James Dorris Greer

This folder contains a few clippings from newspapers and a couple of photos. The folder gives a little insight to flight training received from Lieutenant M. Merrill at Love Field in Dallas, TX. Greer also received a Degree from Sweeney Automotive and Electrical School in 1923.

My father, Joe Greer, flew for Huff-Daland Dusters, Inc. and Delta Air Service for nineteen years, from 1924 until 1943. He met Captain Harold R. Harris, U.S. Army Air Corps, in Macon, GA in 1923. Greer and Mr. Woolman followed his work in Macon and in Marietta in 1923, and also in Tallulah, LA in 1924. Capt. Harris was in charge of aircraft operations involved in a government study to determine the cost and effectiveness of applying insecticides to crops using airplanes, especially to fight the cotton boll weevil. Huff-Daland Aero Corp. of New York (later known as Huff-Daland Division of Keystone Aircraft Corporation through acquisitions), operated in Macon as part of the U.S. Government Investigation with a modified airplane (Jenny) used for dusting.

Huff-Daland Dusters, Inc. operated in the South controlling the cotton boll weevil which punctured the cotton bolls. In the late 1930s as a young boy, I followed my dad through fields of cotton. I found green bolls with small dark puncture holes. I would peel them open and occasionally find a boll weevil. HDD also battled armyworm infestations. The armyworms quickly stripped cotton plants of their leaves.

The company expanded at a moderate pace during 1925 and 1926 in the South. Then, Mr. Woolman secured two, 2-year winter cotton dusting contracts in the Cañete (can-YET-tay) Valley, south of Lima, Peru. These two contracts spanned four seasons: Contract 1 - the 1926-1927 and 1927-1928 seasons, and Contract 2 - the 1930-1931 and 1931-1932 seasons. These will be covered in the next section.

Dusting operations in the South and in Peru were profitable, even during the “Crash of 1929.” New passenger flights (Delta Air Service) in 1929 and 1930 were not. The winter dusting seasons in Peru (their summer) effectively doubled the annual cotton dusting income and kept Huff-Daland Dusters financially aloft by working different locations year round.

Dusting preparations began in May and the dusting season in the southern U.S. was in June, July and August. The season was dependent on rain to make the cotton crop. It was tough to gear up for dusting season and sit with dusters not working in a dry season. Many operators came and went with the uncertainty that the next season might also be dry. Back then operators dusted with calcium arsenate, sulfur, chlordane and later DDT..

Joe Greer was also Mr. Woolman’s lead mechanic. He assembled Huff-Daland's new dusters in 1924 when the crates arrived in Monroe from the manufacturer. He maintained the airframes and Wright “Whirlwind” engines, the dust hoppers and the spreaders. Dad spoke respectfully and affectionately about another mechanic that Mr. Woolman hired to maintain the dusters in Monroe while dad was in Peru. His name was Gene Berry. My father was fond of him and said he was a good mechanic.

From 1924 to 1934, Mr. Woolman gave dad and other dusting pilots, leaves of absences (during the off seasons) to earn a living to make it through until the next summer’s season. Pilots usually barnstormed and flight instructed during this time. They also worked on their "ships" (biplanes), mostly Travel Airs with tail-skids, Wacos, Fleets, and C-3B Stearmans. This is also covered in another section.

During this period the country was in a recession (1929 Stock Market Crash) and few people could afford to fly. The passenger schedules lost money, but the dusting operations made a profit. The passenger operations might have survived with an Air-Mail contract but DAS was then a small, privately funded company and was not awarded one of the new contracts by the U.S. Government to fly Air-Mail over specifically assigned routes.

DAS first effort to fly passengers ended on October 15, 1930. Dusting profits were reduced at this time, but kept the company solvent financially. This was a challenging period for DAS and an emotional day for Mr. Woolman. (This information, all of which I am sure that you are familiar, is from conversations with my father, records, and overheard conversations between my dad and other early pilots, Dept. of Air Commerce and CAA examiners, and with our family).

