Individual Details
Otho Alva BRANDT
(14 Jul 1903 - 10 Jan 1994)
Paper: St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN)
Deceased: OTHO ALVA BRANDT, PIONEER IN MINNESOTA AVIATION, DIES// LONGCAREER INCLUDED BARNSTORMING, TEACHING
Date: January 14, 1994
It was spring, and World War I was raging in Europe. A 13-year-old boynamed Otho Alva ''Al'' Brandt was harrowing his father's cornfieldnear Covington, Ohio, when an airplane buzzed low to the ground.
''The horses almost took off with me, but I remember thinking thatsomeday I am going to see what that is all about,'' Brandt said in hismemoirs.
Brandt went on to become a barnstorming and air show pilot who landedin fields and makeshift airports in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana andMinnesota. He also flew the U.S. mail, trained pilots for war andpeace, owned a flying service and went into Minnesota history books asone of the state's pioneer aviators.
When Brandt died Monday of cancer at Our Lady of Good Counsel Home, hewas 90. When he retired in 1971, he had been in aviation for 44 yearsand had carved deep ruts in the skies over Minnesota and the UnitedStates.
''He did a tremendous amount of flying, and he was very well-knownduring that period, especially after he became associated with Aeroncaand Champion Aircraft,'' said Sherm Booen of Richfield. Booen, aformer editor and publisher of the Minnesota Flyer and producer andnarrator of the television program ''World of Aviation,'' was a friendof Brandt's.
Brandt's family said he worked for Waco Aircraft in Ohio and startedflying lessons at the Embry-Riddle Flight School in Cincinnati, acourse that required him to drive 60 miles one way for a 30-minutelesson. He flew solo May 28, 1928, in a Waco 9. The next year he movedto Minnesota.
During his barnstorming days in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Brandtcharged $5 to $10 to take a person for a ride. When the economy souredduring the Depression, the cost dipped to $1.
''We would pick out towns where an airplane had never been before,''Brandt wrote in his memoirs. ''That meant there wasn't a landing placeeither, so we had to find the best place we could. We liked to have atleast a 40-acre area, but that wasn't always possible. Sometimes weflew off ridges, and I remember flying crosswind off a ridge inKentucky once. Every landing was a spot landing, and there were no twoways about it!''
In the early 1930s, Brandt sold airplanes, flew charters and taughtflying for the Lexington Flying Corp. in St. Paul. He took a job inthe credit department of a St. Paul company but continued givingflying lessons on weekends. In 1935, he became an instructor for theSt. Paul Flying Club and also taught for the University of Minnesotaand Macalester College flying clubs. He returned to flying full timein 1938.
During World War II, Brandt trained pilots under the Civilian PilotTraining program, which later became the War Training Service program.He also served in the Civil Air Patrol during that time.
After the war, Brandt formed Brandt Aero Service, which providedflight instruction, aerial spraying and charter service, according tohis daughter, Barbara Abbott of Mendota Heights.
Brandt also was a distributor for Aeronca aircraft.
In 1961, after he sold the flying service, Brandt went to work assales manager and chief test pilot for Champion Aircraft of Osceola,Wis., which had purchased Aeronca.
''A lot of his students went into commercial aviation,'' Abbott said.''Whenever we went to a town with Dad, it seemed you would always meetsomeone who knew him from aviation.''
Brandt had several close calls. On Aug. 6, 1954, he walked away withminor cuts after the crop-dusting aircraft he was flying crashed intoa South St. Paul intersection and burned. Four years later, 50 mphwinds flipped his two-seat Champion Tri-Traveler while he was landingat Holman Field in downtown St. Paul.
Brandt was a friend of several Minnesota aviation pioneers, includingCharles ''Speed'' Holman and Fred Lund, and is listed in the who's whosection of the Minnesota Aviation History Book, which traces Minnesotaaviation from 1857 to 1945.
He was a member of the OX5 Pioneer Aviators, an organization of pilotswho flew aircraft powered by the Curtiss OX5 engine that was widelyused during World War I and became the workhorse of early civilianaviation. He also was a member of the Quiet Birdmen, an organizationthat dates to the early days of aviation and was formed to acknowledgethe people who quietly helped pilots who were in need of assistance.
Besides his daughter, Brandt is survived by his wife of 67 years, MaryAlice; sons William of Minnetonka and Peter of St. Paul; anotherdaughter, Karen Goodwin of Sultan, Wash., 10 grandchildren; and threegreat-grandchildren.
Services will be private. There will be no visitation.
Author: BYLINE: Wayne Wangstad, Staff Writer
Section: Metro
Page: 4B
Copyright (c) 1994 St. Paul Pioneer Press
Deceased: OTHO ALVA BRANDT, PIONEER IN MINNESOTA AVIATION, DIES// LONGCAREER INCLUDED BARNSTORMING, TEACHING
Date: January 14, 1994
It was spring, and World War I was raging in Europe. A 13-year-old boynamed Otho Alva ''Al'' Brandt was harrowing his father's cornfieldnear Covington, Ohio, when an airplane buzzed low to the ground.
''The horses almost took off with me, but I remember thinking thatsomeday I am going to see what that is all about,'' Brandt said in hismemoirs.
