Folk's who still question the need for animal regulations might find the answer at the Orana Zoo, Christchurch New Zealand "feeding station."

MGM Lion History--Continued from the "history channel."

Restoration of the Ryan Brougham underway

By Gail Hearne
Air & Space Magazine, March 01, 2006

Once upon a time, a lion went for a ride in an airplane

In 1927, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios staged a stunt flight carrying Leo, the MGM Lion, from San Diego to New York. (Moviegoers are still greeted by Leo’s roar at the beginning of MGM films.)

MGM contracted with the B.F. Mahoney Aircraft Corporation (formerly Ryan Airlines) to modify a Ryan B-1 Brougham, similar to the Spirit of St. Louis but with a shorter wing, extra fuel tanks, a cage for Leo, and tanks for milk and water. The pilot was Martin Jensen, who had recently won $10,000 in the Dole Derby, a race staged by the pineapple company for a flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu. Jensen came in both second and last; only two aircraft made it to Honolulu.

With much fanfare and press coverage, Jensen took off from Camp Kearney, just outside San Diego, shortly after 10 a.m. on September 16. Less than five hours later, he was trapped in a box canyon in what is now known as the Hellsgate Wilderness, near Payson, Arizona. Realizing he could not clear the 6,300-foot-high rim ahead, Jensen landed the airplane in a clump of scrub oaks. The wings and landing gear were torn off before the fuselage tumbled to a stop on its side.

After giving the lion milk, water, and some of his sandwiches, Jensen set off for help. On day four, nearly done in by hunger and exhaustion, he encountered some cowboys, who took him to a telephone. Jensen joked later that, as had happened in the Dole Race, he again came in second: When he called MGM, their first question was “How’s the lion?” Leo was returned in good health by land routes to San Diego.

Scott Gifford, a pilot and owner of a restoration and maintenance company, NostalgAire, at Ernest A. Love Field in Prescott, Arizona, first heard about the MGM Special in 1982. From a book about aviation in Arizona, he learned about the flight and focused on one sentence: “The wreckage of the plane still lies in Hells Canyon near Payson.” Gifford contacted family members of the rescue team and Payson residents, but the project to find the remnants of the Ryan stalled until 1990. That year Gifford was flying a Beechcraft Baron over the Tonto National Forest for the U.S. Forest Service. Looking for Hells Canyon on the charts, he came across a spot called Leo Canyon, named in honor of the lion.

Gifford backpacked into the remote wilderness area several times to search for the remains of the wreckage before he finally found it. “I thought I calmly called everybody down, but I was later teased unmercifully for yelling my fool head off,” he recalls. In 1991, he obtained legal ownership of the wreckage and arranged to have it hoisted out by helicopter. He has since acquired another Ryan Brougham and hopes to eventually restore both to airworthiness.

Because so many years had passed before the wreckage was recovered, parts of the MGM Special are either missing or in poor condition. “Right now, it looks like parts of the landing gear and the shock struts can be restored to airworthy condition,” Gifford says. “Some of the wing attach fittings will be useable.” He uses parts from other Broughams if they are airworthy or can be made so. Otherwise, some components can be used as patterns for reproductions.

A few modifications will be necessary: brakes and a tailwheel, for starters. “You landed going into the wind, and you took off going into the wind,” he says. “The airplanes did not have brakes or a tailwheel, just a tailskid. That’s what helped keep the airplane going straight and also acted as a bit of a brake. On today’s asphalt strips, an airplane with a tailskid and no brakes is going to be uncontrollable.”

Gifford got his hands on an overhauled Wright J-5 Whirlwind, the same 220-horsepower engine used in the original aircraft, and a vintage propeller in stellar condition. At the moment he is working on reconstructing the fuselage, rudder, and vertical stabilizer.

He’s also searching for components of a Pioneer Earth inductor compass. “It was the unit to have,” he says. “It was absolute state of the art.” Gifford already has a control head and hopes to find an indicator instrument and a wind-driven generator, which will be mounted on the side of the fuselage.

Gifford has no time table for completion. “It will fly on the first—the first chance I get,” he says. Whenever that is, a reconstructed cage will house a huge stuffed lion made of plush golden fabric, and Gifford hopes to fly the MGM Special to airshows for at least a year.

Gifford recently met with octogenarian Columbus B. “Junior” Haught in Payson. Junior’s father, Columbus “Boy” Haught, was a member of the 1927 cowboy rescue team. Junior, who was just shy of four years old when Leo was brought by their ranch, says he still recalls one incident “like yesterday.” Two of his mother’s chickens were offered to Leo. “It didn’t take him but just a swallow to get rid of one of them chickens,” Haught recalls, adding that his mom was furious when she found out.

MGM Lion History--Continued from the "history channel."

What started out to be a "routine" day for pilot Martin Jenson quickly turned to shit. If you study early aviation history you soon come to the conclusion that the reason why some folks, notably Howard Hughes, were so wildly successful was because they were half insane!!!!

MGM Lion History--Continued from the "history channel."

The Ryan Brougham and Leo the lion preparing for take off, 1927

MGM Lion History--Continued from the "history channel."

