Eugene Luther Vidal
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Eugene Luther "Gene" Vidal (; April 13, 1895 – February 20, 1969) was an American commercial aviation pioneer, New Deal official, inventor, and athlete. He was the father of author
Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...
. For eight years, from 1929 to 1937, he worked closely with Amelia Earhart in a number of aviation-related enterprises, and was President Franklin Roosevelt's top civil aviation director from 1933 to 1937. In his obituary, ''Time'' noted: "Eugene Vidal, 73, pioneer promoter of civil aviation and father of author Gore Vidal; in Los Angeles, Calif. Vidal starred in football at
West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
and competed in the decathlon in the Antwerp Olympic Games of 1920. He later taught aviation and coached football at the academy, resigned his commission in 1926 to become assistant general manager of
Transcontinental Air Transport Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) was an airline founded in 1928 by Clement Melville Keys that merged in 1930 with Western Air Express to form what became TWA. Keys enlisted the help of Charles Lindbergh to design a transcontinental network ...
(later
TWA 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 ...
)." From September 1933 to March 1937 he was Director of the Bureau of Air Commerce (a predecessor of the
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
) in Washington, where he organized and expanded the government's civil aeronautics program, including creation of the first
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
system. Later he served as a director and part owner of Northeast Airlines, and as aviation adviser to the Army Chief of Staff." Vidal became one of the pioneers in the commercial aviation industry and was an executive for three airlines during the 1920s and 1930s which developed into TWA,
Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...
, and Northeast Airlines.


Early life

Vidal was born in 1895 in
Madison, South Dakota Madison is a city in Lake County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 6,191 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lake County and is home to Dakota State University. Geography Madison is located at (44.007734, -97.114738). ...
, the son of Margaret Ann (née Rewalt) and Felix Luther Vidal. He was the second eldest of five children.The Vidal children were: Lurene Vidal (born 1893), Gene Vidal, Amy Vidal (born 1903), Margaret Vidal (born 1910), and Felix L. Vidal, Jr. (born 1912). Felix graduated from West Point in 1933 and became a career officer in the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
, rising to the rank of
brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
.
His paternal grandfather, Eugen Fidel Vidal, was born in
Feldkirch Feldkirch may refer to: Places * Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, a medieval city and capital of an administrative district in Austria ** Feldkirch (district), an administrative division of Vorarlberg, Austria * Feldkirch (Hartheim), a village in the munici ...
, Austria, of Romansh descent, and his paternal grandmother, Emma Hartmann, was Swiss. Vidal was a versatile athlete in both high school and college. At the
University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship uni ...
from 1913 to 1916, he was a letterman in football,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
,
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
, and track. Vidal was captain of the university's 1915 football and 1916 basketball teams, leading the basketball team in scoring in both years, thereby assisting the university in winning an Intercollegiate Conference Title during his participation. Vidal received an engineering degree from USD and subsequently accepted an appointment from Congressman Royal C. Johnson to the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
in July 1916. As a football player for
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, he was described as a " ball carrier, punter, drop kicker, pass receiver and backup defenseman." In 1916 Vidal scored three touchdowns and drop-kicked a 45-yard field goal in a 30-10 victory over Notre Dame. He also scored the deciding touchdown in a 15-7 win against
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
on a
forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridir ...
thrown by Army quarterback Charlie Gerhardt. Army went 9-0 that season and outscored its opponents 235-36. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' reported that he sat out the 1917 season because of a "hazing episode" but was afterward named captain of the 1918 team. He also starred in
track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
and was Army's leading scorer on its 1917-18 basketball team at 8.3 points a game, for which he was named an All-American by the Helms Foundation. At the age of 25, he was listed as 5-10 (178 cm) in height and weighing 181 lbs (82 kg) by the U.S. Olympic Committee.


