Veteran Balloon Pilot of First World War Now Stationed at Fort Worth

Creator

Preview

Identifier

20054457

Description

Major R. P. Lehr. "Major R. P. Lehr, assistant chief of supply of the Second Air Service Area Command, is a veteran balloon pilot of World War I days and he's had some exciting experiences since then. As a reserve officer, Major Lehr, who was then a first lieutenant, participated in the James Gordon Bennett Balloon Races of 1926 and 1927. In the races of 1926, which started from Little Rock, Arkansas, he and his co-pilot were drifting lazily over Eastern Kentucky headed for Washington, D. C., when they heard rifle shots and discovered their balloon was leaking gas. To avoid crashing into the Cumberland Mountains, Major Lehr landed the balloon. He learned that Kentucky 'moonshiners,' thinking the balloon was that of 'reveneurs,' had fired 30 shots into the huge craft."

Archival Date

1942-07

Collection Name

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection

Collection Number

AR406-6-1570

Original Format

Negatives, Black & White

File Format

JPG

Rights

Rights held by The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections. Any use of content downloaded or printed from this page is limited to non-commercial personal or educational use, including fair use as directed by U.S. copyright laws. For more information or for reproduction requests, please contact UTA Special Collections by emailing spcoref@uta.edu.

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Subjects

Bust Shots; Second Air Service Command; Gordon Bennett Cup; James Gordon Bennett Balloon Races; Moonshiners; Reveneurs; Cumberland Mountains; Guns; Rifles; Lehr, R. P. (Maj.)