The movie, "The Wings of Eagles" displayed a fierce proponent for Naval Aviation named
Frank Wilber "Spig" Wead, born 24 October 1895 in Peoria, Illinois.
| Two items in the movie make this
page useful in Sand
Point Hiatory, Early Sea Plane flying action and the head lines, Army
to make the FIRST FLIGHT AROUND THE WORLD. |
|
| Wead's dedication to the promotion
of the Navy's flying program was so intense that his marriage and
family life
suffered. When an accident paralyzes him, Spig finds a new means of
expressing
his love of flying: screenwriting. Successful and acclaimed, he finds
the U.S. entry into
World War II to be an irresistible call. Pleading that he be reinstated
in the
Navy despite his paralysis, Spig finds he has an enormous
contribution yet to make. He brought about the "JEEP" Carrier, more
proper, the Escort Carrier. |
|
 ... SCREEN WRITING BY Frank Wead ...  ...            And MANY MORE |
CLIPS FROM THE MOVIE Click the image for details  This is a Curtiss JN-7H; used in the 1st clip. ...     By the way; SPIG is played by JOHN WAYNE |
| .Wead's writings would lead him to Hollywood and the eventual friendship and collaboration with director John Ford. Wead would receive two Academy Awards. nominations in 1938, one for Best Original Story for "Test Pilot" and a second for Best Screenplay for "The Citadel". Wead also wrote for leading magazines (The Saturday Evening Post and The American Magazine), and he was published writer of at least two books, including: "Ceiling Zero" (1936), and "Gales, Ice and Men" (1937). | |
