Boy flier hops off second time

Robert Buck in the Decatur Daily Review; Decatur, Illinois on October 01, 1930.

Whichita, Kansas, October 1, 1930 (Associated Press) Robert Buck ...

Source:

Decatur Daily Review; Decatur, Illinois; October 01, 1930

Portrait of Captain Frank Hawks and Robert Buck by Airplane

Portrait of Captain Frank Hawks and Robert Buck by Airplane

Original caption: Trenton, New Jersey: Continental Record Holders--Captain Frank Hawks and Robert Buck Take Part In Trenton Air Meet. Photo Shows: Left to right--Captain Frank Hawks, holder of the east-to-west and west-to-east transcontinental air records, and Robert Buck, youthful holder of the junior record at the two day air meet at Mercer Airport here.
Image: © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS
Collection: Bettmann
Standard RM
Date Photographed: ca. 1920s
Location Information: Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Continental Record Holders Captain Frank Hawks and Robert Buck Take Part In Trenton Air Meet

VV14790| RM| © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS
Portrait of Captain Frank Hawks and Robert Buck by Airplane

Original caption: Trenton, New Jersey: Continental Record Holders Captain Frank Hawks and Robert Buck Take Part In Trenton Air Meet. Photo Shows: Left to right--Captain Frank Hawks, holder of the east-to-west and west-to-east transcontinental air records, and Robert Buck, youthful holder of the junior record at the two day air meet at Mercer Airport here.

Image: © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS
Date Photographed: ca. 1930
Location Information: Trenton, New Jersey, USA
This image is distributed as Rights Managed.

Grandson Pilots Grandma

Grandson Pilots Grandma

Westfield, New Jersey. Mrs. Elizabeth Bellingrath, 73, has had her first airplane ride, all the more enjoyable because The pilot was her grandson, Robert Nietzal Buck, 16.

Source: The Bismarck Tribune; Bismarck, North Dakota; April 30, 1930

Dr. Abijah O. Buck, Surgeon, Is Dead

Dr. Abijah O. Buck, Surgeon, Is Dead

Was Long Chief Practitioner of Singer Manufacturing Company in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Served As Major In War. Army Training Camp Where He Was Medical Officer Had Lowest Grip Death Rate. Aviation Enthusiast.

Source: New York Times; February 16, 1932, Tuesday

New York Times bibliography

New York Times bibliography

• New York Times; Feb 15, 1929; Mrs. Elizabeth Bellingrath Of Westfield, New Jersey, was married to Dr. A. O. Buck of Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the Pickwick Arms, Greenwich, this afternoon. The Rev. ...
• New York Times; September 22, 1930. “Boy pilot delays flight. Repairs postpone attempt to beat transcontinental record.”
  
• New York Times; September 22, 1930. “Robert Buck, 16-year-old Elizabeth, New Jersey aviator, attempting to set a new junior transcontinental flight record, landed his plane here early tonight for an overnight stop.”
  
• New York Times; September 30, 1930; page 24; “Boy flier reaches Indiana on long hop; Robert Buck starts from Newark, New Jersey in attempt to break junior coast-to-coast record. Delayed by head winds runs out of gasoline and is forced to refuel at Martin's Ferry and Columbus, Ohio. Delayed by refueling. Father and mother see start. Indianapolis, Illinois, September 29, 1930 (Associated Press) Robert Buck, 16-year-old Elizabeth, New Jersey aviator, attempting to set a new junior transcontinental flight record, landed his plane here early tonight for an overnight stop.”
  
• New York Times; October 03, 1930; page 27; “Buck forced down; stays at Amarillo, Texas; spends second night at Texas city after getting away and then returning. Motor fails in 70 miles youth to start again today for Albuquerque, New Mexico still confident of cross-country record.”
  
• New York Times; October 05, 1930; page 22; “Buck in California sets flight record; New Jersey youth hour 8 minutes under Schneider's transcontinental mark.”
  
• New York Times; October 19, 1930; page 9; “2 claim air records from Pacific here. Miss Ingalls and Robert Buck both complete interrupted transcontinental flights. Two transcontinental pilots, each claiming a record in flying time but each of whom has been on the way from Los Angeles for several days, landed yesterday at airports in the metropolitan district. At Roosevelt Field, Hiss Laura Ingalls of New York who is the holder of the women's ...”
  
• New York Times; September 30, 1935; page 24; “Robert Buck: Boy flier reaches Indiana on long hop.”
• New York Times; December 21, 1939, Thursday; Mrs. E. C. Bellingrath. Granddaughter of Count Was Aviation Enthusiast, 82.
  

Elizabeth C. Bellingrath

I finally heard from Bob Buck, the famed aviator who was licensed at age 15, and broke air speed records crossing the country at 16. He now lives in Vermont, as do his two children.

His Buck family came to Vermont in 1794 from England. Two brothers, one moved to Texas, the other stayed in Vermont.

Not much else about his own parents, but I'm hoping that the description of this branch of the Buck family will match up with someone else on this mailing list.

His grandmother, Elizabeth Bellingrath, was born in Switzerland, was originally a Ruban. His grandfather was Ewal Bellingrath, from Alsace.

There's a Nietzel family in there somewhere (hence the middle name), but he asked that we not go into that part of his life. From what I've gathered through census records, it appears he may have been born a Nietzel, in Elizabeth, NJ, and later became a Buck when his mother remarried.

My cousin, Everson Pearsall, also a pilot, played golf with Bob many times in NJ, and told me that Bob's Buck father was a doctor. He recalled they moved to Buck's County, PA, and later back to VT.

That's all I know, and may be all we find out. As Bob Buck put it, "My interests are what's ahead, not behind".

Gary Allen Richardson
August 20, 2006
gar3131@msn.com