When was the last time you saw a light sport plane and a teepee together in the same room? Why, just last month at the Cottage Grove Library! The display was a huge success and we would like to thank everyone that came out to see the Mini Coupe up close and personal. A special “Thank You” goes out to the library staff and volunteers and the city workers who helped us move the plane into and out of the library. We couldn’t have done it without you! For more photos, check out our Photo Gallery.
The Annual Meeting for members of the Oregon Aviation Historical Society is Saturday, April 13 at noon. We are going casual this year, with sandwiches and side salads to be served buffet style in the hangar. This is a great time for members who don’t get down here very often to revisit their History Center. Reservation slips were included in the newsletter and if you are planning to attend, you should mail yours in ASAP.
See you there!
Spring is upon us, and what a busy time we’re having! We’d like to give a big “Thank You” to the Oregon chapter of the United Flying Octogenarians (UFO) for having their first meeting of the year at our humble facility. It was great to see so many active “octos” in one room.
The Poplar Grove Vintage Wings and Wheels Museum in Poplar Grove, Illinois is gearing up for a big display that will include photos and information from our Tex Rankin collection. Photos have been promised and as soon as we get them, they’ll be up on the website for you to enjoy.
Like many of you, we’re still awaiting word on the result of the legislative action concerning Pearson Museum. If you would like to send a message to your representatives, you should mention HR 716. We encourage you to read the measure and the remarks made by Representative Herrera Beutler (http://www.doi.gov/ocl/hearings/113/hr716_031413.cfm) and send your comments as soon as possible. Since it is a small issue (in relationship to the national issues) it will be easy to push aside; therefore, the comments by the public are necessary to move it out of committee.
The Spring newsletter is up on the Newsletter page, and hard copies will be going out next week with board of directors ballots, annual meeting reservation slips, and membership renewal reminders (for those who have not yet renewed) all tucked inside.
Have a Happy Spring!
We are sorry to hear of the closing of Pearson Air Museum. The museum was a great source of information on early aviation and its loss will surely be felt. Our thoughts also go out to the displaced employees and to those volunteers who worked so hard on projects they loved.
For more information on the closure, visit the Pearson site here.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. If you find the site useful, or simply want to help spread the word about the OAHS, let your friends know about us!
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 5,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 9 years to get that many views.
We’re delighted to introduce you to Aero Femme, a new venture by one of our own members, Ariel Talen-Keller. According to the site, “Aero Femme was founded on the ideals to encourage and educate women of all ages to become involved in aviation, and to promote women’s contributions to aviation.” That is certainly something that we here at the OAHS can support.
We wish Ariel and Aero Femme great success and applaud her efforts at expanding aviation education opportunities for women. Please visit the site to learn more about the program.
To all of our friends and followers, we all wish you a very happy holiday season, in whatever way you celebrate it. May the New Year bring us all health and happiness.
Happy Holidays!
We’re pretty stoked here at the OAHS to announce the opening of our CafePress.com shop! For those of you who wear t-shirts, we’ve got several to choose from (and finally have ladies and kids sizes, too), and for those of you who don’t care for tees, there are a number of other gifts for the aviation history lover in your life. The shop will be an ongoing project, so check back periodically to see what new images and products are available.
The Cottage Grove Library display was quite a success, and it inspired us to do a little rearranging here at the History Center. The Jenny model you see in the header needed a little repair (and more than a little dusting), and we noticed other models that could use a touch up here and there, so we are glad to have taken them down for the display.
We put the posters on “How Do Things Fly” and “A Century of Discovery” near our small model display case, at an eye level appropriate for young people. And we carved out a little space in the library for a display called, “Oregonians in the Space Program,” which could really use a scale model of the space shuttle to look finished (hint, hint).
Thanks to the City of Cottage Grove for their help in moving the engines and to the Cottage Grove Public Library for their encouragement and willingness to let us take over their space for six weeks. Now to start thinking about what to do next year!
We just finished installing the OAHS display for 2012 at the Cottage Grove Library, and it looks great! We start with the Wright Bros, Silas Christofferson, and Hank Troh, with a little does of local history in the form of a collage honoring Jim Wright thrown in for good measure. Next we have a collection of engines and images: the Continental A-40 from the Springfield Cadet, a McCulloch drone engine, and the Le Rhone, all surrounded by images of vintage aircraft and their pilots. We’ve incorporated four of the Timeline panels donated to us by Lorraine Troh Gabel (one of which inspired the concept of “Wings to Rockets” for this display), along with a great poster showing “How Things Fly.”
In the Blue Room we are highlighting the role of Oregonians in the space program, and I’ve got to give a shout out the the fantastic folks at the NASA “Aspire to Inspire” site. I contacted them asking about female Oregonians involved in the space program and they not only directed me to Susan Helms information, but they connected me with a couple of other women with Oregon roots who are involved in non-flying aspects of the program. Great service from this group and I can’t say “Thank You” enough!
Finally, we’ve put a small exhibit in the “teen” corner, with illustrations of both early aviators and Steampunk attire, to show how the two intersect. We’ve got some flight caps, a bowler with scarf and vintage goggles, and great photos in there as well (see the header photo for an idea of what that looks like).
If you live in the area, stop by and take a look, then let us know what you want to see in next year’s display. If you don’t live in the area, go to the Photo Gallery and check out the pix we took yesterday (under 2012 Cottage Grove Library).
Click here to visit our shop at CafePress!