Bert Acosta
Encyclopedia
Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (January 1, 1895 – September 1, 1954) was a record setting aviator. With Clarence D. Chamberlin they set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Spanish Civil War
in the Yankee Squadron
. He was known as the Bad Boy of the Air. He received numerous fines and suspensions for flying stunts such as flying under bridges or flying too close to buildings.
to Miguel Acosta and Martha Blanche Reilly. He attended the Throop Polytechnic Institute in Pasadena, California
from 1912 to 1914.
He taught himself to fly in August 1910 and built experimental airplanes up until 1912 when he began work for Glenn Curtiss
as an apprentice on a hydroplane
project. In 1915 he worked as a flying instructor. He went to Canada and worked as an instructor for the Royal Flying Corps
and Royal Naval Air Service
in Toronto
. In 1917 he was appointed chief instructor, Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
at Hazelhurst Field, Long Island
.
Acosta married Mary Louise Brumley (1886–1962) in 1918 but he divorced his first wife in 1920. He won The Pulitzer Trophy Race in 1921, then married Helen Belmont Pearsoll, on August 3, 1921. In 1925 he was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and was living at 1 Winslow Court in Naugatuck, Connecticut
. He and Helen separated but they never divorced.
magazine reported on April 25, 1927:
president Charles Levine planned on using Clarence Chamberlin or Bert Acosta as pilot with Lloyd W. Bertaud
as copilot on their attempt at the Orteig prize
in the Wright-Bellanca WB-2 Columbia. Levine bumped Bertaud from the copilot position, prompting an injunction preventing any Ortieg record flight. Lindbergh arrived on May 5, 1927. While Chamberlin waited for the injunction to be lifted, His other competition, Amrial Byrd's
team was repairing his Fokker C-2 Trimotor, the "America
" after a practice run crash. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh left Roosevelt Field and crossing the Atlantic, while leaving the 'Columbia' and 'Atlantic' behind at the adjacent Curtiss Field.
's record setting transatlantic flight
, Acosta flew from Roosevelt Field on Long Island to France with Commander Admiral Richard E. Byrd aboard the America. A short film of Acosta, Byrd, George Noville, and Grover Whalen
giving a farewell speech was filmed in the Phonofilm
sound-on-film process on June 29 and released as America's Flyers. During the flight, the (perhaps apocryphal) story was that Byrd had to hit Acosta over the head with a fire extinguisher or a flashlight when he got out of control from drinking during their flight.
suspended his pilot license for trying to fly under the Whittemore Memorial Bridge in Naugatuck. According to local Naugatuck tradition, the wing span of his aircraft was much longer than the width of the center arch of the bridge. The flight may have been a publicity stunt, as there was an advertisement for Splitdorf Spark Plugs on the fuselage.
In 1929 he was fined $500 for low flying and stunting. When he failed to pay the fine, the Department of Commerce revoked his pilot license. He was arrested by Connecticut State troopers in 1930 for flying without a license.
A new Terle Sportplane
was being tested at Roosevelt Field in New York in 1931, but the CAA
did not register it as a licensed aircraft. The aircraft was later test flown by the famous test pilot, Bert Acosta
, who found it perfect for his use since he was currently grounded from flying licenced aircraft from a previous infraction. After performing aerobatics with the aircraft to a large crowd, Acosta and Terle planned to produce the aircraft together as the "Acosterle Wild Cet". The aircraft was test flown for two years, but could not meet certification requirements.
In 1931 with Captain Lisandro Garay of the Honduran Air Force he planned to fly from New York to Honduras
. They left from Floyd Bennett Field
and loaded their Bellanca monoplane with 360 gallons of gasoline to make a test flight, Bert disappeared and never made the flight.
in the Spanish Civil War
with Eddie August Schneider
and Frederic Ives Lord
.
Time magazine wrote on December 21, 1936:
Time magazine wrote on January 4, 1937, although the attack was later determined to be propaganda:
. He died at the Jewish Consumptive's Relief Society sanatorium in Colorado
in 1954. He was 59. Acosta was buried at the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation
at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
in North Hollywood, California.
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in the Yankee Squadron
Yankee Squadron
The Yankee Squadron was a group of mercenary American military aviators who flew for the Spanish Republican Air Force, during the Spanish Civil War.-History:...
