H96.1.1861

Photograph is a portrait of a man looking to his right. The wind is blowing his thin hair and his lips are pursed together. He is wearing a long-sleeved button-up shirt and droppy bowtie. Handwritten on the back, "Lawrence Weile (?)" July 20, 1957. Lawrence Weil or Weile was a passenger on the triplane the "Pride of Los Angeles" which was one of the competitors in the Dole Race or Dole Derby which was an air race from Oakland to Hawaii from August 16-18, 1927. There were fifteen original entries but due to various accidents and mechanical problems only eight planes actually took off and only two ever reached Hawaii. The race was sponsered by James Dole of Dole Hawaiian Pineapple. First place was $25,000 and second, $10,000. There was one triplane entered in the Dole Race. The pilot was James L. Giffin and the navigator Theodore S. Lundgren. Their plane was the "Pride of Los Angeles." It was a Catron Fisk International CF-10, a very large plane painted orange, with two motors, a fuel capacity (with the added extra tanks for the flight) of over 600 gallons. The pilot and the navigator sat side-by-side in a space just in front of the tail in an open cockpit. One of the many sponsors of the plane was actor Hoot Gibson, whose name and likeness were painted on the nose of the plane. The plane arrived in Oakland on August 11 with its pilot, navigator, and a passenger, Lawrence Weil, who was an old friend of both men. The plane bounced around and swerved on the runway. Giffin opened the throttles to go around the field and try again to land the plane. He circled out over the Bay, apparently low and too slow, with one engine sputtering. The plane hit the water and broke up. Fortunately all three men on board survived. The Pride" was one of three planes wrecked before the race even began. (Information provided by "The Dole Race" in the journal "American Aviation Historical Society" by Lesley Doran, Fall and Winter 1975.)

Used: Oakland Tribune