Otto Timm
| Otto William Timm | |
|---|---|
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c. 1920s
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| Born |
October 28, 1893 Lakefield, Minnesota |
| Died | June 29, 1978 (aged 84) Newport Beach, California |
| Spouse(s) | Caroline Timm |
| Parent(s) | Julius Timm and Alvine Hohenstein |
| Relatives | Brother, Wally Timm, Reuben Timm |
Otto William Timm (October 28, 1893 – June 29, 1978) was a California-based barnstormer and aircraft manufacturer of German descent. Charles Lindbergh's first flight was flown by Timm. Timm partnered at times with his brother Wally Timm who did a lot of flying for the nascent Hollywood movie industry.
Timm was born on October 28, 1893 in Lakefield and spent a few years in Windom, Minnesota before moving to pursue aviation. By the age of 19, he had established himself as a pioneer aviator.
Timm originally started in the aviation field in 1910 when he attempted to build a copy of the Santos-Dumont "Demoiselle" monoplane while living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, although it appears this was never completed. The next year he moved to Cicero Field in Chicago, where a group of aviation enthusiasts had gathered. In Chicago, he built a copy of the Curtiss Pusher, which flew in 1911. Timm started a business flying the aircraft in Pennsylvania with a partner.
In 1913, Timm sold the business to his partner and returned to Cicero Field to begin construction of a "conventional" biplane design under contract. The next year he built a second for his own use, and started a cross-country tour that ended on May 25, 1915 when it crashed in a field in Magnolia, Minnesota. His aircraft happened to come down in the field of Bert Kinner, who repaired the engine. Kinner was fascinated by the aircraft, and would go on to become an aircraft and aero engine designer as well.Timm then built another design under contract for the Grinnell Aeroplane Company in 1915, later flying it at town fairs around the mideastern region during the summer of 1916.
In October 1916, Timm became a senior flight instructor at Rockwell Field, San Diego. He remained there during the war, while also building a new trainer biplane known as the Timm Model T-18. With the ending of the war, Timm moved to Venice, CA and opened the Pacific Aeroplane and Supply Co., where he started construction of a six-passenger biplane known as the Pacific Hawk. Over a six-week period in 1920, Timm designed and built the C-1 racing monoplane, which would win the International Air Tournament in Los Angeles in 1921.
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