Around the World in Thunder Canoes - The Mechanics and the Wobble Pump Part TWO of two

On April 6, 1924, the Douglas World Cruisers (DWC) Seattle, Chicago, Boston, and New Orleanstook off from Sand Point, Seattle, westbound to their first rendezvous stop at Prince Rupert Sound. The 650-mile flight ended badly for the Seattlewhich stalled on landing at the Sound, crunching its pontoons and damaging wires and struts. 

Airborne again after repairs, one of the Seattle’sLiberty engines cracked, forcing a water landing that left pilot Frederick L. Martin and mechanic Alva L. Harvey adrift and facing days of repairs. Taking advantage of fair weather, the other three planes continued on to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands where they once again waited for the Seattle.

Shortly after Martin and Harvey took off in their freshly repaired plane, they ran into a blinding blizzard and crashed into a mountain near Chignik, AK. Miraculously, both Martin and Harvey were not badly injured but they were now alone in an uninhabited area with no means of communication. For the first two days, they survived on meager food rations and dismantled the remains of the Seattleto construct a shelter and build a fire. For the next eight days, the two men meandered along the island’s coast, often experiencing snow blindness and surviving on hunted game until they found help in a fishing village. Pre-planning paid off when a U.S. Navy destroyer picked up the stranded Americans and could finally announce that they had survived.   

  

For the next five months, the world watched in collective anticipation and with unprecedented cooperation, as the remaining three DWCs headed westward.

Although heroics on the high seas rescued the crew, the Bostonwas lost between England and Iceland. It was then up to the crews of the Chicagoand the New Orleansto cross the Atlantic Ocean and touch down in North America. Boston II, the spare DWC, joined them in Nova Scotia, Canada, on their transcontinental journey back to Seattle. They arrived on Sept. 28, 1924.

The aircraft flew 26,345 miles in 363 hours (15 days) flying time. It landed in 29 countries, survived five forced landings, lost two planes, and burned out 17 Liberty engines. Not a man was lost.

THE DWC MECHANICS

Seattlemechanic Harvey [1900-1992]began his remarkable 38-year career in the military in 1919. By 1925, he was in advanced army training at Brooks Field, San Antonio, TX, and was already known for his mechanical skills. By 1946, Harvey commanded the 40th Bombardment Group. He retired in 1957, and lived his remaining days in Arlington, VA.

Chicago mechanic Leslie P. Arnold [1894–1961] was born and raised in Connecticut. Arnold favored team sports in school and earned pocket money acting in summer theaters. He left school and drifted by car across the country selling tobacco or pianos, and was briefly employed by a company that built submarines. He joined the Air Service in 1917, studied aero mechanics and earned his pilot’s license. Arnold was deployed to Europe at the end of WWI, remaining in Germany with the First Aero Squadron until he returned home. The Air Service assigned him to promote aviation by making exhibition flights at county fairs across the U.S. Between 1921 and 1922, Arnold ferried bombers and was certified in aerial photography. 

  

By 1930 Arnold had retired from the military and was employed by Transcontinental Air Transport/Maddox, and in 1936, Pennsylvania Central Airlines. In 1940 he became assistant to Eddie Rickenbacker, president of Eastern Airlines. Arnold re-enlisted during WWII and after distinguished service he left to become vice president of Eastern Airlines. 

BostonandBoston IImechanic Henry Horatio Ogden [1900-1986]was born on a cotton plantation near Natchez, MS. He gained mechanical skills working with the cotton gin and other machinery. After college in New Orleans he joined the Air Service. At age 19, Ogden breezed through the maintenance course to become an instructor at Ellington Field, TX; Selfridge Field, MI; and then Langley Field, VA, where he and five other mechanics worked on the preliminary construction of the Douglas World Cruisers.

Between 1927 and 1929, Ogden briefly worked in California with passenger aircraft designer Joseph Kreutzer. He then went on to design his own tri-motor he called the “Osprey,” operating the short-lived Ogden Shuttle Airlines in Arizona. Ogden was later employed by Lockheed in California and England until he retired in 1965.   

New Orleansmechanic John “Jack” Harding [1896-1968]was raised on a plantation near Nashville, TN. Harding quit Vanderbilt College in 1916 to work for both Chalmers and Dodge automobile companies in Michigan. In 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Signal Corp’s Aviation Section earning ranks as a master electrician and aviation mechanic. 

