GROVER E. BELL -1913

GROVER BELL Courtesy of Carroll Gray Webmaster of Early Birds of Aviation Referred by David Llorente, 1-13-05 Gift of Reckoning/Llorente

 

EARLY DAYS IN LONG BEACH, CA from an email message from Chris Brewer, 10-30-02      About 1911, Grover Bell kept in an aeroplane in a barn on Ocean Park Boulevard. Bell involved L. Morton Bach in the upkeep of the craft and the youngster often helped Bell push the plane to a dirt road, which at the time had few homes. The pilot used the dirt road as a runway and on one occasion, Mr. Bell offered the boy a ride. Morton had to sit on the leading edge of the wing and hold on tight. When interviewed later, Morton expressed no concern for a lack of safety equipment on his first flight. The dirt road eventually evolved into Pearl Street.

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Grover Bell +aviation", using the Google search engine, (1-14-05), you will find about six links. Perhaps the most helpful are the following.

STRAIGHT SCOOP      This edition of The Pacific Coast Air Museum, VOl. VI, No. 7, July 2001, offers this brief mention of the death of Grover.      What is not mentioned in the referenced books is the Martin Company’s contracted 4th of July flying exhibition in Petaluma, where chief pilot Grover Bell was killed in the crash trying to avoid a band of horses romping in the Kenilworth Park landing site. Nor is the fact that at the same time Glenn was plunking his hydroplane into Lake Michigan with a passenger aboard. (related in “The Sonoma-Bell Connection” in the April 2000 Straight Scoop)      You can access this article by clicking on the title above. You may want to use the "Search" function on "Grover Bell" to locate the item in the article. This pdf file may take some time to load.

GROVER E. BELL AWARD      This page on the Vertical Flight Society website offers a description of the award as follows:      "This award is given to foster and encourage research and experimentation in helicopter development to the person or persons making an outstanding contribution to the field during the preceding calendar year. The award consists of a 3-inch gold medal bearing the profiles of Lawrence and Grover Bell, a certificate, and a $250 honorarium."      Included is a listing of recipients of the award from 1957 to 2004. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.

 

Grover Bell was killed in a crash on July 4, 1913.   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this Early Flier, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back