Description: The Early Birds: WILL “Billy” PARKER, Pioneer AviatorThe flying career of Billy Parker almost equals the lifetime of powered flight. From pushers to jets, he grew up with aviation. Following through with this decision wasn't easy. In 1912, ready-built planes weren't readily available to a Colorado lad with limited funds. There were only two flying schools in the country and the nearest was over 1,500 miles away. Building his own plane would be extremely difficult. The best aircraft of the day had a ceiling no higher than the surface elevation around his home. If he ever wanted to get off the ground, he'd have to improve existing plane design. The Wright Brothers of Kitty Hawk fame couldn't help the young flyer for they were bogged down in a lengthy legal battle over aviation patents. Aviation's great pioneer, Glenn Curtiss, had the answers but he was too busy with his own problems in faraway New York. Parker didn't have time to wait on the courts or make a long trip to New York. Using the meager information and material at hand, he set to work with wire, cloth and spruce lumber and built his plane. Its power came from a lightweight 50 horsepower Gnome rotary engine built in France. -- The above biographical data was supplied by earlyaviatiors.comThis Early Bird File for sale includes: Photo No. 1 on ebay: * 1 – 8”x10” photo. Caption on backside of photo: July 19, 1957 – Billy Parker, Manager of Phillips Petroleum Company’s aviation sales and veteran pilot, on occasion still flies the 1912 pusher plane, believed to be the oldest airplane still flying. It is powered by an 80-hp Gnome rotary engine made in France. Parker, known as on one America’s foremost flyers, holds pilot license No. 44 and has more than 18,000 hours flying time on all types from his pusher plane to the modern multi-engine aircraft”. Photo No. 2 on ebay: * 1 – 8”x10” photo. Caption on backside of photo: Pilot Billy Parker, Manager of Phillips Petroleum Company’s aviation sales, flies his 1912 model pusher-type plane in the fiftieth anniversary reenactment of the first successful airplane flight made by Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903. In the background is the Wright Brothers Memorial, dedicated at Kitty Hawk commemorating the first powered flight”. Photo No. 3 on ebay: Back side of photo. Photo No. 4 on ebay: * Two (2) color Post Cards showing Billy Parker, Mgr., Phillips Petroleum Company. Circa early 1960s. Photo No. 5 on ebay: * Backside of the Two (2) Post Cards. Photo No. 6 on ebay: * Original page from Aerial Age Weekly, Sept. 23, 1918 with Billy Parker in the photo. Photo No. 7 on ebay: * 1 – 8”X10” photo. Caption on backside: Billy Parker flying his 1914 Pusher at the 50th Anniversary of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla. Photo No. 8 on ebay: * 1 – 8”X10” photo. Caption on backside: Billy Parker flying his 1914 Pusher at the 50th Anniversary of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla. Photo No. 9 on ebay: * 1 – 8”X10” photo. Caption on backside: NEWS RELEASE info from NAS Pensacola. Photo No. 10 on ebay: * 1 – 8”X10” photo. Caption on backside: Golden Anniversary Air Show Fly-By of Billy Parker flying his 1914 Pusher at Forrest Sherman Field, Pensacola, Fla. Photo No. 11 on ebay: * 1 – 8”X10” photo. Backside of above photo. Photo No. 12 on ebay: * 1 – 8”X10” photo. Caption on backside: Golden Anniversary Fly-By of Billy Parker flying his 1914 Pusher at Forrest Sherman Field, Pensacola, Fla. ebay seller’s note/disclosure: The photos offered (or to be offered) by this ebay store (Aviation Photos) are photographs that have been housed in the archives of two aviation book publishing houses over the last 75 years. The photo(s) may or may not be original. In many instances, we do not know. However, you can rest assured that all our photos being sold have been in the possession of an Aviation Photo Collector for well more than 50 years. Not any of our photos are recent reproduction reprints.
Price: 175 USD
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
End Time: 2024-01-19T18:37:13.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
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