Кларенс Чемберлин: Американский пионер авиации

American aviation pioneer

Clarence Duncan Chamberlin (November 11, 1893 – October 31, 1976) was an American pioneer of aviation, being the second man to pilot a fixed wing aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to the European mainland, while carrying the first transatlantic passenger.

Clarence Duncan Chamberlin was born on November 11, 1893, in the small town of Denison, Iowa, to Elzie Clarence and Jessie Duncan Chamberlin. Elzie, or "EC" as he was known around Denison, was the local jeweler and the owner of the first automobile in Denison. This automobile was notorious throughout Crawford County for the racket it emitted while in operation. Indeed, maintenance of the vehicle was a near constant endeavor; however, it was in maintaining the family automobile that Chamberlin first developed an interest in all things mechanical. Additionally, he found great delight in using his mechanical skills to repair the clocks and watches that would be brought into his father's jewelry shop on an almost daily basis. It was also in Denison that Chamberlin would see his first airplane, an early pusher type plane, which had put on a show for a Firemen's Convention that had been held in Denison. From that moment, a desire grew within Chamberlin to one day take to the skies.

After completing his education in the Denison Public Schools system in 1912, he enrolled at the Denison Normal and Business College. While at Denison Normal and Business College, Chamberlin took college prep courses to help him in his pursuit of a degree in Electrical Engineering at Iowa State College in Ames, Iowa. During his time at the College, in addition to his classes and in order to pay for those classes, Chamberlin worked nights as a tender for the Ft. Dodge, Des Moines, and Southern Railroad Company in the railroad's electrical power sub station in Ankeny, Iowa. In order to do this, Chamberlin found himself forced to live on trains, where he would study, eat, and sleep during travel between work and classes. However, in 1914, Chamberlin, as a college sophomore, left Denison Normal and Business College, to run a Harley Davidson dealership in town. Yet Chamberlin aspired to even greater heights of public fame; he wanted to win the Orteig Prize, a $25,000 reward offered by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first aviator(s) to fly non stop from New York City to Paris. However, before he could attempt such a flight, he needed to show that he could stay up in the air long enough to cover the 3,530 miles from NYC to Paris. Chamberlin would do this by breaking the endurance record for flight, which at that time, was held by Drouhin and Landry of France who had stayed in the air for 45 hours, 11 minutes, and 59 seconds of continual flight. On Tuesday, April 12, 1927, Chamberlin, along with friend and fellow aviator Bert Acosta, took off from Roosevelt Field in New York at 9:30 a. m. Loaded with 375 gallons of fuel and other necessities, the Bellanca Wright plane (which would later be renamed the "Miss Columbia") cruised back and forth over Long Island, New York. While the flight was marred with difficulties, including accidentally triggered gasoline cut off valves and a lack of water for the pilots, it ultimately proved successful. On April 14, 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds after takeoff, Chamberlin and Acosta finally landed having exceeded the Frenchmen's record by nearly 6 hours. "The craft had flown approximately 4,100 miles, about 500 miles further than that needed for a New York to Paris flight and the $25,000 Raymond Orteig Prize." However, as Chamberlin so bluntly stated, "Bert and I had won a record, but had not won the right to fly the Bellanca to Paris."

The "Miss Columbia" was the monoplane Wright Bellanca WB 2 which Chamberlin would use to break the endurance record for flight in 1927 and later that same year make his famous trans Atlantic flight. The plane was designed by Giuseppe Bellanca who had been commissioned by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation to produce a plane for their new J 5 "Whirlwind" engine. While the Wright Bellanca, as it was referred to in its early days, appeared to be "just another straightforward high wing monoplane with clean if rather angular lines" it, unlike others of its class, was able to lift a huge payload. This was due mainly to two features: "a profiled fuselage and wide aerofoil section wing struts, both [of which] contribut[ed] considerably to [the plane's] total lift. Prior to Chamberlin's successful endurance flight, the Wright Bellanca was purchased by Charles A. Levine, the wealthy, millionaire salvage dealer and the president of the Columbia Aircraft Corporation. However, Charles Lindbergh himself tried to buy the plane before Chamberlin's endurance flight. Levine refused Lindbergh's offer. Soon after its purchase, the "aeroplane was christened Miss Columbia by two little girls who performed the ceremony with ginger ale. Afterwards they were treated to a joy ride by Clarence Chamberlin." However, the joy ride almost ended in tragedy when part of the undercarriage tore loose on take off, but Chamberlin was able to safely and skillfully land the plane. The Miss Columbia holds the distinction of not only being the first plane to carry a trans Atlantic passenger, but it also holds the distinction of being the first plane to make the trans Atlantic crossing twice. Three years after its record breaking flight with Chamberlin, the newly renamed "Maple Leaf", flown by Canadian Captain J. Errol Boyd and U. S. Naval Air Service Lieutenant Harry P. Connor, flew from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, to Pentle Bay, Tresco, in the Isles of Scilly.

