CHARLES W. MEYERS 1898-1972

OHIO HISTORY OF FLIGHT MUSEUM DISPLAY      The website of the Ohio History of Flight Museum has a page which features the Waco Model 10 - NC4899, which is on display in the museum. It mentions that Charlie Myers was the test pilot for the plane and tells how he piloted one to first prize in the Class B division of the 1927 Air Derby from New York to Spokane, Washington. The airplane covered a distance of 2352 miles in 30 hours and 23 minutes. It had a 28-minute lead over an Eaglerock by the end of the race. Only nine of the 25 planes that started the race finished it.      Unfortunately, this website has disappeared from the internet, (10-14-03), and we can't visit it to enjoy the many other features which used to be available. It included mention of three other Early Birds, Ernest Hall, Jean Roche and Paul Wilber. Let's hope it reappears some day.

 

EARLY BIRD MEETING, WISCONSIN, 1969      You will find a picture of Charlie, standing in front of a 1912 Curtiss with some of his Early Bird buddies including John Nichols, Bill Diehl, Tex Marshall, Charles Meyers, Walter Bullock, Paul Garber, Harry Copland, Waldo Waterman, Walter Addems, Stanley Vaughn, Ivan Wheaton, Glenn Messer, George Page, Charles West, Forrest Wysong, David Young. George Clark, Dale Crites (pilot of plane), Jean Roche and Melvin Hodgdon.

 

ONLINE RESOURCES - II      If you search for "Charles E. Meyers +aviation" using the Google search engine, (10-14-03), you will find about 12 links.

Chapter VIII THE LAST PATHFINDER      This website offers several chapters of a book on the history of the National Air Tour and this chapter VIII includes a nice little anecdote regarding Charlie Meyers, as well as several other participants including my father-in- law, Walter E. Lees. You can access it by clicking on the title above.      If time permits, you may want to read the whole story by clicking on "National Air Tour" above.

NATIONAL AIR TOUR SPONSORED BY THE AVIATION FOUNDATION OF AMERICA, INC. RE-CREATING THE 1925-1931 NATIONAL AIR TOURS OF THE CENTENNIAL OF FLIGHT      This website is a remarkable resource and is offers a wealth of information on the history of the tours, as well as a complete story of the re-creation of the events in September, 2003. You can also access online versions of three books, "The Ford Air Tours, 1925 - 1931" by Lesley Forden, "One -Two", The 1929 Tour Story by pilot Johnny Livingston and "A Four Thousand Mile Trip by Air" by Ralph W. Cram. You can access it by clicking on the title above.

Ted Beckwith, Jr. is honoring Charles W. Meyers      This page, which is in the section "Pilots, Planes, People 2003," offers a very nice picture of the Great Lakes 2T-1A which Ted and Beverly Beckwith flew in the recreation of National Air Tour in honor of Charles W. Meyers. You can access the site by clicking on the title above.      If time permits, I recommend that you click on the "Pilots, Planes, People 2003" title above and enjoy displays of each of the vintage planes which took part in the tour.

CHARLIE MEYERS ON THE AEROFILES WEBSITE      You will find descriptions and photos of three planes which Charlie flew on this website. The first two, the Kreider-Resiner A and Kreider-Reisner C2 can be seen by clicking on the title above.      The second plane, the Meyers Midget, can be seen by clicking on the title just below. Meyers Midget      You will probably want to use the FIND button on Meyers to locate the entries on the pages.

 

 

RECOMMENDED READING

Product Details Softbound, 202 pgs., 350+ B&W photos, 8½"x 11" Publisher: Aviation Foundation of America ,Inc. List Price: $19.95 "1925-1931. Forden. This is the full history of the Ford Reliability Tour, which was an efficiency contest held every year from 1925 through 1931. Initially called the Commercial Airplane Reliability Tour, they were subsequently promoted as "The Commercial Airplane Reliability Tour for the Edsel B. Ford Trophy", sometimes shortened to the Ford Reliability Tour and later, the National Air Tour. The tour gave airplane builders an opportunity to take their latest models around the country in a well-publicized contest also meant to convince the man on the ground he should take to the air." For more information and to order the book, click on: Ford Air Tours

 

Charles W. Meyers died October 1, 1972 at the age of 74. He soloed in a glider June 29, 1913. Served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force during World War I.      He joined Eastern Air Lines in 1931 and retired in 1956. He served the Early Birds as Trustee. He is survived by his wife, Jessie, and a grandson who is a pilot with Eastern Air Lines. From The Early Birds of Aviation CHIRP January 1973, Number 79

 

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