Don Dwiggins | |
---|---|
Born | Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S. | November 15, 1913
Died | December 10, 1988 75) Malibu, California, U.S. | (aged
Known for | Aviation journalist, author, historian |
Spouse | Olga Arabsky |
Children | 2 |
Don Dwiggins was an American journalist and author, specializing in aviation. [1] [2] [3]
Dwiggins was born on November 13, 1918, in Plainfield, New Jersey. During World War II, he joined the United States Army Air Forces and worked as a flight instructor with the Royal Air Force. [1] Beginning in the late 1940s, Dwiggins worked as a free-lance journalist and editor, working for a variety of Los Angeles-based publications. A prolific author, he wrote numerous articles for aviation magazines, and authored several dozen books, most of them focusing on aviation history. [1] Between 1974 and 1982, he was a senior editor and columnist for Plane & Pilot magazine. [3]
He was married to author Olga Arabsky, and had two children, Don Lindsay and Toni Kay. [1] Dwiggins was killed in an automobile accident on December 10, 1988, along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. [2] He had just finished work on a four-volume history of American aviation. [2]
During his career, Dwiggins authored over 40 books. This is a partial list.
Richard David Bach is an American writer. He has written numerous flight-related works of fiction and non-fiction. His works include Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970) and Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977), both of which were among the 1970s' biggest sellers.
Ormer Leslie "Lock" Locklear was an American daredevil stunt pilot and film actor.
The Ace Junior Ace is a two-seat sports aircraft that has been offered by the Ace Aircraft Manufacturing Company in kit and plans form for home building since the early 1930s. It was designed by Orland Corben.
Albert Paul Mantz was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races.
Beverly Homer DeLay was an American aviator who pioneered many of the popular stunts used in the early barnstorming air-shows. He soon adapted them for the movies, where he appeared with top Hollywood stars. DeLay died in a plane crash that was almost certainly caused by sabotage, but no one was ever charged in connection with the death.
The Great Waldo Pepper is a 1975 American drama film directed, produced, and co-written by George Roy Hill. Set during 1926–1931, the film stars Robert Redford as a disaffected World War I veteran pilot who missed the opportunity to fly in combat, and examines his sense of postwar dislocation in 1920s America. The cast includes Margot Kidder, Bo Svenson, Edward Herrmann and Susan Sarandon. The Great Waldo Pepper depicts barnstorming during the 1920s and the accidents that led to aviation regulations by the Air Commerce Act.
Roscoe Turner 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.
Robert Lee Scott Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force and a flying ace of World War II, credited with shooting down 13 Japanese aircraft.
Edward Anderson ("Eddie") Stinson, Jr. was an American pilot and aircraft manufacturer. He was the founder of Stinson Aircraft Company, one of America's first manufacturers of enclosed-cabin aircraft, and commercial airliners. At the time of his death in 1932 in an air crash, he was the world's most experienced pilot in flight hours, with over 16,000 hours logged.
Central Airport is a 1933 American pre-Code aviation drama film directed by William A. Wellman, based on the John C. "Jack" Moffitt story, "Hawk's Mate". The film stars Richard Barthelmess and Sally Eilers. Central Airport was produced and released by Warner Bros., on April 15, 1933. John Wayne had an uncredited part in the film, playing a co-pilot, and this film features his first on-screen death.
Eagle of the Night is a 1928 American drama film serial directed by James F. Fulton. Dismissed when released and completely forgotten in the modern era, the 10-chapter aviation serial starred real-life aviator Frank Clarke, a stunt pilot in such fare as Wings (1927), Hell's Angel (1930), and The Flying Deuces (1939).
Flight from Glory is an American B movie about a run-down air cargo company in the Andes. It was directed by Lew Landers, and starred Chester Morris, Whitney Bourne, Onslow Stevens and Van Heflin. When released on August 20, 1937, Flight from Glory was considered one of the films that broke new ground in "pioneering airline sagas", comparing favorably to big-budget features such as 1936's Thirteen Hours by Air.
The Pazmany PL-4A is a single-seat, single-engine sport aircraft developed in the United States and first flown in 1972. It is marketed for homebuilding from plans, and 686 sets had sold by 1985. The PL-4A is a conventional, low-wing cantilever monoplane with an enclosed cabin and fixed, tailwheel undercarriage. The design features a T-tail, chosen to facilitate folding the wings. Construction throughout is of metal, using standard extruded sections for the longerons and pop rivets as the basic fastener. The standard powerplant is a Volkswagen air-cooled engine of 60 hp (45 kW) Construction time is estimated to be around 1,000–1,500 hours.
Flying Blind is a 1941 American action comedy film directed by Frank McDonald and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was the second movie from Pine-Thomas Productions. That company's first three films formed an unofficial "aviation trilogy"; all starred Richard Arlen.
TAB is an imprint of McGraw-Hill Education, based in New York, New York, that publishes do-it-yourself technology books for makers, electronics hobbyists, students, and inventors.
The Flying Fool is a 1929 aviation-themed film produced and distributed by Pathé Exchange as both a silent film and sound film just as Hollywood was transitioning to filming with sound. Tay Garnett directed and William Boyd, Russell Gleason and Marie Prevost starred.
Frank Clarke was a Hollywood stunt pilot, actor, and military officer. His most prominent role was as Leutnant von Bruen in the 1930 production Hell's Angels, but he flew for the camera and performed stunts in more than a dozen films in the 1930s and 1940s. Clarke was killed in an aircraft crash near Isabella, California, in 1948.
Iris Vinton (1905–1988) was an American writer of children's literature. She wrote several children's historical stories, mostly based on fact. One of her books, Flying Ebony (1956), was turned into a Walt Disney production titled Mooncussers in 1962.
The Olympian ZB-1 was the first human-powered aircraft to have flown in the United States. It was designed, built, and flown by Joseph A. Zinno, of North Providence, Rhode Island. Zinno had previously been a USAF Lieutenant Colonel, and undertook the challenge of making a human-powered aircraft as a post-retirement project.
The BURD was a two-place human-powered biplane, designed and built by graduates and undergraduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with Professors Eugene Covert and James Mar acting as project advisers. It was developed with the specific goal of winning the £50,000 Kremer prize then on offer.