Viewing page 14 of 20

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

the Engineering Department of the Curtiss Company at Buffalo, and took some additional flying instruction at the Curtiss Buffalo School, then reportedly served as instructor at the Curtiss Newport News, Virginia, Flying School in early 1917.

From late 1917 to July, 1918, DePew was flying instructor at the Plattsburg, New York, Aviation Training Camp for young Reserve Officers, and there was commissioned. From July to December, 1918, he was a test pilot at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, and in September flew his tests for Expert License, [[strikethrough]] being [[/strikethrough]] and was granted Certificate No. 203 on October 30, 1918. During that time he also flight tested the first six JN-4HM planes with 150 h.p. Hisso engines at the Curtiss plant in Buffalo, New York, that had been specially built for the first airmail service to start between Washington, D.C., and New York.

In 1919 DePew was a top winner in the Toronto-to-New York Race and that year he rejoined the Curtiss Company and with Roland Rohlfs managed the newly formed Curtiss Flying School at Mineola, Long Island, [[strikethrough]] New York [[/strikethrough]] where he remained until February, 1922. On July 2, 1921 flying a Curtiss Oriole, DePew made a special hurried flight from Jersey City, New Jersey, to Cleveland, Ohio, carrying several reels of prize fight film for movie houses. During this period he also assisted in the development, and conducted the flight tests, of the first skin radiators on an Oriole plane. [[strikethrough]] As [[/strikethrough]] Applied to the surfaces of the lower wings, these zero drag radiators were later used on the celebrated Curtiss military race planes.

In February, 1922, DePew went to Argentina as Manager of the Curtiss Export Corporation there, returning to the United States in late 1923 as Sales Manager, Chief Pilot and Manager of Flying Operations for the Aerial Camera and Aeroplane and Motor Divisions of Fairchild Corporation at Farmingdale, Long Island. [[strikethrough]] New York [[/strikethrough]] He remained with Fairchild until 1932 during which time he served in [[strikethrough]] many [[/strikethrough]] various capacities that contributed toward the successful growth of the Fairchild Corporation. He did aerial mapping, sales promotion by flying in National Air Races and Reliability Tours, flight testing of new [[strikethrough]] model [[/strikethrough]] type planes and engines, including the initial flight testing of the unique Fairchild-Caminez 150 h.p. Caminez engine in an Avro biplane in early 1926.

In 1928 DePew was a consultant on the aviation advisory board of the William

2