The Grand Canyon Mid-Air Collision

 

Click here for video

 

JACK FRYE Video Bibliography

We have been meaning to do this project for the Jack Frye audience for quite some time. It is now officially completed. The presentation is produced in 5 parts and we are proud to bring it too you. It primarily centers on Jack Frye's professional career and impact on the Airline Industry in America and around the world. Sit back and spend some time in the life of this great man of airline history. We hope you enjoy the series.

TWA Flight 800 Tribute

Today, as we remember the tragic events that struck our family and nation 20 years ago, our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims and their families. Time moves on but their memory and our love for them will not. God Bless the victims and families of TWA 800. At Trans World Airlines, we are a family, now and forever.

https://www.facebook.com/TWAirlines

New Jack Frye Video on Pathe

40 seconds into this video you will get to see our Pioneer Aviator Jack Frye disembarking the Constellation meeting up with his wife Helen Vanderbilt Frye. A rare treat indeed!

Frye Ranch Video

This video encapsulates our trip to the Frye Ranch in Wheeler Texas this summer. We hope it gives you a sense of where Jack Frye grew up until he left for California in 1922. Its a beautiful sprawling place that most people would enjoy raising a family and tending cattle and livestock which the Frye's experienced on this ranch. Keep in mind, the video only shows 100 acres or so of the original 15,000 acres. Currently there are numerous natural gas and oil wells on the ranch properties. In fact all of Wheeler County is peppered with hundreds of wells as you can see in the still photo below.

 

 

Its no wonder that Jack Frye was such a likable and congenial human being. His upbringing on this ranch equipped him with core work ethic and people values to handle the huge tasks and pioneering efforts he made in the airline industry. This thanks to his parents and grandparents who instilled in young Jack the recognition of his potential to succeed. His roots here at home prepared him well for the big world beyond small town Wheeler Texas.

 

We hope to return and visit with family members that reside on the ranch in the near future. I can't repeat this enough, that, we are very grateful for the Puryear family to allow us to visit and enjoy our day on the ranch. It was a trip and day of discovery and experience I will always cherish.   Enjoy

 

Jack Frye Video Presentation

It’s fitting at this time after covering a lot of Jack Frye's professional life to post this video I produced in his honor. I hope you enjoy the presentation and share it with your friends and family. Especially the immediate and extended Frye family members.

One family member quoted to me recently that, "Jack was the hero of the family." Not to detract from other family members of the Frye clan and their accomplishments, I also feel good about reiterating this simple truth. He really was and still is an American hero, not of the combative duties of his fellow countrymen of his time, but to all of the American public who experienced his amazing airline accomplishments making America a better place than before.

Jack Frye Aviation Pioneer blog

2013

SEE the CONNIE breath its Flames

These videos graphically capture the essence of the Wright R-3350 engines that propelled the Constellation. It must have been unnerving for first time passengers on board to see fire shooting out of all 72 cylinders into 12 exhaust pipes, but in those days this was the norm.

 

The video sequence below begins with a restored KLM L749 Connie starting up and taking off in daylight hours. I posted this to show you the stark difference of engine exhaust flames from daytime to night flights. The second video is from inside the cabin up close and personal. The third video is taken from the ground as she takes off at dusk with engines howling and breathing flames! Just a spectacular view of the greatest prop driven airliner ever put into service.

The final video below shows a Super Constellation taking off in the darkness of night showing the full effect of the Wright R-3350 engines at 100% output. Spectacular!

To heck with air pollutants and quiet engines, this is shear beauty at its finest in vintage air travel. As someone once quoted,

"Engines don't make noise, they make sound"

Enjoy the show...

 

 

 

video courtesy DonVanZon

 

 

video courtesy Sam Chui

 

video courtesy Ryan Hutchins

 

 

video courtesy Anthony Hicks


 Thank you Jack Frye, Howard Hughes & Lockheed
for making this beautiful ship for the world possible.
 

Weight R-3350 engine start-up

video courtesy Aero Telemetry

 

The Wright R-3350 power plant was the engine of choice by Kelly Johnson of Lockheed. His aim was to provide the most horsepower available for the new L049 Constellation in order to attain maximum load capacity and speed.

