I know very little about Mary Charles the person, so would appreciate an email if you know anything about her. I especially need photos.

She received flight instruction in 1929 at Clover Field, Santa Monica, CA. She participated in the 1931 Cleveland Air Race, the conclusion of which brought her to the Davis-Monthan Airfield. She was a captain in the Women's Air Reserve, and as such participated in a three-plane cross-country voyage with two other women (see below).

I know more about her airplane. Here is her airplane shown at Whittier, CA with possibly its third owner, Roy C. Patten (image courtesy of present owner).

Not only is the airplane still registered with the FAA, but it had only a few owners. What is the chance of one owner keeping an airplane for almost 50 years? This is one example.

Mary's E-4000 Travel Air was manufactured September 2, 1929, with a 165 HP Wright J-6 installed. The photo shows the airplane at Whittier when it was new. The owner died, and his estate sold the airplane on January 22, 1931 to John Nagel, who passed it to its current owners in September 1978. Between 1929 and 1978, NC684K had one shining moment, and then went dark.

The cosmic osmosis of the 1931 National Air Races drew flyers from around the country between August 29 and September 7. The race is over now, and exhausted pilots with grainy eyelids are returning to base. Homeward bound, Mary Charles landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield with NC684K on Saturday, September 12th at 10:30 in the morning.

Records in the International Ninety-Nines Museum in Oklahoma City state that Mary accrued 110 flying hours as of 1932; she was a novice pilot during the 1931 race. She did not place among the top five in the women’s division (she was last because of engine problems), but in Cleveland took third in the dead stick landing contest and won $40.

Mary remained active in flying at least through 1934 when, during the summer she participated in a 3-plane, first women’s transcontinental formation flight from Union Air Terminal, Los Angeles to Roosevelt Field, NY. Pancho Barnes and Bobbi Trout flew the other planes. Unfortunately, Mary had to turn back with engine problems.

When I spoke with Bobbi Trout, she said that before WWII Mary’s husband sold pipe organs to theaters in the Los Angeles area. He died and left Mary impoverished. She worked for the military during WWII in Fresno, CA. Soon after the war, she became reclusive in Santa Monica, declining to visit even with old friends, like Bobbi, who called on her.

Home today for NC684K, snug and disassembled, is in the loft eaves of its owner's barn in Moorpark, CA. It exists as a fuselage, landing gear and right horizontal stabilizer (no wings), in the planning stages for restoration.

At right, its current owner stands beside the robust fuselage of Mary Charles’ Travel Air in Moorpark, CA, September 22, 2002.