jamesdewitthill

This photo was published in the July 24, 1916 issue of Aerial Age Weekly (Vol. 3, No. 19), page 560, with the caption: Frank H. Burnside, Lieut. Anthony Sunderland, National Guard Student, James D. Hill, Instructor, Corp. Chas. Robbins, Ark. National Guard Student at the Thomas School of Flying. Lieut. Sunderland is Mayor of Danbury, Conn. and the first mayor in the United States to take up aviation in the interest of "Preparedness." See: books.google.com/books?id=AHjmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA560&l... Here's a photo of James DeWitt Hill from 1924 in the Smithsonian's photostream on the Flickr Commons. Hill would perish with fellow aviator Lloyd Bertaud and Hearst New York Daily Mirror editor Philip A. Payne, when their aircraft "Old Glory" (Fokker F.VIIa, reg. NX703) vanished over the Atlantic Ocean in September 1927 during an attempted non-stop flight between Old Orchard Beach, Maine and Rome, Italy. See: www.historynet.com/old-glorys-final-ill-fated-flight-new-... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_DeWitt_Hill en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_W._Bertaud

The June 26, 1916 Aerial Age adds further context to the photo: "Thomas Company to Train Militia Aviators An offer to train three aviators free of charge has been received by the Aero Club of America from the Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company. As the Aero Club has been flooded with applications from the National Guard of practically every one of the forty eight States and from civilians who are anxious to take a course in aviation, this offer of the Thomas Company was very welcome. Following the policy of giving preference to those who asked first, the Executive Committee of the Aero Club selected three officers whose applications were received several months ago. Lieut. Anthony Sunderland, First Lieutenant, Connecticut Coast Artillery Corps and Mayor of Danbury Conn. was the first to take advantage of the Thomas Company's offer and is now training at the Thomas School at Ithaca. Lieut H.F. Wakefield of the Vermont National Guard and Lieut Keeling R. Pulliam of the Kentucky National Guard have been offered the two remaining Thomas scholarships. In the event of the Mexican situation preventing any of these officers from taking the course, the scholarships will be granted to Corporal Chas. T Robins of the Arkansas National Guard and Lieut W.E. Lewis of the Illinois National Guard. The applications from men who wish to learn to fly are flooding the Aero Club. They come from every walk of life, all of whom have one desire: to learn to fly so as to be of maximum service to this country in case of trouble." books.google.com/books?id=AHjmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA560&l...

Thanks to both of you for this excellent research. We'll add some of the information to the record the next time we update.

Earlyaviators.com has pages on Burnside, Hill, Robbins and Sunderland. www.earlyaviators.com/esunderl.htm www.earlyaviators.com/eburnsid.htm www.earlyaviators.com/ehilljd.htm www.earlyaviators.com/erobbcha.htm

The Thomas School of Flying was in Ithaca, NY. See archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/NYTOMPKI/2002-11/1... "An April 24, 1915, issue of The Ithaca Journal reported that a Thomas hydroaeroplane was flying on the lake and that it was being used by pupils in the Thomas Flying School. The Thomases built two wooden hangars along the lakeshore and a small marine railway to launch and retrieve the aircraft. As international pressures built toward World War I, the U.S. Navy ordered two flying boats at $12,000 each. The Thomas-Morse Aircraft Company began the manufacture of land-based planes, especially the popular trainer known as the Scout. In 1916 the peach trees were cleared to make a proper runway for the biplanes and pilots were trained to fly them. Frank Burnside was the first pilot in Tompkins County, having moved here with the Thomas brothers."

Is that caption ("while flying from chicago to south bend ind. dove into ground from 8000 feet. the verdict suicide.") correct for J.D. Hill? Air Mail pilot James DeWitt Hill (1882-1927) (and that appears to be him in the photograph above) perished during the failed attempt of the Fokker F.VIIa, "Old Glory" (reg. NX703) to make a nonstop flight from Orchard Beach, Maine to Rome, Italy. Fellow aviator (and former Air Mail pilot) Lloyd W. Bertaud also perished in the attempt, along with sponsor Hearst Newspapers' journalist Philip Payne. Payne was aboard "Old Glory" as a passenger. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_DeWitt_Hill en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Glory_(aircraft) Here is a photo of James DeWitt Hill for comparison:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Goggles, and we'd love to have this added to the group!