Did You Know ?

           

  A WWI pilot who fixed a broken plane in air

  Ormer Leslie Locklear, known as Lock, was a stunt pilot and film actor who became famous after World War I. He hailed from Texas and was a trained carpenter. While he was still attending school, he was a daredevil performer in and on moving vehicles. Lock became fascinated with flying and even tried to build his own glider.

  When the U.S. joined the World War I in 1917, Lock joined the U.S. Army Air Service training in Austin, Texas. He became a flying instructor and an expert at wing walking to make aircraft repairs during flight. He would literally leave the cockpit and diagnose a problem from the wing, fix it, and then return to the cockpit whilst flying it. 

  By the end of the war, Lock was a 2nd Lieutenant and was assigned to military recruitment. He happened to see a barnstorming show and realized his flying talents were much more impressive. He left the army and joined the show with two of his military colleagues. They eventually bought their own airplane and started their own show. It opened the door for Lock in the movie business, where he performed aerial stunts for the camera. 

  Locklear and Elliott died in 1920 after an aerial maneuver while filming Locklear's second movie, “The Skywayman”. While shooting the finale scene at De Mille Airfield near Los Angeles, Elliott was to dive the plane, carrying himself and Locklear towards some oil derricks and appear to crash it. He forewarned the lighting crew to douse their lights when he got near the derricks, so that he could see to pull out of the dive; the lights remained full on, blinding him, and he crashed. The movie showed the crash and its aftermath in detail.