Clarence Chamberlin's Historic Trans Atlantic flight

[rgtharley]

Hello all!
I hope I have picked the correct section of the board to post this. I am the owner of the actual prop that came from Clarence Chamberlin's plane, The Columbia, a Bellanca built aircraft that flew the Atlantic on June 5th & 6th, 1927. He was only a few weeks behind Linbergh due to some legal issues with money owed to someone, but never the less, he flew further, faster, and with the first Trans Atlantic passenger in his plane. I read somewhere just last week that Linbergh even tried to buy this plane before the Spirit of St Louis was built. I have owned the prop for over thirty years, and am just beginning to find out more about it. I recently found this site, and I'm hoping there may be someone who knows more about this flight than I. The prop is branded with "Paragon Corporation, Baltimore, Maryland". The reason I picked this part of the WIX board is, I am considering offering the prop for sale, and hoping that others here may help me in my search to find out more about it. I appreciate any and all info, and please forgive me if I chose the wrong spot.

Bob

[hercrat]

Welcome to the site Bob! Although we here deal primarily with warbird aircraft, there are many historians on these pages that can help you.
"Miss Columbia" was in fact owned by Charles Levine who, with his contracted pilot Clarence Chamberland, set off on June 4, 1927 in the Bellanca monoplane. You are correct that Lindberg had indeed wanted to buy the Wright-Bellanca. Mr. Levine had purchased the aircraft from Wright Aeronautical Corp. He was a wealthy salvage dealer and millionaire at the age of thirty with his eye on the Raymond Orteig prize. He was also president of the Columbia Aircraft Corporation when Lindberg made his offer and was willing to part with the aircraft if he could nominate the crew for the Atlantic attempt. As it were, Levine might had beaten Lindberg across the Atlantic had he not had a falling out with the original pilot. When Lindberg completed his crossing, Levine decided to establish a new distance record for non-stop flight and that was the intent when they took off on June 4th.
The most amusing recollection of the flight can be read in the 1934 book 'Through Atlantic Clouds' by Clifford Collison and Capt. F. McDermott who describe in detail the adventurous crossing these two endured. Bad weather, compass problems and crew fatigue to name a few. Needless to say, after almost 2 days the Bellanca touched down (nosed over) in a field south of Berlin after flying an estimated 3930 miles in 42 hours! With all the wandering they did it is estimated they flew 4000 miles in reality.
If your propeller is indeed from this aircraft, it is a rare piece of Trans-Atlantic flight history! Do you have documentation to verify it is?

Tony

[rgtharley]

Hi Tony,

Thanks very much for the reply and the information. I am pretty certain that his last name is spelled Chamberlin, not Chamberland. That being said, as for my history with this prop, I can tell you my father was a pilot in the Army Air Corp during the second world war, and maintained his interest after the war by owning a Luscomb 8A, which I remember as a child. I bought a house outside of the Baltimore area in the early 1980's, and the former owner left tons of junk in the basement, garage, and attic. He said it was all mine to do with as I wished, and it took me a couple of years to go thru it all. While cleaning the garage, I noticed lots of lumber and things up in the rafters, and this prop was among all that stuff. The only response I ever got when I asked the old man about it, was that his father had moved from Berlin to the US in 1930, and may have brought it with him. The only other logic that even makes sense is that he, or another family member may have worked for Paragon Corporation in the Middle River area of Baltimore, where Martin State Airfield is today. The prop was black with dirt and grease, and as I cleaned it, I noticed it had been neatly lettered on both prop side, and it said, in very fancy lettering, "New York to Germany", then on the top of the hub, " June 5 & 6th, 1927", and on the lower section of the hub, " 43 & 1/2 hours".

