EUGENE L VIDAL, Gore Father/Aviation/Orville Wright/Amelia Earhart, Letter 4404
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EUGENE L VIDAL, Gore Father/Aviation/Orville Wright/Amelia Earhart, Letter 4404:
$19.50
A collector seeks an autograph of Orville Wright
VIDAL, EUGENE L.(1895-1969) American Aviation Pioneer;Director of the Bureau of Air Commerce – 1933-37; Father of American AuthorGore Vidal
TypedLetter Signed,on official imprinted 8” x 10 ½” stationery as Director of Air Commerce duringthe presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, responding to a request for an autographof Orville Wright.
December 6, 1934
Mr. George AlbertIngham
1102 Clifton Avenue
Collingdale
Darby, Pennsylvania
Dear Mr. Ingham:
If there were any way in which I helpyou obtain an autographed photograph or an autograph of Dr. Orville Wright asrequested in your letter of December 3, I should be very happy to do so, but Iam afraid it will be impossible. Ifthere are any letters from him in the files they would have to stay there aspart of the official records, and it would not be appropriate for us to attemptthe role of intermediary in securing autographs or photographs. I can only suggest that you try anotherletter to Dr. Wright himself.
I am enclosing three press releasesthat we have issued in connection with National Aviation Day, and I hope that yourScout troop will take part in some way in the Aviation Day demonstration in yourcity.
With best wishes and thanks foryour kind letter, I am
Sincerely yours,
Eugene L. Vidal
Directorof Air Commerce
E.L. Vidal
Theletter is lightly and evenly toned, with two horizontal folds, and there areold paper clip stains at the upper edge.
Authenticityand buyer satisfaction guaranteed.
Shippingcharges will be combined on purchases of multiple items.
Sales tax of 7% will be charged on sales toFlorida residents.
Madison, South DakotaDiedFebruary 20, 1969(aged73)
Los Angeles, CaliforniaCauseof deathKidney cancerSpouse(s)Nina S. Gore
(m.1922-1935; divorced)
Katharine Roberts
(m.1939-1969; his death)Children3, includingGore Vidal
Eugene 13, 1895 – February 20, 1969) was an American commercial aviation pioneer,New Dealofficial, inventor andathlete. He was the father of authorGore Vidal. For eight years, from 1929 to 1937, he worked closely withAmelia Earhartin a number of aviation-related enterprises, and was PresidentFranklin Roosevelt\'s top civil aviation director from 1933 to 1937.
In his obituary,Timenoted: \"Eugene Vidal, 73, pioneer promoter of civil aviation and father of author Gore Vidal; in Los Angeles, Calif. Vidal starred in football atWest Pointand competed in the decathlon in theAntwerp Olympic Games of 1920. He later taught aviation and coached football at the academy, resigned his commission in 1926 to become assistant general manager ofTranscontinental Air Transport(laterTWA).\"[2]
From September 1933 to March 1937 he was Director of the Bureau of Air Commerce (a predecessor of theFederal Aviation Administration) in Washington, where he organized and expanded the government\'s civil aeronautics program, including creation of the firstair traffic controlsystem. Later he served as a director and part owner ofNortheast Airlines, and as aviation adviser to theArmy Chief of Staff.\"[2]
Vidal became one of the pioneers in the commercial aviation industry and was an executive for three airlines during the 1920s and \'30s which developed into TWA,Eastern Airlines, and Northeast Airlines.
