22 Facts About Clarence Chamberlin

Clarence Duncan Chamberlin 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 first transatlantic passenger.

Indeed, maintenance of the vehicle was a near constant endeavor; however, it was in maintaining the family automobile that Chamberlin first developed an interest in all things mechanical.

In 1915, Chamberlin was offered a job by Charles W Tabor, one of Denison's more prominent citizens, to serve as a chauffeur on a six-month trip through the southwest and to San Francisco for the World's Fair.

In 1917, Clarence Chamberlin decided to finally pursue his dream of flying.

Clarence Chamberlin declined; he didn't want to float, he wanted to fly.

Clarence Chamberlin's flying ability progressed rapidly under the tutelage of his military instructors and on July 15,1918, Clarence Chamberlin received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps.

On January 2,1919, Clarence Chamberlin married his sweetheart, Wilda Bogert and then later that year on July 2, he was honorably discharged from military service.

However, this plane would not be completely constructed or delivered for another 14 months, so, upon the urging of his father, Clarence Chamberlin returned to Denison to help run the family jewelry store.

However, Clarence Chamberlin soon grew tired of the jewelry business and expanded the store's inventory to include "talking machines" which he eventually found himself traveling around the county selling.

That next spring Clarence Chamberlin closed his bank account and, along with his wife, moved back east to await the delivery of his long-awaited plane.

Yet Clarence Chamberlin aspired to even greater heights of public fame; he wanted to win the Orteig Prize, a $25,000 reward offered by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first aviator to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris.

Clarence Chamberlin would do this by breaking the endurance record for flight, which at that time, was held by Drouhin and Landry of France who had stayed in the air for 45 hours, 11 minutes, and 59 seconds of continual flight.

The plane was grossly overloaded with 455 gallons of gasoline, food, water, and instrumentation, but in order for Clarence Chamberlin to beat the distance record, the overloading was a necessary evil.

On June 4,1927, Clarence Chamberlin was ready to begin his historic flight from Roosevelt Field; however, the plane still lacked a navigator.

The plane was about to take off and Clarence Chamberlin still lacked a co-pilot.

Clarence Chamberlin's scheme had aerodrome officials on both sides of the English Channel frantic.

Clarence Chamberlin had expected to use the entire runway, but at about three-fourths of the way the plane was flung into the air by up-thrusting winds turned skyward by the sides of the big ocean liner.

Clarence Chamberlin asked Louise to marry him the very next day.

Clarence Chamberlin trained several thousand such workers, [which greatly] assist[ed] the war effort.

Clarence Chamberlin was buried at Lawn Cemetery in Huntington, Connecticut.

Clarence Chamberlin married Wilda Bogert of Independence, Iowa on January 3,1919.

Later that same year, Clarence Chamberlin married Louise Ashby, a young teacher, who he had met during a barnstorming trip up to Maine.