HOWARD "SUNSHINE" RINEHEART AKA Howard "Sunshine" Rinehart

Howard "Sunshine" Rineheart Collection of Rob Grant, 12-1-07

 

DAYTON WRIGHT RB RACER From the RARAVIAS Website Courtesy of Fabián Capecchi      The fearlessness with which the pioneer designers of airplanes developed their projects, using the most rudimentary of methods, is amazing. In only a few months, they completed the design, construction and test flights of the planes. If it flew well, it was considered to be a triumph. This was the case for one of those forgotten airplanes that deserves to be better known, as an example of the level of technical skills which had been applied, far ahead of their time.      The Dayton-Wright Racer, was conceived as a monoplane with a high-mounted wing for races, It was designed to participate in the Gordon Bennet Race of 1920, one of the older aerial competitions. The company that would build the Racer, counted among its officers Orville Wright, one of the founders of aviation. whose company and signature had prospered during World War I, constructing under license more than 400 Standard trainers J-1 (a version of the famous Curtiss Jenny) and more than 3000 of Havilland DH-4. Once the war had ended, they needed a design that would attract the attention of the world and help the company to recover from the difficult fiscal situation in which they found themselves.      From the efforts of the designers Milton Bauman, head of design of the company, Howard " Sunshine " Rineheart and Charles Hampton Grant was born the RB Racer, one of the most advanced designs for its time. It was a monoplane with a cantilever high-mounted wing, a cabin completely enclosed and a retractable undercarriage. This airplane was unlike anything produced previously, especially when considering the unique operation of the undercarriage that could be lowered or raised manually, the flaps which were adjusted automatically to restrain to the airplane or to help to elevate it, something that also would be utilized several decades later in the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. Continued Editor's Note: I have translated this portion of a much longer article from the Spanish which is found on the website of Raravia. It is reproduced, along with the accompanying picture, through the courtesy of Fabián Capecchi. If you want to read the whole article, and if you who read Spanish, I refer you to the original article. You can access it by clicking on: Raravia If you don't read Spanish, an alternative might be to use the AltaVista translation machine. You can access it by clicking on: AltaVista

 

IDENTIFICATION CONFUSION via email from Mary Anne Whelan, 1-18-06 Dear Ralph and Rob:       Howard Rinehart should not be confused with "Sunshine" Rineheart, who was an army officer. I straightened this out for John Edwards at an earlier time.       I have a piece of writing from someone who knew them both and made the point that there was no love lost between them! Mary Anne

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Howard "Sunshine" Rineheart" +aviation, using the Google search engine, (1-19-06), you will find just one link. It leads to the webpage for Howard Max Rinehart, with whom "Sunshine" is often confused.

 

I have no information as to his dates of birth or of his death.

 

Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back