Harry Richman was one of the foremost entertainers of the time and also a keen amateur pilot who bought the plane for the flight he teamed up with Dick Merril who was probably the most experienced commercial pilot there has ever been.
Henry Tyndall "Dick" Merrill (February 1, 1894 – October 31, 1982) was an early aviation pioneer. Among his feats he was the highest paid air mail pilot, flew the first round-trip transatlantic flight in 1936, was Eisenhower`s personal pilot during the1952 presidential elections, set several speed records, and would go on to be Eastern Airlines most experienced pilot with over 36,000 hours until his retirement in 1961. In total, Merrill flew over 45,000 hours as pilot in command covering over eight million miles.
Harry Richman (August 10, 1895 – November 3, 1972) was an American entertainer He was a singer,actor,dancer, commedian,pianist,songwriter,bandleader, at his most popular in the 1920s and 1930s.
Richman was born as Harold Reichman in Cincinnati Ohio. He changed his name to "Harry Richman" at age 18, by which time he was already a professional entertainer in vaudeville He worked as a piano accompanist to such stars as Mae West and Nora Bayes. With Bayes' act he made his Broadway debut in 1922. He appeared in several editions of the George Whites Scandals in the 1920s to acclaim. He appeared in the 1931 Ziegfield Follies.
He made his feature movie debut in Hollywood in 1930 with the film Puttin`on the Ritz featuring the Irving Berlin song of the same title, which gave Richman a recording hit that year.