Evening star., 1927-05-15
CHAMbERL|N FIRST
FLEW DURING WAR
Former Garage Man in Small
Iowa Town Has Been in
Ten Minor Crashes.

Clarence u. Chamberlin. lco-pilot of
the Bellanca transatlantic Coinm-
bia. one of the best known comme'-
Cial pilots in the United States, is an
Iowan. 33 years old and although In
terested in aviation before the war
did not fly until he received training
in Army schools. Chamberlin's tam
lily home is i'll DennisOn, Iowa, where
his father. T.. G.. Chamberlin, jew
eler: his mother and one sister, Mrs
NJ. X. Moffett. now live. He was ed
ucated in the Iowa public schools and
the Iowa State College at Ames. where
he studied electrical engineering. He
married January 3. 1919, Miss Wiilda
Bogert of Independence, Iowa. lie
has no children.
The war found Chamberlin in the
automobile business in Dennison. He
enlisted in November. 1917, in the
Army Air Service as flying Scadet,
attended ground schools at the Uni
versty of Illinois and received his
flying training at Chanute Field, Ran
toul, Ill. He was commissioned sec
ond lieutenant in 1915. stationed at
Payne Field West Point, Miss.
Was Waiting to Sail.
He was transferred TO concentra
tion camp at Dallas. TeX9 then TO
Wilbur Wright Field at Dayton, Ohio;
then to Kelly Field. San Antonio.
where he instructed. He was waitinet
at Hoboken TO sail fttr France wheu
the armis eice was signed. After the
afmistice he remained as an Instructor
until July. 1919. when he was dis
charged.
Back at DennisOn he bought a Bel
lanca plane and did exhibition work al
fairs and meets, carried passengers
and did other commercial flying. In
1921, with other former war pilots. he
bought a hundred planes from the
surplus war material and converted
them for commercial flying. 1t is
Chamberlin's pride that no lives We're
ever lost in any of his ships.
Chamberlain has been in ten minor
crashes. The only injury he ever re-
ceved flying was a broken leg in 1925
when he flew an uncompleted plane
in the National Air Races at Mitchell
Field. The ship careened into a tele-
phone line killing Lawrence Buranelli.
his passenger, and injuring Cham
berlin.
Never Wears Parachute.
Chamberlin is quiet, slight, blue
eyed and blonde. He affects none of
the clothes or mannerisms connected
with aviators. He never wears a
parachute or goggles. His utmost
concession to the picturesque in flying
is on long flight such as the recent
nonstop, record breaking one at
Mitchell Field. when he wore me-
chanic's coveralls over hfs customary
blue serge suit.
| Chamberlin won two prizes I'm the
| SesqUicentennial air races in Philadel
phia last year. one for accuracy in
| landing, one for speed in sport
| plane event. 18th Bert Acostd he set
a new mark for continuous flying
when he drove the stock Beilanca
cabin monoplane 81 hours, IL minutes
and % seconds, beating the French
men. Drouhin and Landry. the record
! holders. by nearly six hours.
! Chamberlin has been a Be.lanca
! fan since his first flying days. 1t has
/ been his ambition to have a try at all
/ OF the worlds air records with Bel.
| lanca ships. He even keeps a special
| small model. engined with 3-cylin-
| der Wright. for his personal use Pre-
I vious 70 the trf lsatlantic hop Cham
! berlin was test pilot for the Wright
| Aeronautical Corporation at f'eter-
boro, y. j.