Biografía

A rare surviving 1936 Vultee V1-A, re-christened 'The Lady Peace II' in honor of Dick is on display at the Science Museum of Virginia's Virginia Aviation Museum at the Richmond, Virginia Airport. This plane was once owned by William Randolph Hearst. Hearst's son, Randolph Jr. was a personal friend of Dick's.

Sadly, he and his wife Toby both outlived their sons. Their first son died of crib death in 1940. Their youngest son Ricky was murdered in their Miami home in August, 1982 while the Merrills were living in Virginia. Ricky was facing a prison term for marijuana smuggling in Louisiana and given the fact that a co-defendant survived an attempt on his life the previous June, his murder was undoubtedly a contract hit. His new Jeep Scrambler was found parked at Miami International Airport four days later. The facts surrounding his 41-year old son's death were initially withheld from him, but he eventually discovered the truth. An aviation pioneer, iconic Eastern Airlines hero and a true southern gentleman, he died the following October. Dick and Toby were survived by Ricky's two daughters; their son's murder is still unsolved.

Very few pilots could claim to have flown so many historic aircraft. Beginning with his first $600 WWI-surplus Curtiss OX-5 powered JN-4 "Jenny," Dick would go on to clock a record 45,000 hour flight career that spanned some 56 years. Dick flew frequently after his EAL retirement in 1961. Restricted to non-revenue flights by the FAA age limit, Dick and his friend, entertainer and avid pilot Arthur Godfrey (accompanied by co-captains Karl Keller and TWA pilot Fred Austin) flew around the world in an executive Rockwell Jet Aero Commander (N1966J) in June, 1966, clocking 23,524 miles at an average 429 MPH, mostly at 40,000 feet. This flight set 21 speed records. At age 78, he had flown the Concorde SST with it's evaluation team. Later in 1976, Dick flew a Lockheed 1011 Tri-Star jumbo jet from Palmdale, CA to Miami in a record 3 hours and 33 minutes. He continued to accept invitations to fly until age 82.

The financial backer of Dick's 1937 'Daily Express' coronation flight--- the first commercial round trip flight across the Atlantic--- was the crafty Ben "Sell 'em Short" Smith (who had been the target of a congressional investigation of the 1929 stock market crash), a wheeler-dealer promoter whose philosophy was to promote any scheme for financial gain. Although he was guaranteed a profit on the flight on the basis of a Hearst Newspaper contract alone, he cajoled Dick and co-pilot Jack Lambie into autographing hundreds of coronation first day covers postmarked in London and New York, and selling them through the Walgreen's drug store chain (these frequently appear on eBay today). Smith ultimately made over $170,000 in profits from the flight (Dick saw just $3500 and a few free meals, Lambie netted $2500--- both mostly received from their appearance in a Monogram quickie, Atlantic Flight (1937) made to capitalize on their achievement, a deal also brokered by Smith) and broke a verbal promise to give Dick the Lockheed, quickly selling it to the Russian government. In later years, Dick confessed that Ben Smith was probably the only man he'd ever hated. He actually thought about shooting him if they ever met again.

Was all of 18 months younger than his father-in-law, Paul Wing (1892-1957).