National Aviation Day

Long-time aviation advocate Jennings Randolph (D-WV) constantly pushed for programs to advance air travel and airport development. He sponsored the 1938 Civil Aeronautics Act. A year later, he spoke at the National Aviation Forum on February 20, 1939. His remarks, entitled Aviation and American Welfare included, “We must be alert to take every advantage of the air, to fill the heavens with pilots and with planes, to provide the factories and the technicians which we need, to inform our people of the myriad purposes which aeronautics may serve, to encourage them to use and to enjoy the benefits of flight.” 

Jennings convinced President Franklin Roosevelt to proclaim August 19 National Aviation Day. The date coincides with Orville Wright’s birthday. National Aviation Day – is a day where aviation is to be celebrated. Our National Aviation Day celebration includes recognizing those Wisconsin aviators who have been awarded the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award or the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award.

Selected for the Master Pilot Award are:
William Bancroft, Poynette (05/2008) WAHF member/supporter
Gerald Beekman, Oconto (01/2005)
William Buettner, West Bend (09/2009)
Donald Burritt, La Crosse (01/2006)
Gene Chase, Oshkosh (03/2005)
George Cudahy, Anthony NM (10/2009) WAHF inductee
Daniel Donovan, Brookfield (08/2007) WAHF member/supporter
Walter Embke, Marshfield (10/2009)
Glenn Gauger, Delavan (04/2005)
David Harmon, Greendale (02/2008)
James Igou, West Bend (12/2007)
Vilas Krueger, Clintonville (02/2009)
David Lau, Oconomowoc (07/2008)
Donald Mosher, Neenah (02/2009) WAHF member/supporter
Wallace Partlow, Jr., Hayward (02/2008)
Charles Pollard, Tomah (10/2005) WAHF member/supporter
Roland Schable, Janesville (09/2006)
William Stoeckmann, Rock Springs (04/2006)
Wilmer Tews, Cascade (09/2006)
Gunter Voltz, Milwaukee (02/2008) WAHF inductee
William Wenkman, Wisconsin Dells (06/2005) WAHF member/supporter
Richard Wixom, Janesville (09/2005) WAHF inductee

Master Mechanic recipients include:
Gerhard Buettner, Oshkosh (unknown)
Robert Converse, Hager City (unknown)
Dean Crites, Waukesha (unknown) WAHF inductee
Walter Embke, Marshfield (10/2009)
William Frisbie, Hortonville (unknown)
Raymond Goss, West Bend (unknown)
Eugene Hackbarth, Milwaukee (unknown)
Bernard Harrington, Appleton (unknown)
Frank Holbus, Greendale (unknown)
James Igou, West Bend (unknown)
Glen Krohn, Brookfield (unknown)
Donald Mosher, Oshkosh (unknown) WAHF member/supporter
Donald Nelson, Knapp (unknown)
Edward Pietrzak, Greendale (unknown)
Richard Porter, Franklin (unknown)
Roy Reabe, Waupun (unknown) WAHF inductee
Bruce Rintlemann, Milwaukee (unknown)
Nick Quint, Janesville (4/2010)

Congratulations to these gentlemen who serve as a foundation for aviation as we know it.

Who was first to fly the Pacific?

Today we celebrate the 83rd anniversary of the first trans-Pacific flight. The significance of many historic achievements is often lost when competing with current events. In this case, the crossing from San Francisco to Honolulu was overshadowed by the solo trans-Atlantic flight of Charles Lindbergh a month earlier.

The Fokker F.9 aircraft, designated C-2 by the US Army Air Corps, had been significantly modified at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Powered by three Wright J-5 Whirlwind engines, each developing 220 hp, the airplane cruised at 105 mph. The crew met with the press before their departure, this video clip is from a silent newsreel. Lt. Albert Hegenberger (navigator/pilot) is on the left, Lt. Lester Maitland (pilot) on the right. A second video shows the C-2 departing Oakland’s still under construction airport.

Maitland would land the large transport at 6:29 am on June 29, 1927 after flying 2,416 miles, all of it over water. Total flying time was 25 hours, 49 minutes. In addition to each being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the crew earned the Mackay Trophy for 1927. F. Trubee Davison, Assistant Secretary of War, said, “The flight is unquestionably one of the greatest aerial accomplishments ever made.”

The flight was described as a test flight of radio navigation equipment the Army had been developing for years. Hegenberger, an MIT graduate in aeronautical engineering, would spend his career advancing aviation technology.  Major General Hegenberger retired from the Air Force in 1949.

Maitland had a long and storied career in the military, retiring from the Michigan Air National Guard as a Brigadier General. He was director of aeronautics for both Wisconsin and Michigan. In 1956 he was ordained an Episcopal minister; he retired as rector emeritus.

Video footage courtesy the Prelinger Archives.

