Pittsburgh History Winter 1993/94

(University ofPittsburgh Press, 1982) of AllAmerican Aviation, 1937-1953 Bettis and the Bettis site, has donated •VV.David Lewis and WilliamF. Trim- ( University ofPittsburgh Press, 1988) three volumes of material to Carnegie ble, The AirwaytoEverywhere: AHistory »Edward Vance, a historian of Cyrus Library's Room. Remembrances of : an interview with Kenneth W. Scholter William F. Trimble

Thefollowing excerpts from an interview by the author been edited forpublication. A transcript ofthe inter- withKenneth W. Scholter give a firsthand impression view is in the Archives ofthe Historical Society of ofsome ofthe people and events at Bettis Field. Now 83 Western Pennsylvania. years old, Mr.Scholter was employed at the field when WFT: What arc your memories ofthe way the field itwas known (first) as Pittsbtirjjh-McKeesport Air- was laid out and the people there? port. He knew Clifford Balland D.Barr Peat, as well KWS: The road that went by the south side of the as many others associated withthe airmail operations - McKeesport Airport was the Dravosburg- and other early aviation exploits at the field. He Homestcad Road, and on the south side of that road worked for a while at an airport in Hudson, Ohio, there was a meadow up on a hill.Itsloped up from before going to Butler in 1934 withD. Barr Peat. The the other side of the road. In the early days there was interview was conducted on June 21, 1993, and has a surplus of World War Iairplanes, and barnstorming pilots would rather purchase these airplanes for a little William F. Trimble is the author of numerous books and money buy a articles onPennsylvania aviationhistory. He isvisitingprofessor than brand-new airplane and they would ofmilitaryhistory at the AirWar College, Maxwell AirForce keep up their activities in these surplus airplanes by Base, Alabama. He was editor ofthismagazine's predecessor, barnstorming them and going into pastures and flying the Western Pennsylvania HistoricalMagazine, from 1975 to passengers anywhere there was any population. 1985. Well,it just so happened that on top of this hill

170 Rkmembrancks of Bettis Field was a nice long strip ofpasture to land an airplane. encd up and repaired again and he got out of there, One day, a barnstorming airplane made a couple of this was like planting a seed inD. Barr Peat's mind. circles around this pasture on top of the hill and He figured that there ought to be an airport around decided he was going to land in there. When he there somewhere. landed, the grass was so high that he hit a stump that WFT: DidD. Barr Peat actually help repair the was covered with high grass. He couldn't see the airplane? thing and he crashed the airplane on landing. D.Barr KWS: Well,inhis way, yes. He made himself Peat, David Barr Peat, who was an engineer who available. You hand me this and you hand me that. worked on the Liberty Tunnels as a foreman, hap- You lifthere and what-not. D.Barr Peat figured that pened to live within walking distance of this strip on his strip up there lacked any possibility ofbecoming top of the hill.He, of course, rushed over there, and an airport, so he investigated around that field. tried to help and straighten out the barnstormer's Nearby was property owned by a Dr. Nason from problems. When they finally got the airplane straight- McKeesport. He was very influential,but he was Pittsburgh History Winter 1993/94 not interested in airplanes at all. So Barr never had prominent politically down there because he had to any help from Dr.Nason. He didn't object, nor did be. At that time the bootleg business was prominent he help. He had a mansion right there on the edge of and when the state police would raid or take in some the road near the pasture where the barnstormer of these bootlegger cars, they would bring them landed. But when you're on top of that hill you look down to the police station and they would immedi- down over Dr. Nason's house on the road, and ately house their cars in CliffBall's garage. 