by Paul R. Spitzzeri
As has been noted here before, the aviation industry in greater Los Angeles was given a tremendous impetus by the January 1910 air meet held at Dominguez Field in Compton. Occurring very shortly after the first motion picture was filmed locally and which established the movie industry in our region, the meet led the way for the establishment of aviation in a significant way and it is obvious that the climate and weather here were important for both.
Naturally, there would be a wide range of people trying to establish themselves in the fledgling industry and one of the many obscure figures was Harvey Francis Sutton (1866-1946), who sought to make his mark in aviation with the development of his “Safer Tandem Monoplane” within a few years of the 1910 meet. The tandem wing concept, simply put, is one in which there are two sets, one behind the other, and all were to contribute to the lift of the craft, but what Sutton designed was literally two planes with wings and propellers that he claimed would enhance stability.
Sutton’s life is mainly mysterious, though he was born in Gibson in southeastern Ohio in December 1866 and spent some of his childhood in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh, and then in Preston County, West Virginia, nor far to the south. By the mid-1890s, he headed west to Denver and by the end of the decade and century was reported to have been in Portland, Oregon and then back to his former Pennsylvania haunts. A Harvey F. Sutton got married in the Salt Lake City area in July 1905 and vanished on his wedding day, with the jilted bride unable to secure a divorce for six years.
In 1912, a real estate agent with that name was living at 1st and Vignes streets in Los Angeles and the next information located is the highlighted artifact from the Museum’s collection for this post. It is #354 of a “Pre-Incorporation Contract” for the Safer Aeroplane Company and the document, printed to reflect the purchase of four shares at one dollar, was for the acquisition by the bearer (whose name is not clear) of forty shares at ten dollars. It was added that the firm “is to be incorporated with a capitalization of 75,000 shares of the par value of One Dollar per share, said shares to be fully paid and non-assessable. The form is dated 19 December 1913 and signed by Sutton.
Nothing further was located until the Monrovia News of 7 March 1914 reported that
A new aviation scheme has been submitted to the Monrovia Board of Trade, and . . . looks so good that . . . a committee . . . will go out upon the street with the “aeroplane man”, and help to raise the small amount of funds asked to start the project. If successful, and there seems little doubt on that point, Monrovia will have a manufacturing plant for all kinds and conditions of airplanes, and an aviation school of the most modern and up-to-date methods of flying.
The paper continued that Sutton, a Los Angeles resident, was the inventor of what was deemed to be “no radical alteration of the principles involved in the construction of heavier-than-air flying machines, but is an ingenious adaptation of certain natural laws.” The designer told the paper that “he calls his craft a tandem monoplane, as it has two planes, not superimposed, as a biplane, but one behind the other.” With the pair of wings, each with propellers, an “inherent stability, that elusive quality so much sought after by inventors of air boats,” was to be achieved.
The quartet of propellers was likened to the tires of an automobile and, it was added, “when in operation, in a stream of rapidly moving air, [it would] project the planes from the dangerous cross currents and eddies so perilous to the navigator of the upper currents.” This, along with what was claimed to provide “greater lifting power,” was what Sutton “believes will make his machine one of the best in the world.” It was anticipated that, operating in the San Gabriel Valley town, the inventor would build all manner of monoplanes and biplanes and then develop his school for flying instruction.
It was asserted that there were “many high flying schemes” presented to the board during the previous year, but “no proposition has been received with the favor accorded Mr. Sutton and his plan.” The organization was said to be ready to work with him on “making a canvass of the city” to promote the concept “and will assist in the organization of a corporation to handle the machines.”
Alluding to a dirigible airline proposition in Pasadena by Roy Knabenshue (who flew at the 1910 meet and a photo in the Homestead’s collection shows the aviator in a Glenn Curtiss-built craft at that event), the News noted that “the public is ever ready to hear about aviation” and, while there were many crashes leading to injuries and deaths, “it is coming to be believed that commercially successful flying will soon be an established fact, and that it will not be many years before aeroplanes will be used to do much important transportation work.”
As to this proposal, the paper concluded,
There would be much valuable publicity accorded Monrovia with the establishment here of a successful aviation school and plant for manufacturing machines of the air. Mr. Sutton is taking up the matter as a business proposition, and the Board of Trade members are going to see that he gets a start here.
Two days later, the News reported that Sutton arranged a lease for the Cronenwett Building, located where the Monrovia Police Department is situated adjacent to the City Hall. It was added that “alterations will be made to turn the structure into a modern hangar and manufacturing plant for flying machines and Mr. Sutton will begin his $2500 worth of special machinery and tools here from Griffith Park aviation field tomorrow.” There was, briefly, an “aerodrome” or airfield at the northeast corner of the massive city park where the parking lot for the Los Angeles Zoo is now.
On the 12th, the paper stated that Sutton, “who has moved his aeroplane building plant from Griffith Park,” was expected to complete that work during that day and immediately start construction of his craft. It was observed that, absent delays, the building process would take about two months and “if it flies ‘according to form’ will mean a big step forward in the science of air navigation, especially in the safety phase of the art of flying.” This was because Sutton reportedly had several patents for devices that would ensure the reduction of danger in air flight.
