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Burdett Airport
School of Aviation

Western Avenue and 104th Street Los Angeles, California

a Burdett Fuller - Jack Frye Ownership and Operation

Said to be the FIRST private airport in the Western United States

The "Glory Days" of West Coast Aviation

Home of the 13 Black Cats
early Hollywood aerial stunt team

Sedona Legend Historical Profile

The following pages are dedicated to Joseph "June" (Junior) S. Smith Jr.

Jack Frye and June Smith at Burdett Airport 1924

This historic web display would not be possible but for the generous contributions of Denis Smith who desired to share with this electronic portal his rich archive of historic memorabilia. The vintage aviation images on the following pages are remnants of his Uncle June's aviation career, displayed on the Sedona Legend Website with historic captions. Smith was one of the earliest California - Arizona aviators and a flying associate of Jack Frye and the early aviators of Burdett Airfield.

The beginning of Los Angeles Air History!

On this page you will find a unique window into the Burdett Airport operation, found no where else in the world. Photos and clippings- most previously lost, having never been seen by the public up until now. Displayed for the sole purpose of bringing to life the glorious beginnings of west coast aviation. Often I am offered such historic materials, however, many times these materials are offered with uncomfortable strings. Refreshingly the Smith archive has been offered just to get it "out there" with no shading or agenda. The pages are oriented around Jack Frye's association with Burdett Airport, as before he came on the scene in 1923, Burdett Field was just another dusty Los Angeles landing strip. Although Burdett Fuller founded the airfield, I daresay, he himself would feel Jack Frye was the one who launched it to stellar heights. Burdett brought Jack on board as a partner because he recognized an aviation power-house. Their close friendship is legendary, their aviation school was the best on the west coast! With great men there often comes great change, men with vision charisma and perseverance are the ones that alter our world. Burdett Airport is remembered as a shining example of all things great about the west coast's immersion into an exciting new world of aviation. Because of this association the memory of this flight operation has reached great historic heights in the collective aviation memory. Jack Frye was the hub at which this wheel of accomplishment spun. Not only did the experience enable him to branch into numerous related ventures and associations, but in time he became the most valuable founding force of Transcontinental and Western Air. Great men gravitated toward him and monumental milestones were accomplished. With the essence of a true visionary and entrepreneur, Jack Frye affected the lives of millions of people. Yet in barely 50 years, he was gone from our planet. Thankfully though his legacy will continue for an eternity. June Smith was a close friend of Jack Frye and Burdett Fuller.

the Black Cat Aerial Stunt Team

Burdett Airport: Home to the famous Hollywood stunt team- the "13 Black Cats."

We will not speculate as to "who" the original 13 members of the Black Cat, Hollywood Stunt Team were, as it seems several original members have their own recollections. However, according to a 1966 published interview, profile article on Ken "Fronty" Nichols and Bon MacDougall, the original 13 members of the group are as follows below:

"13 Black Cats"

Bon MacDougall, Ken Nichols, and William (Spider) Matlock, were creators of the group.
Followed by and in the order of--
4)   Jerry Tabnac
5)   Heard (Herd) McClellan 6)   Paul Richter Jr.
7)   Jack Frye
8)   Al Johnson
9)   Ivan "Bugs" Unger
10) Sanford Sam Greenwald 11) Colonel Art Goebel
12) Bill "Babe" Stapp
13) Gladys Ingle

Members of the "Black Cat" stunt team, (to the left and below) in front of the Fuller-Frye flight operations, Western Avenue and 104th Street, Los Angeles, California. From left to right, William W. E. "Spider" Matlock, Paul Richter Jr., Ronald G. "Bon" MacDougall, and Ken "Fronty" Nichols. The odd nicknames were due to a stipulation that all members had to adopt a name with 13 letters. However, there were many members of which the nickname, if there ever was one, is unknown. As well, there were many members of the Flying Thirteen Black Cats who were never officially photographed with the group or if they were, the photos tragically have been lost. Because of this there were many men involved with the group that have never received proper credit. A few of these additional Black Cat members (a couple honorary) were as follows, Burdett Fuller, Frank Helfing, Reginald Denny, Wild Billy Lind, Wayne (Allies?) Allien, Joe Campi, Theodore (Ted) A. Woolsey, Gerald Phillips, and Frank Lockhart. List will expand as names are connected.

