Фрэнк Уилбур Вид: Летчик, сценарист и морской офицер.

American screenwriter

Frank Wilbur "Spig" Wead (24 October 1895 – 15 November 1947) was a U. S. Navy aviator who helped promote United States Naval aviation from its inception through World War II. Commander Wead was a recognized authority on early aviation. Following a crippling spinal injury in 1926, Wead was placed on the retired list. In the 1930s, he became a screenwriter, becoming involved in more than 30 movies. He also published several books, short stories and magazine articles. During World War II, he returned to active duty. He initially worked in a planning role, but later undertook sea duty in the Pacific, where he saw action against the Japanese in 1943–44 before being placed on the retired list in mid 1945.

Frank Wilbur Wead was born to Samuel De Forest Wead and Grace (Bestor) Wead on 24 October 1895, in Ward No. 5 of Peoria Township, Peoria, Illinois. Frank graduated from Peoria High School. The Wead family had a strong background of service to the American nation. The Weads of Massachusetts were represented in one of the Committees of Safety established during the American Revolutionary War, and also as patriots in the Colonial Wars, forming part of the General Society of Colonial Wars during 1607–1763. The Connecticut Weads were also patriots of the American Revolutionary War. The Wead families were prominent in Illinois and Vermont in several fields during the 19th and 20th centuries: politics, law, education and as supporters of the Union during the American Civil War, during which one branch of the Wead lineage became actively involved with the United States Sanitary Commission.

On 16 July 1912, Frank Wilbur Wead (aged 16) was admitted into the United States Naval Academy as a member of the Class of 1916. His classmates included John D. Price, Ralph E. Davison and Calvin T. Durgin. The Class of 1916 graduated on 29 May 1916. Following graduation from the Naval Academy and leave, Wead reported to his first sea duty assignment, San Diego, on 28 June 1916. He was a line officer with a date of rank as an ensign of 3 June 1916 and a precedence of 17 within his group of "running mates." Wead was next assigned to Pittsburgh on a cruise from San Francisco, departing 25 April 1917. The ship reached Rio de Janeiro where, with several other officers, he departed Pittsburgh on 21 September. Wead was granted a temporary promotion to Lieutenant on 15 October 1917. He was booked for passage to the Port of New York aboard Zeelandia, which departed Rio de Janeiro on 25 September and arrived in New York on 17 October. Wead reported to the Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, for sea duty orders. In February 1919, a kite balloon division of six balloons was assigned to Shawmut and other ships. The ships participated in fleet exercises and, after seven weeks, returned to the United States after demonstrating the capability to operate without land based support. With the knowledge that the Naval Aviation Division was seeking naval officers with a strong aptitude in naval engineering, having a desire to accept projects with a certain amount of risk, and with the combat proven ability to lead naval personnel by example, Lieutenant Wead began the process for obtaining endorsements to his application to be nominated for flight training.

Wead received a permanent promotion to Lieutenant (junior grade) on 3 June 1919 (as of 1 January 1920, he remained in the temporary rank of Lieutenant). In the late summer of 1919, Wead requested naval aviation flight training at Aeronautic Station Pensacola, Florida. His request was approved and he was assigned to Class 1 (the first class of regular officers sent to Pensacola after the commencement of World War I), on 15 September 1919. Wead reported to Pensacola and was billeted in a two man room with Lieutenant (j. g.) Ralph Eugene Davison, a classmate at the Naval Academy. Wead was assigned to a training flight team with two other officers and former classmates, Lieutenants (j. g.) Robert Morse Farrar and Calvin Thornton Durgin. In addition to basic and advanced flight and navigation, the students were trained on a catapult installed on a barge at Pensacola. Wead was designated a United States Naval Aviator on 17 April 1920; his wife, Minnie "Min" Wead, pinned his golden wings to his uniform. On Saturday, 5 June 1920, Lieutenant Wead was appointed a naval aviator, along with Lieutenants Felix Stump, Robert Morse Farrar, Homer Webb Clark, Robert Walton Fleming, Stanton Hall Wooster, Ralph Eugene Davison, John Dale Price, Calin Thornton Durgin, and Henry James White. Wead was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 July 1920. Wead began to promote Naval Aviation after World War I through air racing, speed competitions and several naval aviation articles he submitted for publishing in the United States Naval Institute Proceedings magazine. This competition, mainly against the United States Army Air Service (and its leading racer, Jimmy Doolittle), helped push U. S. military aviation forward. These competitions would give naval aviation a much needed spotlight in the public eye. The public attention that it generated helped push Congress to fund the advancement of military aviation. After World War I he was a test pilot for the Navy.

On 21 April 1921, a newly promoted Lieutenant Frank Wead reported aboard Aroostook, homeported at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California. Aboard Aroostook, Wead was assigned aviation duties involving flying: Aeromarine 39 B (two seater seaplane used as a "scout plane") and Felixstowe F5L (flying boat that carried a crew of four); reporting to Commander, U. S. Pacific Fleet Air Squadrons Captain Henry Varnum Butler, USN, and Executive Aide Lieutenant Commander Patrick N. L. Bellinger, USN. The experience gained aboard USS Aroostook involving F 5 L flying boats was instrumental in Wead being selected as commanding officer of Combat Squadron No. 3 (re designated, Fighting Plane Squadron 3, on 17 June 1922), U. S. Pacific Fleet; he served in this capacity for over a year until the spring of 1923. Lieutenant Wead worked closely with the Philadelphia Naval Aircraft Factory and three contractors (Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Wright Aeronautical, Glenn L. Martin Company) in the development of seaplane airframes and new engines, and testing the seaplanes in duration flights above the Potomac River. Based upon his experience and technical expertise, Wead submitted several articles for publication that pertained to known issues concerning aircraft design, power plant problems, and future naval aviation.

