Victor Carlstrom

1st Lieutenant Victor Carlström (April 13, 1890 – May 9, 1917) was a record-holding Swedish-American pioneer aviator. He set a cross-America flight air speed record until the record was beaten by Ruth Bancroft Law.[1]

1st Lieutenant Victor Carlström (April 13, 1890 - May 9, 1917) in 1916

Biography

He was born in Gustafs parish in Kopparberg, Sweden on April 13, 1890, to Axel Carlström.[2][3]

He migrated to the United States through Ellis Island in 1904, when he was 14. He moved to North Park, Colorado to work for his uncles Andrew Carlstrom and William Norell Carlstrom who had cattle ranches.[3] He became an instructor one week after leaving his job at the cattle ranch.[1]

In 1916 he was 2,000 feet (610 m) short of a flight altitude record when he ascended 16,000 feet (4,900 m) in a triplane. He also planned to make a non-stop flight from Chicago to New York.[4]

He went to work for the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical Station where he and a student pilot, Cary B. Epes, were killed on May 9, 1917, when their biplane collapsed in flight.[1]

Legacy

Carlstrom Field was named in his honor.[5]
His niece, Marion Carlstrom, was the first Women Airforce Service Pilot from Colorado.

Footnotes

"Carlstrom Killed With A Flying Pupil. Hero of Chicago-New York Flight and Cary B. Epes, Plunge to Death at Newport News. Biplane Collapses In Air. Aviator, Cool to the Last, Strives to Right His Machine. Met End as He Had Predicted". The New York Times. May 10, 1917. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
Sweden Birth Index 1880-1920
"Victor Carlstrom". Retrieved 2014-07-29.
"Carlstrom Goes Up 16,000 Feet In Test. Attempts Altitude Record in a Triplane While Waiting for Chicago-New York Machine". The New York Times. October 7, 1916. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
"Location Of U.S. Aviation Fields. 29 Tracts Scattered Over the County Are Named, with Few Exceptions, for Airmen Who Lost Lives". New York Times. July 21, 1918. Retrieved 2014-07-29.

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[obit-1] "Carlstrom Killed With A Flying Pupil. Hero of Chicago-New York Flight and Cary B. Epes, Plunge to Death at Newport News. Biplane Collapses In Air. Aviator, Cool to the Last, Strives to Right His Machine. Met End as He Had Predicted". The New York Times. May 10, 1917. Retrieved 2014-07-29.

[2] Sweden Birth Index 1880-1920

[ea-3] "Victor Carlstrom". Retrieved 2014-07-29.

[4] "Carlstrom Goes Up 16,000 Feet In Test. Attempts Altitude Record in a Triplane While Waiting for Chicago-New York Machine". The New York Times. October 7, 1916. Retrieved 2014-07-29.

[5] "Location Of U.S. Aviation Fields. 29 Tracts Scattered Over the County Are Named, with Few Exceptions, for Airmen Who Lost Lives". New York Times. July 21, 1918. Retrieved 2014-07-29.