Military service, Olympics and football

Vidal's West Point class (originally Class of 1920) graduated on November 1, 1918, 19 months early because of World War I, with Vidal ranked 72nd in general merit. He was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers but the war ended on November 11, 1918, before he could be sent overseas. Vidal was assigned to
Camp A. A. Humphreys Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fai ...
, Virginia between December 2, 1918 to June 4, 1919 as a student officer to complete his branch officer training at the
U.S. Army Engineer School The United States Army Engineer School (USAES) is located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. It was founded as a School of Engineering by General Headquarters Orders, Valley Forge on 9 June 1778. The U.S. Army Engineer School provides training that ...
.Cullum Vol. 7, p. 1374 Vidal's national renown and prowess as an athlete resulted in many instances during his military career, with the war ended, where he was granted leaves or assignments outside his normal duties to perform in sports from
intramurals Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...
to the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
and
professional football In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
. During the summer of 1919 he was a member of the United States team at the
Inter-Allied Games The Inter-Allied Games was a one-off multi-sport event held from 22 June to 6 July 1919 at the newly constructed Pershing Stadium just outside Paris, France following the end of World War I. The host stadium had been built near the Bois de Vin ...
at
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, touring World War I battlefields afterwards. He returned to Camp Humphreys in September to enter its Company Officers Course and was promoted to
first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...
on September 28, 1919. In May 1920 he was assigned to the 13th Engineer RegimentThe 13th Engineers were the school unit for the Engineer School. When not detailed to athletics, Vidal spent his entire service in the Corps of Engineers at the school. but took another leave of absence over the summer to attend the Olympic tryouts at
Travers Island, New York Travers Island is a former island in Long Island Sound, located in the city of New Rochelle, New York. The island, originally united by a causeway to the mainland, comprises a tract of thirty acres in the Lower Harbor of New Rochelle, situated be ...
and the Summer Games in Antwerp, touring Europe afterwards with the U.S. Olympic
Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
Team until November. On his return to Camp Humphreys he undertook the advanced technical course in civil engineering. On July 2, 1921, Vidal was detailed to
Carlstrom Field Carlstrom Field is a former military airfield, located southeast of Arcadia, Florida. The airfield was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established in 1917 after the United States entry into World War I. History Carlstrom Field ...
, Florida, for pilot training at the Air Service Pilot School, and transferred in grade to the Air Service on July 28. The course of instruction lasted four months and Vidal received his Airplane Pilot rating. On January 16, 1922, he was assigned for advanced flight training at the Air Service Observation School at Henry Post Field, Oklahoma, remaining until June 15, 1922.From 1920 to 1924, because of a lack of appropriations, the Air Service offered only primary flying training to pilot trainees, conducted at either Carlstrom or March Field, California. All advanced pilot training was provided only in one of the four combat specialties (Pursuit, Bombardment, Attack, or Observation), and only Observation then had a specialized school for it. (A formal school for phased advanced pilot training was finally instituted in 1924 at Kelly Field.) The Air Service had only two pilot ratings in 1921-1922, Airplane Pilot and Junior Airplane Pilot, with the latter normally awarded only to enlisted pilots who did not undertake advanced training and be commissioned. (Cameron, pp. 223-226) Vidal returned to West Point on July 5, 1922 for a four-year tour of duty as an assistant instructor in the Department of Tactics, the first member of the Air Service to be assigned to the academy staff. Later he was also an assistant instructor in Military Gymnastics and Physical Culture, with collateral duties coaching the academy's
gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
(1922-1923) and
track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
(1923-1924) squads. In 1925 Army head football coach John "Cap" McEwan named him an assistant football coach.Vidal and McEwan played together on the 1916 Army team, McEwan as a defensive standout. At the end of the 1925 season he took a leave of absence from the academy on December 12. Vidal resigned his commission on March 10, 1926, to go into Florida real estate, but he lost all his investments in the subsequent "bust." After coaching college football from 1926 to 1928, in March 1929 Vidal joined Transcontinental Air Transport (T.A.T.), where he rapidly rose to assistant general manager in its
St. Louis, Missouri 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 ...
office.


Olympics

Vidal participated as an athlete in the
1920 Olympic Games The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...
and as a coach in the 1924 Games. In 1920 he had one first-place finish in competing in the decathlon, in heat eight of the
100 meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...
, and placed seventh overall in the event. In 1924 in Paris, Vidal was an assistant track coach in charge of the modern pentathlon and decathlon squads. He was the first graduate of USD to be on an Olympic team."Gene Vidal."
''South Dakota Hall of Fame.''


