Oct 21, 2016
Last week we asked you to caption a number of intriguing images, and we promised to share more about each photo in the coming weeks. Let’s kick off with this ferociously furry snapshot.
You shared some pretty fantastic captions. Some of our favorites include:
A number of you thought this photo captured Roscoe Turner and Gilmore. How many pilots have their own lion? It turns out a few.
This image is actually of Henry Tyndall “Dick” Merrill (1894 – 1982) and Princess Doreen. Merrill was a pioneering aviator in the 1930s. In his 41 years as a pilot, he logged more than 8 million miles and 41,709 hours of flying, an equivalent of nearly five years in the sky.
He was a barnstormer, an airmail pilot for Pitcairn Aviation Inc., and piloted passengers for Eastern Air Transport. Merrill was a flamboyant character who attracted the public’s attention. Not least of all for his menagerie of mascots: dogs, flying squirrels, and, yes, a lion cub.
While he avoided alcohol and tobacco, Merrill was a gambler. His lion cub, Princess Doreen, was named after his favorite racehorse.
Lions have been a popular pick amongst aviators. As readers noted, there was pilot Roscoe Turner and Gilmore, who had his own cub-sized parachute and harness. Whiskey and Soda served as particularly rambunctious mascots for the Lafayette Escadrille, Americans flying for the French air service. The Luftwaffe bomber group Kampfgeschwader 76 also had their own lion cub.
What would your mascot be? Next week, we’ll take a closer look at what this gentleman got himself into.
We rely on the generous support of donors, sponsors, members, and other benefactors to share the history and impact of aviation and spaceflight, educate the public, and inspire future generations. With your help, we can continue to preserve and safeguard the world’s most comprehensive collection of artifacts representing the great achievements of flight and space exploration.
We rely on the generous support of donors, sponsors, members, and other benefactors to share the history and impact of aviation and spaceflight, educate the public, and inspire future generations. With your help, we can continue to preserve and safeguard the world’s most comprehensive collection of artifacts representing the great achievements of flight and space exploration.
