Frank Goldsborough
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Frank H. Goldsborough (1910 - July 16, 1930) was a record-holding aviator who died in a dramatic plane crash in Vermont.
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[edit] Birth
Frank was born in Maryland in 1910. His father was Brice Goldsborough (1891-1927) who had died in a plane crash as he tried to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland. Frank's stepmother was named Gertrude. Frank was born in Washington, District of Columbia. By time he was 18 the family was living in New York where he attended Flushing High School in Queens.
[edit] Transcontinental speed record
Frank held the junior transcontinental air speed record until his death. The record was then broken by Eddie August Schneider (1910-1940) on August 19, 1930 just a month after Frank's death. In 1930 Frank was living with his stepmother at 4114 75th Street in Queens, New York. In April and May of 1930 he wrote a series of exclusive first person accounts for the New York Times about his exploits in the National Air Tour and his breaking of the transcontinental air speed record. Time magazine wrote the following on May 12, 1930:
A flight from New York to Los Angeles, begun on Monday and completed Sunday, is not in itself remarkable. But if the flyer be the young son of a crack airman who met spectacular death; and if the boy seeks a "junior speed record," public fancy is captured. Last week Frank Goldsborough, 19, son of the late Brice Goldsborough, crossed the United States in 34 hour 3 minutes flying time, in a biplane named American Boy. Previous "record" of 48 hours, set last year by 18-year-old Richard James, was spread over a month elapsed time. Young Goldsborough's flight was punctuated by forced landings. Overtaken by darkness near El Paso, he settled down on the desert beside a truck. "Two prospectors were in it. They treated me royally, shared their food and water with me. In taking off next morning along a narrow road lined by telegraph poles, I had a cross wind and just clipped the lower left wing tip, but I got into the air safely.
[edit] Death
His plane crashed in Vermont on July 15, 1930. His passenger Don Mockler, walked away from the crash, dazed but alive and went for help. Frank was trapped in the wreakage with a head injury for 18 hours before he was rescued alive, but not conscious. All his teeth had been knocked out and he was carried away by rescuers on a makeshift stretcher made from a parachute to the home of Harry C. Jenkins. Goldsborough died on July 16, 1930 at Putnam Memorial Hospital in Bennington, Vermont without regaining consciousness. The story of his death appeared in the New York Times on July 17, 1930, and his obituary appeared on July 19, 1930.
[edit] Funeral
He was buried on July 19, 1930 at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Charles Lindbergh sent flowers.
[edit] Timeline
- 1910 Birth
- 1930 Set transcontinental airspeed record
- 1930 US Census at 4114 75th Street in Queens, New York
- 1930 Died in crash in Vermont
[edit] See also
[edit] Selected coverage in periodicals
- New York Times; April 29, 1930; page 18: "Boy flies from St. Louis to Westfield, New Jersey: by Frank Goldsborough. Frank Goldsborough Completes First Leg of Transcontinental Flight for Junior Record. Robertson, Missouri, April 28, 1930. Left Westfield at 7 o'clock this morning and arrived at St. Louis at 7 P.M. I made wonderful time with the aid ..."
- New York Times, April 30, 1930, page 05: "Goldsborough held at Tulsa by weather: by Frank Goldsborough"
- New York Times, May 01, 1930, page 36: "Goldsborough bucks wind"
- New York Times, May 04, 1930, page 03: "Goldsborough forced back by storm: by Frank Goldsborough"
- New York Times, May 05, 1930, page 33: "Goldsborough ends flight with record: by Frank Goldsborough. New York Boy Lands at Los Angeles, Cutting 14 Hours Off Junior Coast-to-Coast Mark. Braved Bad Weather. Youth Spent 34 Hours and 3 Minutes in Air on Trip From Westfield, New Jersey Former Record Was 48 Hours. Los Angeles, California; May 4, 1930. Rain held me up at Colton, California, until this morning. Then heavy fog and rain made it necessary for me to wait until after 12 o'clock before it was possible to take off for Los Angeles."