Post-college football

While stationed at Carlstrom, Vidal also played briefly for the American Professional Football Association's Washington Senators in 1921, appearing in one game.Vidal stated that he also played briefly for the New York Giants of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
, apparently during its inaugural season while he was stationed at the academy. (Association of Graduates memorial page)
When Cap McEwan left
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
to become head football coach at
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
, he hired Vidal as an assistant coach for the 1926, 1927, and 1928 seasons.


Commercial aviation professional

In the
Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...
, T.A.T. suffered significant financial losses. Before the year ended the entire executive staff in St. Louis, including Vidal, were fired. The following February he and veteran airmail pilot Paul Collins, who had also been let go by T.A.T., went to
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
to organize the first commuter airline, the New York, Philadelphia and Washington Airway Corporation, better known as the
Ludington Line Ludington Airline (also, Ludington Lines or Ludington Line) was an airline of northeastern United States in the 1930s. It was unique as it was the first airline that carried passengers only and was not supported by government revenue from airmail ...
, financed and owned by brothers Nicholas and Charles Townsend Ludington. Vidal became a company vice president and general manager. Amelia Earhart made an investment of $30,000 and was also made a vice president, in charge of publicity. In its first year, using seven 10-passenger Stinson SM-6000B tri-motors on an hourly daytime schedule between Washington, D.C. and New York, Ludington became the first purely passenger air carrier to show a profit. However Vidal, Collins and Earhart all left the airline in 1932 when its profitability declined because of a failure in 1931 to obtain an airmail contract and its subsidies. This failure, in which the contract was awarded to Ludington's arch-rival
Eastern Air Transport Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...
for a rate triple its own bid, subsequently led to the
Air Mail scandal The Air Mail scandal, also known as the Air Mail fiasco, is the name that the American press gave to the political scandal resulting from a 1934 congressional investigation of the awarding of contracts to certain airlines to carry airmail and ...
of 1934.
In August 1933, all three invested $2,500 each in the Boston and Maine Corporation's passenger airline subsidiary, Boston & Maine Airways, and incorporated a holding company, National Airways, Inc., to procure aircraft for the endeavor. Collins and Earhart were president and vice president respectively in the B&MA while Vidal, by then in government service, was an unpaid director. He became a partner in Boston & Maine Airways in 1938, which merged with National Airways in November, 1940 and became Northeast Airlines.Cullum Vol. 8, p. 402


