ERNEST LEON BENWAY

 

E.L. Benway, Blue Book of Aviation, 1932 (Source: Webmaster)

 

E.L. Benway, Ca. 1917 (Source: findagrave.com)

 

E.L. Benway worked briefly for Century Pacific Ltd., a short-lived air transport company based at the Grand Central Air Terminal (GCAT) from 1931-32. He appeared in the Register at least three times flying representatives of Century Pacific's fleet of large, trimotor Stinson SM-6000-B liners.

Benway was born August 1, 1898, in Foxboro, MA. His father, Louis, a blacksmith, was 47 and his mother, Delia, was 40, both born in Canada. Interestingly his official birth record listed his name as "Leo Ernest Benway."

He married Sarah Frances Bell (1899-1963) in 1919. Both the 1900 and 1910 U.S. Census placed Benway living in Attleborough, MA.

Photograph, right, from findagrave.com, pictures Benway ca. 1917. He and Frances had four children during their marriage. I found no Census information for 1920, perhaps because he was in the military.

The 1930 Census placed him living at age 32 at 2045 Parnell Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. That address today is a two-storey, white, very large stucco home with a red tile roof. It is probably 1930s vintage. Benway owned the house, which was valued at $7,500 on the Census form. He lived with his wife, Sara F. [sic]. With them was son William (8; 1922-1942) and daughters Betty (5) and Doris (3). Also part of the household was 'grandmother' Sarah E. DeGan (72) and a roomer, John Lenorack (24). Another son, David Frederick, was born September 20, 1934.

Santa Ana Register, June 5, 1928 (Source: newspapers.com)

 

A biographical sketch, emphasizing his military experiences during WWI, is at left. The source is defined in the right sidebar. Note his entry into the war via the Lafayette Flying Corps in France (see below for his WWII activity in this regard). Notice his alias. A book, which includes a biographical chapter about Benway, is at the link.

Two of the charter flights alluded to in this sketch were documented in the Santa Ana Register, June 5, 1928, and in the Oxnard (CA) Press-Courier, October 10, 1928, right. Unfortunately, neither of these flights was recorded in our Davis-Monthan Register. Another biographical sketch for Benway is in the article at the link (1999. Over the Front. Vol. 14, #4. PDF 1.5Mb).

 

Oxnard (CA) Press-Courier, October 10, 1928 (Source: newspapers.com)

Petaluma Argus-Courier, February 3, 1932 (Source: newspapers.com)

 

Passenger Harry Culver, a significant force in the development of Los Angeles, appeared in the Davis-Monthan Register at the link. Compare the name of his pilot at the link, James B. Dickson, and compare it to "J.D." Dickson in the article. I'll bet they're the same Dickson.

Benway's first recorded appearance at GCAT was on Friday, August 21, 1931 at 3:00PM. He flew the Century Stinson identified as NC10844 (S/N 5043). His destination was identified as San Diego, CA.

His second visit was on Wednesday, August 26, 1931 at 2:50PM. This time he flew the Century Stinson NC10847 to San Diego.

Finally, on Saturday, January 2, 1932 at 9:02AM he departed for San Francisco in Stinson NC10893 carrying a load of four passengers. His airplane was S/N 5053 and was identified as Century Pacific Flight #3.

Soon after his last appearance at GCAT, one of Century Pacific's Stinsons, NC10813 (S/N 5034), crashed on January 29, 1932 at 4:00PM near Lebec, CA. The liner had departed Bakersfield, CA enroute to Los Angeles. The Clover Field Register pilot was Joseph V. Sandblom. He and his seven passengers were killed.

Benway was among the 60+ civilian and military pilots and aircraft who searched for the crash site, hoping to find living survivors in the days immediately following the accident. Their search was documented in the Petaluma Argus-Courier, February 3, 1932, left. Benway spotted a grizzly clue to a crash, but it proved unfounded. Because of foul weather, it would be a couple of more days before the wreckage was found.

After Century Pacific folded, he remained in Glendale and was in sales for the Lockheed company. The Glendale city directory for 1934 located him at 1342 Graynold Avenue as a pilot. And for 1936 documented his residence with Frances as 333 Burchett Street. That location today is a modern three-storey apartment complex called the "Sunburst." His occupation was "Air Pilot." Same for the 1940 directory.

