The WB-2
Columbia was introduced at the 1926
National Air Races flown by Lieut C.C. Champion, where it won both efficiency records. Wright Aeronautical chose to continue to develop the Whirlwind engine, but discontinue aircraft operations to avoid competition in profitable engine sales with rival aircraft manufacturers. Bellanca left Wright Aeronautical, with the rights to the WB-2, and the WB-2 prototype purchased for $15,500 and formed a new interest,
Columbia Aircraft Company, with the investor
Charles Levine. Levine became a millionaire at the young age of 28 by reselling surplus armaments to the United States government. When partnering with Bellanca, he had plans to put the WB-2 in production. The plans never came through, and the aircraft would not see production until Bellanca manufactured an updated version later in 1928 with his own company. •
Endurance record Bellanca and Levine felt that
Columbia could beat the current world record for endurance held by
Maurice Drouhin and
Landry Jules in France. Leigh Wade, a pilot of the 1924 round-the-world flight in a
Douglas World Cruiser, was hired for publicity but soon quit in disagreements with Levine.
Bert Acosta was brought on as his replacement. On April 12, 1927,
Clarence Chamberlin and
Bert Acosta set off on their endurance attempt. The aircraft was predicted to crash by Curtiss engineers, but took off in only 1200 feet of runway. Lindbergh then approached
Travel Air Manufacturing Company, asking for a
Travel Air 5000 modified with a Wright Whirlwind motor and was declined. Lindbergh also inquired what it would cost to buy a
Fokker for the attempt; he was given a quote of $100,000 for a custom
trimotor, and was told that Fokker would not build a single-engine craft for a transatlantic flight. Lindbergh instead purchased a single-place aircraft from Ryan Aircraft, the
Spirit of St. Louis, for $6000. •
Orteig Prize attempt Prior to the crossing, Levine planned on using Clarence Chamberlin or
Bert Acosta as pilot with
Lloyd W. Bertaud as copilot. The pilots were promised a settlement to their wives if they crashed, and the prize money if they completed the flight, but Levine refused to sign the document before the flight. Bertaud first objected, then later offered to purchase
Columbia for himself. Levine bumped Bertaud from the copilot position, prompting an injunction preventing any Orteig record flight. Bellanca publicly announced he was leaving the company. After the confirmation that Lindbergh had won the prize,
Columbia was unloaded and a fire erupted from the spilled fuel. The tension between the various groups was still present, as each remaining plane could still make transatlantic records to other cities. While trying to position
Columbia for another attempt at the crossing, mechanics from the
American Trans-Oceanic Company (sponsor of the
America, who also leased the airfield) would not allow
Columbia to move without a permit from their president
Grover Whalen, who could not be found. It was claimed later, that it was for everyone's safety to prevent stray aircraft on the field, Lindbergh had filled out his paperwork properly. • '
First transatlantic flight of Columbia''''' The Brooklyn chamber of commerce also offered $15,000 for a transatlantic challenge. Chamberlin was given the piloting job, and picked
Bernt Balchen as his co-pilot. Balchen was unavailable, so Chamberlin's wife was offered the seat for the attempt, only to be displaced by the flight's backer, Levine. On June 4, 1927, The
Columbia took off on its transatlantic flight from America to
Berlin, Germany, with Charles Levine as the first passenger to cross the Atlantic in an airplane, and making
Columbia the third plane to fly non-stop across the
Atlantic. In an oft-repeated situation, Levine told his wife he was just going up for a test flight. His lawyer notified her by a letter of his intentions after they took off and kept going. On December 30, 1927, Bellanca left Columbia aircraft, to form
Bellanca Aircraft Company, taking with him again the rights to the WB-2 series of aircraft. •
Non-stop flight to Cuba On March 5, 1928,
Wilmer Stultz, O. Le Boutilier, and
Mabel Boll on an improvised seat made the first non-stop flight in
Columbia between
New York, New York and
Havana, Cuba. •
Another missed opportunity - first female across the Atlantic attempt On June 26, 1928, Mabel Boll was filmed leaving
Roosevelt Field in the newly renamed
Miss Columbia. Mabel was later spotted in
Harbour Grace, Newfoundland as a passenger in
Columbia, piloted by
Captain Oliver C. Le Boutillier and
Arthur Argles. While Boll publicly announced aspiration to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic,
Amelia Earhart was also in Newfoundland at the same time, and the German
Thea Rasche. The newspapers was focused their attention on the aspirations of "the Diamond Queen of Broadway," Preparations for the trip were done with full publicity. At the same time in relative secrecy, pilots,
Wilmer Stultz and Gordon, were believed by the press to be preparing Byrd's Fokker
Friendship for his planned trip to the South Pole. Stultz himself was planned to be the pilot of
Columbia, and defected to Byrd's crew. On June 17
Friendship took off from the bay at
Trepassey, Newfoundland with Earhart on board, while the crew of
Columbia were grounded for 5 days due to the weather. Upon learning of successful flight by Earhart and crew, Bolls returned to America in
Columbia, donating $500 to the Newfoundland airstrip for development. In 1929
Columbia placed second in a race from New York to
California piloted by Commander John Iseman, Lieut. J Farnum. •
Bermuda Record On June 29, 1930,
Columbia performed the first non-stop flight from New York to
Bermuda and back. The flight dropped off mail, but there was not a suitable landing field on the island at the time. The flight was piloted by
Erroll Boyd,
Roger Q. Williams, and
Harry P. Conner took 17 hours, 3 minutes. Williams relocated
Columbia to Montreal just two days before a hangar fire destroyed Columbia Airlines' newest plane, the underperforming
Uncle Sam. •
Second transatlantic flight The
Columbia was flown to Toronto, renamed
Maple Leaf after the song "
The Maple Leaf Forever". The plane was then demonstrated at the 1930
Canadian National Exhibition. The aircraft had an early
Sperry Attitude indicator installed, taken out of
Jimmy Doolittle's
Lockheed Vega. Pilot Roger Q. Williams, held up the flight for three weeks with legal disputes with Levine over back pay. On October 9, 1930,
Maple Leaf performed the first transatlantic flight by a Canadian between
Canada and
London, England in 36 hours, 10 minutes. The aircraft was piloted by
Erroll Boyd, and Harry P. Conner, who traveled with $18 in their pockets and an unpaid Toronto Hotel bill. Upon arrival they flew a tribute flight in honor of the
R-101 crash victims. •
New York to Haiti non-stop In 1933
Maple Leaf performed the first non-stop flight from New York to
Haiti in 24 hours and 8 minutes. The pilots were Erroll Boyd, Robert G. Lyon, and a passenger, H.P. Davis. On June 7, 1933,
Maple Leaf left
Port-au-Prince, Haiti non-stop to
Washington D.C., with a special-issue stamp. The aircraft was piloted by Erroll Boyd, and Robert G. Lyon.
Maple Leaf was destroyed January 25, 1934, in a hangar fire at the Bellanca factory in
Newcastle, Delaware. • A block of four stamps carried on the first transatlantic trip from Canada to England in
Columbia was valued at $20,000 in 1995. • An original canvas panel from the transatlantic
Columbia flight to Berlin with Clarence Chamberlin and Charles Levine is on display at Allen Airways in San Diego, California, along with Chamberlain's 1927 passport and several logbooks. ==Variants==