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.;

Officers of the dirigible USS Shenandoah stand in front of the mooring mast at Camp Lewis in October, 1924. The Shenandoah was the first rigid airship built on US soil. It was first airborne in September of 1922, one of a proposed fleet of German Zeppelin-like lighter than air craft. It came to a tragic end in September of 1925 when it broke apart during a thunderstorm, killing 14.

Military air pilots; Airships; Mooring masts;

Officers and crew of the dirigible "Shenandoah" pose in front of the mooring mast at Camp Lewis in October of 1924. The mooring mast was constructed by the Navy for this two day visit. The Shenandoah was the first rigid airship built in America. Commissioned by the Navy, it was a copy of the German Zeppelin that so impressed our military in World War 1. The Shenandoah was first airborne in 1922. It came to a tragic end in September of 1925 when it broke apart in a thunderstorm with 43 persons aboard, killing 14.

Military air pilots; Airships; Mooring masts;

The dirigible "Shenandoah," commissioned by the US Navy, paid a two day visit to Camp Lewis in October of 1924. A special 165 foot tall striped mooring mast was specially constructed for the visit. The giant dirigible, patterned after a German Zeppelin captured by the French in 1917, hovered silently in the air over gawking spectators and their automobiles. On September 3, 1925, a mere nine months later, the airship was caught in a thunderstorm and torn to pieces over Noble County, Ohio. Miraculously, 29 of its 43 crew members survived. The mast stood at Fort Lewis until 1936. (Richards copy negative)

Airships; Mooring masts; Camp Lewis (Wash.); Military camps--Tacoma--1920-1930;

Mooring mast built by the Navy in 1924 at Camp Lewis for the visit of the dirigible USS Shenandoah. The Shenandoah visited the Tacoma area October 18-19, 1924. The Shenandoah was one of four rigid airships constructed by the military during the 20's and 30's, after the design of the German Zeppelin. The Shenandoah was the first built in America. The 165 foot pole was built for the 1924 visit and dismantled 12 years later.

Mooring masts; Airships--Associated objects;

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;

On April 28, 1927, a group of interested businessmen made the first Tacoma to Paradise Valley tourist trip by air. They were inspecting the possibilities of regular tourist flights from Tacoma to "Mount Tacoma" (Mount Rainier), making sights usually available only to climbers possible for the average tourist. Pictured, left to right, are Paul H. Sceva (Assistant to the General Manager of Rainier National Park Co.), Frank E. Roberts (Tacoma News Tribune), Vernon Bookwalter (pilot) and Vern C. Gorst (President of Pacific Air Transport.) The flight was made on a six passenger Fokker monoplane owned by Pacific Air, the coast contract mail carrier. (TNT 4/29/1927, pg. 1)

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);

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);

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. 1928. Young woman wearing 1920s style flight suit and parachute stands on wing of a bi-plane. She may be practicing for a parachute jump. The plane is sitting on the ground, probably at Tacoma Field. The plane has a winged logo that says, "Bergen Bromley Flying Service." Next to the pilots cockpit, on the side of the plane is the name R. N. Bergen. His partner was Harold Bromley, best remembered for his failed attempts to fly from Tacoma to Tokyo.

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

ca. 1928. A young woman wearing a flyers jacket, boots and flight cap is helped into a parachute while standing next to a Bergen Bromley Flying Service bi-plane. Photo probably taken at Mueller Harkins Airport. For more images of the same woman, see TPL images 7034 and 7035.

