ROY CURTIS HARDING

Roy Harding landed and is signed in the Grand Central Air Terminal (GCAT) Register eight times between Sunday, December 21, 1930 and Friday, May 8, 1931. To each landing he flew the Travel Air NC631H, which landed 20 times across three of our Registers. His airplane was owned by the Union Oil Company. He carried unidentified passengers to only two of his landings. Most of his visits were 20-30 minutes on the ground before departing to unspecified destinations. No reason was given for any of his flights, but half of them specified "local" in the remarks column, indicating that perhaps he was giving short rides to people on behalf of Union Oil.

Harding was born October 13, 1892 in Menden, NB. According to ancestry.com, he was married at age 25, which would make 1917 the year of his wedding. I have no details about his nuptials. Indeed, in the 1920 U.S. Census he is living with his wife, Ada (Terhune; 1897-1957), in Kearney, NB. They lived in their own mortgaged home, and he was a "Checker" for a "Freight Company." She was unemployed.

Harding was difficult to research. Ancestry.com was confusing in some instances through no fault of its own. The confusion comes from the spelling of Harding's name as "Harden," and some forms identifyied the year of his birth as 1893. The majority of records spell his name Harding, and identify the year as 1892, so we'll go with those.

According to this REFERENCE, page 143, which is a listing of pilots and their certificate numbers, in 1928 Roy C. Harding resided in Los Angeles. His address was a post box. He flew with Transport license T952. The 1930 Census cites Harding living at 805 Washington Avenue, Whittier, CA, which he rented for $55/month. His wife, Ada, was 32 years old. They had a full household. They lived with daughter Jeanette (8 years old; 1921-2013), son John (5; 1924-1975; served in WWII) and daughter Dorothy, almost two (1928-1976). At least one reference states the year of Jeanette's passing as 1990. Living with them also was a cousin (68) and a servant. Harding's occupation was identified as "Mechanic" working on "Automobiles." The 1932 Whittier city directory corroborates this information.

Other than his appearances in the airfield Registers, surprisingly I could find little other evidence of Roy Harding's life in aviation. He was a Union Oil Company representative, perhaps as a second job related to auto mechanic, and flew an airplane that belonged to the company. Perhaps he flew the Union airplane (NC631H) for pleasure rides and promotional tours, as to Mexico, below.

Further, in this REFERENCE, page 79, Harding crossed paths with Register pilot Pancho Barnes. Barnes was planning a trip from Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport to Mexico City, the first by a female pilot (but see her Web page at the link for some conjecture). She consulted with Harding about the route, viz., "After a briefing on navigational routes from Union Oil representative Roy Harding, who just returned from a round-trip plane flight to Mexico City, Pancho was ready. She left Metropolitan Airport on February 26, 1930 with interpreter/mechanic Mariano Samaniego." Harding's consultation with Barnes was near the date of the 1930 Census, above. If you can provide information or photographs, please let me KNOW.

Roy C. Harding, Draft Registration, Ca. 1942 (Source: ancestry.com)

 

In 1940, Harding (age 47) was living on West Ramona Avenue in Downey, CA. In the household were his wife, Ada (42), son John (15) and daughter Dorothy (12). The Census record states that Harding had attended school through the 8th grade. His occupation was cited as "Mechanic" in an "Automobile Shop." His income was $1,800/year. His daughter, Jeanette, was not mentioned. She would be 18 years old in 1940 and could well have been living somewhere else. A city directory for Bellflower, CA cited his occupation as an "oil worker" in 1940.

In 1942, Harding became subject to the military draft at age 49. His undated draft card, right, documents his enrollment for the draft. I do not know if he served. However, his son, John did serve in the Army, probably late in the war due to his age. Note that he was employed by the Standard Oil Company.

Some other city directories give Harding's address and occupation in the late 1940s. For example, in 1946 he lived in Bellflower, CA with Ada and was working as an automobile mechanic. Same for the 1948 directory. He passed away February 21, 1958 at age 65. He is buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, CA along with Ada. Harding also landed seven times and signed the Register of the Davis-Monthan Airfield, Tucson, AZ.

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