Twenty-Three Days In The Air

On July 6, 1912, a body was found floating in the Big Muddy River near Murphysboro, Illinois, leaving behined a widow and his six children on the family farm. The body was later identified as Alexander Hunter.

A 1927 Stinson SM-1 "Detroiter" aircraft in flight.

The oldest child, Albert Hunter, was 15 at the time and quit the seventh grade to ride a horse into Sparta, Illinois, to work at the Ford garage there.

His sister, Mabel, the oldest daughter, was 11 and began to teach school to the younger children. To help support the family Mabel  would also ride a horse into Sparta to work as a telephone operator.

Three years later the widow moved from the farm to Sparta.

The Hunter brothers were will known in Sparta because of their stunts riding their motorcycles. In time, all four brothers wound up working at the Moffat Coal Mine. 

Buying An Airplane

The boys prospered and each year when the coal mine laid people off they would head to St. Louis for their annual motorcycle shoping spree.

In June of 1924 they rode past what is now known as the Lambert International Airport where they saw a number of biplanes parked near the Robertson Aircraft Corporation's plant.

Robertson Aircraft Corporation and Colonial Air Transport were the nexus of companies which created American Airlines in 1930.

Well, the boys were intrigued by these airplanes and decided to purchase one. 

Albert assigned John, the second oldest brother, to stay at the airfield for a day and take flying lessons while Albert and the other two brothers headed home to Sparta.

After just 90 minutes of instruction John took their new airplane and, following the roads they had taken from Sparta to St. Louis, navigated his way home to the family farm.

John landed the aircraft in a field across the street in a pasture which housed the family cow "Blossom."

The First Accident

John, unaware how to handle a crosswind landing, managed to break off one of the landing gear and broke the propeller! The brothers quickly repaired the airplane.

Soon, a pilot by the name of Harlan A. "Bud" Gurney joined the boys in Sparta and helped John, Albert, Walter and eventually Kenneth to become accomplished pilots.

Sparta residents were treated to an almost daily airshow as the Hunter Brothers honed their skills.

Soon, the brothers bought a second plane and sold it to “Bud” Gurney. During the summer, Gurney and the Hunter brothers would fly to towns in Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri and give people an airplane ride for a small fee.

Eventually they purchased a third plane, started the Hunter Flying Circus, and gave performances at area county fairs.

From September 9 to 13, 1924, they performed at the Jersey County Fair in Jerseyville, Illinois. September 16 to 19, 1924, they performed at the Randolph County Fair in Sparta.

Their performances consisted of wing-walking, parachute leaps, changing from one plane to another in mid-air, loop the loops, tailspins and other sensational stunts.

In addition to the air show, they also gave passengers a seven to ten minute ride, charging $3 for each passenger. They used a field just south of the fair grounds for a landing field. Herbert Budd, a mechanic working for the Hunter Flying Circus, performed the wing-walking, parachute leaps and changing from one plane to another in mid-air stunts.

The Hunter Brothers advertised their Flying Circus and hoped to get billings at other fairs in the vicinity. 

The Hunter Brothers Albert, John, Kenneth, and Walter.

In addition to performing in the Hunter Flying Circus, the Hunters used their airplanes to travel to air shows, air races, and just barnstorm around the United States.

In October 1924, the Hunter brothers flew to Dayton, Ohio for the air races. On the way back to Sparta, Albert and his passenger, Charles Exiter, planned to stop at Brookville, Indiana to carry passengers and treat the citizens to an air show.

As Albert was landing the plane, the engine quit while the plane was still about 200 feet in the air, causing the plane to crash into a cornfield.

Exiter ducked his head beneath the cowling in the front cockpit. Because of this, he broke his neck and died in the crash.

Albert, flying the plane from the rear cockpit was only slightly injured. 

In June of 1925, the Hunter brothers joined the Harry H. Perkins flying circus of St. Louis in a two-day exhibition at Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Two young girls from Cobden, Illinois approached John Hunter and asked to ride in one of the Hunter brother’s planes. John agreed to take then up for a ride. The girls took seats in the front cockpit of the plane John was to fly.

The plane took off, and about fifty feet above the ground it suddenly banked and swerved, crashing into the top of a tree. As the plane fell back to earth, a gasoline tank above the heads of the girls burst, showering both girls with gasoline. The gasoline caught fire and before anyone could rescue then, the girls burned to death.

John Hunter, although injured in the accident, attempted, but failed to save the girls. John’s injuries consisted of burns to his hands.

John reported that, as the plane took off, one of the girls rose from her seat and seemed about to jump from the plane. John was attempting to return to the landing field when the accident happened.

John, a skilled pilot, had been doing stunt flying at the show before the accident occurred.

On April 15, 1926, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. began the Robertson Aircraft Corporation’s contract airmail service between St. Louis and Chicago by way of Springfield and Peoria.

The Robertson Aircraft Corporation hired Lindbergh, age 24, as chief pilot for the airmail contract. Lindbergh recruited a number of pilots to assist in the service.

John and Walter Hunter joined the Robertson Air Mail service.

Endurance Flights

In 1929, many fliers kept setting endurance records for flight, including an attempt by John and Kenneth Hunter who began their first endurance flight at 6:52am on September 30, 1929.