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

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;

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;

ca. 1929. Herb Fahey, Lockheed test pilot, presents Harold Bromley with a lucky rabbit's foot prior to Bromley's attempt to fly the Lockheed Vega monoplane the "City of Tacoma" from Tacoma to Tokyo. The woman standing between the men is believed to be Bromley's first wife. The rabbit's foot did not give off much good luck since Bromley was blinded by gasoline spewing from overfilled tanks and crashed during his first attempt at the trans Pacific crossing on take off. Fahey was the test pilot on the second "City of Tacoma" which crashed in September of 1929 during testing. Fahey suffered a broken arm and skull fractures. He recovered but was killed months later test piloting another Lockheed plane. BGN-019

ca. 1929. The first "City of Tacoma" monoplane poised at the top of a ramp designed to give the plane more momentum on take off. On July 28, 1929, Harold Bromley intended to enter the history books as the first pilot to fly solo and nonstop from Tacoma to Tokyo. The early dawn flight was scheduled to take off from Tacoma Field, an area that is now part of McChord Air Force base. The large orange Vega crashed on takeoff. BGN-310K

ca. 1929. Herb Fahey, Lockheed test pilot, presents Harold Bromley with his lucky rabbit's foot prior to Bromley's attempt to pilot the Lockheed Vega "City of Tacoma," shown in the background, from Tacoma to Tokyo. The monoplane crashed on take off July 28, 1929 when the tanks were overfilled and Bromley was blinded by flying gasoline. The plane was insured and Lockheed constructed a new plane, using some of the parts of the original. Fahey was the test pilot when the second plane crashed in September of 1929 during tests in California. Fahey was seriously injured but recovered, only to be killed months later in an unrelated Lockheed crash.

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;

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

ca. 1929. Harold Bromley posed in his Lockheed plane "City of Tacoma" at Tacoma Field, preparing for his July 28, 1929 flight from Tacoma to Tokyo. Excitement seized the nation as Charles Lindbergh conquered the Atlantic in 1927 and a flight across the Pacific beckoned as the next great prize. Bromley, then 28, persuaded a group of Tacoma businessmen headed by lumberman John Buffelen to financially support his efforts to make the alliterative "Tacoma to Tokyo" nonstop solo flight, putting their city's name on the aviation map. The "City of Tacoma," the low wing Lockheed monoplane created for the flight, weighed 8,850 pounds including its load, had an open cockpit near the wing, a Wasp 425 horsepower engine, a cruising speed of 150 miles per hour and carried 885 gallons of gasoline. There was a little room left over for three compasses, an inflatable raft, a flare gun and sandwiches. TPL-217

ca. 1929. Harold Bromley, on the right, and a second man, probably his benefactor John Buffelen, stand next to Bromley's Lockheed Vega monoplane, the "City of Tacoma." Between them they hold a map on which has been drawn the course that Bromley intended to fly, non-stop from Tacoma to Tokyo, a continuous trip of 4,700 miles. Buffelen and a group of Tacoma businessmen had funded the design and manufacture of the Lockheed plane, hoping to make Tacoma as famous as Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis." The plan ended in disaster. The first plane crashed on take off in front of a crowd of 25,000 at the Tacoma Field. The second and third planes crashed during test flights, the third crash killing test pilot H. W. Catling. The fourth plane was manufactured by Emsco; the plan adjusted to fly from Tokyo to Tacoma, taking advantage of tail winds. It flew for 24 hours, before exhaust fumes forced Bromley and co pilot and navigator Harold Gatty to return to Japan. The plane was stored in a Japanese hangar and the Tacoma money men were stopped by the Depression from ever funding another attempt at the record.

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

ca. 1929. Harold Bromley's airplane, the "City of Tacoma," being viewed at Tacoma Field by citizens in July of 1929. During the spring and summer of 1929, newspapers carried front page stories filled with the exciting news of Bromley's planned flight across the Pacific Ocean from Tacoma to Tokyo. Bromley and his backers had planned the flight for two years. The plane was being built by Lockheed in California, a bright orange low wing Vega monoplane. The final testing of the plane was done at the Muroc dry lake bed, 200 miles northeast of Burbank, but its flight to Tacoma was delayed. Finally on July 19, 1929, Bromley landed at Tacoma Field after a 8 hour and 17 minute flight from Los Angeles. Thousands cheered as the plane landed safely in Tacoma. Over 59,000 people made the trip out to the airstrip to view the plane prior to its July 28, 1929 inaugural flight.

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