Roscoe Turner (September 29, 1895 – June 23, 1970) was a record-breaking American aviator who was a three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy air race and widely recognized by his flamboyant style and his pet, Gilmore the Lion. He also founded a US domestic airline, ultimately called Lake Central Airlines, that in 1968 merged into Allegheny Airlines, the predecessor to US Airways.
Early life Roscoe Turner was born in Corinth, Mississippi, the eldest son of farmer Robert Lee Turner and his wife Mary Aquilla Derryberry Turner. From 1903 to 1910, he attended the Glover School in West Corinth, and his formal education reached the tenth grade, the highest available there. He came to realize that he did not want to be a farmer, and daydreamed of a future on the railroad that ran through the family farm. He developed interests and skills in repairing, constructing and experimenting with mechanical objects, including horse-drawn wagons, large kites, motorcycles, and eventually, automobiles. He studied at business college for about six months, then worked in a hardware store, and briefly at a local bank, in the occupation then preferred by his father.Glines 1995, pp. 1–12.
At age 16, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee in the hope of being an automobile mechanic, but had to take a job as a dispatch clerk. A truck driver befriended him, helping him with driving and navigating the local area, allowing him to gain employment as a driver. He attributed his success at interviews to meticulous preparation of his clothing and appearance, an ethos that characterized the rest of his life. He then worked at various jobs, including automobile mechanic, chauffeur and salesman, often coincidentally. He first saw an aircraft in 1913, and in 1916 decided to become a pilot. He applied to the Army for flying training, but despite having mechanical expertise and driving experience, he lacked the required college education.
World War I After America entered World War I in April 1917, Turner enlisted as an ambulance driver. Within months, he was promoted from private to sergeant first class. In January 1918 he was accepted as a Flying Cadet and trained as a balloon pilot. In March 1918, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Signal Corps Reserve. In September 1918, he departed the U.S. to serve in France and Germany, where he gained some unofficial flying training in fixed wing aircraft. In July 1919, he returned to the U.S. as a First Lieutenant, and was discharged in September 1919.Glines 1995, pp. 12–16. After the war he became a member of the American Legion.Rumer 1990, pp. 402-403. Turner was also a member of the Forty and Eight, the Freemasons, and the Shriners.
Barnstorming In October 1919, Turner went into partnership with Harry J. Runser, who had already been barnstorming with a Canuck biplane, a Canadian version of the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, and who needed someone to act as mechanic, wing-walker and parachutist. Together, they toured eastern and southern states with their passenger joyriding flights and displays of stunts that included posed aircraft crashes. They wore Army–style uniforms, and Turner developed his own design of tailor-made uniform of blue tunic (similar to those worn by officers of the Royal Air Force), fawn jodhpurs, riding boots and a beige officer cap. He added a silver winged brooch of his own design with the monogram "RT" in the center, a fancy belt, and grew a waxed mustache to accentuate his toothy smile.Glines 1995, pp. 17–23. In later life, he maintained that his carefully contrived appearance was both practical and good for business, but that he grew to dislike wearing the uniform.Glines 1995, p. 289.
In April 1920, Turner and Runser sold the Curtiss Jenny and purchased an Avro 504 that could carry two passengers. In September 1921 they sold the Avro 504 and 'purchased' a Curtiss Jenny from a Marine sergeant. In February 1922, Turner and Runser were charged with conspiracy and receiving stolen government property. They both pleaded guilty, and were sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison. Turner was released on parole in July 1922, and in August 1924 he was granted a full and unconditional pardon by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. He returned to Corinth, and formed an automobile repair business with a partner. He repaired and restored a Curtiss Jenny, improved his flying skills, and barnstormed in the Corinth area. In the fall of 1924 he joined with Arthur H. Starnes to form the Roscoe Turner Flying Circus. They used a Standard J-1 nicknamed an 'OX Standard' (for its Curtiss OXX-6 engine), later joined by a Breguet 14.Glines 1995, pp. 24–43.
In 1923 in Sheffield, Alabama, he formed the Muscle Shoals Aircraft Corporation to promote aviation and other business in the Sheffield area, but his continuing automobile business in Corinth, and barnstorming with Arthur Starnes, were more successful. On his birthday in 1924, he married Carline Hunter Stovall at the farm near Corinth where he kept his aircraft. The couple were seated in his aircraft with the minister officiating while standing alongside. Turner wore his display uniform, and publicity was later obtained from the event. In 1925, after Starnes left to pursue his own barnstorming ambitions, Turner employed J. W. 'Bugs' Fisher as his wing–walker, stuntman and parachutist.Glines 1995, pp. 44–61.
Airlines and Hollywood
In early 1925, via a lease purchase agreement, and with sponsorship of the Curlee Clothing Company, The Roscoe Turner Aeronautical Corporation acquired the sole Sikorsky S-29-A, a twin-engine biplane with enclosed cabin for about 16 passengers plus open cockpit for the pilot. Turner used the aircraft through 1927 for commercial charters, publicity campaigns, passenger joy-riding and proposed record-breaking flights. In early 1928, Turner flew the S-29-A to California, for its conversion to a representation of a German Gotha bomber, under a lease agreement with film company Caddo Productions that was controlled by Howard Hughes. Caddo used the aircraft in Hughes' movie Hell's Angels (1930), often piloted by Turner. While being flown by another pilot during its final filmed stunt, it suffered an inflight failure and crashed with one fatality, after the pilot parachuted from the aircraft.
