Johnson County KS Archives Biographies.....Champion, Frank 1885 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 March 19, 2009, 5:42 am Author: Ed Blair (1915) Frank Champion, of Overland Park, is the Johnson county "bird man" and owner and proprietor of the Champion aeroplane factory, of Overland Park. Mr. Champion was born at Sherman, Tex., October 28, 1885, and is a son of Horace G. and Ida (Hussinger) Champion, the former a native of Antwerp, Ohio, and the latter of Missouri. They were married at Sherman, Texas, in 1884, and are the parents of two children, Maud, born December 16, 1887, at Sherman, Tex., and now the wife of George Heap, of San Diego, Calif., and Frank, the subject of this sketch. When Frank Champion was a baby his parents removed from Texas to Oklahoma City, Okla., where he was reared and educated. He attended both the grade and the high schools in Oklahoma City and after finishing high school, enlisted in the United States navy, ordnance department, as gunner's mate, second class. He was first sent to the training station at Newport, R. I., and then on board the training-ship "Hartford" for a three months' cruise. About 1905, he was assigned to the United States ship "Massachusetts," which went on a cruise to the Azore Islands, as escort for a torpedo boat flotilla that was on an endurance trip. After that the "Massachusetts" returned to Bar Harbor, Me. On account of an acccident to the "Massachusetts," which sent her to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Mr. Chapman was transferred to the United States ship "Olympia" and went to Norfolk, Va., and then on a cruise to Europe and the West Indies, touching at Gibraltar, Trieste, Austria-Hungary, Corfu, Greece and Smyrna, Turkey. From Smyrna they went to Genoa and Villa, France, and Cherbourg, France, and from there back to Gibraltar, and thence to the West Indies, where they visited Jamaica, Havana, and other places, and finally ended up at the Catalena Islands. Mr. Champion was sent from there to Boston, when his term of enlistment expired and was paid off and honorably discharged. After leaving the navy, he located at Long Beach, Calif., and engaged in photography. Later he was press photographer for the Los Angeles "Examiner" and while thus engaged, became interested in aviation at the Domingos Aviation Field, near Los Angeles. He wanted to fly and believed that he had the courage to carry out his ambition, and on the eleventh day of January, 1911, he started for England and attended the aviation school at the Hendon Aviation Field near London. He was a little surprised when he reached there upon learning of the tuition fee for a course of training in flying. However, he went to Europe to learn to fly and that's what he proposed to do, and he, accordingly, laid down his thousand dollars, which was the price of the course. In addition to this the student flyer was required to pay for any breakage of the machines or any other loss or damage incurred while taking the course. After taking his course and receiving his certificate of graduation, Mr. Champion returned to New York and after remaining there a few weeks went to California and began to give exhibitions and continued in that line of work until the fall of 1911. The following winter he represented the Moisant International Aviators, on the road, and in the winter of 1912-13 he constructed his first machine and the following season gave exhibitions on his own account. In 1914 he came to Overland Park and opened the Champion aviation factory. He has had two machines on the road giving exhibitions during the past season. Mr. Champion is known all over the country as an expert aviator and has given exhibitions in most of the western and central States, from Ohio to California and from North Dakota to Texas. He was united in marriage at Chicago, October 28, 1910, to Miss Hazel Chapman, of that place. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF Johnson County Kansas BY ED BLAIR AUTHOR OF Kansas Zephyrs, Sunflower Sittings and Other Poems and Sketches IN ONE VOLUME ILLUSTRATED STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY LAWRENCE, KANSAS 1915 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/johnson/bios/champion301nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ksfiles/ File size: 4.5 Kb