Bird of Paradise - WIP

[Russell Smith]

This is something a little different for me. Well, at least its different in that it doesn't take place in Europe between the period of June 1914 and November 1918. The scene will actually be in Hawaii during May of 1914 and will depict the US Signal Corps' attempt to establish an aviation training school there in 1913 - 1914.

Here's a little history:

The Hawaii Detachment

In the latter part of June 1913, the “Wright Contingent” under the command of Captain Arthur C. Cowan was sent to San Diego, making North Island the principal aviation school for the Army in the United States. A second training installation with two airplanes and under the command of Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm had been in operation since March 11, 1912 at Fort William McKinley in the Philippines near Manila.

The sending of an air detachment to Hawaii originated in April 1913 when Brig. General Frederick Funston requested such a move in order to establish a third school to train pilots for coastal patrol and artillery cooperation. The Chief of Staff approved an informal arrangement and Lieutenant Harold Geiger was selected to command the new school as part of the First Hawaiian Brigade. In order to free Lieutenant Geiger to establish the first flying station in Hawaii, his command at North Island was assumed by Captain Cowan.

On June 29, 1913 Lieutenant Geiger left San Diego for Honolulu aboard the Army transport ship LOGAN taking with him about 12 enlisted men. The detachment arrived at Honolulu on Sunday morning, July 13, 1913.

The Army made almost no provision for the arrival of Lieutenant Geiger’s detachment, so it was faced with all sorts of difficulties. They were first ordered to Schofield Barracks, a huge Army station in the middle of the island of Oahu about 10 miles north of Pearl Harbor (at about the location of Wheeler Field of World War II fame). Apparently the only water facility for landing there was a nearby river and Lieutenant Geiger found the area was not suitable for an airdrome site. After further investigation, he selected Fort Kamehameha on the east side of the narrow entrance to Pearl Harbor where both land and sea flights could be made, weather permitting. It took four days before part of the equipment could be moved from the engineers wharf at Fort Kamehameha to the station site less than one-half mile away. Other equipment, which came by rail to Puuloa Train Station, two miles from the fort, sat for days until a truck could be commandeered to move it to the station site. After considerable difficulty, on July 17, 1913 a tent encampment was established and the camp was officially designated Signal Corps Aviation Station, Fort Kamehameha. Lieutenant Geiger lived at the fort and the enlisted men stayed with a nearby coast artillery company.

A little after 7am on a warm Friday morning, August 8, 1913, Lieutenant Geiger made aviation history by making the first airplane flight in Hawaii in S.C. No. 8. The 75 horsepower eight-cylinder Curtiss motor sputtered and backfired as the plane bobbed like a cork on its signle pontoon in the middle of the channel entrance to Pearl Harbor. Lieutenant Geiger opened the throttle and turned the plane east into a 10mph wind. He flew over Pearl Harbor but it was “a short flight with machine No. 8 in order to test the balance of this machine.” Lieutenant Geiger described the hazards:m “The entrance to Pearl Harbor, (except the channel) is a flat coral reef and the water except at high tide is so shallow that it is extremely dangerous to attempt to rise or land anywhere else than the channel. The presence of buoys, ranges and stakes also increases the danger of rising or landing anywhere than in the channel.”

On August 28, 1913, the Curtiss Tractor Scout, S.C. No. 21, was tried out for the first time. He described the flight as a series “of short jumps over the water,” which lasted 35 minutes. S.C. No. 21 was an experimental plane that had been in several accidents during its test flights at San Diego in June. Lieutenant Geiger immediately found the main pontoon was weak and the machine flew with one wing low caused by the braces on one side of the wing being short. The twisted wing gave the biplane a tendency to dive in right turns and to over-bank in the opposite direction. In fact, so many things were wrong with it he suggested that he be sent back to the Curtiss factory to tell them how they could improve the plane, but the Signal Corps did not approve his suggestion. Problems with fore and aft balance were later corrected by adjusting the stabilizer. Eventually, Lieutenant Geiger was able to fly S.C. No. 21 extensively in order to familiarize himself with its particular characteristics, but because of difficulties with the machine and the poor flying conditions, the machine was not safe to use for training personnel as originally planned.

The base at Fort Kamehameha turned out to be far from satisfactory. The old tent hangars were easily torn in storms and low tides made it difficult or impossible to get the planes to the channel. Lieutenant Geiger proposed that the engineers build a track out into the water to facilitate launching the planes regardless of the tide, but no funds were available at first. The water was so shallow that both take-off and landings were dangerous and could only be performed safely in the deep, but narrow channel. The high winds made it even more difficult, and the rest of the harbor area was only usable during high tides. About the middle of September, the post commander forced the camp to move to another nearby location to permit construction of some temporary barracks on the original site. Shortly after the move Lieutenant Geiger was back in the air; however, the high treacherous winds continued to plague the flying contingent and only short flights were possible, and for this reason the department commander would not sanction any regular flying instruction.

By February 24, 1914, all the pusher aircraft back at North Island were offically condemned by the Army and withdrawn from service because of the large number of accidents and deaths in planes of this type, but by late April in Hawaii S.C. No. 8, along with S.C. No. 21, was reassembled and seems to have still been in service during the spring. S.C. No. 21 made some short flights at the end of May.

By this time it had become obvious to Lieutenant Geiger that the Signal Corps attempt to start an aviation school in Hawaii was a failure, due partly to the terrain and conditions of the site and possibly to the unsuitability of the two Curtiss machines on hand. In the face of so many unsatisfactory conditions he naturally felt that it was a waste of time for the school to remain open. Apparently the discouraging results of the past year, when nothing of significance had been accomplished in training other officers stationed in Hawaii was enough to bring Lieutenant Geiger to recommend that the Signal Corps Aviation School Fort Kamehameha be discontinued, and the impending rainy season cemented his decision.

