TangoWhiskey
Touchdown! Greaser!
Took an interesting journey online yesterday, and learned some new things.
My uncle in Phoenix sent pictures he and my aunt took of cacti and assorted things while out driving--one of them was a memorial stone for "Tom Mix". Here's the picture he sent:
Not knowing who Tom Mix was, I looked it up online. Little did I know this journey would end with some new aviation trivia knowledge.
Turns out Tom was the first of the well-known "Western" movie actors, before John Wayne and others--he starred in 336 movies, all but 9 of which were silent films.
He died in 1940 south of Phoenix, when his 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton crashed into a ravine where workers were repairing a washed out bridge.
I'd never heard of a Cord 812 Phaeton, so I did a little research on the car. It was made by Cord Automobile, one of many companies founded and ran by one Errett Lobban Cord (E. L. Cord, more commonly).
E.L. Cord (20 July 1894 - 2 January 1974) was apparently a leader in United States transport during the early and middle 20th century; I've never heard of him, but he touched or founded many aviation institutions that are still around today.
Cord founded the Cord Corporation in 1929 as a holding company for over 150 companies he controlled, mostly in the field of transportation. The corporation controlled the Auburn Automobile Company, which built the Auburn Automobile and the Cord Automobile; Lycoming Engines; Duesenberg Inc.; New York Shipbuilding; Checker Cab; Stinson Aircraft Company; and American Airways (which later became American Airlines), amongst other holdings.
He sold Cord to Aviation Corporation in 1937, and there's the Embry-Riddle connection. Aviation Corporation is more commonly known by it's contracted name... AvCo (Aviation Corporation officially changed the name to AvCo in 1959). In 1986, Avco was purchased by Textron, and as a subsidiary of Textron operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming to this day.
Funny how a picture of a memorial marker of a Western silent films actor on the side of Arizona State Route 79 would bring me back to aviation trivia previously unknown to me.
My uncle in Phoenix sent pictures he and my aunt took of cacti and assorted things while out driving--one of them was a memorial stone for "Tom Mix". Here's the picture he sent:
Not knowing who Tom Mix was, I looked it up online. Little did I know this journey would end with some new aviation trivia knowledge.
Turns out Tom was the first of the well-known "Western" movie actors, before John Wayne and others--he starred in 336 movies, all but 9 of which were silent films.
He died in 1940 south of Phoenix, when his 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton crashed into a ravine where workers were repairing a washed out bridge.
I'd never heard of a Cord 812 Phaeton, so I did a little research on the car. It was made by Cord Automobile, one of many companies founded and ran by one Errett Lobban Cord (E. L. Cord, more commonly).
E.L. Cord (20 July 1894 - 2 January 1974) was apparently a leader in United States transport during the early and middle 20th century; I've never heard of him, but he touched or founded many aviation institutions that are still around today.
Cord founded the Cord Corporation in 1929 as a holding company for over 150 companies he controlled, mostly in the field of transportation. The corporation controlled the Auburn Automobile Company, which built the Auburn Automobile and the Cord Automobile; Lycoming Engines; Duesenberg Inc.; New York Shipbuilding; Checker Cab; Stinson Aircraft Company; and American Airways (which later became American Airlines), amongst other holdings.
He sold Cord to Aviation Corporation in 1937, and there's the Embry-Riddle connection. Aviation Corporation is more commonly known by it's contracted name... AvCo (Aviation Corporation officially changed the name to AvCo in 1959). In 1986, Avco was purchased by Textron, and as a subsidiary of Textron operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming to this day.
Funny how a picture of a memorial marker of a Western silent films actor on the side of Arizona State Route 79 would bring me back to aviation trivia previously unknown to me.
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