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RECALLS BERT |
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| Paul Garber. |
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"I first met Glenn Curtiss in 1925 at the National Air Races, Mitchel Field, Long Island. He was sitting in a Curtiss pusher which had
been prepared by the Curtiss Company as a contrast to the Curtiss Racers which were competing in the Pulitzer Race.
Bert Acosta flew the pusher in a fly-past at low altitude at about a fifth of the speed being flown by Cy Bettis
and Al Williams in the R3C-2 racers." 1916 In addition to Walter, the Curtiss School had the following instructors: Vic Carlstrom, Vic Vernon, Jimmy Johnson, Lawrence Leon, Bert Acosta, and Andrew "Stew"Cogswell. 1917 Early in March of 1917, the prototype of the Canadian JN-4 was test flown at the old Curtiss Aerodrome at Long Branch, Ontario. Its pilot, who had previously been employed by the Curtiss school and who came north especially for this task, was Bert Acosta. |
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RECALLS BERT |
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| William Stout - 1951. |
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1920 "We hauled our partially finished bat-wing plane, fitted with a new experimental Packard eight-cylinder engine to the Packard Company's small field, just east of Detroit toward Mt. Clemens. We all went out to Packard Field early in the morning. Bert Acosta, a leading test pilot, was to fly the ship for the first time. Not only had the plane never been flown, but there had never even been a wind tunnel test of the model. No one had inspected our structural analysis to see if the thing would hold together. At that time, no inspection was required, of course, for no government regulation of flying had yet been established. Acosta, after warming up the engine, swung into line, opened up wide and, the first thing we knew, was off the ground, up over the wires and heading toward Detroit. He stayed up about twenty minutes over Detroit, swung around over the St. Clair River and, after flying over Packard Field, came back in for a landing. As he flew over the field, we saw one tragic thing. On the takeoff, the plain bearings had evidently gone dry in one wheel, twisting the cap off the axle. So here came Bert in to land with only one wheel on his airplane. We expected catastrophe and tried every means of signaling we had to show him what was up. He came in, however, set the plane down on one wheel and held it there until the wings lost their lift. When the empty axle touched, the plane gently went over on its back and Bert climbed out unhurt. The plane was fixed within a few days and sent out again to fly." Autographed: "To Walter Lees, whose skill and quick thinking saved the day and him too., Sincerely, Bill Stout, Nov. 1952" |
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