to The New Pegasus 2011, 6.5MB

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The New Pegasus
No. 5 - 2011
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Hagerstown Aviation Museum, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the region’s more than
90 years of extraordinary aviation history.
Highlights of Hagerstown’s Aviation Past
1916-1920 Giuseppi Bellanca builds the ―CD‖ and ―CE‖ biplanes for
the Maryland Pressed Steel Company in the Pope Building located in
south Hagerstown.
Hagerstown’s Aviation Past ...................................... Page 3
Museum Contact Information .................................. Page 3
Aviation History Preserved at Hagerstown .............. Page 4
A Bridge From the Sky ............................................. Page 8
My European Tour on a C-119 ............................... Page 10
Richard A Henson, The Early Years ...................... Page 12
Eight and One Half Decades Ago ........................... Page 14
Building the Martin PBM Wings ............................ Page 16
1921-1925 Lew & Henry Reisner operate an aircraft repair business and
eventually partner with local shoe manufacturer Ammon Kreider to sell
Waco Biplanes.
Martin PBM Mariner RC Model Donated ............. Page 18
1926 The newly formed Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company designs and
builds the KRA Midget to participate in the 1926 National Air Race in
Philadelphia.
Alvin Ray Johns, Part One ..................................... Page 22
Aviation Merit Badge .............................................. Page 19
Aircraft Donations .................................................. Page 26
Dan Frankforter Photo Collection Donation .......... Page 28
1927-1929 Kreider-Reisner develops and produces the C-2, C-4 & C-6
Challenger Biplanes that gain them much acclaim.
1929 Sherman Fairchild of Fairchild Aircraft Company, Long Island,
NY purchases a majority stock interest in Kreider-Reisner Aircraft
Company of Hagerstown.
1930s Fairchild Aircraft Company produces the F22, F24, F45, F46 and
F92 Amphibian.
1931 Richard (Dick) Henson purchases the Hagerstown Airport and
founds Henson Flying Service.
Chambersburg PA 100 Years of Flight .................. Page 30
Wings and Wheels Expo Participants..................... Page 31
Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics ........................ Page 34
Museum Membership and Volunteers ................... Page 36
The Museum Gift Shop ........................................... Page 37
COPYRIGHT 2011 HAGERSTOWN AVIATION MUSEUM, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
1933 Richard (Dick) Henson becomes Test Pilot for Fairchild Aircraft.
1939-1943 Fairchild develops and produces over 5000 PT19 Primary
trainers for the US Army and Navy as well as the AT-21 Gunnery
Trainer and UC-61 Utility Cargo Aircraft.
1942-1948 Fairchild develops and produces over 200 of the first all
metal cargo aircraft specifically designed for the task, the C82 Packet.
1949-1955 Fairchild develops and produces the C-119 Flying Boxcar of
which over 1100 were produced.
1954-1958 Fairchild produces over 300 of the C123 Provider cargo
aircraft.
1954-1966 Fairchild helps to develop the Fokker designed F-27 Friendship turbo-prop transport and produces over 200.
1962-1983 Richard (Dick) Henson begins the ―Hagerstown Commuter‖
which eventually becomes the Allegheny Commuter and Piedmont
Regional Airline.
1965 Fairchild purchases Republic Aviation of Farmingdale, L.I., NY.
Contact Information:
Museum Mailing address:
Hagerstown Aviation Museum, Inc.
14235 Oak Springs Rd
Hagerstown MD 21742
Phone: 301-733-8717
Website: www.HagerstownAviationMuseum.org
Email: [email protected]
Event Website: www.WingsandWheelsExpo.com
The museum is now on
Cover Photo:
C-119 lands at Hagerstown
Regional Airport November 15, 2008
1973-1983 Fairchild/Republic awarded A-10 Attack Aircraft contract
and produces 713 for the United States Air Force.
1984 Aircraft production ends in Hagerstown.
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Aviation History Being Preserved at Hagerstown
Hagerstown Aviation Museum aircraft collection, 2010
By Ralph M. Petterson
Originally appeared in Propliner
and Air Classics
Exciting things are happening at
Hagerstown Regional Airport (HGR) in
Hagerstown, Maryland. From 1929 to
1984 the airport was home to the Fairchild Aircraft Company where thousands
of aircraft were produced at the company‘s plant for both military and civilian
customers. The airport is currently home
to the Hagerstown Aviation Museum,
which was founded in 2005 with the goal
of preserving the region‘s rich aviation
heritage. The idea of a museum first surfaced in 1995 at the ―Fairchild Homecoming and Air Show‖ when a group of
local aviation enthusiasts discussed the
idea of creating such
a museum. Among
the group was Richard A. Henson, chief
test pilot for many
years at Fairchild and
founder of Henson
Aviation. This group
was responsible for
Richard A. Henson
laying the early
groundwork for the museum. Much of
the momentum for a museum was lost
after Mr. Henson‘s passing in 2002 and
the idea remained dormant until 2004
when the documentary ―Hagerstown,
Remembering Our Aviation Heritage‖
was produced by Kurtis Meyers, John
Seburn and Steve Christiano. The film‘s
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enthusiastic reception breathed new life
into the museum project and in January
2005 the museum was formally founded.
The museum currently has over 15 aircraft in its collection.
The Fairchild Aircraft legacy at
Hagerstown dates back to 1925 when
Lewis Reisner and Ammon Kreider
formed Kreider-Reisner Flying Service.
Two years later the company‘s name was
changed to the Kreider-Reisner Aircraft
Company and in 1929 Sherman Fairchild
bought a controlling interest in the company. During the 1930‘s several popular
aircraft were designed and manufactured
including the Fairchild Model 22 and 24.
In 1939 Fairchild Aircraft was awarded a
contract to build the PT-19 primary
PT-19
trainer for the US Army Air Corps and by
the end of the war over 5,000 of the trainers had been built in Hagerstown. The
factory continued producing both military
and civilian aircraft after World War II
including C-82 Packets, C-119 Flying
Boxcars, C-123 Providers, F-27/F-227
Friendships, Metroliners and finally A-10
Warthogs. The plant closed shortly after
the delivery of the final A-10 to the
USAF in March 1984.
While I didn‘t know much about
the museum, I had read about their impressive feat of acquiring and ferrying
both a C-82A and C-119G from Greybull,
Wyoming to Hagerstown. I had seen the
Packet in 1998 during its visit to the annual Oshkosh airshow and had photographed both aircraft at Greybull during
visits in 2003 and 2006. While the aircraft looked eminently airworthy during
my last visit to Greybull, just prior to the
August 2006 auction, I was impressed
that a fledgling organization was able to
raise the money and execute such a complicated undertaking! I contacted museum president, Kurtis Meyers, and set up
a visit to photograph the two aircraft.
Hagerstown is only a two hour drive from
my home in Southern Maryland and a
visit was set up a few days before Christmas.
On August 21, 2006 museum
president Kurtis Meyers, treasurer John
Seburn and volunteer videographer Steve
Christiano set out for Greybull, Wyoming, to attend the Hawkins and Powers
(H&P) auction, which was to be held on
August 23. Their mission was to acquire
at least one of the Fairchild aircraft being
auctioned that day for the museum. First
on their list was C-82A Packet N9701F.
This aircraft is the sole remaining airworthy C-82A of 220 produced by Fairchild
and they‘d had their eye on it for some
time. N9701F was delivered to the USAF
as 45-57814 in 1948 and, after retirement
from military service, TWA operated the
aircraft from 1956 to 1972 ferrying re-
C-82 is use by TWA
placement engines to stranded airliners.
Briles Wing and Helicopter owned the
aircraft in the mid-1970‘s and Northern
Pacific Transport in the 1980‘s before it
was sold to Hawkins and Powers in 1992.
To this day, the TWA stripes and Briles
markings are still visible on the sides of
C-82 in Greybull awaiting a new home.
the aircraft. When the museum had first
inquired about the aircraft a few years
back, a $500,000 sales price was quoted.
As time passed, the price was lowered to
$250,000 but this was still beyond the
museum‘s limited budget. In mid-July
the museum found out about the auction
and in just four weeks 100 donors contributed $140,000 towards the purchase of
the aircraft. If they were not successful in
acquiring the C-82A, the backup plan was
to purchase C-119G N8093 or C-119G
N15501 and/or F-27F N127HP, all produced by Fairchild at Hagerstown. In
addition to the four aircraft, the museum
was also interested in purchasing one of
the two disassembled C-82A‘s stored at
Greybull.
After sitting on airliners for the better
part of the day, the museum crew finally
arrived at Greybull in late afternoon and
immediately set out inspecting the three
aircraft of interest and a mountain of
spare parts, engines and accessories that
had been accumulated by H&P over the
years. One of the first people they talked
to was Bob Stanford, president of Zenith
Aviation. Zenith Aviation was overseeing the auction and they nervously questioned Bob about what he thought their
chances were on successfully bidding on
the C-82A. While discussing the museum with Bob, John Seburn mentioned
that the late Richard Henson
had been one of the first museum board members and
Bob lit up like a light bulb.
It turns out that Bob had sold
Richard a Learjet back in the
1980‘s and they had become
close friends. This relationship was to be a stroke of
good luck for the museum!
After a good night‘s rest,
the group spent the 22nd again inspecting
the aircraft at Greybull in the sweltering
August heat.
The auction started
promptly at 11:00am on the 23rd in an
8,000 square foot hangar that had been
outfitted with large, portable air conditioning units. The F-27 would be auctioned first, the C-82 next and the two C119s last thus giving the museum a
chance to bid on the C-119‘s if their C-82
bid failed. Bidding for the C-82A began
at $40,000 and proceeded in $5,000 and
$10,000 increments until finally reaching
$127,500. A last minute donation, just
before the auction, had increased the museum‘s kitty to $140,000 but $127,500
was as high as the museum could bid
since there was a 10% buyer‘s premium
added to each bid. As it turned out, the
auctioneer‘s hammer fell at $127,500 and
the C-82A would be coming home to
Hagerstown. The museum also purchased the fuselage, center section and
wings of C-82A N5102B the next day for
$2,750. It plans on using the fuselage for
a future ―Building the Boxcar‖ exhibit.
