Captain Lewis Alonzo Yancey (September 16, 1895 – March 2, 1940) was an American aviator and air navigator who toured America, Central America, and the Caribbean in a

Pitcairn The Pitcairn Islands ( ; Pitkern: '), officially Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, are a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four islan ...

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-d ...

Biography

Born in Chicago, Yancey enlisted 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 ...

in 1911 and was made a lieutenant during World War I. He left the Navy in 1921 and became a ship's officer for the

Isthmian Steamship Company The Isthmian Steamship Company was a shipping company founded by US Steel in 1910. Isthmian Steamship was the brainchild of US Steel President James A. Farrell, who had connections with the maritime industry through his father's trade as a ship ...

. With continued study, he achieved

master mariner A master mariner is a licensed mariner who holds the highest grade of licensed seafarer qualification; namely, a master's license. A master mariner is therefore allowed to serve as the captain (nautical), master of a merchant ship for which natio ...

status and the title of Captain. Yancey joined the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

in April 1925 and became interested in aviation and the science of navigation then. His knowledge of air navigation put him in demand with pilots in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1927, he made his first transcontinental flight as co-pilot.

History-making flights

In 1929, Yancey and Roger Q. Williams made their historic flight from

Old Orchard Beach, Maine Old Orchard Beach is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,960 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. Located on the inner side of ...

to Rome. En route, their

Bellanca AviaBellanca Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft design and manufacturing company. Prior to 1983, it was known as the Bellanca Aircraft Company. The company was founded in 1927 by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, although it was preceded by ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

"The Pathfinder", hit fog and was forced to fly blind for most of their first day. However, due to Yancey's navigational calculations, once able to see their way, the team found themselves still exactly on course. Their one emergency stop, in

Santander, Spain Santander ( , ; ) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. It has a population of 172,000 (2017). It is a port city located in the northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Cantab ...

, occurred thirty-one hours and thirty minutes into the flight. Upon arriving in Rome, Yancey and Williams were met with crowds "almost as fervent" as those greeting Lindbergh in Paris. In 1930, Yancey, William H. Alexander, and Zeh Bouck made the first-ever flight from New York to Bermuda in a Stinson monoplane equipped with pontoons. Forced down, the plane spent the night at sea but was able to take off again under its own power the next morning; the first plane ever to do so. The crew made the flight in about eight and a half hours of flying time. In 1938, Yancey flew with

Richard Archbold Richard Archbold (April 9, 1907 – August 1, 1976) was an American zoologist and philanthropist. He was independently wealthy, being the grandson of the capitalist John Dustin Archbold. He was educated at private schools and later attended class ...

to New Guinea for the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

Death, tributes, and legacy

Yancey died unexpectedly of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

at his home in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

. He was 44. In his lifetime, Yancey received decorations from

Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. He is popularly referred to as the Knight King (, ) or Soldier King (, ) in Belgium in reference to his role during World War I ...

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

Victor Emmanuel III of Italy Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albania ...

and

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

. From the U.S. Navy, Yancey received a medal for his work on meteorology during World War I. Yancey was the author of several books on aviation including ''Aerial Navigation and Meteorology'' (1929). He frequently contributed stories about his flights to

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 ...

, once sending a story via radio from 3,500 feet in the air. Yancey advocated making radio communication a regular function of flying. He advised that a radio operator be part of a flight crew so the pilot would not have to divide his attention while flying. Considered a celebrity for his accomplishments, in New York City Yancey's likeness was captured in caricature for

Sardi's Sardi's is a continental restaurant located at 234 West 44th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, in the Theater District of Manhattan, New York City. Sardi's opened at its current location on March 5, 1927. It is known for the caric ...

, the theater district restaurant. The picture is now part of the collection of the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. Yancey is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.ANC Explorer
/ref>

Notes

References

*Heinmuller, John Paul Virgil. ''Man's Fight to Fly; Famous World-Record Flights and a Chronology of Aviation''. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Co, 1944. *Roseberry, Cecil. ''The Challenging Skies; The Colorful Story of Aviation's Most Exciting Years, 1919-1939''. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1966.. *"Flights and Fliers" ''Time Magazine'', June 17, 1929 *"Wives of Fliers Happy", ''The New York Times'', July 11, 1929 *"Yancey Reaches Bermuda", ''The New York Times'', April 3, 1930 *"President of Peru Welcomes Yancey" ''The New York Times'', June 13, 1930 * "Yancey Talks by Radiophone to New York From Plane 4,500 Feet Above Buenos Aires" ''The New York Times'', July 16, 1930 *"Capt. Yancey Dies; Air Navigator, 44" ''The New York Times'', March 4, 1940 *"Milestones" ''Time Magazine'', March 11, 1940

External links