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W.H (TURK) MINNERLY
Early Thomas Brothers Pilot

W.H. Minnerly was born at Helena, Montana, November 18, 1890. He attended 
grade schools there until 1904 when the family moved to Missoula, Montana,
where he attended high school.
Following this Minnerly entered the University of Montana but became
intensly interested in aviation when he saw Curtiss exhibition aviator Bud
Mars fly one of the first Curtiss pusher biplanes with a front elevator and[[crossed-out]]a[[/crossed-out]]
4-cylinder engine at the Montana State Fair September 26 to October 1, 1910.
Mars made several flights there; the first ever made in the state. After this
event Minnerly lost interest in college completely, and airplanes and flying
were foremost in his mind. About this time he was offered a scholarship in 
chemistry at the University of Chicago but turned it down, and a time
later he decided to leave school because he could not apply himself to his
studies.
Determined to fly, Minnerly went to East St. Louis, Illinois, and
signed up for flying lessons with the United Aviation Company but this firm
proved to be a hoax for he received no instruction and lost his advance payment.
Minnerly then went to work as a mechanic with Curtiss exhibition aviator
George Underwood and remained with him until Underwood was killed in a crash
at Callao, Missouri, on September 20, 1912.
On April 1, 1913, Minnerly signed up for a flying lessons at the Thomas 
Brothers School at Bath, New York, where his instructor was Walter Johnson.
By late May he was flying well enough that he sent in his application for
a flying license and the last of June was to fly the tests, but another student
smashed up the plane preventing him from doing so. The plane was hurriedly
rebuilt in time for Minnerly to fly his first scheduled exhibition date at 
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, on July 4th where he made two successful
flights at a local centennial celebration.