Charles Townsend Ludington

Charles Townsend Ludington (also C. Townsend Ludington and Charles T. Ludington), (January 16, 1896 – January 19, 1968), was a businessman and socialite of Philadelphia. He was an aviation pioneer who helped establish an every-hour-on-the-hour air service between New York and Washington.

Early life

MIT 1922 Yearbook – "Technique"
C T Ludington (bottom row, far right)

Ludington was the first child of Charles Henry Ludington and Ethel Mildred (Saltus) Ludington. He was born in New York City on January 16, 1896. His parents were married in Brooklyn, New York, in April 1895. He had two brothers; Wright who was born in New York City in 1900, and Nicholas who was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1904.^[1]

Ludington went to public schools in New York City while a young boy. He was sent to Adirondack School of northeastern New York state for private secondary education for grades 7 through 10 and Haverford School to finish high school. After he graduated from high school he went to Yale University and graduated from there in 1919. He went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) part-time and received a degree in 1922. He was the secretary of the Aeronautical Engineering Society at MIT.^[2]

Mid-life and career

Farman Sport (restored) at the NASM,
Ludington used it for aerial demonstrations.

Ludington learned how to fly an airplane while a teenager. With his brother Nicholas, he was co-owner of the Philadelphia Flying Service, a pilot training school established in 1922.^[3] They organized the Ludington Exhibition Company in the same year as a distributorship. Early in 1923 Ludington imported two custom built Farman Sport airplanes made for W. Wallace Kellett in France.^[4] Robert Hewitt was employed to pilot them at various demonstrations throughout the nation. They were used at the St. Louis and Dayton national air races. The Ludingtons and Kellett were the American distributors for the aircraft.^[3] The price of the plane was too expensive and few sold, forcing them out of this business. The only one known to exist is the restored one at Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. This plane suffered much damage in 1928 and its airworthiness certificate was revoked. It was warehoused for years. An aviation historian ultimately restored it and regained flight certification. Ludington personally identified the aircraft as one he owned.^[5]

Ludington and his brother in 1930, with two other airline executives, were pioneers in the aviation industry by starting an hourly air service for passengers only using this specially designed plane.^[6] The executive specialists were Eugene Luther Vidal and Paul F. Collins, who originally had the idea for such an airline.^[7] Between the four of them they managed to run Ludington Airline without government mail revenues and made a profit for two years.^[8][9][10]

Ludington was one of the pioneers in the early 1920s that helped develop National Air Transport.^[8] He partnered as their vice president until it merged with United Aircraft and Transport Corporation later. Ludington instigated the Philadelphia Airport, near Camden, N.J., on 140 acres of land he owned. Construction of the airport began in early 1929.^[2] It was formally dedicated and opened in September with the raising of the American flag by his five year old daughter Ethel.^[11] There were 10,000 people that attended the official opening celebrations.^[12]

Later life

Ludington in later life had homes in Philadelphia and Old Lyme, Connecticut. He died at the age of 72 on January 19, 1968.^[2]

Family

Ludington married Constance Guyot Cameron of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, on June 27, 1922.^[2][13] Their first child was Ethel Saltus, born at Ardmore on May 21, 1923. Their second child was Ann Finley, born at Ardmore on September 25, 1925. Their third child was Constance Cameron, born September 1, 1931. Charles Townsend Ludington, Jr., was their fourth child, born on January 31, 1935.^[2][14]

Associations

Ludington was a founder and first president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association He was also founder and associate director of the aviation wing of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. He was a technical advisor from time to time for National Air Transport, Keystone Aircraft, Fairchild Aviation, North American Aviation, Jacobs Aviation Engine Company, Kellett Autogiro Corporation, and Curtiss Flying Service. He was also connected with lighting that helped bring about night flying capabilities for the regular carriage of air mail.^[2][15]

Ludington was in charge of the Quartermaster School at the Naval Air Station in San Diego during World War I. He also had different capacities at the Packard Aviation Motor Plant in the early 1920s. In the mid-1920s he served as governor of the National Aeronautic Association and as a director in the Aero Club of Pennsylvania. He was a member of a Department of Commerce Aviation Committee that helped establish relationships between commercial aviation and the government.^[2]

Ludington was connected in one way or another with Merion Cricket Club, Racquet Club of Washington, Yale University Club, Aero Club of Pennsylvania, Santa Barbara Yacht Club, Bayside Yacht Club, Delaware River Yacht Club, and Philadelphia Yacht Club. He was also a member of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church.^[2]

Works

Ludington wrote "Smoke Streams: Visualized Air Flow", which was used for several years as a basic textbook on aero-dynamics.^[2]

References

Sources

• Aviation Publishing (1928). Who's in American Aeronautics ... Aviation Publishing Corporation. 
• Borgeson, Griffith (21 August 2005). Errett Lobban: His Empire. Automobile Heritage Publishing & Co. ISBN 978-0-9711468-7-7. Between them they worked out the formula which made the line the first one in history not to lose money by carrying passengers without the benefit of government subsidy in the form of a mail contract. 
• Downs, Winfield Scott (1934). Encyclopedia of American biography. American Historical Society. 
• Evans-Hylton, Patrick (2005). Aviation in Hampton Roads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-1820-6. 
• Princeton Alumni (1935). Princeton Alumni Weekly. princeton alumni weekly. PRNC:32101081976845. 
• Russell, David Lee (1 October 2013). Eastern Air Lines: 1926–1991. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-0196-0. 
• Townson, George (1985). Autogiro: The Story of "the Windmill Plane". Aero Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8168-2900-2. 
• Trimble, William F. (15 June 1982). High Frontier. University of Pittsburgh Pre. ISBN 978-0-8229-7426-0. 
• Vance (1942). Wood and Wood Products. Vance Publishing Corporation. After the reorganization period, Vidal left TAT to join with Paul Collins, Amelia Earhart, Nicholas and Townsend Ludington in forming the Ludington Airline, the first every-hour-on-the-hour air transport line in this history of aviation. 
• Winters, Kathleen C. (23 November 2010). Amelia Earhart. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-230-11229-2.