Page 28 - July 2022

out the washing machines and launch into his well- honed sales pitch.
Harry’s obsession with “Smiling Thru” did not stop with the Travel Air. To house his pride and joy, he had a custom-built metal hangar erected and painted bright orange to match his new monoplane. Constructed at a grass field on the north side of Newton, the hangar served as Ogg’s base of flight operations for two years. During its brief but active career, “Smiling Thru” (registered NC677K) is reported to have flown more than 900 hours and carried hundreds of people aloft while flying to 43 of the 48 states in the union.
All of that flying, however, took its toll on the J6-9 engine, and the powerplant eventually underwent three major overhauls. Unfortunately, the airplane suffered major damage to the right wing, lower right fuselage longeron and right main landing gear in an accident that occurred on January 26, 1930. Ogg quickly repaired the ship and in mid-February the Travel Air was back in the air helping Harry sell washing machines. Selling those machines, however, was becoming increasingly difficult as the stock market crash of October 1929 tightened its
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grip on America’s economy. Despite valiant efforts to maintain sales, as the months passed Ogg could no longer afford to operate “Smiling Thru.” Reluctantly, he had the monoplane dismantled and placed in storage where it remained until late 1931. By April 1932, the airplane had been resurrected from its “tomb,” inspected and re-licensed, and soon resumed its role as Harry Ogg’s flying office. It flew for about another 200 hours before the deteriorating economic climate left Ogg with no choice but to sell his beloved airplane.
In June 1933, it became the property of Floyd Davis, a resident of Des Moines, Iowa. Davis promptly sold it in July to G.G. Herrick of the Iowa Airplane Company based in Des Moines, where the Travel Air was damaged in another accident.
Instead of repairing the monoplane, the Iowa Airplane Company sold it in January 1935 to C.W. Siehl of Sherburn, Minnesota, for a mere $1,100. Siehl repaired the two upper longerons forward of the tailpost as well as the right main landing gear, and had the airplane completely recovered in Grade A fabric. At the time of its next inspection, “Smiling Thru” had accumulated
Harry Ogg (left) poses at the Travel Air factory with “Smiling Thru” and its pilot, Wilfred Gerbracht. Katherine McBride, Ogg’s personal secretary whom he hired specifically to manage and operate his “aerial office,” is at center.
JULY 2022