With ownership of the Packet
secured, the task of moving it to Hagerstown was the next challenge facing the
museum. Although the aircraft hadn‘t
flown in six years, it was in good condition and it was decided to move forward
with a ferry flight. B&G Industries,
which had taken over H&P‘s maintenance operation at Greybull, was contracted to make the C-82 airworthy with
an initial estimate of $25,000. As things
normally go with old airplanes, a few
more items needed fixing and the final
bill was $45,000. Another challenge fac-
ing the museum was finding a flight crew
for the ferry flight. FAA records identified 13 pilots with C-82 type-ratings but
all were either too old and/or unwilling to
make the flight. Museum vice president
Tracey Potter had a friend named Frank
Lamm who had never flown C-82‘s, but
had extensive experience flying C-119‘s.
Another friend of Tracey‘s, TR Proven
was added as co-pilot with Jack Fastnaught filling out the crew as flight engineer. All three had significant multiengine experience, with Frank‘s logbooks
alone totaling over 30,000 hours. The
FAA was convinced and gave the crew its
blessing to make the flight! Now if they
could only figure out how to pay for the
fuel required to fly the airplane to
Hagerstown.
Landmark Aviation, a major fixed
base operator (FBO), helped solve the
problem when they made a significant
donation toward the fuel for the flight. It
was just one of those serendipitous
things. Frank Lamm was at a wedding
and was telling the story about the upcoming flight to an old friend, who just
happened to be an executive with Landmark. The friend offered up his Landmark credit card which put many gallons
of gas in the fuel tanks. If only all of
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life‘s problems were solved so easily!
The ferry flight was almost anticlimactic, with the crew departing Greybull
on Thursday October 12, 2006 and arriving at Culpepper, Virginia, late Friday
afternoon after fuel stops at North Platt,
Nebraska and Ottumwa, Iowa. After participating in the annual Commemorative
Air Force Capital Wing airshow on Saturday, October 14th, the aircraft departed
Culpepper for Hagerstown on Sunday
morning the 15th. After joining up with
two T-6 aircraft at Winchester, Virginia,
the three aircraft formation proceeded on
to Hagerstown, where Frank gave the
large welcoming crowd a thrill with a few
low flybys. The weather was perfect on
this beautiful October day as former Fairchild workers now in their 80‘s and 90‘s
were brought to tears to see and hear the
last flight of a C-82 they had helped build
sixty years earlier.
Mission accom-
plished…the C-82A was safely home at
Hagerstown!
With the Packet safely at Hagerstown,
the museum could now focus its attention
on former RCAF C-119G N8093, which
had been donated to the museum by Bob
Stanford in December 2006. A week
after the auction in Greybull the museum
received a call that the high bidder on C119G N8093 had backed out and it was
available, again! All the money raised
had been spent on the C-82 and the museum reluctantly had to decline the offer.
The next day Bob Stanford called, knowing the museum‘s desire to also have a C119 Flying Boxcar, and offered to buy
and then donate the aircraft to the Hagerstown museum. Bob was so impressed by
the efforts to preserve the C-82 that he
felt this C-119 should also come home to
Hagerstown. Bob is obviously a true
―airplane guy‖ and deserves a lot of credit
for stepping up to the plate and saving
this historic aircraft!
C-119G N8093 was one of over
1,100 C-119‘s built at Hagerstown by
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C-119 N8093 at Greybull, WY., awaiting repair for the flight to Hagerstown, 2007
Fairchild Aircraft and was delivered to
the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1953 as
serial number 22111. After retirement
from the RCAF, the aircraft was bought
by Hawkins and Powers, which used it
for aerial firefighting. Even airplanes
have their 15 minutes of fame and this
aircraft reportedly starred in the 1989
movie Always with co-stars
Richard Dreyfuss and Holly
Hunter. Having been retired
from firefighting and movie
roles, the C-119 was put out
to pasture at Greybull with
over 50 of her retired peers
including PB4Y-2 Privateers, P2V Neptunes, C-119
Boxcars, KC-97 Stratotankers, C-130 Hercules, C-118‘s
and an assortment of other
miscellaneous aircraft including a C-82, F-27 and A-26 Invader.
Prior to the August 2006 auction, Greybull most definitely represented the foremost collection of vintage military aircraft outside of Davis Monthan AFB!
The museum now focused its
attention on the formidable task of making the aircraft airworthy for the ferry
flight back to Hagerstown. They surveyed the aircraft in August 2007 and,
while the aircraft was in reasonably good
condition, there were a number of issues
that would have to be addressed and corrected before the flight could be undertaken. A fundraising campaign was initiated and enough money had been raised
by September 2008 to allow work to begin on the aircraft. As with the C-82A,
B&G Industries was contracted to get the
aircraft ready for the ferry flight. Work
performed by B&G included repair of the
right prop; replacement of a number of
cockpit windows; floorboard replacement; main landing gear tire and brake
replacement; removal of the auxiliary jet
engine; engine oil cooler replacement;
fuel tank inspection/repair; left prop oil
leakage repair and bird nest and snake
removal. In addition to the work performed by B&G, one aileron and the ventral fins were removed from the aircraft,
refurbished by museum volunteers at
Hagerstown and shipped back to Greybull. Engine runs and gear retracting
testing were performed in October and by
early November the aircraft was ready for
the flight to Hagerstown.
Crew selection was a little easier
this time with C-82A ferry veterans Frank
Lamm and TR Proven volunteering to
take the C-119G east. Rounding out the
crew was Galen ―Sonny‖ Seal who performed flight engineer and videographer
duties. Frank and Sonny had flown together 50 years prior flying Boxcars in
Japan and hadn‘t seen each other since.
The plan was for the aircraft to arrive at
Hagerstown on Sunday November 16th,
where a welcoming ceremony was
planned. The weather wouldn‘t be quite
as cooperative as it had been for the C-
82A flight with the crew departing Greybull at 10:20am on
November 12th, just ahead of incoming bad weather. While
they had departed Greybull in light rain, the weather was better
when they landed at Grand Island, Nebraska three hours later
for an overnight stop. The next day‘s flight took them to St.
Louis, where they were held up for two days because of bad
weather. While the C-119 was fully capable of all-weather
flying while in USAF service, FAA rules stipulate that ferry
C-119 lands at Hagerstown Regional Airport Nov. 15, 2008
flights must be undertaken in VFR conditions and the crew was
forced to wait for better weather.
It was now Sunday morning and the aircraft was still
in St. Louis with a very iffy weather forecast for the last leg to
Hagerstown. The crew reviewed current weather conditions
and forecasts for the planned flight route and decided to set out
for Hagerstown via a more southerly route through Tennessee
to skirt the worst weather. Four hours later, after joining up
with escorting aircraft at Martinsburg, West Virginia, the veteran aircraft arrived safely at a very cold and blustery Hagerstown Airport. On hand to greet the aircraft and three-man crew
were over 800 hardy souls, many of them former workers at the
Fairchild plant. A total of $95,000 had been spent for the restoration and ferry flight, including $12,000 for avgas. By the
time the aircraft arrived at Hagerstown 450 donors had contributed $80,000 and hopefully the balance could be raised shortly.
The museum online store has a very interesting DVD on sale
for $19.95 documenting the restoration and flight from Greybull to Hagerstown. Proceeds from the sale of the DVD will go
towards the C-119 fund.
In addition to the two former H&P aircraft, the museum‘s
aircraft collection includes eleven aircraft currently housed in
hangars around the Hagerstown Airport. This collection includes a 1928 Kreider Reisner KR-31, Fairchild UC-61C, North
American T-6, three PT-19A‘s and a PT-26. The museum is
looking for the donation of a Fairchild F-27 and C-123 to add to
its collection of Fairchild produced aircraft.
The museum is looking for a permanent home at the
Hagerstown Regional Airport. For more information regarding
th e museum,
ch eck out
its websit e
at
www.hagerstownaviationmuseum.org . I‘d like to thank Kurtis
Meyers and John Seburn for their assistance in preparing this
article. I look forward to great things from this fledgling organization…their accomplishments have been truly impressive!
Flight crew Sonny Seal, Frank Lamm and TR Proven
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Remembering Our Aviation Heritage
The C-119 Flying Boxcar at War,
“A Bridge from the Sky”,
by John L. Taylor Jr. USAF
One memorable day in the fall of
1950 rumors spread through the personnel
at Sewart Air Base, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, of a dramatic transition in the base
activities. We were ordered to send a telegram to our loved ones indicating we
would be out of touch for an indeterminate amount of time. All this had to happen without divulging what we had already suspected, deployment to the Korean War Zone.
The days passed quickly as the base
prepared for the eventual move. The
flight crews were advised earlier than
most when the inevitable day would arrive. Their duty was obvious, that of flying the squadron aircraft from Sewart
AFB to Japan. The aircraft would be
modified to increase their fuel capacity
with the addition of auxiliary fuel tanks
installed by Fairchild in Hagerstown,
Maryland.
Since I was not a member of a flight
crew, never having been assigned to that
position when I was transferred from the
37th to the 50th Troop Carrier Squadron, I
became part of the ground support personnel. A group of us received orders to
report, with all our belongings, to the
flight line where a Fairchild C-82 Packet
awaited. We were a solemn bunch as we
boarded the aircraft, still unsure of where
we were going and as the pilot gave us a
pre-flight lecture, we put our faith in his
ability and the reliability of the aircraft.
After a refueling stop at Waco AFB,
Waco, Texas, we arrived in San Francisco
and boarded a Flying Tiger Lines commercial DC-4 for the ten hour flight to
Hawaii, our first stop en route to the Far
East. Our apprehension alleviated regarding our destination, we settled down with
the typical rumors of the unknown future.
Our next stop for fuel and chow came
another ten hours later at Wake Island, a
Pacific Ocean atoll made famous early in
World War II for the battle between the
Japanese Navy and a small garrison of
U.S. Marines that was stationed there
before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Although outnumbered and outgunned, the Marines held on without support until overwhelmed by Japanese
forces.
Only three acres of sand, the island
still held symbols of the war, with rusted
ship hulks on the beaches and a Japanese
tank abandoned behind the mess hall
where we had chow. Not much real estate
for the sacrifice of the Marines lost there.
