The name of Clarence D. Chamberlin may not be as famous as Charles Lindbergh, but it was only by the writ of a sheriff's attachment that kept Chamberlin from besting Lindbergh as the first pilot to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic

American aviator Charles A. Lindbergh (left) shaking hands with Clarence Chamberlin; with American Explorer Richard Byrd in center, and the Spirit of Louis behind them.

Ocean.

             Chamberlin was scheduled to make his flight a few weeks before Lindbergh but by the time he freed his plane, the Miss Columbia, from the writ it was too late.  Lindbergh took off from New York for Paris, France on May 20, 1927; Chamberlin made his trip 15 days later. 

            But, he did establish two records on his flight.  He carried the first passenger on a non-stop flight and established a new distance record of 3,911 miles. Chamberlin's passenger was wealthy New York junk dealer Charles A. Levine, who financed the trip.  Their journey took them from New York to Eiseleben, Germany.

            As a hobby during the 1930s, Chamberlin traveled around the United States in his 26-passenger Curtiss Condor CO plane giving rides to people.  He wanted to travel around the country to take passengers for short flights at a nominal fee to popularize travel in passenger planes. 

            While on one of his country-wide adventures in October of 1936, his plane developed engine trouble while flying to New York.  Chamberlin was returning from a

Transatlantic flyer Clarence Chamberlin (left) with his giant Curtiss Condor airplane behind him, visits with Valley Airport operator John Campbell after and emer- gency landing.  The plane was on the ground for about  90 minutes while Chamberlin's mechanics made a repair.

barnstorming tour and his last stop was near Indiana, PA.  The plane was flying low as he circled the area looking for a place to land.  He found the landing strip at the Valley Airport. 

            The airport, located just outside of Red Hill along Gravel Pike in Upper Hanover Township, was owned at the time by Mrs. Kate Epler and operated by John T. Campbell.  After Epler sold the property in 1938 for farming purposes, the airport was moved down the road to the Campbell farm.

            Chamberlin and his two mechanics noticed one of the engines "was missing" badly before deciding to make the landing.  The Curtis Condor plane was considered the largest plane in the country at the time.  According to Chamberlin, it "burned 300 gallons of fuel an hour."

            The news of the plane's local landing, along with its famous pilot, spread quickly and in less than an hour hundreds of spectators flocked to the airport.  Onlookers were impressed by the size of the plane as it circled the Upper Perkiomen Valley and as it was parked next to the small Valley Airport hangar.  Passersby on Gravel Pike even stopped to get a look at the giant plane.

            While Chamberlin chatted with local reporters and Campbell, his mechanics went to work on the engine problem.  They breathed a sigh of relief when all they found was a fouled spark plug, which they quickly replaced.

            They took advantage of the landing by filling the plane's water cooling system with water, carried in buckets, from a nearby service station.

            While on the ground, Chamberlin shared his adventure of previous unscheduled landing near Indiana, PA.

            The Allegheny Mountains were shrouded in mist and fog forcing them to look for a place to land the Curtis Condor.  His wife, Louise, was driving along the general route the flyer was taking to New York.  Near Indiana, PA, she saw the plane flying low and noted the bad weather.  She drove to nearby Hamilton Airport and parked her car there, hoping Clarence would see it and land there.

Built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, the Curtiss Condor was a 1930s American biplane  airliner and bomber aircraft.

            He and his mechanics did see the car as well as Louise standing nearby.  They landed there and spent the night before resuming their trip that would take them to their next unscheduled stop – just outside of Red Hill, PA.   

            The entire event took about 90-minutes, after which, the Curtis Condor was back in the air to finish its trip to New York.