1889-1974 |
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from Kansas City Times, Feb. 21, 1974 |
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| Biography | Memories | Trimotor Gallery |
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Via email from Gus Huey, 6-10-07 I came across your website on Ben Gregory and his '"Fly With Ben" air service and thought maybe you'd be interested in these photos of the Ford Trimotor my dad took when he was around 16, at Phillip Billard Airport here in Topeka years ago. July, 6 1941 is the date he'd written on the back of each photo. I have several other shots he took of the Ford, so let me know if you'd like me to send them. Also, I can send a larger file which allows you to zoom in for better detail, Thanks, Gus Huey Editor's Note: I thank Gus for sharing these fine photos with us and I will ask him to send the other ones. You can visit his collection by clickiing on the title above. |
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"In 1926, the Tour landed at Richards Field. Just before the arrival, the Rotary Club's airplane class for boys gathered in a circle and launched their gliders for a designated target. The three boys who reached the target were treated to an airplane ride from pilot Ben Gregory. " You can visit the page and enjoy the whole story by clicking on the title above. If time permits, I heartily recommend that you take advantage of the many other articles and features on the site. |
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AVIATION HISTORY The Dreamers and the Doers by George R. Bauer Product Details Hardcover Publisher: Bauer; (December 1, 1999) List Price: $395 ISBN: 0965876128 |
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Ben S. Gregory, Dies at 84 Mr. Gregory was born in Macon, Mo., and had lived most of his life in Kansas City where he set up a commercial air service and a flight training school. He made his first flight in 1913 in an open cockpit biplane but did not fly again until the early 1920's when an Amereican Legion air show sparked his interest in air transportation. By late 1921, after serving in the Army, Gregory was flying for a business, his 3-seater plane carrying passengers at rates of up to $5 for 7 minutes. In those days the novelty of flying was enough to satisfy passengers, without the plane having to go to a distant destination. During his barnstorming days, Gregory flew an estimated 600,000 passengers under his slogan, "Fly with Ben." In 1930 he purchased the first of his five Ford trimotors which had spacious interiors capable of carrying 13 passengers at the then-incredible speed of 90 miles an hour. Gregory did more than just carry passengers--more than 90 wedding ceremonies were performed in the air in his planes. Gregory frequently made headlines. One day in 1928 he agreed to give a young couple a ride over Kansas City. The couple smuggled into their open cockpit a 50-pound sack of flour, which they threw out over a busy street. The bag, which struck the pavement with a terrific bang and a cloud of flour, narrowly missed a 9-year-old boy and a parked car. After that experience Gregory tacked a sign over the passenger seats reading: "Don't thow anything from this plane while riding." On another occasion Gregory crawled into the plane with a student who had only five hours of flight training. It was not until they were airborne that Gregory realized he was in a training model and that he had no controls. He tried to suppress his anxiety while the fledgling pilot, in sole control of the aircraft, pulled through several tricky maneuvers before landing safely. During his flying days Gregory survived seven plane crashes and was one of the few pilots to claim the distinction of having crashed three Ford trimotors. His plane earned the nickname "The Ship From Mars" thanks to a spectacular meteorite imitation Gregory performed at night by equipping his Ford plane with $15,000 worth of lights and smoke-producing machinery. During World War II a serious crash put an end to Gregorys commercial flying days. He turned to his old love of automotive engineering and by 1947 had produced in his shop at 2537 Southwest Boulevard a tiny jeep called the "Mighty Mite," which eventually was mass produced for use by the Marine Corps. He continued to build cars, producing his own sports car which he drove around the city for years. He was a member of the OX5 Club for aviators and the Forty Years Ago Column Club. Even in his later years he continued to fly, though only for pleasure. Rules and regulations, he indicated, had taken much of the pleasure out of flying. "It's too techinical now, " he said in an interview last year. "You have to get permission to taxi...to take off...to land...get permission for everything." He leaves his wife, Mrs. Claudia O. Gregory of the home; two daughters, Mrs. Jan LeVan, Platte City, and Mrs. Barbara Payne, Columbia, and a granddaughter. Services will be at 8 p.m. Friday at the McGulley Antioch Chapel. burial at 2 p.m. Saturday in La Plata, Mo., Cemetery. Friends may call after 4 p.m. Friday at the chapel. If you have any more information on this Early Flier, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper Back 
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