I accidentally tore one of these photos with the EPES mark off a page today, and discovered it was a post card! I'm not going to peel anymore off to verify, but it might be interesting for further study. Anyway, here is a group of students with the Speed Scout.
This next photo is a group from the Aero Club that visited the school/station on April 8, 1916, according to a book entitled "Flyboys over Hampton Roads", by Amy Yarshinke. Her book also contains quite a few photos by Mr. Conway. A few of these men may be familiar by name. Admiral Peary was widely credited with leading the first expedition to the North Pole. Professor Todd was an astronomer. Henry Woodhouse was on the board of governors of The Aero Club, who turned out to have a very interesting life story! This may be the only photo of Glenn Curtiss in Ivan's scrapbook, and you can see Curtiss Jr. over to the right. The Aero Club founded a flight school in Philadelphia at the Lazaretto Station, and it appears that Clarke Thompson was connected with the station, and was a member of the club. I found a photo and caption of Thompson and D. S. Norton in Aerial Age, which mentions that Norton was purchasing a flying boat. I have nothing on the other two gentlemen, but I'm guessing that they also were Aero Club members.
Finally, a larger group of students and instructors at the station. I won't get into any details but I did find something interesting about the names. Most of them were not written by Ivan, whose handwriting was... distinct, shall we say? They were actually written in by my father, Ivan P. Wheaton, Jr. (I have heard stories that my grandmother put quite a bit of pressure on my mother to name me Ivan Pangburn Wheaton, III. Thanks, Mom!! Although I did inherit the "Pangburn", I have no idea who Pangburn was in our lineage that was so blasted important. In return for all the grief I got for that name, it would be nice to know who the heck it was.) In case I haven't mentioned it recently, a star over a person's head indicated that he had died sometime while Ivan was still living. Possibly a Model R-4 and notice the group by the prop grinning for the camera.
Many, many more photos from the Curtiss School yet to come...
-kpw
My great-grandfather was Arthur Coyle, the one pictured here. He took amazing pics. during WWI, as well as kept a diary. Do you know when and where your grandfather flew? He might be in some of my grandfather's pics, and if so, I could send them to you.
ReplyDeleteI believe I may have more photos of your great-grandfather as well! Ivan was here at the Curtis school at the same time, and went next to Mineola, New York with the Aviation Section Signal Corps. He flew briefly for Pershing in the hunt for Pancho Villa, and served at Calais, France. I'll have to dig for more info than that.
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