00 there's a beautiful nice big pasture there. And this was About that time, when Iwas at the airport, Iwas owned by a farmer and well-to-do McKeesport man doing all kinds of things, and one of those things was named Harry Neal, H.C. Neal. Harry Neal was quite being a "gofer." They called me "Monk." That was a guy in his own right. Barr Peat, looking down there short for grease monkey, or airplane mechanic. I and picturing a future airport, contacted Mr.Neal, cleaned the bellies of airplanes, washed what Icould who was a personal friend ofD. Barr Peat's, and they reach. When there was an empty seat on one of the got together and they decided to clear off this pasture airplanes, one of the airmail airplanes, or one of the and open it. civilian airplanes, when there was an empty cockpit in Clifford Ball was interested in aviation inhis way. one of them, Iwas in it,They all thought of me as He wasn't a rich man, but he wasn't poor either. He the kid, "Monk." When CliffBall was in the midst of had this automobile business down inMcKeesport, a getting the airmail organized with D. Barr Peat, he Hudson- Essex dealership, and he also was looking to had a brand-new Model "lFord roadster down there the future for something he could latch onto and that was confiscated and was sitting inhis garage. make monev. Cliffsaid, "Monk,Iwant you to go into town with WFT: Was Clifford Ball already interested in aviation me, down to the garage, and Iwant you to bring by the time Peat and Neal came along? back a car." Idid everything. As a kid,Iwas capable KWS No way, no way at all. He had a brother named ofdoing things on my own. Heck, I'dbeen driving Albert Ball, who had a builders' supply business in cars and many other things for a long time. I'd do all McKeesport, and Albert Balland Clifford Ball kinds of things. For instance, Dewey Noyes [one of between them had enough money that they could put the original airmail pilots] had a girlfriend who was an some money into Pittsburgh-McKeesport Airport actress in the theater inPittsburgh. with Harry Neal. They bought some equipment and WFT: That was Blanche Wilcox? hired some pilots. Ballhad two other brothers, but KWS: Yes. She was in the theater in downtown they weren't significant inaviation. Pittsburgh and Dewey said, "Hey Monk,how about WFT: Didyou know CliffBall before this other than getting the car and going down and getting Blanche just by the car dealership? when Icome in. I've got to fly to , and I KWS: No. He grew with me. Itwas a case where want Blanche here when Icome back so we can go everybody who was at that airport or had anything to out." That's what Iwould do. Anyhow, that justified do with it,Ijust was in their tracks, was on their tail. the use of the car. I'd go get parts, and I'd deliver Pretty soon they began tolike me. They took me people and get people, and do all kinds of things. I under their wing, and everybody went along with it. was always sort of indemand as somebody who could CliffBall had more political connections than the be depended on as a gofer. There Ihad a brand-new average guy in that he had this garage indowntown Model TFord— at— my— disposal.— Nowit j 1 McKeesport and it was next to the city lockup, the wasn't legal, but CliffBall didn't have municipal building at the time. CliffBall was anv trouble with that, because he was in with the police department, and Remkmbrancks of Bkttis Field reason for me to do anything else. Most kids would Ofcourse, he didn't have any trouble getting cars, have been in trouble with something like that, but because they were confiscating those cars right and not me. left. So Ialwavs had one. WFT: When do you think you took your first airplane Lovejoy was a prominent name in Pittsburgh. flight,and can you remember what kind of airplane it Most of these early fliers came from prominent was? families. Curly Lovejoy's father \u25a0BBBP^pv~~~ KWS: Ican remember that like ithappened yesterday. was No. 2 under Andrew It was so impressive to me, so important, that there's Carnegie, and he owned a no way Iwould ever forget it.But itwasn't anything mansion in Pittsburgh. Later unusual. Itwas in a Curtiss JN4D Jenny, and itwas on, they had a big write-up flown by one of the original airmail pilots, Curly about Lovejoy. I've still got Lovejoy. Curly Lovejoy is a story initself. that write-up somewhere. They WFT: What do you recall of that first flight, then? called it "Lovejoy's Folly." The KWS: Well,it wasn't anything important, like Isaid. mansion was very wellcon- It was a case of where Curly Lovejoy flew these structed; everything in that airplanes for CliffBall,and Idid these little chores for building was brought from the pilots. Curly, for instance, would borrow my overseas. Even the bricks were Model T every once in a while. Curly was quite a dovetailed together. When they guy. Curly liked to nipit up, and he was quite a guy tore the mansion down, they when itcame to having a good time. In those days, had toruin the whole thing. pilots