In fact, Sutton insisted that a “rank amateur” could learn to navigate his machine in three days, rather than the half-year normally needed. Funny as it sounds to us 110 years later, it was added that “one of the extra features of the machine will be a device to act as a brake when the machine approaches the ground, to assist in making an easy landing.” It was added that “most machines land by having their power shut off” and then “they glide along the ground, striking at first at from 30 to 50 miles an hour, and then gradually stop.”
If the ground was not totally smooth, a problem would result like that of an unnamed Japanese flyer who landed a Curtiss biplane in Los Angeles recently and the craft overturned because of the softness of the ground. In its brief summary on the 14th, the Los Angeles Times added that the Sutton plane would use an Emerson motor, which generated all of 100 horsepower.
The 26 March edition of the News informed readers that “active construction on the first ‘Safer Aeroplane’ has been commenced by the inventor, Harvey W. [sic] Sutton” and a mechanic, Frank E. Campbell. It was added that “a part of the spruce framework is already in place, and the ribs for the two planes are being built.” The hope was that “if all goes well, the machine will be ready for its initial flight within ninety-days” and the engine, formerly used for a Farman biplane, was at the ready.
The paper observed that the estimated cost was $2,500 and Sutton garnered $2,000 of that prior to coming to Monrovia, with another $250 reportedly being obtained at press time. The remaining $250 was to be sought for in town “in $5 installments, for which stock in the company will be given.” After reviewing the plane and its potential, the News ended with “perhaps the Safer aeroplane built in Monrovia will be one of the pioneer flying craft to demonstrate this new sane flying now hoped for by all airmen.” If that was to happen, “the industry will without doubt become a promising one, and will be of much importance to the city.”
The edition of 8 April reported that “with the main part of the framework already set up, the construction work on the new ‘Monrovia built’ aeroplane is progressing rapidly” with a 60-day window now promoted. Sutton told the paper that, if he had another mechanic, he could have the plane ready for a maiden flight by 17 May, or “Monrovia Day,” which celebrated the founding of the town in 1886. Another issue cited in the account was a lack of material, delaying work for a few days. A rendering of the 22’x28′ craft was included and it was added that “all wood, metal and cloth used . . . will be the best that can be obtained at any price,” while methods were “in accordance with the best practice and latest methods in aeroplane building.”
Further details included the weight of the craft was expected to be somewhere between 900 and 1,100 pounds, with more than 350 square feet of “lifting service,” about 100 more than typical for biplanes, while it was noted that “three passengers may be carried, besides the pilot.” With the framework finished and braced, the next step was the application of cloth followed by the installation of the motor.
Los Angeles newspapers listed the incorporation of the Safer Aeroplane Company on 19 April, with the seven incorporators, besides Sutton and Campbell being Isaac M. Baum, Tom R. MacLean, Frank H. Bivens, Tony Panzich and R.R. Hearn, though of the $75,000 of capital stock, all of $52 was subscribed. In its edition of the 30th, however, the News reported that Sutton told it that “although much progress has been made” in the building of the craft, it “will not be completed until the board of trade raises the $250 pledged to the company.”
With Baum as president, Campbell as vice-president and Sutton as secretary and treasurer, “an interesting prospectus . . . is now being prepared by the company and will be published soon.” The update on construction was that canvas, wire and steel arrived for the covering, while the propellers and steel tubing was awaited. As to Sutton’s braking apparatus, it was reported that something similar was recently developed in England, while his method of utilizing a “slip stream” was said to have proven by work done in Germany. It is worth pointing out here, that, within a few months, the First World War would erupt with those countries on opposite sides and utilizing aircraft in their fighting.
An advertisement taken out by the Safer firm in the 7 May edition of the News included the image of the craft and offered a fictional forecast that “In May, 1914, three Monrovia citizens were discussing how they might see the Panama-Pacific Exposition,” which was to begin in San Francisco in February 1915, “for $10.” One deposited his funds in a savings bank, another tried real estate, and the other, “being of some originality,” bought 100 shares of Safer stock (yes, at 10 cents a share) and “when those three met in May, 1915, their yields were $13.13, $23.23 and $111.11.” How these return amounts were derived is anyone’s guess, but the company exhorted readers that shares would rise to 25 cents in about a week and from 50 cents to perhaps par value of $1 dollar by the end of the month.
Several days later, a third man, Worthy Rehkopf, was hired to help with both the “mechanical” and bookkeeping affairs of the Safer enterprise and on 26 May the News offered an update that “slowly but surely” work continued, though the framework was only “now practically complete and is being fitted, glued and braced.” The shafts and chains for the propeller were still expected with the laminated wood propellers said to be under construction by Glenn Martin’s company, formed in 1912 and with Martin a principal user of the Griffith Park airfield. In its summation, the Times of the following day, reported that Sutton indicated a maiden flight within a few weeks, but noted that the engine was 60 horsepower.
