Basil Lee Rowe (1896-1973) enjoyed a long and successful career in aviation, initially as a military exhibition pilot, barnstormer, air racer, charter operator, flight instructor, aircraft salesman, and rumrunner, before moving to the West Indies to start an airline, the short-lived West Indian Aerial Express, bought out by Pan American Airways in 1928. Rowe became a pioneering senior pilot for Pan Am, flying with them for 28 years before his retirement in 1956. This collection includes scrapbooks, photo albums, memorabilia, and first day covers, in addition to the draft manuscript for Rowe's 1956 autobiography, Under My Wings.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of Rowe's pilot's log books covering his career from 1927 to 1956, assorted periodicals, cartoons featuring Rowe, scrapbooks and photo albums assembled by Rowe (featuring newspaper clippings, photographs, and ephemera), several draft manuscripts of Rowe's 1956 autobiography Under My Wings, and first day air mail postal covers collected by Rowe.
Arrangement:
Materials in this collection are grouped into series by format. See individual series Scope and Content notes for details on arrangement within that series. Note that with the exception of the chronologically arranged flight log books, Rowe did not appear to organize his materials in any particular order.
Biographical / Historical:
Basil Lee Rowe, born February 10, 1896, grew up in the small town of Shandaken, New York, in the Catskill Mountains. He began his flying career in 1914 as an apprentice to aviator Turk Adams after seeing Adams fly at a local county fair. Impatient to become a military pilot, Rowe arranged to join the Royal Canadian Air Force, but was sidelined by a ruptured appendix before he could get to Canada. By the time Rowe had recovered, the United States had entered World War I and Rowe was able to join the Aviation Section of the U. S. Army Signal Corps; he was sent to Texas. During the Third Liberty Loan drive, Rowe was assigned to a group of fliers who were to give exhibition flights; after his discharge, he used his savings to buy a used Avro biplane and barnstormed around the East Central United States, using Hadley Field (New Brunswick, New Jersey) as his home field. Rowe soon bought a second aircraft, hired pilot William S. "Bill" Wade, and moved his base of operations to the Aeromarine Base at Keyport, near Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Rowe prospered through the early 1920s, and his troupe the "Rowe Fliers" (including at various times wingwalkers Bill Stacy and Marguerite L. "Peggy" Roome) toured the eastern US giving exhibition flights and passenger rides. In the winter, Rowe moved his operation to Florida, and, with a rebuilt Curtiss Seagull, ferried passengers eager to escape Prohibition from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas--with a bit of rumrunning on the side. Back in New Jersey, Rowe formed the Chamberlin-Rowe Aircraft Corporation with fellow aviator Clarence Chamberlin to buy and resell Army surplus aircraft; the short-lived business went bust in 1924 when the government finished selling off its aircraft. Rowe, a talented racing pilot, kept busy from 1924 through 1926 on the racing circuit, winning numerous prizes.
By the end of 1926, at the age of thirty, Rowe felt that he had reached a turning point in his life. Dismayed by the increase in US government regulation of aviation, Rowe moved his operations to the West Indies, settling in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. With Bill Wade, Rowe rapidly established a business flying charters around the country, with flights to neighboring Haiti and Puerto Rico. In June 1927, with financial backing provided by sugar industry businessmen and the government of the Dominican Republic, Rowe founded West Indian Aerial Express (abbreviated variously as WIAE or WIAX) to provide airline service between Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, hoping to be well positioned to bid on future US foreign air mail routes. With this in mind, Rowe returned to the Unites States and purchased a Fairchild FC-2W floatplane (christened "La Niña") and a larger Keystone K-47 Pathfinder trimotor (the former "American Legion," r/n NX179, rebuilt by the Keystone factory following a crash in April 1927 and rechristened as "Santa Maria"). To his dismay, Rowe was forced to acquired a US transport pilot license in order to be allowed to fly the "Santa Maria" back to Santo Domingo; he hired Canadian pilot Cy Caldwell to ferry "La Niña." On the way south in mid October 1927, Rowe found himself and his two aircraft in Florida just as Pan American Airways (PAA), which had been successful in obtaining a temporary contract to deliver mail from the US to Cuba, found itself without any aircraft able to fly out of their Key West, Florida, field to fulfill the contract before it expired. PAA struck a deal with Rowe to lease "La Niña" (piloted by Caldwell) to fly the first Pan American Airways flight on October 19, 1927.
