ROSCOE TURNER - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 01/20/1964 - HFSID 177966

ROSCOE TURNER. TLS: "Roscoe Turner", ¼p, 7¼x10¼. Indianapolis, Indiana, 1964 January 20. On imprinted letterhead picturing his family crest to Mr. J. Duane Upton, Santa Ana, California. In full: "Thank you for your letter of January 11. I would say that you have quite a collection; therefore, I am taking the liberty of sending you two photographs. I have autographed them to you as I did not know the names of your two girls. There is an article on me in the November Issue of the American Legion Magazine which you might like to have for your collection. Any Legion Post or Legionnaire should have the magazine. Thanking you for writing, I am Yours very truly". Photographs not present. The American Legion, a patriotic, mutual help, wartime veterans' organization chartered by Congress in 1919, has its international headquarters in Indianapolis, where Turner founded Turner Aviation Institute. His school trained more than 3,300 pilots to fly during WWII, and Turner also made a significant impact on aviation with his aircraft sales and service facility, Roscoe Turner Aeronautical Corp. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Roscoe Turner (1895-1970) was one of the biggest names in aviation. In 1929, he had helped organize Nevada Airlines, operating between Los Angeles, Reno and Las Vegas (the Governor of Nevada would bestow the title of "Colonel" on Turner). Turner then flew four passengers in his Lockheed from Los Angeles to New York, proving that transcontinental service was practical. Turner's other feats include setting speed records between Los Angeles and New York (and breaking more transcontinental records than any other pilot), winning the Bendix Transcontinental race in 1933 and winning the Thompson Trophy in 1934, 1938 and 1939. The only pilot to win the trophy three times, Turner and Jimmy Doolittle were the only two pilots to win both the Bendix race and the Thompson Trophy. In 1934, Turner won the Robertson Race from England to Australia. In 1952, Congress awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross to Turner, who had trained over 3,000 pilots in WWII. In 1975, five years after his death, Turner was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame. Lightly soiled at blank margins. Stamped imprint of "Colonel Roscoe Turner/Roscoe Turner Aeronautical Corp./Weir Cook Municipal Airport/Indianapolis, Indiana 46241", faded at upper lines, at lower left corner. Fine condition.