were more or less known for that sort of thing. They could salvage none of the Well, Curly borrowed my Model T one time. His bricks or anything like that. home was inPittsburgh. He would go home even' They tore itdown, blew it up, once in a while,maybe three or four o'clock in the dynamited it. morning and he'd shake me in the hangar and say, The whole thing was on Fifth Avenue, and stood "Kenny, I'm going to take the Model T.I'llbring it empty for many years. For a time they stored Mack back in the morning." I'dbe half asleep and shrug it trucks in the living room. Mr.Lovejoy invested his off, and Curly would barge offin my Model T. money in gold mines out West, and he lost his money The next morning Curly showed up because the gold was inthe mountains but not my Model T.Isaid, "Curly, there, but there was no way to get it what happened to my car? I've got a out. So in order to get the gold out of couple ofchores I've got to do here." these hillsin the mountains, they had Curly said, "Oh, Ihad a little trouble to build a railroad to get the equipment last night coming down the hillin in for the mines and whatnot. Itjust Homestead." The darn hills are steep, broke the old man. Idon't know what you know. He came offthe top of that happened after that. Anyhow, Curly street and ran into the main street used to go to dinner infull dress and between Homestead and Kennywood Park. There tux. He was a spoiled individual but a heck ofa nice was a tractor-trailer there with an empty flatbed trailer guy. that they hauled steam shovels on. You've seen them. WFT: Had he served in the AirService during World Just as he came down over this hill(and he was War I? probably pretty well lit)and just as that trailer got KWS: Yes. He was a captain in the United States there, Curly came down the hilland couldn't get Army AirService. There were four pilots, really. stopped and he ran my Ford right into the side of There was Curly Lovejoy, Merle Moltrup, Dewey that empty flatbed trailer. He left the wheels on the Noyes, and Jack Morris. They were the four original road, but the rest of the Model T went up on the bed airmail pilots. Merle Moltrup and Curly were almost of the trailer and that was the end ofmy Model T. So identical in their backgrounds. Merle Moltrup's father Curly did himself out of a bit of transportation, and was the owner of Moltrup Steel Company inBeaver Cliffhad to figure out a way of getting another car. Falls. And he didn't want anything to do with the Pittsburgh History Winter 1993/94 — things Mr.Moltrup had in mind tor him as far as the taking the old man for his first airplane ride on the business was concerned. ground. WFT: Was he also a World War Ipilot? WFT: Now, the other pilot, Jack Morris,Idon't know KWS: Yes, he was also a World War Ipilot. that much about him. WFT: And Dewev Noves? KWS: Jack was quite a prominent guy, but he didn't KWS: Idon't know much about his family back- have the wealthy background of the other early pilots. ground, but Dewey Noyes was the pilot for John D. He was one of the first commercial operators at Rockefeller. Standard OilCompany was Rockefeller's Rodgers Field [in Aspinwall], the only operator thing. The old man, ifyou remember, used to be besides the army reserve. He had a littleHying school quite a character. Anywhere he went he always had a there. pocketful ofnew dimes. He would pass out the new WFT: It was like a fixed base operation? dimes. Dewey was incharge ofStandard Oil's KWS: Yes, only itdidn't amount to anything big. He aviation department, and he tried to get the old man had a little shanty there that he worked out ofand he in the airplane, so he'd have a little more prestige and had one or two airplanes. He'd sell an airplane on so forth in connection withhim. They finally got occasion, and that sort of thing. around to the point where they got the old man in WFT: What kind of operation did CliffBall run at the airplane. PittsburglvMcKeesport? WFT: Was this inCleveland? Is that where Noyes was KWS: Well,Cliff'Ball was very anxious and very from? willing toprogress. He wanted to very much, and he KWS: Ican't tell you where it was, but that's where knew the business was there and it was up to him to Standard OilCompany was located. Itwas Esso. The buy the equipment to take care of the amount ofmail powers that be decided that the old man ought to that was available. So CliffBall was continuously have some idea of aviation and that itwould be a looking for new equipment. Cliffhad his ups and pleasure