US Army Air Service Enlistment Tour Photograph Pilots Biplane Providence RI 1919
Mounted Photograph And Document – US Army Air Service Enlistment Tour , August 1919. Providence Rhode Island, August 9th, 1919. Mounted Silver-Gelatin Photograph of Biplane And Pilots of the Dallas-Boston Aerial Flight Squadron, With Government Liability Waiver Document (For Accident or Death During Flight in a Government Aircraft) Mounted Below, Signed by George L. Gross of Providence RI. 9 7/8 ” x 7 3/4 “. 7 3/8 ” x 4 3/8 “. In 1919 the Providence Chamber of Commerce invited the Dallas-Boston Aerial Flight Squadron of the U. Army Air Service to stop in Providence as part of a country-wide enlistment tour. Gross of the River & Harbor Committee along with other members of the Providence Chamber of Commerce were given the opportunity to be taken on flights over the Providence area. Gross was taken on one such flight and the attached document is his government flight accident / death waiver. The photograph depicts a piloted squadron biplane, with another pilot standing in front of the plane in the foreground. I believe the pilot in the foreground is Captain Herman Fluegel, though I can’t say with 100% certainty. The plane is decorated with a skull & crossbones, and marked “Enlist” & “Love Field”. The event is chronicled in the January 1919 issue of Providence Magazine Vol. Shows a little wear, the lower-right corner of the mount board is chipped, and the board has a moisture stain on the verso (doesn’t show through to the front side). Please see photographs for details. Feel free to send me any questions or request additional photos.
