Of Wild Cargo

The Membership Newsletter for The Military Aviation Museum Winter 2015 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: “CRASH” OF WILD CARGO David Hunt Retires 2 parachute jump from the plane and then the pilot was instructed to perform a wheels-up landing on the runway. Feet Wet 2 There was no actual problem with the plane, however the Yagen in Hall of Fame 2 employees performed their duties as instructed. After the co-pilot, Roy Hurst, had bailed out, the pilot, Leonard McGee Downe, First Flights: FW-190A 3 brought the B-25 down onto the Lunken Airport runway with its landing gear retracted. The plane promptly started to slide, Planes, Trains & Santa 3 and that is how we reach the story of this above photograph. 101 Years Young 4 “B-25 Crash Lands at Lunken. Co-Pilot Jumps; Load Spring Training at MAM 4 of Snakes, Alligators Intact. A crippled twin-engine aircraft, loaded with some 2000 reptiles of a wild animal Air & Auto Classic 5 show, made a spectacular wheels-up landing Wednesday afternoon at Lunken Airport and the pilot walked away. Delegate Barry Knight 5 In a thrill-packed 15 minutes, the World War II type MATSG-33 Tour 6 B-25 plane came in, one engine dead, the other failing, with the landing gear jammed.” “Home for Christmas” 6 – Cincinnati Enquirer Newspaper, February 21, 1963 Ohlrich Memorial 7 The museum’s B-25 bomber was originally owned by Arthur Jones, the inventor and founder of the Nautilus exercise What neither Arthur, nor the pilot, had considered was equipment company. Prior to Nautilus, Arthur Jones was an what would happen when the plane was sliding down the importer of wild animals from South America, had a zoo in runway. If you look at the photo of the plane, you will see what Slidell, Louisiana, and also a television show called “Wild appears to be smoke coming out the top of the cockpit. The Cargo”. He had made movies and TV shows of his exploits aluminum skin was scraping against the pavement, producing Military Aviation Museum capturing the animals which he would later import. a cloud of dust. To the pilot, inside the plane at the time, it appeared as smoke, and he sure did not want to be in the plane www.MilitaryAviationMuseum.org In February 1963, Arthur was scheduled to do a live animal if it was on fire. So he popped the top hatch, jumped out, and show in the Cincinnati area. He was the owner of three B-25 proceeded to run down the runway in front of the plane. Look Virginia Beach Airport Mitchell bombers from the Second World War, which he used www.VBairport.com at the picture again and notice the figure of a man on the far to transport his animals. To fly them to Cincinnati, they planned right, running away from the plane. That was the pilot. As a to use one of them and land it at that city’s main airport across Fighter Factory side note, the man standing up in the photo, with his back to the river in Lunken, Kentucky. Since Arthur Jones was eager for the camera, was filming the crash. That was Arthur Jones. The www.FighterFactory.com free publicity, he therefore devised a secret plan. He would earlier co-pilot glided in his parachute across the river to Ohio, and fly into Lunken bringing along his camera equipment. The B-25 safely landed in the top of a tree in the neighboring state. Warbirds Over the Beach would announce mechanical trouble while approaching the www.VBairshow.com Lunken airport. While waiting for the plane, Arthur would set Arthur Jones succeeded in getting his publicity! q up his camera, so that he could film the resulting crash. In order to reduce the “potential loss of life,” the co-pilot would perform a By William Jones, son of Arthur Jones ♥♥ Sealed with a KiSS ♥♥ 7th-Annual 1940s Valentine’s Hangar Dance $50.00 for individuals $360.00 for a table of 8 $450.00 for a table of 10 By Jonathan R. Lichtenstein, Events & Marketing Coordinator Come dressed in your finest ‘40s-vintage fashions, Echoes of Time has furnished its customers with the in time. With a souvenir portrait, in front of one of alongside your sweetheart, as we transform our Navy finest vintage clothes. With an inventory stretching the museum’s rare warbirds, you can document this Hangar for a dinner and dance! Enjoy tender morsels back to the 19th-Century, you’ll find a wide selection Valentine’s for posterity. Prints will be available for from our dinner menu, catered by Cuisine & Company. of ‘40s-vintage threads ready to wear. Check the purchase all night long. There will also be an inventory Enjoy a live performance