LESTER WEEKS 1890-1972 AKA James Lester Weeks

 

Santos-Dumont Demoiselle Collection of Jean-Pierre Lauwers

And More Yet!, 1938      John R. Gammeter was one of those enamored of the tricky little Demoiselle and was hopping it over the grounds of the Portage Country Club at Akron 1909-1911. Then, while in New York, he spent week-ends at Mineola learning to fly a Curtiss pusher. Due to opposition from his company and objection by his insurance company he had the plane shipped to Akron where he employed Lester Weeks to fly it days so he could fly it on the q. t. nights. Then he bought a Curtiss OX, built his own plane and sent it on the exhibition road with Weeks. Oliver Sherwood and Cliff Wise as pilots. In later years his experience has been in parachute, airship and kite balloon manufacture for the B. F. Goodrich Company. from CHIRP - AUGUST, 1938 - DEARBORN, MICH. - NUMBER 22. courtesy of Steve Remington - CollectAir

 

BOY AVIATOR HURT IN FALL The New York Tribune September, 1911 Weeks Drops Hundred Feet at Nassau Boulevard. [By Telegraph to The Tribune.] Nassau Boulevard, Long Island, Sept. 1.---Lester Weeks, twenty years old, of Mineola, while trying Howard Dietz's biplane this afternoon, fell from a height of about one hundred feet when a strong gust of wind upset the machine.      Weeks is an enthusiastic young aviator, and made several flights with the Dietz machine last week. In the trial this afternoon, he rose abruptly, and soon his motor commenced to skip, and when he lost his momentum the gust overturned him. Weeks's head was seriously cut and he was picked up half conscious. Several aviators asked the chauffeur of an empty automobile for assistance, and the young man was taken to the Nassau Hospital, where it was found he was not dangerously injured. Courtesy of Roy Nagl, 10-30-05 TRUE TALES OF THE ANCIENT AVIATORS

 

FALLS WITH AIRSHIP The New York Times September, 1911 Aviator Weeks Badly Cut About the Head When Machine is Wrecked. Special to The New York Times. HEMPSTEAD, L. I., Sept. 1.---James Lester Weeks of Mineola, who has been interested in aviation for some time, and who has flown several times, sustained severe injuries shortly after 6 o'clock this evening at the Nassau Boulevard Aviation Field, when he attempted to fly the Dietz biplane. He announced that he would take the famous old machine higher than it had ever been before, and was attempting to make good his assertion, when the motor began to skip, and shortly went dead on a right turn at an altitude of 100 feet.      Weeks had banked for the turn at a dangerous angle, and the machine dropped straight into a gully, once more a wreck. The motor fell out of the engine bed, just grazing Weeks's head. When picked up, he was lying in a pool of blood, having sustained a badly cut nose, severe contusions about the head, and a deep gash over the right eye. He was taken to the Nassau Hospital. Courtesy of Roy Nagl, 10-30-05 TRUE TALES OF THE ANCIENT AVIATORS

 

YOUNG AVIATOR HURT AT NASSAU FIELD The New York Herald September, 1911 James Lester Week, one of the youngest aviators who have appeared hereabouts, met with a serious accident on the Nassau Boulevard aviation filed yesterday and narrowly escaped death. He is in the Nassau Hospital here, and it is said it may be several days before the exact extent of his injuries is learned.      Mr. Weeks went up in a Curtiss biplane belonging to Howard Dietz. Just before starting he told a friend he was going to try for an altitude record. The machine rose to a height of 150 feet when the motor seemingly "went dead" and the biplane flopped over and dropped to the ground.      An automobile was pressed into service and Mr. Weeks was rushed to the Nassau Hospital. He was bleeding at the nose and mouth, and there was a bad cut over the right eye. At the hospital it was said he might be injured internally, but this could not be determined at present. Courtesy of Roy Nagl, 10-30-05 TRUE TALES OF THE ANCIENT AVIATORS

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for"Lester Weeks +aviation" using Google, (12-2-03), you will find just three links, including this one. One of the others is relevant.

VILLAGE OF SILVER LAKE OHIO      You will find a very brief mention of "Mr. Lester Weeks" in this story of the Silver Lake Airport, the first airport in Summit County, Ohio. It is primarily a story of John Gammeter, which is interesting for itself, but it does include a number of other pioneer aviators. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.

 

RECOMMENDED READING

Picture History of Early Aviation, 1903-1913 by Joshua Stoff Product Details Book: 128 pages; 8 7/8 x 11 3/4 List Price: $14.95 ISBN: 0486288366 Dover Publications      "Excellent pictorial history lavishly chronicles exciting saga of first fliers and their machines. Carefully researched text and over 250 photographs introduce such early pioneers of flight as Otto Lilienthal, Samuel Langley, Octave Chanute, Louis Bleriot, the Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss and many others."      Editor's Note: Of special interest are four photographs featuring Lester Weeks, captions of which are reproduced below:   "The basic Curtiss Model D was certainly the most widely copied American aircraft of the pre-World War I period. Without benefit of plans, many small companies and individuals liberally copied its design. One such example is the Gammeter biplane, built in Akron, Ohio, in 1911, one of which is seen here with its new owner, James Lester Weeks of Long Island (in the checkered cap; at right is the Mr. Gammeter who designed the plane)."   "A closeup of Weeks clearly shows the engaged shoulder-fork control and the pushrod for the forward elevator, attached directly to the control wheel."   "Weeks flying his Gammeter near Akron, ca. 1912. Atypically, Weeks lived to the age of 82, dying in 1972."   "The crash of the Curtiss biplane of James Lester Weeks on the Hempstead Plains in 1911. When Weeks was asked why he soon stopped flying, he replied, 'I was spending too much time in hospitals.'"

 

Lester Weeks died in 1972 at the age of 82. from Joshua Stoff's "Picture History of Early Aviation, 1903-1913":.   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back