Chamberlin and Acosta's successful endurance flight convinced Levine that an attempt at a crossing of the Atlantic was feasible and that the Orteig Prize was within reach. In Chamberlin and Acosta, Levine had a superb flying team; however, in a move that surprised many, Levine replaced Acosta with Lloyd W. Bertaud, an acclaimed pilot of the east, as the navigator. However, near constant arguments over the choice of crew, the route to be followed, and whether wireless equipment should be installed plagued preparations for the Trans Atlantic flight. Yet, it still appeared that Chamberlin and Bertaud would beat Charles Lindbergh as the first people to successfully cross the Atlantic. On May 19, Lindbergh even met with Chamberlin who gave him his weather charts for the Atlantic Ocean and on May 20, Lindbergh took off for Paris and his date with destiny. Chamberlin, on the other hand, was still grounded by the court injunction and bad weather. However, while the injunction had been dropped, two questions remained to be answered: who would fly with Chamberlin? And what was the purpose of their flight going to be now that Lindbergh had beaten them for the Orteig Prize? Even Chamberlin's participation in the flight seemed uncertain. Levine had started to entertain doubts about Chamberlin, not because of his flying ability, but about his homely appearance, fearing he might not be photogenic enough to get much publicity. Thankfully, Levine decided to keep Chamberlin, even with his homely looks. It was soon decided by the two men that since they could not achieve the distinction of being the first to cross the Atlantic via airplane, they would instead work to achieve the distance record and blow Lindbergh out of the water or in this case, the sky. Exactly two weeks after Lindbergh's historic flight, the "Miss Columbia" was ready to take to the skies. The plane was grossly overloaded with 455 gallons of gasoline, food, water, and instrumentation, but in order for Chamberlin to beat the distance record, the overloading was a necessary evil. On June 4, 1927, Chamberlin was ready to begin his historic flight from Roosevelt Field; however, the plane still lacked a navigator. Chamberlin responded in the affirmative and upon docking in Boston construction began, under the supervision of Chamberlin, on a runway for the Leviathans deck. "On July 31, 1927, a Wright Aeronautical Service airplane with a Wright Whirlwind Engine was loaded aboard the Leviathan. On August 1, the ship headed out to sea accompanied by three Coast Guard destroyers, to be situated in various positions from the ocean liner in case they were needed for rescue." After the rains slackened, the seas calmed down, and all of the reporters were seasick, Chamberlin attempted takeoff. "The Leviathan's 19 knot speed and the wind blowing gave a component air flow straight up the runway, down which the takeoff would be attempted. Chamberlin had expected to use the entire runway, but at about three fourths of the way the plane was flung into the air by up thrusting winds turned skyward by the sides of the big ocean liner." Chamberlin's original destination was Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, New Jersey. Unfortunately, thick fog forced him to take a detour to Curtiss Field where he waited an hour for the fog to lift. He then took off for Teterboro Airport to deliver the "first ship to shore mail." He was greeted at the airfield by all 17 inhabitants of Teterboro and 15,000 others. However, his days of breaking records were behind him; now, he was in the business of designing and selling planes. "Clarence Chamberlin's Aircraft Plant produced a line of aircraft that he'd intended airlines to use to transport passengers to all parts of the United States." The Chamberlin Eight Seater, or the Crescent Aircraft as it was more commonly known, "was an improved airplane incorporating designs that his ample flying experience had shown him were needed for a better aircraft." The plane could carry eight passengers in addition to the pilot and it even featured "rest room facilities for the comfort of the passengers." During the 1930s, Chamberlin traveled around the United States in his 26 passenger Curtiss Condor CO plane giving rides to people, not so much as a "barnstormer" but as more of a hobbyist. His Curtiss Condor at the time was the largest passenger carrying airship in the United States which landed on earth. Only the China Clipper, which could only land on water, and the Army bomber, which could not carry passengers, exceeded the Curtiss Condor in size. "His purpose for [traveling around the United States was] to take passengers for short flights at a nominal fee as a means of popularizing travel in passenger ships." In 1936, Clarence and Wilda were divorced. Later that year, Chamberlin "brought [one of his Curtiss Condors] to Maine to display it at an air show where he held a contest to find a young lady to use for promotional purposes and to be a stewardess." Louise Ashby, daughter of the Maine Governor at the time, entered the contest and, for the both of them, it was love at first sight. Clarence asked Louise to marry him the very next day.

"On August 24, 1930, a Chamberlin Day took place at the Weberg brothers' airport [in Denison], which at that time was known as ‘Weberg Airways Inc.'"

Over the course of the next few decades, Chamberlin remained busy with a diverse array of projects. In addition to taking time to write a semi autobiographical book entitled in Record Flights, he also "trained workers in his aircraft factory to work in defense plants during World War II, giving the plants skilled workers. He trained several thousand such workers, [which greatly] assist[ed] the war effort." In the 1940s, he published a revised version of the book that included information about his adventures after the trans Atlantic flight and his efforts during World War II. On the cover, the newly revised book read Record Flights Book One, and below it, a second title was Give ‘em Hell Book Two.

Honored in the National Aviation Hall of Fame at Dayton, Ohio. Honored in the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame. The Clarence D. Chamberlin House is on the National Register of Historic Places.