After flying his Mead Primary Glider in low skimming flights in 1931, Jack Delagrange next began taking instruction from Torque Landis and soloed the Taylor J-2 ’Tony’ Cub after 4 hours and 40 minutes on July 30, 1937. It is interesting to note that although accurate entries were made in Jack’s log book, that Landis as his instructor never signed the log book, probably because he was an unlicensed pilot at the time and the J-2 was probably out of license also. Jack flew an Aeronca C-2 to do his first spin training. A cross-country to Winchester and Hagerstown and return was considered a moderate cross-country as a requirement for the private pilot license. Nearby Romney, WV (Rannell’s Belmont Farms) was mentioned as a cross country destination several times in Jack’s logbook.
Delagrange purchased a beautiful Doyle Special with a radial LeBlond engine on July 5, 1937. According to Gene Kelley, local aviation historian, the Doyle Special was purchased from a Navy pilot in Washington, DC who delivered it to Hagerstown. Jack completed the deal and had Torque Landis fly it to Cumberland, while Jack returned to Cumberland by automobile. Torque liked the airplane so well that he flew it to Martinsburg and on to Winchester to show off this beautiful plane, before going on to Cumberland. Jack started dual instruction with Torque in the Doyle, soloing it on August 22, 1937.
Nowhere did an instructor sign Jack’s log book, however the flying time was sworn to by Jack before Arthur Amick, a Notary Public, on October 12, 1938. E.A. Pete Goff Jr., the Civil Aeronautics Administration (forerunner of the Federal Aviation Administration) inspector from Pittsburgh, issued him a private license. Part of the flight test involved Delagrange performing tailspins which were observed from the ground by Goff.
Jack Delagrange was a frequent flier and accumulated enough flying hours to obtain a commercial license with an instructors rating. At the beginning of WW II he became a commissioned officer in the Army Air Force with the Grade of 1st Lieutenant and a rating as a service pilot. After WW II he was part of a company that served for a while as a fixed base operator at the new Cumberland Airport located close to Mexico Farms.
Jack Delagrange featured during WW II on a Bond Drive, as published in the Cumberland Times-News. On the right is Delagrange’s Doyle Special.
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Wings Over Cumberland 