The
Rome News-Tribune published some family reminisces on 30 Sept 2012 in an article entitled '
Rome's aviation pioneers'. There it mentions that Robert C. Stroop Senior spent 3 years building aircraft at Douglas Aircraft. No dates were mentioned but the suggestion from context is that this was prior to Stroop designing his 'X-wing' SP-6 and SP-7.
Since this appear to be the only thread that we have on Robert C. Stroop, Senior, does anyone have more on his other work? I'll list what I've seen so far ...
Waco 9 - In 1927, R. C. Stroop helped a local physician, Dr. John L. Garrard, to "build" (assemble?) a Curtiss OX-5-powered Waco 9 at Rome, GA. Alas, the only online mention of this come from further family reminisces in the '
From staff reports' column of the
Rome News-Tribune on 30 Sept 2012. That said, the Garrard name nevertheless has some relevant connections. [1]
Stoop SP-4 - Around the same time, Stroop was working on a design of his own - the SP-4 (or SP4) which was convertible from biplane to triplane. But it is not clear whether this SP-4 was a wholy original design or a modification of an existing airframe. At any rate, the Curtiss OX-5 powered SP-4 was register to Stroop as NC4197 in 1928 - close enough to Aerofiles' c.1927. [2] Given that SP-4 designation, we can but speculate as to any earlier concepts in that designation sequence.
Thomas-Morse S4C parasol conversion - Aerofiles listed a 1932 "Scout (Jacksonville)", a surplus S4C biplane converted into a monoplane in order to test a Stroop-devised aileron system. Aerofile's "Jacksonville" claim is at odds with the FAA records which, this time, say Rome, GA. The FAA records this S4C being registered as NC115 on 17 Sept 1930, with that reg being cancelled on 25 May 1938. Of course, that does mean that the monoplane conversion wasn't performed in 1932, nor that NC115 flew exclusively as a monoplane until 1938. There is no sign of any 'SP' designation associated with this S4C conversion.
Airco DH.6 - Air History has a cryptic mention of Stroop registering an Airco DH.6 (s/n "1011") as NC4066. No date is given (other than this reg being cancelled on 01 March 1935). We are given no information as to whether any modifications were made. But why Stroop would have an interest in the 'Clutching Hand' is also a mystery. In any case, a surplus RFC/RNAS DH.6 would be an odd choice for an American purchaser. And it doesn't help that "1011" was not an RFC serial. [3]
Travel Air 2000 - In that 30 Sept 2012
Rome News-Tribune '
From staff reports' column, R. C. Stroop's daughter, Bobbeth Stroop Hawkins, remembers her father flying a Travel Aire [
sic] named '
Miss Rome'. This would have been the Travel Air 2000 (c/n 265) registered NC3341 (reg cancelled on 01 May 1939). Again, no specific mention of any modifications made to this Travel Air biplane.
Aeronca K - Another confusing one. Aerofiles lists Aeronca K c/n K-182 as NC19316, registered in Alabama to "R C Stroop & John L Garrard Jr". The registration date is put at "00.00.37 ... Canc 1.3.71". AviationDB lists K-182 as being registered on 25 Sept 1946 - perhaps indicating a belated change from NC19316 to N19316. But the interesting date is that 1971 cancellation. Did Stroop Senior register K-182 as NC19316 only to see the aircraft languish during WW2? That would make sense of Stroop re-registered this aircraft (as N19316) in 1946 along with neighbour, John L Garrard Jr.
Vultee BT-13 modification - Post-WW2, Stroop fitted a war-surplus Vultee BT-13
Valiant with a bolt-on auxiliary wing. This auxiliary surface took the form of a short wing mounted to the top of the canopy with outboard N-struts connecting these panels to the original wings. The overall effect was that of a 'reversed sequiplane'. The point was not to improve the trainer but to demonstrate that how auxiliary wing concept could improve the load-carrying capabilities of transport aircraft.
Alas, I can find no registration number for this modified Vultee and it is illegible in the sole online image that I could find (said image is attached, with its source being the 'Rome Airport, Rome, GA' section of Paul Freeman's
Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Northern Georgia page - see
Sources, below).
BTW, the 1963 SNJ biplane crop-duster conversion attributed to "Robert C. Stroop of Selma, Alabama" by Air History would be the work done by his son, Robert C. Stroop, Jr. --
https://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Larkins/13788.htm
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[1] Dr. Garrard was also the original owner of the land where the Rome airfield was situated (later the site of a General Electric medium transformer plant). In 1933, a photo was taken of the doctor's 14-year-old son posed in the cockpit of the Waco 9. John L. Garrard Jr. would later co-register NC19316, an Aeronca K (K-182) along with Stroop's son, Robert C. Stroop, Jr.
[2] Air History gives Stroop's location at the time as Rome, GA, but an FAA N search places Stroop 50+ miles away in Jacksonville, AL.
[3] For the record, RFC B1011 was a Whitehead-built SE5a; C1011 was a Filton-built Bristol F.2b
Fighter. In the separate RFC (Canada) listing, C1011 was a Curtiss JN-4(Canadian) '
Canuck'. The RNAS did have serials in this range but 1011 was a Avro 504B of 2 Squadron Defence Flight based at Westgate-on-Sea.
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Sources
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Rome News-Tribune; 30 Sept 2012; '
Rome's aviation pioneers'
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Rome News-Tribune; 30 Sept 2012; '
From staff reports' column
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http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/Historic N.txt
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http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_N10.html
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http://aerofiles.com/_st.html
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https://members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/GA/Airfields_GA_N.htm
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https://www.instagram.com/jessemilner76/p/C-3jIe2Rsmf/?img_index=1