Fred Ascani, Wisconsin native, pilot

The challenge of being a student of Wisconsin’s aviation history is realizing just how deep that history is. Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame (WAHF) speakers are approached following every presentation. More times than not, the question people ask is, “Do you know about _________?” (Fill in the blank with any aviator’s name.) Such is the case with a recent obituary from the New York Times. An attached sticky note read, “Do you know of this guy?” My answer, no, led to some research time and, with apologies to Paul Harvey, here is the rest of the story.

 Alfredo John Ascani was born in Beloit, Wisconsin on May 29, 1917. The family moved to nearby Rockford, Illinois where Fred graduated from high school in 1935. He returned to Beloit, attending Beloit College for two years until he was accepted at West Point. Ascani graduated 24th of 424 members of his 1941 academy class. He immediately entered pilot training.

Ascani was test pilot on the Northrup X-4

Following flight school and assignment as a flight instructor, target-tow pilot, and commander of a flight training squadron, then Major Fred Ascani served as squadron commander of the 816^th Bomb Squadron flying B-17s out of Italy. Fred flew 53 combat missions before returning stateside.

Ascani served as Colonel Albert G. Boyd’s executive officer while at the Flight Test Division in Dayton, OH. Boyd would become known as the “father of modern flight test.” In 1950, Ascani moved to Edwards Air Force Base where he served as Director of Experimental Flight Test and Engineering. He was later promoted to the first Vice Commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC).

In July, 1951 then Colonel Ascani earned the Thompson and Mackay trophies by setting a new speed record. Fred was flying a North American F-86E, Sabre at an average speed of 635.68 mph.  Other assignments and promotions followed including System Program Director for the XB-70 Valkyrie. Ascani retired from the Air Force August 1, 1973 as a Major General.

Ascani biography Mentor Inbound

General  Ascani died March 28, 2010. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in June. Mentor Inbound by Sheryl Hutchinson is the General’s biography.

Happy Birthday Billy

William L. “Billy” Mitchell was born 130 years ago today in Nice, France.  Mitchell was inducted into the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame (WAHF) in 1986.

Mitchell began his military career as a private in the First Wisconsin Infantry. He soon became an officer and later transferred to the US Army’s Signal Corps. Billy learned to fly in 1916 at the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical Station in New Port News, VA. WAHF inductee Walter Lees provided Mitchell, now a major, some of his flight instruction and later soloed Mitchell. That first flight did not end well for the new pilot; the aircraft came to rest inverted at the end of the landing roll.

Colonel Billy Mitchell, DH4B

Assigned as an aviation observer, Mitchell arrived in Europe during April 1917. He became the first American officer to fly over the French battlefields. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in June 1917 and served in the AEF.

Promoted to colonel in May 1918, he assumed command of the Air Service, First Army Corps. This position gave him opportunity to fly, command, and learn air combat firsthand. Major General Mason Patrick, Air Service Commander, described Mitchell as “aggressive, courageous, and fearless.”

Colonel Billy Mitchell would lead the 1500-aircraft bombing raid against the Saint-Mihiel salient in September 1918. Promoted to brigadier general, Mitchell took command of all allied air forces in time for the Meuse-Argonne offensive in October.

While serving in Europe, Mitchell discussed the future of airpower with Hugh Trenchard of England and Italy’s Giulio Douhet. These discussions would serve as the foundation of Mitchell’s plan for a separate US air force. This air force would, in Mitchell’s vision, win the next war, single-handedly.

Speaking tour advertisement

Mitchell’s downfall was not his message but in his method. Today, Billy Mitchell is considered the father of modern airpower.

We suggest the following for further research:

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/mitchell/front.pdf

A Question of Loyalty by Douglas Waller

Warner speaks again

Arthur Pratt (A.P.) Warner was the first individual to purchase  an aircraft in the United States, the first to fly in Wisconsin, and the 11th to fly an aircraft in this country. He was a successful businessman and engineer; he was a loving husband and father. He lived in a simpler time, a time when things moved at a slower pace. He provides us, in his self-published autobiography, Making Things, reflections of that simpler time.

About the legal system
“The patent system is all wrong. Patent judges should be engineers as well as lawyers. There are

AP Warner ca 1950

often points involved in a patent that a lawyer who is not an engineer cannot understand.”

Marketing
“The more I learned about advertising, the more valuable I thought it was, but I did not think it should be confined to magazine advertising alone.”

Read more of the A.P. Warner story. Join us as we celebrate Wisconsin’s Centennial of Flight recognizing Wisconsin’s first pilot – A.P. Warner.

Wisconsin Public Television and the Warner-Curtiss

The Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) network will share the story of A.P. Warner and his Warner-Curtiss airplane. In Wisconsin reporter Andy Soth travels to Beloit where he meets the builders of the 1/4-scale replica of the airplane. Members of EAA Chapter 60 spent five months constructing the aircraft.

The program airs on Thursday, May 14 beginning at 7:00 p.m. An encore presentation will air on Sunday, May 17 at 4:00 p.m. There are six WPT transmitters throughout Wisconsin – Madison (ch 21), Green Bay (ch 38), Wausau (ch 20), La Crosse (ch 31), Menominee/Eau Claire (ch 28), and Park Falls (ch 36).

