Help with Gecomsky

WarrenD · 4 June 2004, 06:30 AM

Learned Forumites,
I was looking through the booklet that accompanies the Americal/Gryphon decal sheet No. 110 on Escadrille MS/N/Spa 3 and came across two Nie.17's flown by a pilot by the name of Gecomsky. Interesting markings, and Dr. Merrill states that little, or nothing, would be known of this pilots a/c were it not for the photos in the album of his mechanic, Felix Imbert. I would like to know more about Gecomsky, but an initial web search came up with nothing, and a search of this site came up with the same result.
Can anybody direct to any information regarding this pilot?

TIA!

Warren

Amy · 12 June 2004, 05:03 PM

Hi Warren:

Are you sure the name is "Gecomsky"? I couldn't find such a surname as having ever existed anywhere in the world. I even seached for this surname at a world-wide ancestry site and it doesn't recognize "Gecomsky".

Perhaps someone reading the original handwritten(?) documents mis-identified the name? I've seen many many instances when a document is handwritten that a person's name gets absolutely butchered (e.g., Joseph Wehner has been identified as "Weaner"). Or, the person reading the document can't read the handwriting and takes a guess.

Anyhoo, unless Gecomsky is an ultra-rare surname, this is the conclusion I'm leaning towards on the mysterious name.

Cheers, Amy

Rick · 12 June 2004, 09:49 PM

Just to put another nail in the coffin so to speak, or perhaps to reinforce Amy's observation, their is no one of this name mentioned in Bill Bailey's book on the Storks - and that includes ALL the escadrille that made up the group. FWIW. R.

WarrenD · 14 June 2004, 10:41 AM

Rick & Amy,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I am of the opinion that somehow, someway, the name got butchered, but that is how Dr. Merrill spelled it in the booklet that accompanies the decal sheet for the group. I thought it an odd spelling as well. <_<
One of the very reasons I wanted to model this a/c is that it is a mount flown by someone I never heard of, and interesting markings to boot. (Some of us on the WWI Modeling list are having a Nieuport Cook-Up.)
Dr. Merrill stated that the existence of this a/c would be entirely unkown were it not for the photo album kept by his mechanic. Boy, wish I could take a look through the contents of that album!

Thanks for the effort,

Warren