airplane which Charles Lindbergh had been taking flying lessons in, but had failed to solo. Nevertheless, Bahl allowed Lindbergh to accompany him on a barnstorming tour in May-June 1922 (Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado). It was at the Nebraska Aircraft Corp. plant that Lindbergh had met his friend Harlan A. “Bud” Gurney and was being taught to fly by Ira Biffle. Ray Page, who owned the aircraft, sold the airplane before Lindbergh soloed. During the tour, Bahl allowed Lindbergh to try wing walking, which he never grew to like. Ira Biffle, who had been an instructor in the United States Air Service United States Army Air Service during the Great War, had lost his taste for flying after a good friend was killed in an accident. Biffle flew only eight hours with Lindbergh in Nebraska. Like Lindbergh, he went on to fly for the U.S. Air Mail and flew Charles Walgreen and his dog, Peau Doux, around to store openings in a Sikorsky S-38. He also made the first commercial aircraft landing at Chicago’s Midway airport (in a Boeing Model 40) on December 12, 1927. He died of heart disease at age 44, in 1934, practically destitute. He was also nearly blind. While nothing is known to this writer of Harding and Zook, in 1929-30 Erold (sometimes spelled with two R’s) Grover Bahl was flying the Ford Tri-Motor Union Electric for the Union Electric Light and Power Co. between the Bagnell Dam project on the Osage River in the Ozarks and St. Louis (Miller County Museum and Historical Society website, www. MillerCountyMuseum.org). He was killed in October 1930 in a St. Louis auto accident. The story of our mystery plane, the Lark, begins with the purchase of the I.B. Curtiss-Humphreys Co. by Harding, Zook, and Bahl. The aircraft was apparently flown in the 1921 Pulitzer at Lincoln, but it
did not fly very well, despite winning the efficiency prize. Fitted with a 40-hp Lawrance radial, the aircraft was known as the Lark B. (It is unclear if there was a Lark A, but this may be the aircraft depicted in the photo.) Sold in 1922, the Lark B was moved to Richards Field, Kansas City, Missouri, where it was badly damaged in a landing accident. It was next purchased by Lawrence Dewey Bonbrake and Bert E. Thomas in 1924, and simply renamed the Lark, after extensive alteration and rebuilding. It was flown at the 1924 Wichita Air Meet by Blaine M. Tuxhorn, who appears to have participated in the redesign. During the rebuild, the Lawrance radial was replaced by the 60-hp Wright L-4. At the time, Mr. Bonbrake was employed as test pilot and engineer of the Unit Motor and Airplane Co. of Kansas City, Missouri. He would later be involved in the design of the trigger mechanisms of the first two American atomic bombs. In its rebuilt form, the BonbrakeThomas Lark (or Tuxhorn Sport, if you prefer) monoplane had a span of 28 feet, a height of 7 feet, and an overall length of 19 feet. A fuel tank may have been added to the dorsal center section of the wing (this is unclear). The empty weight was 615 pounds, and the useful load was 430 pounds. The VMAX was 95 mph, with a VMIN
of 32 mph. Initial climb was 500 fpm. With 15 gallons of fuel, the endurance was 2.5 hours. The ceiling was 17,000 feet. It isn’t entirely clear if the ailerons were altered, but those fitted to the Lark had an inverse taper, rounding at the tip. The wheels were also covered. The flying display given by Mr. Tuxhorn at Wichita was quite spectacular (Aviation. November 17, 1924. Airports and Airways. The Tuxhorn Sport Plane, p 1310). An additional photo, history, and description was published in the December 15, 1924, issue of Aviation (Bonbrake, L.D. Regarding the Lark Monoplane, p 1403). According to Aerofiles, the aircraft was registered as the Tuxhorn Lark in 1924 and appeared at the 1928 Los Angeles National Air Races, being flown by L. “Gene” Gebhart (932Y). By then, it was refi tted with a 60-hp Anzani, and possibly a 55-hp Velie at a later time. It was then re-registered to L.D. Bonbrake in 1929, again as the Lark. Aerofiles goes on to mention that elements of the design appeared in the Inland Sport S-300. According to Juptner (U.S. Civil Aircraft Vol. 3, pp 171-172) the aircraft flown at the Nationals was actually the 1927 Inland Sport prototype, a new design by L.D. Bonbrake, and was not the same airplane as the Lark. There is a good deal of confusion surrounding the history and disposition of this airplane.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31