to him and a new experience to get him in downs and a lot of them were downs. I'm jumping a the airplane. So they got Dewey off to the side and little bit further ahead here. In the old days, inorder said, "Look, we're going to put the old man in the to get his first three Waco-9s [brand ofairplane], a airplane, but you're not to take off"with that airplane. lotofother things had to be taken care of, too. When Just give him a ride around the airport in the air- Cliffbought those airplanes, he bought bare air- plane." So that's what he did. The only time he was planes, and a lot ofother things had to be purchased. ever inan airplane it was just to ride around the For instance, one of the contract requirements was airport. When he got out, Dewey helped him out of that the pilots must be furnished with a revolver. the airplane, and the first thing the old man did was Anybody handling the United States mail had to carry reach inhis pocket and give Dewey a new dime. So I one of those big 45-caliber revolvers, but at this time, remember that real well. Ididn't see that happen, but Cliffbought littlepistols. Ofcourse, they all cost Iknew all about it. Ofcourse, Dewey bragged about money, and sometimes there was a problem getting Remembrances oh Bettis Field

KWS: Well,sure. The next airplane Cliffbought was a .... Let's get to the demise of the Pitcairn [one of Ball's early airmail planes] first. Dewey Noyes got in the airplane one time and took offwith a load of mail and landed in Youngstown, or tried to land in Youngstown. The airport was called Lansdowne Field,—before the big airport we know today the airport was being built for CliffBall and the airmail. CliffBall had promoted the airmail service with the politicians in Youngstown, and the only way they could have itwas to build an airport. Dewey got in the airplane, and it was a pretty new airplane at the time, four or five months old, and... it was a bluster)', windy day, and he was cross- wind on that runway. He tried to land a couple of times, but he couldn't get that money, because Cliffhad already dried out all his the airplane down on the runway without itgetting sources. And the other thing was that those pilots away from him. It was in the midst ofconstruction were required to wear . Well,nobody— who and they had these outhouses or port-a-potties had anything to do with those— early airplanes the alongside the runway. The airplane got away from barnstormers, for instance ever had parachutes. Dewey and he hit a port-a-potty and turned the Parachutes were a luxury. airplane into a ball and that was the end of the WFT: Under the terms of the contract, you had to Pitcairn. Dewey walked away from it without being have parachutes. How did Cliffget around that? hurt. KWS: He didn't really get around it.He ordered WFT: Iwonder how CliffBall reacted to that. parachutes. There had to be at least four parachutes KWS: Well, Cliffwas pretty tough about that time. that they would use. Then there would be other spare He had all these different episodes that could have parachutes. A has to be repacked every so been disasters. The Travel Air was the next airplane. often and ithad to be aired out. Cliffordered these That airplane was used for about six months. There parachutes and they were being shipped in. In those was a pilot by the name ofEugene Cecil. There was days everything was shipped railway express. Well, the no night flying,but every once in a while a pilot parachutes came in one at a time, just before the would be coming in from Cleveland and itwould get ceremonies opening the airmail service, and the dark on him. Gene took off and he was scheduled in parachutes were down at the express office C.O.D. It at dusk. He got to Pittsburgh and got lost. The pilots pretty near delayed the opening of the airmail because in those davs would Cliffdidn't have the money to buy the parachutes. come into the airport Cliff'was a pretty shrewd operator when it came to at McKeesport using handling money, being an automobile dealer. But he the steel millconverter had dried up most of his good sources and his that continuouslv reputation was good. He always paid his bills,but it lighted the sky. They sometimes took a long time. Cliffhad a little trick. To navigated withthat. the people that he knew and that he owed any money WFT: The mills provid- to,he would write a check. He would open a bank ed impromptu beacons account, say, in some remote town over in the for pilots in the mountains that you couldn't get