Harry Stephen Harkness (July 17, 1880 – January 23, 1919) was an American
aviator
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
and
racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...
driver.
Biography
He was born in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
on July 17, 1880 to
Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
heir
Lamon V. Harkness.
In 1918 his personal yacht was taken by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
, becoming and was credited with sinking 3 German
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Harkness sued the US government in 1918 because he did not believe that he was adequately compensated for the value of his yacht.
![USS Wakiva (SP-160)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/USS_Wakiva_%28SP-160%29.jpg)
He died of
influenza
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...
in 1919, at his home, 270 Park Avenue, New York - a short four years following the death of his father
Lamon V. Harkness.
In 1918, Harry commissioned the prestigious Schmieg/Hungate/Kotzian furniture manufacturer to exclusively create the Artcase for his Steinway Model B from Steinway & Sons. The piano was discovered in a mansion in 2008 and has been fully restored.
Following his death, his first wife, Mrs Marie M Cowan (née Harkness née Marbeck), whom he married in 1906 and divorced in 1916, sued for his entire $20 million estate, claiming he was of unsound mind when leaving the estate to his second wife, Mrs Florence Streuber Harkness née Gaines.
Legacy
Harry was an avid race car driver and won the first "Race to the Clouds", the
Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race The Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race, also known as the Climb to the Clouds, is a timed hillclimb auto race up the Mount Washington Auto Road to the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. It is one of the oldest auto races in the country, ...
. Harry Harkness led a group of investors who bought the
Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York.
Early history
The racetrack was built by a group of prominent businessmen from the New Yo ...
, a
thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
facility they converted to use as an
auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
track. Following Harkness' unexpected death the facility was sold to
real estate developer
Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...
s. As a noted racer of the day, he was retroactively awarded the 1902
American Automobile Association
American Automobile Association (AAA – commonly pronounced as "Triple A") is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 m ...
National Championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
in 1951. 1902 was the first year of AAA sanctioned racing. One of Harry's more famous races was against
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
.
Aviation
Harkness financed the building of many early airplanes. On March 4, 1911, he contracted early aviator
Charles F. Walsh to build an airplane for use by his chief mechanic John Kiley at the Harkness camp established on North Island in San Diego, CA.
Walsh delivered the plane to the aviation camp at North Island on April 7, 1911. This Harkness airplane was a Curtiss copy, but with four Farman-type ailerons mounted flush to the end of all four wings replacing the Curtiss-style ailerons normally located between the upper and lower wing. The upper and lower ailerons were connected to each other via a vertical pole and operated in unison. They were moved via wires connected to the pilots steering wheel post. The wings also had about 1/3 more surface area than a Curtiss, spanning 40 feet with a 4.5 foot chord. It measured 37 feet from the tip of the forward elevator to the tail of the rudder. Both the rudder and front elevator were double surfaced, or box-type, with the rudder being enclosed by a pair of two foot square vertical wings on either side of the horizontal surface. There was no elevator function to the tail. The tail and elevator surfaces measured approximately two feet by six feet and were set much farther out from the wings than a normal Curtiss. It was powered by a seven-cylinder Macomber rotary engine that reportedly weighed 250 pounds, generated 450 pounds of thrust, and produced 60 hp to turn an eight-foot propeller. According to at least one source, Walsh added "silver dust" to the unbleached muslin of the flying surfaces. This earned the aircraft the name "Silver Dart".
See also
*
Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race The Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race, also known as the Climb to the Clouds, is a timed hillclimb auto race up the Mount Washington Auto Road to the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. It is one of the oldest auto races in the country, ...
References
External links
Early Aviators - Harry S. Harkness
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harkness, Harry
1880 births
1919 deaths
American aviators
Harry
Harry may refer to:
TV shows
* ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin
* ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons
* ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
Sportspeople from Cleveland
Racing drivers from Ohio
Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in New York (state)