Two weeks later, Mr. Woolman secured the second Peruvian dusting contract (1930-1931 and 1931-1932) and rehired my father and other pilots. This contract came at a crucial time financially for the survival of DAS. This is a perfect example of Mr. Woolman's character, his resourcefulness along with his resolve and determination! Not long thereafter, 5 new “Petrel” dusters were acquired from Keystone and crated for their journey to South America. Joe Greer and Pete Hansen accompanied the aircraft from New Orleans to Peru aboard the “Athenas” to start the new contract in November of 1930. The following year, they sailed for the 1931-1932 Peruvian dusting season on the Santa Rita.

During these leaves:

• He had worked to build his own fleet of dusters in Greenwood, MS.
• Flew a short period for Davis Airlines in 1934.
• Flew upper air observation for the U.S. Government Weather Bureau in 1935-1937. He became a member of the “Caterpillar Club” when he bailed out at night in 1935 (Bell Buckle, TN - near Murfreesboro).
• Flew for Chicago & Southern in 1937 (Chicago) and 1943 (Memphis).
• Flew for Pan Am in 1939 and 1941 ferrying PBY-3s, PBY-4s, PBY-5A amphibians and B-25s to North Africa and points North during the war effort. He also ferried supplies to Brazil and brought back rubber.
• Flew a short contract for National Airlines in 1941.
• He received a job offer from Howard Hughes to join him as “Head Man,” ferrying Condor and Douglas aircraft.
• He was a test pilot for Lockheed Aircraft in 1941-1942 flying P-38s, Venturas and Hudsons.

This section is about two important events for Delta Air Service and our family history. The first will be the 1929 First Passenger Flight from Jackson, MS to Dallas Love Field, TX. The second is the 1934 First Inaugural. There are a few names mentioned here later in the discussion that probably could use a brief introduction and how they correlate:

Delta’s First Passenger Flights - June 17, 1929

“Delta, the History of an Airline” is professionally written. The authors, Lewis and Newton, did a magnificent job. Searching over fifty years of company records, gathering information and conducting time consuming interviews was a tremendous undertaking. They met their challenges and are to be commended for a job well-done. The book is informative and enjoyable.

My father's involvement in Delta's early history should have been picked up in the book. There are unavoidable omissions in such an enormous task of writing 55 years of Delta history (book published in 1979). I must assume part of the responsibility for this omission. I did not stay in contact with the museum as I was wrapped up in my own career and assignments as a Naval Aviator. Other than two group photos which appear in the book, there is no written information about my father’s Huff-Daland and Delta Air Service involvement. I believe this is because of two reasons:

1. I learned that 10 years of the early Monroe Station records were lost, and
2. Our family had no interviews with the authors as information was gathered for the book.

I hope the records in the archives will be made complete as information is uncovered. Readers can see from the enclosed files and photographs that dad was involved from the beginning, starting with HDD in 1923. He managed winter cotton dusting operations in Peru for over four years. He also flew the first passenger schedules from June 17, 1929 until October 15, 1930. He flew the First Inaugural Flight for Delta Air Service in late June 1934. Greer’s name is not mentioned anywhere in the book regarding the June 17, 1929 flights, nor the June 1934 Delta First Inaugural Flight.

I had planned upon retirement from the Navy to visit the Delta museum with my family and read many documents about my father. This was especially important for us since Earl Williamson, Sr., his brother-in-law, had passed away. Uncle Earl was the same age, his wing-walker and life-long friend. In addition, my father’s business which contained all of his logbooks, photos, letters from Mr. Woolman, documents, and memorabilia were destroyed in a fire caused by a lightning strike in 1965. I managed to rescue half of a large album from the hangar shop and I also received the South American Peru album along with a scrapbook from my Mom’s estate in 1991. These contain very interesting photos and clippings that I would like the museum to have about Huff-Daland Dusters and Delta Air Service.