 

Early versions of the R-3350 were equipped with carburetors, though the poorly designed elbow entrance to the supercharger led to serious problems with inconsistent fuel/air distribution. Near the end of World War II, the system was changed to use direct injection where fuel was injected directly into the combustion chamber. This change improved engine reliability. After the war the engine was redesigned, and became a favorite for large aircraft, notably the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-7.

18 cylinders, 2500 horsepower

 

 

Following the war, to better serve the civilian market, the Turbo-Compound system was developed to deliver better fuel efficiency and thus economy. In these versions, three power recovery turbines (PRT) were inserted into the exhaust piping of each group of six cylinders and geared to the engine crankshaft by fluid couplings to deliver more power. The PRTs recovered about 20 percent of the exhaust energy (around 450 hp) that would have otherwise been wasted, but reduced engine reliability. The fuel burn for the PRT equipped aircraft was nearly the same as the older Pratt and Whitney R-2800, while producing more horsepower.

 

Historic Constellation Flight, April 17, 1944

The Constellation makes History
“She Flew Like a Dream”
(Jack Frye headline quote after landing)

Around 3:00am, a tall husky man walked up among the watchers. It was Jack Frye, wearing the same tan jacket and trousers he had all week as he and Howard Hughes put the Connie through her final pre-flight trials. He shook hands, glanced at his watch and started up the ladder to the cockpit. As he reached the top, a photographer called to him and snapped a picture. With a wave, he disappeared in the inner darkness of the plane.”

In what would change Transcontinental and International air travel forever, Jack Frye and Howard Hughes devised a secret plan to shock the world by allowing a first glimpse of the new super airliner, the Constellation via a record flight across the United States. Adorned in full blown TWA colors with the words - ‘The TRANSCONTINENTAL Line’ painted and displayed above the passenger windows in bright TWA red, the secret plan was set. The first commercial flight of the Connie did indeed produce shock and awe. The Army Air Corps had already taken possession of the new fleet of aircraft on paper for the war effort and quite frankly were expecting this #2 plane to arrive at National Airport DC, in Army drab colors and markings. Much to their surprise (furious!), Connie #2 appeared gleaming in all its polished glory on the tarmac as Jack Frye taxied her to the terminal among a large crowd of dignitaries, civilians, military reps and the press. The damaged ego’s didn’t last long for soon after the landing and greetings, the Army boys were all smiles greeting and congratulating Frye and Hughes profusely.

Caption above reads:

This was a big moment in the life chart of the Constellation. Shrouded at Burbank in the darkness of the night, the photo was shot at the moment her wheels left the black runway and she rose into the air for her first trip across the continent. On she went following the Great Circle route across America. Six hours and 58 minutes later she was reflecting the bright sunshine along the Potomac. Howard Hughes and Jack Frye, co captains were the first to leave the ship at the National Airport in Washington.

Actual video of the historic flight courtesy AIRBOYD

Jack Frye lands and taxi’s Constellation #2 at Washington D.C.,

April 17, 1944, The Historic record flight of the ‘CONNIE’

The record flight was completely successful with co-captains Howard Hughes on the stick the first leg and Jack Frye the second to DC. Lifting off the runway at 3:56am Monday morning, April 17^th, the record time to DCA was 6 hours 58 minutes nonstop. The flight crew was Bolton, Glover, Proctor, Chiappino and De Campo. R.C. Loomis was the radioman. Passengers were Olson, Minsor, Baron and Spruill. Lockheed observers were Stanton, Thoren and Watkins. Government personnel aboard were Lt. Col. Shoop and Mr. Solomon of the Air Transport Authority.  The flight route first passed over Kingman, AZ, then onto Taos, NM headed to Wichita, KS. Then onto St. Louis, MO, to Cincinnati, OH through to Washington DC. Average speed of the historic flight was 332 mph. Jack Frye in the anticipation of demonstration flights and for photographic publicity purposes had Ida Staggers and eight other hostesses at National Airport to greet the plane.

Hughes (L) and Frye (R) disembarking the Constellation after its historic flight.

Caption reads:

The Constellation, new queen of land planes, zoomed across the girth of the nation this month in 6 hours, 58 minutes, setting a new transport record on her maiden flight from Burbank, California to Washington D.C. Jack Frye, left, and Howard Hughes, right, co-captains of the trip are shown immediately after their arrival in Washington. Jesse Jones, center, secretary of Commerce, was the first to greet the two pilots of the record flight.

