Description: Airplane Glider Maud Maynard at Hilltop; amazing image of glider just above the ground at Hilltop and possibly gliding lower than the top of the ski jump; note top roof of railroad roundhouse visible in background
Photographer/artist:
Date taken: 1931
Photo location: Hilltop
Type: photo
Subject: Glider above Hilltop
County:
Source: TDHS Collection
References:
Contributor:
Notes: Original image is 5.6 MB. Reviewing the 1931 Truckee Republican, March 19 edition, there is an article that mentions a Lyle Smith who won a photo contest which shows a glider in the air with toboggan slide, ski jump and pavilion. This could very well be that image. Lyle Smith, L.E. Smith, was a noted Truckee photographer and this is possible. The actual 1933 article on page 1 title reads: "Prize Winning Picture of Truckee Snow Sports". The article continues:
"Lyle Smith submitted the prize winning photo to the Chamber of Commerce. Six dollars was offered for the best picture portraying winter sports. Mr. Smith's picture was taken early in the season and was composite in its nature inasmuch that it showed the glider in the air with the toboggan slide, ski jump and pavilion included."
And later in both the November 26 and December 10, 1931 editions of the Truckee Republican, this same image is reprinted with the subtitle "Frolic at Truckee Winter Sports".
NOTE: the building in the background is the Truckee Roundhouse, with the curved roof and topped with the cap-like "hood". The pavilion is in the front of the image. The March 19, 1931 Truckee Republican article mentions the "pavilion" but not the roundhouse in the background. Wilbur Maynard was the glider's owner, named after his wife Maude. They were at one time the managers of the Southern Pacific (SP) Hotel. Also see image TMC P0033, a close up photo of the glider.