We landed at the Tokyo, Japan, airport after a total of fifty hours flight time
from San Francisco and immediately
boarded trucks for the short trip to Tachikawa Air Base. A Fairchild C-119 Flying
Keep the Heritage Alive
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Boxcar was waiting for us and after getting squared away with the luggage identification and the personnel manifest, we
departed for Komaki Airdrome, a Japanese fighter base during WWII, now a
staging area for the 314th Troop Carrier
Group aircraft as they arrived from the
states. We had been sent there for the
express purpose of removing the auxiliary
fuel tanks from the C-119s before the
planes could be considered ready for service. After our work was finished, we
were ordered to prepare for transportation
to our assigned stations.
The 314th Troop Carrier Group, now
designated the 314th Combat Cargo Command, aircraft were assigned to Ashiya
Air Base, Kyushu, Japan for cargo delivery between Japan and Korea as required
for the support of the war.
After a side trip to Nagoya, Japan, our
first sightseeing venture, we were transported by a C-119 Flying Boxcar to
Ashiya AB for ground support assignments with our individual squadrons.
Some of us, including myself, reported to
the 50th Troop Carrier Squadron area and
Share your story
were billeted in one of the tents located
behind the regular barracks because of
space limitations. I suppose the squadron
wanted us separated since we were designated TDY (temporary duty) to the base
maintenance squadron where we formed
the nucleus of the engine build-up operations.
When the Pratt & Whitney R-4360
engines that powered the C-119s required
replacement, they were removed by the
aircraft crew and flight-line personnel as
required and transported on engine stands
to the engine build-up facility. There, we
stripped the usable parts from the faulty
engine, including the exhaust system, the
electrical wiring harness, the starter, generator and other accessories, which were
then tested for operational efficiency and
accepted or replaced as required. The new
engine was removed from its shipping
container and assembled to the operational configuration by the build-up crew.
After inspection, the engine was returned
to the flightline for installation on the
aircraft.
A BRIDGE FROM THE SKY
Shortly after our arrival at Ashiya Air
Base, the war escalated dramatically
when, following the surprise landing at
Inchon, Korea, by our troops led by Gen.
Douglas MacArthur, a counter attack by
the Chinese Communist Army at the Yalu
River shocked the Americans and the
Republic of Korea Army (ROK).
Undetected by the U.S. Forces as they
advanced toward the 38th Parallel, the
Chinese Army assault forced a withdrawal to the area of the Chosin Reservoir, where the U.S. Forces were unable
to contain the Chinese advance. Supplied
by C-119s from Ashiya, Japan, and
Yonpo, Korea, the American Forces held
as long as they could. However, it was
inevitable that they would be forced to
withdraw to the Hagaru-ri, Korea, area to
regroup. The extreme cold caused many
casualties despite supplies coming by air.
A small airfield had been scratched out of
the frozen ground near Hagaru-ri and Air
Force and Marine cargo aircraft evacuated the wounded, saving thousands of
lives. To make the situation worse, the
road south of Kot‘o-ri, near Hagaru-ri,
was blocked by damage caused by the
Chinese Army in their attempt to prevent
the American, British and ROK from
reaching the coastal town of Hungnam
and safety.
Realizing the problem they faced, the
1st Marine Regiment contacted Combat
Cargo Command and asked for help. The
Air Force, realizing how crucial the situation was, immediately dispatched eight C119 Flying Boxcars from Ashiya AB to
Yonpo, Korea, each aircraft carrying a 30
foot, two ton Bailey Treadway Bridge
span. Army personnel rigged the bridge
repair sections with parachutes and one
section was test dropped to insure proper
operation.
At dawn on the morning of December
8, 1950, the C-119s left Yonpo for the
Hagaru-ri, Kot‘o-ri pocket where the embattled troops awaited relief. Flying at
800 feet altitude, the aircraft flawlessly
dropped the eight spans to the Army engineers who, within a day, repaired the
bridge and opened the road to Hungnam
where ships waited to evacuate the estimated 15,000 trapped Marine and Army
troops. The bridge from the sky saved the
day.
C-119s continued dropping supplies
as needed and also were utilized for mass
airdrops of airborne troops as required by
Gen. Mathew Ridgway who, in March of
1951, replaced Gen. MacArthur when
MacArthur was recalled by President Truman. The fighting escalated back and
forth in the vicinity of the 38th Parallel
with the ROK capital of Seoul changing
hands four times. Areas such as the Punch
Bowl, Heartbreak Ridge and Pork Chop
Hill became infamous as the war progressed through 1952 and into 1953. Finally, on July 27, 1953, the Armistice
Agreement was signed ending the war.
For the Air Force personnel who were
stationed in Japan, with the exception of
the Combat Cargo Command crews that
flew missions back and forth to Korea,
the war seemed distant. However, it cannot be denied that ground support is always required for aircraft repair and
maintenance and no less pride was involved in the accomplishments of the
personnel who kept them flying.
I returned to the states for discharge
on the troopship U.S.S. General Wm.
Mitchell, and an enjoyable cruise it was.
With my discharge pay, I chose to fly
home from California and I welcomed
luxury afforded by the beautiful Lockheed Consellation, the Queen of the Sky
in 1952 cross country to New York City
and then a bus from NYC took me home.
I moved to Hagerstown, MD, in 1962
and started work at FairchildAircraft as an
inspector in 1966. When the A-10 program ended, I decided to continue working in the bonding facility at Plant 12, and
when Fairchild sold the plant to Rohr
In dustr i es
in
1987, I retired.
I came full circle
from my military
service with Fairchild C-82 Packets and C-119
Flying Boxcars
back to where
they were conceived.
Send to: Hagerstown Aviation Museum, 14235 Oak Springs Rd, Hagerstown MD 21742
9
Remembering Our Aviation Heritage
My European
Tour on a
Fairchild C-119
in November it was a bitterly cold
place to be.
After a 30 day leave I reported to
Sheppard AFB, Witicha Falls,
Texas ,where I spent 6 months learning the basics of an aircraft mechanic.
By Ron McAllister Sr.
Clear Spring, MD
During a recent fly-in at the
Hagerstown Airport I met John Seburn at the C-82 exhibit and showed
him some pictures I took in Europe
while doing my overseas tour with the
USAF.
Being in my seventies, I thought it
was about time someone other than
friends and family saw them. I joined
the Air Force on September 22 1952
and took my basic training at
Sampson AFB, Geneva, New York.
The training at that time was twelve
weeks. The base, located on Lake Geneva, was on the edge of the lake and
At graduation I was assigned my permanent duty station,
Donaldson
AFB, Greenville, South Carolina. The
base held two wings of aircraft with
one having the C-124 Globemaster, a
four engine, two decked plane and the
other, the 465th Troop Carrier Wing,
whose primary aircraft was the
Hagerstown-built C-119CF.
The wing was to deploy to Europe
at the end of 1953 and was supposed
to take everything they needed to operate with them. We did maintenance
on our planes during the day, and at
night we worked in what we called
Keep the Heritage Alive
10
the ―Box Factory‖ packing everything
we needed to operate in Europe.
At the end of November, 1953, we
left Donaldson for Europe and flew
from there to Dover, Delaware,
spending three days waiting to get
into Goose Bay, Labrador. At Goose
we were weathered in for another
three days. From there we flew to Keflavisle, Iceland, stayed over night
and left there for Prestwick, Scotland.
We were fogged in there almost a
week before leaving for Wiesbaden,
German.
On leaving Prestwick we flew into
a flock of seagulls and were afraid
one would go into the carburetor air
intake which may have caused us to
crash, but lucked out in that respect.
We arrived in Wiesbaden Christmas
Eve of 1953.
Because our permanent Air Base
was still in the building stage by the
Army Corps of Engineers, our wing
Share your story
was split up. We went to ToulRoseires AFB, Nancy, France. The
782nd Squadron went to Wiesbaden
and the 781st went to Munich Germany.
On arriving at Toul-Roseires it
was like living the day after the war
had ended. We slept in 8 man huts,
heated by a tent stove and ate in a
mess hall where we were given World
War II ―C‖ rations. We bathed in water heated in galvanized water buckets.
We were part of the 12th Air Force,
322 Air-Division, part of the then
U.S.A.F., Europe. Our mission was to
help train our Army in Europe. We
hauled troops and their equipment
while they were on maneuvers.
We would fly into abandoned
Luftwaffe bases, pick up soldiers, fly around for about a
half hour and land at the same
base where they would capture
that base.
Our other job was to supply, or re-supply NATO bases
all the way from Bodo, Norway above the Arctic Circle to
air bases in the then French
Morocco. I was what was
termed an in- flight mechanic.
My job was to refuel the plane
and, when needed, repair them if a
mechanical problem arose. It was a
great job for a 19 year old county
boy!
As an example, one of our trips
started at one base in France, flew to a
depot at another; loaded and flew to
Madrid Spain then the next day flew
to Casablanca, French Morocco. We
then went onto Wheelers Field, Tripoli, Libya and on to Athens, Greece,
Rome, Italy and finally to Munich,
Germany. One last leg over the English Channel to Burtonwood, England
and a short hop back to our base in
France found us home again.
I lost an engine on only 2 trips,
one in Oslo, Norway, the other over
the Mediterranean between Athens
and Libya. They sent me new engines
in a can, which I exchanged on the
airplane. It took me two weeks for the
engine changes.
Our version of the C-119 had two
Pratt & Whitney R4360 Cubic inch,
28 cylinder engines. Later aircraft had
Wright 3350 compound engines with
power recovery turbines. They were a
great aircraft built for the job they
were doing. I enjoyed every day I
flew on them and felt thankful to the
people in Hagerstown for their great
job!
Coming in the Next Issue!
The amazing career of James Martinez, Fairchild Industries last Test
Pilot will be explored in the next
issue of the New Pegasus magazine. Jim Martinez, a graduate of
the U.S. Naval Academy went on
to become one of a handful of Naval aviators that became official
Navy Test Pilots, flying some of
the fastest and most advanced aircraft of the 1960s. His career in the
Navy and a few years flying commercially culminated in being
named Chief Test Pilot for the
Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II in
1977. Look for the full story of this
highly talented man in the next
issue of the New Pegasus!
