Frank Monroe Hawks

Frank Hawks
Frank Hawks studio photograph, c. 1930
Born	(1897-03-28)March 28, 1897 Marshalltown, Iowa
Died	August 23, 1938(1938-08-23) (aged 41) East Aurora, New York
Occupation	Pilot, designer, author, actor, spokesperson
Spouse(s)	Newell Lane (Divorced) Edith Bowie Hawks
Parent(s)	Charles M. Hawks and Ida Mae Hawks

Frank Monroe Hawks (March 28, 1897 - August 23, 1938) was a pilot in the United States Army Air Service during World War I and was known during the 1920s and 1930s as a record breaking aviator, using a series of Texaco-sponsored aircraft, setting 214 point-to-point records in the United States and Europe. Prolific in the media and continually in the "public eye", in the 1937 The Mysterious Pilot movie serial, Hawks was billed as the "fastest airman in the world." A popular saying from the time, was "Don't send it by mail... send it by Hawks." After retiring from a career as an air racer, he died in 1938, flying an experimental aircraft.

Born in Marshalltown, Iowa on March 28, 1897, Hawks attended grammar school before his parents who were actors, joined a stock company and toured Minnesota. Hawks took on juvenile parts during his parent's engagements but when the family settled in California, Hawks resumed his formal schooling and graduated in 1916 from a high school in Long Beach. An early exposure to the thrill of flying came when Hawks convinced local Long Beach air field owners, the Christofferson brothers to give him a free flight in exchange for a newspaper article. He had convinced the owners that a high school student's impressions would result in increased interest in flying and more business for the air field. It worked and Hawks was able to parlay a series of pleasure flights. After enrolling at the University of California where he played halfback on the freshman football team, Hawks enlisted in 1917 when war was declared.

Hawks joined the U.S. Army with the aspiration to become a pilot in the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps. After he received his Junior Military Aviator rating and a second lieutenant's commission in the Signal Officer's Reserve Corps, Hawks became a flying instructor at Dallas Love Field, Texas, receiving a promotion to first lieutenant and a short time later was made the assistant officer in charge of flying at U.S. Army Air Service’s Brooks Field at San Antonio, Texas. One incident that nearly proved fatal occurred when Hawks and Lieutenant Wendell Brookley collided in midair over the San Antonio football stadium. Both pilots were carrying out an exuberant aerial exhibition to support the United War Work campaign when the aircraft tangled but they managed to land their damaged aircraft, only to receive a reprimand for dangerous flying. Both flyers served a week in confinement.