Paul F. Godley, date unknown.
Paul F. Godley was a radio pioneer who won fame for his successful trans‐Atlantic shortwave tests in the 1920s. Early on he worked closely with the likes of Guglielmo Marconi, Lee De Forest, Edwin H. Armstrong and Michael Pupin on wireless and radio improvements.
Godley operated his own radio engineering company in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, from 1926 until his retirement in 1963. In 1967 he received the De Forest Audion Award from the Veteran Wireless Operators Association in recognition of his 60 years of electronic research and development.
Delta Lockheed 10 Electra Ship 21, NC14991 at Dallas Love Field, 1938. Photo by: Paul F. Godley
In 1938 Godley flew Delta in and out of Dallas, Texas. According to his grandson, John Godley, the trip most likely originated in Newark, NJ. Godley was probably flying to a client location to work with a new radio station
or communications network. The following photos taken by Paul F. Godley are snapshots from that journey.
Delta Air Lines Terminal at Dallas Love Field, 1938.
Godley had a walk around the Dallas terminal and, perhaps inadvertently, took an early "selfie." You can see him standing, camera in hand, in the glass reflection on the right side door. The sign above the door announces, "Dallas, Tex., Elevation 475 Ft., Southern Transcontinental Route," and the midpoint between New York (1430 miles) and Los Angeles (1387 miles).
While waiting for his flight, Godley was able to get up close and personal with Ship 21 and captured some amazing photos of the Delta plane! Note the bag carts and stepstool for entering and exiting the plane . . . ground equipment certainly has changed.
Delta Lockheed 10 Electra Ship 21, NC14991 at Dallas Love Field, 1938.
During his flight, Godley was able to get great shots of Dallas and the airfield from the ground and air.
Ground view of Dallas Love Field, 1938.
Aerial view of Dallas Love Field, 1938.
Aerial view of Dallas, 1938.
He also took great photos of the interior! In the first photo you can spot a 1938 Delta timetable in the seat-back pocket.
Interior of Delta Lockheed 10 Electra Ship 21, NC14991, 1938.
Man reading newspaper in interior of Delta Lockheed 10 Electra Ship 21, NC14991, 1938.
Zooming in, one of the headlines of the Dallas Morning News on his flight reads, "Grandeur Rivaling Days of Caesar Greets Hitler on Arrival in Rome." Godley had unknowingly photographed a historically significant headline!
Paul F. Godley, ca. 1938
Paul F. Godley was an American pioneer in radio and, lucky for us, he was also an amateur photographer. He captured an amazing trip on Delta with beautiful images of Delta's Ship 21, a Lockheed 10 Electra.
Many thanks to Godley's grandson, John Godley, for donating all these photos to the Delta Flight Museum Archives. We appreciate his generosity and contribution to preserving Delta history.
Thank you also to Steve Barnshaw, Delta TechOps Dept. 261, Bay 8 Letter check
crew and former Delta DC-3 Ship 41 Restoration Crew member, for introducing us and making this donation possible.
Austin Coleman
Registrar