I asked if he knew my father and recalled the Delta Air Service first passenger runs on June 17, 1929. He seemed very interested and said "Yes, your dad flew on 17 June. I signed him out on the flight. I knew your dad well. He was our head pilot and had a mechanic’s license. Times were tough. Then Mr. Woolman got the Peru dusting contracts. They kept the company going during the recession. The passenger runs didn't make a profit and we relied on the dusting business. Pat Higgins ran the Monroe operation and your dad ran the Peruvian dusting operation." I clearly remember the words of the station keeper as we departed, "Rest assured, your dad flew that first day. If the museum looks in the station log, they will see my entry where I signed him out on the flight.” (I have since learned that the Monroe Pilot Schedule Logbook has not been found, but I did find a copy of the last page of the logbook with the names of six pilots and their route assignments for 8 through 15 October 1930. These were the last flights of DAS’s first attempts at operating a passenger schedule. This Monroe Logbook page was in my father’s scrapbook. Four pilot’s names are familiar; Elliott, Greer, Higgins and Pfeuffer while two are not, Sanford and Hunt).

I told the Station Keeper that the book “Delta, the History of an Airline” lists Elmer Rose as the pilot on the westbound flights. He said, “He went with your Dad. He was with us a short time, on leave from the Army Air Corps, I don’t know what happened to him. I don’t know where he went.”

My feeling is that the book is written and unless the Monroe Station Log, or other clippings or documentation for June 17, 1929 are found, it should remain as written. Perhaps an addendum or revision can be made sharing this information.

Delta’s First Inaugural Flight - June 1934

Delta’s First Inaugural Flight was in late June 1934. This flight was flown from Monroe, LA to Atlanta, GA in a Travel Air S-6000-B, a single engine, six-passenger, high-wing monoplane. The passengers were Mr. C.E. Woolman and his business associates. The Federal Airline Inspector onboard was Jack Jaynes. The pilot was my father, Joe Greer. (Don Dice flew Delta Air Service’s first awarded U.S. Government Air-Mail Contract #24 Inaugural Flight shortly after on "The Fourth of July" 1934). Scheduled passenger service followed these two inaugural flights on August 5th.

Elmer Bennett:

I spoke with one of my father’s long-time friends, Captain Elmer Bennett, who retired in 1978 after 39 years of service with Delta. He was seventeen years younger than my father. Looking to build flight time, he told me that he had applied for a dusting job with my father in Greenwood when he was 20, but there had been a dry season and the planters had turned the cotton over to the boll weevil. Dad recommended him to Mr. Woolman. Woolman hired him in 1939 at the age of 21.

Captain Bennett was domiciled at Lakefront Airport in 1940 when my father was there. He said, “I knew you when you were five, you lived on Franklin Avenue near the Lakefront Airport. Your father had parties for Delta Air Service pilots and their families.”

It was also during this time period, when my Dad first introduced me to Mr. Woolman. I remember that I knew that he was important by the way my father introduced me. Dad said, “Mister Woolman, this is my son Joe. Joe, this is Mister Woolman.” Dad spoke in a slow and polite tone. Mr. Woolman shook my hand. He was tall and had on a suit and even at five years of age, I felt respect for him. I showed him my “Oakey-Doakes” comic book. Mr. Woolman shared my interest in it. He did this for me. This was his nature.

I called Captain Bennett later after the article was published to congratulate him and inquire about the year. He said "I might have been wrong on the date." It was 1934. He said “There was a government airline inspector on board conducting the ‘Check Ride’ who might still be alive.” Captain Bennett was also writing a book about his flying career with Delta. He mailed a copy to me of his handwritten pages. I hope his book “The Climb to the TOP” will be published.

After my dad left airline flying, junior pilots jumped ahead of his seniority number which was still frozen by Mr. Woolman. Captain Bennett at one point held seniority, one number above my father’s. He volunteered that he was very proud of that. My father and Bennett remained friends until my father passed away in 1969 at the age of 68. Captain Elmer F. Bennett passed away May 13, 2011 at the age of 93. He was a fascinating man to know.

Jack Jaynes:

As one may recall, “Delta, the History of an Airline,” documents Delta’s First Inaugural Air-Mail Flight on July 4, 1934 and also documents Delta’s return to passenger flying on August 5, 1934. The August 5th flight was authorized after a required thirty-day probationary period following an initial inspection flight by a Federal Airline Inspector onboard a Delta passenger aircraft, known as a “Check Flight.” However, “Delta, the History of an Airline,” does not document this required check flight in June 1934. The exact day is questionable, but it was probably during the last two weeks of June. The date is surely recorded somewhere and will turn up. Hopefully, this information can be presented and recorded for future revisions. I personally believe that the Inaugural Flight was to be flown on June 17th to coincide with the fifth anniversary of DAS’s June 17, 1929 first passenger flights.

