EP 44: The Flying Nancies

Around the Buoy

Today, we take trans-Atlantic flight for granted; jump on a plane in the early evening on the East Coast and arrive in London, Paris, or Amsterdam by sunrise. But shortly after the Wright Brothers flew in Kitty Hawk in 1903, sights were set to reach Europe by air, and as the world was mired in World War I, this achievement became even more vital to the success of the Allies.

The Navy tasked the Curtis Aircraft Company to accomplish this feat, and with help from the boat builders of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company and Lawley & Son, a revolutionary design of a flying boat was delivered -- The NC, or the “Flying Nancies”. In this episode we talk with retired Marine Corps pilot and small boat builder, Kent Lewis, about the merger between these great companies and their groundbreaking achievements. Listen in!