Please Watch the discovery of a lost treasure in Sedona Arizona:
“Donald Albert Hall was one of this centuries great aeronautical engineers, and most likely, you’ve never heard of him. But I guarantee, you have heard of the airplane he designed…the Spirit of St. Louis!” – Hunt For Amazing Treasures, TLC (Sept. 2001)
Donald A. Hall, Sr. Biography Highlights
Born December 7th, 1898 – Brooklyn, New York
Graduated from Pratt Institute – Industrial Mechanical Engineering, (1917-1919)
US Army (S.A.T.C.) – Student Army Training Corps: Rank – Private, conscript w/ Honorable discharge (1918)
First Job: Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Corp. – Designer, checker, Junior draftsman, (1919-21)
Elias & Bros – Acting Chief Engineer, Aerodynamic design, (1921-22)
Award: Designed night bombardment airplane – Won prize in competition at Dayton, OH, (1922)
The Douglas Company – Aerodynamics Engineer (w/ Jack Northrop) with DWC flight project, returned after flight school (1924-26)
Contract Job: Ford Motor Company (Airplane Division) – Airplane designer on Ford tri-motor projects, (1926)
US Army Air Corps (Brooks Field, Texas) – Rank: Flying Cadet, (1926)
Ryan Airlines, Inc. – Chief engineer & Parts inspector. Photographer. (1927-28)
Award: Designed the Spirit of St. Louis for Charles A. Lindbergh, WINNER of the Orteig prize – First non-stop flight across the Atlantic from Garden City’s Roosevelt Field, to Le Bourget, Paris, France with nearly 60+ gallons of fuel remaining. (1927)
Author: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Technical Note #257, “Technical Preparation of the Spirit of St. Louis,” (1927)
Hall Aeronautical Development Co. – President and chief engineer, Hall X-1 “Aft-Wing” development w/ patents, (1929-1936)
Consolidated Vultee Aircraft/Convair – Aerodynamics and pre-design engineer, Patent director, (1936-1949)
Award: Associate Fellow – American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA), (1937-1968)
Prepared Technical Appendix in Charles A. Lindbergh’s Pulitzer prize winning book: The Spirit of St. Louis, (1953)
Naval Air Station (North Island) – Head supervisor: Helicopter Engineering branch, 1949-1963
Died, May 2nd, 1968 – San Diego, California
“The truth will come out, eventually.” Donald Albert Hall, Sr., designer of the Spirit of St. Louis
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~The Flying Over Time Team