sedona legend helen frye

Jack Frye- an Airline Legacy

The Burdett Airport School of Aviation
a Burdett Fuller-Jack Frye Operation

Aero Corporation of California

Standard Air Lines

Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc.

Sedona Legend Profile Series

William John Frye known as "Jack" was born in Sweetwater, Oklahoma on March 18, 1904. His parents were Dr. William Henry and Nellie Cooley Frye. In the veins of Jack Frye pumped the blood of one of America's most illustrious Colonial families. It is has been said that Jack was a direct descendant of a one Joshua Frye, who was George Washington's commanding officer. According to American History, Joshua was fatally injured in a fall from a horse. At that time, George Washington became the leader of our Colonial Army, which won national independence, resulting in the eventual creation of the United States of America, with George Washington as the very first President. One of Joshua's very best friends before his death was Peter Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's father. If Joshua Frye hadn't had his unfortunate accident, would he have gone on to fulfill the same legacy George Washington did? Likely. Tragically for the family, Jack's mother passed away in 1912, leaving Jack to be raised by his grandparents and father. The family ranch consisted of 15,000 acres of cattle-raising land near Wheeler Texas, just west of Sweetwater OK. (Recently when visiting the area, I found it to be lush, green, and vibrant.) Jack, his sister Sunny, and brother Don, owned a partial share of the family herd, and as well, each inherited 1 to 2 sections of Frye land at adulthood. One day when Jack was skating on a frozen pond, three Army "Jennies" flew over and landed in a nearby field. They evidently were grounded due to weather and mechanical complications for several days. Jack immediately forgot all about his new skates, and ran over to see the planes close up. This was truly the moment when "Jack Frye, the Aviator Legend" was born! He spent the entire day running errands and getting acquainted with the daring young pilots. He climbed with wonder and excitement all over the primitive planes, not one detail escaping his rapt attention.

On this day a yearning stirred within Jack's heart that heretofore had not been born, a spark if you will, a burgeoning passion for anything to do with planes and flying. God was offering to commercial aviation a wonderful gift, "Jack Frye," who became an aviation legend, remarkably he had found his life-path at 14 years old! However, the day as exciting as it was, extracted an extreme toll from Jack. He contracted a severe case of pneumonia, for 10 weeks his life slipped away, to the point of the doctor telling his grandfather he would likely die. Miraculously though, the young man rallied. Eventually he was to leave school at 16, at which point he joined the Army Corp of Engineers. Please see new article-- profile on Jack Frye 1939, an in-person interview detailing his early aviation years in his own words. Eventually by 1922, Jack made it out to Los Angeles, California. He was employed as a soda jerk, paperboy, and a dishwasher. Soon, he met Burdett Fuller, Fuller owned a barn-storming and flight lesson airfield on the outskirts of Los Angeles. At $20.00 an hour, Fuller taught Jack to fly in 1923. The same day Jack soloed, he took up his first paying passenger for a scenic flight. Shortly thereafter he borrowed money from his brother Don, and pooling it with his own he invested it with Fuller, receiving a half interest in a Jenny, and Burdett School of Aviation. Burdett and Jack offered scenic flights and flying lessons with a fleet of 2 or 3 Curtiss Jenny planes. This location became the base of Bon MacDougall's, famous "Thirteen Black Cats" stunt flyers, Frye was one of the original 13 members, while MacDougall became a partner in the Burdett-Frye School. The talented pilots flew many stunts for Hollywood movies, to include many films with the famous Hollywood producer, Mack Sennett. Jack at 20, was a natural born aviator and flying was in his blood, he knew California was where the life-pulse of aviation was. The school became very successful, rated one of the very best in the nation at the time, sponsoring among other events, regular Sunday stunt show extravaganzas. See this new page: The Burdett Airport School of Aviation.

