The 13 Black Cats, also known as the 13 Flying Black Cats or simply the Black Cats, was a 1920s group of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

–based performers who would do stunts, primarily using airplanes and also including motorcycles and automobiles, for a set price. Examples included upside-down flying for $100 and blowing up an airplane in mid-air for $1500. They performed at airshows and in movies and were featured in

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, informa ...

s of the era. The group's advertising used the tagline "If a Black Cat can't do it—It can't be done."

History

On its founding in 1924, the group had 13 members, led by Ronald "Bon" MacDougall (1901–1970), and was based at Burdette Airport—of which MacDougall was a part-owner, and where some of them worked or learned to fly—at Western Avenue and 102nd Street in

, California. The group disbanded in 1929, due to competition from cut-rate pilots. The uniform of the Black Cats was a black sweater which was adorned on the front with a cat and number 13 patch. The members had their name on the back. The logo of the group was a black cat turned sideways with an arched back standing on a fence with a full moon visible.

Members

Members of the group were supposed to have a name that was 13 letters long; some of those who did not satisfy this requirement acquired nicknames. Membership varied, but included the following: * "Loot" Barber * Howard Batt * Reginald Denny (1891–1967), British actor * Art Goebel (1895–1973) * Sam Greenwald * Gladys Ingle (1899–1981), a wing walker * Al Johnson * Ronald "Bon" MacDougall (1901–1970) * William "Spider" Matlock (1901–1936) * George "Slim" Maves * Heard "Herd" McClellan * Kenneth "Fronty" Nichols (1902–1975) * Freddy Osborne * Jerry Phillips *

Paul E. Richter Paul Ernest Richter Jr. (January 20, 1896 – May 15, 1949) was an American aviation pioneer, co-founder of Standard Airlines and executive vice president of Trans World Airlines, operations chief of staff of the Naval Air Transport Service duri ...

(1896–1949) * Ivan Unger Goebel won the deadly 1927

Dole Air Race The Dole Air Race, also known as the Dole Derby, was a deadly air race across the Pacific Ocean from Oakland, California to Honolulu in the Territory of Hawaii held in August 1927. There were eighteen official and unofficial entrants; fifteen of ...

from

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, to

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

, which claimed 10 lives before, during, and after the race. One of Ingle's notable stunts was going to the rescue of an airplane which had "lost" a wheel while in the air. She would strap a spare on her back, rendezvous with the "stricken" airplane, climb to the top of the upper wing of the second airplane and transfer to the bottom wing of the airplane in distress. She would then climb down to the landing gear and install the wheel. The stunt was captured in a newsreel (see

External links An internal link is a type of hyperlink on a web page to another page or resource, such as an image or document, on the same website or domain. Hyperlinks are considered either "external" or "internal" depending on their target or destination ...

below). Another stunt was pretending to play tennis on the top wing. Matlock was also a car racer and

riding mechanic A riding mechanic was a mechanic that rode along with a race car during races, and who was tasked with maintaining, monitoring, and repairing the car during the race. The various duties included manually pumping oil and fuel, checking tire wear, ...

; he was killed in a crash in a race at

Ascot Speedway Ascot Park, first named Los Angeles Speedway, and later New Ascot Stadium, was a dirt racetrack located near Gardena, California. Ascot Park was open between 1957 and 1990. The track held numerous United States Auto Club (USAC) national tour r ...

. Richter was later a co-founder of

Standard Air Lines Standard Air Lines was an airline founded by Jack Frye, Paul E. Richter and Walter A. Hamilton in 1927. The three had founded Aero Corporation of California in 1926 in Los Angeles and Standard was made a subsidiary of Aero in 1927. History Stand ...

and executive vice president of

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

(TWA).

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Pathé News newsreel of "Air Crash Averted" by Gladys Ingle
American aviators Stunt performers Stunt pilots

History

Members

References

Further reading

External links