Department of Commerce

Vidal joined the
United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bus ...
in June 1933, appointed by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
as Assistant Director for Air Regulation in its Aeronautics Branch. Over 40 candidates were being sponsored for the directorship by various political supporters of the president, including Vidal, but Roosevelt delayed making the appointment. On September 19, 1933, with Earhart's recommendation to
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
, Vidal was named Director of Aeronautics. Soon after his appointment he appeared on the December 18, 1933 cover of ''Time'' magazine and was recognized by the
United States Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urgin ...
as one of the "12 Outstanding Young Men of America." On July 1, 1934, with Vidal continuing as its director, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce (BAC) to emphasize its status as a regulatory agency. Vidal's term as director was a rocky one. In November 1933 he made public a proposal to develop a safe mass-produced light aircraft, the aviation equivalent of the Ford Model T automobile, that would cost only $700, calling it the "Poor Man's Airplane" project and part of a " New Deal for Aviation." The "$700 airplane" became an object of ridicule that would haunt the remainder of his time in government.While Vidal's admirers in general attribute the opposition to conservative opponents of the New Deal or those with vested interests in expensive commercial aircraft, most who opposed it did so on economic grounds, particularly the costs for engines and owner maintenance. Established manufacturers, who were being called upon to develop the product, saw it as a direct attack on themselves and the industry with the "unmistakable implication" that they were not making an honest effort to produce a safe aircraft at the lowest possible price, which they feared would undermine public confidence in aviation itself. (''Innovation and the Development of Flight'', p. 183) Vidal called for $1,000,000 to be Federally funded to underwrite the project, and half of that was immediately allocated by the Public Works Administration, but by March 1934 opposition had solidified and the funds were cancelled, leaving Vidal no option except to find private sector sources willing to experiment on their own. National Air and Space Museum curator
Tom D. Crouch Tom Day Crouch (born February 28, 1944)Tom D. Crouch CV
at the National Air and Space Museum ...
put possibly the final word on "the People's Car" in 1999: "At a fundamental level, Eugene Vidal was wrong. ... Flying is not like driving an automobile. It is an unforgiving pursuit that demands a high degree of concentration and specialized skill." (''Innovation and the Development of Flight'', p. 184)
Vidal also organized Bureau headquarters so that decision-making authority was divided among himself and two assistant directors, for Air Navigation and for Air Regulation, in an attempt to make the Bureau more effective in its regulatory role. Of the BAC's seven functional divisions, however, only Administration and Aeronautic Information were responsible to Vidal and disorganization resulted from a lack of clear lines of authority. A dearth of procedures and policy created what one aviation historian described as a "paper jungle" of rules, bulletins, notices, and reports.Earhart's biographer Butler alleges he was undermined by his two assistants, both of whom she states coveted the director's job. Although they remained with the BAC when Vidal left, neither subsequently got the job when the Bureau was reorganized in April, 1937. FDR's Secretary of Commerce
Daniel C. Roper Daniel Calhoun Roper (April 1, 1867April 11, 1943) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 7th United States Secretary of Commerce under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and was the 5th United States Ambassador to Canada from Ma ...
ordered the shakeup of the BAC, citing "divided responsibility," "inefficient administration," and a "mess" in the Bureau. The two assistant positions were immediately reduced to one and their occupants sent on "study missions" to Latin America and Europe.
After
TWA 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 ...
Flight 6, a Douglas DC-2 carrying 13 persons, crashed at
Atlanta, Missouri Atlanta is a city in Macon County, Missouri, United States. The population was 379 at the 2020 census. History Atlanta was platted in 1858. The community was named after Atlanta, Georgia. A post office called Atlanta has been in operation since ...
on May 6, 1935, killing five including
United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
Bronson M. Cutting Bronson Murray Cutting (June 23, 1888May 6, 1935) was a United States senator from New Mexico. A prominent progressive Republican, he had also been a newspaper publisher and military attaché. Biography Bronson Cutting was born in Great River, ...
, Vidal and the BAC came under severe criticism. The airliner had become lost in fog, missed its approach at the airport in Kansas City and was unable to find the secondary airport at Kirksville because the radio beacon there was not operating properly. Flight 6 ran low on fuel and either inadvertently flew into the ground or crashed trying to make an emergency landing in the dark. It was the seventh in a series of fatal crashes that took 43 lives. A lengthy investigation into the Flight 6 crash and airline safety in general (and by inference, the BAC) ensued throughout 1936 by a special subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by Senator Royal S. Copeland. The
Copeland Committee TWA Flight 6 was a Transcontinental & Western Air Douglas DC-2, on a route from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, that crashed near Atlanta, Missouri, on May 6, 1935, killing five of the thirteen people on board, including Senator Bronson M. ...
