- Item
- ca. 1929
Part of Chapin Bowen Photographs
ca. 1929. Harold Bromley in cockpit of his Lockheed airplane the "City of Tacoma" prior to his ill-fated July 28, 1929 attempt at a trans Pacific Tacoma to Tokyo flight. The all wood low wing monoplane was painted bright orange. The original design was the Vega, designed for Capt. Hubert Wilkins' Antarctic expedition. It was modified to have a larger engine and to hold enough gasoline for what would be the longest single flight ever undertaken. The handsome Bromley, 29 at the time of the flight, was a dashing Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, a former barnstormer and stunt pilot, who taught aviation at the fledgling Tacoma Airfield. The flight ended in disaster when spewing gasoline blinded Bromley in take off and the plane crashed nose down just off the runway, with Bromley's tail cockpit nine feet off the ground. Three more planes were built over the next 2 years, but Bromley never reached his goal of a record flight. He died at the age of 99 in 1997, after a full life as a pilot, a federal aviation inspector, a grape and date farmer and a real estate salesman. BGN-310J