During this period, around 1928, Turner and his wife Carline became involved in Hollywood society, including movie executives, politicians and famous actors, all combined with aviation and publicity for all concerned. After failed attempts to break records for air endurance and altitude, he conducted successful experiments with the Russell Parachute Company to safely recover whole aircraft and their contents by parachute. That technique went largely unadopted until Ballistic Recovery Systems developed it further, 50 years later. In early 1929, Turner became chief pilot for Nevada Airlines, flying Lockheed Vegas on regular services between Los Angeles, Bishop, Tonopah, Reno and Las Vegas, to enable people to take advantage of Nevada laws on gambling, marriage and divorce. The first Vega was christened Alimony Special by Bebe Daniels.
Air racing At the 1928 National Air Races, Turner started air racing, in a Timm Aircoach sponsored by Shell Oil Company, and at the 1929 event he raced a Lockheed Vega (NC7954) of Nevada Airlines.Kinert 1967 vol.II, pp. 48, 56. On August 21, 1929, Turner made his first attempt to beat the two transcontinental airspeed records set by Frank Hawks. He piloted a Lockheed Vega of Nevada Airlines, with Harold Gatty as navigator, plus two passengers. The flights failed to break the records, but brought publicity for Turner, Nevada Airlines, and the concept of transcontinental passenger services. Later that month, Governor of Nevada, Fred B. Balzar, appointed Turner to his staff as a military aide de camp with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and Governor of California James Rolph then did likewise. From then and for the rest of his life, Turner adopted the title of "Colonel" in all his public activities.Glines 1995, pp. 62–116. However, Nevada Airlines failed to achieve enough viable services, and ceased operations in February 1930.Glines 1995, pp. 112–113.
In early 1930, Turner persuaded Gilmore Oil Company to purchase from General Tire & Rubber Company the Lockheed Air Express (NR3057) that Henry Brown had flown in the 1929 races.Kinert 1967 vol.II, pp. 57, 70. Turner replaced the Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet with a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp, fitted with an NACA cowling. The aircraft was painted cream with red and gold trim, plus matching lion head logo, advertising Gilmore Red Lion products. (Gilmore Oil Company was later absorbed by the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, later renamed Mobil). Turner took on Lockheed employee Don Young as his mechanic, in a working partnership that lasted over 20 years.
Turner saw a lion cub advertised for sale in California, and persuaded the owner Louis Goebel to donate it to him in return for promoting his lion-breeding farm. He named the cub 'Gilmore', raised him at home in Beverly Hills, and gave him familiarization flights in the Air Express. Thereafter, and fitted with a Turner-adapted parachute, Gilmore accompanied Turner on many publicized flights and events until about 1935, when he became too heavy and unmanageable in the aircraft. After retirement with Louis Goebel, Gilmore died in 1952.Glines 1995, pp. 117–145. The lion's body was stuffed, mounted, and put on display in the Turner home. In 1976, it was donated to the Smithsonian Institution.
On May 27, 1930, Turner flew the Air Express from Roosevelt Field to Grand Central Airport in 18:42:30 hours, breaking the east–west transcontinental airspeed record.Glines 1995, p. 128.
At the National Air Races at Cleveland in September 1931, Turner was impressed with Jimmy Wedell and his Wedell-Williams Model 44 that achieved second place in the Thompson Trophy race. After obtaining a grant of $5,000 from Gilmore Oil Company, Turner commissioned Wedell to build a new version of the Model 44 with a 525 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet engine to replace the 450 hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior. That aircraft (NR54Y) crashed while Wedell was testing it, and a replacement was built with a redesigned wing.Glines 1995, pp. 146-151.
At the National Air Races at Cleveland in September 1932, Turner came third in the Bendix Trophy cross-country race from Burbank, California to Cleveland in his Wedell-Williams Model 44 (NR61Y, race number 121), after Jimmy Haizlip followed by Jimmy Wedell, both also flying Model 44s. On November 14, 1932, Turner flew the Model 44 from Floyd Bennett Field, New York, to Burbank in 12:33 hours, breaking the east–west transcontinental airspeed record set by Frank Hawks.Glines 1995, pp. 152-155.
For the National Air Races at Los Angeles in July 1933, Turner entered his Model 44 (NR61Y, race number 2), fitted with an 800 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp, painted in a combined Gilmore and 20th Century Fox Pictures scheme. On July 1, 1933, he flew in the Bendix Trophy race from New York to Los Angeles, gaining first place, ahead of Jimmy Wedell in his Model 44 (NR278V, race number 44). Turner's time was 11:30 hours, that also broke his own east–west transcontinental airspeed record. Wedell went on to win the Thompson Trophy circuit race, despite finishing behind Turner, who was disqualified after a pylon rules infringement. In 1933 Turner upgraded his Model 44 again with a 1000 hp supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet engine, painted gold overall, and sponsored by Heinz and Macmillan Ring-Free Motor Oil. On September 2, 1933, he flew it from Los Angeles to New York in 10:04:30 hours, to break the west–east transcontinental airspeed record, to accompany his existing east to west record.Dwiggins 1965, pp. 46-48.Glines 1995, pp. 156-163.