ca. 1950. Copy of customer print. Two airmen, backs to the camera, grip the wing of an Air Force jet in an undated photograph. The plane is a F-102A fighter intercepter. Each serviceman is wearing a flight jacket with a "318th F15" label on the back, along with the same Mach Wave emblem shown on the tail of the plane. The logo consisted of two overlapped chevrons, suggesting space age theme. These men may have been assigned to the 318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at McChord Air Force Base. The photograph was possibly part of a set produced by the Public Relations Office when the 318th was upgrading their aircraft from the F-94c two seat fighters to the pictured version. The F-102A fighters were later assigned to the 57th Fighter Group 64th FIS, Paine Field. They were assigned to the Philippine Islands for support during the Vietnam War. Photograph ordered by Munson-Smith Motors. Copy of print was made on March 25, 1957. (information on the fighter and emblem supplied by patron)

Airplanes; Military air pilots;

Copies of a customer's prints, ordered by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. Actual date of photographs is unknown. A man works on the engine housing of the plane, attaching plywood to its curved surface.

Plywood; Airplanes; Airplane industry;

Copies of a customer's prints, ordered by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. Actual date of photographs is unknown. Two men can be seen through the doorway to the right of what will be the cockpit of the new plane. The plane is being built of plywood and the workers mark a sheet of it to the needed dimensions.

Plywood; Airplanes; Airplane industry;

Copies of a customer's prints, ordered by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. Actual date of photographs is unknown. A man works inside the incomplete fuselage of the plane, riveting around the cabin window.

Plywood; Airplanes; Airplane industry;

Copies of a customer's prints, ordered by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. Actual date of photographs is unknown. A plane is being constructed largely of plywood. A man operates a table saw, cutting the plywood to the correct shape for cabin windows. The unfinished plane body can be seen in the background.

Plywood; Airplanes; Airplane industry;

Copies of a customer's prints, ordered by the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. Actual date of photographs is unknown. Two men observe a wooden structure that might be the housing for the landing gear on the all wood plane.

Plywood; Airplanes; Airplane industry;

Waldren Flying Machine Hoquiam This three-wheeled flying contraption was piloted by a Mr. Waldren in Hoquiam on the 4th of July in 1910. Among those standing near the "flying machine" was John A. ("Jack") Croston, who is believed to be second on the right of the pilot. Mr. Croston operated a garage and Chevrolet agency at 1135 Tacoma Avenue South, across the street from the Tacoma Public Library, during the years 1917-19. Copy of photograph made on February 19, 1928. TPL-2688; G71.1-141

Airplanes--Hoquiam; Croston, John A.;

Close-up of airplane and Franklin automobile at Camp Lewis on October 8, 1926. The car has Seattle plates. See Boland image B15775 for another view of plane and car along with pilot and two men. Photograph ordered by Tacoma Franklin Co.

Airplanes--Camp Lewis; Franklin automobile;

Biplane with its pilot is parked adjacent to a Franklin automobile at Camp Lewis on October 8, 1926. All three men in the photograph were not identified. Photograph ordered by the Tacoma Franklin Co. TPL-6483; G12.1-053

Airplanes--Camp Lewis; Biplanes; Franklin automobile;

A solemn pilot gazes from his uncovered cockpit in September of 1927. Advertising on this Bergen Bromley Flying Service plane in September of 1927 indicates that the plane is equipped with Tsungani "slipper" pistons. Tsungani pistons were manufactured by the Tsungani plant located at 625 E. 11th St. They made lightweight alloy pistons for automobiles, motorcycles and Liberty airplane engines. TPL-8076; G12.1-077

Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Bergen Bromley Flying Service (Tacoma); Advertising--Tacoma--1920-1930; Tsungani Piston Co. (Tacoma);

Blond Hollywood actress Ruth Taylor is pictured shaking hands with Mayor M.G. Tennent while the mayor is aboard the "City of Tacoma" airplane at the Mueller-Harkins airport (site of the present day Clover Park Technical College) on February 8, 1928. Miss Taylor, star of the silent film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," was briefly in Tacoma while on a nationwide tour promoting the film. She would make a personal appearance at the Broadway Theater where her film would be shown shortly. The other three men in the photograph were not identified although one of them is believed to be J. Barton ("Jack") Story, pilot, and president of the newly organized Olympic Aeronautical Corporation. On January 31, 1928, Olympic Aeronautical announced plans to fly tourists around Mt. Tacoma (Rainier) beginning May 1st. Photograph ordered by the Olympic Aeronautical Corporation. (TNT 1-31-28, p. 1-article on Olympic Aeronautical; TDL 2-8-28, p. 2-article on Miss Taylor) TPL-5030; G12.1-082

Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Tennent, Melvin Green; Mayors--Tacoma--1920-1930; Olympic Aeronautical Corporation (Tacoma); Taylor, Ruth; Actresses;

