Douglas Corrigan - Aircraft Mechanic

Aircraft Mechanic

B. F. Mahoney and T. Claude Ryan, aircraft manufacturers, operated Ryan Aeronautical Company from the airfield where Corrigan learned to fly. They hired him for their San Diego factory. Charles Lindbergh commissioned the design and construction of the Spirit of St. Louis from the company shortly after Corrigan joined them. Corrigan was responsible for the wing assembly and the installation of the gas tanks and instrument panel. He and his colleague Dan Burnett increased the lift of the aircraft by extending the wing 10 feet (3.0 m) longer than any previous Ryan design. Corrigan pulled the chocks from the Spirit of St Louis when Lindbergh took off from San Diego to New York to prepare for his historic flight.

After Lindbergh's success, Corrigan decided to duplicate it and selected Ireland as his objective. He discussed the idea with friends and mentioned flying without permission. When Ryan Aeronautical moved to St. Louis in October 1928, Corrigan stayed in San Diego as a mechanic for the newly formed Airtech School. With more than 50 students flying each day, Corrigan could only get flight time during his lunch break.

During his short flights, Corrigan performed aerobatic stunts. His favourite maneuver was the chandelle (a 180-degree turn while climbing steeply) in strings of up to a dozen, spiralling from close to the ground. The company disapproved and prohibited him from performing stunts in the company aircraft. Corrigan simply flew to a field further south where his stunts could not be seen by his employers.

Corrigan moved from job to job as an aircraft mechanic, using his employers' planes to develop his flying skills. He gained his transport pilot's certificate in October 1929, and in 1930, started a passenger service between small East Coast towns, with his friend Steve Reich. The most lucrative part of the business turned out to be barnstorming displays promoting short recreational plane rides. Despite business success, after a few years, Corrigan decided to return to the West Coast. In 1933, he spent $310 on a used 1929 Curtiss Robin OX-5 monoplane and flew it home, where he returned to work as an aircraft mechanic and began to modify the Robin for a transatlantic flight.