THANK YOU!
YOUR PURCHASE OF THESE BOOKS SUPPORTS THE WEB SITES THAT BRING TO YOU THE HISTORY BEHIND OLD AIRFIELD REGISTERS
Your copy of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register 1925-1936 with all the pilots' signatures and helpful cross-references to pilots and their aircraft is available at the link. 375 pages with black & white photographs and extensive tables
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The Congress of Ghosts (available as eBook) is an anniversary celebration for 2010. It is an historical biography, that celebrates the 5th year online of www.dmairfield.org and the 10th year of effort on the project dedicated to analyze and exhibit the history embodied in the Register of the Davis-Monthan Airfield, Tucson, AZ. This book includes over thirty people, aircraft and events that swirled through Tucson between 1925 and 1936. It includes across 277 pages previously unpublished photographs and texts, and facsimiles of personal letters, diaries and military orders. Order your copy at the link.
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Military Aircraft of the Davis Monthan Register 1925-1936 is available at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.
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Art Goebel's Own Story by Art Goebel (edited by G.W. Hyatt) is written in language that expands for us his life as a Golden Age aviation entrepreneur, who used his aviation exploits to build a business around his passion. Available as a free download at the link.
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Winners' Viewpoints: The Great 1927 Trans-Pacific Dole Race (available as eBook) is available at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.
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Clover Field: The first Century of Aviation in the Golden State (available in paperback) With the 100th anniversary in 2017 of the use of Clover Field as a place to land aircraft in Santa Monica, this book celebrates that use by exploring some of the people and aircraft that made the airport great. 281 pages, black & white photographs.
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YOU CAN HELP
I'm looking for information and photographs of pilot Kessler and his airplane to include on this page. If you have some you'd like to share, please click this FORM to contact me.
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THanks to Guest Editor Bob Woodling for help researching this page.
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PAUL WIRT KESSLER
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P.W. Kessler landed once at East St. Louis, on Wednesday, June 25, f930 at 10:00AM. Based at Sky Harbor, Phoenix, AZ, he was eastbound to Chicago, IL. He indicated nothing about passengers or the reason for his visit at East St. Louis. He remained on the ground for an hour, departing at 11:00. He flew the Travel Air he identified as NC6469.
A brief Web biography of Kessler, with photographs and documents, is at the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) Web site at the link. According to this source, Kessler flew 2,667 hours for CNAC (see last article, below) and about 13,000 hours during his flying career. His CNAC hours are broken down in detail by year and month on a document exhibited at the link.
Part of his 13,000-hour career was spent with Century Airlines. A news article documents a flight made from Chicago to Springfield, IL, St. Louis, MO and on to Detroit, MI. It was the reporter's first flight, and a bonus was it was made at night. Kessler is identified as the reporter's (as well as six other fellow passengers') pilot at the beginning of the third paragraph.
The night flight turned on the reporter's muse, which appears in he article, below, from the Decatur (IL) Herald of April 16, 1931. He calls the ground-based navigational light beacons of the era, "lighthouses of the air," and a town is described as a, "hollow filled with fireflies." It was a four-hour trip at 110MPH. As well, it was early in the U.S. public's experience with commercial passenger air travel. Articles like this one went a long way to "market" air travel, viz. "Anyone who has qualms about riding on regularly scheduled passenger lines will get over them after a trip like ours."
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A decade later, Kessler was in China flying for CNAC. Although not directly involved in military actions, some of his activities with CNAC were a close second. The article at right from the San Antonio (TX) Light of December 15, 1941 describes the escape of 275 persons from Hong Kong via aircraft and pilots of the CNAC. The nine pilots cited in the article were among the 14 civilian pilots operating out of the Kai Tak airport who were involved in the defense and evacuation of Hong Kong.
Kessler also landed once at Clover Field about four months after his Parks visit. He flew the same airplane, NC6469, landing at Santa Monica October 20, 1930. He carried a single, unidentified passenger. Based at the Grand Central Air Terminal, he gave his destination as back to Grand Central. The owner of the airplane was identified as "Stranse."
Kessler was born in 1897 and passed away in 1951. An obituary appears at the CNAC link. He flew with Transport pilot certificate T1509. He has a very slim Web presence.
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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 03/04/14 REVISED: