Breese-Wilde Monoplane "Aloha"

by Burl Burlingame

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I am currently preparing profiles of aircraft that participated in the 1927 "Dole Derby" from Oakland to Hawaii.

There aren't many drawings of aircraft of the period, so I am doing my own from photographs! If any 1920s buffs out there have any suggestions or corrections, please email me at bburlingame@starbulletin.com

This is the Breese-Wilde Monoplane named "Aloha", flown by Martin Jensen and navigated by Paul Schluter. It came in "second and last place" in the Derby, for which Jensen won $10,000. One of two Breeses in the race, it was painted yellow with red trim, with a colorful lei painted around the nose and a Territory of Hawaii Great Seal on the
cabin side. After the race, windows were added and it was flown for a time in the islands. It was eventually destroyed in a hangar fire in Garden City, New Jersey, in 1933.

"Aloha" carried 400 gallons of gasoline, 100 of which were kept in five-gallon containers in the cabin. They were poured and discarded by Schluter en route. At one point in the flight, Jensen's altimeter malfunctioned and he clipped the wavetops in the darkness.

Of eleven planes entered in the race, two made it to Hawaii, two disappeared, and the rest crashed.

 

Images and Text Copyright © 2003 by Burl Burlingame
Page Created 24 February, 2003
Last Updated 25 March, 2004

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