Carl Cover
{{short description|American aviator (1893–1944)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox aviator
|name = Carl Anson Cover
|image = File:Carl Cover 1929.jpg
|image_size =
|caption = Photo Courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines Archives
|full_name =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1893|4|26|df=y}}
|birth_place = Roxbury, Pennsylvania, US
|death_date = {{death date and age|1944|11|27|1893|4|26|df=y}}
|death_place = Dayton, Ohio, US
|death_cause = Plane Crash
|spouse = Mina "Minette" Jeanette Miller
|children = 2
|known_for = Test Pilot/Aero-Space Executive
|first_flight_aircraft =
|first_flight_date =
|famous_flights = First test flight for the DC-1, DC-2, DC-3, DC-4, DC-5
|license_date =
|license_place =
|air_force = 22px United States Army Air Service
22px United States Army Air Corps
22px United States Army Air Forces
|battles = World War I
World War II
|rank = Colonel
|awards =
}}
Carl Anson Cover (26 April 1893 – 27 November 1944) was the chief test pilot and first to fly the Douglas Aircraft Company DC-1, DC-2, DC-3, DC-4, and the DC-5 airliners. Cover became Senior Vice President and general manager for Douglas Aircraft and later Vice President of Bell Aircraft.
Early life
Cover was born on 26 April 1893, to Hugh and Helen Cover in Roxbury, Pennsylvania.{{cite web |title=Ohio Dept. of Health, Death Certificate |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GPGL-96B8?i=2424&cc=1307272 |website=familysearch.org |accessdate=19 April 2019}} He attended high school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and worked as a millwright machinist at Bethlehem Steel, where his father was a foreman.{{cite web |title=World War I Draft Reg. Card |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1JH-9CZF?i=1275&cc=1968530 |website=familysearch.org |accessdate=20 April 2019}} Cover had three younger sisters, Margaret, Mary, and Anna.{{cite web |title=1900 United States Federal Census |url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=7602&h=46795116&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=oIu143&_phstart=successSource |website=ancestry.com |accessdate=7 May 2019}}
Aviation career
=US Army Air Service=
Cover enlisted in the US Army on 1 August 1917, and was sent to Kelly Field in San Antonio for pilot training. He was initially assigned to the 50th Aero Squadron, but was transferred to the 110th Aero Squadron later that same month. Cover was sent to the Military School of Aeronautics at UC Berkeley in November 1917.{{cite web |title=Veterans Compensation Application |url=https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/60884/41744_3421606187_0777-00191?pid=1723809&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid%3D60884%26h%3D1723809%26indiv%3Dtry%26o_vc%3DRecord:OtherRecord%26rhSource%3D61438&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true#?imageId=41744_3421606187_0777-00191 |website=ancestry.com |accessdate=20 April 2019}} He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in June 1918, and was assigned to Brooks Field as an instructor. In 1923, Cover was stationed at Langley Field in Virginia.{{cite web |title=US Cities Directories, Newport News, VA |url=https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2469/12058789?pid=681967946&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D2469%26h%3D681967946%26tid%3D% |website=ancestry.com |accessdate=21 April 2019}}
=Inter-Island Airways=
In 1929, Cover was flying for the Army Reserves in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was approached by Stanley Kennedy Sr. to be the Operations Manager and first employee for his start-up airline Inter-Island Airways (re-named Hawaiian Airlines in 1941). Kennedy was impressed by his background as an Army test pilot and his history of aero-engineering work.{{cite book |last1=Thiele |first1=Ray |title=Kennedy's Hawaiian Air |date=1994 |publisher=Olomana Publishers |isbn=0-9643365-0-2 |page=4}} One of Cover's initial tasks was to fly Inter-Island Airways' first airplane, a Bellanca Pacemaker, from Delaware to San Francisco where it was shipped to Hawaii.{{cite book |last1=Forman |first1=Peter |title=Wings of Paradise |date=2005 |publisher=Barnsormer Books |location=17,18 |isbn=978-0-9701594-4-1}} Cover and Kennedy hired Navy pilot Charles Elliott as Chief Pilot. Cover, Kennedy, and Elliott, all being WWI veterans, decided on Armistice Day to be the inaugural scheduled airline flight between the Hawaiian Islands. On 11 November 1929, Elliott and Cover flew Inter-Island Airways' Sikorsky S-38 amphibious seaplanes in formation from Honolulu to Maui, then on to Hilo, introducing air travel to the residents and visitors of Hawaii.
=Douglas Aircraft Company=
Major Cover left the Army and Inter-Island Airways in 1930 to become a test pilot for the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, California. He soon became the Chief Test Pilot and Vice President of Sales, and eventually Senior Vice President and general manager of Douglas Aircraft.{{cite journal |title=Here and There: More American Salaries |journal=FLIGHT |date=11 September 1941 |page=147 |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1941/1941%20-%202087.html?search=carl%20cover |accessdate=7 May 2019}}{{cite book |last1=Morrison |first1=Wilbur H. |title=Donald W. Douglas: A Heart with Wings |date=1991 |publisher=Iowa State University Press |location=Ames, IA |isbn=0-8138-1834-6 |edition=First}}
In 1931, a TWA Fokker F-10 tri-motor airplane had a fatal crash killing Notre Dame University football coach Knute Rockne. The cause of the crash was failure of the wooden wing spar. TWA's Jack Frye lead the campaign for aircraft manufacturers to develop rugged airliners using metal construction. Douglas Aircraft responded to this request with the DC-1.
