Jim Douglass

I can't start this year's newsletter as in most past years, about how great it was for the Museum and friends. We suffered the sudden and unexpected loss of our good friend Jimmy Sypherd in February. He was one of the founding members and a major source of support for the Museum. In addition to being the main push behind the DC-3, Corsair, Windmill and the Light Tower, he was the most willing worker whenever special events were scheduled. He worked very hard to make sure the Museum was presented in the best light possible. He had an eye for how things should be and he worked tirelessly, especially on the grounds and facilities, to make things right.

Following Jimmy's death a palpable quiet fell over the entire place for weeks. The regular folks were here every day and projects did move forward but there was none of the typical chatter. It was clearly a sad time around here. We still miss him greatly.

The season-opening event, the Chili-Fiesta Fly-In, was a great success. It was a nice spring day and well over 100 planes flew in as well as 400 to 500 roadside visitors. Airplane and car parking were at near capacity.

The Chili supply was challenged a few times during the day, but enough arrived with the visitors to feed everyone.

Bob Coolbaugh and Andrew King brought their 1911 Ely-Curtiss replica airplane to Massey for the event. The plane was built by the owners to celebrate the 100th anniversary of naval aviation. The plane started a nationwide tour a few weeks before and was brought to Massey for some minor adjustments before moving on. They flew the plane for the crowd. -»

And, I witnessed something I had never seen before. At the end of their last flight as the plane rolled-off the runway the on-lookers gave them a standing ovation. Thrilling!

There were no Stearmans this time but the radial engine sights and sounds were more than adequately provided by a magnificent Grumman Goose that flew in from the Western Shore. Its two 600 horsepower engines bellowed that famous radial engine sound in the finest style. It was a thing of beauty.

Schedule April 28th for the 2012 Chili-Fiesta Fly-In.

The summer flew by and the Young Eagles Day was canceled due to bad weather. We will try again, probably in August, date to be determined.

This was the third year for the Vintage Sailplane Association get-together over the Columbus Day weekend. They again brought some very special planes including some from the 1930's era. They were joined by The Experimental Soaring Association (ESA).

The Vintage group provided rides for many friends and neighbors. This has become a very popular event with our local friends who keep asking "When are the gliders coming again?", "Will there be rides again?" It's the best local good-will event we have. They will be back for four days over the Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 5th to the 8th, 2012.

The ESA group enjoyed some flying, but, their primary activity was a series of technical seminars including such things as human-powered and electric-powered flight. They were from the Penn State area where some great things are happening. -»

The Christmas/Open Hangar party was by far the highlight of the year. We were capacity-challenged in every way. We will be talking to our farmer friend about additional parking areas for this coming year. We saw a big increase in show cars and motor cycles. They make a great addition to the "show".

The food supply held up and with the help of Ann and her friends the flow kept pace. Big job, well done!

There were 158 planes by actual count. Among them were 17 war birds, five Stearmans, and a dozen liaison-type planes. Don Anthony's SNJ was as beautiful as always. They were all parked as groups and made for some great photo-opts. Check out our web page, masseyaero.org.

Aircraft parking was a great challenge. Don Hooker, Bill Dilling and Tony Saienni did a marvelous job. They were clearly over-worked and are looking for some extra help for this year's fly-ins. Volunteers anyone?

The pilots and ground handlers alike deserve kudos for a job well done. With 158 planes arriving within about 90 minutes the sky and the grounds were very crowded. At one time I saw about a dozen planes in the pattern. They looked like bees circling their nest. We have photos with six on final approach, at the same time.

Using standard traffic patterns and proper position reporting, particularly with so many NORDO's, it becomes vitally important to use good "see and avoid" practices. The best news is everyone arrived and departed without incident. Thank you all. See you next year on Dec 2nd. ...

