Roscoe Turner, Early Image

Lion Tamer, Raconteur, Entrepreneur, Showman, Air Racer

Roscoe Turner landed and signed our Register four times between 1928 and 1931. Although most of our Davis-Monthan pilots had strong personalities, Turner was one of the more flamboyant aviators of the Golden Age. Click this link and this link to see other images of Turner on this site.

As many of our pilots, Turner was born on the cusp of the 19th century, on September 29, 1895, eight years before the first airplane flew. However, his rural upbringing in Corinth, MS made him understand he did not want to become a farmer, preferring to work with automobiles and motorcycles. He was a natural for airplanes.

In 1917 Turner enlisted in the U.S. Ambulance Service as a private, rose to sergeant, transferred to the Air Service as a balloon observer and left the service as a first lieutenant.

After the war, he became a lion tamer in a circus (intimations of things to come? See link below), a barnstorming and stunt pilot, wing walker and parachute jumper. He moved to Hollywood, flew for Howard Hughes in "Hell's Angels" and became a technical advisor for the movies and movie stunt flyer.

From the 1920s through the Great Depression, Turner had his hand in many entrepreneurial ventures. If he had a motto at all, it might have been, "There's always a way to make a buck." He operated a tobacco store named the Edgeworth Special out of a Sikorsky S-29-A. He owned 25% interest in the Motor Glide motorized scooter firm. He ran in the great races of the era, with sponsorship by major companies. He held a number of co-marketing agreements with companies such as Heinz 57 foods.

"Sky Blazers" Model Airplane

In fact, between 1927 and 1937 the entertainment industry jumped on aviation themes with movies, comic strips and radio shows about aerial adventures. Clubs were formed to help kids learn more about aviation. Turner was involved in the Sky Blazers (premium model airplane, left).

He was the principal for the Roscoe Turner Famous Flying Corps sponsored by Heinz 57 foods (below). Kids could send in Heinz product seals to acquire pins and certificates signifying various ranks such as lieutenant, captain and major. Note, below, the escalation in the number of Heinz 57 box tops required to gain promotion!

Advertisement: Heinz 57 Flying Club for Kids

An interesting thing about the Roscoe Turner Famous Flying Corps is the secret code used when club members greeted each other. I'm quoting from the left-most column of text, above. Specifically,

Interestingly, Turner's "10-4" is a fortuitous spin on a common police code. Police "10-code" dates from the 1920s. "10-4" in "10-code" means 'message understood'. Turner probably put his personal spin on it by tying it into his flight time.

As his career developed, he always flew in his self-designed uniform of blue with specially designed wings. That way, regardless of the day or time of his arrival at an airfield, he was always ready for interviews, dinners or other social occasions.

Below, we see Turner in full uniform with Lockheed Vega NC7954, the original "Winnie Mae", flying in Nevada Airlines livery. Turner was, during the late 20s, operations manager for Nevada. He flew NC7954 in the 1929 National Air Races. Although Turner never flew this airplane to Tucson, NC7954 landed three times flown by other pilots. Follow the link for details.

Roscoe Turner & NC7954

The airplanes Turner did fly to Tucson are Lockheed Vegas NC195E and NC7896, and the Sikorsky mentioned above, NC2756. He flew another Lockheed to Tucson, probably NR3057, his Air Express c/n 75.

Roscoe Turner, 1934

Roscoe Turner and Gilmore

In 1934, Turner placed second in the handicap division of the MacRobertson Air Race flying a Boeing 247D. This image of the cover of Time Magazine for October 29, 1934 commemorates that feat.

Roscoe has a strong web presence. Google just his name and you'll find over 25,000 hits. Follow this link for a brief but comprehensive review of his personality and career, including his acquisition and life with Gilmore, the African lion cub who worked and flew with him for about a year until the cub grew up. Undoubtedly, the lion's demands for in-flight meals took on a different dimension!

He placed second in the Bendix transcontinental race for 1935 (Tyrone, PA news article, left sidebar). The image, below, of Turner (R) and Benny Howard, was probably taken at one end or the other of that race.

Benny Howard & Roscoe Turner, Probably ca. September, 1935

This image is courtesy of Andy Heins. Note that Turner is dressed in his standard uniform, and that Howard wears what appears to be the insignia button of the National Air Races.

Roscoe Turner died June 23, 1970 just before his 75th birthday. He had received from aviation a fair measure against what he put into it.

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Dossier 2.1.156

UPLOADED: 01/24/07 REVISED: 10/31/07, 12/28/07, 04/15/08