April 9, 1926 |
Ern |
Stirling explains in his commentary to the film footage (See Film Selections #1 & 2) that the plane was named the "Ern" as a result of that word’s use in crossword puzzles – which “were quite a vogue at the time”; adding that the word is a “technical name for the sea eagle.” His commentary adds that the plane was a modified World War I French Breguet bomber that had been fitted with a 400 horse power Liberty Motor. Its wheels had been replaced with plywood pontoons. For more information on this plane, see "Contact: Tales from the era when the air age met the stone age" by Tony Reichhardt (Air & Space Smithsonian v. 19 no. 4 pp. 58-65, Oct./Nov. 2004). |