In 1925, Jack Frye, along with 2 new business partners, Paul Richter and Walter Hamilton, bought out the Frye-Burdett Fuller airfield operation- lock, stock, and barrel, forming Aero Corporation of California. They continued to be based for a time at Burdett Field. One thing that benefited Aero Corporation was that they were exclusive dealers for Fokker and Alexander Eaglerock airplanes. They also did crop-dusting, aerial surveys, sightseeing, and passenger transport trips. On February 3, 1926, Jack Frye and his partners founded Standard Airlines but it appears Jack did not fly the first commercial flight until November 27, 1927. In 1929, Standard Air Lines merged with Western Air Express (WAE) to form a powerful air express and transport company. Jack Frye became vice president and director in charge of operations. On July 15 1930, Western Air Inc., merged with Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT). Jack Frye was part owner of the Western Air portion and thus became part owner of the new company. On October 1 1930, Frye was appointed vice president in charge of operations, however, it is said his job was really operating "president" of the company. TWA was born and with Jack Frye involved, the man with the golden touch, it was destined for monumental success! At 9:15 a.m. on March 31, 1931, NC-999E, Transcontinental and Western Air, Fleet #5, F-10 Fokker Tri-Motor, took off from Kansas City, MO., painted in Western Air, not TWA colors. The plane was bound for the TWA Grand Central Terminal in Glendale California via Wichita. The plane carried 6 passengers, and 2 pilots, one of these passengers was the famous football coach Knute Rockne, of Notre Dame University. Rockne was on his way to Hollywood to act as a technical advisor on a new film. See this Sedona Legend new webpage.

The plane struggled through rainy overcast weather. Within a half hour it dropped close to the ground apparently seeking a safe emergency landing. However, it was at this point witnesses watched with horror as the right wing snapped off the Fokker sending the plane into the ground, killing all on board. After sifting through the tangled wreckage near Bazaar Kansas, to simplify, it eventually was decided two things; the spar glue had deteriorated, evidently due to moisture, with the final outcome indicating wood rot which weakened the inner wing materials. From that point on government safety inspectors decreed all of these type of planes had to undergo regular in depth inspections. This wasn't a bad decision in itself but the planes couldn't be inspected properly without lethargically dismantling the sealed wings. Jack Frye decided to remove the planes from the TWA fleet as the airline couldn't financially absorb such costly and time consuming inspections and down time. Jack had to pull a rabbit out of a hat and quick! He immediately worked out a design of the air transport he needed and started soliciting airplane manufacturers. The first company he approached was Boeing Aircraft Company in Seattle Washington, currently they were working on a new all metal aircraft known as the B-247. However United Airlines beat Jack to the punch with an order ahead of TWA, (60 planes). Jack knew he could not wait so he proceeded to contact other prominent airplane companies, one of which was the Douglas Aircraft. Donald Douglas immediately seized on this great opportunity to design a totally new passenger transport plane. Out of a proposal for a three-engine transport came a 2-engine-airliner that was far advanced beyond anything else flying, called the Douglas Commercial or DC-1. Click here for the actual letter Jack Frye wrote which changed aviation history and launched the creation of the DC-1, the first modern airliner!

TWA signed a contract with Douglas on September 20, 1932, nine months later Jack Frye had his airplane. TWA's test pilot Tomlinson, and Douglas flight engineers immediately started putting the airplane through the most rigorous of tests. As one of Transcontinental and Western Air's most skilled pilots, Jack Frye himself tested the DC 1, pushing the plane to the limit with severe stress inducing maneuvers. Finally, Jack was satisfied and submitted an order for more planes and Douglas Aircraft started its journey to the top of the airplane production world. The first and only DC-1 was used as a flagship by TWA and flown all over the United States and displayed to excited crowds. The plane also was used in limited passenger transportation (promotions) and fitted with some of the most sophisticated monitoring and safety equipment of the day, this enabled TWA to use the plane as a part of their Overweather Experimental Laboratory program, which was implemented by Frye. The production model of the DC-1 was to become the DC-2. On May 14 1934, TWA accepted the first of the DC-2 planes, and immediately pressed them into service on their many cross country routes. The DC 3 came soon after.

In December 1934, Transcontinental and Western Air showed their gratitude to Frye by making him president of the airline. Many say however, that Frye had already been serving unofficially in this position since 1930. A wonderful Christmas bonus for a man of just 30 years and certainly well deserved! Frye would remain president and director of TWA for 13 long years, always remaining one of the principle owners of TWA, as well. Over a period of 17 years Frye was truly the vision and driving force behind Transcontinental and Western Air. If one considers his previous experience as head of Aero Corporation-Standard Air Lines, (one of the parent companies of TWA), the years come to a grand total of 22. This man's blood was the fuel that ran this monumental organization and without his influence and tenacity, TWA would never have evolved the way we know it eventually becoming the world's third largest airline. This is why Frye today is credited with being the "father" of Transcontinental and Western Air and as well is recognized as one of the nation's most stellar corporate leaders. See this page.