As testament to the confusion over the Black Cats membership is the statement in the above article which says Reginald Denny was made the 13th member. This is misleading though, considering the group was well established by the time Reginald joined and as well, it is said he was an "honorary" member. These members were added after the group was established for publicity and other reasons. Denny was a famous Hollywood actor.

This aerial group was also known as-

"The Thirteen Black Cats of Hollywood"

Profile:
Black Cat-
Ken (Fronty) Nichols

Since it's too difficult to follow all the stories- or compile a complete history of the 13 Black Cats, I have decided to use "smiley" Fronty as our personal Burdett Airport-Black Cat representative. Nichols is an excellent choice as he was one of the original three founders of the group. Ken was interviewed many times throughout the years and had lots of interesting information relating to the group. These, now historic archives, seem to have a pretty fair and unbiased perspective.

For quite some time I have been curious about why Ken Nichols (left) was christened with the nickname "Fronty?" Such an unusual name, seemingly found no where else. Was it an anagram? A childhood nickname? Perhaps I finally figured it out! Actually, it was a name quite well-known in 1924, around the time of the photo as seen above. The name was derived from the car, also seen (below) which was a "Ford Fronty." These cars were Ford race cars on Model T chassis, produced with Cheverolet parts. The name was a shortened version of Frontenac (the name of the Chevy Division which supplied the parts). Thus these little speedy race cars were: Fronty-Fords! The Black Cats reguarly raced them. Please see this link

In the April 1958 issue of Argosy magazine, I was able to locate a four-page-interview with Black Cat Fronty Nichols. The article, titled, "The Black 13" was written by Jack Lewis in regard to an interview with Ken Nichols. With a wealth of Black Cat information, the article gives an unusually detailed history of the group seemingly not found through other sources. To read the PDF formated article, please click on the image to the right.

To the left, a 13 Black Cat aerial high-flying-stunt over Los Angeles, Fronty is seen exiting one plane and stepping down onto the wing of a lower plane. Black Cats only wore parachutes if they were doing a jump, so this was a little more than dangerous! The plane with (Phillips Gasoline) and #27
on it, belonged to Bon MacDougall.

The caption for this photo, from the article above titled the Black 13, states "Mid-air transfer, Fronty Nichols swings from perch of one plane to wing of ship beneath him. Four men split $100.00 for this stunt." This caption is a mistake though, as when one reads the article below one realizes this is not Fronty, BUT Gladys Ingle!

13 Black Cats

The adjoining Black Cats article in four parts, was submitted to Sedona Legend by Bon MacDougall historian, Terry Cumming.

Art Goebel- famous aviator and Black Cat, with his stunt flying partner, Gladys Ingle. Yes folks, a "Lady Black Cat!" Click on the article above, to read about Ingle and Goebel. The second part of the article is about Black Cat, Al Johnson!

October 12, 1926

A newsreel of Gladys Ingle climbing between planes
can be viewed here.

December 4, 1923

To the right, (8) members of the famous 13 Black Cats. From left to right, standing in the back row, are, Albert Johnson, Bon MacDougall, Art Goebel, Fronty Nichols and Paul Richter. Kneeling in the front, left to right, are: Herd McClellan, Sam Greenwall, and Spider Matlock.

Vintage newsreel of the Black Cats performing can be viewed here.

Only a few photos of Jack Frye with the Black Cats have been located. It is documented he was an active member, so why is this? One explaination may be just how busy Jack Frye was in those early years, with the operation of Burdett Airport and the many other ventures he was involved in, it is possible he had little time for Black Cat publicity photos, etc. This seems to be true with other members of the group as well.

