This 1920s or early 1930s home movie is a bit of a mystery. It shows scenes at an airport where some kind of air show is in progress. Based on research done by third parties, we’ve determined that the airport at the beginning of the film is likely the McIntyre Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (If you look closely at the hangar in the rear at the :40 mark you can see the airport’s distinctively marked hangar). At the 2:45 mark a group of women are seen who may either be female pilots, or just a group of ladies who came out to see the airplanes. At the 3:26 mark a crowd of people is seen greeting aviatrix Louise Thaden, who was one of the top female pilots of the era. At the 4 minute mark another aviatrix is seen. Some of the women pilots visible may include Blanche Noyes (4:11 mark on the left), Gladys O’Donnell (4:11 mark on the right) and Pheoebe Omlie. Blanche Noyes was an American pioneering female aviator who was among the first ten women to receive a pilot’s license. In 1929, she became Ohio’s first licensed female pilot. Gladys O’Donnell soloed after 10 hours and in 1929 at the age of 25 she became the first licensed woman pilot in Long Beach, California.
A knowledgable friend wrote this about the film: At ~ 2.55, the ladies are standing in a row under a plane whose partial tail number is NC62… I checked all of the NC62..planes on the page in my comment above and found this: NC6269 Travel Air DW-4000 708 X6269 3rd in 1928 (should be 1929) Transcontinental Air Derby 7259. The pilots are in day dresses for the photo, very spiffy-(is it McIntyre? I ask because of the different looking large building behind the guy with the microphone and pilot-baby-it doesn’t look like the terminal building)…. So-I think the film was spliced, part being passengers taking off at McIntyre Airport, the rest is the 1929 Air Derby, and it’s Amelia Earhart’s plane (she placed third). Pilots are arriving. Heather Taylor should definitely take a look! Perhaps filmed by a Tulsa, OK native to commemorate high points at McIntyre airport in 1929-the Delta Air Services flight and the Powder Puff Derby, in June and August of 1929. The “giggler” was definitely Ruth Elder then…
The Travelair plane tail number C8878 visible at the 2:12 mark is actually one of Delta Airlines’ very first aircraft. In 1929, Delta acquired two Travel Airs from purchase of Fox Flying Service and one directly from the manufacturer for $13,500. The Travel Air S-6000-B was a high wing, six place, single engine monoplane promoted as the “limousines of the air,” Painted in sleek black and International Orange. Insulated, wood-paneled cabin featured woven wicker seats and hand holds rather than seat belts. Passengers could lower the roll-down windows for ventilation.
Designed to carry four passengers and two pilots. Because Delta flew with one pilot, a fifth passenger could sit in the co-pilot seat. Carried up to 150 pounds of baggage.
Amazingly, airplane C8878 still exists — it was fully restored and is in the Delta Airlines Museum in Atlanta.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
