IN CURTISS F-BOAT
-1963 |
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| WYSONG AND A STUDENT IN CURTISS F-BOAT |
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In 1914, while a Senior at North Carolina University, Forrest Wysong, with the aid of four other students, built the Curtiss-type plane he had been planning on. In it they installed a six cylinder 74 h.p. Roberts engine, which they had bought second hand, including an eight foot propeller, twin radiators and gasoline tank for $450. One of the students who assisted in assembling the airplane and rigging it was Gurden L. Tarbox, who later became a member of the Early Birds of Aviation. He had already taken flying lessons and had soloed in 1911, so was competent to give advice and encouragement when Wysong, after a number of grass-cutting runs, made his first solo flight on March 16, 1915 from a field west of Raleigh, North Carolina. Other flights followed. Tarbox also used his influence to help Forrest in getting a job with the Curtiss Aeroplane Company in Buffalo upon graduation. On March 30, 1916, he was commissioned Ensign and during the Spring and Summer of that year gave flying instruction on the F Boat at the Naval Militia Air Station at Bayshore, N.Y. One of the students, Frank LaVista, eventually became a member of The Early Birds. |
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Greetings to the following new members elected July 10, 1930. Among them you will find some long-lost bird who is still in the ring and going strong. Frank la Vista, 14 Fargo St., Baldwin, L. I, N. Y., Superintendent Fairchild Airplane Mfg. Co. Touring the fairs 1911-1912. courtesy of Steve Remington - CollectAir |
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From The Early Birds of Aviation ROSTER, 1996 Back 
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