With its two new aircraft, West Indian Aerial Express started regularly scheduled twice-weekly flights on December 1, 1927, between Cuba, Haiti, Santo Domingo, and Puerto Rico, later extending the routes to St. Thomas and St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. On June 30, 1928, WIAX filed a bid with the US government for air mail service on the route from Key West to Puerto Rico, but was outmanuevered by the more politically-savvy Pan American Airways which won the contract. A final crippling blow was dealt to WIAX in September 1928 when a severe hurricane hit their base in San Juan, Puerto Rico, destroying "La Niña" and two older Waco biplanes. Rowe made his last flight in the "Santa Maria" on September 20, 1928, before turning the aircraft over to Pan American. On October 16, 1928, PAA purchased WIAX, with Rowe becoming PAA's senior pilot.
During his first ten years with Pan Am, Rowe flew a record number of hours and surveyed most of the new air routes through the Caribbean to Central and South America, several times flying with Charles Lindbergh. When the US entered World War II, Rowe was assigned to Pan Am's Africa and Orient Division to serve with the US Army Air Forces Air Transport Command on their supply route across the South Atlantic and Africa to India and China (the "Cannonball Run"). His wife, Florence May Sharp, whom Rowe had married in 1930, served as an aircraft spotter during the war. During the Korean Conflict, Rowe was once again pressed into service, and was transferred to Pan Am's Pacific Division to fly transpacific supply routes and medical evacuation flights. May's early death in 1943 left Rowe a widower at his retirement from Pan Am in 1956. At their Coral Gables, Florida, home he wrote his autobiography, Under My Wings (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., New York, 1956) and remained active as a tennis instructor until his death on October 28, 1973.
Related Materials:
See related collection Basil Lee Rowe First Day Air Mail Covers, NASM.XXXX.0487.
Basil Lee Rowe air racing medals in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum collection:
Medal, 1926 National Air Races [Winner, Relay Race], A19690242000.
Medal, 1926 National Air Races [Winner, Relay Race], A19690243000.
Medal, Aviation [Dayton Air Race], A19690244000.
Medal, Third Annual Dayton Air Race Winner, A19690245000.
Medal, 1926 National Air Races [2nd Place, Free-For-All Race, 510 cu. in. Class], A19690246000.
Medal, 1926 National Air Races [Winner, First Elimination, 500 cu. in. Class], A19690247000.
Basil Lee Rowe air racing trophies in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum collection:
Trophy, Allen W. Hinkle, Basil L. Rowe, A19690238000 [Allen W. Hinkle Trophy for Two, Three, and Four Place Airplanes, 1924]
Trophy, Glenn H. Curtiss, Basil L. Rowe, A19690239000 [The Glenn H. Curtiss Trophy for Two Seater Low Horsepower Airplane, National Air Races, Mitchel Field L. I., 1925]
Plaque, B.B.T. Corporation, National Air Races 1926, A19690240000 [B.B.T. Corporation of America Relay Race for Commercial Planes won by Basil L. Rowe, Charles S. Jones, A. H. Kreider]
Plaque, 1926 National Air Races, Benjamin Franklin Trophy, A19690241000 [Benjamin Franklin Trophy donated by Joseph A. Steinmetz, Relay Race for Commercial Planes won by Basil L. Rowe, Charles S. Jones, A. H. Kreider]
Provenance:
Basil Lee Rowe, gift, 1969; United States Air Force Museum, transfer, 1973; NASM.XXXX.0019
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of historical files on FI, its predecessors, and subsidiaries. The material consists primarily of historical/public relations material, including photographs and brochures, but also includes significant amounts of business records for FEAC, Kreider-Reisner, Hiller, Republic, Ranger, Stratos, and Swearingen. The collection also documents Fairchild's joint ventures with Fokker, Pilatus, and other aircraft manufacturers. The material also includes an extensive negative collection as well as film and videotape libraries.