to. He would put a Pittsburgh area. few bucks in that bank and write a check on itand by KWS: That's right. But the time the check got over there and back again, this particular night the he'd have enough money to make itgood. When converter was down, or CliffBall needed the airplane and he had the money, something, and he missed the airport. [T]he next he wanted the airplane. The idea was to find some- morning we began to be suspicious that something body who was inproduction at the time. They built had happened. And sure enough ithad. We began to airplanes almost from a prototype standpoint. get telephone calls from the state police that there WFT: Pretty much built to order. had been an airplane flying around down near

175 Pittsburgh History Winter 1993/94

Uniontown. The Monk and a couple of helpers got you can get in on the ground floor." So Aldid. He in the Model T and started to look for the airplane. came here. He had a Waco-9 ofhis own and he In those days itwasn't a problem to follow an promoted a guy by the name of Robert Headland airplane because anybody would hear an airplane that who sold dynamite for Du Pont. He bought this sounded funny, or it was making a turn, or some- Waco-9 and Albarnstormed that around here locally. thing like that. Everybody knew there was something WFT: Did Litzenberger flyfor CliffBall? wrong and knew where itwas. We kept asking KWS: No, he flew for TWA for a while. But then people. They said, "Oh yeah, the last we saw it,it was Litzenberger was the instigator and he got a job with going that way." We just pot-lucked the roads, and we found the airplane. The Travel Airwith Gene Cecil init finally came to Chestnut Ridge. We asked, and someone said the last they heard it was on top of the mountain. We followed what information we could get from different people and we finally came to a farmhouse and went in and asked the farmer about the airplane. He said that he had heard it.He said ifyou go right over there to that field, that's where we saw ithit. Sure enough, we went over there and the Travel Air was upside down. Itwas in the wintertime, and the ground was frozen and he hit a fence just as he made his approach and it went over on itsback and poor old Gene's head was down in the frozen ground about 6 inches. After we found that there was nothing we could do for him, we went through the general practice ofgetting the corpse out of the airplane and taking the airplane apart. We went back to the farmer and asked him why he hadn't gone out to see ifhe could help the man; he might have saved his life. He looked at me after a little while and said, "Well,Isaw and heard this explosion, but Ithink she was a steamboat." Icouldn't figure out what that meant. That was the kind of guy he was. There wasn't a river nearby. How could he get the idea it was a steamboat? WFT: Was that the first fatality that you had on the airmail route? KWS: Yes, Iguess that was. Come to think of it,it was. WFT: There really weren't very many accidents or fatalities. KWS: No, there wasn't, because the airplanes were slow. The guys more or less knew what they were doing. Today, ifyou go in with a bigger airplane, it's inevitable that it's going to killa lotofpeople. WFT: Tell us about AlLitzenberger. KWS: AlLitzenberger was from the state of Washing- ton. He and his brother Carl were barnstorming pilots who came to Butler. Idon't know just how it all came about. He came through a man named J. Warren Smith, who worked for C. P. Mayer at his field inBridgeville. J. Warren Smith was an early barnstorming pilot who worked for C. P. Mayer and he needed a couple ofpilots, so he got in touch with Aland he barnstormed withAlin the early days somewhere out inOhio. So he said, "Come on, Al, come on down here to Pittsburgh. You can do some flyingdown here. There are some jobs available and Remembrances of Bkttis Field

