869E. Please direct your browser to the airplane's page to learn how Mattern acquired his airplane for the flight. He had it rebuilt and fitted for the world flight, and named it "Century of Progress." He took on a copilot named Bennett Griffin. Their first attempt started from New York to Newfoundland, then to Ireland and Berlin, beginning July 5, 1932. The following two photographs document their arrival in Berlin, twice. At this link, Mattern and Griffin are filmed at Berlin with their airplane on the day they arrived the first time.

Below, courtesy of Tim Kalina, a photograph of Mattern and Griffin upon their initial arrival in Berlin from Ireland, July 6, 1932. Mattern with dark hair wears a white coverall, and Griffin a leather jacket partially unzipped. Note the movie cameras, left. The left-most one has what appears to be a hand crank.

Mattern & Griffin Upon Their Arrival in Berlin, 1932 (Source: Kalina)

Now for the fun part. The motion picture linked above was probably filmed by one of the cameras you see in the foreground of this photograph. Note in the photo that Mattern looks like he is taking off his white coverall. If you study the film, you'll see him doing just that. Here we have a moment in time captured with both still and motion picture film.

Mattern (L), Unknown, Griffin, Berlin, 1932 (Source: Bundesarchiv)

Regardless of photographic coincidences, they did not complete their next leg to Russia, crashing NC869E soon after leaving Berlin. Mattern and Griffin returned to Berlin with the wreckage of their airplane, and soon after returned to the U.S.

At left is a photo of Mattern and Griffin in Berlin. This is the source of the photograph. The photo caption, in German, translates roughly as American world fliers, giving up their world flight at Minsk, returned to Berlin.

They suffered injuries to head and hand during the landing. Bandages are evident, as are their oil-stained clothes. Compare their jackets with those in the photo above. Note the shoes on Griffin and compare them to the ones on Jim Granger standing in front of the Swallow F28W NC8730.

Please refer to the link for NC869E to learn how the airplane was returned to the U.S., restored and prepared for another attempt. On his second attempt, Mattern took off solo on June 3, 1933, and arrived on June 4 in Norway. His next stop was Moscow. Departing Moscow, he did not complete the flight. Rather, his airplane crashed again in the USSR. Again, please see the airplane's page for the final resolution.

Below, from site visitor Jeff Staines, is another photograph of Griffin and Mattern. The date and location are unknown, but probably ca. 1932-33. No injuries are apparent.

Benny Griffin (L) and Jimmie Mattern, Ca. 1932-33 (Source: Staines)

Below, from his NASM folder, Mattern is reported in Moscow during his 1933 attempt.

Unsourced News Article, Mattern in Moscow, Ca. 1933 (Source: NASM)

Below, courtesy of site contributor Andy Heins, is a series of photos of Mattern with the "Century of Progress" in the Stanavo Eagle paint scheme (second flight attempt). The image of Mattern in the news article above was cropped from the photograph below.

Jimmie Mattern, Lockheed Vega NC869E, Ca. 1933 (Source: Heins)

Below, Mattern in what appears to be a brand new leather flying suit. This flying suit would mean a lot to him later (see biography linked below).

Jimmie Mattern, Lockheed Vega NC869E, Ca. 1933 (Source: Heins)

Below, Mattern (L) with a gentleman identified as Fred Felterman. Felterman's overalls have "Fred" embroidered on the left breast. His role is unidentified in the flight attempt (mechanic?). Does anyone KNOW his role? He appears to hold a flashlight and has his left hand on the crank starter for the engine. The talon pattern of the Stanavo Eagle paint scheme is nicely shown on the wheel pants.

Jimmie Mattern (L), Lockheed Vega NC869E, Ca. 1933 (Source: Heins)

Below, courtesy of site visitor Joe Kranz, is a commemorative U.S. postal cachet for the sixth annual Miami All-American Air Races for 1934.

Jimmie Mattern, January 13, 1934, Signed Cachet (Source: Kranz)

One additional effort is Mattern's planned attempt, in July 1937, to fly from San Diego, CA to Moscow over the North Pole. This attempt was summarized in in an article that appeared in Flying and Popular Aviation (October, 1937, pp. 21ff.). His refueling plane was to be Ford NC9648 (not a Register airplane).

His refueling crew were to be none other than Garland Lincoln and Frank B. Tomick, fellow Hollywood movie pilots and famous pioneer aviators in their own right (see this REFERENCE by Wynne for information about these two pilots). This flight was never made. Permission to make the flight was denied due to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart in the Pacific.

From the biography linked above, "1938 – 1939 found Jimmie working for the Lockheed Corporation, test flying the
P-38. The P-38 had been killing a lot of trainee pilots, so Jimmie developed a piggy back training system. This modified the P-38 so an experienced pilot could sit in front of the trainee, and take over if anything went wrong. This procedure substantially cut down on the number of training accidents. Jimmie also developed a modified fuel system for the P-38. He test flew many different types of aircraft for Lockheed. his work with the Lockheed Corporation ended in 1946." A photograph of Mattern when he was with the Lockheed Corporation is at the link.

Further from the biography link, information regarding his retirement from flying, "Jimmie was tasked with being the President of Lockheed's personal pilot [sic], but he felt that something was wrong. He had been having unusual spasms and shakes. He went to his doctor, who was concerned he had a brain tumor. This led to a trip to the Mayo Clinic where Jimmie was diagnosed with a ruptured blood vessel in his brain. Apparently the vessel had ruptured because of all the blackout stalls he had done while demonstrating the P-38. Jimmie was told that he could never fly
again, for fear of aggravating the rupture."

The brief biography link, cited in the first paragraph on this page, completes the life story of Mattern. Perhaps a crowning tribute is that his pilot’s license was carried to the moon on Apollo XI.

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Mattern appeared on the ground at Floyd Bennett Field in (probably) NR869E on April 22, 1933. With him in the airplane were Jack Clark and H.B. Jameson. They arrived at Brooklyn from Dayton, OH. You will note on the same Register page the presence of Wiley Post and the "Winnie Mae," NC105W. They both left Brooklyn at about the same time on solo flights around the world.

This biography of Mattern from the American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Fall 1997 (PDF 2.6mB) describes the preparations Mattern made for his solo round-the-world attemp with NR869E. Included is a description of his flight to the time he crashed, and a day-by-day diary of his time on the ground in Russia before he was rescued. Also, this passage defines who Clark and Jameson were:

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Dossier 2.1.119

THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 01/13/10 REVISED: 05/09/11, 07/04/11, 08/25/11, 09/09/11, 09/14/11