Jimmie Mattern

{{Short description|American aviator}} {{Infobox aviator |name=Jimmie Mattern |image=Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13655, James Mattern crop.jpg |caption=James Mattern in Berlin following an aborted attempt to fly around the world in 1932. |full_name=James Joseph Mattern<ref>[https://archive.today/20120914002428/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753407,00.htm Aeronautics: Flights & Flyers, Jul. 18, 1932]. Time.</ref> |birth_date={{birth date|1905|3|8}} |birth_place=[[Freeport, Illinois]], [[United States|USA]] |death_date={{death date and age|1988|12|17|1905|3|8}}  |death_place=Last Residence, [[Palm Desert, California|Palm Desert]], [[Riverside County, California|Riverside]], [[California]]<ref>[http://www.footnote.com/page/16397749_james_j_mattern/ Social Security Death Index] via footnote.com</ref><ref>California Death Index</ref> |spouse=Della, 1927-1937<br />Dorothy Harvey, married May 18, 1937 - 1988 |known_for=Two failed around the world aviation record attempts |first_flight_aircraft=[[Curtiss JN-4|JN-4 Jenny]] }}

'''James Joseph Mattern''' (March 8, 1905 – December 17, 1988) was an American [[aviator]]. Mattern undertook a number of aviation world records, including twice attempting to break the world record for [[Circumnavigation#Notable aerial circumnavigations|aerial circumnavigation]] set by [[Wiley Post]] and [[Harold Gatty]]. Both attempts failed; the second in 1933 resulted in a crash landing and subsequent rescue by Eskimos and [[Sigizmund Levanevsky]] in [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|Chukotka]]. Mattern would go on to join the search for Levanevsky after he went missing in 1937. Levanevsky was never found.

In 1928, Mattern sold an air plane to an oil company in [[Texas]] owned by [[Michael Late Benedum|Michael Benedum]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Randolph|first1=Jennings|title=Friend To Aviation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gkk2bp1kw98C&dq=jimmy+mattern+benedum&pg=PA51|accessdate=3 March 2018|publisher=Popular Aviation|date=1939}}</ref> Benedum would later become a frequent financial backer of Mattern's flying activities. In 1937, Mattern was hired as the aeronautical director for the Benedum and Tree's oil company.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Allen|first1=Thomas|title=Guide to the James J. "Jimmie" Mattern Collection|url=https://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/general/Mattern.pdf|accessdate=3 March 2018|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174635/http://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/general/Mattern.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Starting in 1938, Mattern was a [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]] test pilot on the [[P-38 Lightning]] and during the war helped develop the 'Piggyback' two-seat version that significantly reduced training accidents. In 1946 he was diagnosed at the [[Mayo Clinic]] with a ruptured blood vessel in his brain (perhaps due to repeated excessive G-forces experienced while demonstrating P-38s) and was unable to fly again because of the condition. After losing his ability to fly, Mattern and his wife became real estate brokers and then operated a travel agency. He also supported the space program, attended three [[Apollo program|Apollo]] launches and had his [[Pilot certification in the United States|pilot's license]] carried to the moon aboard [[Apollo 11]].<ref name="sketch">UT Dallas. [http://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/general/Mattern.pdf Guide to the James J. “Jimmie” Mattern Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908224739/http://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/general/Mattern.pdf |date=2014-09-08 }}. Biographical Sketch, page 3.</ref> He also marketed aviation calculators known as the Mattern computer, a course and mileage [[Slide rule#Circular slide rules|slide rule]], in the late 1940s.

