File:Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (1895-1954) obituary in the New Bridgeport Telegram of Bridgeport, Connecticut on September 2, 1954 by the Associated Press.png

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Bert Acosta, 59, Ex-Flier, Dies. Aviation Pioneer Flew with Adm. Byrd in Historic Atlantic Flight. Denver, Colorado; September 1, 1954 (Associated Press) Bert Acosta, 59, veteran flier and race car driver, died today in the Jewish Consumptives Relief Society sanatorium here after a two-year illness. Acosta started flying a self-built plane in 1910 and 11 years later set a new flying speed record of 176.9 miles an hour. He flew with Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Bernt Balchen across the Atlantic shortly after Lindbergh's epic 1927 flight. He later became a test pilot and aviation consultant, but collapsed in 1952 on a New York sidewalk with what was diagnosed as an advanced case of tuberculosis. To Scatter Ashes at Sea. Relatives said after cremation here Acosta's ashes will be scattered over the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles by Cmdr. George Neville. All services, they said, will be private. Acosta was born in San Diego, California, January 1, 1895. His father was a mining engineer, a member of an early-day southern California Spanish family. His mother was of Irish extraction. He was 10 years old when he built his first plane in a small barn. Shortly afterward he went work at an aviation firm south of San Diego. In 1914, he went to Toronto, Canada, to teach cadets for the Royal Flying corps and the Royal Naval Air service. When the United States entered World War II, Acosta was summoned by the U. S. Army Signal Corps to American cadets on Long Island, New York. Won Speed Trophy. After the 1918 Armistice, he the first air mail survey of the nation in German Junkers, then worked with Glenn H. Curtiss in developing high speed planes for the Navy. He won the Pulitzer speed trophy in 1921 at Omaha, Nebraska, by flying a Navy plane miles an hour over a closed a new world record. Acosta continued research work until April of 1927 when he and Clarence D. Chamberlin of Shelton, Connecticut, surpassed the existing flight endurance record by staying aloft over Long Island 51 hours, 11 minutes and 20 seconds. The following June 29, after a month of tests and load calculations, Acosta, Byrd and two others took off from an especially-built runway at Roosevelt Field, New York, in their tri-engined plane, "The America" and headed for France. Land in English Channel. Storm, fog and wind enveloped the craft. After passing over Paris without sighting it. the fliers finally landed in the English Channel made it to shore in a rubber They became the first aviators to span the Atlantic in a multi-engined aircraft. Through the 1930s Acosta worked with several firms in flight research and tests. His last flight as a pilot was in 1946 in Texas. Ill health and leg injuries plagued him thereafter. Acosta was twice married and was the father of two sons and two daughters.

Acosta Well Known To State Residents. Acosta was a pioneer in Connecticut's commercial aviation. In 1924, when he was a resident of Naugatuck, Acosta, Gus Parsons and Gus Graf established Colonial Airlines with headquarters at Bethany Airport. They sold their interests in the company in 1926 to the Air Transport Company. The colorful aviation enthusiast had his ups and downs with state's law-enforcement authorities over his flights in Connecticut Acosta served five days in the New Haven county jail in January, after being convicted of reckless flying. Reports that he attempted to fly a small plane beneath a bridge over the Naugatuck river in Naugatuck, never were substantiated. Officially he was charged flying too low over the bridge. Acosta was arrested September 18, in Wilton after he landed his plane in the town and was found to no license for flying. Wilton authorities do not recall the outcome of the case. In November 1936, Acosta and two companions landed at Valencia, Spain, to aid Spanish loyalist in the civil war in that country. When he returned to the United States in January 1937, he was charged by federal agents with violating the country's neutrality serving loyalist Spain facing a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for three years, Acosta was acquitted. He never returned to Spain. Colonel Clarence D. Chamberlin of Ripton road, Shelton, who with Acosta set a new flight endurance record in 1927, said last night he was shocked to learn of his one time friend's death. He described him as "one of the finest and greatest test pilots of the 1920s." Colonel Chamberlin said he first met when the latter at 15 years of already was carving a niche for himself in aviation history.

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The article has been reconstructed from two columns. The combined company of Colonial Airlines and Air Transport Company was named Colonial Air Transport in 1926.

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