Jimmy Wedell

James Robert Wedell (March 31, 1900 – June 24, 1934) was a famous 1930s racing pilot and aircraft designer. Wedell broke the world record for land-plane speed in 1933 when he clocked 305.33 m.p.h. in a Wedell-Williams aircraft of his own design. He won the Thompson Trophy air race in the same year. Wedell's company, the Wedell-Williams Air Service Corporation, won 14 "distinguished finishes" (top five) in the Thompson and Bendix Trophy races.

Wedell left school in the ninth grade to open the Black Star Garage behind the family home. He repaired cars and motorcycles and when the first U.S. Army Air Field was established in Texas City in 1913, he learned to fly, and he later taught his brother.

During World War I, his brother enlisted in the Navy but Wedell was turned down because of poor eyesight, having lost sight in one eye in a motorcycle accident. After flying in Mexico and the Gulf Coast, the Army hired Jimmy as a civilian instructor of cadet fliers.

After the war, Wedell returned to the Black Star Garage, working as a mechanic, while designing and building racing planes and barnstorming the country. In 1922, the Wedell brothers left for New Orleans where they started an air service and a flying school. They met millionaire Harry P. Williams from Patterson, Louisiana.

(L–R) Jimmy Doolittle, Jimmy Wedell, and Harry Williams. c. 1933

Continuing his earlier work as a designer, Wedell had a factory built to design and build low-wing monoplanes, starting with the Wedell-Williams Model 22.

Wedell-Williams Air Service Corporation Wedell and Williams created the Wedell-Williams Air Service Corporation in Patterson with the first enterprise being a passenger service from New Orleans to Houston via Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Dallas; it was Louisiana’s first commercial airline. In , the carrier was acquired by Eastern Air Lines for $160,000. The company also started their own postal air service and opened a flying school.

Wedell-Williams Museum Patterson Louisiana hosts the Wedell-Williams Aviation Museum.

Death In 1934, Wedell was involved in not only air racing but also exhibition flying and even flight training. During flight training, he was killed in an accident on June 24, 1934 in Patterson, Louisiana. His obituaries included a column by Will Rogers and an article in Time magazine. Wedell is buried in the Columbia Cemetery in West Columbia, Texas.