detroyat

Detroyat's Caudron, 1936, Los Angeles

T. Claude Ryan sent me to college for four years. I was poor but made high scores in standard exams. His philanthropy made it possible for many in my generation to go to school. I remember meeting him and having lunch at his company office. It was a thrill to see first hand that real people make and do things with ideas that shape the world. These are not rock stars. They are world builders with their hands and with their personal vision and generosity. 60 years ago!

Three of the world's top aerobatic aces pose in front of Milo Burcham's Boeing 100 "Blue Flash" (R872H) at the 1936 National Air Races in Los Angeles. L to R: Rumanian Alexandru "Alex" Papana (1906-1946); Milo G. Burcham (1903-1944); Michel Detroyat (1905-1956). The Olympic rings on Papana's shirt, duplicated on the rudder of his Bu133B Jungmeister (YR-PAX), alluded to his winning performances in the two-man bobsleigh (1933, gold; 1934, bronze) event. Burcham, who wears the 1936 NAR pin in his button hole, became Lockheed's Chief Pilot and perished in the flame-out crash of the 3rd YP-80 Shooting Star in October 1944. Detroyat won both the Greve and Thompson Trophies in the Caudron C.460, purportedly the only foreign national to have won an NAR event.