issued a "scathing" preliminary report in June 1936, indicting the BAC for a lack of airline safety, and while the report was biased against Vidal because he was a New Dealer (FDR had supported Copeland's opponent in the Democratic primary of 1934), the criticism damaged Roosevelt's re-election campaign.Nolan (2010), p. 15Vidal was open to personal criticism when an investigator testified that "a niggling economy" may have played a role in the crash because Vidal had ordered all secondary airports to reduce beacon wattage to save electricity costs. The beacon should have been detectable up to 25 miles from the airport but evidence showed that its effective range at the time of the crash was only two. The pilot had also been flying more than eight hours on a special waiver of the DOC regulation that Vidal granted TWA. Vidal made perceptions of his own culpability more likely three weeks after the crash, when he cancelled all such waivers after public criticism of them by the
Air Line Pilots Association The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 59,000 pilots from 35 U.S. and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadia ...
resulted in denunciations from members of Congress. (Hopkins, pp. 85 and 87)
In the face of criticism of his aviation policy by Congress and the airline industry, Roosevelt moved to reorganize the BAC, dismiss Vidal and his two assistant directors, and appoint a lawyer to replace him. He was compelled to reinstate Vidal, however, when Earhart advised Mrs. Roosevelt that she would publicly withdraw her support for FDR's re-election if he did not. After Copeland announced a new round of investigations in November, disorganization in the Bureau and continuing hostility from the aviation industry contributed to his resignation on February 28, 1937.Vidal was replaced on March 1, the day after his resignation, by attorney Fred D. Fagg, Jr., an authority on aviation law and a professor at
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
. Fagg may have been the lawyer FDR had in mind for the job in September 1936, as he was then a technical adviser to the Copeland Committee. Fagg had also been an Air Service pilot in Europe during World War I and was appointed to the BAC as a troubleshooter. He completely reorganized the Bureau, setting it in proper working order, and restored confidence in both the BAC and its programs before resuming his interrupted academic career. Of note, he created a safety and planning section in the BAC for the study of improved safety devices for pilots. Rudolph W. "Shorty" Schroeder, head of the airline inspection service and a noted former test pilot for the Air Service, was promoted to the only assistant director's position, directly accountable to Fagg.
After the 1936 elections, Earhart began final planning for her proposed equatorial
circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Mage ...
of the world, with fuel and routing across the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
major considerations. Vidal suggested that landing strips be built on tiny, uninhabitable
Howland Island Howland Island () is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unorganized, unincorporated ter ...
as the largest point of land along the planned route within range of both
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
and Hawaii. Earhart agreed with the suggestion and made the request for its use. At the president's direction, the Department of the Interior, which administered the island, began constructing the strips in January 1937, using
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
funds, an engineer from the BAC to supervise, a
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
construction crew and a
USCG The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...
cutter to transport them. Her first attempt to cross the Pacific ended in damage to her aircraft when it ground-looped in Hawaii on March 20, 1937 and, with Vidal by then gone from the BAC, she encountered obstacles from the new management of the Bureau attempting to prevent a second attempt. Earhart herself wrote that permission for the trip was granted by the BAC despite its reluctance because it was in no position to refuse after Vidal previously granted it. Between November 1935 and July 1936, Vidal directed the establishment of the first
air traffic control centers The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...
in the United States, initially negotiating an interline air traffic agreement with the airlines to build and operate several until funding could be appropriated for a Federal takeover of the system, which was obtained in March, 1936 for the next
fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
. The BAC took over air control duties at the first three centers in Cleveland, Newark and Chicago on July 6, 1936 and hired the first 15 Federal
air traffic controller Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCS, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control ...
s. As head of the BAC, Vidal occupied the Chair 10 position on the 15-member Main Committee of the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...
(the NACA) from November 1933 to April 1937, and was one of only 120 persons to serve on the committee during its existence between 1915 and 1958, when it became
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
. Among the non-military members of the Main Committee during Vidal's term were Joseph S. Ames, Charles G. Abbot, Lyman J. Briggs,
Harry F. Guggenheim Harry Frank Guggenheim (August 23, 1890 – January 22, 1971) was an American businessman, diplomat, publisher, philanthropist, aviator, and horseman. Early life He was born August 23, 1890, in West End, New Jersey. He was the second son of Flo ...
,
Charles A. 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 ...
, William P. MacCracken, Jr., and Orville Wright. His expertise in aviation led him to a number of consulting positions in industry and the government. After leaving the BAC, Vidal was a technical consultant for
Bendix Aviation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, av ...
through 1938, establishing his own laboratory in Bendix Borough ( Teterboro), New Jersey. This was the foundation for what he described as "a development-licensing-patenting firm", the Vidal Research Corporation, "which for the next fifteen or so years acquired a number of licenses companies."Eugene L. Vidal 1918
Memorial page, USMA Association of Graduates. retrieved 2016-01-18
In 1938, he incorporated the Aircraft Research Corporation to establish a
brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
for aircraft sales. In the same year, he became an aviation consultant for the United States Plywood Corporation.