Here is a documenting excerpt from the speech:

“I had the honor and pleasure of being on Delta's inaugural flight from Monroe, Louisiana to Atlanta. I don't recall the passengers other than Mr. Woolman, his Monroe backers and myself. The pilot, the best I can recall was named Greer. He didn't remain long with the Company. I understand he went back to the dusting business, apparently he couldn't get the dust out of his blood.” (Attachment 4)

This meeting was held in Fort Worth at the Red Coach Inn, November 1970. Mr. Jaynes mentions his respect for Mr. Woolman in his address and flying on Delta's Inaugural from Monroe to Atlanta. He spoke about the responsibilities of the modern day pilot. The names; Tommy Bridges, Ben Catlin and Gene Croft are familiar to me as they were my father’s friends when I was young. All were members of the DGW first elected officers. I grew up with these names and met Captain Croft at a DGW reunion in Lexington, KY.

We now have the documentation. Besides the memories of the remaining members of our family who knew J.D. Greer, here are three outside references that document Delta’s First Inaugural Flight in June 1934 flown by Joe Greer:

1. The October 1978 issue of Airline Pilot Magazine article and tribute to Elmer Bennett, page 52;
2. Jack Jaynes’ book, "Eagles Must Fly" published in 1982, page 193;
3. Jack Jaynes’ address to the "Delta Golden Wings" Association in 1970, page 5.

Unfortunately, our family, Captain Bennett, Jack Jaynes, Jack McKee (Delta’s Chief Pilot in New Orleans) and numerous DAS pilots were somehow not interviewed by the scholar’s team who gathered information to write the Delta History book. The 1970 records of the “Delta Golden Wings” Retired Pilots Association were not uncovered, nor was Jack Jaynes’ address to the association regarding Delta’s First Inaugural Flight. The Delta History book was published a year after the Airline Pilot Magazine article.

Delta Captain, James Hoogerwerf, published a review of the book “Delta, The History of an Airline” and has recently provided an update (Attachment 6). I have read some of his work. It is carefully researched and professionally written. He is knowledgeable and his writing is enjoyable and informative. Perhaps Delta's Flight Museum will encourage Captain Hoogerwerf to write the next update and approach him to consider the inclusion of my father’s involvement in Delta's early history.

Personal Recollections and a few more names

I am including some additional personal recollection that references this time period. Odell Garrison, an early flying friend of dad’s, knew dad’s history with DAS. Mr. Garrison became an Inspector for CAA and later FAA. Frank Wignall knew dad then and also became a CAA Inspector and later a FAA Examiner. Mr. Wignall also knew that dad flew the initial passenger flight for Delta Air Service. I overheard conversations between my father, Mr. Garrison and Mr. Wignall, when they re-licensed dad’s aircraft for many years forward through the 50s and 60s.

Mr. Wignall also issued me my first FAA Commercial License in 1957 in Pensacola, FL. He handed me my new license and asked, “Are you Joe Greer’s boy?” I replied, “Yes, I am.” I was 22 and had completed Navy Flight Training. He also said “I knew you when you were five and your dad was flying for Delta out of Lakefront in New Orleans” (similar to Capt. Bennett). We talked for a long time. He remembered visiting dad at the Louise, MS airport during summer dusting seasons and re-licensing the Greer Flying Service dusters. I enjoyed the non-stop hangar flying when they got together. Occasionally, Mr. Garrison and Mr. Wignall stopped together to visit dad. I think all three rode behind loud engines for years. All three frequently talked at the same time and cupped a hand behind a good ear. Now, I understand. I learned a lot back then.

I met Jack McKee in 1970 when I was stationed at NAS New Orleans (1970 to 1974). He was about to retire. Dad had just passed away in 1969 in Lacombe, LA, which is just north of New Orleans. I knew that they were good friends and I went to see Captain McKee. We talked about my dad and what he remembered about Huff-Daland Dusters and Delta Air Service. Captain McKee knew my father well.