View a clip of the program at the WPT website. A transcript of the program will be available at the website after the program airs on Thursday. A press release describing this In Wisconsin episode is  available.

The aircraft replica is currently on display in the Wisconsin State Capitol. It will return to Beloit on Thursday, May 14. EAA Chapter 60’s Spring Fling Pancake Breakfast and Auto Show takes place on Saturday morning from 7 to 11. Further details are available at the chapter’s website.

Madison Air Scouts

At the age of 12, I joined the Madison Air Scouts sponsored by Truax Field, a US Air Force Base in Madison, Wisconsin. The base was also known as Madison Municipal Airport, today it is known as the Dane County Regional Airport.

Madison Air Scouts ca 1954

It was 1954, I grew up on Madison’s east side, between the Yahara River and East High School. My home was right under the flight path for Truax’s Runway 36. All the neighborhood boys playing baseball or football would stop and watch the military jets whenever they flew overhead.

I had three uncles that served in the Army Air Corps in World War II and they were my mentors. Every aviation magazine or book that I came by was read over and over. I spent hours studying the missiles and aircraft they covered.

I don’t recall how I found out about the Air Scouts, but when the opportunity presented itself, I joined. I was never in the Boy Scouts so this was my first uniform and I was pretty proud of it. We would get briefings from Air Force staff and I recall seeing many movies on life in the Air Force and of course airplanes. The movies with airplanes were my favorites.

Several months back, I was given a photo that I had completely forgotten about. It’s an official Air Force photo taken of the Madison Air Scouts in 1954. We are assembled in front of a Convair F-102, Delta Dagger. I am standing in the back row, seventh from the left, under the ‘C’ in Air Force.

My dream of flight began early in my trip on this planet and has just continued to grow over the years. At that time, in 1954, I never thought I’d be able to fly fighter jets at my home airport, Truax Field. Providence and persistence paid off and I was able to do just that. I flew the A-37 Dragonfly and the A-10 Warthog with the Wisconsin Air National Guard throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

My life-long involvement in aviation and flying only goes to prove – Where there is a will, there is a way. The dream of flight lives on…

Tom Thomas, Ram 88

Warner-Curtiss update

These parts have come together to form an aircraft

Yesterday, Wednesday, April 22, I was able to visit a construction session of EAA Chapter 60 at the Beloit Airport and see the status of the Warner-Curtiss quarter-scale model. This airplane was the first purchased by an individual in the US and the first to fly in Wisconsin. With the help of many expert hands, it’s really coming together.

work on wing structure continues

It’s been a long time coming, but steady progress and steady hands have brought it together. The quality of workmanship is outstanding. In talking to chapter members, there have been challenges where they had to interpret the plans as to how Glenn Curtiss wanted things to work out. They stuck with it and progress continued.

The aircraft is now 95% complete and will be ready for its first display at the Wisconsin Aviation Conference in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, May 5 and 6. If you are in the area, stop by and take a look at it and bring your camera.

The Beloit Daily News has written two articles, one on February 13 and the second today, April 23, about A.P. Warner, his airplane, and the Wisconsin Centennial of Flight.

Tom Thomas/WAHF Board Member

BUFF driver and an…ostrich?

Main Gate, Travis AFB, CA

I flew BUFFS before and after my year as a FAC in SEA. In about 1966, as a young copilot, my first operational assignment was to Travis AFB, where we had a wing vice-commander who was a terror.

After a half-year of this arrogant and sorry display of leadership and enough beers between us, another copilot, Todd Jagerson, who was a talented artist, and I built a paper mâche model of our own. It depicted an ostrich bending over with its long neck going between his legs and the head shoved up where the colonel’s was at that time. The sign announced “Awarded to the Worst Staff Officer of the Week,” or some such wording.

Lt. Pete Drahn, left, with his crew, 1966

The briefing room was packed with around 16 tanker and bomber crews (both coming on and going off alert) 10 minutes before Col. King made hisgrand entrance. Todd and I were tucked fairly well back in the room, but sweating bullets; seeing our careers fly out the window if we got caught.

Of course, we never told anyone and just hope the statute of limitations has run out.

Pete Drahn, Red Marker 7

Building pace accelerates

The four wing panels of the Warner-Curtiss were assembled at last Wednesday evening’s work party. The assembly took longer than first anticipated, taking about 2 1/2 hours. According to Al Draeger, project co-lead, “The size of the parts we are working with makes them difficult to handle. We need baby fingers to hang onto them.” 

Joining tailplane and wing structures

Next week’s effort will be on Tuesday and start at 2:00 PM. Keeping the builders focused on the project – dinner will be provided at the work site. A planned 7-hour work session should result in much being accomplished.

The change from the normal Wednesday build night is due a schedule conflict. Chapter members will be attending an aviation safety seminar on Wednesday evening. Typical pilots, they want to keep up on the latest aviation safety information.

Parts continue to be built at chapter member’s home workshops. The work pace will continue to accelerate as the completion deadline nears. EAA Chapter 60 meets at the Beloit Airport.