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Gonzales No. 1 Biplane
The Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Museum Education Foundation is the proud owner of one of the first successful airplanes flown in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Gonzales Brothers’ Backyard … Yikes.
The "Gonzales No. 1" biplane was built by twins Willy and Arthur Gonzales, with help from their brother Eddy Gonzales, during the period from 1910 to 1912. Constructed primarily of pine and small amounts of spruce, it was built in the backyard of their home at 435-16th Avenue in San Francisco. In true bicycle shop fashion, all of the wing support wires are attached with bicycle spokes and spoke adjusters. The biplane was donated by Bob Gonzales of Concord, California, having been in his family for 70 years.
Preparing for a Practice Flight
The Gonzales brothers would often load the plane onto a train and move it toward the central valley around Travis Air Force Base to practice flying it.
The California born Gonzales brothers learned to fly using kite-type gliders on the sand dunes behind their home. First flown in 1912, the Gonzales biplane was designed and built by the twins using photographs and drawings of many early airplanes seen in the area. Because of a town ordinance in San Francisco that prohibited flying machines within the city limits, the Gonzales biplane was built to be dismantled and moved by rail car to the town of Woodland, California. The brothers would set up camp at an area then known as Target. Here the plane was reassembled in about eight hours. (The original packing crates used to transport the airplane are also on display.)
Bob Gonzales
Bob Gonzales, a former Foundation Board member, relates the story of the trips to Woodland, "These flying trips would last about two weeks. They would do their flying, experimenting, or whatever they had to do ... just enjoying themselves. When the food or the gas ran out, whichever came first I'd imagine, they would load the airplane back into the box and wave down the train for the trip back to San Francisco."
Gonzales Brothers’ Kemp Engine
The Gonzales Brothers Biplane was powered by a Kemp 1-4, a four-cylinder, vertical engine of 4.25 inch bore and 4.50 inch stroke. It has a total displacement of 255.36 inches and weighs 192 pounds. Capable of 1150 R.P.M., this engine is rated at 35 horsepower. It is noted that this engine rotates opposite of standard engines. The Kemp engine that is displayed on the aircraft is the original engine and is still operable.
Later, the Gonzales Brothers operated a flying school and aircraft manufacturing business from the ground floor of their home. “We do not know if "they ever had a student or ever sold an engine," Gonzales said.
In 1915, the Gonzales Brothers moved to Los Angeles, and took the biplane with them. "My uncles saved everything ... All of their old props, old lumber and the American flag they had when they were flying (the flag is also on display). The biplane was kept in my grandmother's basement for years," Gonzales said.
"When my last uncle died in 1975, 1 went to Los Angeles to get the airplane. I brought back everything I could and began to sort through it. They had a lot of designs, drawings and letters and old photographs," he said. In 1981, Gonzales began looking for a suitable museum to preserve the "Gonzales No. 1" biplane.
The Travis Museum was selected as the home for the biplane for several reasons. Bob Gonzales was a lube boy working for a trucking company that built the runways at Travis AFB prior to the war, and later he was stationed at Travis while on active duty.
Upon its arrival at the Travis Air Force Museum, the center section of the fuselage was rebuilt from the original plans. All other parts of the airplane are original. The Gonzales No. 1 is currently on loan to the Hiller Air Museum in San Carlos, CA.
Specifications:
- Engine: one Kemp 1-4 35 H.P., four cylinder engine with a seven gallon fuel tank
- Wing Span: 38'9" Length - 35'0"
- Crew: one (flew from the rear of the tandem seats) plus one passenger.
Information derived from “Travis Air Force Museum” by Nick Veronico copyright Travis AFB Historical Society/Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Museum Foundation. This book is available from the Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Museum GIFT SHOP located in the Travis Air Museum.
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