Caption reads:

Among the persons who congratulated Jack Frye upon arrival of the Constellation at the Washington National Airport were, left to right, Col. Frank H. Collins, Commanding Officer, ATC, Washington National Airport: Oswald Ryan, (Jack Frye) and Josh Lee. Ryan and Lee are members of the Civil Aeronautics Board.


Letter from Frye and Hughes to TWA employees. It is this writer’s opinion Jack is the actual author of this letter. It just has that Jack Frye flavor we have read in other notes to his employees.

Some images courtesy WHMCKC

After this historic flight, the Constellation became the worlds star airliner. It was the biggest, the fastest and the most beautiful airliner ever built. It’s sleek and slippery shape ushered in a new understanding of what global air travel can become (Frye, Hughes & Johnson already knew this). The glamour of it, the speed in which one could travel from New York to Europe overnight in record time and comfort put into the minds of the public new horizons never before imagined. The plane literally threw a fast ball propelling air travel into the coming jet age we now enjoy. At this point in Jack Frye’s illustrious career the Connie had become his crowning achievement.

This magnificent feat and genius of Jack Frye and Howard Hughes remains one of those special moments in history that serves as a milestone marker in the world of aviation. From this writers opinion if it weren't for the Constellation’s conception, the vision from a single man, Jack Frye, the man who saw into the future more than any other airline executive of his time, its my opinion the airline industry would have looked different in some respects and probably less safe and secure until other men could have caught up to Frye’s unwavering dedication in this respect. By then and I wouldn’t wish it, many more airline accidents and the loss of life could have occurred. Remember, one of Jack Frye’s foundational treatises with determined focus since the 1920’s was ‘Safety’. He was the man who brought this commandment to the forefront of American airline aviation, and he forced the issue everyday he sat in the presidents seat. I can imagine him sitting with himself thousands of times in some office or cockpit seat alone thinking, “Did I do enough to ensure our passengers safety.”

I have served in the US Navy on carrier flight deck duty launching and retrieving jet aircraft, probably the most dangerous workspace in the world. And I am the safety coordinator in my business career of which I have witnessed some horrific accidents militarily and in the private sector. I know how important safety measures are to curtailing injury or worse. So in a sense I think I can relate to Jack’s genuine concern about safety. It had to be his top concern.

I hope you can appreciate by now on this blog through all of the notable firsts, articles and recollections of Jack Frye just how much he impacted the airline industry. I am in awe every week more and more as I learn about him and I find myself often attempting to get into his head to know the man more. This may be due to him being my cousins husband as there is a connection there that tends to inject a little more importance from my perspective of Jacks legacy, his career and his personal traits. Nevertheless, its easy to understand his drive and conviction to assuring everything was given great attention to detail on the Constellation project in all aspects of the design. It is true this great plane would not have happened without Jack Frye’s vision and Howard Hughes money.

Unlike Hughes, Jack Frye has not received the notoriety he deserves for his contribution to the airline industry and aviation at large, not even a tenth. This we know because he was a humble and gentile man with a big hearted personality beaming with confidence. He didn’t seek the limelight, he proved his worth and effectiveness in the cockpit and the board room. He is not a household name, he is a silent public figure that is begging to break out. His story has yet to be told to America in a big way, and for this reason he should now finally be put on the pedestal of greatness for all to see in the 21^st century. This accolade he at least deserves, and the Constellation he conceived surely helps to place him in his proper historical seat.

He wasn’t superman but he came damn close!

To follow along with the 2014 Flight of the Connie re-creation, click this link.

Eric Johnson

Owner/Creator

Jack Frye Aviation Pioneer blog

2013

Flight of the CONNIE by the NAHM

I am pleased to announce a brand new website that fits right in with our current topic of interest - The Costellation. Mr. John Roper, National Airline History Museum VP of Operations has just forwarded to me the new site covering the restoration process of a Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation aircraft registration number N6937C.

Website screenshot

 

This video is John Roper addressing the museum members and guests at the

2013 annual meeting covering past and present events at the museum.

 

 

You can follow along at by clicking on this link to witness the unfolding of the historic recreation of the inaugural 1944 flight Jack Frye and Howard Hughes piloted from Burbank to Washington DC in a record setting 6 hours, 58 minutes!

