Frank Wead

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Frank Wilber "Spig" Wead (1923)

Frank Wilber "Spig" Wead (born October 24, 1895 in Peoria , Illinois , † November 15, 1947 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American naval aviator in the US Navy and writer whose novels were made into films several times and the 1939 both for the Oscar for Best Original Story and Oscar for Best Screenplay. His own life was filmed in 1957 in the biopic The Eagle Equals by John Ford with John Wayne in the lead role.

Life

US Navy officer and World War I

After attending school, Wead graduated from the US Naval Academy as a midshipman and was accepted into the US Navy on May 29, 1916 as a lieutenant at sea ( Ensign ). Three days later he took his first use at sea, on the USS San Diego (ACR-6) , an armored cruiser of the Pennsylvania-class battleship , which at the time in Guaymas in Mexico was docked. Together with John D. Price , who was later Vice Admiral and most recently Vice Chief of Naval Operations for Air , he later served aboard the battleship USS Pittsburgh (ACR-4) during World War I. and was there on June 10, 1917 the traditional equator baptism .

After he followed with this armored cruiser a few months in the port of Rio de Janeiro stationed and on 17 October 1917, the troop carrier USS Zeelandia (ID-2507) to New York City was moved, he joined in early 1918 as a Lieutenant ( Lieutenant Junior Grade ) started his service on the mine-layer USS Shawmut (CM-4) , where he took part in mine-laying operations in the North Sea , the so-called "North Sea Mine Barrage", between Orkney and Norway . For his work during the First World War he was awarded the Mexican Service Medal and the World War I Victory Medal . After the Compiègne armistice in 1918 , the USS Shawmut was relocated to the Boston Naval Shipyard .

Training as a naval aviator, flight records and accident

Marc Andrew Mitscher as a young pilot (1916)

There Wead was placed under a command of naval balloons and took part in numerous air operations after February 15, 1919, which aroused his interest in aviation . On the recommendation of then Lieutenant Commander Marc Andrew Mitscher , a pioneer of US naval aviation, he was trained as a naval aviator on September 15, 1919 as a participant in the first class after the First World War at the military airfield of Naval Air Station Pensacola . After completing his pilot training on April 17, 1920, he was appointed Naval Aviator and the pilot's badge was attached by his wife Minnie "Min" Wead.

A year later, on April 21, 1921, he was transferred to the mine-layer USS Aroostook (CM-3) in the Naval Air Station North Island , where he flew the two-seater naval aircraft of the Aeromarine 39 type and flying boats of the Felixstowe F5L type . In the spring of 1923 he found use as a pilot for coastal flights at the naval base Naval Support Facility Anacostia in Anacostia near Washington, DC In the following period he promoted aviation competitions within the US armed forces , in particular air races and speed competitions against the Army Aviation Team under the leadership of James Harold Doolittle .

These competitions also increased public interest in military aviation and, as a result, the financial support of the aviation associations of the individual armed forces by the US Congress . In September 1923, Wead was a team captain for the US Navy, who traveled to Cowes on the Isle of Wight to take part in the Schneider Trophy named after Jacques Schneider , a competition for seaplanes . After David Rittenhouse won the race for the US Navy team as a pilot of a Curtiss CR-3 , it took place for the first time in the USA in Baltimore in 1925 and was won there by James Harold Doolittle.

The following year, Wead also met his fellow trainee from the US Naval Academy, Lieutenant Commander John D. Price, at the Anacostia naval base, and set several records for seaplanes with him on June 22 and 23, 1924. On a Curtiss CS-2 with a Wright T-3 Tornado engine, he not only broke a new course record with 963.123 miles , but also a new flight time record and three speed records with 13 hours 23 minutes and 15 seconds, for 500 kilometers (73 , 41 miles per hour ), 1000 kilometers (74.27 miles per hour) and 1500 kilometers (74.17 miles per hour). On July 11 and 12, 1924, he and Price improved these records again when they also on a Curtis CS-2 with a Wright T-3 Tornado engine set a new course record with 994.19 miles and 14 hours 53 minutes and 44 seconds set a new flight time record.

In the following years he continued to work as a test pilot in the US Navy, before he suffered a broken neck in a fall on the stairs of his house in Coronado and was paralyzed as a result.

Writing career, Oscar nominations and World War II

During the subsequent recovery phase, Wead began his writing career, in which he wrote non-fiction books on aviation as well as autobiographical novels, short stories and scripts , which were later made into films in Hollywood from his war and pilot experiences .

At the Academy Awards in 1938 he was nominated twice: Firstly, for the Oscar for the best original story for the adventure film Der Testpilot (Test Pilot, 1938) by Victor Fleming with Clark Gable , Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy in, based on his story Test Pilot on the other hand, along with Ian Dalrymple and Elizabeth Hill, he received an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay for the feature film The Citadel (The Citadel, 1938) directed by King Vidor , starring Robert Donat , Rosalind Russell and Ralph Richardson .

He has also published short stories in popular magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and The American Magazine .

During the Second World War , Wead was taken back into active military service in July 1943 and planned the use of escort aircraft carriers in the rank of Lieutenant Commander . First he was a planning officer on board the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) and later on the aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9) , where he participated in various combat missions in the Pacific War, such as the Battle of Gilbert Islands in November 1943 and the Battle of the Marshall Islands in January and February 1944, before he was released from active military service in July 1944. He was honored again for his services in World War II and received the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal in addition to the Legion of Merit .

Nine years after his death in 1947, John Ford, who was also his personal friend, filmed the life of Wead in the 1956 film Equal to The Eagle , starring John Wayne . Dan Dailey as "Jughead" Carson, Maureen O'Hara as his wife Min Wead and Ken Curtis as John Dale Price also starred in other roles .

Publications

  • Types of aircraft and materials (= International Textbook Company. Bluebooks 566). International Textbook Company, Scranton PA 1931.
  • Wings for men. The Century Co., New York NY et al. 1931.
  • Airplane parts and maintenance (= International Textbook Company. Bluebooks 567). International Textbook Company, Scranton PA 1931.
  • History of aviation (= International Textbook Company. Bluebooks 592). International Textbook Company, Scranton PA 1935.
  • Practical flying and meteorology (= International Textbook Company. Bluebooks 593). International Textbook Company, Scranton PA 1935.
  • Ceiling zero. Warner Bros. Pictures, Hollywood CA 1935.
  • Our greatest story-teller. The story of talking pictures. T. Nelson and Sons, New York NY 1936.
  • Gales, ice and men. A biography of the steam barkentine Bear Dodd, Mead & Co., New York NY 1937.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wead, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wead, Frank Wilber (full name); Spig Mead (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American naval aviator, writer, and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH October 24, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Peoria , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1947
Place of death Santa Monica , California