==Personal life== James Mattern was born March 8, 1905, in [[Freeport, Illinois]], to Phillip and Caroline (née Kennedy) Mattern. He also had two older brothers and an older sister. Mattern married Della M. in [[Los Angeles]] in 1927. He requested a [[divorce]] in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], in 1937, stating that Della had left him in 1932 and was living in [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]]. On May 18, 1937, the day after his divorce was finalized, Mattern was married to Dorothy J. Harvey, a showgirl, at [[Berwyn, Illinois|Berwyn]] Methodist Church.<ref>"Jimmie Mattern Marries Showgirl". ''Wisconsin State Journal''. Madison, Wisconsin. Wednesday, May 19, 1937. Page 2.</ref> He remained married to Dorothy until his death in 1988. Dorothy died in January 2002.<ref>Social Security Death Index</ref>

==Aerial circumnavigation record attempts== July 5, 1932: Mattern and [[Bennett Griffin]] flew ''The Century of Progress'',<ref>[http://www.dmairfield.com/airplanes/NC869E/index.html Lockheed Vega Model 5 NC869E] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090730001958/http://www.dmairfield.com/airplanes/NC869E/index.html |date=2009-07-30 }}. Delta Mike Airfield, Inc. Accessed May 14, 2009.</ref> a [[Lockheed Vega]], powered by a [[Pratt & Whitney]] Wasp engine, from [[Floyd Bennett Field]], New York, to [[Harbor Grace]], Newfoundland, and then non-stop to [[Berlin]], [[Germany]], in 18:41 hours. This failed round-the-world flight attempt ended in an emergency crash landing at [[Barysaw|Borisov]], [[Belarus]], [[Soviet Union|USSR]], on July 7, 1932. They did, however, set a record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean: 10 hours, 50 minutes.<ref>"World Flyers reach Berlin and press on." Associated Press. ''Jefferson City Post-Tribune''. Jefferson City, Missouri. Wednesday, July 6, 1932. Page 1.</ref>

June 3, 1933: Mattern flew a rebuilt ''Century of Progress''. largely a different aircraft, and this time solo, from Floyd Bennett Field across the Atlantic. On June 14, 1933, he made a forced landing near [[Anadyr (town)|Anadyr]], in [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|Chukotka]], where the ''Century'' was abandoned. He was eventually rescued by Eskimos and flown to [[Nome, Alaska]], by [[Sigizmund Levanevsky]]. Mattern flew the rest of the way back to New York.

==Honors== *1973 [[National Aeronautic Association]] [[Wesley L. McDonald]] Elder Statesman Award<ref>[http://www.naa.aero/html/awards/index.cfm?cmsid=167 Wesley L. McDonald Elder Statesman Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630212056/http://www.naa.aero/html/awards/index.cfm?cmsid=167 |date=2007-06-30 }}. [[National Aeronautic Association]].</ref> *1981, Oklahoma Air and Space Hall of Fame *Honorary fellow of the [[Society of Experimental Test Pilots]]<ref>[http://www.aircrash.org/burnelli/setp.htm Society of Experimental Test Pilots] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721010108/http://www.aircrash.org/burnelli/setp.htm |date=2011-07-21 }}. Honorary Fellows / list as of 1997.</ref>

==Bibliography== *''[http://lccn.loc.gov/36018240 Cloud country]'' Mattern, Jimmie. The Pure oil company. Chicago. 1936. (OCoLC)1369439. ASIN: B001PM7GYU. *{{cite web|last=Allen|first=Thomas|title=Guide to the James J. "Jimmie" Mattern Collection|url=http://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/general/Mattern.pdf|work=The James J. “Jimmie” Mattern Collection, History of Aviation Collection, McDermott Library|publisher=University of Texas at Dallas|accessdate=25 September 2012|archive-date=8 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908224739/http://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/general/Mattern.pdf|url-status=dead}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|James Mattern}} *[http://earlyaviators.com/emattern.htm The Early Birds of Aviation, Inc.] - Mattern *[https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/aviators-mattern-griffin-lockheed-293429116 Lockheed Vega "Century of Progress", after landing in Russia 1932](archived)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattern, Jimmie}} [[Category:1905 births]] [[Category:1988 deaths]] [[Category:American test pilots]] [[Category:Aviators from Illinois]] [[Category:People from Freeport, Illinois]] [[Category:Lockheed people]] [[Category:20th-century American people]]