Send to: Hagerstown Aviation Museum, 14235 Oak Springs Rd, Hagerstown MD 21742
11
Remembering Our Aviation Heritage
Richard A. Henson - Part 1,
The Early Years
Richard A. Henson was born in 1910 in Hagerstown, Md., and
was raised in the village of Paramount by Frank and Ora Belle
Henson -- both of whom were business owners. Their influence
upon their third child stayed with him throughout his lifetime.
From Ora Belle, who owned a ladies hat and dress shop, he
learned to appreciate fine clothing and
the art and value of dressing well.
From Frank, who ran a coal and ice
business and applied his accounting
education to bookkeeping for the dress
shop, he learned to put all of his talents to good use and to work hard.
From both parents, he learned deep
and abiding religious beliefs that he
practiced in his daily life.
By the time young Richard (Dick)
was 17, he knew he wanted to pursue
a career in aviation. After completing advanced mechanical
training at Mountain Park Institute in North Carolina, he re-
Four owners of the C-2, Henson, second from left, 1931
mother, to raise the $375 he needed. Immediately after taking
possession of the airplane he began taking pilot lessons and soloed in 1930. The next year Dick acquired his commercial license which allowed him to fly passengers for hire.
While Dick was pursuing his newly found aviation love, the
Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company had been purchased by Fairchild Aircraft Corporation that quickly began, on a small scale,
to manufacture aircraft again. Sherman Fairchild, founder and
president of the newly arrived company, asked Dick to accept
the position of test pilot for the aircraft that the company was
producing. For forty dollars per week he tested and made reports
for each aircraft that came off the line. Although Dick was mak-
ing very good money, especially good during the Depression, he
continued to offer charter flights and rides to paying customers.
Somehow, he also found time to manage the Hagerstown Airport's grass field as a sideline business.
In 1932 Dick purchased the Blue Ridge Flying Service and
turned to Hagerstown. The Kreider-Reisner Aircraft factory
where Dick had planned to work had ceased production due to
the Depression. Not dissuaded, he convinced three friends to
help purchase a Kreider Reisner C-2 Challenger airplane for
$1500. For his part, he had to obtain a loan, co-signed by his
Henson Flying Service shack, 1932
renamed it Henson Flying Service, managing the operations
from the airport while continuing test flights for Fairchild. As
his flying business increased, Dick built a small white and green
building to house his center of operations on the field and added
several airplanes to his stable: a used Brunner Winkle ―Kinner‖
Bird biplane in 1934 and an Aeronca C-3 just a short time later.
12
Henson at desk
in the shack.
1932
1934
During this time, his combined flight hours at Fairchild and
those with his flight business allowed Dick to quickly earn the
government‘s top rating of an Airline Transport Pilot. In 1936 he
became a member of an exclusive group named ―The Caterpillar
Club‖ ,a dubious ―badge of honor‖ to which admission was reserved for those who were forced to bail out from an aircraft and
parachute to earth.
Throughout the 1930s Dick continued to make most of the
first flights on aircraft that Fairchild
produced, suggesting modifications
and improvements on many. Dick
had the final say whether an airplane
was fit to be delivered and he took
his job very seriously!
By the end of the 1930‘s Dick had
a vibrant business both at Fairchild
and managing the Hagerstown Airport. The beginning of war in Europe
in the summer of 1939 set both Fairchild and the Airport on a different
path, one that would lead Fairchild to
develop a much needed primary
training aircraft and the airport to
become a training center for pilots…
1933
Dick Henson had positioned himself
at the center of it all!
Interior view of
Henson Flying
Service shack.
1932
A Happy Customer Takes his First Airplane Ride
Henson in PT-19, 1940
Richard A. Henson - ‖The War Years‖, Part Two of
the series, will appear in the next issue of the New
Pegasus magazine.
13
Eight and One-half Decades
Ago………A Time Remembered
Eighty five years ago fifteen year old Thelma Alexander was
hired by Ammon Kreider to come to work for the KreiderReisner Aircraft Corporation. Thelma left the business college
she was attending in downtown Hagerstown and joined the office staff at the aircraft manufacturing business. At sometime
during 1926, a panoramic photo was taken of Kreider-Reisner
employees, but Thelma did not see the finished photo before her
employment ended.
When Thelma turned 100 years old, the museum discovered
that she had worked for Kreider-Reisner and an appointment for
an interview was scheduled for February 16, 2011. The museum
had in its collection an undated panoramic photo of KreiderReisner employees taken sometime during the 1920s and it was
possible that Thelma was in the picture. We were also hoping
that Thelma could provide us some first person recollections of
the company that has not existed for eighty-two years. An excerpt from the interview follows:
Museum:‖ Would you tell us something about your time at Kreider-Reisner.‖
Thelma: ―I don‘t have too much I can tell you. I was only fifteen
years old when I went to work for Kreider-Reisner. Mr. Kreider
came to the school to pick out somebody to work in his office.
Lew Reisner had the drafts for an airplane and Mr. Reisner furnished the money. There were only three of us in the office but
there were a lot of people who worked there at the time, many of
them really young boys. The boys started at fourteen years old
and their wages were fourteen cents an hour. Fifteen year olds
got fifteen cents an hour and I got eight dollars a week. There
were only a few older men at the time. Mr. Lew Reisner‘s daddy
was the stockroom boss and he gave out tools as they needed
them. They would come to him for them. And Henry Reisner
was the boss in the painting department. And the boss over the
14
shop, the superintendant, was Mr. Seiler. I think he got seventyfive dollars a week. The first test pilot was Clever…Clever…
Clever… I don‘t know why I can‘t recall his last name. There
were several older men and they were getting thirty-five cents an
hour. But of course no one was getting too much money at that
time. That was in 1926.‖
Thelma continued recounting in great detail her time at Kreider-Reisner, providing the museum superb first person, primary
source material. At the conclusion of the interview, the panoramic Kreider-Reisner employee photograph was placed in front
of Thelma:
Museum: ―We are trying to date this picture. Do you recognize
anyone in the photo?‖
Thelma: ―No………I really don‘t.‖
Museum: ―Of the young ladies dressed in white, do you recognize the center one?‖
Thelma: ―I…….. think……… so……….maybe‖.
Museum: ―You think
so?‖
Thelma:‖Yep…………
that‘s me!‖
Thelma continued to
identify familiar faces in
the picture and connect
people to jobs. When she
came to the test pilot, her
face lit up,
―Reynolds!!!...Clever
Reynolds!!‖ Even after eighty-five years, her memory did not
fail her.
After her time with Kreider- Reisner, Thelma held other jobs,
married Cecil Brown, raised four children and has reached the
century mark. The museum profusely thanks Thelma Brown for
permitting us to probe her memory and record, first hand, a part
of Hagerstown‘s aviation heritage that happened eighty-five
years ago.
Henry
Reisner
Thelma
Alexander
Mrs.
Brown
Spielman
1926
2011
Ammon
Kreider
Lew
Reisner
Fred
Seiler
Clever
Reynolds
1926
Drafting Room
15
Women workers at Fairchild Aircraft in Hagerstown
build wings for the PBM
PBM wings are painted at Fairchild Aircraft
16
Building the Martin PBM Mariner
Special trailer designed by Sullivan Trucking to haul finished PBM wings from Hagerstown to the Martin Aircraft
factory in Baltimore, MD
PBM’s being assembled during WWII in the Martin Aircraft factory in Baltimore, MD, awaiting wings from Hagerstown.
Martin PBM Mariner wings being assembled in the Fairchild Aircraft factory at the Hagerstown Airport during WWII.
17
Martin PBM Mariner RC Model Donated to Museum
The beautiful radio controlled model of the famous WWII Martin Mariner PBM was
donated to the Hagerstown Aviation Museum in November, 2009, and a short time later
John and Ruth Nicolaci of Marion, MA, arrived to present the model to the museum.
John began building models around 1930 and progressed from rubber band powered
balsa and paper models to highly sophisticated and superbly engineered models.
John flew the PBM for thirty-four years around the United States and also interna1938
1938
tionally. Always a crowd pleaser, the PBM was often flown at naval aviation reunions
where it brought back many memories for the naval aviators of WWII and post-war
years. Although the museum does not plan to continue flying the PBM, you can go to the museum website, HagerstownAviationMuseum.org, and watch John putting the Mariner through its paces.
While John was from Massachusetts and PBMs were built at Martin Aircraft in Baltimore, Maryland, both John and the plane
are connected to Hagerstown. During WWII Fairchild Aircraft in Hagerstown had a subcontract to build the wings for Martin‘s
PBM. Initially they were constructed in the large poultry exhibition hall at the Hagerstown Fair grounds. Later they were constructed in a new Fairchild factory. Regardless of where they were built, transporting them from Hagerstown to Baltimore was a
daunting task. Sullivan Transportation devised a trailer that transported the wings to Baltimore. Once the wings arrived in Baltimore, John was responsible for inspecting them. Not long after John and Ruth donated the PBM, John lost his battle with cancer.The museum is honored to continue to present John‘s superbly crafted model of the famous PBM to the public in recognition of John‘s outstanding craftsmanship and his life-long love of aviation.
1974
2009
18
Boy Scout Troop 2
By Scott Schneider
Photos by R. Mike Schaefer
A stunned silence falls over the group.
None of the adult leaders or volunteer
pilots expects a twelve year old boy to
answer the question, ―How does a wing
produce lift?‖ with the reply, ―Bernoulli‘s
principle‖. This young boy is a member
of Boy Scout Troop 2 of Hagerstown who
recently visited Hagerstown Regional
Airport to fulfill requirements for the
Aviation Merit Badge. The Scouts of
Troop 2 spent several of their weekly
meetings in classes learning about the
principles of flight, navigation, pilot certifications, famous aviators and aviation
careers. To complete their requirements
they needed to visit an aviation museum,
take a flight in an airplane or take a tour
of an actual airport. Little did I know, as
Aviation Merit Badge Counselor, that the
Hagerstown Regional Airport community
would come together with such enthusiasm to help these boys earn one of the
least earned merit badges in the MasonDixon Council.
Aviation Merit Badge
To attain the rank of Eagle Scout, the
highest rank in Scouting, boys are required to earn twenty-one merit badges
throughout their Scouting career. These
merit badges are divided into two categories, required for Eagle rank and nonrequired for Eagle rank. The required
merit badges are those that most nonscouts would think of - First aid, Camping, Emergency Preparedness, Hiking and
Citizenship.
