Smithsonian

Mid 1983, Stan was invited to participate in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Golden Age of Flight Aviation Art Competition. The subject matter was limited to aircraft of the 1920’s and 30’s.

Stan gave it quite a bit thought and decided to give it a go. He remembered the old saying that “you can’t win if you don’t try”. There was a fellow that Stan knew who was a famous aviator in the 1930’s, Jimmie Mattern.

Mr. Mattern had made two attempts to fly around the world in Lockheed Vegas and, in 1937, was in the process of a third attempt using a Lockheed model 12. He was going to try to fly non-stop by having several Ford Trimotors stationed around the world to provide him with mid-air refueling. The aircraft were to rendezvous with the Ford above the Lockheed. The Ford would lower a hose down to an open hatch on the top of the Lockheed, be grabbed by Mattern’s crewman who would bring it into the Lockheed and fill up its tanks. This actually worked!

A couple of years precious, a Russian aviator, Sigmund Levanevsky, flew Mattern out of Russia after Mattern had crashed. As Mattern was preparing the Lockheed 12 for the record flight, he heard that Levanevsky had gone down somewhere in Alaska. Jimmie flew the Lockheed up to Alaska along with one of the Fords. For 4 days, Jimmie flew a grid pattern looking for the downed Russian before fait intervened and the Ford crashed. That ended the search. Levanevsky has never been found.

It’s that search with Mattern flying the Lockheed 12 over the rugged Alaskan terrain that Stan painted.

Low and behold, the painting was awarded First Place and is now in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian. Jimmie Mattern was quite elated with the award!