Lieutenant Frank Wead traveled to East Cowes, Isle of Wight, Great Britain, as the American team captain of a small group of U. S. naval aviators. He was also the reserve team member. With Lieutenant Wead were four naval aviators who departed New York Harbor aboard S. S. Leviathan. They were to participate in the Seventh Schneider Trophy Contest (28 September 1923). Unfortunately, on the day of the navigability tests (27 September 1923), Wead had to withdraw because of an engine problem with his TR 3A aircraft the American reserve seaplane. The TR 3A was a double pontoon seaplane with a Wright E 4 engine of 300 H. P. However, his teammates, Lieutenants David Rittenhouse and Rutledge Irvine, flying their CR 3s finished first and second places, respectively, on 28 September 1923. Their CR 3s were earlier tested at Garden City, Port Washington, Long Island. They were an improved adaptation of the Curtiss Navy Racer the standard racing design which led the world in performance since the first plane of this type won the Pulitzer Race in 1921. During the period 22–23 June 1924 just off shore of NAS Anacostia, Wead and Lieutenant John Dale Price, using a Curtiss CS 2 with a Wright T 3 Tornado engine, set new Class C seaplane records for distance (963.123 miles), duration (13 hours 23 minutes 15 seconds), and three speed records (73.41 mph for 500 kilometers, 74.27 mph for 1000 km, and 74.17 mph for 1500 km). Lieutenants Wead and Price set a newer record 11–12 July 1924, with new Class C seaplane records for distance (994.19 miles) and duration (14 hours 53 min 44 sec) using a CS 2 with a Wright Tornado engine.

Following his assignment at NAS Anacostia, Wead was assigned staff duty involving flying at NAS North Island where he served as Flag Lieutenant to the flight project commander at NAS North Island, Captain Stanford Elwood Moses, USN. On 28 October 1924, Wead was assigned to command VT Squadron 2. During 1924 and 1925, Wead was involved with the planning for the San Francisco to Hawaii endurance and navigation tests to comprise two Naval Aircraft Factory PN 9 flying boats, and one Boeing PB 1 flying boat.

In the hours immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, from his personal library within his rented estate at 715 North Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, California, Wead listened as bulletins interrupted regularly scheduled radio programs with updated details of the bombing. From his library, Wead also made a long distance phone call to the Bureau of Aeronautics to speak with Rear Admiral John Henry Towers, requesting a recall to active duty. The phone call was followed up with a Western Union telegram to Captain Ralph Davison, USN. It was a chance to serve his country, again. Wead flew from California and arrived at Naval Air Station Quonset Point where he worked as special aide to Captain Ralph Davison. Also, at NAS Quonset Point was Rear Admiral Calvin T. Durgin and his naval aide Captain John Madison "Johnny" Hoskins, USN. All these naval aviators communicated closely together in working out the details for the manning and training of carrier air groups for the newly commissioned aircraft carriers. With the approval from Davison, Wead was promoted to the temporary rank of commander in the US Naval Reserve, on 28 September 1942. arriving at Oahu Island on 21 November 1943. From the Port of Honolulu Wead reported to Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet Headquarters as head of the Plans Division for Commander, Air Force, Pacific Fleet, (now) Vice Admiral John Henry Towers. This shore duty assignment was to await the return of Yorktown. On the afternoon of 9 December 1943, Wead reported aboard Yorktown where he met with his old Naval Academy buddy Captain Joseph J. Clark, USN, skipper of Yorktown. Representing the Plans Division, Wead's orders aboard Yorktown were to monitor and report on carrier aviation combat operations, most especially obtaining first hand knowledge in the ability of consolidated CVs in a task force to readily replace their lost/damaged aircraft with replacements from close by CVLs. Having completed an earlier successful operation, Yorktown (assigned to Task Group 58.1, commanded by Rear Admiral John W. Reeves, Jr., USN) departed Pearl Harbor with Wead aboard on 16 January 1944. Wead took part in the attack on Kwajalein Atoll during Operation Flintlock, an operation that involved four carrier groups. USS Yorktown then steamed to the newly established Pacific Fleet anchorage at Majuro Atoll, arriving about 4 February 1944. It was during this short eight day anchorage period amongst the Pacific Fleet that Wead was transferred from Yorktown to a destroyer, and then to Essex. The commanding officer of Essex was Captain Ralph A. Ofstie, USN. While aboard Essex, Wead saw action against Truk Island (17–18 February), now called Chuuk, and against Saipan, Tinian, and Guam (23 February). Wead was buried in the family plot at Springdale Cemetery and Mausoleum (plot: Bluff Division, Section 4, Lot 00140), Peoria, Peoria County, Illinois.

Admiral Calvin T. Durgin later described Wead as "a great man who did a remarkable job under very difficult circumstances." In 1957, John Wayne portrayed Wead in the John Ford directed film The Wings of Eagles.

"Naval Aviation Today," U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings, April 1924, Vol 50, No. 4

Frank A. Andrews's book Dirigible (New York: A. L. Burt Co. 1931), is based on the Columbia Pictures screenplay by Wead. Wead's publishers released another book in 1931. This was Wings For Men. Writing would become a second and even more important career for Wead, and a means of promoting naval aviation. He sent his daughter Dorothea to attend the prestigious Smith College; she graduated with the Class of 1939. Thus, this Naval Academy grad and record breaking naval pilot was able to succeed as a screenplay writer and to earn a comfortable income to support his daughters in their life style and college education.