THERE actually existed a real Howard Stark who was both a legendary pilot and an
inventor -- and he died in the aftermath of a plane crash in northern Utah.
Mention Howard Stark to anyone today and they may instantly think
of the fictional Howard Stark from the Marvel comics and movie universe, who
was the late father of "Iron Man," alias Tony Stark.
A June 16, 1936 headline in the Salt Lake Tribune: "Search
party follows lost U.S. flier's trail for five miles. Major Stark wandered down
Lost Creek from plane after crack-up last January."
My gosh, there was a real Howard Stark who flew airplanes in their
early decades!
Stark flew U.S. mail in airplanes. He was flying from Rock Springs, Wyoming to Salt Lake City on January 16, 1936, when all radio contact
was lost. A winter storm apparently forced him to land on a remote Utah peak,
Observatory Peak, 28 miles northeast of Devil's Slide and east of Huntsville,
Utah, in a blizzard. His plane was not discovered until 5 months later, in June
of 1936, but he was not there and presumed dead somewhere.
Another newspaper article on Stark in the Weekly Reflex of Jan.
23, 1936, stated that he was "a nationally known authority on blind
flying."'
The Salt Lake Telegram newspaper of Sept. 22, 1939 carried the
headline: "Aviator's body rests in S.L."
After more than 3 1/2 years, Stark's body was found by a sheepherder.
This story referred to Stark as the "ace blind flier of the
department of commerce." He survived his plane crash, but not the winter
conditions of trying to walk to civilization.
-If you conduct a Google search for "Howard Stark," you
will find six full pages of results all on the fictional Howard Stark of Marvel
comics and movies (including posts that speculate on Marvel bringing the
character back to life).
Finally, at the top of page 7 of a Google search results is an
article in Vintage Plane magazine from May of 2002 about this real life Howard
Stark. Its headline is: "Howard Stark: The Pioneer Aviator of instrument
flying."
This article, by John M. Miller, says that Stark was flying a
Stinson Model S plane for the U.S. Department of Commerce, headed to the West
Coast to give more instructors to other flyers about using instruments in
airplanes.
Ironically, Stark had never been west before and his plane and
equipment were not designed for the high altitude flying of Utah. The author
believes he made an emergency landing in a snowstorm and froze to death trying
to walk to safety in deep snow and minus 20 degree temperatures.
The author of the article stated that "Howard Stark is really
the almost forgotten but true father of today's instrument flying … Howard
Stark, Charles A. Lindbergh and Clyde Pangborn are my civilian pilot heroes ...
Stark's 1-2-3 system has served as the basis for what we know now as
partial-panel flying."
So, there you have it. A snapshot of the real Howard Stark. A
first-class pilot and a civilian one, just like the fictional Howard Stark.
Note that the first mention of the fictional Howard Stark in Marvel
comics was in the Iron Man comics of 1970. Iron Man made his first debut in
1963, along with Tony Stark. The father, Howard Stark, was added 7 seven years
later and it is highly likely that the two Marvel comic writers who created
Howard Stark were oblivious to the real one, since he is rarely, but unjustly
mentioned in history.
(-Originally published on August 18, 2020 in the Deseret News.)
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