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Biographical Sketches

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HENRY TINDEL "DICK" MERRILL

Born: February 1, 1894    In: Iuka, MS
Died: October 31, 1982    In: Lake Elsinore CA


The Merrill family descended from the frontier’s famous Daniel Boone, so it was small wonder that Henry Tindel "Dick" Merrill would be an aviation pioneer! As a commercial pilot for Eastern Airlines from 1928 to 1961 he logged 44,111 hours* in over eight million air miles during his career, equal to a distance to the moon and back 16 times! Eddie Rickenbacker labled him, "The best commercial pilot in the USA"

In 1936 he first attained fame as the first commercial pilot to cross the Atlantic and return in a single trip, accompanied by singer-actor and amateur pilot Harry Richman, at whose suggestion the wings of the modified Vultee V1, Lady Peace, were stuffed with 41,000 Ping-Pong balls for flotation in case of a ditching at sea. Forced to land in Nova Scotia on the return flight because of fuel starvation, while short of his goal, he had set a record that only he would soon break. That adventure was made into a 1937 feature film "Atlantic Flight," starring Merrill as himself. (SEE more info at the Early Aviators website.)

He was hired by Hearst Publishing in 1937 to make another record-breaking round-trip in a Lockheed Electra dubbed Daily Express. Hearst wanted to scoop other American newspapers by acquiring photos of the coronation of King George VI after the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, while Merrill carried fresh photos (not newsreels, as often reported) for England of the Hindenburg disaster, which had occurred shortly before his takeoff. Hearst papers on both sides of the Atlantic published the first pictures of each event and Merrill earned the Harmon Trophy for 1937 for his achievement.

Enlisting in the USAAC in 1939, he was in Brazil as air attache, and in 1940 with the British and Australians in the Pacific. When war began, he was considered too old to fly combat and settled for service with the Air Transportation Command. He was with the first group of U S aircraft assigned to England, then flew transports in North Africa and CBI theaters. In 1952 he was presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower’s personal pilot.

He logged more air miles and flight hours in his long career than any pilot before or since. With current restrictions for maximum flying hours and distances put on commercial pilots, thanks in part to Merrill’s lobbying efforts on behalf of the Commercial Pilots Assn in setting FAA standards, his record is thought to be unbreakable. After forced retirement at age 65, Merrill set several world records for jets in 1966 with entertainer and fellow pilot, Arthur Godfrey, and was awarded a gold medal from the Intl Federation of Aviation in 1970 for outstanding achievements.

Merrill neither smoked nor drank and was a devout Christian. His only "vice" was an occasional craps game or a horse race -- he kept a pair of green dice with him at all times for good luck. At age 44 Merrill married movie actress Toby Wing, who was almost half his age. Despite predictions in gossip columnists’ headlines, "It Won’t Last!" they remained happily married for 43 years until his death. (Christian Evans)

* This figure might include personal and military flight time, or it could be a mistranscription, because several Merrill references show the total as 36,650 hours, which is still impressive.


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early aviator logo Denotes an individual known to have soloed an aircraft prior to December 16, 1917, whether they were members of the "Early Birds of Aviation" Organization or not.