Scope and Contents note:
Sherman Mills Fairchild (1896-1971) founded Fairchild Aerial Camera Corporation (FAEC) in 1920. FAEC was incorporated in New York State for the purpose of developing, manufacturing and selling aerial photographic equipment. It went through many changes over the course of its existence. By 1971, FAEC was called Fairchild Industries, Inc. and had become an enormous corporation that produced such famous and history making aircraft as the Model 24 and A-10 as well as acquired other aviation industry giants such as Republic Aviation and Hiller Aircraft Company.
The Fairchild Industries, Inc. Collection, accessions 1989-0060 and 1990-0047, was donated to the Archives Division of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution in 1989 and 1990. The collection consists of printed and photographic materials. The subject matter of the material has a wide scope that includes, but is not restricted to, the following subject areas: public relations, legal matters, production photography, aircraft drawings and manuals, company published materials such as brochures and press releases, and history files. This collection does not contain the engineering files or the complete photo holdings or corporate records of Fairchild Industries, Inc or any of its predecessors.
The collection was maintained for many years by Theron Rinehart, a Fairchild Industries employee. Due to the large size and lack original order, the Archives Division decided to create a database as well as a traditional finding aid for access to the collection. Access to the Fairchild Docs database is available from the Archives Division by appointment. Aircraft types and designations are listed in the database and finding aid as they are in The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Directory of Airplanes Their Designers and Manufacturers, edited by Dana Bell, 2002 (Greenhill Books: London). Folder titles are those that appeared on the original folders and dates are provided for those materials that had them. The material was rehoused by the Archives Division and is now in acid free folders and boxes. There are few instances of water damage; these materials are indicated in the finding aid and database.
This finding aid contains a corporate history and chronology of the companies owned by of Fairchild Industries, Inc and a list of the Fairchild, Hiller, Republic and Swearingen aircraft documented in this collection. The books, periodicals and artifacts that were part of this collection have been removed. This finding aid contains a list of these materials. Please ask for assistance in contacting the NASM Branch and Smithsonian Libraries and the NASM Aeronautics Division.
Sherman Mills Fairchild's personal papers, The Sherman Fairchild Papers, can be found in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.
Biographical/Historical note:
The following information was taken from The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Directory of Airplanes: Their Designers and Manufacturers, edited by Dana Bell, 2002 (Greenhill Books: London).
"In 1924, Sherman Fairchild established the Fairchild Aviation Corp as the parent company for his many aviation interests. In 1930, The Aviation Corp (AVCO) purchased Fairchild Aviation and its subsidiaries, initially operating the various companies under their original names. The following year, Sherman Fairchild repurchased Fairchild Aviation Corp and began repurchasing the subordinate companies. In a December 1936 reorganization, Fairchild Aviation Corp divested itself of all aircraft manufacturing interests, placing them under a new Fairchild Engine and Airplane Co.
The original aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of Fairchild Aviation Corp was Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing Co; it was created in 1924 to design and build aircraft as platforms for Fairchild's aerial survey cameras. Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing was one of the subsidiaries purchased by AVCO in 1930, but not one of the first companies repurchased by Sherman Fairchild. In 1931 AVCO combined the aircraft company with Fairchild Engine Co, forming American Airplane and Engine Corp. Fairchild Aviation Corp bought American Airplane and Engine in 1934, renaming the company the Fairchild Aircraft Manufacturing and Engine Co.
In the 1936 reorganization that divided Fairchild Aviation Corp assets, Fairchild Aircraft Manufacturing and Engine Co became Fairchild Engine and Airplane Co and took charge of all Fairchild aircraft and engine holdings. Fairchild Engine and Airplane Co became Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp in 1950 and Fairchild Stratos Corp in 1961. With the 1964 purchase of Hiller Aircraft Corp, Fairchild Stratos was renamed Fairchild Hiller Corp, then, again, renamed Fairchild Industries after the separation of all Hiller interests in 1973. Although Fairchild Industries closed and sold its military and commercial aircraft manufacturing divisions in 1987, "Fairchild" aircraft continued to be produced through the Swearingen Metro and Fairchild Dornier lines (see below).
Fairchild created, purchased, and merged with several companies during its history. The following are the most important subsidiaries:
Fairchild Aircraft Ltd was created in 1929 as Fairchild Aviation Corp's Canadian subsidiary. The company ended all aircraft production in 1948.
