Vearne C. Babcock

Lore & Background

Babcock worked as a jockey around the turn of the century, riding in races at Delmar Park, St. Louis, in 1901 and at the Saint Louis fairground in 1902. He began flying in 1905, going aloft for the first time that year, in an aircraft that copied the Wright Flyer design. After a successful 150-foot jump in the morning, he crashed in the afternoon. He recalled, 'I broke many bones and many pocketbooks in crashes.' He moved to Seattle in 1909, built a second Wright copy, and formed Babcock-Breininger Aeroplane Supply Co. He toured the United States and foreign countries demonstrating American-built airplanes.

In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, he went to France and enlisted in the French Foreign Legion.

Reader's Guide

Vearne C. Babcock's significance lies in his role as an early aviator and persistent aircraft designer spanning from the pioneering era of flight through World War II. As the fifth person to fly, he represents the first generation of aviators who learned by trial and error. His career illustrates the transition from barnstorming and copying the Wright design to organized aircraft manufacturing and military service. His work training Army pilots and writing curriculum contributed to the professionalization of flight instruction. The Babcock-Vlcek X Airmaster and its derivatives show his engagement with light aircraft design, while his company's production of Waco CG-4A gliders during World War II demonstrates the mobilization of small manufacturers for the war effort. His later patent for a catamaran hull indicates a continued inventive spirit after aviation. Babcock's legacy is that of a versatile engineer and entrepreneur who participated in multiple phases of early and mid-century American aviation.

Did You Know?

• He was the fifth person to fly, and his first flight was a 150-foot jump in a Wright Flyer copy; he crashed on his second attempt that same day.
• During World War I, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and was severely wounded in aerial combat in 1916.
• He patented a catamaran-style boat hull design in 1954, called the Polynesian Clipper.

From Jockey to Aviator

Vearne Clifton Babcock arrived in the world on April 28, 1887, in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and his early years were defined by restless energy. Around the turn of the twentieth century, he earned his living as a jockey, riding in races at Delmar Park in St. Louis in 1901 and again at the Saint Louis fairground in 1902, where he finished fourth aboard Terra Incognita over a mile-and-70-yards course. That competitive, physical drive carried him into the skies. In 1905, he made his first flight aboard a replica of the Wright Flyer, becoming the fifth person ever to take to the air. His account of that debut was characteristically self-deprecating: the machine and its pilot were equally unprepared, and after a successful 150-foot hop in the morning, an afternoon attempt ended in a crash. He would go on to break numerous bones and countless pocketbooks over the years, yet he kept flying until his wife finally intervened when he reached sixty.

War Service and Engineering Leadership

When the Great War erupted in 1914, Babcock crossed the Atlantic and enlisted in the French Foreign Legion. In 1916, aerial combat on the Western Front left him severely wounded, and he was invalidated back to American soil. Rather than stepping away from aviation, he channeled his expertise into the war effort and beyond. He headed the propeller department at the Glenn L. Martin Company, taught at the pilot training school at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, and contributed as a designer on the de Havilland DH.4 for the U.S. Army Air Service. He trained numerous Army student pilots and authored the curriculum for their training courses. By 1919, he was a member of the American Legion at Elyria, Ohio, with his affiliation listed as U.S. Naval Aviation. From that point forward, he devoted his full professional attention to airplane design, research, and the construction of both experimental and commercial aircraft, cementing his role as one of the era's most hands-on aeronautical engineers.

Interwar Design and Enterprise

The 1920s and 1930s saw Babcock pursue a string of ambitious but often short-lived ventures. In 1924 he founded the Babcock Aircraft Company in Akron, Ohio, which underwent several reorganizations before being absorbed by the S. Taubman Aircraft Company in 1930 and rebranded as Babcock-Vlcek. His biplane design, The Teal, was built at Stow Field near Kent, Ohio, and entered the 1926 National Air Tour, only to be written off on the first day when its pilot ran out of fuel just short of Chicago. The X Airmaster, a side-by-side two-seat shoulder-wing cabin monoplane, spawned the LC-13 Taube and LC-13A Taube, the latter featuring an open cockpit, enlarged vertical tail, and a 75-horsepower Roché inverted in-line engine. Bartlett Manufacturing in California later acquired the design and attempted to revive it as the Bartlett 3 Zephyr, but World War II and a post-war marketing effort both proved unsuccessful. In 1934, Babcock also incorporated The Beacon Microphone Company in Akron, a venture quietly cancelled by the tax department in 1935.

Wartime Gliders and a Final Patent

In 1939, Babcock relocated his operations to Florida, incorporating Babcock Aircraft Corporation in May of that year with a $150,000 authorized capitalization. He served as vice-president and chief engineer, and a manufacturing facility in DeLand was dedicated on June 10, 1940, for light aircraft production. By 1942, he had organized the DeLand Pool, a cluster of small manufacturing and fabricating shops in Central Florida. The pool's first contract involved assembly stands for airplane motors, but the required worm gears and drives exceeded Babcock's capacity, so the work was passed to the LaRoe Machine Shop in Eustis. Babcock Aircraft itself produced sixty Waco CG-4 assault gliders, designated CG-4A-BBs, in two batches during the war. The company ceased operations by the war's end, and Babcock retired from aviation. Yet his inventive mind did not rest: in 1950 he filed a patent for a catamaran-style hull he called the Polynesian Clipper, which was granted in January 1954. He passed away in Volusia, Florida, on February 15, 1972.