I said I was going to reveal the answer to the trivia question on Tuesday. I looked at my calendar and I have a lecture to do on "Delaware Aviation History" at the University of Delaware Tuesday. So I have moved it up. Only one person got it right. That was Don "Dyno", who flies N72DS s/n 1012. He won 1st prize of a six-pack of beer (root) empty cans. Don, please forward $10.00 for shipping and handling. g/f
ANSWER Claude T Ryan was the president of Ryan Airlines in San Diego up until the Summer of 1926. He had a partner, Benjamin Franklin Mahoney who had bought 1/2 interest in his venture in 1925. The enterprise included building the M-1 Ryan mailplane. (The "M" stood for "Monoplane", not mailplane) and flying passengers to Los Angeles & return. By summer of 1926, they were in trouble once again financially. Mahoney wanted to borrow more money to keep the company alive. Ryan did not. Mahoney then bought out Ryan (and the right to continue to use the name) for $25,000. Lindbergh NEVER had any correspondence with Ryan when he sent his request to build the "Spirit of St. Louis". The order was given to B.F. Mahoney, now president of Ryan Airlines. Mahoney readily accepted the order to build the airplane because he was on the verge of going bankrupt once again. As Don pointed out correctly (Did you read my book, Don?), Donald Hall designed the airplane and another famous man in aviation was the hands-on foreman. He was Hawley Bowlus. When Lindbergh arrived at Ryan, Mahoney asked him for the plans to build the airplane. Lindbergh replied solemnly, "I do not have any plans. Just build it like the "Bellanca"! Mahoney made one smart decision after the flight (followed by two bad ones). He knew he did not have the money, or the expertise to deal with the HUGH requests for requests for the production version of the Spirit. He sold the company to the St. Louis investors for $1,000,000. Then he found one of those west coast beauties that roam the beaches and took off for Europe. (That may have been a wise decision, I don't know!) He invested the remainder of the money in the stock market. (That one was bad!) By September of 1929, when the stock market crashed, Mahoney was broke! The St. Louis operation also went belly-up. Donald Hall designed another airplane in St. Louis, but is was a radical design and it failed. He never made another mark in aviation. The only one that made it was "GM" Bellanca. He had the best airplane, and Lindbergh knew it. If the Bellanca got off first, Lindbergh knew it was over. Loyds of London refused to insure the Lindbergh flight. The press called him "Suicidal". No one could possibly stay awake for over 33 hours! Lindbergh proved them wrong! He went from Suicidal to Super-Hero in 33-hrs and 33-min. Hope you enjoyed the trivia. Look for a new one next Sunday. George Frebert ________________________________________________________________ Get FREE voicemail, fax and email at http://voicemail.excite.com Talk online at http://voicechat.excite.com
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