In 1919, Harding was one of five crew members from the Army Air Service to fly the Glenn Martin Bomber No. 1 (GMB) around the perimeter of the U.S. The dangerous (yet successful) flight spawned dozens of municipal airfields. Again a civilian in 1921, Harding worked as an expert on Liberty engines at McCook Field in Ohio, until he rejoined the Army as a mechanic for World Flight. Harding was released from duty and joined the Reserves until 1930.

  

Between 1924 and 1942, Harding lectured about World Flight on tour with author Lowell Thomas, flew Air Mail in Georgia and Florida, and represented aircraft parts companies in California, Ohio and London, England. He later formed the Harding Devices Company in Texas, producing electric fuel valves of his own design. He moved to California in 1960 and lived the rest of his life there. 

REPAIRS and THE WOBBLE PUMP

At the end of August, two of the original DWCs (the Chicago and the New Orleans), plus the spare Boston II, flew from Pictou Harbor, Nova Scotia, across the United States en route to Seattle. On Sept. 21 and 22, 1924, these three aircraft stopped for maintenance, fuel and a celebrity greeting at Davis-Monthan Aviation Field in Tucson, AZ. On the field with his camera was B.C. Cosgrove Jr., whose photographs were preserved in a scrapbook, published here courtesy of his son, B.C. “Bert” Cosgrove III. 

Repairs to the Chicagoen route

The Chicagowas forced to splash down onto a lagoon in the Gulf of Tonkin when one of its engines overheated. The New Orleansand the Bostonsent natives back with dugouts to tow the Chicagoto a village where Arnold collected a new engine sent from Saigon. Swapping out a 450hp Liberty engine in the jungle required ingenuity and muscle. Many days and miles later, Arnold’s endurance was put to the test when the Chicago’sfuel pump failed. He operated the emergency wobble pump by hand for two hours until they landed safely at Icy Tickle, Labrador.

Repairs to the Bostonen route

At Hull, England, the three remaining DWCs prepared to embark on their record-making flights across the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Navy had a string of ships along their route for aide, which came all too soon for the Boston. Between the Faroe Islands and the Orkneys, the Boston’spower plant lost oil pressure, forcing a landing in rough seas which damaged a pontoon and snapped wires. Signaling from above, the Chicagoflew on to find help while Ogden made some minor repairs to keep them afloat. Ogden later wrote: “We discovered what a nasty business it is to be in mid-ocean on a fragile plane with waves hitting her at right angles.” When a Navy ship arrived to help, the battered Bostonwas wrapped in a sling attached to a crane. The crew watched in horror as the crane broke, once again leaving the Bostonbobbing helplessly. After attempting to tow the plane to shore, the Bostonwas so badly damaged that Captain Wade gave the order to sink it rather than leave debris in the busy shipping lanes.

Both Wade and Ogden were assigned to “Boston II” which joined the remaining DWCs in Nova Scotia for their flight back to Seattle.

Repairs to the New Orleans en route

At Ambala, India, in 120-degree heat, the New Orleans’sengine exploded, breaking three pistons, a connecting rod and a wrist pin. The crew avoided a lengthy delay to make repairs when they were gallantly assisted by the local division of the Royal Air Force. Harding recalled, “To our delight we found the British aviators in India were all using our Liberty motors.” En route to deliver a new cylinder for the New Orleans,the RAF pilot crashed. Unhurt and with the cylinder “tucked under his arm,” he traveled by cart and train to Ambala with his valuable cargo. International cooperation like this met the World Flight crews at every stop. It took Harding three days to make the repairs before he and Nelson flew on to Aleppo, Syria.  

EPILOGUE

The Seattle World Cruiser Project is headed by Bob Dempster, who intends to fly a DWC replica, the Seattle II, around the globe during 2016. Based at Renton Municipal Airport in Washington, Dempster’s research included visiting the crash site of the original DWC No. 1 Seattlenear Chignik, AK. There he collected some small parts to carry with him on his own flight. As in 1924, a grand celebration will await when the Seattle II lands in Tucson, AZ, en route back to Seattle. More information is available at www.seattleworldcruiser.org

Giacinta Bradley Koontz is an aviation historian, magazine columnist and author who has received the DAR History Medal and honorable mention from the New York Book Festival. She has appeared on the History Channel and in PBS documentaries. For more information, visit www.GiaBKoontz.com.

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