Post-New Deal entrepreneur

In 1935, while pushing his concept of the $700 airplane, Vidal had seen the Atwood Duply Airmobile (civil registration number NC-15318), an experimental aircraft invented by Harry Atwood and test flown by
Clarence Chamberlin Clarence Duncan Chamberlin (November 11, 1893 – October 31, 1976) was an American pioneer of aviation, being the second man to pilot a fixed-wing aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to the European mainland, while carrying the fir ...
. It was constructed with a seamless one-piece fuselage using "Duply," a steam-cooked laminate made from
birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...
veneer strips impregnated with
cellulose acetate In biochemistry, cellulose acetate refers to any acetate ester of cellulose, usually cellulose diacetate. It was first prepared in 1865. A bioplastic, cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in some coatings, and ...
."Duply" was a portmanteau derived from "DuPont," whose labs were the site of the first experimentation, and "plywood." Atwood still owned Atwood Carolina, a pre-war airplane manufacturing company. His biographer states that he and Vidal were vying to be known as the "Henry Ford of aviation" and Atwood felt he was "cheated" out of his patent by Vidal, whom he says purchased it for $10,000 in 1939 and then only paid a year's royalty before filing for a patent under his own name with slight changes in the process. Atwood's process and Vidal's superficially resembled each other but employed different bonding methods. (Mansfield, pp, 132, 165, and 185-186) After leaving the BAC, Vidal experimented from 1937 to 1940 with wood-resin composites using a
thermosetting polymer In materials science, a thermosetting polymer, often called a thermoset, is a polymer that is obtained by irreversibly hardening (" curing") a soft solid or viscous liquid prepolymer (resin). Curing is induced by heat or suitable radiation and ...
process similar to
Duramold Duramold is a composite material process developed by Virginius E. Clark. Birch or poplar plies are impregnated with phenolic resin and laminated together in a mold under heat (280 °F, 138 °C) and pressure for use as a lightweight s ...
under the banner of the Vidal Research Corporation. The experiments with the durable waterproof plywood material, said to have a greater
tensile strength Ultimate tensile strength (UTS), often shortened to tensile strength (TS), ultimate strength, or F_\text within equations, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. In brittle materials t ...
than a comparable thickness of
aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
, evolved initially into a small business producing only trays and dinghies. Vidal patented the process as "Vidal Weldwood", variously described as "cooked wood" or "molded plywood." Howell W. Miller, a designer of light aircraft doing business as the Summit Aeronautical Company of
Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population w ...
,"Pete" Miller assisted the Granville Brothers on the design of their Gee Bee racing aircraft. Starting with the New England Aircraft Corporation and the HM-1, he started a series of short-lived companies to market his original designs, one of which was Summit. (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Archives Division - SIRIS) worked with Vidal in Bendix Borough to build a small airplane entirely from Weldwood: the Summit HM-5. A prototype was built (NX25332) and successfully flown.The HM-5 ("HM" for Hawks-Miller) was a two-person, low-wing, cantilever monoplane with retractable landing gear and side-by-side cabin seating, powered by a 75hp (56 kW) Continental A75 4-cylinder air-cooled engine. It resembled both the
Culver Cadet The Culver Cadet is an American two-seat light monoplane aircraft, also as a radio-controlled drone, produced by the Culver Aircraft Company. Design and development The aircraft designer Al Mooney developed an improved version of the Culver Dart ...
and Globe Swift all-metal sport planes but was developed independently. The wings were made in three lateral sections and the fuselage in two halves, from Weldwood, using spruce and mahogany veneers. The HM-5 had a wingspan of 28 feet (8.54 m), a height of 7.33 feet (2.22 m), and an overall length of just 22 feet (6.71 m), roughly the size of an automobile, with a top speed of 138 mph (221 km/h), a very low landing speed with flaps of 38 mph (61 km/h), and without flaps of 42 mph (67 km/h). If Vidal felt justified that he had at last produced his "People's Airplane," he was disappointed that another was never built. The design was used for an additional prototype, a sport aerobatic trainer marketed by Summit as the "Westfield Trainer," but only one was flown before World War II shut down Summit's production. (''Jane's All the World's Aircraft'', 1941 edition)
In 1940, based on the successful fabrication of the HM-5, Vidal began a project under the Aircraft Research trade name to manufacture a basic trainer for the Air Corps, designated the XBT-11,The BT-11 was to be an all-Weldwood airplane similar in size and weight to the Vultee BT-13 and powered by the same Pratt & Whitney R-985-25 (450 hp / 336 kW) engine. But, Vidal was unable to procure a contract from the Materiel Division of the Air Corps after fabricating a mockup. After the United States was drawn into World War II, Vidal obtained contracts to manufacture war materiel, primarily deck houses for
PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war ...
s,The variant of the Vidal process used for watercraft was known as Weldwood Marine. pontoons and aircraft
drop tank In aviation, a drop tank (external tank, wing tank or belly tank) is used to describe auxiliary fuel tanks externally carried by aircraft. A drop tank is expendable and often capable of being jettisoned. External tanks are commonplace on modern ...
s then earned him the wealth that had eluded his earlier entrepreneurial attempts. Restrictions on the use of metals in 1942, particularly aluminum, caused by an increased demand by shipbuilders and aircraft manufacturers, led both the Army and the Navy to demand designs for components and training equipment that could be manufactured from wood composites. Investments in factories to build Weldwood products under license boomed immediately. One such licensee was the Hughes Aircraft Division of
Hughes Tool Company Hughes Tool Company was an American manufacturer of drill bits. Founded in 1908, it was merged into Baker Hughes Incorporated in 1987. History The company was established in December 1908 as Sharp-Hughes Tool Company when Howard R. Hughes Sr. ...
, and another was U. S. Plywood. The success of the product was well-publicized and earned him an honorary doctorate from
Lawrence College Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducation ...
. Vidal wanted to re-enter military service in the Army Air Forces during the war but, in July 1942, suffered a massive
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
, spending eight months as a convalescent, which prevented him from serving again. He retired from active participation in his company in the early 1950s, but remained a part-owner and director of Northeast Airlines. He continued to make furniture and other products out of Weldwood in his home workshop. Vidal acted as aviation adviser to the Army Chief of Staff from 1955 to 1965, served on the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Secretary of the ArmyCullum Vol. 9, p. 298 and was a member of the
Howze Board The Howze Board was the informal name given to the Tactical Mobility Requirements Board created at the direct request of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to review and test new concepts integrating helicopters as close air support into the Unit ...
in 1962, which developed the air assault concept for the Army. In 1967, he visited the most famous offshoot of the concept, the
1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
, at its base camp in South Vietnam.