Please see this new page detailing the Knute Rockne tragedy, by aviation historian, John Bybee. Written specifically for the Sedona Legend Website, Bybee addresses with current historical documentation, many little known details of the famous incident all enhanced with photos.

Fokker F10 Tri-motor like the one that killed Rockne. TWA file photo

Please click on pictures for larger files

Standard Air Lines operations hangar, Los Angeles, CA. Likely the date is about 1928. The sign reads,
Aero Corporation of California Inc.
Standard Air Lines, "The Pioneer Line."
(map in the background shows air-route, Los Angeles-Phoenix-Tucson-Douglas-El Paso) TWA file photo

Jack and his first wife in Los Angeles, California. The inauguration of the very first commercial airline service from Los Angeles-Phoenix-Tucson. Please click on the photo for newspaper article coverage.

From President and Founder
of Aero Corporation and Standard Air Lines to operating head of T.W.A.

On October 1, 1930, Jack Frye at 26, became TWA's, "Vice-President of Operations." The title is a misnomer however and it is no surprise to learn from historical information that Jack was actually the operating "president" of Transcontinental and Western Air from this point on. The official title was likely due to company politics and investors. Jack Frye is considered the "father" of TWA for good reason and was always the driving force behind the company. TWA File Photo

This is the futurist looking TWA Boeing Stratoliner- a pressurized- 4 engine airliner, which started service for TWA in 1940. Please see this interesting website. Eventually this plane was replaced by the more favored Douglas Commercial and Constellation. Jack personally assigned TWA's entire Stratoliner fleet to the war effort.

No doubt the worst design feature of this rather primitive airliner was the "slot" cockpit windows. Pilot seating was set back and made for poor visibility from the flight deck.

This wartime TWA program was named the I.C.D, or Intercontinental Division of TWA. One of the TWA Stratoliners drafted into the program was the "NAVAJO" (see Jack Frye pictured center with TWA and military personnel.) Transcontinental and Western Air's association with Native American names is attributed to Frye who loved the Southwest and was part Cherokee himself. The five TWA Stratoliners drafted into the I.C.D program were named: the Navajo, Zuni, Commanche, Apache, and Cherokee.

The "Navajo" crew, (unidentified) (S/N 2001, NC-19909, USAAF S/N 42-88627) initiated it's overseas duties on February 26, 1942, when it took off from Bolling Field (Washington D.C.) for Cairo, Egypt. Please see this page for information on Jack initiating the (TWA ICD) Intercontinental Division of TWA.

For an even better photo of the "NAVAJO" please click here on Patrick Chateau's "TWA Roissy CDG."

By July of 1944, the Army Air Transport Command surrendered the five Stratoliners back to TWA. The ships which were flown with TWA flight crews, flew over 3,000 transatlantic crossings and 45,000 plus hours of flight for the war, were quickly refitted back to passenger service.

Another very detailed Stratoliner B-307 website which offers a variety of photos can be found here.

This is the manifestation of the DC-1 that Jack Frye envisioned for TWA.
Made possible by the talented engineers at Douglas Corporation.
Shown at Grand Central Terminal, Glendale California. TWA File Photo

For more articles on the famous
one and only DC-1 please click here:
The DC-1 Story, first Robot Plane of the 1930's!

The new Douglas- Commercial 1, R 223Y, June-1933
Photo: Donald Douglas Corporation and Sunny Frye Thomas.

Hard times loomed for TWA when the United States government blundered and announced a desire to cancel current airmail contracts with civilian airlines, and re-assign them to the U.S. Army. Jack Frye, vice president of operations for TWA, was well aware of the ramifications of this decision: the mail contracts were TWA's bread and butter. Frye had vision and a plan. He was not going to take this slight laying down. Shortly, he contacted his good friend Edward (Eddie) Rickenbacker, vice-president and general manager of Eastern Air Transport, a division of Northern American Aviation, (soon to become Eastern Airlines in 1938). Jack revealed a plan to Rickenbacker to be executed the day before the present mail contract was due to expire, on February 19, 1934. In a grand gesture, Jack intended to prove to the United States Government that civilian airlines could carry the mail safer...........and faster.