Mesta Machine Co. inHomestead. The Iversons were solidated Coal, and other corporations would look in charge of, or owned, Mesta Machine, and some- over at their boss and say that guy at so and so got an how or another Alpromoted them to buy an airplane. airplane and we've got tokeep up with the Joneses, Their original airplane, Ithink, was a Lockheed 12. so we've got to buy an airplane, too. They didn't That was the first corporate airplane in the Pittsburgh know anything about aviation. And who did they district. They based it at , have to go to? AlLitzenberger. He knew all about it. and Alwas the chief pilot.From then on all the So all these other companies came to Alto find out corporations, like the oil companies, GulfOil,Con- what kind ofan airplane to get and what kind of a Pittsburgh History Winter 1993/94 crew and where the crew was available. Itgrew into their nextplanned stop on the route to St. Louis. quite a thing tor Al. KWS: D. Barr Peat was close with Major Thomas Lanphier, who was the commanding officer at Selfridge Field. Major Lanphier would commute back One ofthe major events in Pittsburgh in the summer and forth from Selfridge Field to Washington, on of1927 was the visitof Charles A.Lindbergh. An business. He had to go down there maybe twice a international hero followinghis epic solo transatlantic month or so. He would flyin. He came from Detroit flight inMay ofthat year, Lindbergh could not go to Pittsburgh and he'd land at PittsburglvMcKees- anywhere without arousing intense public interest. Tliat port Airport. So he got to be a regular, and Barr summer, there were plans forLindbergh to take his became familiar with him. One time, Barr got the Spirit ofSt. Louis on a national tour. Inpreparation idea that they could utilize a little promotion with for that journey, the Army AirService agreed to send Major Lanphier, and said, "Major Lanphier, what if out several ofitsairplanes to survey the route and make we named the airport after one of your heroes, Cy preliminary local arrangements. An officialfrom the Bettis?" Lanphier responded, "My God, that's just Department ofCommerce, Donald E. Kevhoe, was in what we need. We'll name the airport Bettis Field." charge ofthe tour. That's how it got its name. Major Lanphier would In the meantime, Lindbergh decided toflyto St. come in and out, and he'd land there and sometimes Louis to visitMajor William B. Robertson, hisformer spend the night at the Penn-McKee Hotel. Major boss and operator ofthe contract airmail route from St. Lanphier became pretty familiar at the airport and he Louis to Chicago. With as littlefanfare as possible, was a pretty important muckety-muck and Iimagine Lindbergh and ArmyMajor Tljomas G. Lanphier left he had a couple ofgals down there. Then he came Mitchel Field on Long Island on the morning ofJune more often and stayed overnight. 29, flying a pair ofCurtiss pursuit planes. It was a hot About that time, Lindbergh had made his flight, day and there were headwinds over the mountains that and he was a very sought-after individual to the point slowed their progress and consumed morefuel than they where he was almost a phenomenon. He couldn't had planned. As a result, Lindbergh and Lanphier take a walkdown the street or anything without decided to land at Bettis Field, where they could gas up people tearing his clothes offor trying to touch him. and get something to eat before continuing to Dayton, He was the number one man in the world. Thev had crowded around these individuals. There hadn't been anybody there but the local people, a mechanic, a couple of pilots, the office gals, and Bo Phelan and myself and some other people. Some regular visitors. So they talked to us, and asked: "Where did he go? What did he do? What did he touch? Where are his footprints?" And all this crazy stuff. Finally one of the guys asked, "Didanybody get any pictures?" There was a long silence for a while. They squabbled about different things. "Didanybody get any pictures?" Finally one of the guys, somebody there who knew me and knew that Ihad a camera, said that there confetti parades and everything else.... wasn't anybody here who got any pictures. There When Lindbergh and Lanphier came in to Bettis weren't any reporters. It was a complete surprise. But Field ofcourse the first guy who saw it was Lind- he said he saw Monk witha little Brownie camera and bergh made a hell ofa fuss, saying "Lindbergh, mentioned that he thought Itook a couple of Lindbergh." Lindbergh said that they wanted to gas pictures. He didn't think Igot anything. Iwasn't a the airplanes. Major Lanphier, of course, knew what photographer, it was just a hobby. "Where's the the situation was there and he said he would like to Monk, who's he?" Cripes, everybody wanted to know get a sandwich up at the barbecue. He knew the where Iwas. Someone said that Iwas over in the barbecue was there. There was another fellow on the hangar. Geez, everybody came rushing over to me. I airport, who Ihaven't mentioned up tillnow, a guy thought they were going to tear my clothes off. by the name of William Burns Phelan. Bo Phelan. Bo WFT: You were an instant