Significant enough for its own thread. Huge huge crowd at Grand Central.
Check out the New York Central Lines 1929 Employee Magazine. Scroll down to bottom.
Great story about the Bremen! I detect the fine hand of Wanswheel again, and yes I’ll mention him when I detect his presense until his exile is lifted.
You know what? Those pioneer aviators who made those trans-Atlantic flights were crazy! But it was a good kind of crazy, and like all pioneers they blazed the trail and pointed the way. I can’t help but think in 100 years time people will look at our space program today and think WE were crazy!
Where is the airplane now?
Was it returned to Germany and lost during WWII?
And whatever happened to the Dewitt Clinton?
I did some checking David, and believe it or not the Bremen is still around, fully restored, and owned by the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. It’s currently on loan for exhibit at Bremen Airport in Germany.
The original DeWitt Clinton was scrapped in the 19th Century, however a replica of the locomotive was built by the New York Central for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and was used for promotional purposes for years afterward. It’s on display at the Henry Ford Museum as well.
Thanks for the very good news and thanks for the Henry Ford Musuem!
I did see and even touch the DeWitt Clinton replica as a child.
You’re welcome David!
And if I remember the old films correctly the DeWitt Clinton replica was part of the “Railroads on Parade” pageant at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
Floyd Bennett
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/imgsrv/image?id=umn.31951000800544h;seq=137;size=150;rotation=0
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/imgsrv/image?id=umn.31951000800544h;seq=147;size=150;rotation=0
Floyd Bennett and Bernt Balchen
Pawling
Did this as much for the DeWitt Clinton as for everything else:
duplicte deleted
Definately an improvement David! I can see the band separations on the Weimar Republic flag a bit better. That’s the flag hanging between the “Stars and Stripes” and the Irish Republic tricolor.
The Weimar flag is the same as the one used today as Germany’s national flag.
It looks like that in all the hoopla about the flight of the “Bremen” that everybody forgot that Alcock and Brown flew the Atlantic from east to west in 1919.
Actually, no. Alcock and Brown flew west to east. They took off from Newfoundland and landed in Ireland, but you’re right otherwise, it was in June of 1919, and it was the first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight.
There was, however, an east-to-west crossing of the Atlantic in July of 1919, but it wasn’t an airplane that did it. It was the British airship R34. Here’s the story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R33-class_airship
The first crossing of the Atlantic of an aircraft of any kind was in May of 1919, it was the US Navy flying boat NC-4, however the flight wasn’t non-stop. The route was from New York to Newfoundland via Nova Scotia, then Newfoundland to the Azores, then the Azores to Portugal. Quite an achievement, even with the stops along the way.
And all of the above were 100 years ago. Hard to believe.
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/usamerican-polar-explorer-and-admiral-richard-evelyn-byrd-is-greeted-picture-id167494741?s=2048x2048
Byrd and Bennett
Dick Byrd had two brothers, Tom and Harry. Tom was a newspaper man and raised apples, and Harry was in politics, rising to be a U. S. Senator.
The dog is the story! Went to both poles and there he is sitting calm as can be on the steps of the train. Bravo Igloo!
I hope Igloo was well rewarded with dog treats for being such a faithful companion!
Maybe even a Porterhouse Steak every once in a while!
Speaking of Admiral Byrd…
There’s a very remarkable portrait of an ancestor of the admiral in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society. It’s of William Byrd II, a prominent Virginia landowner in the 18th Century. How remarkable is it? Well, take a good look at those photos of Admiral Byrd, get them fixed in your mind, and have a look at this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Byrd_II#/media/File:William_Byrd_II.jpg
See the resemblence? Isn’t that something?
Holy mackerel, that guy was a real piece of work.
Oh, you did some checking up on him? “Piece of work” is putting it mildly!
Personally I think he had a couple of stripped gears in the brain housing group!
A little detail on the weather conditions the Bremen flight was up against:
http://edepositireland.ie/bitstream/handle/2262/73544/86-78.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y