On February 18, 1934 @ 11:56 p.m., T.W.A.'s DC-1 was loaded to the bulkheads with the U.S. Mail. This was the very last load of eastbound mail that TWA would be allowed to transport. (Although the New York Times stated the flight originated at Grand Central Airport in Glendale, California, some sources state due to weather it actually originated in Palmdale, California). TWA ground crews notified Frye that the plane was fueled, loaded, and ready to go. Jack Frye boarded the one of a kind, futurist-looking air ship along with his co-pilot Captain Edward Rickenbacker. Also onboard were a contingency of TWA pilots, to include Paul Richter and D.W. Tomlinson, and news reporters, who also would share pilot duties on the flight. History would unfold that night with the very first produced Douglas Commercial plane. Jack moved the throttles-- the enormous twin Wright Cyclone 710 HP engines roared to life with a synchronized din. Jack swung the ship into position and the airliner soon rocketed down the runway. In moments the loaded plane was off the tarmac and banking steeply over the Los Angeles Basin and up through the treacherous Cajon Pass. Jack and his passengers settled into a night flight over our great United States, random lights of sparse desert communities were outshone by the glory of a twinkling starry sky. The mighty airship pushed on over scrubland, sleeping farms of the Midwest and its destination, the hubbub of the east coast. This flight was Jack's public statement, one well reported by the press, a defiant message to the United States Government that the airlines of America especially Transcontinental and Western Air, would NOT be criticized and made to look inadequate. TWA had made the skies safer for the flying public and accomplished insurmountable leaps in aviation "know-how". Domestic airlines were the carriers most qualified to fly the United States Mail. The DC-1's destination was Newark, New Jersey, 3000 miles away.

As the DC-1 passed over the Midwest a giant blizzard was descending from the north slowly severing all communications. With a deadline of 4:00 p.m. to reach the east coast the plane pushed on through threatening weather. Shortly before noon the plane swooped in for a landing. A jubilant crowd welcomed the plane and its pilots. An official transcontinental record was set at 13 hours, 4 minutes, the plane was three hours ahead of schedule. Jack and Eddie made their point. The then inexperienced (Air) Army, started transportation of the U.S. Mail. But unfortunately 10 Army pilots were soon sacrificed, in mishaps. Amid public outcry by April 20, 1934 the United States government reversed their position and humbly asked the private sector, passenger air carriers, to resume the mail service. Rickenbacker did not have an transport air license so he legally could not fly the airliner. This however was not issue with Frye he desired Eddie's involvement because TWA needed his public influence and clout.

On May 13, 1934 a temporary mail contract was awarded to TWA for two daily mail runs between Newark and Los Angeles. Jack had originally wanted that route for TWA, and there was a specific goal to his hurriedly planned record-breaking flight. In the end the United States Government felt TWA was the most qualified for this particular segment. Not to disappoint, on May 14, 1934 Jack piloted the first load of newly contracted mail from Los Angeles to Kansas City to Newark. Again he set a coast-to-coast speed record this time in a TWA Northrop Gamma 2D (11 hours, 30 minutes.) This feat became apart of the many air records he achieved in his lifetime. TWA again was the leader of the pack!

With added research, I have discovered a little known fact about Rickenbacker. He did not have a pilot's or driver's license. He only served on the this flight as a V.I.P. guest and was not a pilot, although this was not much addressed in press accounts. The fact was public knowledge though, and Rickenbacker was criticized in the press by some, for receiving un-due credit for this TWA feat. Rick said however, he did take the co-pilot controls for a few moments during the flight. Rickenbacker was a truly great man-- one to be greatly admired. The above article is a generalized version of the event based on information from TWA's historical book: "Legacy of Leadership." For more specific details of this event please see this newspaper article.

T.W.A. MAKES FRYE GENERAL MANAGER

Kansas City Man Succeeds Robbins, Who Was Under Fire in Air Mail Inquiry

Kansas City, Missouri, September 25, 1934
Jack Frye of Kansas City, who has been in charge of the operations department of T.W.A. Inc., has been made general manager and vice president of the air concern.

He replaces Richard W. Robbins as active head of the organization, which holds air mail contracts.

Mr. Robbins continues as president of Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc., which leases its recently delivered (Douglas) monoplanes to T.W.A., Inc., the operating successor to Transcontinental and Western Air.

