Merle Olmsted pix

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Wildr1

Wildr1

Senior Airman
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Mar 4, 2016
I posted this in another thread, as a tribute to Merle Olmsted. It was moved to the obits and I cannot find it. It would not have been viewed much there anyway. He was a member of the 357th Fighter Group with the 8th Air Force, Crew Chief for the P-51 Mustangs flying out of Leiston Air Field, England during WWII. He was a noted historian and author of numerous articles and 3 books, his latest being "To War With the Yoxford Boys". He sent to me some early training pix and serial # info from 1927.

11th Sqdn DH-4 at Marfa, Texas
11th Sqdn DH-4 at Marfa, Texas.jpg

DH-4 bombing
DH-4 bombing.jpg

DH-4 from the Border days
DH-4 from the Border days.jpg

Dh-4, at McCook Field
Dh-4, at McCook Field.jpg
 
MSGT. USAF, (RET) Merle C. Olmsted died January 9, 2008, at age 84 in his Springfield, Mo. home, Born In Dubuque, Iowa, in 1923, the only son. of Herschel and Irene Hanna Olmsted, Merle and Margreth, his wife of 60+ years, had just moved to Springfield in May after many years in California. Olmsted spent his life in active duty with the U. S. Army Air Corp and Air Force, and was a member of the 357th Fighter Group with the 8th Air Force Crew Chief for the P-51 Mustangs flying out of Leiston Air Field, England during WWII. He was a noted historian and author of numerous articles and 3 books, his latest being "To War With the Yoxford Boys". After enlisting in the Air Corp in 1942, he served 22 years active duty, then 20 years in the same capacity in the Air Force and Army Aviation, retiring in 1985. He was historian for the WWII 357th Fighter Group and a lifetime member of than Air Force Sergeants Assn., the Mighty 8th AF Museum and the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum. He also was a lifetime member of the American Aviation Historical Society. Olmsted wrote many articles and supplied hundreds of pictures and much information for the AAHS Journal. He was an amateur aviation artist, an expert scratch-built modeler, and shared his knowledge of aviation with many enthusiasts worldwide. His extensive collection of information, pictures, film, and other items are being donated to the Mighty 8th Museum. Olmsted was honored in September at the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends at Rickenbacker Airport, Columbus, Ohio, as one of the 51 men and women who flew or maintained the P-51 Mustangs in WWII.


lupdmerle1.jpg
merleolmsted.jpg
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CHAD VEICH said:
Sorry for digging up an old thread, came across it totally by accident. Can anyone shed any more light on what this aircraft is and/or who may have constructed it?
Click to expand...


It is the Mahoney Ryan X-1 prototype also called as the Mahoney-Ryan X-1 Special "Sportster", experimental light plane. The registration - X7621, span 27', length 22'. powered by 90 hp warner Scarab as 1929 safety palne entry with a variable-airfoil wing (no two ribs are alike) controlled by a lever in teh cockpit. No fin or stabilizer, which were replaced by a large, moveable stabilator and a longitudinally-adjusteable 50lb weight on a track inside the fuselage to shift the c/g. All this resulted in enought stability problems to cancel the project. It was reported that this aircraft was flown several times by Charles Lindbergh. Circa 1928/29
 
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