The News of 1 July reiterated the slowness of construction and, again, stated that “the framework is practically completed,” though added that the duck cloth was applied to the craft and then shrunk with shellac so that “the canvas is as smooth and taut as a drum head.” It was noted that
Before the craft can fly, however, much more work must be done. The trussing and bracing of the frame must be completed, controls made and connected with rudder and lifting planes, propellers shipped and motor installed.
The paper reviewed some early monoplane history and reiterated features of the Safer craft and ended its coverage by restating that “much interest is being shown by Monrovia people in the progress of the flyer, and its completion is awaited eagerly by all who are interested in aviation.” Yet, another half-year went by before an update could be found in the News about Sutton’s invention.
The 26 January 1915 issue of the paper stated that, instead of having its maiden flight in Monrovia, the airplane was being taken in pieces to San Diego, “the United States’ aerial capital,” with Sutton maintaining “hopes within three months to be skimming over the broad reaches of San Diego bay in his air-craft, remodeled and provided with pontoons that will make flying over [the] sea a safe form of sport.” The News commented that “the barn of the La Vista Grande,” an 1887 hotel that burned in 1916, shortly after Cronenwett leased it, “proved an admirable machine shop and hangar,” but observed that “the building operations were at last suspended owing to a lack of funds.”
Sutton told the paper that he “believes he can get his machine into the air” and that “one successful flight will mean that his troubles will be pretty well over.” It was noted that, while the framework, covered with the cloth, was finished and the struts were installed, the 8-cylinder motor was not installed and “construction was stopped before the propellors [sic], four in number, were cut.” Sutton hoped to acquire a Gonome rotary motor, as well as to refashion the craft into “a flying-boat,” informing the News that he “will keep his principle of tandem plane construction” for what was termed “flying boat sailing.” The paper also asserted that, with the tandem monoplane theoretically viable, “many Monrovia people who have seen the ‘plane in its shed predict that it will cause a sensation in the world of aviation someday.”
The San Diego plan went bust and Sutton was listed in the 1917 Los Angeles City Directory as an aircraft manufacturer living and working at a site on Olive Street at Jefferson Boulevard, just east of the University of Southern California. The following year, he was at Niland, a town on southeast side of the Salton Sea in southeastern California (where, incidentally, it has been recently discovered that lithium deposits there could revolutionize the electric vehicle industry). There, Sutton proposed to launch another aviation project, including a “hydroaeroplane” and a flying school, and he told the Imperial Valley Press of 14 May 1918,
In five years the people of the valley will not be worrying over concrete highways. They will go into a passenger carrying airplane at El Centro and be landed in Los Angeles in an hour by the airplane.
In a lengthy letter published in the same edition, he addressed popular fears of flying with Sutton writing, “contrary to the commonly accepted idea about flying, it is about as easy and safe to learn it over a broad sheet of water, with a well-balanced flying beat, as it is to learn to ride a motorcycle.” He asserted that “people are beginning to awaken to the delight and possibilities of air navigation and to partly foresee the giant aircraft industry that is just starting.”
He hoped that there would be less focus on aviation in terms of stunts in exhibitions and more about the growing safety elements developing in the industry, as he lambasted “the craze for nifty, exhibition machines.” Sutton concluded his essay be asking readers,
What is your attitude? Consider that those who now think it clever to say, “Oh, the ground is good enough for me,” are taking the same absurd attitude toward aircraft that people expressed toward the auto only a few years ago by saying, “Oh, the horse and buggy are good enough for me.”
Yet, Sutton’s Salton Sea sojourn soon ceased and he returned to Los Angeles, where he was a carpenter on a dairy farm along Ventura Boulevard in what soon became Tarzana in the San Fernando Valley. In February 1920, however, he went to Lake Elsinore in a response to an ad taken in the Los Angeles Times by the chamber of commerce in the Riverside community “to collect data [on the body of water] as a location for the building of flying boats and airships.”
Sutton told the Lake Elsinore Valley Press of the 6th that he and an unnamed associate had a new commercial airship in development and he averred that “men soon will trust the air exactly as the mariner trusts the water.” Stating that, to date, aviation was largely the province of “the soldier and the showman,” the itinerant inventor declared that “the day has now arrived for its development for every day commercial use” and foresaw that “its development will be more rapid than the development of the automobile as a commercial necessity.”
Although the article ended by reporting that Sutton “has selected temporary quarters in Elsinore for the building of the first flying boat for training and exhibition purposes,” this scheme appears to have faded as rapidly as that on the Salton Sea and more quickly than the Monrovia endeavor. Apparently, his aviation ambitions ceased and he largely disappeared from the public record. Around 1929, he moved to Tucson in southern Arizona and worked as a watchman, or security guard, and died there in 1946 at age 79.
Early aviation was, as all new industries are, filled with dreamers and schemers like Harvey Sutton and whether his Safer tandem monoplane or its successor, the flying boat, had any practical possibilities at all is an open question. In any case, this “pre-incorporation contract” for his company is an interesting little artifact dating to the foundling days of the aviation industry in greater Los Angeles.