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[[stamped]] FROM THE FLYING PIONEERS BIOGRAPHIES OF HAROLD E. MOREHOUSE [[\stamped]

this program. His former airship hangar at White City, Chicago was used for a final assembly building and he did some of the flight testing of these ships. During that time his company made observation balloons for the Navy.

In 1929 Roy established an airship light freight and express service between Los Angeles and another south California cities, the first such service in history.

From 1933 to 1944 he was Chief Aviation Clerk for the National Park Service, Washington, D.C. His duties were to survey air routes that reached points nearest to National Parks, and catalog available facilities for tourists.

From 1944 to 1949 Roy was employed by a Los Angeles firm that reconditioned aircraft instruments, then a serious heart attack forced him to retire. For some time he lived with very restricted activities in a trailer court at Arcadia, California where he survived a stroke in 1958. On February 21st, 1969 he suffered a second stroke, following which he passed away on March 6th, 1960 at the Evergreen Sanitarium at Temple City, California at age 84. He was survived by his wife, two sons, and two daughters. Following cremation his remains were interred in the Portal of Folded Wings, Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, California. He was a member of the Early Birds and the Los Angeles Air Pilots Club and had received many honors and awards. He held Balloon License No. 31 and Dirigible License No. 4.

Early Bird, Flying Pioneer, aeronaut A. Roy Knabenshue was indeed a true pioneer of the air age. In his ballooning days he became a master showman, then as a promoter and manager of public air exhibitions he was in a class by himself. A man of many "firsts" he made hundreds of balloon and airship flights without serious accident to himself or his passengers. While his life was devoted mainly to lighter-than-air craft he also had considerable association with the flying game. Internationally known, his name will forever be a legend in American air history. 

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