Some readers will recall that the Of Wings and Things column was originated and perfected by Peter M. Bowers over many years starting in the early 1970s.
Pete was a master storyteller about the development of aircraft. He knew idiosyncratic differences between models of the same airplane. Pete was a consummate hardware historian who dealt in the details. It was said if you asked Pete the time of day, he would build you a watch, such was his attention to detail.
I’m pleased to call Pete one of the two most significant professional mentors in my life, and from him I acquired a sense of the rivet-counter historian in my own work. But it took people to design, build, and fly those airplanes, and another great storyteller, and mentor, Walter J. Boyne, had a penchant for including the human side of aviation history in his writings. Walt passed away in 2020, leaving behind many accomplishments, including a large photograph collection.
From a survey of Walt’s eclectic photo archives, amassed over decades, this column takes a brief look at several aviation personalities. You’ve heard of some, and possibly not others, in this group.
Peter M. Bowers
Walt’s photo collection included this signed enlargement from Peter M. Bowers, taken as the Boeing Dash-80 jetliner prototype roared past Pete flying his Curtiss Pusher replica at Boeing Field in Seattle.
Pete Bowers was a Renaissance Man of aviation, designing and building his own Fly Baby aircraft, working for Boeing, and writing seminal histories of that company and some of its most famous aircraft. Pete originated the “Of Wings and Things” column in 1972.
William C. Hopson
This no-nonsense flier is airmail pilot William C. “Wild Bill” Hopson. A former New York City cab driver, Hopson flew the mail in open cockpit deHavilland DH-4 biplanes in all kinds of weather when the U.S. Post Office ran the operation in the 1920s.
When asked by the Post Office for a photograph of himself, Hopson said: “When finished with picture just post in cellar. It’s guaranteed to keep away all rats, mice, and other vermin.”
When contract carriers took over the air mail, Hopson continued flying the mail. He died in a storm-related crash on Oct. 18, 1928.
Claire Chennault
The rugged countenance of Maj. Gen. Claire Chennault telegraphs his resolve in World War II. Chennault was a prewar fighter aircraft advocate before that was a popularly held opinion. He left the service before World War II, and served Nationalist China, helping to raise and train its air force to fight the Japanese.
Chennault’s fame will be forever linked to his leadership of the American Volunteer Group of pilots who flew Curtiss P-40s against the Japanese in support of Nationalist China under the popular name “Flying Tigers.” After American entry into the war, Chennault returned to serve the U.S. Army Air Forces in China as commander of 14th Air Force.
Wilbur and Orville Wright
This worn and browned original photograph captures the Wright brothers preparing their Model A Flyer for an Army demonstration on Sept. 3, 1908, at Fort Meyer, Virginia.
Pete Bowers provided the photo to Walt Boyne, and Pete’s handwritten note on the back says: ‘Wilbur at wingtip, Orville at center.’ The dynamic tension of preflight is evident in Wilbur Wright’s stance, his necktie flipping over his shoulder as he wears his signature derby.
John K. Northrop
John K. Northrop rocked a pith helmet as he came to the high desert to watch a flight of his XB-35 Flying Wing on July 3, 1946. Dignified, but not stuffy, Jack Northrop was known to circulate among his engineers’ drafting tables to chat. Northrop’s lifelong design ambition was the reduction of airframe drag, something he believed could best be accomplished by making aircraft that were efficient all-wing designs.
The know-how and technology to make big Flying Wings practical was still growing when post-World War II budget cuts, and other factors within the industry, led to the demise of Northrop’s all-wing aircraft. His ultimate dream was realized when the company he founded later produced the computerized fly-by-wire B-2 all-wing bomber in service today.
Walter J. Boyne
We would not be complete without this snapshot of an Air Force officer in an unadorned flightsuit, posing with his C-47 in U-Tapao, Thailand, in the late 1960s. That’s Walt Boyne, whose wonderfully diverse photo collection gave rise to all of the images in this column.
Walt possessed drive and intelligence, plus a lifelong affinity for the history of aviation in all of its forms.
Probably three years after this photo, I met Walt when I was a history major at the University of Washington, and we both happened to show up at Pete Bowers’ home near Seattle-Tacoma airport, to learn from mentor Pete. Over time, Walt moved ever upward to become director of the National Air and Space Museum.
His Air Force career included work as a bomber pilot with a nuclear test unit from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.
It gives great pleasure to include Walt in this gallery of aviation personalities. His photo collection reminds us that we wouldn’t have the planes without the people.
(Photographs in this article are from the Walter J. Boyne collection. Walt’s sources include Peter M. Bowers and the National Archives. The photo of Pete Bowers’ Curtiss Pusher and the Dash-80 is originally from Boeing.)
I believe that Howard Hughes should be in included in most any listing of “Aviation Giants!
I love your list in any case… Thank you!
It’s JACK Northrop !!
Before he died, the Government allowed him to see a model of the B-2 “Spirit” which Northrop Aircraft was producing under a giant veil of secrecy in the early 80’s. It was the ultimate vindication of his vision.
Or, John Knudson “Jack” Northrop.
Thanks for the great article. While all the ‘characters’ in your article certainly deserve a place in aviation Valhalla, I think the photo of Wild Bill Hopson deserves special mention – it conveys in no uncertain terms the toughness of the early air mail pilots!
Thanks, Fred! Pete was a huge influence on my life from the time I wandered into his shop at 12 yrs of age.
Very nice article. However, the photo purporting to be of Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright together at Ft. Meyer in September, 1908 is incorrect. In September of 1908 Orville was at Fort Meyer, but Wilbur was in France. The man wearing the derby does look like it could be Wilbur, but at the flying field he is usually seen wearing a “newsboy” style hat. If it is Wilbur, and taken in 1908, then it was taken in France. If it is indeed Ft. Meyer, then it must be Orville.