Wrong Way Corrigan, a forgotton Aviation Hero?

possible relation to wrong way Jones?

Do tell about Jones?

As a teenager Douglas Corrigan had some barnstormers come to town in their JN-4 Jennies to do stunts and give rides. Wrong Way got a ride for $2.50 and was taking lessons by the end of the week.He was hooked....I have seen the parody in RC when someone gets on the buddy box and within time they are here talking about, asking, showing their Giant Scale birds.
He also became adept at working on and fixing the planes at his field and was then hired by Ryan aircraft and had to move from Texas to California towork at the California Ryan facility.

Then some fancy dude came from St Louis to see the factory. Said he wanted a plane that could fly very long distance and wanted to know if Ryan was up to it. Up to this point the Ryan Aircraft Company was struggling and barely making ends meet. This was about May 1927. Charles Lindberg was impressed with the manufacturer and need to know a price and if it could be completed in two months. 10k and yes was the answer.

After the deal was struck Lindberg climbed in a plane and Wrong Way asked a co-worker if he thought he could fly? "Looks like he belongs on a farm with a pitchfork."" Lindberg took off and just over the airport did 9 consecutive loops and a chandell back for landing. They both agreed he could fly.

Douglas Corrigan was the primary assembly person for the wing on the Spirit of St Louis, plus installed the nose tank and instrument panel. He was also the one who pulled the chocks as Lindberg made his famous flight.

Friends say that when the news came back that Lindberg had made it Douglas Corregan made the statement, ""I will get a plane and fly over the Atlantic too.""

Curious I have heard lots in the past about Corrigan but did not know of his involvment in the Ryan project.

Also interesting is that my step-grandfather who passed away some 5 years ago at the age of 100 was also pushing (with others) on the Spirit that day when he was slightly bogged down in the mud. Ernie Martin was a car mechanic that came out to see the curious plane and witnessed its take off. He would alway say to me.....""We really didn't think he would clear the wires at the other end of the runway.""

As a small boy in the 30s while visiting in Chicago my dad took me to the airport to see the pilot and i guess the plane. Thanks for bringing back this memory. Lots of others stuck way back in the corners of my brain.

So in 1933 Corrigan bought a used 1929 Curtis Robin OX-5 for $325. Some say it was destined for the scrap heap. It took him some 5 years to do modifications for long range flight and try to make the airplane airworthy enough to fly the long distance to New York....and beyond. At one point officials in California grounded the rattling bucket of bolts -- which Corrigan had named Sunshine -- for six months.

Finally he is issued a conditional permit to fly from Caifornia to New York which he does on a non stop hop. During the flight he develops a small fuel leak from the nose tank which he decided he had not time to worry about fixing.

On July 8 1938 he took off from California to New York. Prior to the flight to New York, he has petitioned the government to allow him to fly non stop from Newfoundland to Dublin Ireland. He was denied the permit saying that his plane was not safe enough to make the trip. He had been applying for permission to fly the Atlantic since 1935.

In my mind it is oh so curious that the plane was OK enough to fly over a sparsely populated USA but not safe to go over the water to Ireland.

On July 17th, 1938 the 31 year old Corrigan took off from New York's Floyd Bennitt field with a map of the route back to California and two candy bars. From there he flew on into the history books.

By 1938 Corrigan had logged over 1500 hours of flying time.

His 27 foot plane weighed 3800 pounds and had fuel tanks in the nose which did not allow him to see out the front of the plane, similar to Lindberg's Spirit of St Louis.