To further enhance my adventures to finish my manuscript, “She Flew Bombers” I was able to locate a used old book about an antique airplane titled: “Jenny Was No Lady” subtitle: “The Story of the JN-4D” by Jack R. Lincke, copyright: 1970. It was a fun, well-written, exciting book!
The author, Jack Lincke learned how to fly and perform aerobatics on the “Jenny” at the Missouri Kemper Military School at the age of fifteen.
He wrote that he was “hooked” on her and ended up buying one as a young man.
Jack took a three-day 1500-mile trip in his Jenny with a friend who had a ranch in Whitehall, Wyoming.
He flew it from pasture to pasture and would land close enough to garages to get gasoline to keep on traveling. They would sleep over night under the Jenny’s wing!
As they were close to their final destination the horizon turned an ominous black in a dust storm. Jack ended up whirling in the storm as the controls began to bite and he tried to land it in a pasture but flew through a fence and smack into a stack of alfalfa. He could hardly breath and was stuck in the hay. His friend was able to crawl out and went to his barn then hooked up a team of horses and pulled the airplane out.
The Jenny was totally wrecked, and he sold the engine to pay for a ticket home!
What a super awesome story this was to read!
• The Curtiss Jenny was the first and most used, mass-produced airplane during World War One from 1914-1918. Over 6,000 Jenny variants were sold as postwar surplus airplanes.
• It was not used in combat roles by the U.S. military during the war but trained most of the U.S. and Canadian pilots who served.
• It was known for being relatively easy to fly and maintain—ideal for students
Next time: My First Flying Lesson