Lloyd Wilson Bertaud (September 20, 1895 – September 6, 1927) was an American

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

. Bertaud was selected to be the copilot in the WB-2 Columbia attempting the transatlantic crossing for the

Orteig Prize The Orteig Prize was a reward of $25,000 offered in 1919 by New York City hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first Allies of World War I, Allied aviator, or aviators, to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice versa.Bak. Pages 28 and 29. Se ...

in 1927. Aircraft owner

Charles A. Levine Charles Albert Levine (March 17, 1897 – December 6, 1991) was the first passenger aboard a transatlantic flight. He was ready to cross the Atlantic to claim the Orteig prize but a court battle over who was going to be in the airplane allowed ...

wanted to fly in his place, and an injunction by Bertaud against Levine prevented the flight. Aviator

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 ...

won the prize.

Biography

Bertaud was born in

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...

on September 20, 1895. As a boy, he built and flew in a glider from ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...

'' plans. He was a licensed pilot at the age of 18. In World War I, Bertaud served in the U.S. Army Air Service as a lieutenant. On September 6, 1927, Bertaud and fellow air-mail pilot James DeWitt Hill flipped to see who would pilot the Fokker monoplane named '' Old Glory'', and Hill won. Bertaud, Hill and Philip Payne took off in the overweight plane over the Atlantic Ocean. The plane did not make it to the destination; only a section of wing was found east of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Bertaud was lost at sea.

Records and awards

*Bertaud flew air mail routes along the famous "Hells Stretch" between

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

and Hadley Field. *Pulitzer Race,

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

– In 1921, Bertaud flew a 400 hp Ansaldo A-1 Balilla equipped with a Curtiss D-12 engine against Bert Acosta, placing fourth. *Kansas City Derby,

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

– In November 1921, Bertaud won the American Legion Aerial Derby over a course in 1 hour. *Endurance record,

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, on Long Island, New York, United States. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aero ...

– In January 1922, Bertaud and Edward Stinson won the Aviation medal of merit of the

Aero Club of America The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New E ...

for their 27-hour world endurance record flown during a snowstorm in the Junkers-Larsen JL-6 on December 30, 1921. The aircraft flew , also breaking the French-held world's record for distance. *Orteig Prize - Charles A. Levine, owner of Columbia Aircraft Corp, and the sole Wright-Bellanca WB-2 sought after by pilot

, bumped Bertaud from his copilot position on an attempt at the

. Bertaud was promised a settlement to his family if he and his co-pilot Clarence D. Chamberlin crashed, and the prize money if they completed the flight, but Levine refused to sign the document. Bertaud first objected, then later offered to purchase the Columbia for himself. Bertaud filed an injunction, and stalled the flight. Lindbergh took off winning the prize. Levine fired Bertaud, and, two weeks later, had Chamberlin fly him to

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

, as the first transatlantic passenger. They landed in

Eisleben Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century ...

, breaking Lindbergh's distance mark by . Following the flight, Bertaud attempted to have Bellanca, the designer of the Columbia, build a transatlantic plane for a non-stop attempt on Rome in spite of Levine. The aircraft could not be built in a timely manner. Instead, an agreement was made with Philip Payne, editor of the

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

paper the ''

New York Daily Mirror The ''New York Daily Mirror'' was an American morning tabloid newspaper first published on June 24, 1924, in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization as a contrast to their mainstream broadsheets, the ''Evening Journal'' and '' ...

'', for a Fokker F.VIIA aircraft named '' Old Glory'', and a spare seat for Payne, in exchange for the publicity rights.

Legacy

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. These include Bertaud Lake (), Hill Lake () and Payne Lake ().

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertaud, Lloyd Wilson 1895 births 1920s missing person cases 1927 deaths American aviation record holders Aviators from California Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Canada Flight endurance record holders Missing aviators Missing person cases in Canada People lost at sea United States airmail pilots Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1927

Biography

Records and awards

Legacy

See also

References

External links