The non-required merit
badges consist of more career oriented,
hobby and sport interests. These nonrequired merit badges are intended to
keep the young boys in good physical
fitness, mentally sharp and introduce
them to several different career opportunities that they may not be exposed to as
thoroughly in school. Among these nonrequired merit badges is Aviation.
It was at a Scouting banquet around
Christmas when Tom Hoover, Scoutmaster of Troop 2 based at Otterbein United
Methodist Church in Hagerstown, asked
me if he could bring his boys out to the
airport some Saturday to have a look at
the museum‘s aircraft collection. I told
him, ―I think we can do better than that.‖
We began the discussion of having the
entire Troop take Aviation Merit Badge
in the spring, with the culmination being
a visit to the airport complete with museum aircraft tours and airplane rides for
all the boys. ―Wait a minute! Airplane
rides for the boys? How am I going to
pull that off?‖ I said to myself. I was sure
that the rest of the museum board would
be OK with having the Scouts come out
and go through the two ―Boxcars‖ and
some of the smaller airplanes, but where
was I going to come up with rides?
That‘s when I contacted Mark Hissey of
the Experimental Aircraft Associations
(EAA) local chapter to inquire about
Young Eagle Flights. The EAA sponsors
Young Eagle Flights for kids eight to
seventeen years of age to receive a free
airplane ride. Mark was happy to assist
with my request and after trading several
e-mails back and forth, Mark, Tom and I
were able to get all of the paperwork
straight so that the EAA lawyers and the
Boy Scout lawyers were both happy. We
also decided on a date to have this aviation extravaganza. May 14th was chosen
because of the likelihood of more favorable weather conditions. Little did we
19
know that Mother Nature had other plans
for that particular day. The next step was
to get the official OK from the Hagerstown Aviation Museum Board of Directors to have the Scouts come out and tour
the airplanes.
This would be a rare experience for these
boys.
In between all the Scout meetings, Board
meetings and e-mails, I stopped by the
Pittsburg Institute of Aeronautics‘ open
house of their Hagerstown campus at the
Top Flight Air Park. As I was walking
through the facilities, I began to think,
―This would be great to have the scouts
come through here.‖ What college would
say no to a group of local middle school
and high school kids coming through
their new campus? I was told to speak to
Mel Williams, the campus director. I
introduced myself and began explaining
what I was working on. Before I could
finish he replied, ―I want them to come
visit us‖.
With that I had all the pieces together.
We were finally ready for May 14th to
arrive.
I had spoken to Jack Seburn, Secretary of
the Hagerstown Aviation Museum,
through e-mails and he had told me that
the museum would enjoy helping the
boys earn their merit badge. One of the
museum‘s goals is to introduce local
young people to aviation and local history. Who better than a local Boy Scout
troop. At the next board meeting the
Scout visit was on the agenda to be discussed. I thought I was going to have to
really ―sell this‖ idea, but I was wrong.
The board was very excited to have the
troop come and tour the aircraft. The
discussion of the scouts visit continued
when Tracey Potter,
president of Hagerstown Aircraft Services,
offered to give the
boys a tour of his
maintenance facilities.
It was really starting to
come together. The
entire idea of Aviation
Merit Badge is to
show young boys the
vast career opportunities available in the
aviation industry.
Most people don‘t
think of all the mainteScouts learn how a propeller works at the PIA Hagerstown
nance and administraCampus.
tive positions available
in aviation. This will give the boys that
exposure. Tracey also said that he had a All of the participants had been watching
contact at Cape Air, the shuttle service the weather all week. The forecast was
that provides flights from Hagerstown to not looking good for flying. Saturday
Baltimore. ―We may be able to get them finally came with low level gray clouds
rides in their airplane‖, said Tracey. This and the feel that it could rain any second.
is great! Not only will I have lined up So, unfortunately the boys‘ flights had to
one ride, but the possibility of two rides! be cancelled, but we would soldier on
This is turning out to be a good day.
with the tours as planned.
That same evening, Tracey gave me contact information for Todd Willman, the
Mid-Atlantic Regional Marketing Manager for Cape Air. I explained what I was
planning and Todd, a former Scouter
himself, was very enthusiastic about having the boys come up to the terminal,
experience ticket counter procedures, go
through TSA screening and take a ride in
their Cessna 402. A lot of the boys have
never flown commercially let alone at all.
20
We gathered first at the Top Flight parking lot to begin our tour of the Pittsburg
Institute of Aeronautics (PIA) Hagerstown Campus. Mel was very welcoming
and took the boys through the school‘s
facilities. All of the boys enjoyed sitting
in the small helicopter and airplane that
PIA has for demonstration purposes. It
gave the boys a chance to see the control
surfaces of the airplane move and how it
affected the direction of flight.
During our time at PIA, the skies finally
opened up and the rain started.―Well, we
are definitely not flying now‖, I said to
Gary Hill, one of the Assistant Scoutmasters. He said that he has a cousin who
works at the control tower and, if he‘s
working today, he might be able to give
the boys a tour. That would be perfect!
There are few people who get to see the
inside of the control tower. I think this
would be a suitable replacement for an
airplane ride.
As Gary made his phone call, we thanked
Mel and pressed on to Hagerstown Air-
Boys were able to inspect the museum’s
PT-19 up close during their visit to
Hagerstown Aircraft Services.
craft Services where we dodged the rain
drops as we ran for the relative dry of the
hangers. There I met up with Mark Hissey and Curtis Berry of the Experimental
Aircraft Association. The consensus between the three of us was unanimous that
there would be no flying today, but the
pilots agreed that if the rain stopped
within the next half hour they would go
over the pre-flight checklists with the
scouts. The timing would be perfect,
Curtis Berry of EAA Chapter 36 goes
over pre-flight inspections with a
group scouts
because Tracey said that his tour of the
shops would take about a half hour.
Tracey took the boys around his shops
and explained about the different materi-
als aircraft are made of, special tools required for repairs and stories of how
some of the planes in the shop got there.
We were lucky enough to have one of the
museum‘s PT-19‘s in the shop for its annual inspection. This gave the scouts the
opportunity to see inside the cowling and
get a close up look at the Ranger engine.
At this point, the rain had stopped enough
for us to venture out from under the hangers. We divided the boys into two groups
and turned them over to Curtis and Mark
so that they could show how to pre-flight
an airplane.
Both groups were shown how to inspect
control surfaces for freedom of movement, sample fuel for type and to determine if any foreign material or liquids
were presen,t and to determine if the fuselage had any damage or weak spots.
After pre-flighting was finished, we
moved on to the pride and joy of the
Hagerstown Aviation Museum, our two
―boxcars‖. The C-82 and C-119 sat
across the ramp from Tracey‘s hangers,
Quinn Hoover, Mike Rudisill, Jared
Boppe, Patrick Vandercruyssen, Timmy
Kofoet and Levi Hoover watch air traffic
controllers guide aircraft in.
got the message from the control tower.
―Sure, come on over, I can work you in.‖
With the weather the way it was I wasn‘t
surprised. He probably wanted some
company. After taking a few photos and
thanking everyone, we mounted up and
headed for the other side of the airport.
We arrived at the control tower around
noon. The controller said that he could
take about seven people at a time, and if
there was any traffic they would have to
remain quiet. So, as a group of seven
went up, the rest of the boys dug into
their lunches. We were actually lucky
Shawn Schaefer sits in the pilot’s seat of
the C-119
so they were in view the whole time we
were there. ―When can we go see the big
ones?‖ and ―Are we going to get to go
inside those?‖, were the questions I had to
redirect while we were supposed to be
listening to Tracey, Curtis and Mark.
―Yes, now we can go look at the big
ones‖, I said. Most of the scouts were
overwhelmed by the size of the two airplanes. Many of them had never seen an
airplane of this size close up. They really
are big airplanes! The boys took turns in
the cockpits and were quizzing each other
on what the instruments were and what
they were for. It also brought back
memories for some of the adults who
remember sitting in a similar cargo bay of
a C-130 in combat seating getting ready
for deployment for Desert Shield. While
the boys were enjoying the ―boxcars‖, we
Joseph Wolfensberger and Alex Wilson
check out the cockpit of a Cessna 402
with the staff of Cape Air
that there was some action going on. As I
recall, I think each group had something
happening during their visit. There were
a few instrument flights flying through
the airspace, a departure and the arrival of
a Cape Air flight. Those not in the tower
at the time were able to listen in on my
hand radio that I had tuned into the tower
frequency. After the last group came
down we, once again, piled into the cars
and headed for our last leg of our tour, the
Terminal.
their next experience. The boys would be
given a ―one time‖ boarding pass at the
Cape Air desk. They would then go
through TSA screening and then be escorted out to the ramp to check out the
Cessna 402. The distribution of boarding
passes went smoothly enough, except for
the Scoutmaster‘s son who had somehow
ended up on a watch list! After that was
straightened out, we headed for security.
We had told the boys to leave pocket
knives at home and to leave their backpacks in the car, so minus the re-tying of
hiking boots, TSA screening went well.
The boys were then able to go out on the
ramp where the two Cape Air pilots gave
the scouts a tour of the aircraft. Many of
the boys got a chance to sit in the pilot
and co-pilot seats and have their picture
taken. After one last group photo, we
said thanks and good bye to the folks of
Cape Air.
All in all, a successful, although wet,
Aviation Merit Badge tour. Aside from a
few last minute reports to be turned in, all
of the scouts of Troop 2 have earned their
Aviation Merit Badge and have learned
more about the aviation industry and local
aviation history then they would have
anywhere else. Not only were we able to
award merit badges that day, but we were
able to give a group of young people a
look at the inner workings of a live airport and show them the heritage of this
particular airport. A heritage that we as
locals can be proud of.
I enjoyed my experience as Aviation
Merit Badge Counselor and look forward
to doing it again in the future, possibly
having scouts from multiple troops coming together for classes from the local
council and even neighboring councils. It
would bring some well deserved attention
to our airport community and an awareness of our local aviation industries. But,
as I have found out, it can only be successful with the support and generosity of
the airport businesses and the continued
support of the local community.
