My Grandpa, Captain D.W. Tomlinson, USN:
D.W. Tomlinson was born at Batavia, NY, April 28, 1897. He was appointed to the US Naval Academy in 1914, graduating with the class of 1918, which was accelerated (WWI) and graduated on June 28, 1917.
Tomlinson's NASM biography folder (cited, left sidebar) has a lengthy oral transcript of an excellent interview with him performed at his Oregon home during September, 1985. Some of what follows is summarized from that interview and other sources cited.
He became a Naval Aviator (No. 2923) on August 11, 1921. He was an early believer that if aircraft could not fly at night or in bad weather, they wouldn't be very useful. Because of that belief, he became an early proponent of instrument guidance and flight. While in the Navy, he owned personally two (consecutive) JN4s and barnstormed at airshows on weekends. He was a Naval Aviator from 1920-22, then an instructor in the Department of Marine Engineering, U.S. Naval Academy from 1923-1925. He returned to Naval Aviation from 1925-1929.
By 1928-29, he was the leader of the "Three Sea Hawks", the Navy's first aerobatic team. The group was commonly referred to as the precursor of the "Blue Angels".
More at: http://www.dmairfield.org/people/tomlinson_dw/index.html
"Grandpa Tommy" (as I knew him) started out flying balloons before the Navy had heavier-than-air craft, and then proceeded to fly just about every plane the Navy used over the next four decades. He set numerous records for altitude, duration, and load-carrying. He was the lead pilot of the first "Blue Angels" - albeit with a different name. He was court-martialed on several occasions but retired with honors. He led the Navy aviators in their role in the Berlin Airlift. He flew with Charles Lindberg as his copilot. He was a cantankerous old fart that drank two fingers (or sometimes a few more) of Old Fitzgerald every day and died at 99.
Thanks, Grandpa Tommy!
D.W. Tomlinson was born at Batavia, NY, April 28, 1897. He was appointed to the US Naval Academy in 1914, graduating with the class of 1918, which was accelerated (WWI) and graduated on June 28, 1917.
Tomlinson's NASM biography folder (cited, left sidebar) has a lengthy oral transcript of an excellent interview with him performed at his Oregon home during September, 1985. Some of what follows is summarized from that interview and other sources cited.
He became a Naval Aviator (No. 2923) on August 11, 1921. He was an early believer that if aircraft could not fly at night or in bad weather, they wouldn't be very useful. Because of that belief, he became an early proponent of instrument guidance and flight. While in the Navy, he owned personally two (consecutive) JN4s and barnstormed at airshows on weekends. He was a Naval Aviator from 1920-22, then an instructor in the Department of Marine Engineering, U.S. Naval Academy from 1923-1925. He returned to Naval Aviation from 1925-1929.
By 1928-29, he was the leader of the "Three Sea Hawks", the Navy's first aerobatic team. The group was commonly referred to as the precursor of the "Blue Angels".
More at: http://www.dmairfield.org/people/tomlinson_dw/index.html
"Grandpa Tommy" (as I knew him) started out flying balloons before the Navy had heavier-than-air craft, and then proceeded to fly just about every plane the Navy used over the next four decades. He set numerous records for altitude, duration, and load-carrying. He was the lead pilot of the first "Blue Angels" - albeit with a different name. He was court-martialed on several occasions but retired with honors. He led the Navy aviators in their role in the Berlin Airlift. He flew with Charles Lindberg as his copilot. He was a cantankerous old fart that drank two fingers (or sometimes a few more) of Old Fitzgerald every day and died at 99.
Thanks, Grandpa Tommy!
