William S. Luckey

RESOURCES

Curtiss Model D
Contributed by Dan Rodgers, 8-5-10

Early Pilots Collection. Photographs, clippings, correspondence; 1894-1978; 2.2 cubic feet. There is material on Thomas S. Baldwin, Lynn Bauder, Lincoln Beachey, Joe Bennett, Tony Bitetti, Art Boston, Ralph M. Brown, Frank H. Burnside, Joe Costa, William E. Doherty, Fred Eells,Theodore Ellyson, Eugene Ely, Walter L. Fairchild, John J. Frisbie, Bert Hassell, Beckwith Havens, Frederick A. Hoover, Ray Hylan, Fulton Irwin, John Kaminski, Charles B. Kirkham, Henry Kleckler, E. M. Laird, Ruth Law, William S. Luckey, Damon Merrill, Harvey Mummert, Hugh Robinson, Blanch S. Scott, Windy Smith, Francis Wildman, J. Newton Williams, and others, including a number of student pilots from Japan. Also a typed history of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation Airplane Division, 1910-1945, by Art Butler, and reminiscences of Curtiss Airplane Company of Buffalo, 1915-1919. RLIN ID NYHV2306-A.
Editor's Note: This collection is housed in the New York Historical Society Collection.

ONLINE RESOURCES If you search for "William S. Luckey", using the Google search engine,
(8-4-10), you will find about 10 links. Among the most helpful is the following.

LUCKEY WINS FIRST AIR DERBY On this page of the Internet Archive website, you will find the full text of "Aeronautics." Included in it is the story of him winning the Derby. To find it, you can use the FIND function on "Luckey" several times until you reach the article itself. You can read the whole story by clicking on the title above.

RECOMMENDED READING

CONTACT!
The Story of the Early Birds

Henry Serrano Villard

Product Details
Hardbound: 263 pages;
8 x 10 1/2 inches
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968
Out of print: Occasionally available used.
L. C. Card 68-21615

Foreward by S. PAUL JOHNSTON
Director, National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution In today's age of space probes and moon rockets, it is hard to believe that the aeroplane is scarcely sixty years old. Here Henry Serrano Villard, who knew many of the pioneer pilots and flew in their "bits of stick and string,"re-creates the romantic era when man first dared the miracle of flight. His anecdotal account, illustrated with 125 photographs--many from his personal album--covers the decade and a half of aeronautical history from the Wright brothers' exploits at Kitty Hawk to the outbreak of World War I.

Editor's Note: I had the pleasure of knowing Henry for several years before his death. I found him to be a delightful companion and a remarkable source of information on the entire field of aviation. I can recommend his book, without hesitation, as an essential resource for anyone interested in the history of early aviation..

Quotation from
Jesters of the Air, p. 199 "Third to climb into the rough air was William S. Luckey (No. 7), in a Curtiss pusher. This machine was substantially the same in basic design as that with which its inventor had won the first Gordon-Bennett race in 1909; but its big Curtiss eight-cylinder motor, rated at 100 hp, was thought to be a telling factor in any contest for speed. Luckey was a mdidle-aged New York businessman who flew for sport and who was relatively unknown in professional aviation circles. Perched far out in front of the wings, he was completely unprotected from the wintry blasts. But his dexterous flying, combined with the proven qualities of the Curtiss (and, some said, the magic in his name), constituted a favorable prospect for him."

Back