Brandt went on to become a barnstorming and air show pilot who landedin fields and makeshift airports in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana andMinnesota. He also flew the U.S. mail, trained pilots for war andpeace, owned a flying service and went into Minnesota history books asone of the state's pioneer aviators.
When Brandt died Monday of cancer at Our Lady of Good Counsel Home, hewas 90. When he retired in 1971, he had been in aviation for 44 yearsand had carved deep ruts in the skies over Minnesota and the UnitedStates.
''He did a tremendous amount of flying, and he was very well-knownduring that period, especially after he became associated with Aeroncaand Champion Aircraft,'' said Sherm Booen of Richfield. Booen, aformer editor and publisher of the Minnesota Flyer and producer andnarrator of the television program ''World of Aviation,'' was a friendof Brandt's.
Brandt's family said he worked for Waco Aircraft in Ohio and startedflying lessons at the Embry-Riddle Flight School in Cincinnati, acourse that required him to drive 60 miles one way for a 30-minutelesson. He flew solo May 28, 1928, in a Waco 9. The next year he movedto Minnesota.
During his barnstorming days in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Brandtcharged $5 to $10 to take a person for a ride. When the economy souredduring the Depression, the cost dipped to $1.
''We would pick out towns where an airplane had never been before,''Brandt wrote in his memoirs. ''That meant there wasn't a landing placeeither, so we had to find the best place we could. We liked to have atleast a 40-acre area, but that wasn't always possible. Sometimes weflew off ridges, and I remember flying crosswind off a ridge inKentucky once. Every landing was a spot landing, and there were no twoways about it!''
In the early 1930s, Brandt sold airplanes, flew charters and taughtflying for the Lexington Flying Corp. in St. Paul. He took a job inthe credit department of a St. Paul company but continued givingflying lessons on weekends. In 1935, he became an instructor for theSt. Paul Flying Club and also taught for the University of Minnesotaand Macalester College flying clubs. He returned to flying full timein 1938.
During World War II, Brandt trained pilots under the Civilian PilotTraining program, which later became the War Training Service program.He also served in the Civil Air Patrol during that time.
After the war, Brandt formed Brandt Aero Service, which providedflight instruction, aerial spraying and charter service, according tohis daughter, Barbara Abbott of Mendota Heights.
Brandt also was a distributor for Aeronca aircraft.
In 1961, after he sold the flying service, Brandt went to work assales manager and chief test pilot for Champion Aircraft of Osceola,Wis., which had purchased Aeronca.
''A lot of his students went into commercial aviation,'' Abbott said.''Whenever we went to a town with Dad, it seemed you would always meetsomeone who knew him from aviation.''
Brandt had several close calls. On Aug. 6, 1954, he walked away withminor cuts after the crop-dusting aircraft he was flying crashed intoa South St. Paul intersection and burned. Four years later, 50 mphwinds flipped his two-seat Champion Tri-Traveler while he was landingat Holman Field in downtown St. Paul.
Brandt was a friend of several Minnesota aviation pioneers, includingCharles ''Speed'' Holman and Fred Lund, and is listed in the who's whosection of the Minnesota Aviation History Book, which traces Minnesotaaviation from 1857 to 1945.
He was a member of the OX5 Pioneer Aviators, an organization of pilotswho flew aircraft powered by the Curtiss OX5 engine that was widelyused during World War I and became the workhorse of early civilianaviation. He also was a member of the Quiet Birdmen, an organizationthat dates to the early days of aviation and was formed to acknowledgethe people who quietly helped pilots who were in need of assistance.
Besides his daughter, Brandt is survived by his wife of 67 years, MaryAlice; sons William of Minnetonka and Peter of St. Paul; anotherdaughter, Karen Goodwin of Sultan, Wash., 10 grandchildren; and threegreat-grandchildren.
Services will be private. There will be no visitation.
Author: BYLINE: Wayne Wangstad, Staff Writer
Section: Metro
Page: 4B
Copyright (c) 1994 St. Paul Pioneer Press
Events
| Birth | 14 Jul 1903 | Ohio |  | ||
| Census | 15 Apr 1910 | Newberry Twp., East Pct., Miami Co., OH, ED 115 Sh 9A; Otho A. Brandt, son, 6 (1903-04), born OH both parents born OH. | |||
| Census | 1 Jan 1920 | Newberry Twp., East Pct., Miami Co., OH, ED 167 Sh 9A; Otho A. Brant, son, 16 (1903), born OH both parents born OH. | |||
| Marriage | 15 Jan 1927 | Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois - Mary Alice Marie ELLINGSEN | |||
| Death | 10 Jan 1994 | St. Paul, Ramsey Co., Minnesota | | ||
| Burial | Aft 10 Jan 1994 | West St. Olaf Cemetery, Dodge Co., Minnesota | | ||
| Reference No | 10737 |
Families
| Spouse | Mary Alice Marie ELLINGSEN (1904 - 1996) |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
| Father | Lawrence BRANDT (1883 - 1951) |
| Mother | Lydia A. FULKER (1884 - 1970) |
| Sibling | Helen Lavina BRANDT (1905 - 1980) |
Endnotes
1. Social Security Death Index.
2. Ancestry.com database.
3. Ancestry.com database.
4. Social Security Death Index.
5. Ancestry.com database.