EDWARD J. FINAN

Edward Finan (left) and DeLloyd Thompson, Instructors at Cicero Field, during the Chicago Air Show of 1912 held on Chicago's lake front, at Cicero airdrome and Hawthorne Race Track. from an unidentified newsclipping Collection of Todd McVickar, 6-29-07

Their plane, a 1911 Model B Wright Bi-plane with dual controls, had a hickory frame and was covered with sail cloth over and under the wings. It was approximately 32 feet in length, 39 feet wide had a 30 horsepower motor, warped wings, no ailerons and two propellers. The motor had no carburetor.      Finan, who now resides at Snug Harbor farm, Bristol, Wis., and Jesse C. Brabazon, 729 Central ave., Benoit, and Irving "Shake" Paradise, 6331 N. Glenwood ave., Chicago, who also were pioneer aviators, have formed the "Pioneers of the Skyways," which was organized for the purpose of "collecting, compiling and disseminating authentic information pertaining to the early pioneers of aviation, to the end that each will be fully credited for their deeds and accomplishments." They are now gathering material for a book about aviation and Cicero Field's contributions to it.      Finan supplied The LIFE with the information for the series of articles on Cicero Field.

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Edward Finan", using the Google search engine, (6-30-07), you will find just a few relevant links. Perhaps the most helpful is the following.

Cicero Field Flight Instructors      You can view a beautiful copy of the photograph at the top of this page on the website of the Wisconsin Historical Society. In addition, you will find some details of the occasion on which the photograph was taken. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.

 

 

I have no information as to the date of his birth or of his death   Back