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COLONEL HUBERT JULIAN WORLD'S FOREMOST PIONEER NEGRO AVIATOR AND A CONTESTANT FOR THE WORLD'S LONG DISTANCE NON-STOP RECORD |
BELLANCA HOLDER WORLD'S NON-REFUELING ENDURANCE RECORD 84 HOURS 33 MINUTES Abyssinia |
I had the privilege of knowing G.M. Bellanca's personal secretary of 30 years, Mrs. Frances Rees Hayford. She kept a running record of all Bellanca airplanes and turned over a great deal of information to me before she died in January, 1997. Her records included serial numbers, dates of production and who purchased the airplane. She also had an extensive collection of photos, many of which are signed and dated by the pilots. All of these materials belongs to her son, Colonel Richard Hayford, who resides in Tennessee. He has been very generous to loan this material to complete my book on Delaware Aviation History. Some time after the historic flight of Lees and Brossy, the airplane was returned to Bellanca and the original gasoline engine re-installed and put up for sale. Enter Colonel Hubert Fauntleroy Julian, from Abyssinia, Africa. He took flying lessons from Air Service, Inc. (the FBO on Bellanca airfield) and then purchased the airplane to fly back to Africa. Julian had Bellanca paint the airplane black and a new "N" number was applied for under the standard ATC. I do not know the plane's original color. Julian departed Bellanca airfield for Roosevelt airfield, his proposed departure point. When he attempted to depart Roosevelt airfield, he failed to set the trim tab and the plane crashed and burned. He fortunately survived. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Found in Black Eagles by Jim Hastings Scholastic Inc., 1995 
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