From about 1908 through 1911, Monett investors led by L. B. Durnil and U. S. Barnsley sought to build an airplane. They were involved in at least three projects with different inventors: (1) the efforts of Henry Laurens Call to build various airships at Girard, Kansas; (2) the efforts of A. E. Holbrook to build a helicopter aeroplane at Joplin, Missouri; and (3) the efforts of Edward DeChenne to build a biplane, first at Joplin and then at Monett. The DeChenne aeroplane was a success and gave its first public demonstration flight at Monett on July 4, 1911, flown by Monett druggist Logan McKee. It then made an exhibition tour in Oklahoma and Texas.
On September 16, 1988, the Monett Times ran a rememberance of McKee by one of his step-grandsons. According to the article, McKee became involved with the DeChenne when he was hired to photograph it, but gave up flying sometime in 1911 at the behest of his wife. This was probably a wise choice. The Joplin Daily Globe for January 1, 1911, ran a front-page list of 30 pilots who had been killed in 1910, including two killed the preceding day in separate airshow accidents. At a time when there were only a handful of airplanes, this was an appalling death rate.
In May, 1911, professional pilots Jimmy Ward and Hugh Robinson gave an airshow at Joplin's Electric Park flying Curtiss airplanes. Ward attained altitudes of 2,000 feet, and the Joplin Daily Globe of May 30 described the flights as follows, "Dipping and turning at will, they circled about the field, and one could almost imagine that the machines were giant birds soaring close under the clouds."
By contrast, the Caddo, Oklahoma Herald of September 1, 1911, described a McKee/Dechenne flight this way: "The aeroplane made several straight away flights, going some distance, but hardly exceeding fifty feet in height, alighting in some pasture and returning to the grounds." If I am reading this correctly, when McKee wanted to turn around, he landed and turned the plane around on the ground, then flew back to the fair grounds. Turning was by far the most dangerous maneuver in early flight, and making a plane that could turn safely was a major design challenge for early airplane builders. Either McKee was a very cautious pilot, or the DeChenne was a very limited aircraft. In any case, the DeChenne company received $1,000 for a two day exhibition at Caddo. According to an inflation calculator, $1,000 in 1911 would be over $26,000 in 2018 dollars.
Finally, on October 6, 1911, the Times reported that McKee had gone to Rust, Texas, to give an exhibition. The next day Aero magazine carried a classified ad seeking a new pilot for the Dechenne, and on November 25, 1911, it carried an ad offering to sell the plane's engine. "Cheap if taken soon. Reason, have closed for season and can make more by spring." If the plane ever flew again after McKee, I have found no record of it. In February, 1913, Aero & Hydo magazine carried a "quitting business" ad offering to sell various assets of the DeChenne company.
Elaine Orr's photo book Monett purports to have a photograph of Logan McKee sitting in the Dechenne many years later in a Monett garage, but people who knew McKee personally tell me that he isn't the man in the photograph. Moreover, the biplane shown in the photograph has a different engine, radiator and front carriage from those shown in known photographs of the Dechenne in 1911. If it is the Dechenne, then the plane underwent later modifications. According to Viga Hall, the Dechenne was stored in his father's warehouse, part of the V. B. Hall produce company, until after WW II. When Viga's older brother, a WW II pilot, showed an interest in trying to fly it, his mother had it destroyed.
My research on this subject has consisted principally of skimming the Monett Times from 1908 through 1912, with a quick look at the Joplin Daily Globe for parts of 1910 and 1911. This has turned up only sketchy information on the Call and Holbrook efforts, but a lot of information on the DeChenne. Below are transcriptions of the original newspaper articles, with a few research notes, under the following headings:
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Stock certificate number 213 for the Holbrook Helicopter Aeroplane Co., issued to Leroy Jeffries at Monett, Missouri, May 15, 1911. The vignette shows horse drawn wagons delivering mining ore to a smelter, apparently the best the printer could do to represent modern times. One other stock certificate for this company is currently known, number 61, issued to Roy Wilkins June 7, 1910. The rising certificate numbers suggest Durnil and Barnsley had some success in finding investors for their company. Click on the image for a larger view. |
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Holbrook Monoplane. This photograph owned by James Barnsley is not identifed, but is probably the Holbrook Monoplane built at Joplin in early 1910. A discussion at The Aerodrome website suggests that there exists somewhere an identified view of the same scene. A test flight of the Holbrook failed about March 5, 1910, because the engine was underpowered. Note the masts which rise above the wing and which would presumably have held the vertical rotors called for by the Holbrook patent discussed below. Many early airplane flights were held at racetracks. Note what appear to be horse stalls in the background. Photo courtesy of James Barnsley, a great nephew of U. S. Barnsley. |
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July 4, 1911, Gathering at Monett to Witness the First Public Demonstration of the DeChenne Aeroplane. This image is from a postcard. Logan McKee, the local druggist flying the plane, also published many of Monett's earliest postcards. |
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Getting ready to fly. Photo courtesy Fields' Photo Archives, Cassville, MO. Photo may not be reproduced without the permission of Fields' Photo Archives. |
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July 4, 1911, The DeChenne Aeroplane in Flight, Monett. This image is scanned from a 1937 book, Barry County in Pictures. It was probably taken originally from a postcard. |
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Side View of the DeChenne. Photo courtesy Fields' Photo Archives, Cassville, MO. Photo may not be reproduced without the permission of Fields' Photo Archives. |
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Rear View of the DeChenne. Photo courtesy Fields' Photo Archives, Cassville, MO. Photo may not be reproduced without the permission of Fields' Photo Archives. |
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The DeChenne Engine. Photo courtesy Fields' Photo Archives, Cassville, MO. Photo may not be reproduced without the permission of Fields' Photo Archives. |
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The DeChenne in Flight, Miami, Oklahoma, July 23, 1911. Photo courtesy Fields' Photo Archives, Cassville, MO. Photo may not be reproduced without the permission of Fields' Photo Archives. |
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Barnsley Air Show Photograph. This photograph has a note on the back "Glen Martin, Chicago, Ill., 9-12-12" and was taken at the Chicago Air Show by Logan McKee of Monett. U. S. Barnsley frequently attended flying exhibitions to get ideas and may have met some of the early pioneers of American aviation such as Glenn Martin, who founded the company that eventually became Martin Marietta and is now part of Lockheed. This photo is courtesy of James Barnsley, but the Monett public library has a duplicate which is explicitly attributed to McKee. |
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Barnsley Air Show Photograph. This photograph by Logan McKee has a note on the back "A. Jannus, Benoist, Chicago, Ill., 9-12-12." Tom Benoist was a St. Louis aviation pioneer, and Antony Jannus was his chief pilot. Benoist ran a company that sold airplane parts to would be builders and may have furnished some parts for the DeChenne. Wikipedia has articles on both men. Photo courtesy of James Barnsley. |
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Barnsley Air Show Photograph. This photograph by Logan McKee has a note on the back "American Monoplane, Chicago, Ill., 9-12-12." This appears to be the same plane sometimes described as the Borel or Borel-Mathis Monoplane, but information under any name is scarce. Another Barnsley Photo of the Same Plane. Photos courtesy of James Barnsley. |
The Jeffries Collection of Monett Photographs & Documents.
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