Chas Downs: Archivist, Researcher, Author, Painter

Explore the world of aviation through the eyes of Chas Downs, a talented artist with a passion for capturing aviation and nautical subjects in acrylics on gessoboard.

Early production Ercoupe 415 flying over the Erco factory in Riverdale, Maryland, circa 1942.

Aviation Research and Data

Archivist, researcher, author, and painter specializing in aviation subjects.

Aviation Databases

Aviation and Nautical Paintings and Fine Art Prints

Chas has created detailed acrylic paintings of histotic aircraft and nautical subjects, perfect for art enthusiasts and collectors.

Experienced Archivist

Specializing in aviation data and research for historical research' Chas has created databases for Civil Aviation accidents, Air Force aircraft and accidents, Naval aviation development, and Naval aircraft manuals.

Retired from the National Archives, Chas has expertise in records relating to civil, military, and naval aviation. research, and has created databases to assist with historical preservation and reference.

NS-1: A Ford Trimotor Demonstrates Blind Landing System at Newark Airport

Depicted is NS-1, a Ford Tri-motor 5-AT-101-D operated by the Aeronautical Branch of the Department of Commerce for the Bureau of Standards Radio Section, as it lands at Newark Airport, Newark, New Jersey, during March 1933. NS-1 was completely equipped for instrument flying to show that the latest in commercial airliners could utilize the new blind landing system installed at Newark Airport, one of the first commercial airports in the country to so equipped. James L. Kinney, Aeronautical Branch test pilot, Charles Lindbergh, and several senior airline pilots participated in these tests, which were carried out despite stormy and inclement March weather. In conjunction with other successful tests, the more than 200 blind landings made by NS-1 demonstrated to the public the basic principles that resulted in the development of practical ILS systems. Delivered new on May 13, 1931, NS-1 accumulated 1633 hours flying for the Department of Commerce until July 15, 1935.

Historic Aviation Art: The Grumman Duck (J2F)

The ubitiquous Grumman Duck, the J2F series) was developed for the U.S. Navy in the 1930s, it served through WW II and into the post-war period before being rendered obsolete by the development of the helicopter.

A Columbia-built Grumman J2F-6 “Duck” amphibian sits at NAS Patuxent River during 1949. Used for general utility and search-and rescue until supplanted in the early 1950s by helicopters, the J2F-6 was the last biplane in U.S. military service (except for trainers).

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USAF Grumman J2F-6 acquired from U.S. Navy stocks 1n 1946. The only biplane aircraft acquired by The United States Air Force after it became an independent service, these J2F-6s were used for search and rescue in Alaska until helicopters capable of operating under these extreme conditions were developed.

U.S. Coast Guard J2F-6 used during Operation Deep Freeze, 1946. While it operated successfully in demanding Arctic conditions, it was soon supplanted by another aircraft participating in this exercise, the newly developed helicopter.

The National Bureau of Standards, Washington Institute of Technology, Aviation Branch, Department of Commerce and the U.S. Navy all participated in blind landing testing at CPA

A two-seat Curtiss R-4L (39365), produced prior to WW I as a bomber trainer was u[graded with a Liberty engine and used by the Post Office as a mail plane. Outfitted with coils under its wings, it was used for landing tests at CPA.

Curtiss R-4L

Fleet Models 1 and 2

Operating at the College Park Airport, the WIT continued in pioneering development of radio navigation aids under various contracts. George Brinckerhoff tested some of these devices under contract with WIT. He operated a Fleet Model 8, which was equipped with a blind flying hood over the rear cockpit, as well as a Fleet Model 1 and a Model 2. The Brinkerhoff Flying Service operated several different aircraft types at College Park Airport, including Bird, Fleet, Piper and Stinson models.

On May 1, 1934, Navy Lt. Frank Akers took off from Anacostia NAS in a Berliner-Joyce OJ-2, and performed a blind landing at College Park. The Navy had a contract with WIT to provide the instruments necessary for such experiments.

Berliner-Joyce OJ-2

AIRMAIL PIONEERS COLLEGE PARK, MD

United States Post Office Airmail Routes

Curtiss JN-4H modified with a Hispano-Suisse engine

This “Hisso Jenny” was used by the Post Office as an airmail plane flying from the College Park Airport around 1919.

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Chas Downs Aviation Art and Research

Get in touch with Chas Downs at chasdowns2@gmail.com

Author, Researcher, Archivist, Painter

Curtiss J-1 Fledgling

In 1931, a brand-new Fledgling J-1 Special, a civilian version of the Navy Curtiss N2C-2 trainer was acquired by NBS or blind flying tests and registered as NS-39. It was equipped with a collapsable hood that could cover the pilot’s cockpit without obstructing the view of the backup pilot. In this aircraft, 1931, pilot Marshall S. Boggs, with James L. Kenney as check pilot, accomplished the first blind landing at College Park Airport, on September 5, 1931.

The Berliner helicopter demonstrated the first controlled vertical flight, when, on February 23, 1924, it hovered at 15 feet for about a minute and a half at College Park Airport. At the controls was Lt. Harold R. Harris, an experienced Army test pilot and friend of Henry Berliner. Among the interested spectators witnessing the event were Admiral William A. Moffett, chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics (far left), Emil Berliner (center in black coat and hat), Henry Berliner (in tan hat and brown coat), Fred Weick (next, wearing cap), and General Mason Patrick, Chief of the Army Air Service (third from right). Weick, who later worked for Henry Berliner at Erco, was then designing propellers for the Navy, and was asked to attend by his boss at the Bureau of Aeronautics. He described this demonstration in his autobiography, From the Ground Up. The most successful of a number of helicopter designs built by Emil and Henry Berliner, this actual machine was donated to the Smithsonian when neither the Army nor the Navy saw fit to purchase it. It is now on display at the College Park Aviation Museum.

The Berliner Helicopter demonstration at CPA

Historic Vessels of the Chesapeake

The Edna E. Lockwood, the last existing log-hulled bugeye, at her berth at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, Maryland. Built in 1889 by John B. Harrison of Tilghman Island, her hull is hand-hewn from nine pitch pine logs. Despite extensive research, the identity of the Edna E. Lockwood’s namesake remains unknown. For most of her career, she was used to dredge for oysters in the winter, and haul freight for the rest of the year. Several inches wider on the starboard, her asymmetric design made her handier when dredging on a port tack. Describing the locally built shallow-draft schooners that have plied the waters of the Chesapeake since the mid-1800s, the term “bugeye” probably refers to the prominent hawseholes in their bows that give them a somewhat “bug-eyed” look. Because of the lack of suitable large trees to provide logs, and the decline in oyster harvests, bugeyes were eventually replaced by smaller, easier to build skipjacks. Restored to her 1910 sailing rig and working appearance by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, the Edna E. Lockwood is the last of a sailing fleet of bugeyes that probably harvested more oysters than any other type of vessel.

Mister Jim is a restored Chesapeake Buy-boat now docked at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, MD. Buy-boats were used to pick up and haul the catches harvested by watermen on the Bay to the seafood processing plants on shore, as well as to transport general cargo and farm produce through the area.

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