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Curtiss Robin
Courtesy Boeing Museum of Flight.
Edited by David Barth November 2014. Photos are by David Barth.
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| Boeing Museum of Flight. |
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| Curtiss Robin. |
The Robin, introduced in 1928, was a practical airplane, but best remembered for unusual flights. In 1929, Dale "Red" Jackson performed over four hundred slow rolls without stopping.
Later, Jackson and Forrest O'Brine spent nearly 27 days circling over St. Louis.
Their record was shattered in 1935 by Fred and Al Key who flew their Robin for 653 continuous hours - almost a month in the air. Fuel was delivered from another Robin via a hose while mail, food, and spare parts came in a supply bag on the end of a rope.
These endurance flights showed not only the reliability of the Robin, but the dependability of aircraft in general during the 1930s.
"Wrong Way" Corrigan
Experienced pilot and mechanic Douglas Corrigan (1907-1995) told New Yorkers that he intended to set out for California on July 17, 1938 after he was denied permission to make a transatlantic flight. The next day he landed in Dublin, Ireland, becoming just the eighth person to cross the Atlantic alone. Corrigan, who had helped build Lindberg's "Spirit of St. Louis," had made the flight in a nine-year-old, secondhand Curtiss Robin.
Upon touching down after 28 hours in the air, he became an international celebrity. Corrigan's explanation for his amazing flight: "I guess I made a mistake."
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| Curtiss Robin. |
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| Curtiss Robin. |