. He was known as the Bad Boy of the Air. He received numerous fines and suspensions for flying stunts such as flying under bridges or flying too close to buildings.
Birth
Acosta was born in San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
to Miguel Acosta and Martha Blanche Reilly. He attended the Throop Polytechnic Institute in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
from 1912 to 1914.
He taught himself to fly in August 1910 and built experimental airplanes up until 1912 when he began work for Glenn Curtiss
Glenn Curtiss
Glenn Hammond Curtiss was an American aviation pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle then motorcycle builder and racer, later also manufacturing engines for airships as early as 1906...
as an apprentice on a hydroplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
project. In 1915 he worked as a flying instructor. He went to Canada and worked as an instructor for the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
and Royal Naval Air Service
Royal Naval Air Service
The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. In 1917 he was appointed chief instructor, Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
The Aviation Section, Signal Corps, was the military aviation service of the United States Army from 1914 to 1918, and a direct ancestor of the United States Air Force. It replaced and absorbed the Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps, and was succeeded briefly by the Division of Military...
at Hazelhurst Field, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
.
Acosta married Mary Louise Brumley (1886–1962) in 1918 but he divorced his first wife in 1920. He won The Pulitzer Trophy Race in 1921, then married Helen Belmont Pearsoll, on August 3, 1921. In 1925 he was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and was living at 1 Winslow Court in Naugatuck, Connecticut
Naugatuck, Connecticut
Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury, and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, which has its own post office, Straitsville on the...
. He and Helen separated but they never divorced.
Endurance record
In April 1927, he and Clarence D. Chamberlin set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine reported on April 25, 1927:
Engineer Giuseppe M. Bellanca of the Columbia Aircraft Corporation had conditioned an elderly yellow-winged monoplane with one Wright motor, and scouted around for pilots. Lieut. Leigh Wade, round-the-world flyer, declined the invitation, saying Mr. Bellanca's plans were too stunt-like, not scientific. Shrugging, Mr. Bellanca engaged Pilots Clarence Duncan ChamberlinClarence Duncan ChamberlinClarence Duncan Chamberlin was the second man to pilot a fixed-wing aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to the European mainland, while carrying the first transatlantic passenger.-Early life:...
and burly Bert Acosta, onetime auto speedster, to test his ship's endurance. Up they put from Mitchel Field, Long Island, with 385 gallons of ethylated (high power) gasoline. All day they droned back and forth over suburbia, circled the Woolworth BuildingWoolworth BuildingThe Woolworth Building is one of the oldest skyscrapers in New York City. More than a century after the start of its construction, it remains, at 57 stories, one of the fifty tallest buildings in the United States as well as one of the twenty tallest buildings in New York City...
, hovered over Hadley Field, New JerseyHadley Field, New JerseyHadley Field was an airport in South Plainfield, New Jersey and contained the Nike Missile Battery NY-65. It was the site of the nation's first air mail service. The two magazine Nike missile battery was first manned by Regular Army units and later by the New Jersey National Guard...
, swung back to drop notes on Mitchel Field. All that starry night they wandered slowly around the sky, and all the next day, and through the next night, a muggy, cloudy one. Newsgatherers flew up alongside to shout unintelligible things through megaphones. Messrs. Acosta and Chamberlain were looking tired and oil-blobbed. They swallowed soup and sandwiches, caught catnaps on the mattressed fuel tank, while on and on they droned, almost lazily (about 80 m.p.h.) for they were cruising against time. Not for 51 hours, 11 minutes, 25 seconds, did they coast to earth, having broken the U.S. and world's records for protracted flight. In the same time, conditions favoring, they could have flown from ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
to ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. They had covered 4,100 miles. To Paris it is 3,600 miles from Manhattan. Jubilant, Engineer Bellanca's employers offered competitors a three-hour headstart in the race to Paris. The Bellanca monoplane's normal cruising speed is 110 m.p.h. She would require only some 35 hours to reach Paris—if she could stay up that long again.