While Mr. Robbins, who was under fire by the Post Office Department in the investigation subsequent to the cancellation of air mail contracts last February, held no announced title with T.W.A. Inc., he was looked on generally as the concern's general manager.

The Kansas City Star said removal of Mr. Robbins from active management of T.W.A., Inc., was looked upon as a gesture to the Post Office Department.

Douglas Commercial Skysleeper. TWA modified these planes with berths so passengers could sleep their way across the country during nightly flights! TWA inaugurates service on the first overnight sleeper service between Los Angeles and Newark on August 1, 1934. TWA File Photo

May 7, 1935
TWA SKY CHIEF AIRLINER CRASHES
New Mexico Senator Bronson Cutting among fatalities

Douglas Commercials have flown nearly 5,000,000 miles for TWA to date.
Yesterday's airplane crash in Missouri was the first in scheduled air transport in the United States in which any passenger fatalities have occurred since January 1.
It was also the first in America in which pilots or passengers have been killed in a Douglas Commercial Transport.

TWA PLANE CRASH LAID TO 5 CAUSES

Faulty Government Weather Forecasting is One Finding of Air Commerce Board.
Ground Negligence Seen.

This Phase of Report on Death of Cutting and Four Others is challenged by TWA

June 15, 1935 Washington D.C.
Alleged negligence by ground employees of the Transcontinental & Western Air Line, and a faulty weather prediction by the government forecasting service, were reported today by a Bureau of Air Commerce Accident Board to have been contributory causes of the crash of the TWA airliner Sky Chief, in Missouri, May 6, in which Senator Bronson Cutting of New Mexico and four others were killed.
Strict enforcement of an eight-hour day for all pilots probably will result from the accident. A waiver of this maximum had been granted to TWA by the bureau because the maximum schedule between Kansas City and Los Angeles exceeded the limitation. While there was no evidence that either of the pilots of the Sky Chief was fatigued, Eugene Vidal, chief of the Bureau of Air Commerce, announced today that all waivers of the eight-hour daily maximum had been rescinded.
Five Contributory Causes Listed.

The report lists five probable contributory causes of the accident as follows:
   (a) A forecast by the United States Weather Bureau which did not predict the hazardous weather that developed during the latter part of the forecast period.
   (b) Improper clearance of the airplane from Albuquerque by the company's ground personnel because of their knowledge that the plane's two-way radio was not functioning on the western night frequency.
   (c) Improper control by the company's ground personnel at Albuquerque for not calling the airplane back, or ordering it to stop at an intermediate point when it was found that two-way radio communication could not be established.
   (d) Error on the part of the pilot for proceeding in the flight after discovering that he was unable to communicate effectively with the ground.
   (e) Failure of the company's ground personnel at Kansas City to re-dispatch the airplane expeditiously to a field where better weather existed when it became apparent that the ceiling at Kansas city was dropping to and below the authorized minimum for landing and while the airplane still had sufficient fuel to meet the Department of Commerce requirement of a forty-five minute fuel reserve after effecting a landing.
A 'Collision With the Ground.'
   The direct cause of the crash was "an unintentional collision with the ground" while the plane was being maneuvered at a very low altitude in darkness and fog, the accident board found.
   The board commended the airmanship of Harvey Bolton and Kenneth Greeson, the pilot and co-pilot, as having overcome all save the last of many obstacles. In the tanks where the plane crashed was enough fuel to have kept the engines running under normal conditions for another twenty-seven minutes.
   "The position and condition of the various parts of the wreckage, including propellers, wing flaps, landing gear, oil and fuel supply, as well as marks on the ground, all indicated that the airplane was in normal flight until the moment the wing tip dragged into the ground," said the board.
   Mr. Vidal outlined to a memorandum the progress being made for further safe-guarding air travel. He said his bureau was expediting its program for the improvement of radio equipment, the more efficient inspection of such equipment and the adoption of a proportional fuel reserve regulation for long-distance flights.