In late June, Lieutenant Geiger attempted to fly S.C. No. 21 again but his record does not make it clear if the plane actually flew. By June 27, 1913 the plane had also been disassembled and crated for storage and sale. The engines for both planes were returned to San Diego.

On July 18, 1914, the 63rd Congress officially approved the creation of the Aviation Section, Signal Corps (H.R. 5304), giving official sanction to Army military airmen. On July 23rd Lieutenant Geiger was promoted to captain. In August he and all but one man in his detachment left for San Diego on the first transport ship and military flying in Hawaii ceased for the moment.

The Signal Corps School, Fort Kamehameha was by no means a success, but the work performed by Captain Geiger both there and at North Island along with his many valuable suggestions helped pave the way for the establishment and organization of many future military aviation training schools.

The End of S.C. No. 8 and S.C. No. 21

On September 1, 1914 both engine-less airframes of S.C. No. 8 and S.C. No. 21 were put up for auction in Honolulu but no one showed up. Plans wer made to ship the planes to San Francisco in hope of selling them there. However on November 12, 1914 another auction was held in Honolulu and both were sold. S.C. No. 8 was purchased by T. F. Bradshaw for $200, and S.C. No. 21, the revolutionary front engine “Tractor Scout” sold for $250 to an unknown buyer. It is unknown if either plane ever flew again, but in retrospect, old “Julia” S.C. No. 8, had been a real workhorse for a fledgling air force and many pioneer military aviators had flown her first, including Captain Geiger. By comparison, S.C. No. 21 had not been a really successful airplane and Capt. Geiger who flew it during most of its operational life would later write:

“The Tractor No. 21 was, of course, an experiment, it was hardly expected that it would be a perfect machine. However, were it not for the fact that the machine was badly needed for this station (Hawaii), it would have been better to have required Mr. Curtiss to build one for us more satisfactory to use.” The school was by no means a success but the work of Lt. Harold Geiger and his men paved the way for the successful establishment of the 6th Aero Squadron in Hawaii three years later and Lieutenant Geiger made many valuable suggestions for the establishment, organization and equipment of future airplane squadrons.

[Russell Smith]

The client commissioning this requested a scene depicting Geiger preparing for a flight in #21 as his men push the aircraft out through the water over the coral flats.

Only 3 photos are known to exist of #21 in the Geiger configuration:




Client requested that both the cart that carried the airplane and the tracks over which they move be partially visible in the water. He also requested that the large metal hangars, constructed during the winter of 1914, be visible.

The area is now occupied by Hickam AFB and access is limited. He lives in the area, though, and was able to get permission to go onsite to gather reference photos for me.




According to him, the water is only mid-calf deep, even many yards offshore, so depicting the carriage assembly visible in the water and the tracks partially visible below the water shouldn't be an issue.

[Russell Smith]

Among other requests from the client were large cumulus clouds (apparently typical Hawaiian weather), #8 in the air back in the background (despite the fact that these two were never flown at the same time) and some nice dramatic lighting.

A little playing in Google Earth gave me a good idea of the shape of the coastline:



I could almost see the scene in my head as soon as I began delving into it. As usual, I presented him 3 sketches, which, due to his requests and the scene stuck so strongly in my head, were all various on the same idea.

1. A view looking down as the personnel push #21 out over the coral flats. we're looking east. Its is approximately 7am. The scene is backlit.


2. Same scene from the opposite direction. We're now facing due west and the scene is frontlit, thus making the colors much more saturated.



3. In the end, we decided on this one - a similar scene to #1, except that I've dropped the eye level to be even with the top wing of the airplane. This brings us in closer to the scene.

[Russell Smith]

Today I finished the perspective drawing. It needs a couple of tweaks here and there, but I think its pretty good considering I only had 3 photos to work with.

[buzz1941]

I will simply blurt out that I am the client, and not be coy. The painting is commissioned as a memorial piece to my father, a former Army Air Corps aviator, who went west last year. It will be be donated to the Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor as an interpretive tool. The exploring flights of military aviators in the Pacific is an overlooked field.
Russell Smith was chosen for this commission because, frankly, he is among the best in the business.
And I will relate that the water of Pearl Harbor at 6 a.m. can be pretty chilly!

[Russell Smith]

And I'll say that Burl has shown an extraordinary amount of patience on this project. I let him know at the outset that it would be several months before I could really get to his project. I think we're approaching a year now (is that right, Burl?) and he's patiently waited on my other paying projects, my various trips here and there and the all too often tangents that I am prone to go off on.

[bzhyoyo]

very informative reading, thanks for sharing.

[JohnReid]

COOL! love the research.

[ONEALM]

Russ -

I like the third comp best as well since it allows clustering of the figures. The first two had sort of a planned look to them since the figures were seperated and almost evenly spaced. The 3rd has the group of 2 in the foreground which gives it a lot more interest and less of a feel of having be "staged".

This will be a neat one all around, surely one of the only depictions of this airplane.

Looking forward to seeing it finishised
Mike

[SCMc]

Hi Russ,

It looks like a great start on an interesting project.

There is one possible small problem. I seem to see more of the tank (or whatever it is) behind the motor in the photos than in your drawing. It looks to me that the sides of the tank in the photos are not vertical; they extend out from the fuselage. Take a look and see what you think.

Steve