Orteig Prize Attempt
Columbia Aircraft CorpColumbia Aircraft Corp
The Columbia Aircraft Corp was a United States aircraft manufacturer, which was active between 1927 and 1947.-Formation and operations:Columbia Aircraft was founded in December 1927 by Charles A. Levine as chairman and the aircraft designer Giuseppe Mario Bellanca as president. The initial name...
president Charles Levine planned on using Clarence Chamberlin or Bert Acosta as pilot with Lloyd W. Bertaud
Lloyd W. Bertaud
Lloyd W. Bertaud was an American aviator. Bertaud was selected to be the copilot in the WB-2 Columbia attempting the transatlantic crossing for the Orteig Prize in 1927. Aircraft owner Charles Levine wanted to fly in his place, and a injunction by Bertaud against Levine prevented the flight...
as copilot on their attempt at the Orteig prize
Orteig Prize
The Orteig Prize was a $25,000 reward offered on May 19, 1919, by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first allied aviator to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice-versa. On offer for five years, it attracted no competitors...
in the Wright-Bellanca WB-2 Columbia. Levine bumped Bertaud from the copilot position, prompting an injunction preventing any Ortieg record flight. Lindbergh arrived on May 5, 1927. While Chamberlin waited for the injunction to be lifted, His other competition, Amrial Byrd's
Richard Evelyn Byrd
Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr., USN was a naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration. He was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics...
team was repairing his Fokker C-2 Trimotor, the "America
America (aircraft)
The America was a trimotor Fokker C-2 monoplane that was flown in 1927 by Richard E. Byrd, Bernt Balchen, George Otto Noville, and Bert Acosta on their transatlantic flight. For eight years after the first non-stop heavier than air Atlantic crossing by a British Vickers Vimy in 1919, there were no...
" after a practice run crash. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh left Roosevelt Field and crossing the Atlantic, while leaving the 'Columbia' and 'Atlantic' behind at the adjacent Curtiss Field.
Transatlantic flight
On June 29, 1927, thirty-three days after Charles LindberghCharles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
's record setting transatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe or Africa and terminating in North America or South America, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east...
, Acosta flew from Roosevelt Field on Long Island to France with Commander Admiral Richard E. Byrd aboard the America. A short film of Acosta, Byrd, George Noville, and Grover Whalen
Grover Whalen
Grover Aloysius Whalen was a prominent politician, businessman, and public relations guru in New York City during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:Grover A. Whalen was born on June 2, 1886 in New York City...
giving a farewell speech was filmed in the Phonofilm
Phonofilm
In 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
sound-on-film process on June 29 and released as America's Flyers. During the flight, the (perhaps apocryphal) story was that Byrd had to hit Acosta over the head with a fire extinguisher or a flashlight when he got out of control from drinking during their flight.
Bad Boy
In 1928 ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
suspended his pilot license for trying to fly under the Whittemore Memorial Bridge in Naugatuck. According to local Naugatuck tradition, the wing span of his aircraft was much longer than the width of the center arch of the bridge. The flight may have been a publicity stunt, as there was an advertisement for Splitdorf Spark Plugs on the fuselage.
In 1929 he was fined $500 for low flying and stunting. When he failed to pay the fine, the Department of Commerce revoked his pilot license. He was arrested by Connecticut State troopers in 1930 for flying without a license.
A new Terle Sportplane
Terle Sportplane
-External links:*...
was being tested at Roosevelt Field in New York in 1931, but the CAA
CAA
-Arts:*China Academy of Art, the highest university of art in China which founded in 1928*College Art Association, a professional association in the United States for scholars of art, art history, and art criticism...
did not register it as a licensed aircraft. The aircraft was later test flown by the famous test pilot, Bert Acosta
Bert Acosta
Bertrand Blanchard Acosta was a record setting aviator. With Clarence D. Chamberlin they set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Spanish Civil War in the Yankee Squadron. He was known as the Bad Boy of the Air...
, who found it perfect for his use since he was currently grounded from flying licenced aircraft from a previous infraction. After performing aerobatics with the aircraft to a large crowd, Acosta and Terle planned to produce the aircraft together as the "Acosterle Wild Cet". The aircraft was test flown for two years, but could not meet certification requirements.
In 1931 with Captain Lisandro Garay of the Honduran Air Force he planned to fly from New York to Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. They left from Floyd Bennett Field
Floyd Bennett Field
Floyd Bennett Field is New York City's first municipal airport. While no longer used as an operational commercial, military or general aviation airfield, the New York Police Department still flies its helicopters from its heliport base there...
and loaded their Bellanca monoplane with 360 gallons of gasoline to make a test flight, Bert disappeared and never made the flight.