The Kreider Reisner Aircraft Co Inc was formed in 1927. Kreider Reisner became a wholly-owned division of (first) the Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing Co in 1929, (second) AVCO's American Airplane and Engine Corp (which renamed KR aircraft "Pilgrims") in 1931, and (third) Fairchild Aircraft Manufacturing and Engine Co in 1934. Kreider-Reisner was renamed the Fairchild Aircraft Corp in 1935, becoming Fairchild Engine and Airplane Co's principle US aircraft manufacturing subsidiary. Fairchild Aircraft Corp was renamed the Fairchild Aircraft Division in 1939, the Fairchild Aircraft and Missiles Division in 1961, the Fairchild Stratos Aircraft and Missiles Division in 1961, the Aircraft-Missiles Division in 1965, and the Aircraft Division in 1967. With a growing number of aircraft subsidiaries reporting to Fairchild Industries, the Aircraft Division was broken up in a corporate reorganization of the 1970s. While the Kreider Reisner Midget is listed under Kreider Reisner, all Kreider Reisner Challenger series aircraft (designated "KR" biplanes by Fairchild) appear under Fairchild.
In 1936 Fairchild Engine and Airplane Co founded the subsidiary Duromold Aircraft Corp to better account for time spent developing the Duromold wood/resin bonding process and the Model 46 aircraft. In 1938, the majority interest in Duromold was bought by a group of investors (including process inventor Col. Virginius E. Clark), who formed the Clark Aircraft Corp. Fairchild kept a minority interest in Clark, retaining Duromold as a holding company. In September 1938, Fairchild renamed its Duromold division Fairchild Airplane Investment Corp, and Clark created a subsidiary called Duramold Aircraft Corp (note the spelling change). In 1938 Duramold was renamed Molded Aircraft Corp. In 1939, Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp bought back a controlling interest in Clark and renamed Molded Aircraft Duramold Aircraft Manufacturing Corp. The Duramold and Clark companies disappeared during one of Fairchild's World War II reorganizations.
In 1952 Fairchild licensed the rights to Dutch Fokker's F.27 medium-range airliner. In 1953, the USAF transferred production contracts for the Chase Aircraft Co, Inc C 123 to Fairchild. The Chase-built XC 123 and XC 123A appear under Chase, while Fairchild's C-123 production is listed under Fairchild.
In 1954, the American Helicopter Co, Inc (founded 1947) became the Helicopter Division of Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp. The division closed by the end of decade.
In 1964, Fairchild Stratos purchased Hiller Aircraft Corp, and both companies were renamed: Hiller Aircraft Co Inc become a subsidiary of Fairchild Hiller Corp. In the 1973 reorganization of Fairchild Hiller into Fairchild Industries, Hiller helicopter interests passed to an independent Hiller Aviation Inc….
In 1965, the Republic Aviation Corp became Republic Aviation Division (also known as Fairchild Republic) of Fairchild Hiller Corp. In 1987, Republic was shut down when Fairchild Industries ceased building commercial and military aircraft.
Swearingen Aircraft formed in the late 1950s, modifying Beech aircraft for executive transport. In 1965 the company produced its first new design, the Merlin. In 1970 Swearingen began development of the Metro, a joint venture to be marketed by Fairchild Hiller Corp. As a subsidiary of Fairchild Industries, Swearingen became Swearingen Aviation Corp, in 1971, Fairchild Swearingen in 1981, and Fairchild Aircraft Corp in September 1982. When Fairchild Industries closed its aircraft design and production facilities in 1987, Fairchild Aircraft Corp was sold to GMF Investments, Inc; GMF continued to operate the company under the Fairchild name. In 1990, Fairchild Aircraft filed for Chapter 11 protection and was purchased by Fairchild Acquisition Inc as Fairchild Aircraft Inc. Fairchild Aircraft delivered its last aircraft in 2001. Most Swearingen designs are filed under Swearingen; the Metro and Expediter can be found under Fairchild.
In 1996, Fairchild Acquisition became Fairchild Aerospace. While continuing to operate Fairchild Aircraft, the company also purchased 80% of the stock of Germany's Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH (with the remaining 20% of shares held by Daimler Benz Aerospace). Dornier's aircraft manufacturing operations were taken over by Fairchild Dornier Luftfahrt Beteiligungs GmbH. In 2000, Fairchild Aerospace was renamed Fairchild Dornier Aerospace, with corporate headquarters moved to Germany. Dornier designs predating Fairchild's takeover are listed under Dornier. Subsequent designs are found under Fairchild Dornier."