Todd Willman greeted us at the Cape Air
desk and explained to the scouts about
21
Alvin Ray Johns and His Experimental Airplanes
Part 1 – ―The Green Demon‖
By Joseph E. Boyle
Excerpts from an article by
Kent A. Mitchell
Alvin Ray Johns was born on November 30, 1917, to Cecil
and Dorothy Johns in Orrstown, Pennsylvania. He grew up on
his parent‘s farm and was always interested in things mechanical. As a teenager, during the long Pennsylvania winters, Ray
had fun building propeller-driven ice sleds that were pushed by
Model ―A‖ Ford engines and laminated wood propellers that
Ray carved himself.
Propeller Driven Ice Sled
It seemed the natural progression that his thoughts turned to
flight as Ray was infatuated with stories of WW1 pilots,
Lindberg, Wiley Post and the other famous aviators of the era
and their exploits. He decided to design and build his own airplane. His power plant was a 1928 Harley-Davidson V-twin
motorcycle engine.
He
completed
and taught
himself to
fly in this
plane
in
1934. He
had several
accidents
with
the
plane
on
First Airplane
short hops
around the family farm and scrapped it after shearing off the
landing gear and damaging the wooden fuselage beyond repair
during a hard landing. The Harley-Davidson engine only produced approximately 25 horsepower, which was marginal to say
the least, for a plane that Ray admitted was ―overbuilt‖ due to
his lack of knowledge and experience. It flew because of Ray‘s
small stature but probably never got out of ground effect.
By 1937, Ray was working in a machine shop in Chambersburg, PA, and started flight instruction in a forty horsepower J-3
22
Cub. He funded the lessons by skipping meals. Ray now decided to build another plane that would have adequate power.
The power plant of choice for this new plane was a used Model
―A‖ Ford engine that he modified with a full flow oil system of
his own design that provided pressurized lubrication to the main
and connecting rod bearings. He cut weight everywhere possible and got the engine weight down to about 180 lbs.
Ray ran the completed engine, named the ―Tornado F-4,‖ for
hours to test endurance. He then completely dismantled the engine and painstakingly inspected every part. Ray said that after
completing the inspection, ―I knew that I had an engine that I
could trust my life to in the air‖. The 200 cubic inch engine
produced about 65 hp at 2000 to 2100 rpm. That much power
was adequate for a two place airplane.
Ray filled the second seat before the plane was built when he
married Rachael Cramer on January 3, 1938. ―Peaches,‖ as she
was affectionately known, was to be Ray‘s lifelong partner.
Ray designed an all wood, open cockpit, high wing parasol
plane with side by side two place seating that was similar to the
Pietenpol Air Camper that also used a Model ―A‖ Ford engine.
First Ray made a wing rib jig, then the ribs. The fuselage was
laid out on the basement floor of his parent‘s home. During this
time, Ray was visited at his shop by Paul Witmer, who became
interested in the project and became Ray‘s regular assistant and
lifelong friend. When the project outgrew Ray‘s basement shop,
it was completed in a vacant storeroom below Paul Witmer‘s
apartment. After many late night work sessions over 13 months,
the plane‘s component pieces were covered in fabric, doped,
painted green and the landing gear, engine and the propeller that
Ray had carved were installed on the fuselage. The plane had a
wing span of 32 feet, was 17 feet 6 inches long and weighed 550
lbs.
After taxi tests in a field adjacent to the store room, the
wings were removed and the plane, now fondly named the
‖Green Demon‖, was moved that night to a field next to Ray‘s
home.
The wings were re-installed by headlight and the plane was taxi
tested again, then tied down for the night. Ray remembers as he
was having breakfast the next morning and he and Paul were
discussing the upcoming first flight, his mother warned them to
be very careful as Ray had very low hours to be test flying a
plane that had never been flown before. ―Mother always had
faith in me as I had made many things before and they always
worked out all right.‖
At the field, Paul and Ray checked the ―Green Demon‖ over
and. After putting on the motorcycle helmet and goggles that
Ray had bought ―for flying in an open cockpit job‖, Ray climbed
in and buckled the safety belt. Paul pulled the prop through until
the ―Tornado F-4‖ fired. Ray then ―charged up and down the
field a number of times to check if it would really fly - once actually at about two feet off the ground.‖ Once satisfied that the
controls were effective and the rigging OK, Ray taxied to the far
eastern corner of the field, turned west and ―gave her the gun
full power.‖ The tail came up and after going over a bump, the
―Green Demon‖ was airborne. ―I climbed out of the field at a
slight angle until I had 1200 feet altitude and then banked
around very shallow to come back over the field. As I circled
me I was wanted in the front office – something or another about
my plane. I knew about what was coming. As I
entered the office, I was introduced to a Mr. Anderson of the
Civil Air Patrol. He asked if I would show my aircraft to him.
After work I took him to the field – he looked the craft over,
complimented us on the work we had done and took notes for
his report. Next we went to my home where I had the machinery and tools that we had used to build the craft. My father followed us and on overhearing what was said, told him to be light
on me – with a war raging in the Pacific and in Europe they may
need boys like me before the war was over. Mr. Anderson only
said that he would turn over his report to the Civil Aeronautics
Authority for their evaluation.‖
―In a few days, I received a letter saying I was to appear before the CAA at the Harrisburg State airport. The next day I
appeared as ordered at the CAA office and was introduced to a
Mr. N.J. Rogers and two other gentlemen. Mr. Rogers asked to
see my pilot‘s license. The only thing I had to give was a student pilot permit. He stared at it for a long time and then said,
―I‘ll keep this‖ and placed it in his desk drawer. Rodgers looked
up to me and said to sit down and tell him all about why I built
this plane. I told him the whole story – that my ambition was to
fly and this was the only way I saw that I could do it.
He told me to go home and write the same story and
send it to the CAA in Washington, DC. This I did
with the help of my father. Weeks went by and I
heard no word – I was in hope that it was all forgotten
but finally I received a letter from Washington telling
me how many regulations I had broken. However, the
CAA said that they would not take any action at this
time but in the event there were future violations, the
Authority would take action on all violations. They
did advise me that if I wanted to continue flying, I was
to report to the local CAA office to discuss the requirements for having my student pilot permit reinThe Green Demon
stated. This I did the very next day – before someone
changed their mind.‖ Part of the deal was that, if
December 7th, 1941, brought changes to the quiet Tuscarora Johns liked airplanes so much, he was to report to the Fairchild
valley where Ray, Paul and the ―Green Demon‖ had been flying. Aircraft factory in nearby Hagerstown, Maryland for assignment
The Government was now operating a huge installation called to a job in support of the war effort. As Ray related the story to
Letterkenny Army Depot less than three miles from Ray‘s flying me, he appeared on the appointed day for his interview and was
field. All civilian aircraft were grounded. The little green air- taken to the office of Armand Thieblot, the Chief Design Engiplane with no tail numbers was arousing great suspicion when neer for Fairchild. During the interview, Ray told Mr. Thieblot
seen flying near the Depot. ―One evening when I got home, I that he had designed and built an airplane and had a set of plans
was told that two airplanes with red, white and blue stripes on to the ―Green Demon‖ in the inside breast pocket of his jacket.
the tails were circling over our field. They tried to land but the Mr. Thieblot asked to see the plans and they spent the balance of
strip was too short.‖ Ray decided to make one more flight in the the interview looking over the plans and talking about the plane
―Green Demon.‖
and how it performed. Mr. Thieblot was impressed enough to
―After supper I went over to the field, fired up the ―Tornado hire Ray and he was given a job in the experimental section as a
F-4‖ and took a long flight down the valley. During the flight I fabricator. Ray spent a long, interesting and rewarding career at
thought to myself, ‗this is the last flight till the war is over‘. This Fairchild until his retirement in the early 1970‘s.
gave me an empty feeling inside to think that I would be compelled to put the pride of my life in an old barn to collect dust Part 2 will feature the Aeronca K and the RASON Warrior X-3.
and cobwebs, maybe to never fly again. The next evening I was References:
told that the two airplanes with the striped tails were over our (Some quotes and information are from interviews with Ray
field again. That was enough. I went over to the field with my Johns done by Kent A. Mitchell for his article in 1994)
father, pushed the ship up to the old barn that was not in use, (Interview by the author with Gary and Bonnie Johns)
removed the wings and pushed it in on the barn floor….at least it (Photos on loan from Gary and Bonnie Johns, son and daughter
was out of sight.‖
in law of Alvin R. Johns and from the archives of the HagersAs Ray tells it, ―The next day I was on the job running a town Aviation Museum)
milling machine when the Superintendent came to me and told
overhead, I could see Mother and Dad standing in the front yard.
I throttled back and, with power off in a fifty mph glide, was
losing altitude very rapidly down to 200 feet. I went directly
over Mother and Dad. They were waving to me as I opened the
throttle wide and climbed for altitude and headed for the landing
field. I circled the landing field, came around the corner of the
woods and lined up with the strip. On the approach with power
off, the ship would descend very rapidly. Power had to be used
during the glide to touchdown and once it was down it stayed
down.‖ After additional flights, Ray claimed that the ―Green
Demon‖ would fly at 110 mph full power and cruise at 100 mph.
―The 100 mph cruise was due to the thin airfoil that I designed
and used in the wing section‖ Ray said.
It also produced a violent stall and inhibited low speed performance. Ray said that ―the stall felt like the props had been
kicked out from under you. I also found that the aileron control
was a little sluggish below 60 mph but you could keep it from
spinning very easily with the rudder. This craft had no relation
to the Cub I had been flying.‖
Paul was checked out as well after several flights and began
flying the ―Green Demon‖. The two friends logged many hours
during 1940 – 1941.
23
24
25
26
1943 Fairchild PT-19A Donation
1943 Fairchild PT-19, N46199, returned home to Hagerstown on
March 20, 2009. Piloted by TR Proven, the PT took off from Fort
Myers, FL., and three cold days later touched down in Hagerstown. The PT was donated to the museum by its owner Bob
Haas. Bob owned, maintained and flew the PT for over thirty
years prior to its donation. Since its arrival back home in Hagerstown, the PT has been admired by the public at museum events
and air shows and has participated in a number of special event
fly-overs.
The museum is most grateful for Mr. Haas’ donation to the museum’s collection of Hagerstown built aircraft.
