State

Роде Eighteen THE STATE September 29. 1934 The Flying Parson w II ILK North l';i rol inn i к ipiii /•"lining into tin- floodlight* nf aviation by dedicating next week :il Raleigh llif host landing liold between Itnltiuiorc and Miami, tin* thoughts of quite a iiuniltcr of Tar ilivln probably will go again to a native of this state who made aviation history fifteen years ago. Me was l.ii'Uteunnt liclvin W. Maynard. “The Flying I 'a nun i." The man wlm. living at the rate of two miles |*>r minute, completed the lire! New York-Chicago aerial journey between sun-up iiud sun-down, lie didn't, stop at Chicago: lie kejet right on to San Fran* cisco, winning the lirst eoast-to-coast air race iu which more than fifty planes started but only a very few finished. A great inan and a great aviator was Maynard. After UK Hits Iho oiil.sl.iiicling' л viator of liis day, uiinior of tlio groat trans¬ continental air race in 1919. A student at Wake Forest before he enlisted in the army, and well know n to many Tar Heel* in various sections of the state. «I/ NIKS. GARLAND NOIKIKIS spending a few days at San Francisco. lie made the return trip to New York in actual living time of twenty-four hours and forty-five minutes. The whole world snug his praises. Many residents of North Carolina were personally acquainted with him. lie came to Kaleigh on several oc¬ casions. accompanied bv bis well- known pet, "Trixie,” a German police dog. I u those days the lauding field at Kaleigh was out on the New Kern road. Mis last visit to the capital city was on April 8, 1920. The Flying Parson was Imrn at Morvcn, N. t '.. SeptemlM-r 28. 1892; the son of a physician, l>r. A. A. May¬ nard. lie was a student at the Wake Forest Theological School when the I’nitcd States declared war against Germany. When his college closed in •Mine, 1917, Maynard enlisted as a private and was sent overseas. He was made a Second Lieutenant and won his wings as a reserve military aviator. Ho later Is-enine chief test pilot of the Army Air Service at Koincrautin, France, one of the most dangerous jobs in the service. It was hi. duly to take new craft out of the factory, or newly arrived from America, and fly them to see that all pari, wore working correctly before turning them over to the Flight Com¬ mander for use in scout training or bombing work. For more than seven¬ teen months Maynard was on duty overseas, and in that time he tested hundreds of planes. He received his promotion to First Lieutenant as a result of some of his early test flights. He became famous when he won the loop-t hc-loop record at Roincrantin, looping over the field 818 times with¬ out losing altitude. He left the Army in May. 1020, hut ho never gave up his interest in aeron¬ autics. lie planned to return to the ministry, but found the call of the air too strong. For a time he was identified with the Central Y. M. C. A. in Krooklvn. Later he made a 2.000- mile (light iu the interest of the recruiting service. The Flying l'arson was killed while Hying on September 7. 1922, at Rut- land, Vermont. His wife and four children survive him. A genial, mod.-st and unassuming man was May¬ nard. He was iu love with his pro¬ fession, and was thoroughly happy at the controls of a plane. One of the host flyers that ever handled a stick, was the opinion of many of his brother-aviators who knew him and were acquainted with his ability. In addition to the eoast-to-coast rare in 1919, he also won the New York- Toronto race two mouths later, к|к><*1- I ing over the 1,040 course nt an aver¬ age of 1ЯЯ.З miles an hour. And that was sprnly traveling in those days. Maynard loved North Carolina. Me always enjoyed his visits to this state and his one regret was that lie couldn't come here more ofteu. However, he managed to keep in touch with most of his friends iu various sections and it was evident that he valued their friendship highly. Governor Pickett was among his passengers. Tim Governor flow with him from Kaleigh to Wake Forest and re¬ turn. Quito a number of other dis¬ tinguished North Carolinians rode with him during his visits to this state, llis death was a blow to the progress of aviation, and there is no question but that his record would have Ix-on ovoii more brilliant, Imd he l-i'ii spared.