Crash site of the Ryan Brougham and Leo the lion, 1927

MGM Lion History--Continued from the "history channel."

Leo rescued from the wreckage of the Ryan Brougham, 1927

Rich Boy's Toys--Hearst Ranch/San Simeon

San Simeon pictured at the top of the photo with surrounding real estate. It is difficult to conceive of one person possessing this kind of wealth, when children were/are starving around the world.

San Simeon

Rich Boy's Toys--Hearst Ranch/San Simeon

Some of the finest Arabian horse's in the United States at the time, were imported/bought by Hearst.

In 1912, William Robinson Brown established Maynesboro Stud in Berlin, New Hampshire with horses purchased from early breeders. Eventually he added farms in Iowa and Wyoming, and in a breeding career spanning more than 20 years, imported 33 horses, from Crabbet Park, France and Egypt. The Depression forced the stud's dispersal in 1933, and the Brown horses were sold to the Kellogg Ranch, Roger Selby, William Randolph Hearst, General Dickinson at Traveler's Rest and a few others.

Arieana Arabians ~ Articles: The Hearst Importation of 1947 (by Suzi ...

Another breeder was newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst who owned one of the largest herds of Arabians in the country at his San Simeon estate. Hearst's original Arabians were purchased from Maynesboro Stud in the mid-1930's. His most prominent stallions were Gulastra (purchased from Travelers Rest), Rahas, Ghazi and Rihal. In 1947 Hearst's stud manager (previously horse manager to General George Patton) explored the Syrian desert in search of fresh Arabian bloodlines to stimulate the stud, and 14 horses were imported. Unfortunately, Hearst died in 1951 before the effects of the infusion of new blood could be felt, and the horses were auctioned. William Randolph Hearst, Jr. purchased a few of them, and the San Simeon program carries on on a smaller scale today.

Rich Boy's Toys--Hearst Ranch/San Simeon

Feline enclosures adjacent to the bear grotto's.








For it's time the Hearst Zoo was one of the finer private facility's in the world.

Rich Boy's Toys--Hearst Ranch/San Simeon

Bear Grotto's, on the right, adjacent to the feline enclosures on the left.








Bear Grotto's. Hearst donated most of what was left of his bears, plus funds for "Grizzly Gulch" to the San Francisco Zoo, when he closed the zoo at San Simeon. There have been many interesting accounts written about the Hearst Zoo. At the link below, go to history & art for an interesting account of the zoo plus additional photo's of the enclosures.

Hearst Castle | California State Park

Julia Morgan: The Quiet Pioneer

http://books.google.com/books?id=0_vlbBFgd88C&pg=PA145&lpg=PA145&dq=size+of+rand..

Rich Boy's Toys--Hearst Ranch/San Simeon

Given the expanse of the property the elusive Aoudads, descended from original herds, are seldom seen.



Stock tank

Old feeding station from the Hearst zoo

Rich Boy's Toys--Hearst Ranch/San Simeon

Hearst Ranch along Highway 1 south of San Simeon, California. The zebra's are descendant's of the original stock of the Hearst Zoo

Rich Boy's Toys--Getty Villa

The Getty Villa seems to be more "accommodating" to human comfort then the bear pits were "accommodating" to bear comforts. Information is hard to find about the Getty menagerie. The Museum folks seem to have distanced themselves from the "fact." Does anyone know anything else about the animals J.Paul had at the estate?

Bear pit at Getty Villa which was once J. Paul's home. Like many other wealthy collectors he had a menagerie which included bears, bison, and lions.

Rich Boy's Toys--Paignton Zoo

Mr. Herbert Witley who owns one of the finest private menageries in Europe at Frimley, Paignton Devon in 1927.

Herbert Whitley was born in 1886 and brought up in Liverpool. His father, Edward Whitley was a solicitor, an ardent churchman, mayor and brewery baron. It was the latter that laid the foundation of the family fortune and the basis for the story of Paignton Zoo and the WWCT.

Edward Whitley died in 1892 at the age of 67 and was commemorated by the City of Liverpool by a statue now standing in St. George's Hall in silent company of William Ewart Gladstone, his great friend and rival. The bereaved Mrs Eleanor Whitley proved to be a courageous lady who saw the need to move to new pastures with her five children. In 1904 they arrived at the Primley Estate in Paignton, when Herbert Whitley was only 18.

Herbert Whitley was a shy, self-taught scientist and eccentric. As he developed his animal collections he became known as a mysterious millionaire who was said to live a monastic life in a white mansion on Primley Hill in Paignton. Stories were told of guarded reserves where weird and exotic creatures lived. He opened his animal collections up to the public for the first time in 1923 but closed them again twice due to disputes with the taxman over ‘entertainment’ tax. Herbert Whitley was adamant that his zoo was a place of education so should not pay entertainment tax on the admission charge.

Herbert Whitley died in 1955 and in his will, founding trustee Philip Michelmore was instructed to set up a Trust to manage and control Paignton Zoological and Botanical Gardens, Slapton Ley Estate and all other lands and buildings defined in the will.

Bostock Circus Collector Pin From the Early 1900's