celebrity, was a ladies' man and a young fellow who had KWS: Yes. One of them said, "They tell me you had a inherited some money, who CliffBall had sold some camera and that you'd taken some pictures ofLind- stock to. Bo became part of the airport. He had a bergh. Did you get any pictures of him?" Isaid, "No, Stutz Blackhawk automobile. When the guys men- Idon't know whether Igot any pictures or not. Igot tioned that they would like to have a sandwich, the my camera. Ipaid S5 for this camera. Nobody's obvious place was the barbecue at the far end of the going to get my camera." That was like gold to me field. Bobrought the— Stutz Blackhawk around and back then, that camera. So the guy looked at me and everyone piled on Barr Peat, Lindbergh, Lanphier, all these other guys were trying to get an idea about and others got in the Stutz Blackhawk and went over my camera. One of them came up to me and said, to the barbecue to get a sandwich. They came back "You see this watch? This watch is worth $500. If and gassed the airplane and took offagain. you'll let me take that camera, I'llgive you this watch In the meantime, I'm the only one besides Bo and for security. You'd have to take the camera down- some of the other people around the field,including town and get the filmdeveloped, anyway. Is there the gals who worked in the office. Lindbergh came in filmin there?" Isaid, "Yes there's film in there. There there and signed the register and Ihad a littlebox are two more pictures on there, and Ican't afford to camera. Iwas no photographer, but my interest in waste the film." He said, "Never mind about that, aviation required me tohave a camera. Imust have You let me take the camera, and I'llguarantee that paid S3 or S4 for this little Brownie camera. Ihad ithidden in the hangar. Iran in there and got that camera and snapped some pictures every time that I thought Icould get a decent picture. Ididn't know what Iwas doing. But Idid get some pictures. After they took off, things settled down. The next morning all hell broke loose. There must have been reporters from every newspaper in the whole Tri-State area. There must have been 25 of them who came in there. They gathered up anybody who had anything to do Hmtttm with the Lindbergh visit. They Remembrances of Bettis Field you get the camera back, and I'llmake any pictures to take offagain. you want. I'llget itdeveloped and anything you want Here's what we did. Right away, Barr Peat, who printed. Ifthey're any good, you'll have first choice knew everybody inPittsburgh and being in the steel ofanything you want." So sure enough, the next business, all he had to do was run down to morning, on the front page of both papers, including McKeesport to get anything he needed. We had the the Pittsburgh Press, there were my pictures. They answer to the problem. This is a steel town, and if were the best pictures. They couldn't have been any you go along the streets today, you'll see construction better had a professional photographer taken them. and these big steel plates that cover a manhole or WFT: You said you scooped the whole media. KWS: Iscooped the whole media and Ieven got a pic- ture where he signed the register, Charles A.Lind- bergh. Holy cow,anybody would have given their right arm to have had that signa- ture. Iwas real glad, I thought, "Holymackerel, it would have cost me $10 or SI5 to get these prints, and he put new film in the cam- era, and gave me my camera back." Igot to thinking about itafterwards, and if I'd been smart and had — somebody who really knew what they were doing, I something great big things. We decided we'll get a could have got $5,000 for those pictures. Ididn't get couple of those downtown, bring them up and put a nickel for them other than the fact that Iwas real them in a strip and grease them. We pushed the Spirit appreciative ofgetting the pictures developed and ofSt. Louis in that hangar sideways. We skidded it printed. It would have cost me $10 or $15. sideways. He wouldn't leave until we got that WFT: What do you remember about Lindbergh airplane in the hangar.... When he left the airport and himself} Did you talk to him at all during that visit? left the airplane there, he went downtown to the KWS: Lindbergh was very discouraged. No matter William Penn Hotel for a big party, a banquet and so where he went, he was like a dog withits tail between forth. Don Keyhoe and Mayor Charles Kline and its legs. You couldn't have any kind (ifconversation Lindbergh were in this open car that