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Aircraft parking was managed by a committee of Joseph Judge
Sr., chairman, Wayne Grim, Lewis E. Emery, Harold E. Wagner, Harry Miller,
Kelly Showers, William E. R. Watt, Robert Hayer, William Powell, Kenneth
Heller, Wayne Sargent, and James Hums. Six members of Explorer Post
# 194, sponsored by the Pottstown AOPA, also assisted at the event.
Official pictures were taken by Glenn Holcombe.
Limerick Fire Company had its equipment on the field on a standby basis
to furnish protection in case of an emergency.
The all-important cooks were George Neiffer, Bob Eppehimer
from Radio WPAZ, Arden and Betty Clark. The stoves were managed by Douglas
W. Binder, Robert Fern, and Melvin Brunk. Scrambled eggs were cooked by
Dawn Boldaz, Jean Updegrove, Betty Clemens, Mary Jane Emery, Marshall Busby,
Paul Boldas Jr., and John Yingst.
Waiters and waitresses were Ann Judge, Joan Kook, John
Kook, Jim Plummer of Radio WPAZ, Marryette C. Jordan, Donald Clemens, Dorothy
Miller, Reginald J. Ryberg, Daniel L. Gerges, Gloria Hayer, Nancy Bailey,
and Donald Bailey. In charge of sodas were Irvin Slifer and Grace Vining.
William J. Weiss, John R. Flynn, Frank Lawrence, Andy Wargo and Le Roy
Updegrove took care of brewing the coffee, and coffee was sold to the non-breakfast
visitors by Frank and Dolly Timmons. Tables and chairs were loaned
by the Limerick Fire Company.
Plates and eating utensils were passed out by Paul and
Sarah Miller. Trash removal was handled by James Fulton, William and Sidney
Pollock. Ticket sales were managed by Eileen and Dennis Reider.
A display of new and used aircraft was arranged by Paul Mitchell and Andrew
R. Wargo. Richard H. Geiger, John A. Yingst and Bob Eppehirner
took care of the public address system and announced winners of more than
50 door prizes which had been donated.
The publicity committee was composed of Paul Heintz from
the Evening Bulletin, Muriel Lichtenwalner, editor of the Reporter; Dolly
Smith , editor of the Guardian, and Frank Warner of the Mercury staff.
The local club has 208 members, with 68 privately-owned
planes. Gabby Renninger's greatest desire is to promote the love
of flying and to do something for his community. Once again he's accomplished
both of his goals.
Congratulations, Gabby, and we look forward to your 27th
Fly-In Breakfast next September! |
Chapter 4
Keep 'Em Flying!
In October 1953 the Pottstown Aircraft Owners & Pilots club took
two memorable flights. There were 17 planes and 53 club members on
the club's first flight to Dover Air Force Base. This was something everyone
told Gabby couldn't be done, but he went to Dover months before the flight
and cleared away all the red tape. The planes landed on the field and members
toured the base facilities. Gabby had dinner in the mess hall for
only 60 cents.
The second flight took them on a Civil Air Patrol mission
which involved landing on the Parkway in Philadelphia. With 10 airplanes
and 22 members, the Pottstown club was the first to land and help evacuate
hospital equipment.
On December 13 of that same year PAOP was the first flying
club to land at the new Philadelphia international Airport, before it was
opened for commercial air traffic. There were 12 planes and 28 people
on that flight and members were the guests of Vic Dalin in the new airport
restaurant.
Four days later, on December 17, the club took its first
annual Wright Brothers Flight, with 9 planes and 15 members. Gabby
remembers that it was extremely cold that day and that Radio Station WPAZ
in Pottstown carried it live.
The Kitty Hawk Flyer Story
The Wright Brothers had first flown their history-making plane 852 feet
in 59 seconds in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903.
Earlier that year Samuel Pierpont Langley, then Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. had tried and failed
to get his plane in the air. In 1914 the Langley plane was reconstructed,
modified, and piloted by Glenn Curtiss. As a result of a serious error
in judgment, the Langley plane was placed in the Smithsonian and labeled
"the first man-carrying aeroplane in the history of the world capable of
sustained free flight".
The situation did not go unnoticed by Orville Wright,
who insisted that "a correction of history by the Smithsonian was essential."
Meantime, after a brief period of display in the United States, Orville
Wright took the Kitty Hawk Flyer to England in 1928, where it was displayed
the South Kensington museum. There it stayed until 1948, the year
Orville died.
Charles G. Abbot, who became Smithsonian Secretary in
1928, wrote reports on the controversy in 1928 and 1942. Finally,
he authorized a change in the label on the Langley plane. After that
it read: "The original Samuel Langley Flying Machine of 1903, restored."
Orville Wright had received a copy of the 1942 Smithsonian
report which read in part: "If the publication of this paper should clear
the way for Dr. Wright to bring back to America the Kitty Hawk machine
to which all the
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