McLEAN COUNTY HISTORY & GENEALOGY NEWS
By Euleen Rickard
Orville and Wilbur Wright were printers and bicycle makers in Dayton, Ohio before making the “Wright Flyer” and attempting their first flight over the sand dunes of the Outer Banks of North Carolina at Kitty Hawk. On December 17, 1903 their flying machine made of wood, muslin and steel with a 12 horse power engine flew the first manned flight of 120 feet. Astronaut John Glenn wrote, “By today’s standards that may not seem impressive but the event changed the world and give birth to modern aviation.”
Much is being written about that novel event. Paul Chrastina wrote in Old News that in 1878 a flying toy given to the brothers by their father had sparked their interest. In recalling the day the brothers wrote, “ Our father came into the house with some object concealed in his hands and before we could see what it was, he tossed it into the air. It flew across the room until it struck the ceiling where it fluttered awhile and finally sank to the floor. It was made of a light frame of cork and bamboo, covered with paper and driven by rubber bands under torsion.”
By 1900 they had gathered information on aeronautics and on advice of Octave Chanute, a retired engineer began looking for a place with a sandy terrain for a soft landing. The U. S. Weather Bureau advised them of the windiest parts of the country and they chose Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina and it was there that they experienced their dream of flying. Their success led other inventors to steal their ideas for building airplanes and there were many legal battles. Wilbur did not see the fullness of their invention, he died of typhoid in 1912. Orville went on to build military planes for use in World War I. He died in 1948.
In the early 1930s a small plane landed in a field on the Massey farm near Island. It was an unusual happening and all the townspeople hurried to see it. The pilot would “take you up” for a dollar. Owsley Taylor the only one that I remember going was pleased with his flight and talked about it for years.
In 1940 Bowman Field offered flights over Louisville for a dollar so Sherman Ferguson, Virginia Garst, Alvin and I drove there and enjoyed a short flight. That same year the Green River froze over and Alpha Noble (Bud) Ayer startled the skaters when he landed his plane on the ice. By this time several McLean County men were interested in taking to the skies.
With Jim Barnhill as his instructor “Bud” Ayer began taking flying lessons in 1937 at the old Municipal Airport (Sheehan Field) off East Highway 60 in Owensboro. The Civil Pilot Training (CPT) program was set up at the Municipal Airport. Its purpose was to train pilots to be flight instructors. In 1942 Ayer became a Chief Flight Instructor for the Army Air Force. Jack Owens of Calhoun served as a ground school instructor in the program. The program was terminated in January 1944. In July 1946 Bud started the Ayer Flying Service at the old Municipal Airport and in 1949 moved it to the Owensboro-Daviess County Airport, located on the west side of Owensboro.
In a conversation with Jessie Abney of Calhoun, he said that he had owned six different planes but “Planes are very expensive now, one that cost $14,000 in 1960 today would cost $160,000.” He told of buying P. H. Smith’s 1940 Luscombe 8-A two-seater. He related how Mr. Smith with Mrs. Smith at his side would fly to Ann Arbor, Michigan to visit their daughter Mary Ann and her family. His navigational guide was the highways and rivers. The plane had no radio. Mr. Smith got his last license when he was 84 years old but did not fly after damaging a wing on landing too close to a cornfield that ran alongside his landing strip.
Jessie completely restored the Smith plane and changed the color of the paint. Then he and David Lowe invited Mr. Smith and his daughter out for a flight. “Mr. Smith enjoyed the flight over his farm but was never fully convinced that it was his old Luscombe” Maybe it was the color change.
Jessie spoke of other McLean pilots, Clayton Baggett and Charles Martin, now deceased, Randall Ling and Rowe Kittinger and David Lowe who still have their licenses. Jessie has his own airstrip and now owns a 172 Cessna and he and David Lowe have restored at least a dozen planes since he retired. True McLean County flying enthusiasts.
The Centennial Anniversary on December 17, 2003 will be celebrated with a reenactment of the first flight at Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina, a new exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. and an air show at Dayton, Ohio.
For more information on the Celebrations of the Centennial the following web sites are good: www.inventingflight.org, www.firstflightcentennial.org and www.nasm.si.edu and click on “Exhibitions.”