Lee Gehlbach – Test Pilot
Lee Gehlbach Audio
Skilled and fearless, Lee Gehlbach pushed the bounds of aviation as a test pilot with a penchant for adventure.
Born in 1902 on a farm between Beason and Waynesville, Gehlbach enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Service after graduation from the University of Illinois with an aeronautical degree. He spent three years with the 1st Pursuit Group at Selfridge Field in Michigan. Training as a military test pilot taught Gehlbach how to fly planes in ways most people could not imagine. Not only did he perform the death-defying moves, he lived to talk about it.
“I’ll fly anything, anytime, anywhere, for money, marbles or chalk,” the DeWitt County native once said of his career as a legendary test pilot.
Starting in 1929, Gehlbach went to work as an engineer and test pilot for several aircraft companies. He was chief test pilot for the Great Lakes Aircraft Corporation.
Gehlbach began collecting top honors as a racing pilot in 1930 with his First Place trophy in the All-American Air Derby, flying a monoplane known as the “Little Rocket.” Gehlbach flew 5,541 miles and took first place with 43 hours, 35 minutes, and 40 seconds of flying time. His average speed was 127.1 miles an hour.
Gehlbach with daughters Kay and Jean at their Lincoln, IL home in 1936.
The former Army pilot collected the $15,000 derby purse in Detroit after finishing ahead of 18 other fliers. The 7,00-mile race around the U.S. and into Mexico put Gehlbach on the pages of newspapers from coast to coast.
At 32, Gehlbach’s “minor injuries to the head” were reported in the New York Times after he parachuted from 8,000 feet when his plane started to break up during a test run. He walked away from the crumpled aircraft. Gehlbach solidified his reputation as a crack test pilot when he managed to survive a test flight of a beefed-up version of the Grumman bomber that killed renowned pilot Jimmy Collins.
Gehlbach was known for flying the notoriously dangerous Granville Gee Bee R6.
The former Army pilot collected the $15,000 derby purse in Detroit after finishing ahead of 18 other fliers. The 7,00-mile race around the U.S. and into Mexico put Gehlbach on the pages of newspapers from coast to coast.
At 32, Gehlbach’s “minor injuries to the head” were reported in the New York Times after he parachuted from 8,000 feet when his plane started to break up during a test run. He walked away from the crumpled aircraft. Gehlbach solidified his reputation as a crack test pilot when he managed to survive a test flight of a beefed-up version of the Grumman bomber that killed renowned pilot Jimmy Collins.
Gehlbach and Collins were part of an elite group of pilots known as “the Suicide Club,” a reference to their willingness to test Navy dive bombers. The power dives from 20,000 feet with the motor at full throttle amazed even the most experienced pilots watching from the ground.
In 1935, a Navy observer described Gehlbach’s effort to pull a single-seater experimental aircraft out of a tailspin.
“Using an old pilot’s trick, he even stood upright in the cockpit, hoping the wind pressure on his body would right the plane. Finally at 2,000 feet, with the earth rushing at him at 200 feet a second, he bailed out and descended easily while the plane hurtled into a nearby pine tree.”
The dashing and daring pilot attracted the attention of the makers of Camel cigarettes who dubbed him “America’s No. 1 Test Pilot” in a 1936 advertisement for the tobacco brand.
“You know, chance is only ten percent of my business. Keeping alert and in fine condition is the other 90 percent,” Gehlbach noted in the advertisement touting the cigarette’s benefits.
Gehlbach’s friends and neighbors in central Illinois were among the first to witness Gehlbach’s exploits in aerobatics. According to one story, Gehlback and fellow pilot Red Irwin tied the wings of two bi-planes together for a stunt session at Hooterville Airport, Irwin’s airport near Hallsville.
When asked why he took up aeronautical engineering, Gehlbach told a reporter he was “a farmer’s son who couldn’t get used to getting up at 4 in the morning.”
Gehlbach was a familiar face around Lincoln where he flew in for visits and landed in an open field outside of town. He was generous with offers of rides to friends and visitors to the Logan County Fair.
Gehlbach died in 1975 in Lincoln, where he lived after his retirement.
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