Be sure to register to receive updates on the 70th anniversary flight schedule of the Star of America slated for April 2014. This should be a spectacular event I cant wait for. Many thanks to the National Airline History Museum for all of the volunteers and personal donations that are making this historic event possible.

Eric

Easy Video Search

The button above is provided should you wish to quick-link to all current videos on the Jack Frye - Aviation Pioneer blog. Just click and you will be directed to all posts with a video attached. This will include all future video uploads as well. Make it a favorite on your browser too.

Enjoy the shows!

Eric

Floating Stratoliner

 

Howard Hughes personal 307 converted into a houseboat!

 

The COSMIC MUFFIN is without a doubt the most unique one of a kind houseboats in the world. Its current owner Dave Drimmer keeps the Muffin in shape in an effort to maintain the legacy of one of Howard Hughes luxuries of the day, his Flying Penthouse. I only post this segment because of Howards relavence to Jack Frye and TWA's future, for his major investment in the company that set in motion a new direction toward world travel the likes that had not been realized by 1940. The Cosmic Muffin allows us a glimpse into Howards out-of-the-box thinking in terms of luxury that possibly translated into more passenger creature comforts for the next airline decade. You have to admit, this houseboat is pretty cool and turns heads wherever it cruises.
 

First Pressurized Cabin Airliner

Enter the new Boeing Stratoliner 307 into the TWA fleet

photo courtesy Terry Wall

Up to 1940, the DC-3 was a very successful ship for TWA and other airlines that until today are still considered the most successful airplane ever produced. But it lacked an all-encompassing comfortable flight for passengers flying through weather in altitude ranges of 5-10,000 feet. By 1937 it was realized through Tommy Tomlinson’s high altitude testing in the Northrop Gamma and DC's that, the cabin needed to be pressurized in order to comfortably and continuously fly 'above the clouds' in the 20,000 foot range. The new STRATOLINER 307 was the very first aircraft with this new feature. The pressure differential was 2.5 psi (17 kPa), so at 14,700 ft. (4,480 m) the cabin altitude was 8,000 ft. (2,440 m). The Model 307 had capacity for a crew of five and 33 passengers. The cabin was nearly 12 ft. (3.6 m) across. It was the first land-based aircraft to include a flight engineer as a crew member (several flying boats had included a flight engineer position earlier). It changed the whole outlook of the future of global passenger travel. Another milestone first under the leadership of Jack Frye.

Here is a great 1940's video of the Stratoliner sponsored by Fashion Designs with the iconic background tones of the Glenn Miller Band. This is luxury flying at its best in the new pressurized cabin that paved the way to modern comfortable worldwide travel.

  

Video provided by Bomberguy

Too read about the 307's developement and service history, click here



Video: Coast to Coast 1940

TWA is now fully underway providing daily Transcontinental Skyliner flights with the DC-3 aircraft. Many creature comforts are being instituted to the highest degree of the day. And landmark sightseeing from the air is strategically timed for the greatest visability. All of this adds up to Jack Frye's original motto of safety, passenger comfort and schedule from which he invisioned his company way back in the 20's. Here is a video of one such flight from New York to Los Angeles.

 

Video provided by Bomberguy

Video: Replica DC-2, KLM 'UIVER'

Look what Jack Frye started as we move into TWA world travel with the DC aircraft he helped develop with Douglas Aircraft. With only about 150 units produced, this model was virtually a long period prototype to the DC-3, the most successful all metal aircraft of all time! TWA operated a total of 31 units.

To help get us a little more cozy with early DC aircraft, the first ever Douglas airliners, this is the well known UIVER (Dutch for Stork) DC-2 replica in KLM Royal Dutch Air Lines colors. It was owned by the Aviodrome Aerospace Museum in the Netherlands. Unfortunately the operation has gone into bankruptcy and is looking for new investors. Click here for the latest info.

They owned two originals at one time until one of them was destroyed in a crash described below. The plane in this video is its KLM replica replacement. A US Navy original flown to the Netherlands and painted in original format. The other lone original is in a bad state of repairs at the museum. Hopefully both of these historic aircraft will be placed in a new home for all to see.