Personal life

On January 11, 1922, Vidal married Nina Gore, daughter of
Thomas Gore Thomas Pryor Gore (December 10, 1870March 16, 1949) was an American politician who served as one of the first two United States senators from Oklahoma, from 1907 to 1921 and again from 1931 to 1937. He first entered politics as an activist for ...
, one of the first two Democratic senators from Oklahoma. Their only child was born on October 3, 1925: *
Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...
(born Eugene Louis Vidal) (1925–2012) They divorced in 1935 and Nina subsequently married stockbroker Hugh D. Auchincloss."Gore Vidal: Laughing Cassandra."
''Time'', March 1, 1976.
In December 1939, after a brief courtship, Vidal married Katharine "Kit" Roberts, then a 20-year-old Powers Agency model. They had two children: *Gene Vance Vidal (born 1943) *Valerie Vidal Hewitt (born 1946) It is alleged in Susan Butler's biography ''East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart'', and the possibility endorsed by Kathleen Winters in ''Amelia Earhart: The Turbulent Life of an American Icon'', that Vidal had a long-standing romantic relationship with Earhart, from 1929 when they worked together for
Transcontinental Air Transport Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) was an airline founded in 1928 by Clement Melville Keys that merged in 1930 with Western Air Express to form what became TWA. Keys enlisted the help of Charles Lindbergh to design a transcontinental network ...
to her disappearance in 1937. His son, Gore Vidal's, cover testimonial to Butler's biography adds credence to the story.On the other hand, another of Earhart's many biographers, Doris Rich, takes the same set of circumstances and concludes the opposite is true: that Vidal was "a family man, not a lover." (Rich, p.237) Vidal died, of complications from kidney cancerKaplan (1999). pp.627–32. in 1969 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 73, while on a trip around the world."Milestones: Feb. 28, 1969."
''
Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...
,'' February 28, 1969. Retrieved: 2013-03-07.
His ashes were scattered at
Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fai ...
, which had been Camp A.A. Humphreys and his first posting after graduation from West Point.