1942 Fairchild PT-26A Donation
Joining the museum’s three PT-19s is a 1942
closed canopy version designated the PT-26. Fairchild PT-26s were developed for training in colder
climates and many, including this one, were used
in Canada. This PT-26, N67949, was donated to
the museum by Mrs. Sandra Brown and family of
Lake Ridge, VA in memory of husband and father
Pasco Brown. Mr. Brown was a retired Air Force
Colonel who acquired the PT-26 in 1989 and enjoyed many years of flying this Hagerstown built
aircraft. The museum thanks the Brown family for
this generous donation.
Homebuilt Aircraft Donations
The BD-5 Micro is a small single-seat homebuilt kit aircraft created in the 1960’s by aircraft designer Jim Bede.
This BD-5 was built by Walter and June
Green of Hagerstown MD and donated to the
museum in April, 2010. Walter is a former
Fairchild employee and both are members of
EAA Chapter 36 and the museum.
The Varieze is a composite, canard
aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. It is a
high performance homebuilt. This
Varieze was built by Robert Woodall in
1979 and was donated to the museum
in Sept. 2010, by his grandchildren
Christopher Wells of Centreville, MD.
and Pamela Stockard of Louisville, KY
The Monnett Moni is a sport aircraft developed in
the U.S. in the early 1980’s and marketed for
homebuilding. This aircraft was built by Thomas
Keefer and donated to the museum in March,
2010 by his wife Sally Keefer of Lucketts, VA.
27
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Fairch
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C-119 assembly line in the Fairchild Aircraft factory, Showalter Road, Hagerstown, MD 1951
28
ld C-8
2
Historic Collection Donated To Museum
The A. Daniel Frankforter collection of aviation photographs,
documents and artifacts was recently donated to the museum by
his sons Daniel and David Frankforter. Dan was employed by Fairchild Aircraft from 1942 until his
premature death at the age of 40 in
1955. At the time of his death he
was chief photographer for the public relations department. The museum is grateful that Dan‘s sons
donated their father‘s collection to
the museum. Dan‘s superb photographs document a significant part
of Fairchild history and the museum
is honored to preserve his work.
ane
ck Pl
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XC-1
Sherman Fairchild
2s
F C-8
USA
Fairch
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C-82 gets a kiss
Jimmy Doolittle in C-82
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Traine
r
To Donate Historic Artifacts Call 301-733-8717
29
100 Years Ago – September 23, 1911:
Pilot Paul Peck's Rex Smith Flying Machine Takes to the Skies Over Chambersburg, Pennsylvania – Twice!
ing its disassembly, Peck's plane was taken by railcar to Washington, DC, while he and his wife also rode along.
Tragically, Peck was killed while piloting a bi-plane less than a
year later (on September 11, 1912) while representing the United
States in an aerial trophy race in Chicago. He was not yet 24 at
2011 is the year that marks the 100th Anniversary of Flight in the the time of his death.
Cumberland Valley.
Very few photos were taken by the local Chambersburg newspaOn September 23, 1911, Col. Paul Peck of Ansted, Virgina, a
per to record these historic local flights (and few photo postcards
daring young pilot in his early 20s, came to Chambersburg, Penn- still exist). The three original images below show
sylvania.
Peck's preparation and flight over Chambersburg that day.
At the start of his career as an aviator, Peck learned to fly within
just two weeks (when Lindbergh was only 9 years old), and was
among the very first pilots ever hired for the 'new' U.S. Airmail
service. He worked as a test pilot for the Rex Smith Aeroplane
Company of College Park, MD.
As you can see from the image depicting him in the cockpit,
seated atop an old wooden crate for a seat, this truly was a case of
Paul Peck the aviator being one of those 'magnificent men in their
flying machines!'
On August 5, 1911, he was the first person ever to fly over the
U.S. Capitol Building, down Pennsylvania Avenue, and circle the
Washington Monument, thrilling crowds and covering 24 miles
in 25 minutes, setting a speed record. (Later, he became known
for his American duration record on May 24, 1912 when he remained in the air for 4 hours, 33 minutes and 15 seconds – partly
in a windstorm and blinding rain (remember, this was in 1912!).
Just eight weeks after his dramatic flight in Washington and following an air exhibition hosted by The Patriot News newspaper
in nearby Harrisburg, Peck was lured in late September to Chambersburg by an offer of $1,000 (a princely sum in those days),
paid by the local Chamber of Commerce to fly a new type of
'airship' as a public exhibition for the local townspeople.
He launched his bi-plane from a farm field northeast of downtown Chambersburg (near what is now the mall at Chambersburg
Crossing at Norland Avenue). A few minutes later, he landed in
another field on the southern outskirts of town (in a large pasture
known as 'Brandon', near what is now the Wayne Avenue area).
Paul Peck's plane is readied for its flight; he is seen
crouching at the left.
With a steering wheel and few other controls, Paul Peck sits
in his cockpit, while in the photo below, an airborne Peck flies
over the town's Square.
Photos are provided courtesy of Maurice Marotte III of Chambersburg, PA, noted local historian and author of several books
Some time later he took to the skies again – this time flying dion Chambersburg's past. His web site and information can be
rectly over the town's Square – encircling the tall spire of Central found at www.vintagefranklincountypa.com.
Presbyterian Church in the town's center and again landing in the
same field where he had initially taken off. The next day follow30
The aircraft and organizations on the following
pages are planning to participate in the
Hagerstown Wings and Wheels Expo 2011 on
October 15 & 16.
Expo info: www.WingsandWheelsExpo.com
1911 Ely-Curtiss Pusher
Bob Coolbaugh, owner and builder of the 1911 Ely-Curtiss
Pusher replica, is planning to fly it to Hagerstown for the Wings
and Wheels Expo 2011 weekend event.
Visit the Expo and see the only flying replica of Eugene B Ely‘s
1911 Curtiss Pusher on its 2011 journey across America, celebrating the Centennial of Naval
Aviation. The
Pusher will
also help celebrate Franklin County, Pennsylvania‘s 100th
Anniversary of Flight.
Flight demonstrations are planned each day. Andrew King
and Steve Roth, both friends of the Hagerstown Aviation
Museum, are part of the 1911 Ely-Curtiss Pusher Crew.
Bob and Andrew take turns flying the aircraft.
ElyCurtissPusher.com
31
Experimental Aircraft the aircraft used.
Association (EAA) Helps
―Many chilYoung People Into The dren are curious about
Skies
flying and would welMembers of local Chapter
36 of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) are
part of an effort to make dreams of flight come true for young
people.
The Hagerstown EAA Chapter 36 is participating in
Young Eagles Flights as part of EAA‘s on-going program to introduce young people to aviation. Since the program was
launched in 1992, more than 1.5 million young people have taken
a free airplane flight.
During each flight, the pilots demonstrate how airplanes fly
and the proper preparations for a safe flight. After a short introductory airplane ride, each Young Eagle receives their own logbook to record their flight and a certificate signed by the pilot
commemorating the event. The certificate is also co-signed by
current Young Eagles Chairman, Captain Sullenberger and First
Officer Skiles of the US Airways Flight 1549. Both are active
EAA member and Young Eagles pilots who have personally
flown Young Eagles.
In addition to the certificate, each Young Eagle is entered into the World‘s Largest Logbook housed within the EAA
Air Adventure Museum in Oshkosh, Wis. The logbook records
the Young Eagle, the participating pilot, the date of the flight and
Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a
Congressionally chartered, federally supported, non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States
Air Force (USAF).[2] CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded membership that includes people from all backgrounds, lifestyles, and occupations. It performs three congressionally assigned key missions:
emergency services, which includes search and rescue (by air
and ground) and disaster relief operations; aerospace education
for youth and the general public; and cadet programs for teenage
youth. In addition, CAP has recently been tasked with homeland
security and courier service missions. CAP also performs nonauxiliary missions for various governmental and private agencies, such as local law enforcement and the American Red
Cross. The program is established as an organization by Title 10
of the United States Code and its purposes defined by Title 36.
While CAP is sponsored by the USAF, it is not an operating
reserve component under the Air Force or the federal government..
Membership in the organization consists of cadets ranging from
12 to 20 years of age, and senior members 18 years of age and
up. These two groups each have the opportunity to participate in
a wide variety of pursuits; the Cadet program contributes to the
development of the former group with a structured syllabus and
32
come a first-hand experience,‖ said Poberezny. ―There‘s no
other program that
does that like EAA‘s
Young Eagles.‖
For more information on the program, contact Chapter
36 coordinator, Mark Hissey at 717- 349-7191 or the EAA
Young Eagles Office at 877-806-8902. Volunteers and contributions from aviation-minded companies and individuals support
the Young Eagles program. Young Eagle information — including an on-line version of the World‘s Largest Logbook — is also
available via the World Wide Web at www.youngeagles.org.
The purpose of this Chapter is to is to foster, promote,
and engage in education through an environment that fosters
safety and high standards in the design, construction, restoration,
and operation of all recreational aircraft, as well as encouragement to facilitate an atmosphere where all are welcome to join-in
and become a part of recreational aviation.
For more information contact:
Hagerstown, EAA Chapter 36,
Young Eagles Coordinator,
Mark Hissey@ 717-349-7191
EAAChapter36.org
an organization based upon United States Air Force ranks and
pay grades, while the older members serve as instructors, supervisors, and operators. All members wear uniforms while performing their duties.
Nationwide, CAP is a major operator of single-engine general aviation aircraft, used in the execution of its various missions, including orientation flights for cadets and the provision of significant emergency services capabilities. Because of these extensive
flying opportunities, many CAP members become licensed pilots.
The hierarchical and military auxiliary organization is headed by the National Headquarters (with authority over the national organization) followed by
eight regional commands and
52 wings
(each of the
50 states
plus Washington,
D.C. and
Puerto
Rico). Each
wing supervises the individual groups and squadrons that comprise the basic operational unit of the organization.
Hagerstown Civil Air Patrol meets every Tuesday evening,
behind Nick's Airport Inn, from 7 to 9 PM. Our address is 18621
Jarkey Drive and if you would like more information please call
Lt Col Barry McNew, CAP at 717-762-2962. At the present time we have 40 Seniors and 60 Cadets at our squadron.
