Boland brothers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Edward Boland (July 31, 1873 – January 3, 1913), James Paul Boland (August 20, 1882 – December 19, 1967) and Joseph John Boland (May 27, 1879 – September 12, 1964) were early aircraft designers from Rahway, New Jersey who started the Boland Airplane and Motor Company.[1][2][3]
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Francis Edward Boland | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | July 31, 1873 |
| Died | January 23, 1913 (aged 39) |
Joseph John Boland | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 27, 1879 |
| Died | September 12, 1964 (aged 85) |
James Paul Boland | |
|---|---|
_circa_1922.jpg) | |
| Born | August 20, 1882 |
| Died | December 19, 1967 (aged 85) |
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Biographies
They were the children of James Francis Boland (1834–1913) and Catherine Julia Kavanaugh (1843–1925).
They had set records for bicycle racing in 1898.[4] In 1904, Frank and Joseph started a business servicing bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles in Rahway.[5]
The Boland brothers worked with tailless aircraft that were early predecessors of flying wings. They constructed the Boland 1911 Tailless Biplane and its successor a year later. A scale model of their plane is in the Smithsonian.[6]
In 1912, Frank Boland became the first person to fly an aircraft in Venezuela.[7] He was killed on January 23, 1913, during an exhibition flight in Trinidad.[8]
In 1914, the Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company of Avondale, New Jersey, took over the manufacturing rights of all Boland airplanes and engines.[9][10]
Legacy
E.T. Wooldridge writes: "The Boland brothers were a relatively small, but extraordinary, part of early aviation history in the United States. Frank supplied the enthusiasm, ingenuity, and self-taught flying ability; Joseph provided the mechanical genius to transform ideas into some tangible, workable form; and James had the business sense so often lacking in ventures of that sort."[9]
During the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 contest years, the Boland Brothers team, composed of a great-grand-nephew and great-great-grandnephew of the Boland brothers, competed in the National Association of Rocketry at the regional and national levels, setting no fewer than two US model rocket performance records,[11] and finishing in third place overall for the 1998-1999 season.[12]
In popular culture
Frank Boland's ill-fated flight in Port-of-Spain is referenced in Bruce Geddes' historical novel, Chasing the Black Eagle.
Aircraft
- Boland 1911 Tailless Biplane
- Boland 1911 Conventional Biplane
- Boland 1912 Tailless Biplane
- Boland 1913 Tailless Flying Boat
- Boland 1914 Monoplane Flying Boat
- Boland 1914 Biplane Flying Boat
- Boland 1914 Military Scout