 

Operational history:

Although overshadowed by its ubiquitous successor, it was the DC-2 that first showed that passenger air travel could be comfortable, safe and reliable. As a token of this, KLM entered its first DC-2 PH-AJU Uiver (Stork) in the October 1934 MacRobertson Air Race between London and Melbourne. Out of the 20 entrants, it finished second behind only the purpose built de Havilland DH.88 racer Grosvenor House. During the total journey time of 90 hours, 13 min, it was in the air for 81 hours, 10 min, and won the handicap section of the race. (The DH.88 finished first in the handicap section, but the crew was by regulations allowed to claim only one victory.) It flew KLM's regular 9,000 mile route, (a thousand miles longer than the official race route), carrying mails, making every scheduled passenger stop, turning back once to pick up a stranded passenger, and even became lost in a thunderstorm and briefly stuck in the mud after a diversionary landing at Albury racecourse on the very last leg of the journey.
source: Wikipedia

The only DC-1 cropped in with a TWA DC-2 shadowed by the great DC-3

Video: Douglas Commercial #1

Or more commonly known as, the DC-1. The very first all metal airliner design that set in motion a revolutionary jump in passenger and cargo travel thanks to Jack Frye. We have extensively covered the no.1's design concept and its history beginning with Jacks famous letter of new design specs to his friend Donald Douglas, the fifth of five vendors who accepted the task.

To read all about it, click here for the DC1 page from beginning to its lonely end.

From here we will be sharing some really neat articles and photos beginning in 1935 when the DC aircraft were known as TWA Skyliners.

Here is a short walk around video of a DC-2 in vintage TWA colors. She sure looks great doesn't she? I am not sure if this is an original ultra rare DC-2 or a replica. I am aware of only 2 at most of the original 150, maybe one of them flying today. I am in search of any video of a real DC-2 and will post on the blog if ever revealed.
 

 

The following image is what is known as the 'Radio Trophy', a very attractive award that went to the most efficient landborn radio stations in support of TWA airliners during point to point communications in all manner of weather conditions. In December 1935, this award went to the 'Pittsburg Radio Department'.

 Image courtesy State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center-Kansas City 

First US Air-Rail Service

In the collection of Standard Airlines brochures I received from Daniel Kusrow, herin lays an historic copy of Volume 1, Number 1 issue of the Standard Airlines newsletter. As you can read on the headline, it announces the first ever Transcontinental Air-Rail service route in the US! This is the beginning of a large dream Jack Frye had envisioned early in his illustrious career paving the way to what would become TWA.

Points of destination included Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson, Douglas Arizona and El Paso Texas. The inaugrural openning of the new service was February 4, 1929, just prior to the horrible US stock market crash later in October of this year. From New York, passengers traveled by rail on the Texas & Pacific Line to St. Louis, then connected with a Ford Tri-Motor to Sweetwater Texas. Then jumped on the 'Sunshine Special' train to El Paso. Jack Frye's Standard Airlines would then take over and fly the passengers to Los Angeles. All in all the Standard Airlines Air-Rail service cut a whopping 16 hours off the trek's travel time to 47 hours!

Here is an early video series that covers a 48 hour flight of what this post is referreing to, and in original B&W footage. How far we have come... Enjoy the show.

Videos provided by twaladybug

Video - TWA Museum, Kansas City

Here is a video of the TWA museum, the airline Jack Frye built with Paul Richter and Walter Hamilton, The Three Musketeers of Aviation.

JACK FRYE blog intro - 12/07/12

Jack Frye - 1937

Welcome to the new 'JACK FRYE - AVIATION PIONEER' blog. We are so glad you found us, we have lots of past, present and new information to share with you as we fly along with Jack and his legacy. We hope you enjoy the blog by getting involved with one of the greatest aviators and commercial businessmen of all time! 

My research comes from many hours of reading books my dad shared with me, surfing the Internet, and collaborating with much joy, Jacks daughter, Nevajac Frye. Also the many historians and aviation enthusiasts who have and continue to collaborate with us to bring you up to date information and facts about JACK FRYE, one of the worlds greatest aviators.

As a side note, I have been putting together the Johnson family tree that includes the Frye family. More to come on this exciting subject.

I have had a love affair with aviation since a kid and I now know why. Its in the family genes. Its interesting how we latch onto certain interests at a young age. Cars, trains, science, whatever tickles ones psyche in the tender years that shapes us for a lifetime. Airplanes did it for me and having Jack Frye connected in our family heritage answers all the questions why flight is so central to this author.

Enjoy a recent video covering Jack Frye's career in photos.

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Jack Frye - Aviation Pioneer blog
2013