unitedstatesarmyairservice

This is a photo of the would-be US Army Air Service Round The World Flight aviators. First row, sitting, from left to right, Erik H. Nelson, Frederick Martin, and Lowell H. Smith. Second row, standing, from left to right, Laclair D. Schulze, Leigh Wade, Leslie Arnold, and Jack Harding. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation Schulze (1891-1927) was an alternate for the flight. His name is frequently misspelled as "Le Clair D. Schulze." On August 2, 1927, he'd perish flight testing a new Curtiss engine. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. See: www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ldschulze.htm Frederick Martin (1882-1954) was the commander for the expedition, but his aircraft would crash onto the side of a mountain in the Aleutians. Both he and co-pilot/mechanic Alva Harvey would survive the crash, and hike down to a cannery after a 10-day ordeal. Martin would go on to have a military career of note. In fact, he would be the commander of US Army Air Forces in Hawaii during the Imperial Japanese Navy's (IJN) sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Martin_(general)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation

Maj. Gen. Mason Patrick (USAAS) speaks to crew of the Douglas World Cruiser, "Chicago" (USAAS Ser. A.S. 23-1230), Lt. Lowell Smith and 1st Lt. Les Arnold at Mitchel Field, Long Island, NY, on September 8, 1924. See: Here's an aerial photo of the Douglas World Cruisers at Mitchel Field from the San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM) collection on the Flickr Commons. Note the letters on the roofs of the hangars spelling out "MI T C H E L." A portion of a letter is on the hangar roof just visible in front of the engine in the Bain photo above.

Thanks [https://www.flickr.com/photos/danuneken] and TVL1970. We'll add this information to all of the photos showing the Chicago and it's crew.

The prototype Douglas World Cruiser, Army Air Service serial number AS 23-1210, McCook Field prototype number P-318. She'd later be named "Boston II." The aircraft was designed and built to US Army Air Service (USAAS) specifications for the purpose of completing the first flight around the world (hence, the ability to operate either with interchangeable fixed handing gear or floats) . Four production aircraft were built for the flight. They were named, "Seattle" (AS 23-1229), "Chicago" (AS 23-1230), "Boston" (AS 23-1231), and "New Orleans" (AS 23-1232). Both "Seattle" and "Boston" would fail to complete the journey. "Seattle" would crash in Alaska on April 30, 1924 (the story of the survival of her crew is worth learning about). "Boston" would be forced to land at sea near the Faroe Islands after her engine failed. She'd be irreparably damaged in the forced landing, and would sink while being towed by the light cruiser USS Richmond (CL-9), on August 3, 1924. After the loss of "Boston," the prototype (AS 23-1210) was pressed into service for the remainder of the flight, now named "Boston II." It would join the flight at Pictou Harbor, Nova Scotia, on September 3, 1924. Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_World_Cruiser en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation

The Seattle Star. May 12, 1924, Page 7, column 1 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87093407/1924-05-12/ed-... reports the safety of the crew of the "Seattle" with headline "Aviators make their own rescue: Martin and Harvey walk for days to reach safety." Another description of the survival of the crew of the Seattle is at web.archive.org/web/20120622074326/http://www.alaskaairmu... This piece has a photo of the crashed plane. The Palisadian. September 12, 1924, ROTOGRAVURE SECTION, Image 9 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020438/1924-09-12/ed-... also includes a picture of the crashed plane.

Thanks TVL1970, we'll update our catalog record.