buhlca5airsedan

Buhl CA-5 Air Sedan

Pilots Loren W. Mendell and Roland B. Reinhart flew this Buhl for over 246 hours (over ten days) between July 2-12 1929, using 4085 gallons of fuel and 105 gallon of oil in 37 refuelings in flight by "aerial tanker" Curtiss Carrier Pigeon NR35Y c/n K-5015-9.

Here is British Pathe newsreel footage of Mendell and Reinhart's marathon flight aboard "The Angeleno," including its in-flight refueling by the Curtiss Carrier Pigeon (NR35). Mendell, Reinhart, and Carrier Pigeon crew N. Paul Whittier and Slade Hulbert (each with flying goggles atop their heads) can be seen at the conclusion of the newsreel: YouTube- British Pathé: "Aloft 10 Days Aka A Loft 10 Days (1929)"

This is a photo of Mildred Doran, of the ill-fated "Miss Doran" and Emory Bronte prior to the start of the Dole Air Race from Oakland, California to Honolulu, Hawaii on or about August 16, 1927. Bronte was the navigator for the Travel Air 5000 "City of Oakland" (piloted by Ernest Smith) which had taken off from Oakland for Honolulu on July 14, 1927. "City of Oakland" would ultimately exhaust its fuel and make a crash landing on Molokai on July 15th. While Smith and Bronte did not reach Honolulu, they did become the first civilian flight to reach Hawaii non-stop from California. For comparison purposes, below is a photo of Smith and Bronte. Note Bronte's jacket pants and socks - virtually identical to those in this photo.

Mildred Doran

More on Miss Mildred Doran: An article about her authored by her nephew and published in Air & Space Smithsonian Magazine (March 2011), "Above and Beyond: Aunt Mildred", by Richard A. Durose. A companion article published at MLive, "Nephew sheds new light on Flint woman Mildred Doran's tragic final flight", by Ron Fonger (March 13, 2011), which also mentions that country & western artist Vernon Dalhart recorded and released on a 78-rpm record the song "The Fate of Mildred Doran" after her disappearance. A photo of the label of the Vernon Dalhart (as "Al Craver") record, "The Fate of Mildred Doran", by Flickr member brian.deak: A follow-up story by Ron Fonger at MLive, "Listen to 'The Fate of Mildred Doran'", October 8, 2011. From that story, a link to the song itself: "The Fate of Mildred Doran," by Vernon Dalhart (as "Al Craver")