Legacy

* Vidal is in the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame. * Vidal was portrayed by actor
Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...
in the 2009 film '' Amelia''." 'Amelia' Full credits."
''IMDb''. Retrieved: 2010-01-13.
* Since 1971, each year the Gene L. Vidal Memorial Award is presented at the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
to the Cadet who has the "Most Significant and Practical Suggestion Adopted for Future Benefit of the United States Military Academy."


Notes

Footnotes Citations


References

* Vol. 7 1920-1930; Vol. 8 1930-1940; Vol. 9 1940-1950 ("''Cullum's Biographical Register''") * Bridgman, Leonard (editor) (1942). ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1941'', New York: The MacMillan Company * Butler, Susan (1997). ''East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart''. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. . * * Gillespie, Ric (2006). ''Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance'', Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute Press, * Hopkins, George E. (1982). ''Flying the Line: The First Half Century of the Air Line Pilots Association''. Washington, D.C.:ALPA. * Kaplan, Fred (1999). ''Gore Vidal: A Biography'', New York: Doubleday. * Laurnius, Dr. Roger D. (editor) (1999). ''Innovation and the Development of Flight'', College Station: Texas A&M University Press. * Lehrer, Henry R. (2014). ''Flying the Beam: Navigating the Early U.S. Airmail Airways 1917-1941''. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. * Longyard, William H. (1974). ''Who's Who in Aviation History: 500 Biographies.'' Toronto, Ontario: Elsevier Canada. . * Mansfield, Howard (1999). ''Skylark: The Life, Lies, and Inventions of Harry Atwood'', Hanover, NH: University Press of New England. * Nolan, Michael (2010). ''Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control'', Delmar Publishing, * Pisano, Dominick A. (2001). ''To Fill the Skies with Pilots: The Civilian Pilot Training Program, 1939-1946''. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. * Rich, Doris (1989). ''Amelia Earhart: A Biography'', Washington, D.C.: The Smithsonian Institution. * Van der Linden, F. Robert (2002). ''Airlines and Air Mail: The Post Office and Birth of the Commercial Aviation Industry.'' Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. * Vidal, Gore (2007). ''Point to Point Navigation: A Memoir.'' New York: Vintage Books. * Winters, Kathleen C. (2010). ''Amelia Earhart: The Turbulent Life of an American icon'', New York: St. Martin's Press.


External links


Eugene L. Vidal 1918
Association of Graduates memorial page
''Time'' magazine article
February 28, 1969 *
Eugene L. Vidal papers
at the
University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
-
American Heritage Center The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, Eugene Luther 1895 births 1969 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American aviation businesspeople American men's basketball players American male decathletes American people of Austrian descent American people of Romansh descent American people of Swiss descent American investors Army Black Knights men's basketball players Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Aviation pioneers Aviators from South Dakota Basketball players from South Dakota College men's track and field athletes in the United States Military personnel from South Dakota Olympic track and field athletes of the United States People from Madison, South Dakota Players of American football from South Dakota South Dakota Coyotes baseball players South Dakota Coyotes football players South Dakota Coyotes men's basketball players Olympic decathletes Track and field athletes in the National Football League United States international rugby union players American military personnel of World War I Bendix Corporation people