My Dad helped me research it back then, before Al Gore invented the internet, and we were able to find mention of Chamberlin's flight, but not too many details. I contacted the Air & Space restoration people in Silver Hill, MD, and gave the people there all the dimensions of the prop, the hub diameter, and the bolt circle and sizes, and they told me ( nothing in writing) that it matched all the specs of the engine hub. It is a wooden prop, with copper over the leading edges, and it is over 7 feet long. Any other leads you could provide to help me track down more specific info would be great.
I appreciate your welcome to the board, and your help with this!!
Thanks

Bob

[DaveG]

you may know this already (I didn't) but a documentary about Chamberlin was released last year and there is a Facebook page about the film: https://www.facebook.com/ClarenceChamberlinDoc?sk=wall.

[hercrat]

Sorry for the misspell....should have caught that! The original transatlantic prop was broken after their second landing in Germany. Apparently they landed to the south of Berlin without incident but wanted to make their destination. The location was Helfta, near Eisleben. When they took off again, they ran into more problems and landed once more, this time burying the aircraft in soft ground and breaking the prop. This stop was at Klinge, near Kottbus, 60 miles south of target. Luckily, another suitable propeller was found nearby, driven to them and this is the one that got them into Berlin finally. My research source says the original was Walnut with metal tips. If your prop is not broken, it may be the replacement propeller and could have been installed on the aircraft when Levine later on boldly (and foolhardily) flew the aircraft from France to Croydon, causing quite event when he tried to land. Remember, he wasn't a pilot!
I could even have been installed when the aircraft was later sold and renamed 'The Maple Leaf' and once again flown across the Atlantic in the same direction making it the first aircraft to fly across twice! This Bellanca had quite a history including staying aloft for 52 hours prior to the Trans-Atlantic flights making it the record holder at the time for endurance.
Any possibility of obtaining photos of it?

Tony

[rgtharley]

Hi Tony,

Yes, I have some pics that I will try to post tomorrow. I had heard something about the original prop possibly being damaged somehow, but never knew the details. This could be the replacement, or one used for testing the plane, or who knows what.

Now I just need to find the pics from my Dad's Army Air Corp archives!

Thanks

Bob T

[rgtharley]

Hello Tony,

I'd like to post some pics, but the forum rules list says I can't post attachments. Can I email pics to you?
Thanks

Bob T

[hercrat]

You certainly can! Try me at vmfa@telusplanet.net !
Most of the guys here have photobucket accounts (no charge) and that is how we are able to post pics.

Tony

[BTooma]

Hi everyone,

I am the director of the Chamberlin documentary. I have to say that if someone were to have the prop from the Columbia, I would be very interested to know how they came across it. The original prop to the plane was destroyed when Chamberlin and Levine landed (for the second time) outside of Cottbus, Germany (on their way to Berlin). The Germans fitted their own prop to the plane and that would have been the one that stayed with it until it got back to the USA. The plane itself was destroyed without question in the 1930s in a hangar fire. If you have the prop it and it's intact, it is not the original.

I'll be happy to answer any other questions.

[baylor67]

I am a board member of the 20th Century Technology Museum in Wharton, Texas. http://www.20thcenturytech.org.
Our founder, Art Schulze, is an engineer who had the dream to create this museum. We opened in 2005.

One of the artifacts in our museum is a wooden propeller that was given to Art by Dave Hickman of Branson, Missouri. I believe Mr. Hickman was formerly with NASA. Dave told Art that this propeller was from Clarence Chamberlin's Bellanca. After reading the string of replies preceeding this one, I'm wondering what we have and how to go about verifying what it is. I took photos of the propeller this afternoon and will be happy to forward them to anyone who can help identify the prop and possibly verify its origin.

I didn't think to measure it this afternoon but feel that is probably 7'. Obviously, it is wooden. The tip and leading edge of the prop is clad in something that looks like copper. Other than the copper cladding, the ends of the propeller are green. There are 8 bolt holes. Just inside these bolt holes is lettering that says: F5272 and that is between the 11 and 1 o'clock positions. Additionally, there is a number "1" at the 9 o'clock position and a "2" at the 3 o'clock position.

Please contact me at jdblair@sbcglobal.net if you would like to see my photos. Thanks!

Jeffrey Blair
Wharton, TX