1883-1928 |
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Callan, Clark, Dunlap, Takeshi - May, 1912 US Naval Historical Center, collections of T.G. Ellyson and J. L. Callan From WALDO: Pioneer Aviator |
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Carl was born 12 May 1883 in Foss parish, near Gothenburg, Sweden. He emigrated to the United States in 1902, eventually settling in the Oakland, CA, area. He learned to fly at the Curtiss Aviation School, San Diego area, and was awarded ACA Flying Certificate No. 138 on June 26, 1912. He spent his life as an enthusiastic "go getter" in the fire of aviation that was burning at the time. Carl died in Oakland, CA, 24 March 1928. In 1990, Carl was featured in a photo story published in the Swedish aviation magazine "Mach 41". Excerpts from that article, together with photos of Carl piloting his plane, will be added to this web site in the near future. You may e-mail Paul at pnorder@att.net.) |
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The Curtiss school was opened on October 20th for the 1911-1912 winter season. Among the new students were: Dunford, an Englishman; George Capitsini, a Greek Army Captain; J.G. Kaminski, Polish; a turbanned Mohan Singh; K. Takeshi from Japan; plus several Americans: William Hoff of San Francisco, S.C. Lewis of Chicago, J.B. McCalley of Harrisburgh, Charles W. Shoemaker of Olean, New York, Lansing Callan, Carl Sjolander and Rutherford Page. Also, F.J. Terrill of Springfield, Mass; R.E. McMillan of Perry , Iowa; C.A. Gerlin of Centralia, Washington; and M.M. Stark of Vancouver, B.C. One of Curtiss' early woman students, Julia Clark, would arrive later, along with several American military students. In a month McClaskey, Lewis, McCalley and Shoemaker qualified for their licenses. McClaskey even astonished Curtiss, by doing a series of figure eights, remaining in the air longer than any other graduate, and speeding more than a mile-a-minute! |
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Personal communication from Paul Norder |
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