WILLIAM S. LUCKEY

 

Bird Men Race As Memorial to the First Flight Daily Journal and Tribune, Knoxville, Tennessee: October 17, 1913, Transcribed by Bob Davis - 9-14-03       "As a memorial to the first flight in a power driven aeroplane, which took place ten years ago, when the late Wilbur Wright piloted his biplane for the first time through the air, five aviators completed a circuit around Manhatten Island, starting from Oakwood Heights, Staten Island. The meet was held under the auspices of the Aeronautical Society and the winner of the prize of $1,000 was W. S. Luckey. It seemed fitting that the decennial celebration should find the victor flying the same type of machine that the Wright Brothers made famous. In sipte of the fact that the monoplane has demonstrated its superiority as a machine whose chief essential is speed Luckey's biplane, a 100 horse power Curtiss, showed its way to the field. Frank Niles, in another biplane of the same make and horsepower, finished in second position, winning $750, and C. Murvin Wood in his 80 horse power Moisant military monoplane, was third, getting the prize of $500 for his flight." Bob Davis

Early Pilots Collection. Photographs, clippings, correspondence; 1894-1978; 2.2 cubic feet. There is material on Thomas S. Baldwin, Lynn Bauder, Lincoln Beachey, Joe Bennett, Tony Bitetti, Art Boston, Ralph M. Brown, Frank H. Burnside, Joe Costa, William E. Doherty, Fred Eells,Theodore Ellyson, Eugene Ely, Walter L. Fairchild, John J. Frisbie, Bert Hassell, Beckwith Havens, Frederick A. Hoover, Ray Hylan, Fulton Irwin, John Kaminski, Charles B. Kirkham, Henry Kleckler, E. M. Laird, Ruth Law, William S. Luckey, Damon Merrill, Harvey Mummert, Hugh Robinson, Blanch S. Scott, Windy Smith, Francis Wildman, J. Newton Williams, and others, including a number of student pilots from Japan. Also a typed history of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation Airplane Division, 1910-1945, by Art Butler, and reminiscences of Curtiss Airplane Company of Buffalo, 1915-1919. RLIN ID NYHV2306-A. Editor's Note: This collection is housed in the New York Historical Society Collection.

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "William S. Luckey" +aviation , using the Google search engine, (9-22-07), you will find about 8 links. Among the most helpful is the following.

 

Textbook of Naval Aeronautics By Henry Woodhouse      On page 168 of this book, you will find the following intriguing paragraph: "Subsequently the Aero Club of America sent at its own expense the aviator William S. Luckey to fly for the Pennsylvania National Guard at Indiana, Pennsylvania."      You can read the rest of the story on that page by clicking on the title above.

 

RECOMMENDED READING

CONTACT! The Story of the Early Birds   Henry Serrano Villard   Product Details Hardbound: 263 pages; 8 x 10 1/2 inches Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968 Out of print: Occasionally available used. L. C. Card 68-21615

Foreward by S. PAUL JOHNSTON Director, National Air and Space Museum Smithsonian Institution      In today's age of space probes and moon rockets, it is hard to believe that the aeroplane is scarcely sixty years old. Here Henry Serrano Villard, who knew many of the pioneer pilots and flew in their "bits of stick and string,"re-creates the romantic era when man first dared the miracle of flight. His anecdotal account, illustrated with 125 photographs--many from his personal album--covers the decade and a half of aeronautical history from the Wright brothers' exploits at Kitty Hawk to the outbreak of World War I.   Editor's Note:      I had the pleasure of knowing Henry for several years before his death. I found him to be a delightful companion and a remarkable source of information on the entire field of aviation. I can recommend his book, without hesitation, as an essential resource for anyone interested in the history of early aviation..

Quotation from Jesters of the Air, p. 199      "Third to climb into the rough air was William S. Luckey (No. 7), in a Curtiss pusher. This machine was substantially the same in basic design as that with which its inventor had won the first Gordon-Bennett race in 1909; but its big Curtiss eight-cylinder motor, rated at 100 hp, was thought to be a telling factor in any contest for speed. Luckey was a mdidle-aged New York businessman who flew for sport and who was relatively unknown in professional aviation circles. Perched far out in front of the wings, he was completely unprotected from the wintry blasts. But his dexterous flying, combined with the proven qualities of the Curtiss (and, some said, the magic in his name), constituted a favorable prospect for him."

 

I have not been able to find the dates of his birth or his death.   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

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