Richfield Oil Company Stearman Model 4E

Transcription

1 WINTER! 1929 STEARMAN MODEL 4E NC667K! 2012 JIMMIE ALLEN STEARMAN Richfield Oil Company Stearman Model 4E Stearman NC667K is currently the oldest surviving Model 4 having been delivered to the Richfield Oil Company on October 28, The aircraft was flown exclusively for Richfield Oil Company by their chief pilot Dudley Steele as a promotional vehicle for their sponsorship of the Jimmie Allen Flying Club and the Jimmie Allen Air Races. More than half a million fans showed up to watch young contestants race their model airplanes at flying club meets all across the country. Richfield Oil was the leader in aviation products and established the first aerial lighted beacon route providing a lane of light to help pilots find their way along the Coast from Mexico to Canada. CHIEF PILOT DUDLEY STEELE ACTOR JIMMIE ALLEN PILOT/OWNER SARAH WILSON

2 Richfield Oil Company promoted its Jimmie Allen Flying Club based on the AIR ADVENTURES OF JIMMIE ALLEN and later the film SKY PARADE THOUSANDS OF YOUNG AVIATION ENTHUSIASTS JOINED THE FLYING CLUBS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY

3 Throughout the 1930s, interest was high - boys and girls were fascinated by the adventures of Jimmie, Speed, and their mechanic Flash Lewis The Richfield Oil Company created their own advertising medium with the radio program the Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen in the 1930s & 1940s. The weekly radio program was about a young pilot named Jimmie Allen who was a high-flying, crime-solving, international air-racing 16 year old. The idea for this boy-pilot came from two World War I flying aces, Bob Burtt and Bill Moore and their air adventure series was sold to Richfield Oil and Skelly Oil. Aviation was a growing trend in the 30's and radio was the perfect medium to promote it as aspiring aviators flocked in droves to their local Richfield and Skelly Service Stations to obtain their "flying lessons" and request the weekly printed newsletter. There was even a movie released by Paramount Pictures in 1936 called "The Sky Parade" about Jimmies airborne antics. Jimmie Allen was a messenger at the Kansas City Airport being mentored by veteran pilot and WWI ace Speed Robertson. Along with Speed and mechanic Flash Lewis, mysterious encounters and sky-high adventures ensued to the delight of young listeners everywhere, including Mickey Rooney and Shirley Temple who were members. Jimmies immense popularity inspired the creation of a Jimmie Allen Flying Club and it o!ered a number of great premiums. Over half a million members received the club's weekly newspaper, as well as games, cards, wings, emblems, patches, flight charts, and personalized letters from Jimmie himself. In fact, they could even buy model airplane kits at their local Richfield gas stations and build them to participate in the Jimmie Allen Air Races. More than half a million fans showed up to watch young contestants race their model airplanes.

4 Jimmie Allen Flying Cadet Code: I pledge myself...to keep mentally, morally, and physically fit. To do all in my power to make America first in the air. To promote American commercial, transport and military aviation. To work for the best interests of the Jimmie Allen Flying Club JIMMIE ALLEN ACTOR MURRAY MCLEAN WHO PORTRAYED JIMMIE ALLEN FLEW IN THE FRONT COCKPIT ON PROMOTIONAL TOURS FOR RICHFIELD OIL, THE JIMMIE ALLEN AIR RACES, AND THE FILM SKY PARADE BASED ON THE JIMMIE ALLEN RADIO SERIES. RICHFIELD OIL COMPANY - A LEADER IN AVIATION Richfield Aviation Products Richfield was the first oil company to establish a separate department for aviation sales and service. When Richfield's aviation department was disbanded in 1937 it had owned nine airplanes, had flown 2,100,000 miles and had carried thousands of passengers with a record of no accidents - a mark which has not been equalled by any other oil company. Chief Pilot Dudley Steele Steele helped various communities on the west coast to establish airports, marketed the gasoline arrangements for Richfield at air races including the Nationals at Cleveland & the Pulitzer Races. In one year Richfield was used in 95 percent of all participating planes. Steele help establish the Washington offices of the NAA- National Aeronautic Association and was their first contest chairman. NC667K was the Official Ship for the American Legion, for which Steele was the Chairman of Aeronautics. RICHFIELD AIRWAYS USING ITS OWN FUNDS, RICHFIELD ESTABLISHED THE FIRST AERIAL BEACON ROUTE WHICH EXTENDED FROM SAN DIEGO TO VANCOUVER. THIS BEACON ROUTE ANTEDATED THE FEDERAL AIRWAYS SYSTEM AND WAS USED EXTENSIVELY BY BOTH PRIVATE PILOTS AND PACIFIC AIR TRANSPORT. DUDLEY STEELE WWI PILOT FOR THE ARMY AIR CORP, STEELE WAS HIRED BY RICHFIELD OIL AS MANAGER OF THEIR AVIATION DEPARTMENT IN NC667K WAS THE OFFICIAL PLANE OF THE AMERICAN LEGION.

5 Aircraft Ownership and History NC667K NC667K TIMELINE October 28, 1929 License issued to Richfield Oil Company as NC667K Stearman 4C with a Wright J-6 300HP engine. August 12, 1931 Changed engine to a Pratt & Whitney 420HP, now Stearman Model 4E. Curtis motor ring and airwheels added, NACA cowl removed Livery changed to the Jimmie Allen Flying Club Official Plane. September 1, 1937 Sold to Harold P. Bowhay, State Ranger, California State Division of Forestry, Kern County, Bakersfield, CA July 11, 1939 Pilot T.F McCart accident 20 miles north of Lancaster, CA. Major repairs. September 22, 1941 Sold to Arthur W. Stevens on San Dimas, CA. Bill of sale reads $ cash down payment and a Chattel Mortgage of $ was taken with the Farmers and Merchants Bank. November 5, 1941 Pilot Arthur Stevens accident at San Dimas. Major repairs. August 10, 1942 Sold to Malcom Mal Carberry, at Carberry Crop Dusters in Fresno, CA. Bill of sale reads $2200. August, 2006 Sold to Walt House, Kansas Aviation Museum. March 26, 2007 Sold to Sarah Wilson - Restoration begins.

6 PHOTOS OF THE ORIGINAL

7 PHOTOS IN RESTORATION