TWA Chief Attacks Report.
   Sharp resentment over the report of the accident board of the Bureau of Air Commerce was expressed yesterday by Jack Frye, president of TWA, Inc. Mr. Frye said that misleading reports as to the conditions of ceiling and visibility at the Kirksville, Mo. emergency field, to which the plane was directed after these reports had been reiterated over the telephone, were responsible for the accident.
   He added that the airline would assist in the investigation of the Bureau of Air Commerce proposed by Senators Johnson and Hatch, in an effort to prevent repetition of weather reports of this type. For more than a year there have been occasional complaints from airlines and individual fliers to the effect that the reports on weather conditions received from airports had erred on the side of being over optimistic.
   "Transcontinental & Western Air officials," Mr. Frye said in a statement issued at his office in the General Motors Building, 1775 Broadway, "were amazed at the reported findings of the accident board of the Bureau of Air Commerce as to the cause of the airplane accident on May 6, 1935, near Atlanta, Mo. The evidence of the public hearing of the Bureau of Air Commerce clearly showed that TWA was in no way at fault in the handling of this flight, and that the accident occurred because of no failure of equipment or company personnel.
   "These facts were clearly established before the accident board by the employees of the airline and independently proved by records kept by the United States Weather Bureau, reports made by the Bureau of Air Commerce observers at Kirksville and Kansas City, by the log of the plane itself and the testimony of many disinterested witnesses who testified at Macon and Kansas City.
No Safety Found at Kirksville.

These hearings definitely established the fact that the real cause of the accident was that Pilot Bolton, when he neared the field at Kirksville, attempted to come down through a ceiling reported by the Bureau of Air Commerce observer at Kirksville as 7,000 feet, with four miles visibility and lowered scattered clouds at 1,200 feet.
   "What he actually found was a zero condition, which, in the parlance of air transportation, means a total lack of ceiling and visibility. The plane in question was not sent to Kirksville until the company had telephoned the Bureau of Air Commerce observer on duty at the Kirksville field and had the observer confirm his previous reports as to weather conditions.
   "Had weather conditions been as reported, the pilot of the plane would have found a safe landing at the Kirksville field. The accident occurred, not because of any failure on the part of Transcontinental and Western Air or its employees, nor because of the failure of any of the very latest and best scientific instruments with which the plane was equipped, but solely because the favorable landing conditions reported by the observer at Kirksville field did not exist.
   "TWA plans to cooperate fully with the Senatorial committee of investigation in the hope that conditions which caused or permitted this plane to meet with an accident may be entirely corrected in the interest of increased safety for air navigation."
   When asked if he wished to comment on the specific allegations of the Department of Commerce report as to failure of the airline to live up to certain regulations put to effect last October, Mr. Frye said he had not yet received a full copy of the report and did not care to add to his previous statement until he had had an opportunity to read it in detail.

This photo is one of the most circulated of founder and long-time president of TWA- Jack Frye. One of many images which were part of TWA's aggressive "publicity machine" pioneered and overseen by Jack Frye from the start of his career in 1923. This photo publicizes TWA as an airline operated not just by executives, but crack veteran pilots like Frye. Images like these helped cement the airline's success in the glory years of TWA.

Jack Frye becomes President
of Transcontinental and Western Air!
Newspaper article:
Kansas City, December 6, 1934
Jack Frye 33 years of age today, became president of TWA Inc. coast-to-coast airline. It was announced at the organizations headquarters here. Frye was named vice-president and general manager only two months ago and was advanced swiftly to executive vice-president and now president.

Please Note:
Even though the article above contains two glaring errors I have decided to include it for historic sake. Jack was 30 years old when he became President, not 33.

Letter to Jack Frye:
(transcribed from copy of original)

December 8, 1934
Mr. Jack Frye
President, TWA Incorporated
Kansas City, Mo.

Dear Mr. Frye:

              Congratulations on your appointment as President of TWA Incorporated. I wish you a successful career in this work.

               Several years ago you gave Mrs. Riordan and me a most pleasurable thrill, when you took us up in the air at Prescott, Arizona. On our first air trip, and shortly after that time I introduced you to Mr. Henry M. Robinson in Los Angeles. It was then remarked that we could expect big things from you in the development of air transportation and now you seem to be fulfilling our hopes!

               Mrs. Riordan joins with me in all good wishes.

               Sincerely,
               Timothy A Riordan

Personal letter from Jack Frye adjoining:
Mr. Timothy A. Riordan is the same of Riordan State Park in Flagstaff Arizona. He and his family were pioneers and prominent citizens of Northern Arizona, as well, good friends of Jack and Helen Frye. Because Mr. Riordan meticulously filed all his correspondence, Red Rock State Park and The Riordan Mansion are able to have many letters between the Fryes and the Riordans.

