Robertson Aircraft Corporation was a post-

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 ...

American aviation service company based at the Lambert-St. Louis Flying Field near St. Louis, Missouri, that flew passengers and

U.S. Air Mail United States airmail was a service class of the United States Post Office Department (USPOD) and its successor United States Postal Service (USPS) delivering air mail by aircraft flown within the United States and its possessions and territor ...

, gave flying lessons, and performed exhibition flights. It also modified, re-manufactured, and resold surplus military aircraft including

Standard J The Standard J is a two-seat basic trainer two-bay biplane produced in the United States from 1916 to 1918, powered by a four-cylinder inline Hall-Scott A-7a engine. It was constructed from wood with wire bracing and fabric covering. The J-1 ...

, Curtiss Jenny/Canuck,

DeHavilland DH-4 DeHavilland Information Services Ltd is a British media company that provides political monitoring services for public affairs professionals. The company was founded in 1998 by Conservative MP Adam Afriyie. History DeHavilland Global Knowl ...

Curtiss Oriole The Curtiss Oriole (Curtiss Model 17) was an American three-seat general-purpose biplane. Design The Oriole fuselage was constructed using laminated wood to form a monocoque body and was powered by either the Curtiss OX-5 V-8 or the Curtiss K-6 ...

, Spad,

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

, and

Travel Air The Travel Air Manufacturing Company was an aircraft manufacturer established in Wichita, Kansas, United States in January 1925 by Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman. History The company initially built a series of sporting and tr ...

types in addition to

Curtiss OX-5 The Curtiss OX-5 was an early V-8 American liquid-cooled aircraft engine built by Curtiss. It was the first American-designed aircraft engine to enter mass production, although it was considered obsolete when it did so in 1917.Smith, 1981, pa ...

engines. RAC also operated facilities in Kansas City, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, and Fort Wayne. The company was owned and operated by brothers Maj.

William B. Robertson Major William Bryan Robertson (October 8, 1893 – August 1, 1943) was an American aviator and aviation executive who was the co-founder of Lambert Field, Lambert-St. Louis Flying Field as well as the owner and President of Robertson ...

(1893–1943) and Frank H. Robertson (1898–1938) who were both former US Army aviators. William Robertson left the company in 1928 to form the Curtiss-Robertson division of

Curtiss-Wright The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States. Created in 1929 from the consolidation of Curtiss, Wright, and v ...

to produce aircraft such as the

Curtiss Robin The Curtiss Robin, introduced in 1928, was a high-wing monoplane built by the Curtiss-Robertson Airplane Manufacturing Company. The J-1 version was flown by Wrongway Corrigan who crossed the Atlantic after being refused permission. Design The ...

, which RAC sold.

Mail and air carrier operations

On April 15, 1926, Robertson Aircraft started Contract Air Mail service over route CAM-2 from Lambert Field to Chicago, with stops in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

and

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

;

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 ...

was employed as chief pilot for the service. RAC started service with four converted DH-4 aircraft (#s 109-112) acquired from the U.S. Postal Service's Air Mail fleet two of which were lost in accidents in September and November, 1926, while being piloted by Lindbergh. In 1927,

Slonnie Sloniger Eyer L. "Slonnie" Sloniger was the first chief pilot and holder of pilot seniority #1 at American Airlines. He later became chief pilot and director of flight operations at Matson Airlines. Early years Eyir Sloniger was born to Commodore and Mar ...

was hired and took over Lindbergh's CAM-2 route. RAC added service over CAM-29 between St.Louis and Omaha in May 1929. By 1928 RAC was providing daily passenger and express service as well over the St. Louis - Chicago mail route flown in 12-passenger Stout

Ford Tri-Motor The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American three-engined transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, after 199 had been made. It w ...

s. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Robertson's flight operations were merged into

Universal Aviation Corporation Universal Aviation Corporation was an airline holding company based in United States. History Universal Aviation Corporation was stood up to merge operations of Universal Air Lines Corporation, Robertson Aircraft Corporation and Northern Air L ...

along with

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...

, Northern Air Lines, and Paul R. Braniff Inc., which became

Braniff International Airways Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...

Universal Aviation became a component of

The Aviation Corporation Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...

in 1930, merging many companies into American Airways in 1934, eventually becoming

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

. RAC's Sloniger would be named chief pilot and hold pilot seniority #1 at the newly created American Airlines.

Glider crash (1943)

On August 1, 1943 an "all

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

-built"

WACO CG-4A-RO Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

military troop and cargo transport glider (S/N 42-78839) built under license by RAC suffered in-flight structural failure and crashed during a demonstration flight at Lambert Field in St. Louis before a Sunday afternoon air show crowd of over 5,000 people when its right wing separated shortly after it had been released at about 2,000 feet by its Army C-47 tow plane killing all ten souls on board. The glider was flown by CPT Milton C. Klugh (pilot) and PFC Jack W. Davis (co-pilot/mechanic) of the USAAF 71st Troop Carrier Command, and the eight

VIP A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples inc ...

passengers were St. Louis Mayor

William D. Becker William Dee Becker (October 23, 1876, in East St. Louis, Illinois – August 1, 1943, in St. Louis, Missouri) was the 35th mayor of St. Louis, from 1941 to 1943. Becker, the son of German immigrants, graduated from Harvard University and St. L ...

, RAC President Maj William B. Robertson, RAC VP/Chief Engineer Harold A. Krueger, Deputy City Comptroller Charles L. Cunningham, St. Louis Army Air Forces Material Command Supervisor LTC Paul H. Hazelton, Director of Public Utilities Max H. Doyne, St. Louis County Court Presiding Judge Henry L. Mueller, and St. Louis Chamber of Commerce President Thomas N. Dysart. James Robertson, the 17-year-old son of Maj Robertson, had been a passenger on a successful test flight of the glider made immediately before the fatal flight. The failed wing strut component, which had been manufactured by Robertson subcontractor Gardner Metal Products Company of St. Louis, a firm that normally built metal caskets, was found to be made of metal that was too thin for the purpose.Bowers, Peter M., "Breezing Along With The Breeze", ''Wings'', Granada Hills, California, December 1989, Volume 19, Number 6, p. 19.

Aircraft

Pop Culture

The 1957 motion picture ''The Spirit of St. Louis'' featured an RAC DH-4 mailplane in flying sequences as well as Maj. Robertson (played by James Robertson, Jr.) and company Air Mail pilots Lindbergh (

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

) and Harlan A. "Bud" Gurney (

Murray Hamilton Murray Hamilton (March 24, 1923 – September 1, 1986) was an American stage, screen, and television character actor who appeared in such films as ''Anatomy of a Murder'', ''The Hustler'', ''The Graduate'', ''Jaws'' and ''The Amityville Hor ...

) among its characters.

References

Bibliography

{{Robertson aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States St. Louis Lambert International Airport Defunct companies based in Missouri