LOREN W. MENDELL -1935

	LOREN W. MENDELL & PETE REINHART      July 12, 1929. California endurance flyers Loren W.Mendell and Pete Reinhart boosted the Cleveland mark to 246 hours. Flying a biplane, the Angeleno, they had beaten the record by more than 70 hours. A large crowd, conspicuous only by the absence of their estranged wives, turned out to see the landing at Culver City. Mendell's wife was suing for divorce.      What followed was a large banquet at the Biltmore Hotel with some 300 guests attending. Local Army and Navy brass were on hand along with the news media. Even cowboy philosopher Will Rogers made an appearance. As a reward for a job well done, the Buhl company gave them a new Airsedan biplane. The Wright engine people chipped in $1,000 and they also signed on for a number of vaudeville stage performances. Photo and Text From Russell Plehinger's MARATHON FLYERS.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES via email from Deborah Cole, 5-30-05 Grandaughter of Loren Mendell      In beginning a search for information about my grandfather, an early aviator, I came across a review you had written about Marathon Flyers. There is an entry mentioning my grandfather as well as a photograph. I have just ordered the book.      At any rate, in your review, you mention that your wife was writing/had written a book about her father. This is my intent as well! Can you or your wife give me any direction as to where I might find information on early aviators? I had previously written the Smithsonian with no luck. I seem to have found more info just on the internet.      I managed to locate where he was buried and visited the site (in LA last year). Any assistance would be most welcome. Regards, Deborah E. Cole (granddaughter of Loren W. Mendell) Editor's Note: I have made several suggestions to Deborah as to how she might proceed to find more information regarding the life and career of her grandfather. If you can offer any help to her, please contact her through an email to me.

 

ONLINE RESOURCES - 1      If you search for "Loren Mendell" +aviation, using the Google search engine, (6-2-05), you will find two links.

 

BUHL CA-3D Sport Airsedan 1929      This page on KO Eckland's Aerofiles website offers an entry which describes this plane, piloted by Loren Mendell. You may want to use the FIND function on "Mendell" to locate the entry on the page. You can access the page by clicking on the title.

Death In The Uintas Japanese Flier's Dream Shattered In Mountains by Harold Schindler      This article on the website of the Salt Lake Tribune website offers a single sentence which mentions Mendell and Reinhart. However, if time permits, I think you will find the article to be interesting in itself. It begins with this introductory paragraph: Masashi Goto was thirty-two and bursting with pride as he eased his biplane in for a landing at the Salt Lake Municipal Airport. He was on the early legs of a flight that would carry him across the United States, then across Europe to Asia and finally to the islands of Japan. It was a beautiful morning?July 4, 1929?and as Goto rolled the craft to a stop and switched off the ignition, he could take satisfaction in his achievement thus far. You can access the page by clicking on the title.

 

ONLINE RESOURCES - 2      If you search for "Loren W. Mendell", using the Google search engine, (6-2-05), you will find just one link at this time. It is to an article on the Buhl Company on my other website, Pioneer Pilot. I have placed a copy of the relevant portion of that article at the top of this page.

 

RECOMMENDED READING

MARATHON FLYERS by Russell Plehinger   Product Details Hard Cover: 192 pages; 9x11 inches List Price: $27.00 Special Price: $17.00, pp Publisher: Harlo Press, 50 Victor, Detroit, Michigan, 48203 ISBN: 0818701129 Availability: Direct from the author, $17.00, postpaid. Russell Plehinger 4550 Duerr Road, Orchard Park, New York 14127

Description:      My wife Jo purchased an autographed copy of this book while she was writing her book about her father, a Pioneer Pilot. She found that Russell had included the story of the endurance flight of her dad, Walter E. Lees, which he and Frederick A. Brossy set in 1931 in a Diesel-Powered Bellanca.      I first began to use it when I started to build my Early Birds of Aviation website. I have found it to be a very valuable resource in that it lists hundreds of early aviators, details more than 300 endurance flights of the 20's and 30's and includes some 350 priceless photos to illustrate their record-setting exploits.      In the case of Loren W. Mendell, you will find it to be a most valuable resource. It references his career on 15 separate pages and offers a number of very nice photographs to illustrate the text. I recommend it to you without hesitation. Ralph S. Cooper, D.V.M.

 

	LOREN W. MENDELL KANSAS SGT. U. S. ARMY JANUARY 12, 1935 Photo from Deborah Cole, 6-2-05.

If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

Back