Otto William Timm (October 28, 1893 – June 29, 1978) was a

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-based barnstormer and aircraft manufacturer of

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Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

's first flight was flown by Timm. Timm partnered at times with his brother Wally Timm who did a lot of flying for the nascent Hollywood movie industry.Brower, Peter Timm
"Aero History: Otto W. Timm, 1893-1978."
''Early Aviators,'' July 13, 2011. Retrieved: March 26, 2012.

Early life

Timm was born on October 28, 1893 in Lakefield and spent a few years in Windom, Minnesota before moving to pursue aviation. By the age of 19, he had established himself as a pioneer aviator.

Aviation career

Timm originally started in the aviation field in 1910 when he attempted to build a copy of the Santos-Dumont "Demoiselle" monoplane while living in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, although it appears this was never completed. The next year he moved to Cicero Field in

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, where a group of aviation enthusiasts had gathered. In Chicago, he built a copy of the

Curtiss Pusher The 1911 Curtiss Model D (or frequently "Curtiss Pusher") was an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It was among the first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity, during an era ...

, which flew in 1911. Timm started a business flying the aircraft in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

with a partner. In 1913, Timm sold the business to his partner and returned to Cicero Field to begin construction of a "conventional" biplane design under contract. The next year he built a second for his own use, and started a cross-country tour that ended on May 25, 1915 when it crashed in a field in Magnolia, Minnesota. His aircraft happened to come down in the field of Bert Kinner, who repaired the engine. Kinner was fascinated by the aircraft, and would go on to become an aircraft and aero engine designer as well. Timm then built another design under contract for the Grinnell Aeroplane Company in 1915, later flying it at town fairs around the mideastern region during the summer of 1916. Timm Pacific Hawk

In October 1916, Timm became a senior flight instructor at

Rockwell Field Rockwell Field is a former United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) military airfield, located northwest of the city of Coronado, California, on the northern part of the Coronado Peninsula across the bay from San Diego, California. This airfield ...

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. He remained there during the war, while also building a new trainer biplane known as the Timm Model T-18. With the ending of the war, Timm moved to Venice, CA and opened the Pacific Aeroplane and Supply Co., where he started construction of a six-passenger biplane known as the Pacific Hawk. Over a six-week period in 1920, Timm designed and built the C-1 racing monoplane, which would win the International Air Tournament in

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in 1921. In July 1921, Timm traveled to

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

to test fly the new Lincoln Standard L.S.5 where he met

. In February 1922, Lindbergh had enrolled as a student at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation's flying school and flew for the first time on April 9, 1922, when he took to the air as a passenger in a two-seat Lincoln Standard "Tourabout" biplane piloted by Timm. Later, on April 16 and 17, Lindbergh, as a student pilot, had two more flights with Timm. The two remained friends, and when Timm built another Curtiss Pusher for film use in 1925, Lindbergh later bought it and stunt-flew it during the 1928 International Air Tournament. He built another one-off design in 1926, the two-place monoplane Collegiate. In 1922, Timm founded the O.W. Timm Aircraft Company in Glendale, California. In 1928 the name was changed to the Timm Airplane Co. The company's first design was the Timm Collegiate series of five parasol-winged, twin-seat light aircraft. In California he also produced a large (for the era) passenger biplane, the Timm Coach with an enclosed cabin seating seven and an open cockpit for two pilots. Timm changed the name to Timm Aircraft Company in May 1934, and introduced the Timm T-S140, a high-wing monoplane twin-engine design. In World War II, Timm built planes for both the Army and the Navy, including hundreds of trainers and CG-4 assault gliders. The assault gliders were used to land troops on D-Day. In 1965, Timm was contacted by the TallMantz company to design a "one-off" movie model called the Tallmantz Phoenix P-1 which had a short and tragic lifespan, being involved in the death of its pilot,

Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races. Early years Ma ...

.Joiner 2007, p. 71. Timm died on June 29, 1978, two months to the day after his younger brother Wally.

References

Notes Bibliography * Cooper, Ralph
"Otto W. Timm, 1893–1978."
''Early Aviators,'' July 13, 2011. * Joiner, Stephen. "Hollywood's Favorite Pilot." ''Air & Space magazine'', Volume 22, no.5, October/November 2007. * Lindbergh, Charles A. "WE". New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons (The Knickerbocker Press), July 1927.

External links

"Two Motor Transport Has Safe Landing Gear", ''Popular Mechanics'', May 1938, rare photo of Timm T-S140 twin engine transportfindagrave.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timm, Otto American stunt performers Aviators from California Aviators from Minnesota Members of the Early Birds of Aviation 1893 births 1978 deaths People from Jackson County, Minnesota