Contents- 1Early life
- 2Military service, Olympics and football
- 2.1Olympics
- 2.2Post-college football
- 3Commercial aviation professional
- 3.1Department of Commerce
- 4Post-New Deal entrepreneur
- 5Personal life
- 6Legacy
- 7Notes
- 8References
- 9External links
Vidal was born in 1895 inMadison, South Dakota, the son of Margaret Ann (née Rewalt) and Felix Luther Vidal.[3][4]He was the second eldest of five children.[5][n 1]His paternal grandfather, Eugene Fidel Vidal, was born inFeldkirch, Austria, ofRomanshdescent, and his paternal grandmother, Emma Hartmann, was Swiss.[6]
Vidal was a versatile athlete in both high school and college. At theUniversity of South Dakotafrom 1913 to 1916, he was Vidal was captain of the university\'s 1915 football and 1916 basketball teams, leading the basketball team in scoring in both years, thereby assisting the university in winning an Intercollegiate Conference Title during his participation. Vidal received an engineering degree from USD and subsequently accepted an appointment from CongressmanRoyal C. Johnsonto theUnited States Military Academyin July 1916.[7]
As a football player forArmy, he was described as a \"ball carrier,punter,drop kicker,pass receiverand backup defenseman.\"[8]In 1916 Vidal scored three touchdowns and drop-kicked a 45-yard field goal in a 30-10 victory overNotre Dame. He also scored the deciding touchdown in a 15-7 win againstNavyon aforward passthrown by Army quarterbackCharlie Gerhardt. Army went 9-0 that season and outscored its opponents 235-36.The New York Timesreported that he sat out the 1917 season because of a \"hazing episode\" but was afterward named captain of the 1918 team. He also starred intrack and fieldand was Army\'s leading scorer on its 1917-18 basketball team at 8.3 points a game, for which he was named anAll-Americanby theHelms Foundation.[9]
At the age of 25, he was listed as 5-10 (178cm) in height and weighing 181lbs (82kg) by theU.S. Olympic Committee.[10]
Military service, Olympics and football[edit]Vidal\'s West Point class (originally Class of 1920) graduated on November 1, 1918, 19 months early because of World War I, with Vidal ranked 72nd in general merit. He was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in theCorps of Engineersbut the war ended on November 11, 1918, before he could be sent overseas. Vidal was assigned toCamp A. A. Humphreys, Virginia between December 2, 1918 to June 4, 1919 as a student officer to complete his branch officer training at theU.S. Army Engineer School.[11]
Vidal\'s national renown and prowess as an athlete resulted in many instances during his military career, with the war ended, where he was granted leaves or assignments outside his normal duties to perform in sports fromintramuralsto theOlympic Gamesandprofessional football. During the summer of 1919 he was a member of the United States team at theInter-Allied GamesatParis,France, touring World War I battlefields afterwards. He returned to Camp Humphreys in September to enter its Company Officers Course and was promoted tofirst lieutenanton September 28, 1919. In May 1920 he was assigned to the 13th Engineer Regiment[n 2]but took another leave of absence over the summer to attend the Olympic tryouts atTravers Island, New Yorkand the Summer Games inAntwerp, touring Europe afterwards with the U.S. OlympicRugbyTeam until November. On his return to Camp Humphreys he undertook the advanced technical course in civil engineering.[11]
On July 2, 1921, Vidal was detailed toCarlstrom Field, Florida, for pilot training at the Air Service Pilot School, and transferred in grade to theAir Serviceon July 28. The course of instruction lasted four months and Vidal received hisAirplane Pilot rating. On January 16, 1922, he was assigned for advanced flight training at the Air Service Observation School atHenry Post Field, Oklahoma, remaining until June 15, 1922.[11][n 3]
Vidal returned to West Point on July 5, 1922 for a four-year tour of duty as an assistant instructor in the Department of Tactics, the first member of the Air Service to be assigned to the academy staff. Later he was also an assistant instructor in Military Gymnastics and Physical Culture, with collateral duties coaching the academy\'sgymnastics(1922-1923) andtrack and field(1923-1924) squads. In 1925 Army head football coachJohn \"Cap\" McEwannamed him an assistant football coach.[n 4]At the end of the 1925 season he took a leave of absence from the academy on December 12.[11]
Vidal resigned his commission on March 10, 1926, to go intoFlorida real estate.[11]When he lost all his investments in the subsequent \"bust\", and after a period from 1926 to 1928 when he coached college football and attempted to organize his own business enterprises, Vidal turned in March 1929 to commercial aviation, joining Transcontinental Air Transport (T.A.T.), where being both an engineer and pilot he rapidly rose to assistant general manager in itsSt. Louis, Missourioffice.[12]
Olympics[edit]Vidal participated as an athlete in the1920 Olympic Gamesand as a coach in the1924 Games. In 1920 he had one first-place finish in competing in thedecathlon, in heat eight of the100 meter dash, and placed seventh overall in the event. In 1924 in Paris, Vidal was an assistant track coach in charge of the modern pentathlon and decathlon squads. He was the first graduate of USD to be on an Olympic team.[13][14]
Post-college football[edit]While stationed at Carlstrom, Vidal also played briefly for theAmerican Professional Football Association\'sWashington Senatorsin 1921, appearing in one game.[15][n 5]When Cap McEwan leftArmyto become head football coach atOregon, he hired Vidal as an assistant coach for the 1926, 1927, and 1928 seasons.