- New York Times, May 08, 1930, page 08: "Hop today planned by Goldsborough: by Frank Goldsborough"
- New York Times, May 09, 1930, page 15: "Goldsborough lands at El Paso for the night"
- New York Times, May 10, 1930, page 03: "Goldsborough races storm to Tulsa: by Frank Goldsborough"
- New York Times, May 12, 1930, page 03: "Flier, 19 ends trip minus compass: by Frank Goldsborough"
- Time, May 12, 1930: "Flights & Flyers"
- New York Times, July 15, 1930, page 01: "Goldsborough crashes on Vermont mountain. Party Seeks Young Flier Pinned Under Plane. Bennington, Vermont; July 14, 1930; "Frank Goldsborough, 19 year-old aviator of Jackson Heights, Long Island, who recently established the junior transcontinental record, crashed into a peak of the Green Mountains eight ..."
- Washington Post, July 16, 1930, page 01: "Frank Goldsborough Joins Father in Death. Crash Injuries Fatal to Son of Flier Who Died in Ocean Mystery. Goldsborough Dies of Crash Injuries. Son of Flier Who Lost Life in Atlantic Mystery Passes in Coma. Held Airplane Records. Bennington, Vermont, July 16, 1930 (Associated Press) Frank Goldsborough, 19, holder of junior transcontinental flight records, tonight joined his father. Brice Goldsborough, also an aviator, in death."
- New York Times, July 16, 1930, page 03: "Find Goldsborough near death on peak"
- New York Times, July 17, 1930, page 01: "Goldsborough, boy flier, dies of injuries. Unconscious to End After Vermont Crash. Bennington, Vermont; July 16, 1930. Frank Goldsborough, the 19-year-old holder of the junior transcontinental flying record, died at 5:40 (Eastern Standard Time) this afternoon. He was unconscious to the end from a fractured skull and the effects of exposure in lying eighteen hours in the ..."
- New York Times, July 18, 1930, page 28: "Goldsborough felt warning of disaster. Tonawanda Man Discloses That Flier Left Dog Mascot With Him. Funeral Here Today. Tonawanda, New York; July 17, 1930 (Associated Press) Frank Goldsborough, 19-year-old aviator who plunged to his death in his plane on a mountainside in Vermont on Monday, had a premonition of impending disaster, Herbert Zettel, president of the Tonawanda Kiwanis Club, said today."
- New York Times, July 19, 1930, page 06: "Frank Goldsborough, young flier buried. Lindbergh Sends Flowers to Funeral of 19-Year-Old Victim of Plane Crash. Funeral services for Frank Goldsborough, 19-year-old son of the late Brice Goldsborough, who disappeared at sea in the transatlantic amphibian Dawn in 1927, were held yesterday."
- Time, May 12, 1930; "Flights & Flyers. American Boy. A flight from New York to Los Angeles, begun on Monday and completed Sunday, is not in itself remarkable. But if the flyer be the young son of a crack airman who met spectacular death; and if the boy seeks a "junior speed record," public fancy is captured. Last week Frank Goldsborough, 19, son of the late Brice Goldsborough, crossed the U.S. in 34 hours 3 minutes flying time, in a biplane named American Boy. Previous 'record' of 48 hours, set last year by 18-year-old Richard James, was spread over a month elapsed time. Young Goldsborough's flight was punctuated by forced landings. Overtaken by darkness near El Paso, he settled down on the desert beside a truck. 'Two prospectors were in it. They treated me royally, shared their food and water with me. In taking off next morning along a narrow road lined by telegraph poles, I had a cross wind and just clipped the lower left wing tip, but I got into the air safely.'"
- Time, July 28, 1930: "Goodwill Tour. In the course of a tour of 100 smalltown Exchange Clubs, to demonstrate the dependability of aviation for passenger travel, Frank Goldsborough, 19, son of the late Brice Goldsborough, took off from Cleveland for Keene, New Hampshire In the Green Mountains, he plowed into a peasoup fog. Unable to climb over it, he dove his Fleet biplane to 2,000 feet, crashed into the treetops near Bennington, Vermont Painfully injured. Goldsborough's companion, Donald Mockler, publicity-man for Richfield Oil Corporation tried to lift the wreckage that pinned Goldsborough, then stumbled through forest and swamp for five hours to summon help. Twelve hours later searchers located the plane, extricated Goldsborough. They carried him eight miles to Bennington where he died next day—his 20th birthday."
