curtissjn

"J.T. Tripp" is Juan Terry Trippe, aviator and founder of Pan American Airways ("Pan Am"), one of the great (and now gone) US airlines. Trippe left Yale to train as a Naval Aviator during World War I, but the war ended before he'd have a chance to fly in combat. After the war he returned to Yale, where he graduated in 1921. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Trippe en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_American_World_Airways His co-pilot is former Army Air Service aviator, George Willard Horne ("G. Willard Horne"), also attending Yale (Class of '21) post-war. See: archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/99_05/old_yale.html books.google.com/books?id=xjM6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA944&l... Trippe and Horne flew for Yale in the collegiate aerial races at Mitchel Field, Long Island, winning the 25-mile cross-country flight race on May 7, 1920. The race is reported in The Outlook, Vol. 125, May 19, 1920, "The First Collegiate Aerial Races," Pages 103-104, where there is also a contemporaneous photo of them at the time. See: books.google.com/books?id=IQY-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA104&l... The race and competitors are further detailed in Aircraft Journal, "Collegiate Flying Competition at Mineola," Vol. VI, No. 19, May 10, 1920, Pages 5-6. books.google.com/books?id=ssg_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA54&lp... The aircraft Trippe and Horne flew in the race, wearing Army Air Service serial number A.S. 45246, is a Curtiss Jenny variant (Curtiss JN-6HG-1). See: www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1908-1920.html

1920 Collegiate Air Races www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41676997

University of Pennsylvania aviators (and WWI veterans) Joseph Ferdinand Lersch and David Amos Royer next to a Curtiss JN-6 Jenny at the 1920 Collegiate Air Races at Mitchel Field, Long Island. See Catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania - 1919-1920, Pages 405 (Royer) and 565 (Lersch). See comments: www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/37274929460/

Thanks, TVL1970, we will add info to the record.

The notation below the photo ("The Famous Liberty '12'.") is likely referring to an (unseen) photo below the one posted here. The aircraft in the photo is a Curtiss JN-4HG Jenny (ser. no. S.C. 38431). As is evident from the four visible exhaust headers coming from the engine, this is a V-8 engine (the Wright-Hisso E, a license-manufactured version of the Hispano-Suiza 8). The Liberty L-12 (a.k.a. "Liberty Engine") was a significantly larger V-12 engine.