Commercial aviation professional[edit]In theWall Street Crash of 1929, T.A.T. suffered significant financial losses. Before the year ended the entire executive staff in St. Louis, including Vidal, were fired.[16]The following February he and veteran airmail pilot Paul Collins, who had also been let go by T.A.T., went toPhiladelphiato organize the first commuter airline, the New York, Philadelphia and Washington Airway Corporation, better known as theLudington Line, financed and owned by brothers Nicholas andCharles Townsend Ludington. Vidal became a company vice president and general manager. Amelia Earhart made an investment of $30,000 and was also made a vice president, in charge of publicity. In its first year, using seven 10-passengerStinson SM-6000B tri-motorson an hourly daytime schedule between Washington, D.C. and New York, Ludington became first purely passenger air carrier to show a profit. However Vidal, Collins and Earhart all left the airline in 1932 when its profitability declined because of a failure in 1931 to obtain an airmail contract and its subsidies.[17][n 6]In August 1933 all three invested $2,500 each in theBoston and Maine Corporation\'s passenger airline subsidiary, Boston & Maine Airways, and incorporated a holding company, National Airways, Inc., to procure aircraft for the endeavor. Collins and Earhart were president and vice president respectively in the B&MA while Vidal, by then in government service, was an unpaid director. He became a partner in Boston & Maine Airways in 1938, which merged with National Airways in November 1940 and becameNortheast Airlines.[18][19]
Department of Commerce[edit]Vidal joined theUnited States Department of Commercein June 1933, appointed by PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltas Assistant Director for Air Regulation in its Aeronautics Branch. Over 40 candidates were being sponsored for the directorship by various political supporters of the president, including Vidal, but Roosevelt delayed making the appointment. On September 19, 1933, with Earhart\'s recommendation toEleanor Roosevelt, Vidal was named Director of Aeronautics. Soon after his appointment he appeared on the December 18, 1933 cover ofTimemagazineand was recognized by theUnited States Chamber of Commerceas one of the \"12 Outstanding Young Men of America.\" On July 1, 1934, with Vidal continuing as its director, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce (BAC) to emphasize its status as a regulatory agency.[20][21]
Vidal\'s term as director was a rocky one. In November 1933 he made public a proposal to develop a safe mass-produced light aircraft, the aviation equivalent of theFord Model Tautomobile, that would cost only $700, calling it the \"Poor Man\'s Airplane\" project and part of a \"New Dealfor Aviation.\" The \"$700 airplane\" became an object of ridicule that would haunt the remainder of his time in government.[22][n 7]Vidal called for $1,000,000 to be Federally funded to underwrite the project, and half of that was immediately allocated by thePublic Works Administration, but by March 1934 opposition had solidified and the funds were cancelled, leaving Vidal no option except to find private sector sources willing to experiment on their own.[23][n 8]
Vidal also organized Bureau headquarters so that decision-making authority was divided among himself and two assistant directors, for Air Navigation and for Air Regulation, in an attempt to make the Bureau more effective in its regulatory role. Of the BAC\'s seven functional divisions, however, only Administration and Aeronautic Information were responsible to Vidal and disorganization resulted from a lack of clear lines of authority. A dearth of procedures and policy created what one aviation historian described as a \"paper jungle\" of rules, bulletins, notices, and reports.[24][n 9]
AfterTWAFlight 6, aDouglas DC-2carrying 13 persons, crashed atAtlanta, Missourion May 6, 1935, killing five includingUnited States SenatorBronson M. Cutting, Vidal and the BAC came under severe criticism. The airliner had become lost in fog, missed its approach at the airport inKansas Cityand was unable to find thesecondary airport at Kirksvillebecause theradio beaconthere was not operating properly. Flight 6 ran low on fuel and either inadvertently flew into the ground or crashed trying to make an emergency landing in the dark.[25]It was the seventh in a series of fatal crashes that took 43 lives. A lengthy investigation into the Flight 6 crash and airline safety in general (and by inference, the BAC) ensued throughout 1936 by a special subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by SenatorRoyal S. Copeland.[26]TheCopeland Committeeissued a \"scathing\" preliminary report in June 1936 indicting the BAC for a lack of airline safety, and while the report was biased against Vidal because he was aNew Dealer(FDR had supported Copeland\'s opponent in theDemocraticprimaryof 1934), the criticism damaged Roosevelt\'s re-election campaign.[27][n 10]