They managed to stay in the air for 11 days but finally had to give it up due to heavy fog which made it impossible to refuel the airplane.

In early June 1930, John Hunter purchased the Stinson SM-1 Detroiter airplane and renamed it “City of Chicago”. By June 11th, 1930, John and Ken Hunter quietly took off from Sky Harbor Airport in Northbrook, Illinois, and began their quest for the world record.

Endurance flight efforts involved staying aloft for as many consecutive hours as possible, with replacement fuel delivered by another nearby plane.

John and Kenneth piloted the primary aircraft, the “Chicago We Will” (later renamed the “City of Chicago”).

The brothers managed to stay in the air for 264 hours – 11 days – but they were forced to land before breaking the record, as a heavy fog had prevented their refueling plane from making contact.

Kenneth Hunter makes repairs to the “City of Chicago” in mid-flight.

 

The Stinson Detroiter was a six-place, single engine high wing strut braced monoplane which was built at the Stinson Aircraft Corporation factory in Northville, Michigan.

More than 100 of these aircraft were built, and the purchase price was about $1,200. 

Specifications:

• Length: 32 feet;
• Wingspan: 45 feet 10 inches;
• Height: 8 feet, 3 inches;
• Empty Weight: 1,970 pounds;
• Gross Weight: 3,485 pounds;
• Maximum Speed: 122 mph;
• Cruise Speed: 105 mph;
• Ceiling: 14,000 feet;
• Range: 700 miles;
• Fuel Capacity: 90 gallons
• Engine: Wright Aeronautical Corporation Model J-5C Whirlwind nine-cylinder radial engine.

All four brothers banded together the following year to make another run at the endurance flight record.

The Daily Independent wrote that the “opinion in the Sparta vicinity, where the Hunter boys were born and reared and obtained their first flying experience, is that if anybody can set a new endurance record they will do it.”

They were right.

The Record Flight

In early June 1930, John Hunter purchased the Stinson SM-1 Detroiter airplane and renamed it “City of Chicago”. On June 11, John and Kenneth “Beans” Hunter quietly took off from Sky Harbor Airport at Northbrook, Illinois and began their record setting endurance flight. A

In article in the Chicago Daily News on June 13 they wrote about the attempted endurance flight. The support of the flight was well planned but the endurance attempt was not publicized. 

The experience of the 1929 attempts led John and Kenneth to enlist brothers Albert and Walter to fly “Big Ben” as  the refueling plane.

The Hunters hired a manager to help them with the business connected with the endurance flight.

As the flight progressed over the Sky Harbor Airport, refueling occured initially about every six hours. After more than a week, refueling increased to every three hours due to a leak in one of the fuel tanks in the endurance plane, “City of Chicago”.

At each refueling of the “City of Chicago”, “Big Ben” provided gasoline, oil, food and clean clothes to John and Kenneth.

Their mother and sister Irene did their laundry and prepared their meals. John and Kenneth took turns flying the “City of Chicago” and sleeping.

On occasion, “Beans” would leave the cabin and scoot along a catwalk to the engine in the nose of the plane, where he would change sparkplugs and tighten bolts on the engine. 

On July 4, 1930, brothers John and Kenneth “Beans” Hunter landed the “City of Chicago” after having been airborne for 553 hours, 41 minutes and 30 seconds, or 23 days, establishing a new flight endurance record.

John and Kenneth had been experiencing difficulty all day. In late afternoon, an oil screen in the motor clogged. As oil was poured into the motor, it was forced out into the faces of John and Kenneth.

The motor began to heat due to the lack of oil. John and Kenneth decided to land the plane before the motor failed.

As the “City of Chicago” touched down and taxied down the runway, the crowd rushed toward the plane.

John, recalling Lindbergh’s experience in Paris, taxied the plane around the crowd and into the hanger.

Inside the hanger at Sky Harbor Airport, John and Kenneth were greeted by Lee F. Campbell, Will Keigley, Secretary of the Sparta Chamber of Commerce, Norris R. Lessley and Sparta Mayor W. W. Lynn.

John and Kenneth were rushed to the microphones of the national radio networks. They reported that they were tired, but could have stayed in the air for several more days had the oil screen in the motor not become plugged. 

Following the radio broadcast, the Hunter family, including all four brothers, their mother and sister Irene were taken by a long automobile procession to the “House on the Roof” at the Hotel Sherman in Chicago.

Albert, John, Kenneth, Walter, and Irene Hunter pose in front of the “City of Chicago.”

There they were guests of the hotel management. After arriving at the “House on the Roof”, John and Kenneth enjoyed their first bath in more than three weeks.

After bathing, they were required by their manager to sit at a table and listen to long talks.

When the talks were completed, John and Kenneth were finally permitted to get some long over-due rest.

They were awakened the next morning at 10:30 am for an appearance on stage at the Palace Theatre in Chicago shortly after noon.

The record endurance flight was reported all around the world.

Pictures and news of the endurance flight were published in the New York Times newspaper. The July 8, 1930 issue of the St. Louis Globe Democrat featured a front-page article about Sparta, the Hunter brothers and the endurance flight.

Time, engine revolutions, oil pressure, oil temperature, speed and altitude log entries for the record setting endurance flight.

To Be Continued...

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Until next time, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you, Hersch!