Using both hands, actress Ruth Taylor holds onto the propeller of the "City of Tacoma" aircraft on February 8, 1928. She is wearing protective goggles and headgear. Additional photographs in this series show Miss Taylor as a passenger aboard the plane; the goggles and headgear would be necessary since the passenger seat was not under cover. (See B18045, B18049) The plane was parked at the Mueller-Harkins airport on Steilacoom Blvd., current site of Clover Park Technical College. Miss Taylor was making a brief stop in Tacoma while on a nationwide tour promoting her new movie, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." TPL-8077; G12.1-048B. Photograph ordered by the Olympic Aeronautical Corporation. (TDL 2-8-28, p. 2-brief article on Miss Taylor's visit)

Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Women--Clothing & dress--Tacoma--1920-1930; Taylor, Ruth; Actresses;

Hollywood actress Ruth Taylor cheerfully waves as she is seated in the passenger seat of the "City of Tacoma" aircraft on February 8, 1928. The plane is parked at the Mueller Harkins airport outside the Olympic Aeronautical Corporation hangar. Miss Taylor, a product of Portland schools, was chosen to star as "Lorelei" in the silent film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" after a nationwide search. The petite blonde was in town to make a personal appearance at the Broadway Theater where her film would be showing in the near future. She was known for her trademark spit curls and had been a Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty. Her son, Buck Henry, born in 1930, would become a well known actor and writer. Photograph ordered by the Olympic Aeronautical Corporation. G12.1-048A (TDL 2-8-28, p. 2-article on Miss Taylor's visit; Imdb.com-information on Miss Taylor)

Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Taylor, Ruth; Actresses;

Fair-haired actress Ruth Taylor, currently in Tacoma promoting her new film, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," rides aboard the "City of Tacoma" airplane on February 8, 1928. The aircraft is parked outside the hangar of the Olympic Aeronautical Corporation (which had succeeded the Eagle Rock Sales Corporation) at the Mueller-Harkins airport. Photograph ordered by the Olympic Aeronautical Corporation, newly organized and headed by J. Barton ("Jack") Story, president and well known pilot. (TNT 1-31-28, p. 1-article on Olympic Aeronautical Corporation; TDL 2-8-28, p. 2-article on Miss Taylor's visit)

Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Olympic Aeronautical Corporation (Tacoma); Taylor, Ruth; Actresses;

A Dodge Victory Six from Burns-Campbell Motors, South Tacoma dealers, is parked adjacent to a Bergen Bromley Flying Service airplane on June 23, 1928 that had Tommy Burns in the rear cockpit. The other man was not identified but may have been Harold Bromley, Mr. Burns' flight instructor. Tommy Burns had just completed his solo flight that day. The Bergen Bromley Flying Service operated out of the Tacoma Municipal Airport in Lakewood. TPL-1667; G12.1-040 (Tacoma Sunday Ledger, 7-8-28, 2-G)

Dodge automobile; Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Bergen Bromley Flying Service (Tacoma); Burns, Tommy;

Aviation's first talking airplane, "The Voice of the Sky," visited Tacoma on May 12, 1929. The crew posed next to the the Fokker USA trimotor passenger airplane parked at Mueller-Harkins airport: (L-R): Lew Gower, pilot; H.E. Wendt, mechanic; B. Knapp, crew chief; Bert McGrath, announcer. The plane, C-1661, has large advertising for Standard Ethyl gasoline painted on its side. This was the first Pacific Coast visit by the "Voice of the Sky" which amazed listeners and viewers with animated audible chatter and music from 2500 feet up in the air. TPL-2020; G12.1-029 (Tacoma Sunday Ledger, 5-12-29, A-7-article; TDL 5-14-29, p. 1)

Airline industry; Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Gower, Lew; Wendt, H.E.; Knapp, B.; McGrath, Bert;

On August 12, 1929, men and women connected with Tacoma Airways aviation school lined up in front of two biplanes at the Mueller-Harkins airport with several automobiles further down the row. A Richfield service station is in the distance. TPL-532; G12.1-001

Tacoma Airways (Tacoma); Airline industry; Vocational education--Tacoma--1920-1930; Biplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Automobiles--Tacoma--1920-1930;

Standing beneath this biplane's propeller on October 12, 1929, are four unidentified individuals. Both women and one man are wearing aviation headgear and goggles. The plane is marked "Bergersen-Sherman." An alternate photograph ran in the November 14, 1929, Tacoma Times indicating that these four flying enthusiasts recently soloed at Mueller-Harkins Airport. Unfortunately, their names were not listed but their occupations were given as "tugboat man," "auto man," school teacher and doctor's assistant. TPL-8074; G12.1-008 (T.Times 11-14-29, p. 2)

Biplanes; Airplanes; Airline industry;

Two planes, one much smaller than the other, at an unidentified field the day after Christmas, 1929. The larger plane, a biplane, has tarp covering the open pilot cockpit and passenger seating. Photograph ordered by Tacoma Airways. G12.1-027

Airplanes--1920-1930;