Profile on Jack Frye
Published in P.A.C. Magazine

Pacific Aviation Club of California
January 1940
Jack Frye
Member of the Executive Committee

In reviewing the sins and successes of The Pacific Aviation Club Executive Committee members, the biography of Jack Frye reads like a Dick Merriwell novel. As President of Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc., he has two paradoxical distinctions in the air transport line from a standpoint of years--and the oldest from a standpoint of flying experiences. Today, as a respected member of prominent clubs from coast to coast, and serving as a director of the Air Transport Association, the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, National Safety Council, Private Flyers Association, etc., it is difficult to realize that seventeen years ago, he enjoyed the distinction of being a first class dishwasher in a Los Angeles restaurant.
This transition was not brought about without trials and tribulations.

Jack first saw the light of day in Oklahoma, although he claims the Lone Star State, where men are men, as his home. In accordance with custom, his grandparents, who owned a sizeable ranch, gave him a heifer calf when he was born, and a horse as soon as he was old enough to ride. By the time he was seven years old, the "JF" brand adorned live head of cattle, so he had an early start in entering business.
It was while attending Clarendon High School that he first caught pneumonia from spending a rainy day watching an airplane. At sixteen he entered the Army Engineering Corps, went to El Paso, and within a year saw service at Camp Dodge, Iowa, and Camp Lewis, Washington. Shortly after returning to the ranch, he decided to leave Texas before they elected a woman governor. So he and his brother, Don, headed for California with two other boys in an old Ford. It was shortly after that the dishwasher career came into Jack's life. It was followed by a job selling newspapers, then a soda jerker in a corner drug store. He must have had a racket on the side somewhere because he saved up a sufficient fortune to take seven and a half hours of instruction from Burdett Fuller at twenty dollars an hour before acquiring solo status. Jack made a deal with his brother Don, to sell Don's cows and loan him the money to buy a half interest in Fuller's plane and in return he agreed to teach Don to fly.

Fuller and Frye continued to operate a scenic flight line and to train students to fly. One day a young man from Colorado came to the flying school. Although he was short of stature, he was long on ready money, and when he signed his enrollment as "Paul Richter," and paid $250 cash to learn to fly, Fuller and Frye almost fainted. Soon Frye and Richter became close friends. In the meantime, Walter Hamilton had joined the school as mechanic and learned to fly under Frye. The three bought out Fuller and started the Aero Corporation of California.

Although the assets consisted only of a few old planes and junk equipment, each of the three had something definite to contribute to the newly formed company. Frye had organization ability, flying experience, and a likeable personality. Richter displayed a keen executive knowledge that carried him to the position of Executive Vice-President and General Manager of the present T & W A, and Walt Hamilton, who now manages the Douglas company's El Segundo Division, is a mechanical genius who almost can make a washing machine fly an airplane.

Aero Corporation was successful. From a school it branched out into advertising by air, an agency for Eaglerock and Fokker, and finally Standard Air Lines was formed flying between Los Angeles and Phoenix, with connections to El Paso.

A deal was negotiated in 1929 whereby Western Air Express acquired the line, and Frye was made Vice-President in Charge of Operations. In October, 1930, Western Air Express merged with Transcontinental Air Transport to form T & W A, and Jack moved into the same position with the larger company. When Mr. Farley shuffled up the air lines and dealt them over in 1934, Frye emerged as President of the company which has grown to employ over seven hundred and fifty persons, serving twenty-one cities from coast to coast. Recently, Frye and Richter became capitalists in a big way when they out-wolved Wall Street to acquire a working control of their own company.

As President of T & W A, Jack Frye never forgets his dishwashing or his early flying days. He may be found at almost any point on the line, flying his own ships, riding in the cockpit with the scheduled pilot, or relaxing in the rear with the passengers. He is an enthusiastic booster for The Pacific Aviation Club.

Jack Frye, center, Paul Richter, left, and Walter Hamilton, right, June of 1939. These three remarkable men were the founders of the Aero Corporation on February 3, 1926, one of the parent companies of TWA. Please see new article, Profile-Jack Frye-1939
and Jack Frye Biography. TWA file photo

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For more information on Jack Frye- Aviation Legend,
Please see the website: Jack Frye TWA Legend

a Jack Frye
Transcontinental and Western Air
Historical Webpage

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Sedona Legend Helen Frye
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