Warbird Information Exchange

Great article on famous flyer from the Golden Age of Aviation Roscoe Turner in the May 2010 issue of Aviation History.

Today he is virtually unknown and some contemporary readers may even refer to old Roscoe as an "obscure" aviation figure but during the 1930s he was HUGE!

A master of self promotion, Turner raced airplanes and entertained the public with equal enthusiasm. His elaborate aviation uniforms and pet lion kept him in the public eye.

A certain aviation magazine used to use photos of Roscoe to promote the magazine; I always got a kick out of this.

A couple years back I was looking at a book treating Cadillac Automobiles of the 1930s when I came across a photo of Roscoe accepting delivery of a new Cadillac; the caption characterized Turner as an "unidentified" Cadillac customer. Apparently no one at that publishing house could figure out who Roscoe Turner was, even though he was wearing one of his famous aviation uniforms in the photo.

Like Pancho Barnes and Jackie Cochran, Roscoe Turner is one of the great flyers from the Golden Age of Aviation who should get a little more ink.

TonyM

_________________
.
.
.

"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

I love reading about Roscoe Turner! As it turns out, there is a wheel pant from his Gilmore Lion Lockheed Air Express here in Oshkosh. I'm not going to say any more than that, but I've seen it in person, and it was cool!

Zack

_________________
Curator - EAA Aviation Museum, Oshkosh, WI
"Let No Story Go Untold!"
http://www.timelessvoices.org

A lot of greats have faded into the footnotes of history.
My favorite of my friend Tommy Tomlinson. Few people have any
clue has to and numerous firsts and achievements he made in his career>

_________________
Don't touch my junk!!

It's kind of too bad that Doolittle couldn't have found some way for him to be in on the Tokyo Raid... That would've been quite the story!

Ryan

_________________
Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

Were they friends? I know they were contemporaries.

_________________
Dave

Roscoe started an airline in Indianapolis that was later Lake Central air lines. He was well known in Indiana and Indianapolis and was friends with Colonel Weir Cook, another WW1 aviator and namesake of the Indianapolis Airport.

PJ
PV-2 Harpoon "Hot Stuff"
www.amhf.org

I have always thought that Rosco Turner's life would have made a good subject for a film. He was mentioned in that film "The Aviator" and I thought he would have had a part in that, but no.
Did you know that Gilmore is stuffed and mounted in the Smithsonian?

Rgds Cking

One of my favorite Roscoe Turner stories is him landing in a farmers field and the wingtip of his airplane hits a cow. The cow is stunned and if I remember correctly it keels over on top of a goat killing the goat. The farmer made him pay for both before he could fly out. What a wonderful, colorful guy who did so much for aviation in the golden age. I've been through Corinth Mississippi and never saw anything about him being born there, but that was from the vantage point of the highway.

I've been a Turner fan ever since seeing the original LTR in Silver Hill way back in 1984. That was one of the neatest "discoveries" for me- I was there to see the Enola Gay and the Luftwaffe stuff secreted away but seeing the LTR with Gilmore stuffed and mounted next to it made a huge impression on a plane-crazy 15-year old kid. One day I'd love to see his Weddell-Williams racer... so far as I know, it's the only surviving example and I'd love to shoot a full walkaround of it.

Yeah, he'd be an ideal movie topic, wouldn't he?

Lynn

Roscoe was certainly the showman and was extremely good at promoting himself. He was the only one to ever win the Thompson Trophy three times and his name was huge in America, probably bigger than any sports star today. He was also the kind of guy that basically lived from pay check to pay check and often disappeared when money was owed until he could create another money winning situation so he could pay his debtors. He lived a fantastic life and remained associated with aviation his entire life. He opened a museum in Indianapolis with the Laird-Turner Racer as the main attraction complete with the stuffed Gilmore. When he died in the early 70's from cancer, the museum was closed and the Laird-Turner and Gilmore were donated to NASM. His Wedell-Williams is on display in Cleveland at the Crawford Museum. I had the fantastic opportunity to sit in that airplane and had my photo taken striking a Roscoe pose along side of it. When my wife and I were married, I dressed as Roscoe Turner complete with the 4-pocket RAF-style Officers coat, a set of jewel encrusted Roscoe Turner wings, riding pants and boots!

_________________
President National Waco Club
Curator for the Waco Historical Society Air Museum
Writer for VINTAGE AIRPLANE, SKYWAYS, BARNSTORMERS.COM EFLYER

Has there ever been a biography writen about him?

Rgds Cking

_________________
rreis

If you want pictures, see rreis@flickr

Yes, 'Roscoe Turner' by Carroll Glines, published by the Smithsonian, is a good read. You can pick up used copies over the web from AbeBooks for around $15-$20.

The last time I picked up a hitch-hiker was in late winter of 1993 out in the eastern Oregon desert. He was a man in his late 80's it turned out, as I learned after turning around and driving a half mile back to get him. I had a few more hours of driving to get home and was sleepy anyway, and welcomed some company.

What a reward it was to find out he had worked for Roscoe Turner for many years! I wish I could have been running a tape recorder with all of the stories he told me. Can't remember anything too specific now.

Lowell