Bon climbs into a plane with Paul E. Richter's name on it. His sweater has "Bon MacDougall" on the back in fancy lettering. The photo says that this is Bon's first parachute jump. 1925

Bon MacDougall is thought to have founded the "13 Black Cats." However, Burdett Fuller has noted that it was Jack Frye who founded the famous Hollywood stunt team. Why Burdett (who was there from the onset) had those sentiments is not known, however one can find evidence of such at the San Diego Aero Space Museum (SDAM), in the Fuller archive. It is my opinion that several men (to include Paul Richter and Jack Frye) all together, shared in the formation of the group and that is from whence the confusion comes. Bon, Paul, and Jack were three of the earliest members of the group, all men did extensive Hollywood movie stunt flying. The group was founded in 1924 and existed for 5 years.

Although these two aviators are not
identified I think one of them is a Black Cat but can't quite place him.

In a vintage photo proudly shown to me by Nevajac Frye, her father Jack Frye is shown as a pilot of a biplane with Mack Sennett and cameras. Jack's passenger, a camera man, is unidentified, date is about 1924-26. Mack was the owner of Sennett Films, (Keystone Film Company). Sennett is most noted for his popular serials: the "Keystone Kops." Mack Sennett erected the original "Hollywoodland" sign to promote his real estate development, (the sign is now displayed as Hollywood, the "land" was removed). The daring Black Cats team performed many death-defying stunts for early Hollywood film companies, to include Hughes' "Hell's Angels." As a founding member of the Black Cats, Jack held the position of a "straight" pilot. I have the above photo on file, plus one other of Jack with the Black Cats, which I may eventually add here. If you have any images you would like to share with this website, please contact me.

Action- roll the cameras! German Shepherds were quite common canine actors in the 1920's. Above we see one sniffing a man on the wing. Pilot is below. The dog may be Peter the Great, a Rin Tin Tin-like movie canine, who is known to have worked with the Black Cats.

Possibly "The Airmail" Paramount released '25

Movie crews were regular visitors to Burdett and surrounding airfields. Here is a U.S. Mail plane with Director's chair, camera, and megaphone. These images are from 1924.

Action- "Roll The Cameras!" German Shepherds were quite common canine actors in the 1920's. Above, and to the right, we see one sniffing a man on the wing. Pilot is sitting below. The dog is likely Peter the Great, a Rin Tin Tin like movie canine who is known to have worked with the Black Cats. Image shows "ground shots" of aerial sequences.

Bon MacDougall before or after a dead-stick landing performance, surrounded by Burdett Airport ground crew. 1925

Black Cat
Al Johnson
Business Card

Mr.and Mrs. MacDougall (left) and aviator, Happy Russell (right) -outbound for San Francisco. Please note- my notations come from June's writing on his photo albums. He always referred to Harold "Hap" Russell as "Happy" Russell, Why? I don't know.

W.E. Matlock and Paul E. Richter Jr., (both Black Cats) in Paul's personal plane, note the "PER" on the side. 1925.

Black Cat Paul Richter
and Burdett Fuller in 1925.

Two men in Paul Richter's plane, the photo has "Jack and Paul" written on it.
These men however remain unidentified, as they are not Frye and Richter.
May be the same scene as above with different man sitting in Richter's position.

To the right, Frank Helfing hanging on a rope suspended from a Black Cat plane.

May 17 1925

Jack and admirer, Lillian, enjoy some vistory Champaign after the Bell Airport opening competition.

Photo to the left, May 17, 1925, titled, "Mack," seen in a Burdett Airport overalls. Think this maybe M.W. Davis, see below, also Goebel's navigator, Dole flight. Notice writing on the under-wing is the same as the photo above with Frye. For several years haven't been able to figure out what the writing means, as it is shown only in part- "ZPTR." A Black Cat stunt plane?

Suicide Trio- Aerobatic Team
M.W. Davis, D.W. Tomlinson, and A.P. Storres, perform death defying acts over Aero Corporation headquarters at Los Angeles, 1926. This group was the Navy Aerial Team, the "Three Sea Hawks." The team performed from about 1926 to 1929. The man on the left in the image looks like "Mack" above. Please click on photo to read the caption.

Black Cat, Spyder Matlock Burdett Airport Business Card

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A majority of the materials on this webpage were graciously
submitted by Denis Smith, nephew of Joseph "June" Smith.
Additional information and files came from the Sedona Legend Research Achive.

a Jack Frye

Transcontinental and Western Air

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