Warrior Aviation is comprised of a team of individuals and assets assembled
together to bring rewarding opportunities to those who have served their country and
sacrificed tremendously in the process, yet still strive to give even more of themselves. Sgt. Neal Duncan put it best when he said, ―I can provide the will and
strength but there has to be opportunity.‖ Warrior Aviation aims to be the provider
of that opportunity, allowing Sgt. Duncan and his fellow veterans to return to a productive work life and solid economic citizenship. As an experienced team of aviation
enthusiasts and business leaders, we have assembled a five-part program designed to
create and deliver opportunity: 1. Enrollment 2. Training 3. Mentoring 4. Job
Placement Assistance 5. Recruitment.
The Warrior Flight Team provides both the Enrollment and the Recruitment portions
of our program. These components are designed to expose new candidates to their
options and potential career paths, and ultimately enroll them into our empowerment programs. We reach out to veterans groups
who have interested wounded veteran participants and solicit their
participation in our public awareness campaigns and honor ceremonies.
We conduct these campaigns at large well-attended events like air
shows and sports contests where millions of people can publically
recognize and honor the veterans for their sacrifices. The wounded
warriors can enhance their own healing process through the social
networking aspects of these large public events and through renewed
camaraderie with fellow veterans who have had similar experiences.
We work with many veterans organizations to solicit participation
from their registered members so they may be included in the opportunities we provide.
For more information: Phone; 240-397-9750,
Website; www.WarriorAviation.org
Dedicated to Preserving the Memory and Legacy of the Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949
The Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation is dedicated to preserving the memory and legacy
of the greatest humanitarian/aviation event in history, The Berlin Airlift.
Our Mission is to preserve this memory by preserving several aircraft used in the great event
and creating "Flying Memorials and Classrooms" with the purpose of educating the public
about this pivotal, yet forgotten, event in world history.
Founded in 1988, the Foundation has obtained and restored to flying condition, a Douglas C-54E transport aircraft, that
helped support the C-54's which carried out this great mission. Named "SPIRIT OF FREEDOM", the aircraft is painted
to represent the 48th Troop Carrier Squadron, one of the many groups which carried out the event. Inside, the
"SPIRIT", is a genuine museum dedicated to the Berlin Airlift, filled with artifacts, displays, and information explaining
this all important event in recent history.
Sincr 1996, the Foundation has also taken on
an even BIGGER challenge: The Boeing
C-97. This large 4-engined aircraft is one of
only 2 left flying in the world today. The
Foundation purchased this aircraft in 1996, and
is planning to create a flying exhibit dedicated
to the Berlin Airlift and the Cold War.
For more information: Phone 732-818-0034
Website: www.SpiritofFreedom.org
33
Branching Out in Hagerstown
By J. Mader
Every organization defines itself by establishing its mission
and by setting the goals it needs to achieve that mission. By its
very nation, Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA) operates
with three specific goals in mind. First and foremost, as a private
-non-profit entity, PIA must be able to sustain itself without external assistance. Stories of high quality organizations that failed
financially and no longer exist are legendary. Second, the school
must be able endow its students clients with the skills needed to
be successful in the career field of their choice. PIA prides itself
in its alumni, the people who afford the school the reputation it
currently enjoys. Graduates, in turn, benefit from quality education received. Third, PIA must avail its industry clients of the
human resources necessary to be successful. If the technicians
acquired from PIA are valuable assets to the organization and
there are no enough of them to be effective, all parties involved
suffer.
Enrollment at the Main Campus in West Mifflin, PA has
reached and maintained a plateau in recent years. And although
the school is sustaining itself financially and continues to present
a quality education, it is not achieving its third goal of providing
the aviation industry with the requisite number of entry-level
technicians. Thus, PIA has decided to pursue a policy of expanding its student population by adding more locations. The
Youngstown-Warren Campus, which opened its doors in August
2006, continues to grow, and is reaching the enviable problem of
running out of space. Another branch campus has recently
opened in Maryland.
The Hagerstown Branch Campus is situated on the Hagerstown Regional Airport. It currently occupies 11,000 sq. ft. in the
Top Flight Airpark, a building that formerly housed the Fairchild Aircraft Company‘s A-10 Thunderbolt II production line.
The new location‘s immediate neighbors include Sierra Nevada
Corporation, Augusta-Westland Helicopters, and Rider Jet.
These on-field employers are eager to reap the harvest of technicians who will flow from PIA‘s newest affiliate. The school
began classes on April 29, 2011 and this first group graduate on
August 17, 2012.
Opening a new location is always a major endeavor. First,
34
the necessary approvals must be obtained, in this case from the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Maryland Higher
Education Commission (MHEC) and the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC). The approval
process for each of these regulating agencies is divided into two
components, an initial phase when a great deal of planning and
operational procedure is revealed, and a second phase when the
final details, including an onsite inspection, are realized. PIA
completed the initial phase for each entity and received the accompanying approvals to continue from all three agencies. After
the initial endorsements were received, equipment and staff was
acquired. Most importantly, experienced and qualified staff
members have been hired and are helping to build out the facility.
PIA‘s Hagerstown Campus offers both full-time and parttime training for aviation maintenance technicians in the form of
a 1900hour, FAA-approved curriculum. The full-time program
can be completed in 16 months, and the part-time course of
study in 32 months. Completers will receive a diploma and authorization to test for their Airframe and Power Plant Certification. Students will be able to use federal financial aid to help pay
for tuition and living costs. Those who wish to acquire an associate degree can transfer to the Main Campus for only six
months and add that credential to their resumes.
PIA looks forward to the addition of this high quality learning site where it can provide its two most important clients, students and the industries they serve, with the skills and resources
that they both need to be successful, and in so doing, continue to
achieve its mission.
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley speaks at the
Grand Opening of PIA’s
Hagerstown campus.
Dr. James Mader,PIA’s
Director of Education,
speaks to audience at the
April 30 Grand Opening.
Support The New Pegasus
magazine by sponsoring a
display ad in the next issue!
Call 301-733-8717 for
more information
Hagerstown
Flight School
HagerstownFlightSchool.com
CraigPaving.com
35
Support The Museum !
DONATIONS
VOLUNTEERS
You are invited to become a supporter of the Hagerstown
Aviation Museum, an IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt, non-profit organization, by making a financial donation to the museum. Since
the museum is staffed entirely by volunteers, your donation directly supports the operation and continuing activities of the museum. Your financial donation will contribute to the preservation
of Hagerstown‘s aviation heritage and ensure that future generations will learn of the men and women who created that
heritage.
The museum, an all volunteer organization, greatly appreciates
the time and talent contributed by its past and present volunteers.
It is only with their loyal support that the museum has been able
to continue its mission of preserving and presenting Hagerstown‘s rich aviation heritage. Additional volunteers are always
needed, and you are requested to consider joining the museum‘s
volunteer ranks. Help is needed to catalog and index the museum‘s collection, to keep the office running smoothly, to assist
in marketing and promotion, to help at events, to help move and
maintain aircraft and a host of other activities. If you are able to
donate some of your time, please contact the museum by phone,
301-733-8717, by letter or by email,
[email protected]
See the past four issues of the
New Pegasus magazine online at:
www.HagerstownAviationMuseum.org
Support the Hagerstown Aviation Museum by becoming a member!
Museum Membership Form
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HAGERSTOWN AVIATION MUSEUM
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The Hagerstown Aviation Museum, Inc. is a 501C3 non-profit corporation
36
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The New Pegasus, No. 5 2011
Gift Shop
Order Now !
“HAGERSTOWN– REMEMBERING
OUR AVIATION HERITAGE”
3 DVD COLLECTION
DVD #1: Hagerstown, Maryland, has played a
significant role in the history of aviation. For
more than eighty years, local men and women
designed and built aircraft that made Hagerstown one of the leading centers of aviation
manufacturing. Recently discovered images and
rare local film footage document the pioneering
days of Bellanca, Kreider, Reisner, Fairchild and
Henson. See how the massive expansion of
Fairchild Aircraft during WWII, the development
of the C-119 “Flying Boxcar” and the world famous A-10 Thunderbolt II shaped the Hagerstown community and the world of aviation. Follow aviation historian Kurtis Meyers on a journey
to discover the people, places, planes and
events that shaped Hagerstown’s aviation heritage. This film preserves a vital part of the community’s aviation history and commemorates the
hard work and dedication of those who lived it!
DVD #2: Included in this Collectors Edition set is
a Bonus DVD of rare, original films of the C123H
STOL, F27, Porter, FH1100 helicopter, the A10
“Warthog”. These promotional films show Fairchild’s amazing aircraft in operation and highlight
the abilities that made them unique. Interviews
with Richard “Dick” Henson are also included.
NEW BONUS DVD #3: See Hagerstown Aviation
Museum activities. Last flights of the museum C82 and C-119, ride in the PT-19 ans more. 54
minutes Broadcast on Maryland Public Television (3 DVDS) $30
Fairchild Aircraft embroidered logo. Museum name on back. Tan & Maroon $15.00,
Blue & Gold $20.00
(Additional hats available online)
Companion book to the documentary.
164 pages. $22
C-119 Hagerstown Homecoming
This commemorative DVD highlights the C-119’s donation by Bob Stanford in 2006, the extensive inspection
and repair required to make the Flying Boxcar ready for
its flight, ride along with the crew and the emotional
Hagerstown Homecoming on November 16th,
2008. See the excitement of the long journey home with
over 60 minutes of video footage and still images provided by over 20 volunteer videographers and photographers. This historic flight was only possible by the generous contributions of over 450 individuals throughout the
Hagerstown community and beyond. DVD $20
"Hagerstown During World War II Images of the Maryland Homefront"
With over 370 pages and over 650 images this book
will take you on a nostalgic journey to meet the
people, tour the workplaces and experience life in
Hagerstown During World War II. This book showcases major industries, civil defense, fund drives,
education, transportation and so much more. $35
To order: Call 301-733-8717 or order online at www.HagerstownAviationMuseum.org
Or send check or money order plus $5.00 shipping to:
Hagerstown Aviation Museum, 14235 Oak Springs Rd. Hagerstown, MD 21742
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RC Airplanes, Helicopters, Cars, Boats, Model Supplies
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For All Auto Body & Paint Needs
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