Spanish Civil War
In 1936 Acosta was head of the Yankee SquadronYankee Squadron
The Yankee Squadron was a group of mercenary American military aviators who flew for the Spanish Republican Air Force, during the Spanish Civil War.-History:...
in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
with Eddie August Schneider
Eddie August Schneider
Eddie August Henry Schneider set three transcontinental airspeed records for pilots under the age of twenty-one in 1930. His plane was a Cessna Model AW with a Warner-Scarab engine, one of only 48 built, that he called "The Kangaroo". He set the east-to-west, then the west-to-east, and the...
and Frederic Ives Lord
Frederic Ives Lord
Frederic Ives Lord or sometimes Frederick Ives Lord, was a Captain, a World War I flying ace, and a soldier of fortune who fought in five wars.-Early years:...
.
Time magazine wrote on December 21, 1936:
Hilariously celebrating in the ship's bar of the Normandie with their first advance pay checks from Spain's Radical Government, six able U.S. aviators were en route last week for Madrid to join Bert Acosta, pilot of Admiral Byrd's transatlantic flight, in doing battle against Generalísimo Francisco FrancoFrancisco FrancoFrancisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's White planes. Payment for their services: $1,500 a month plus $1,000 for each White plane brought down.
Time magazine wrote on January 4, 1937, although the attack was later determined to be propaganda:
On Christmas Eve the "Yankee SquadronYankee SquadronThe Yankee Squadron was a group of mercenary American military aviators who flew for the Spanish Republican Air Force, during the Spanish Civil War.-History:...
" of famed U.S. aviators headed by Bert Acosta, pilot of Admiral Byrd's transatlantic flight, at the last minute abandoned plans for a whoopee party with their wives at Biarritz, swank French resort across the Spanish frontier. They decided that they would rather raid Burgos, Generalísimo Franco's headquarters. The hundreds of incendiary bombs that they dropped on White hangars and munition dumps they jokingly described as "Messages of Christmas Cheer for the boys in Burgos."
Death
In December 1951 Acosta collapsed in a New York City bar and was hospitalized with tuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. He died at the Jewish Consumptive's Relief Society sanatorium in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
in 1954. He was 59. Acosta was buried at the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation
Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation
The Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation is in Burbank, California. The shrine is a structure of marble, mosaic and sculpted figures, and is the burial site for 13 pioneers of aviation. It was built in 1924 as the entrance to Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery...
at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 10621 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood, California.The cemetery has a special section called the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation that is the final resting place for a number of aviation pioneers — barnstormers, daredevils and...
in North Hollywood, California.
Timeline
- 1895 Birth
- 1910 Builds experimental airplane
- 1912 Starts at Throop Polytechnic Institute
- 1914 Finishes at Throop Polytechnic Institute
- 1921 Marriage to Helen Belmont Pearsoll
- 1921 Sets airspeed record of 176.9 miles an hour http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/apjinternational/apj-s/2trimes99/ashcroft.htm
- 1922 Test pilot for the Stout Batwing Limousine, Stout's forerunner to the Ford TrimotorFord TrimotorThe Ford Trimotor was an American three-engined transport plane that was first produced in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and that continued to be produced until June 7, 1933. Throughout its time in production, a total of 199 Ford Trimotors were produced...
. - 1927 Endurance record
- 1927 Crosses Atlantic with Admiral Byrd
- 1936 Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
- 1951 Collapse from tuberculosis in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
- 1954 Death
External links
- Bert Acosta at CorbisCorbisCorbis Corporation is an American company, based in Seattle, Washington, that licenses the rights to photographs, footage and other visual media...
- Bert Acosta at FamilypediaFamilypediaFamilypedia is a free-to-use public wiki on family history and genealogy. It is hosted by Wikia, a wiki farm. Familypedia is a collaborative effort by amateur genealogists and family historians, with over 30,000 unique people having their own pages among 100,000 articles , with over 114,000 other...
- Bert Acosta bibliography
- Spanish Civil War Participants
- Bert Acosta at Aerofiles
- Air Mail Pioneers: Bert Acosta