In the face of criticism of his aviation policy by Congress and the airline industry, Roosevelt moved to reorganize the BAC, dismiss Vidal and his two assistant directors, and appoint a lawyer to replace him. He was compelled to reinstate Vidal, however, when Earhart advised Mrs. Roosevelt that she would publicly withdraw her support for FDR\'s re-election if he did not.[28][29]After Copeland announced a new round of investigations in November, disorganization in the Bureau and continuing hostility from the aviation industry contributed to his resignation on February 28, 1937.[27][n 11]
After the 1936 elections, Earhart began final planning for her proposedequatorialcircumnavigationof the world, with fuel and routing across thePacific Oceanmajor considerations. Vidal suggested that landing strips be built on tiny, uninhabitableHowland Islandas the largest point of land along the planned route within range of bothNew Guineaand Hawaii. Earhart agreed with the suggestion and made the request for its use. At the president\'s direction, theDepartment of the Interior, which administered the island, began constructing the strips in January 1937 usingWorks Progress Administrationfunds, an engineer from the BAC to supervise, aU.S. Armyconstruction crew, and aUSCGcutterto transport them.[30]Her first attempt to cross the Pacific ended in damage to her aircraft when itground-loopedin Hawaii on March 20, 1937, and with Vidal by then gone from the BAC, she encountered obstacles from the new management of the Bureau attempting to prevent a second attempt. Earhart herself wrote that permission for the trip was granted by the BAC despite its reluctance because it was in no position to refuse after Vidal previously granted it.[31]
Between November 1935 and July 1936 Vidal directed the establishment of the firstair traffic control centersin the United States, initially negotiating an interline air traffic agreement with the airlines to build and operate several until funding could be appropriated for a Federal takeover of the system, which was obtained in March 1936 for the nextfiscal year. The BAC took over air control duties at the first three centers in Cleveland, Newark, and Chicago on July 6, 1936, and hired the first 15 Federalair traffic controllers.[32]
As head of the BAC, Vidal occupied the Chair 10 position on the 15-member Main Committee of theNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics(the NACA) from November 1933 to April 1937, and was one of only 120 persons to serve on the committee during its existence between 1915 and 1958, when it becameNASA. Among the non-military members of the Main Committee during Vidal\'s term wereJoseph S. Ames,Charles G. Abbot,Lyman J. Briggs,Harry F. Guggenheim,Charles A. Lindbergh,William P. MacCracken, Jr., andOrville Wright.[33]
His expertise in aviation led him to a number of consulting positions in industry and the government. After leaving the BAC, Vidal was a technical consultant forBendix Aviationthrough 1938, establishing his own laboratory in Bendix Borough (Teterboro), New Jersey. This was the foundation for what he described as \"a development-licensing-patenting firm\", the Vidal Research Corporation, \"which for the next fifteen or so years acquired a number of licenses companies.\"[8]In 1938 heincorporatedthe Aircraft Research Corporation to establish abrand namefor aircraft sales. In the same year he became an aviation consultant for the United States Plywood Corporation.[19]
Post-New Deal entrepreneur[edit]In 1935, while pushing his concept of the $700 arplane, Vidal had seen the Atwood Duply Airmobile (civil registration number NC-15318), an experimental aircraft invented byHarry Atwoodand test flown byClarence Chamberlin. It was constructed with a seamless one-piece fuselage using \"Duply,\" a steam-cooked laminate made frombirchveneer strips impregnated withcellulose acetate.[n 12]After leaving the BAC, Vidal experimented from 1937 to 1940 with wood-resin composites using athermosetting polymerprocess similar toDuramoldunder the banner of the Vidal Research Corporation. The experiments with the durable waterproofplywoodmaterial, said to have a greatertensile strengththan a comparable thickness ofaluminum, evolved initially into a small business producing only trays and dinghies. Vidal patented the process as \"Vidal Weldwood\",[34]variously described as \"cooked wood\" or \"molded plywood.\"