Some other people I also remember are Carter and Jo Haas. I stayed with them in New Orleans when Betty, my younger sister, was born. Ed Moore and Charley Wynn were others. They all knew dad and his aviation background.

Summary

Huff-Daland Dusters was the country’s First Commercial Crop Dusting Company. James Dorris Greer was the country’s First Commercial Crop Dusting Pilot. He flew for Huff-Daland Dusters Inc. and Delta Air Service from 1924 until 1943. After World War II, he chose to return to crop dusting rather than airline flying. He loved flying biplanes, stunt flying, the freedom of managing his own business and performing his own maintenance. I’ve heard him say, “I don’t mind riding my own engines. I do all the overhauls and maintenance.” He flew from 1922 until 1961 and quit logging flight time at 35,000 hours. This averages out to over 2 ½ hours of flight time per day.

I am proud of my father’s early aviation pioneering spirit and that at the age of 21 he built his first airplane. I am proud of his years with Huff-Daland Dusters and Delta Air Service. I am proud that he found income between dusting seasons through his involvement in early barnstorming, contests, aerial circuses and other jobs.

Mr. Woolman relied heavily on my father to maintain the dusters and keep the early dusting operation going. My dad took pride in his flying ability. He was experienced for his age when he was hired by Captain Harris and Mr. Woolman. He was at home and consistently precise flying a duster. Dad cherished his letters and early photos, especially the letters to him in Peru, sent by Mr. Woolman and their photos together. Dad’s favorite pictures and letters had been framed and were hanging in his office and on walls of adjacent rooms. I wish that I had the photo of my dad and Mr. Woolman in front of the Travel Air and the photo of both of them by the DAS School Fleet biplane, in which dad instructed students. There are photos of the students and the Fleet on the DVD. Greer also had a Fleet biplane that he flew at airport dedications and in which he flew passenger rides and performed stunting exhibitions including outside loops. My father flew the westbound legs of Delta Air Service first passenger flights on June 17, 1929 and was selected by Mr. Woolman to fly the Delta Air Service First Inaugural Flight from Monroe to Atlanta in June 1934.

He was a member of the “Quiet Birdmen” and was “Roasted” by them. My father was knowledgeable, experienced and an “Outstanding Aviator.” He was a 32nd Degree Mason, having gone “Scottish” and “York” Rites and also was a Shriner.

Most of all, he was a friend to many, and a kind and gentle father for all six of his children. I greatly admired, respected and appreciated him. I grew up, part-time, on two airports. I think that he was proud when I chose to fly and entered Navy flight training in 1955 and also when I was awarded the “Freedom Watch” for 1957 from a field of over 3,200 flight training graduates. The watch was presented by the National Society of the “Daughters of the American Colonists” in Washington D.C. I had rewarding aviation careers. I give my father credit for instilling in me this desire to fly and for my accomplishments.

This desire to fly passed through to our son. We are very happy that our son, Joe Greer, also has been flying for Delta since the beginning of 2000. I am equally proud of him and for him. He picked up his Grandfather’s flying ability and love for his family.

I have never met a man in my life that could get more done in a day than my father. He kept his saw in the log and didn’t worry about the chips. From what I have learned about Mr. Woolman, this industrious, “accomplishment-driven work-ethic” is a trait they both shared during tough times and later on in successful times. In the end, it seemed to me that flying dusters was the type of flying dad loved best into his later years.

I was always eager to visit dad and see what he had been working on, even in 1969, before he drowned in Bayou LaCombe, north of New Orleans.

Mr. Woolman and my father were nearly the same age. They maintained a long-term and lasting friendship and met early challenges together. Mr. Collett Everman Woolman passed away in 1966. My father, James D. Greer, passed away in 1969.

Thanks for reading!

Here are a few links to additional material on the Disc:

History of Delta Golden Wings 1968-1969

Some fun Stories to Pass Along

Family History from the Cain Family Reunion

Western Airlines DC-10 Photos