The following lists companies owned by Sherman Fairchild Industries and their years of incorporation. Major divisions of Fairchild are also listed. This list does not include when these entities were divested of or liquidated.
1926 -- Fairchild Air Transport, Limited (name change from Elliot-Fairchild Air Transport, Limited)
1927 -- Fairchild Aviation Corporation (reorganization and refinancing of the following subsidiaries and minority holdings, Fairchild Aerial Camera Corporation, Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc., Fairchild Flying Company, Inc, Fairchild Caminez Engine Corporation, Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing Corporation, Fairchild Aviation, Limited, Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S.A. [20% stock] and International Aerial Engineering Company [20% stock])
1928 -- Faircam Realty Corporation
1928 -- Fairchild Boats, Incorporated
1928 -- Fairchild Engine Corporation
1928 -- V.E. Clark Corporation
1928 -- West Indian Aerial Express, Incorporated
1928 -- Fairchild Aviation Corporation of Illinois
1958 -- Fairchild Aircraft and Missiles Division (name change from Fairchild Aircraft Division)
1958 -- International Aluminum Structures Incorporated
1960 -- Astrionics Division (name change from Electronics Systems Division)
1960 -- Aircraft Service Division
1961 -- Fairchild Stratos Corporation (operating division, subsidiaries and affiliates: Aircraft-Missile Division, Aircraft Service Division, Electronic Systems Division, Stratos Division, Fairchild Arms International Ltd, Fairchild Aviation (Holland) N.V., and Aerotest Laboratories, Inc.)
1962 -- Space System Division formed by Fairchild Stratos Corporation
1962 -- Data Systems Engineering formed by Fairchild Stratos Corporation
1964 -- Hiller Aircraft Company, Inc
1964 -- Fairchild Hiller Corporation (name change from Fairchild Stratos Corporation; division and subsidiaries: Aircraft Missiles Division, Aircraft Service Division, Electronic Systems Division, Data Systems Engineering, Space Systems Division, Stratos Division, Hiller Aircraft Company, Inc., Fairchild Aviation (Holland) N.V. and Fairchild Arms International, Inc.)
1965 -- Republic Aviation Corporation
1965 -- Republic Aviation Division
1965 -- Electronic and Information Systems Division (formed by combining Electronic Systems Division, Data Systems Engineering and similar disciplines from Republic Aviation Corporation)
1966 -- Burns Aero Seat Company, Incorporated
1966 -- Fairchild Hiller – FRG Corporation
1966 -- Aircraft Division (formed by combining Aircraft-Missiles Division and Hiller Aircraft Company, Inc.)
1966 -- Space and Electronics Systems Division (formed by combining Space Systems Division and Electronic and Information Systems Division)
1966 -- Industrial Products Division (forms from the Industrial Products Branch of Stratos Division)
1967 -- S.J. Industries, Inc.
1967 -- Air Carrier Engine Services, Inc.
1967 -- Fairchild Chemical Corporation
1967 -- EWR-Fairchild International
1968 -- Fairchild Aircraft Marketing Company
1968 -- FAIRMICCO
1969 -- Fairchild-Germantown Development Company, Incorporated
1970 -- Fairchild Aviation (Asia) Limited
1971 -- Fairchild Industries, Incorporated (name changes from Fairchild Hiller Corporation, division and subsidiaries: Fairchild Aircraft Marketing Company, Fairchild Aircraft Service Division, Fairchild Industrial Products Division, Fairchild Republic Division, Fairchild Space and Electronics Division, Fairchild Stratos Division, Burns Aero Seat Company, Incorporated, Fairchild Arms International, Ltd., Fairchild Aviation (Asia) Limited, Fairchild Aviation (Holland) N.V., Fairchild-Germantown Development Company, Incorporated and S.J. Industries, Inc.)