Howell W. Miller, a designer of light aircraft doing business as the Summit Aeronautical Company ofWestfield, Massachusetts,[n 13]worked with Vidal in Bendix Borough to build a small airplane entirely from Weldwood, the Summit HM-5. A prototype was built (NX25332) and successfully flown.[n 14]In 1940, based on the successful fabrication of the HM-5, Vidal began a project under the Aircraft Research trade name to manufacture a basic trainer for the Air Corps designated theXBT-11,[n 15]but was unable to procure a contract from the Materiel Division of the Air Corps after fabricating a mockup.[35]
After the United States was drawn into World War II, Vidal obtained contracts to manufacture war materiel, primarily deck houses forPT boats,[n 16]pontoonsand aircraftdrop tanks, that earned him the wealth that had eluded his earlier entrepreneurial attempts. Restrictions on the use of metals in 1942, particularly aluminum, caused by an increased demand by shipbuilders and aircraft manufacturers led both the Army and the Navy to demand designs for components and training equipment that could be manufactured from wood composites. Investments in factories to build Weldwood products under license boomed immediately. One such licensee was theHughes Aircraft DivisionofHughes Tool Company, and another was U. S. Plywood.[36]The success of the product was well-publicized and earned him an honorary doctorate fromLawrence College.[8]
Vidal wanted to re-enter military service in theArmy Air Forcesduring the war but in July 1942 suffered a massiveheart attack, spending eight months as a convalescent, which prevented him from serving again.[8][37]He retired from active participation in his company in the early 1950s but remained a part owner and director of Northeast Airlines. He continued to make furniture and other products out of Weldwood in his home workshop.[8]
Vidal acted as aviation adviser to theArmy Chief of Stafffrom 1955 to 1965, served on the Scientific Advisory Panel of theSecretary of the Army,[2][38]and was a member of theHowze Boardin 1962, which developed theair assaultconcept for the Army. In 1967, he visited the most famous offshoot of the concept, the1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), at its base camp inSouth Vietnam.[8]
Personal life[edit]On January 11, 1922, Vidal marriedNina Gore, daughter ofThomas Gore, one of the first twoDemocraticsenators from Oklahoma.[39]Their only child was born on October 3, 1925:
- Gore Vidal(born Eugene Louis Vidal) (1925-2012)
They divorced in 1935 and Nina subsequently married stockbrokerHugh D. Auchincloss.[40]In December 1939, after a brief courtship, Vidal married Katharine \"Kit\" Roberts, then a 20-year-oldPowers Agencymodel. They had two children:
- Gene Vance Vidal (born 1943)
- Valerie Vidal Hewitt (born 1946)[41]
It is alleged in Susan Butler\'s biographyEast to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart, and the possibility endorsed byKathleen WintersinAmelia Earhart: The Turbulent Life of an American Icon, that Vidal had a long-standing romantic relationship with Earhart,[42][43]from 1929 when they worked together forTranscontinental Air Transportto her disappearance in 1937. His son Gore Vidal\'s cover testimonial to Butler\'s biography adds credence to the story.[44][n 17]
Vidal died, of complications from kidney cancer[45]in 1969 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 73, while on a trip around the world.[2]His ashes were scattered atFort Belvoir, which had been Camp A.A. Humphreys and his first posting after graduation from West Point.[8]
Legacy[edit]- Vidal is in the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.[14]
- Vidal was portrayed by actorEwan McGregorin the 2009 filmAmelia.[46]
- Since 1971, each year the Gene L. Vidal Memorial Award is presented at the United States Military Academy to the Cadet who has the \"Most Significant and Practical Suggestion Adopted for Future Benefit of the United States Military Academy.\"
EUGENE L VIDAL, Gore Father/Aviation/Orville Wright/Amelia Earhart, Letter 4404:
$19.50