Roy "Stub" Quinby landed twice at Tucson. His first landing was Wednesday, October 23, 1929 at 1:45PM. He carried as passenger Floyd Augustine. Based at Moline, IL they were northwestbound from Douglas, AZ to Los Angeles, CA. They flew the Monocoach NC116K. Below, left, from the Mason City (IA) Globe-Gazette for Wednesday, November 13, 1929, we discover the reason for Quinby and Augustine's trip through Tucson.

Augustine was vice president of the Mono-Aircraft, Inc. whose home factory was at Moline. This was a business flight on behalf of the company.

Quinby was born April 15, 1898. He passed away July 11, 1961 of a stroke (see obituary, below). He was a developer of the Moline airport during its early years, a test pilot for the Mono-Aircraft Company, and a successful Golden Age air racer.

Quinby's second landing was two months later on Wednesday, December 18, 1929. This time he carried passenger J.H. Hinchey, pictured below, himself a pilot who worked for Mono-Aircraft. They were eastbound from Los Angeles to Moline. They flew the Monosport NC8957. They landed at 3:10PM and departed at 3:30; a quick turnaround. Their voyage east of Tucson ended in disaster later that night. Both Quinby and Hinchey were OK, but please direct your browser to the airplane's page to learn the aftermath.

There are photographs and historical descriptions of the Mono-Aircraft company and its aircraft and pilots at the link. Quinby and Hinchey, as well as Register pilots Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie and John Livingston, were members of the Mono-Aircraft, Inc. corporate racing team. Below, from that link, is a signed photograph of the racing team. The gentleman on the left is identified as Vern Roberts (not a Register signer), whose photographs are at the Mono link. The others are (L-R) Omlie, Quinby, Hinchey and Livingston. Note the gym shoes on Quinby and compare them to the ones at the link. The photo is dated as (cut off at the bottom) "National Air Races, 1929," which would place it between August 24th and September 2nd that year.

Mono-Aircraft, Inc. Racing Team, Ca. 1929 (Source: Roberts via Woodling)

The "team" shown in the photo above differs from another photo of the "team" in the October, 1929 issue of Western Flying magazine. In that photograph, Scotty Burmood, Florence Kingensmith, Omlie and Quinby are pictured left to right. The photo is titled "The 1929 Monocouple Racing Team," just like the one above. There were either two teams, or the team was captured in two separate photographs with overlap, or, maybe, the concept of team was just that fluid in 1929.

Regardless, according to the Aircraft Yearbook for 1930, Phoebe Omlie placed 6th in the 1929 Women's Derby from Santa Monica, CA to Cleveland, OH. It was the first year women were "allowed" to compete in the National Air Races (NAR). Roberts took 3rd place in the All Ohio Derby. Roberts and Quinby placed 1st and 2nd, winning $500 and $400, respectively, in the 510 cubic inch or less race (Event No. 9). But they finished out of the money in the Cleveland to Buffalo Efficiency Race (Event No. 10). The team performed well that year, placing high in a couple of other events.

Below, two photos of Quinby posed with Monocoupe aircraft. The aircraft on the left is unidentified, but it is the Phantom model, which had a radial engine. The location, determined by the hangar sign in the background, is the Mono-Aircraft Co. property. The airplane on the right is identified as NC8957. You can see the leading "8" on the bottom of the port wing just over the propeller blade. Although the exact date of the photo is unknown, we can deduce it is before December 18, 1929.

R.T. Quinby and Unidentified Monocoupe, Date Unknown (Source: Roberts via Woodling)

R.T. Quinby and NC8957, Date Unknown (Source: Web via Woodling)

Below, another photograph of Quinby in air race mode. This time he stands in front of the Folkerts racer (registered as 500W and dubbed the Folkerts Special S-1).

With this airplane, Quinby placed 4th (out of the money) in Event no. 20 of the 1930 NAR. It was a midwing design with no wheel pants, designed by the Monocoupe organization specificallly for racing. It is the first version of what would become the Folkerts series SK 1-4 that would be successful in later NAR. Quinby signed this photograph for Vern Roberts, "May all my contacts be as happy as the ones with Vern Roberts. Sincerely... ."

R.T. Quinby with NR500W, The Folkerts Special S-1, Ca. 1930 (Source: Roberts via Woodling)

Obituary, Mason City (IA) Globe-Gazette, Saturday, July 22, 1961 (Source: Woodling)

Mr. Woodling (cited, right sidebar) states, "In the 1900 census, Stub is 2 years old, living with parents James and Hattie Quinby in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. His birthdate is given as April 1898. In the 1920 census Stub is living in Cedar Falls, Iowa, working in a "battery repair station."

Further, he, "... married Adelia Morey of Mitchell County, Iowa, date unknown. She was born in December 1897. In 1958 she was Mrs. Roy Quinby, living in Colona, Illinois. In 1965 she was Mrs. Adelia Quinby, living in Parma, Ohio. ... Another source states that Roy went to work for International Harvester in Moline after the Monocoupe company was sold."

His obituary, right, is from the Mason City ((IA) Globe-Gazette of Saturday, July 22, 1961. Register pilots Freddie Lund and Jimmy Doolittle are mentioned as friends of Quinby. Team pilot Scott Burmood, cited above, went on to practice his trade in China.

I have no information about Quinby's later life. If you can help, please let me KNOW.

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