paraded be- with him, because no matter what you'd say or what tween the airport and the William Penn Hotel, where you'd try to talk to him about, it was something that they had a big banquet. he wasn't interested in. It'dbe something silly. WFT: Lindbergh flew out the next day? KWS: Yes. There wasn't any big deal there. It was just a matter ofgetting him in there and getting the On August 3, Lindbergh arrived at Bettis Field airplane out of the hangar. His next stop was Wheel- with the Spirit of St. Louis as part ofhis 22,000-mile, ing 82-city official tour. Some 10,000 people greeted him When Iwas at the airport, clothes didn't mean a when he landed, and more than a quarter-million lined thing to me. What Iwore those days was coveralls, the streets onhis route from the airport to downtown one-piece coveralls. When Lindbergh came in,or was and out Bigelow Boulevard to Pitt Stadium in Oak- going to come in,Barr Peat wanted to promote the land. event as much as possible. His sources ofmoney were KWS: One of the requirements when he brought the guys like Sam Brendel, who was a well-to-do oil man airplane in was that the airplane had to be hangared. inMcKeesport who lived in the Penn-McKee Hotel, Well, we only had that one hangar that we put the and Harry Neal and Cliffand others, and Barr had three Waco-9s in. We pushed the Waco-9s out of run all his sources pretty dry. Brendel was one of the there and said we would try to—get itin. Lindbergh's people who had a buck or two left, or was willing to airplane had a large wingspan it must have been— 50 let Barr have it.He went downtown to see Sam one feet, Idon't remember what the actual span was day, and he said, "Sam, the Monk's up there and he's but it wouldn't go into the hangar, and we wondered supposed to greet Lindbergh when he comes in,and what we were going to do. He was standing right the mayor is going to be there, too. And Monk there and ifwe didn't get in the hangar, he was going doesn't have any clothes." Sam said, "Don't worry

181 Pittsburgh History Winter 1993/94 about it.You just go down to the haberdashery in there that Icould get in out of the weather and I McKeesport and have him phone me and I'lltell him managed to find an old obsolete parachute that I to fitScholter out. Whatever he needs, give itto threw on the ground there, and that's where Islept. him." Sam bought the whole outfit. He started with WFT: What did your parents think ofyour running the underclothes and bought everything Ineeded, awav? shoes, socks, shirts, tie, the whole works. The white KWS: My dad worked in the steel mills at Duquense duck pants, and the blue jacket. Boy, Ilooked like I and he was an electrician. He didhouse wiring and owned the place. things like that. There were nine children in our family and when itcame to me personally, one missing wasn't missed. Not that they didn't appreci- WFT: Mr.Scholter, can you tell us about your earliest ate me or anything like that, but Mom didn't have reminiscences offlying? What got you interested in time to be too concerned about it,because we were flying place? very— capable —inour— own ways. in the first j / 1 KWS: Well,I'm going to pick out a time that comes WFT: Were you in the middle of the family or older or to mind. The first thing that Iremember Iwas a kid younger than the other siblings? about 15 years old. One day on a weekend Isaw an KWS: Iwas probably the latter part, Iwould say. airplane circling Duquesne, and it so impressed me When they finally did find out Iwas missing, they that Ivowed to find out where that airplane came came out to the field and were satisfied that Iwasn't from and where it was going to land. After he circled getting intoany trouble and was being taken care my hometown for a minute or two, Istarted oft"in the of.... direction toward the airport. Ijust hightailed along WFT: So you didn't finish high school? toward where Ithought the airplane was destined. I KWS: Oh no, Inever had time. Iwas—lucky to get followed it,and finally came to the airport, which as I through grade school.—To this day Ithink of it said was about a mile or two up the hillfrom the every once in a while Iwonder what Iwould have town of Duquesne. From that time on, Inever left done had Igone to school and got an education. that airport. Ifound a place to hide and sleep. There Maybe what Idid would have been an asset to my was one old wooden improvised T-hangar building career, but Icouldn't have done both.B

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