Brice Herbert Goldsborough (March 20, 1889 – December 23, 1927) was an American aviation instrument designer at

Sperry Gyroscope Sperry may refer to: Places In the United States: * Sperry, Iowa, community in Des Moines County * Sperry, Missouri * Sperry, Oklahoma, town in Tulsa County * Sperry Chalet, historic backcountry chalet, Glacier National Park, Montana * Sperry Glac ...

and later founded the

Pioneer Instrument Company The Pioneer Instrument Company was an American aircraft component manufacturer. History The Pioneer Instrument Company was started by Morris Maxey Titterington and Brice Herbert Goldsborough in Brooklyn, New York in 1919 using patents from the L ...

. He flew aboard the ''

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that Charles Lindbergh flew on May 20–21, 1927, on the Charles Lindbergh#New York–Paris flight ...

'' with

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

in two test flights. He died in an attempt to cross the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

with Frances Wilson Grayson aboard ''The Dawn''.

Birth and early career

Brice was born in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

on March 20, 1889. His brother was Charles Frances Goldsborough. In 1910, he was serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and living in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and he was working as an electrician. He moved to

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

and later to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. After serving two four-year terms in the Navy, he and Morris Titterington, the inventor of the ground induction compass, formed the

in 1919. In 1923, they moved the company to 754 Lexington Ave. in Brooklyn, after buying Brandis & Sons Company. Charles H. Colvin joined the company and was elected president, with both Brice and Morris as vice presidents.

1926 Ford Reliability NationalTour

Walter Beech Walter Herschel Beech (January 30, 1891 – November 29, 1950) was an American aviator and early aviation entrepreneur who co-founded the Beech Aircraft Company (now called Beechcraft) in 1932 with his wife, Olive Ann Beech, and a team of three ...

(1891-1950) and Brice Herbert Goldsborough won the 1926 Ford Reliability National Air Tour aboard their Travel Air B6 airplane. Brice also flew with Charles Augustus Lindbergh (1902-1974) aboard the ''

'' in test flights from Curtiss Field as an "instrument expert" on May 13, 1927 for 10 minutes and May 15, 1927 for 15 minutes. Lindbergh's record breaking flight was on May 20–21, 1927.

The crash

On December 23, 1927 Frances Wilson Grayson with Brice H. Goldsborough as her navigator left from Curtis Field in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

for

Harbour Grace Harbour Grace is a town in Conception Bay on the Avalon Peninsula in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. With roots dating back to the 16th century, it is one of the oldest towns in North America. It is located about northwest of ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. Her plan was to leave from Newfoundland on a record setting transatlantic flight to London on

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

day. Her plane, ''The Dawn'' was to be flown by Oskar Omdal, a lieutenant in the Norwegian Navy. Grayson may have planned to fly the plane in shifts with him. Goldsborough would have been the navigator and Frank Koehler was to be the radio operator. Her plane never reached Newfoundland and sank in the water. There were several accounts of receiving radio messages from the plane when it was in distress. The bodies and the airplane were never recovered.

Family

Brice's son was Frank Goldsborough (1910–1930), who was a record-setting aviator who also died in a crash.

Commemoration

In 1928, the Ontario Surveyor General named a number of lakes in the northwest of the province to honour aviators who had perished during 1927, mainly in attempting oceanic flights. p 14. These include Goldsborough Lake (), Grayson Lake () and Omdahl Lake () which are all found in close proximity to each other in the

Wabakimi Provincial Park Wabakimi Provincial Park is a wilderness park located to the northwest of Lake Nipigon and northwest of Armstrong Station in the province of Ontario, Canada. The park contains a vast and interconnected network of more than 2,000 kilometres of la ...

Notes

References

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

; December 26, 1927;

, December 25, 1927 (Associated Press) *

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

; December 26, 1927, page 1; "Grayson Plane Radioed 'Something Wrong' Friday Night; Then the Signaling Ceased, Silent for 54 Hours Since; Probably Lost Off The

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Coast In A Storm" *

; December 26, 1927, page 2; "Goldsborough a Veteran" *

; December 26, 1927, page 1; "Goldsborough's Wife Spends His Christmas Gift To Pay For Plane Search For The Dawn" *December 26, 1927; Navigator Brice Goldsborough ... *Frederick Post;

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Maryland, second-largest ...

; December 28, 1927; "Hope Dwindling in Plane Search" *

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

; January 2, 1928; "Broken Dawn" *

; March 2, 1928, page 08; "Widow Of Aviator Denies Dawn Story" *

; May 12, 1930
"American Boy
*

; July 28, 1930
"Goodwill Tour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsborough, Brice 1889 births 1927 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Canada Missing aviators Missing person cases in Canada Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1927