On 1 July 1933, Cover flew the first test flight of the DC-1.{{cite journal |title=Three-Score Years and Ten |journal=Flight International |date=13 December 1973 |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1973/1973%20-%202989.html?search=carl%20cover |accessdate=7 May 2019}} Shortly after take-off both engines quit; Cover pushed the nose over and the engines re-started. Cover safely managed to get the airplane back on the ground after a short 12-minute flight, to find the carburetors had been installed backwards.{{cite web |last1=Holden |first1=Henry |title=The Douglas DC-3 Legacy |url=http://airportjournals.com/the-douglas-dc-3-legacy/ |website=airportjournals.com |date=December 2005 |accessdate=21 April 2019}}{{cite journal |title=The DC-3 is Twenty-Five... |journal=FLIGHT |date=23 December 1960 |page=984 |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1960/1960%20-%203052.html?search=carl%20cover |accessdate=7 May 2019}}
After TWA gained experience with the DC-1, they created a list of improvements for the airliner resulting in the creation of the DC-2. On 11 May 1934, Cover flew the first test flight of the DC-2. The DC-2 was a commercial success, selling 198 aircraft.
American Airlines approached Douglas Aircraft with more improvements for the DC-2. American wanted an aircraft that was bigger, could fly farther, and wide enough to accommodate sleeping berths. These design changes lead to the DC-3. On 17 December 1935, Cover flew the first test flight of the DC-3.{{cite journal |title=Douglas Names the Price |journal=Flight International |date=December 1975 |page=855 |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1975/1975%20-%202779.html?search=carl%20cover |accessdate=7 May 2019}} The DC-3 is credited as one of the most significant airliners ever produced, helping create the modern airline industry and aid the Allies victory in World War II. There were over 16,000 DC-3's and military version C-47's built.{{cite web |last1=Tegler |first1=Eric |title=Why the DC-3 is Such a Badass Airplane |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a27640/dc-3-badass-plane/ |website=popularmechanics.com |accessdate=28 April 2019}}
On 7 June 1938, Cover flew the first test flight of the four-engine DC-4. Two days later, Cover flew the plane on a demonstration flight for United Airlines with Orville Wright onboard. The prototype DC-4 had three tail-fins and was overly complex for airlines to make a profit. The plane was re-engineered with one tail-fin, simplified systems and entered service in 1942. Douglas built 1,241 civilian and military versions of the DC-4.{{cite web |title=DC-4/C-54 Skymaster Transport |url=https://www.boeing.com/history/products/dc-4.page |publisher=Boeing |accessdate=8 May 2019}} The prototype was renamed the DC-4E for experimental.
On 20 February 1939 Cover flew the first test flight of the DC-5. There were only 12 DC-5's built, and it has been called "The Forgotten Douglas."
=World War II and Bell Aircraft=
During World War II, General Hap Arnold requested that Cover return to active duty and help with the production and testing of the B-29 Superfortress. Cover was made Colonel and put in charge of United States Air Force Plant 6 at Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia. Plant 6 was subcontracted to Bell Aircraft for the production of the B-29 under license of Boeing. He was released from active duty in August 1944.
In September 1944, Cover accepted an offer from Bell Aircraft as Vice President and the civilian general manager of Plant 6.
Death and honors
On 27 November 1944, Cover died in a plane crash while trying to land during a snow storm in Dayton, Ohio. He is buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
Cover Street in the Douglas Industrial Park at the Long Beach Airport is named in his honor.{{cite journal |last1=Mehlinger |first1=Samantha |title=A Brief History of What is Now Douglas Airpark |journal=Long Beach Business Journal |date= 8–21 May 2018 |volume=XXXI |issue=9 |pages=24, 28–29 |url=https://lbbusinessjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/May-8-21-2018.pdf |accessdate=24 September 2021}}
Lawrence Bell, founder of Bell Aircraft, said about Cover, "In my opinion no single individual in the aircraft industry has contributed more to commercial and military aviation than Carl Cover. His abilities encompass all phases from engineering and flight test to sales direction and over-all organization."{{cite web |title=Col. Cover Killed in Plane Crash; Pioneer Aviator |url=https://dmairfield.org/people/cover_ca/index.html |website=dmairfield.org |accessdate=28 April 2019}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://dmairfield.org/people/cover_ca/index.html Davis-Monthan Airfield Register, Carl Cover]
- [https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/carl-a-cover/ This Day in Aviation, Carl Cover]
- [http://thetartanterror.blogspot.com/2013/01/carl-anson-cover-1893-1944.html Test and Research Pilots, Carl Cover]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cover, Carl}}
Category:Bethlehem Steel people
Category:Accidental deaths in Ohio
Category:Aviators from Pennsylvania
Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
Category:American commercial aviators
Category:Hawaiian Airlines people
Category:American aviation pioneers
Category:American aviation businesspeople
Category:United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I
Category:United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II