Lyndol Young, Ca. 1923 (Source: Link)

 

Benway did a considerable amount of travel besides with the airline and his short assignment as an air mail pilot in South America. For example, on October 17, 1929 he arrived at Albany, NY from Quebec City. He flew the Lockheed Vega NC395H (S/N 88), a common airplane of the Davis-Monthan Register.

On September 5, 1930 an immigration form recorded his arrival at Los Angeles from the Panama Canal Zone aboard the President Fillmore. Similarly, he arrived from Balboa, C.Z. again on May 1, 1939 aboard the Hindanger.

Employment-wise, as the Depression deepened, Benway appeared to take on a number of unrelated flying jobs. On Febuary 15, 1933, about a year after Century Pacific folded, Benway arrived at San Diego from Agua Caliente, Mexico. He flew the Stinson R, NC12150 (S/N 8504). Of the two passengers listed with him on the immigration form, below, Lyndol Young is a person to note, right. Young was a lawyer who counseled Errett Lobban Cord, the founder of the Century Airlines operating out of Chicago, and including Century Pacific Ltd. operating on the west coast. Apparently, from the handwritten notation on the form, Young and Evans decided to stay in Mexico. Evans was not a part of the book cited at the link.

Immigration Form, February 15, 1933 (Source: ancestry.com)

Over the same itinerary, the same people traveled with the same airplane on Tuesday, February 14 and 16, 1933. In addition to Benway, Young and Evans, R.C. McClurg was on board on the 14th. McClurg was noted as a representative of American Airways, which makes sense, because Century Pacific merged with American. I don't know if Benway was still associated with Century as it transitioned, or if he worked for another transport company who was coincidentally contracted to fly Century/American executives.

On May 2, 1933, his itinerary from Agua Caliente was flown in NC10829, a Stinson S Junior (S/N 8014). He carried three passengers. And on December 1, 1935 and March 8, 1936, he arrived from Mexico with various passengers. He flew a Vultee V-1AD, NC14251 (S/N 15) that belonged to Lang Transportation Company, Los Angeles. A Howard Lang, 32, was a passenger on the latter date. These are representative of a dozen or more similar trips.

I found no Census information for 1940. But Los Angeles County, California voter registration rolls for 1940 placed him living at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. (the Roosevelt Hotel) and cited him as a Democrat. The 1944 registration rolls recorded both him and Frances as Democrats and living at 103 South Ardmore Avenue. Benway was a pilot, but the rolls didn't identify his employer.

Oakland Tribune, July 23, 1940 (Source: newspapers.com)

 

As WWII spooled up in Europe, Benway again helped the European cause by recruiting aviators. The Oakland Tribune, July 23, 1940, right, described his role.

Oakland Tribune, August 3, 1940 (Source: newspapers.com)

 

Ten days later the Tribune of August 3 documented 30 pilots headed for Canada and England, left.

Other than these articles and the immigration form below, I found no information about other contributions Benway made to the WWII effort. The immigration form was dated March 24, 1944 and Benway was among twenty or so other people aboard the Sikorsky S-42A, NC15375, departing Antilla, Cuba inbound to Miami, FL. It is not clear what Benway's role was on this flight, or if he was one of the "FIVE AMERICAN CREW MEMBERS ON BOARD."

Immigration Form, March 24, 1944 (Source: ancestry.com)

After WWII, another immigration form cited him and Frances and David, now 18, arriving at Honolulu, HI December 27, 1952. This was probably their voyage that placed them in Hawaii for the rest of his life. The Honolulu city directory for 1954 listed both E.L. and Frances involved jointly with a business named the Polynesian Import Company.

E.L. Benway, Grave Marker, 1956 (Source: findagrave.com)

 

Benway flew West as a young man, 57, on May 28, 1956, in Hawaii. He carried Transport pilot certificate T3083. His leaf-sprinkled grave marker in Hawaii is at right. Frances lies with him. Note that he is identified as a lieutenant in the naval reserve, not the army.

Besides his landings at GCAT, Benway landed seven times at the Davis-Monthan Airfield, once at Clover Field, Santa Monica, CA and once at Parks Airport, East St.Louis, IL.

 

 

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