JAMES CHURCH 1902-1970+

BRINK-GARBER COLLECTION No. 2447. Church Midwing C-1 (NX9167 s/n 3) Builder: Chase Photo Courtesy of Jim Brink & Ron Dupas, 3-6-04 Editor's Note: This photo from the Brink-Garber Collection was contributed by Jim Brink to Ron Dupas' outstanding website, 1000aircraftphotos. I invite you to visit his site and take advantage of the hundreds of beautiful photographs which he has placed online. You can access it by clicking on the link above. It is reproduced here by virtue of their generosity.

 

Heath Racer, Church Midwing Racer in Background Photo Courtesy of Steve Thoele

 

Church Midwing Racer Photo Courtesy of Steve Thoele

 

EMAILS from STEVE THOELE 2-27-2002 Ralph, This was taken from Aerofiles at http://aerofiles.com/aircraft.html . I am building a sort of a modified Church that will have a Heath "Baby Bullet" type cowl. If Jim Church is still alive he's pushing 90+ as he raced the Midwing sport and the Racer in the late 20s and early 30s; assuming he was something more than a teenager at that time. Steve   2-27-2002 Ralph, I was looking through some of my old material and came across an article that I printed out from a web site that is no longer up, but it was in the July/August 1971 issue of the International Antique Airplane News magazine. It has the story of Gene Chases restoration and test flight of his 1928 Church Midwing Sport Racer. Jim Church was in attendance of this flight in 1970. he was 68 years old at that time, which would make him 100 years old this year! Maybe he's alive, but I don't think so If it is possible for you to open this jpg it show a Heath racer in the foreground, but the second plane over is a Church Midwing racer. Steve

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Church Racer", using the Google search engine, (3-6-04), you will find about 5 links, including one to this page. Perhaps the most helpful are the following.

John Morrison's RW4 Church Midwing      This page offers a series of photographs displaying the building of a Church midwing by John Morrison and its ultimate application to a 1931 model homebuilt plane.

RagWing First Flight Reports      This companion page to the website above offers a narrative description of the attempts to make the plane perform satisfactorily. It describes the successes and failures and the changes which were necessary to enable the plane to fly as expected.

JAMES CHURCH on the AeroFiles Website      You will find an entry on the (James) Church Airplane & Mfg Co, Chicago IL. on the AeroFiles website. It offers specifications on the Mid-Sport and the Church Racer. There is a picture of a Church Racer. [NR12050]. You can access the site by clicking on the title above. You may want to use the "FIND" function on Church, two times..

 

James Church died a few years after the restoration flight of the Church Midwing Racer in 1970. He is survived by a son, James and a daughter Judy as of December 18, 2003. Personal communication from Jeremy Church, his grandson - 12-18-03   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back