by the Terry Chesson Band, museum’s website for more ideas on classic hairstyles, of select items open for bidding in a silent auction. throughout this three course meal. Dinner is included clothing, and accessories. Any gentleman wanting to Proceeds from both activities will benefit the Military in the cost of your ticket, with beverage service put a military spin on his duds can buy a costume Aviation Museum. available at three cash bar stations. off the rack: khaki slacks, a khaki shirt, a well-placed Seating for the occasion is limited, so make sure shoulder patch (with a little help from the MAM’s gift You can put your best foot forward with private to buy your tickets early! Discounts are available for shop), a canvas belt, and a necktie give you the look dance lessons, from the instructors of Swing Virginia table reservations of eight or ten people. Singles are of a WWII-era uniform. At the end of the night we’ll (swingvirginia.com). They’ll turn you into a swingin’ welcome. Telephone (757) 721-7767 or go online to give away prizes to the best-dressed man, woman, and hep cat with just a few easy steps. Dress the part, too, www.MilitaryAviationMuseum.org to reserve your couple, so be sure to put a shine on your shoes! with an outfit from Echoes of Time Costumes & seats today! Make this Valentine’s Day a date to remember, Vintage (echoes-of-time.com). For more than 30-years Don’t let your date become a fleeting moment at the Military Aviation Museum. q PAGE 2 VOLUME 8, ISSUE 1 Hangar Happenings Museum Honors David Hunt By R.R. “Boom” Powell By Ed Dillingham FeetWet Gerald Yagen, David’s wife Debra and David arrive for the party. Morning assembly: (front to back) Mike Water’s ASW- 19, Boom Powell’s Libelle 201, ‘CB’ Umphlete’s To anyone familiar with the behind the scenes SGS-1-35C, Eric Lambert’s Grob, working of the Military Aviation Museum, he was the and Ed Bransford’s ASW-19B. The font of all museum knowledge. He was the issuer of buildings are the silver 1934 genuine tasking, the soother of occasionally hurt feelings, and Luftwaffe hangar, the Fighter Factory Mike Waters and myself with our Quick snap on the way up. Flat lands most importantly – based on observations of his ability maintenance and restoration facility Libelle posing by MAM’s Halberstadt of coastal Virginia (lots of landing spots) to keep the million moving parts of our organization and the World War One hangar. running smoothly – he was, always, the “Cat Herder”! CL-IV in the World War One hangar. below and the Atlantic to the right. Considered by this author as a dear friend, he was also referred to by me (with tongue firmly in cheek) as “the best first and third directors the museum ever had!” When I flew Navy jets over Vietnam, “Feet wet” flights with most reaching over 5,000 feet. (Don’t meant you were safely over the Tonkin Gulf away laugh, for us flat-landers that’s a good day.) Those To those unfamiliar with the museum, I am referring from Flak, SAMs and Migs. I never imagined I’d have who flew over the beach line experienced rapid to our recently retired Museum Director, David Hunt. a chance to go Feet Wet in a glider. Except, rather changes from 600 up to 500 down with associated To the hundreds of museum volunteers, staff and guests, than relaxing, I felt a bit edgy with nothing but the bumps and lumps. But what a view! David was always there, both figuratively and often- Atlantic Ocean underneath my Libelle. Safety, in the The Porsche Club was having its Air & Auto literally. No matter the issue, no matter the time of day form of a landing field, lay behind me over land. No Classic the same day with a couple hundred nifty or night, from the museum’s first days in ‘08, through Migs at Pungo but plenty of warbirds. some “dark times” and into 2014, he was the “glue” that automobiles on display. Many of their owners came held the museum together. Despite the long hours and For the sixth year in a row, the Virginia Beach by the TSS traveling tent to talk to club members an unenviable task load, David was always available; he Military Aviation Museum (MAM) hosted a glide-in and learn what this soaring thing was all about. had the answers, and was never without a kind word for the Tidewater Soaring Society (TSS). With a well Attendance also meant a chance to get up close to the for any of the dozens of people who passed through his kept grass runway twice as long as the TSS home sixty historic airplanes in the museum.

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