Members of the Girls' Corner Club of Tacoma pose with the pilot of this biplane located at the Mueller-Harkins Field in early May of 1930. The Corner Club was a women's support and social group, an off-shoot of the club originating in British Columbia in 1917. Eleanor Renstrom (seated in plane) and Dorothy Allen (outside) experienced a trial flight with Washington Aeronautical Corporation pilot George Fisher before the girls made the actual flight to Olympia to scatter flowers over a white birch tree to be planted by club members on the grounds of the executive mansion. The white birch is the official Washington State mothers' tree. G12.1-036 (TNT 5-10-30, p. 12)

Biplanes--Tacoma--1930-1940; Girls' Corner Club of Tacoma (Tacoma); Renstrom, Eleanor; Allen, Dorothy; Fisher, George; Air pilots--Tacoma;

A Coast Airlines Flying Service aircraft is on the ground at a Tacoma airport in June of 1930. Coast Airlines provided service to Seattle and Everett. Mount Rainier (or "Tacoma" as referred to by locals) is prominently featured in the background. Standard Used Car Market used this plane, or a similar Coast Airlines aircraft, in their promotion of a free scenic 15-minute ride for every car sold over $100. TPL-5031; G12.1-047 (Ad-TNT 6-10-30, p. 18)

Airplanes--Tacoma--1930-1940; Rainier, Mount (Wash.);

Sunday, April 15, 1928, saw the inauguration of the new American Railway Express Co. air transport service, provided for Tacoma in conjunction with the Pacific Air Transport Co. fleet of mail carriers. It would be the first outgoing air parcel service under this new arrangement. The pilot pictured above smilingly accepts delivery of a slender box from an unidentified official before his northbound departure. Hundreds of people had gathered at the Mueller-Harkins Airport to celebrate this new service. (TNT 4-16-28, p. 7, TDL 4-15-28, 8-A) BGN-186, TPL-1597

Transport planes--Tacoma; Air pilots--Tacoma; American Railway Express Co. (Tacoma); Shipping--1920-1930; Air mail service--1920-1930;

ca. 1930. Birds eye view of Harold Bromley's fourth airplane, NR153W, also called the "City of Tacoma." Bromley planned to fly from Tokyo to Tacoma in this red Emsco single engine monoplane. His September 14, 1930 attempt at the flight with Harold Gatty as navigator was foiled by a failed exhaust system on the plane. The fumes forced the pair to land and almost cost them their lives. The plane was abandoned by Bromley for this flight as too heavy and slow. TPL-8799

Bromley, Harold--Associated objects; Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Aeronautics--Tacoma--1920-1930;

ca. 1928. A Texaco fuel truck is parked in front of a tri-motor airplane with a Texaco logo on its wing. Two men appear to be fueling the airplane.

Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Trucks--Tacoma--1920-1930; Fuel tanks;

ca. 1928. Two men stand next to a biplane with the name Tacoma painted on its side. A third man sits in the rear cockpit of the plane which sits in a grassy field. The plane may belong to the Tacoma Airways aviation school.

Biplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930;

ca. 1928. Young woman in flying jacket, flying cap, and parachute stands on wing of Bergen Bromley Flying Service bi-plane. Photograph probably taken at Mueller Harkins Airport. For more images of the same person, see TPL images 7034 and 7036.

Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Bergen Bromley Flying Service (Tacoma);

Inside hanger at Tacoma Field. Four airplanes are clearly visible, a single-wing tri-motor passenger plane and three bi-planes. Two of the bi-planes are marked Bennett Air Transportation Inc. Photograph was taken in March of 1931.

Airplanes--Lakewood--1930-1940; Bennett Air Transportation Inc. (Lakewood); Tacoma Field (Lakewood);

ca. 1928. A man with a fuel can stands next to a Red Crown Gasoline truck as two men work at fueling a biplane.

Biplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Fuel tanks;

ca. 1929. Two men work at filling a plane with fuel from a truck that has two signs on it that read Red Crown Gasoline. This photograph was taken circa 1929.

Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Fuel tanks;

ca. 1929. People crowd around to view Harold Bromley's airplane, the "City of Tacoma," at the Tacoma Field. This picture was probably taken on July 19, 1929 when Bromley arrived at Tacoma Field after a flight of 8 hours 17 minutes from Los Angeles in his new bright orange Lockheed Vega monoplane. To the right was the temporary hangar erected for the plane, a wooden framework covered by canvas. The city also erected a new 5400 foot runway for the flight. Bromley and his plane had captured the attention and newspaper headlines of Tacoma. The newspapers rang out "Tacoma to Tokyo!" Bromley was planning, with the backing of Tacoma businessmen, to make the first transPacific flight, a distance of 4,762 miles. It would be the longest flight segment ever flown. Thousands crowded the airfield to see the plane and history in the making. On July 28, 1929, Bromley's roared down the runway from the top of a ramp. It proceeded down the runway before veering off to the left and crashing nose first in the ground. A dazed Bromley descended from the cockpit, now 9 feet from the ground due to the plane's 45 degree angle, unhurt.The plane had crashed when gasoline from the overloaded tanks blinded Bromley. The crowds rushed the plane in a mob, held off by a ring of firemen and officers surrounding the gasoline soaked plane.

Bromley, Harold--Associated objects; Airplanes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Aeronautics--Tacoma--1920-1930;