1971 -- Fairchild KLIF, Incorporated
1971 -- Swearingen Aviation Corporation
1972 -- American Satellite Corporation
1972 -- Fairchild Minnesota, Incorporated
1972 -- Fairchild International Sales Corporation
1979 -- Bunker Ramo Corporation [18.4% interest]
1980 -- American Satellite Company
1980 -- Space Communications Company (Spacecom) [25% interest]
Davies, R. E. G. (Ronald Edward George) Search this
Container:
Box 12, Folder 4
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1926-1997
Scope and Contents:
AOA [American Overseas Airlines], WIAX [West Indian Aerial Express]
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0604, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Davies, R. E. G. (Ronald Edward George) Search this
Container:
Box 12, Folder 5
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1927-1997
Scope and Contents:
WIAX [West Indian Aerial Express] [continued], NYRBA [New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line]
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0604, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1902-1974 Search this
Extent:
0.05 Cubic feet (1 folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1927-1957
bulk 1928-1931
Summary:
This collection consists of first day air mail covers collected by pilot and philatelic enthusiast Basil Lee Rowe, predominantly during his career as an airline pilot for Pan American Airways (PAA) in the Caribbean area in the period 1927-1931. Collection includes covers carried by Charles A. Lindbergh in his Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis" during his tour of the Caribbean in February 1928, and covers autographed by many of the early airline pilots who carried them, including Cy Caldwell, Edwin Musik, Caspar D. Swinson, Charles R. Parmelee, and Rowe himself.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of first day air mail covers collected by Basil Rowe, predominantly during his career as a pilot in the Caribbean area. Most of the air mail was carried by West Indian Aerial Express (WIAE) or Pan American Airways (PAA) between Florida and islands in the Caribbean or Caribbean ports in Central and South America. Some of the first day covers are autographed by the pilots of the flights (including Cy Caldwell, Edwin Musik, Caspar D. Swinson, Charles R. Parmelee, and Rowe himself) or other noted aviators such as Dean C. Smith, or public officials such as Theodore Roosevelt III, then Governor of Puerto Rico. One group of covers were carried by Charles A. Lindbergh in the Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis" during his tour of the Caribbean in February 1928. Following the covers is an annotated price list; note that not all items listed are part of this collection. Also included at the end of the collection are PAA forms used by two non-PAA pilots for flights inbound to Miami, Florida, from Havana, Cuba, in July 1931: James Goodwin Hall in his Lockheed Altair "The Crusader" (r/n NR-15W), and Frank M. Hawks in his Travel Air Mystery Ship "Texaco 13" (r/n NR-1313).
Arrangement:
Air mail covers are arranged in chronological order; documents appear following the covers at the end of the collection.
Biographical / Historical:
Basil Lee Rowe (1896-1973) enjoyed a long and successful career in aviation, initially as a military exhibition pilot, barnstormer, air racer, charter operator, flight instructor, aircraft salesman, and rumrunner, before moving to the West Indies to start an airline, the short-lived West Indian Aerial Express, bought out by Pan American Airways in 1928. Rowe became a pioneering senior pilot for Pan Am, flying with them for 28 years before his retirement in 1956.
Related Materials:
See related collection Basil Lee Rowe Collection, NASM.XXXX.0019.
Provenance:
Basil Lee Rowe via Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, Gift, 1965, NASM.XXXX.0487
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
On October 19, 1927, the first Pan American Airways flight from Key West, Florida (USA) to Havana (Cuba) was made in the Fairchild FC-2W "La Nina" chartered from West Indian Aerial Express; cover has been signed by WIAE pilot Cy Caldwell.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Basil Lee Rowe First Day Air Mail Covers, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0487, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Starting December 1, 1927, West Indian Aerial Express, using their Keystone Pathfinder "Santa Maria," inaugurated service from their base at Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) east to San Juan, Puerto Rico (USA), and west to Port-au-Prince (Haiti) and Havana (Cuba). Cover has been signed by WIAE pilot Basil Rowe.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Basil Lee Rowe First Day Air Mail Covers, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0487, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Beginning February 20, 1928, West Indian Aerial Express, using the Keystone Pathfinder "Santa Maria," added service to Santiago de Cuba (Cuba) to their existing westbound route between Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) via Port-au-Prince (Haiti) to Havana (Cuba). Eastbound service on this route connected to San Juan, Puerto Rico (USA). Covers have been signed by WIAE pilot Basil Rowe.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Basil Lee Rowe First Day Air Mail Covers, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0487, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