We received a special addition to the Museum during the fly-in. A full size replica of the 1911 Wright Brothers glider was delivered by the folks from PAX River. The glider was nearing completion by Jimmy Dayton when he was tragically killed in a glider accident in Southern Maryland. His plan had been to fly it at the 100th anniversary of Orville's 1911 record- setting Glider flight at Kitty Hawk. Jimmy made many friends when he gave glider rides here at the Museum as both glider pilot and tow pilot. His wife Sheri decided we should have it here for display.

We are thankful for her kind gift and are currently finishing the project as Jimmy would have wished. It is already on display while being finished in the main Atrium of the terminal building. It has already attracted numerous fans watching its progress. Don Hooker, our first docent, is spearheading the work.

Don has also recruited Paul Kelsch to help in the docent arena. That is a 100% increase in docent staff.

We are still very much project-oriented here. A new project is the restoration of a WWII Waco CG4-A glider. It belongs to the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base. It is here for our unique skills and facilities. A small but dedicated group of volunteers from Dover comes here twice a week and has made remarkable progress on it.

The Stinson has been making good progress. I have just finished the R-680 engine rebuild. Next, when we have a little warmer weather, it will go out to Bill Bohannon's shop in Ohio to be run-in in his test cell. The results of that test run will tell how well I paid attention to Bill's instructions. In the meantime I will start the wings restoration. There is a lot of work required on them.

The DC-3 received some new effort this year. Tyler Cohen, a young engineering student at the University of Maryland, approached us with the suggestion he could make an extra credit program out of the DC-3 if we were interested. -»

Not being fools, we jumped at the suggestion. Well, what a great find he turned out to be.

Tyler worked on the DC-3 for well over 100 hours this summer. He taught himself how to use all the tools in the shop. He made replacement panels for those destroyed by corrosion. He also worked every job from museum guide to janitor.

After school restarted, he returned to help John apply a special coating on the roof of the plane. It has been out in the weather since 1937 and is a little thin in places. When the weather warms up we plan to apply a urethane coating that has been provided by Jon Goldenbaum of Randolph and Polyfiber fame.

Tyler's efforts led the way for others to show renewed DC-3 interest. Rex Kershaw, one of our 80-year-old volunteers, cleaned up and re-installed all the seats in the plane. Earl McMullin, another senior citizen, replaced all the bad windows. Doc, John, Richard Johnson, Chris Walton and others also stepped up and the plane is now better than it's been in years.

Chris Walton is another volunteer working for school credits. We are a great place for that kind of effort, if you know someone looking for that.

Ralph DeGroodt's J-3 Cub has finished a two year restoration job. Ralph saw some photos of early Cubs sold to the U.S. Navy as NE-1 aircraft. They were Cub Yellow with the national insignia on the fuselage. He chose to finish his as an NE-1. It may have something to do with his Navy background or he just likes it that way. It looks great!

Don Sloan's Citabria is making slow but steady progress mostly thru the efforts of Larry Tasker and Tony Saienni. Keeping the old guys busy! -»

The 1955 Schweizer S-2-22 glider is now finished. We painted it in Navy colors similar to ones used as training planes in the '40's. After some minor adjustments it will be ready for inspection. The Plane was originally owned by Lex DuPont. He and his son Everett came to the open hangar party and gave us a bunch of the original records for it. Thanks Lex -- they complete the file on the plane.

John's Dragonfly recently suffered some damage during a hard landing (not his). He took the opportunity to give it a referb job. Just out of the paint shop it's pretty spiffy in yellow.

Museum Membership

Here comes my annual appeal for your continued support. We do have a great thing going on here for a lot of people. And we need your help to continue it.

We are now almost 500 members strong. We have enclosed 2012 membership cards for all current and past members with the hope you will renew for 2012. For those few who have not renewed in the past we are still holding your low member number open so you can renew now and keep that low number.

For all past, present and future members; you know we are good guardians of your funds and they help bring lots of joy to lots of folks. With the recently added volunteers we are able to do more but sometimes we are "supply challenged". Please Join! Your dues will go a long way.