Air Museum of Minnesota Oral History Project: Interview with Lawrence E. Merrill

Titles: Air Museum of Minnesota Oral History Project: Interview with Lawrence E. Merrill (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Lawrence E. "Abe" Merrill was raised in Faribault, Minnesota and first soloed in 1929. He received a limited commercial license the following year and he worked flying freight, teaching flying and barnstorming until World War II. During the war, he ferried aircraft and instructed pilots, and after the war, he returned to Faribault where he founded the Merrill Aviation Company. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Barnstorming in the upper Midwest in the 1930s. Life as an aviator during the Depression. The Civilian Pilot Training program. Licensing and training issues. Teaching at various flight schools. Teaching at the War Training Service. Using Culver PQ14s for target practice. Several other wartime anecdotes. Aviation in Faribault in the late 1940s. Building the new Faribault airport. Organizing the Faribault Flying Club. Operating Merrill Aviation Company in Faribault. Anecdotes about other Faribault pilots including two female pilots.

Dates

• 11/26/1979 (Creation)

Creation

• interviewee: Merrill, Lawrence E.
• interviewer: Holey, George

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 101
• Accession Number: AV1992.88.17

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

• Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Air Museum of Minnesota Oral History Project' <OH 101>

Quantity: 2 hours sound cassette 35 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: sound recordings
• Content Category: text

Measurements

• 90 minutes length

Subjects

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