Welcome to the Vintage Wings and Wheels Museum 2006 Season! Here is what is new!   Kendra Helvey, our Museum Curator has been researching over the winter months to bring us some new and fascinating displays!  For those who don’t know her, Kendra is an aviation artist and has a marvelous passion for aviation and history in general.  She works to make our museum an enjoyable and educational place to visit again and again.  Working within the confines of vintage buildings is an added challenge, constantly fighting temperature, humidity and light changes.  Kendra’s dream…to some day see a climate controlled, UV protected building right here on our campus to house all our precious artifacts!  Joining her this season as a Museum Curator is Dave Stadt.  Dave is our past Museum Coordinator and now wishes to focus his talents in the area of curator.  He brings a love of research, history and a passion for telling the story behind each artifact.                           NEW ON THE CAMPUS   Slim’s Garage This building will be open for the first time this season for touring.  Inside you will find a vintage automobile dealership and service area.  Display cases will showcase artifacts from early automobile history and a 1934 Pontiac with 37,000 miles on it will be in the service area, waiting for its tune up.   Sunoco Gas Station The Sunoco Gas Station will also be open for the first time this season with artifacts from the 20’s and 30’s era.  Stop in and bring your camera to take your picture by these wonderful gas pumps outside the building.   WAUKESHA HANGAR   1940 Culver Cadet Look up! The newest edition to our collection hangs above your heads in the Waukesha Hangar!  This streamlined little machine constructed of wood and fabric was capable of hitting 140 mph wide open-not bad for 75 horsepower! It cost $2,395 when new, and was used for sport flying, CAP patrolling, Army and Navy use, and air racing. Originally designed in 1937, Culver was the first successful light plane with low wings and retractable landing gear. The brain child of Albert W. Mooney, (later of the famous Mooney Aircraft Co.), the Culver came out of a collaboration between the cash strapped Mooney and wealthy Knight K. Culver of Columbus, Ohio.   This wonderful little aircraft was donated by Mr. & Mrs. Carroll Dietz.  The Culver Cadet’s restoration was made possible by our museum Restoration Team!  Great work!                                     Women in Aviation   The display of Women in Aviation this season includes famous and not so famous ladies from aviation history. Each lady had a part in flight instruction in the military or civilian sectors.   Phoebe Omlie (1902-1975) Phoebe Omlie air raced and stunt flew in the 20’s and was responsible for the air marking program in America prior to WWII, then continuing until  today. Competing with the best in aviation, Phoebe held her own with women and men alike.  A natural pilot, with vision for the advancement of aviation in America, she worked with Roosevelt in Washington to make better laws and policies, and spoke at conferences and social gatherings for years about her adventures with Poncho Barns and the like.   Willa Beatrice Brown (1906-1992) Willa Beatrice Brown was one of the first African American Aviatrixes. Along with husband Cornelius Coffee, Willa trained many African American men who moved on to become the famous Tuskegee airmen of WWII. With her heroine Bessie Coleman as her constant inspiration, Willa spent her whole life teaching in the air and in the classroom, sharing her experiences and lessons with thousands.   Amelia Reid (1924-2001) Amelia Reid began flying in the early 40’s and went on to instruct world famous aerobatic pilots including Sean Tucker and aviation writer Rod Machado. From her FBO and flight school at Reid-Hillview airport in Santa Clara California, she inspired thousands with her charm, passion, wit and talent.   Emily Howell Warner (1939-  ) Emily Howell Warner never gave up on her dream to fly for a major airline. After her first flight at 17 in a DC-3, she gave up her idea of becoming a stewardess and began her struggle for equality in the cockpit.  Emily flight instructed and managed a flight school in Denver for years, passing on her teaching skills, and drive.  Always applying and following up trying to reach her dream, with patience and perseverance, she finally wore down her opposition.  Emily was hired by Frontier airlines, making her the first woman to make captain and continue to fly for a major airline in America.  Beginning in the early 70’s through today, with a long career in commercial aviation, she remains one of our unsung heroines of aviation.   Early History of Commercial Aviation   This display touches on the tentative beginnings in WWI surplus bombers to the aircraft of the late 1930’s.  From its start flying the mail and growing to include passengers and cargo, this industry grew by leaps and bounds in the 20’s and 30’s. Branching out to include the Pan Am China Clipper flying boats to the sturdy dependable DC3, passenger comforts moved forward as they continue to today. Stewardesses were added as well as sleeping quarters and fine dining, anything to entice the weary public to this new form of travel.   Aviation Mechanics and Engineering   Charles Taylor (1868-1956) America’s first aviation mechanic, Charles Taylor worked with the Wright Brothers for many years, first creating their innovating engine for the 1903 Wright Flyer. Today the coveted “Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award” is given to those who have worked flawlessly in the field for 50 years.   Cornelius Coffey (1903-1994) Cornelius Coffey was an inventive, fearless fellow who didn’t know, “ No “ as an answer. He began the Coffee Flying School at Chicago’s Harlem airport helping to teach future black and white aviators. He holds the patent to the engine carburetor heating system used today in modern aircraft and has a navigation intersection named after him by the FAA.   Allen Paulson (1922-2000) Allen Paulson came up the ranks from newspaper boy and janitor, to mechanic, engineer, innovator and aviation business magnate. Hard work and talent were the forces that propelled him to the top of his field. When ever he saw a need, he created an answer for it.   Marcia Buckingham Marcia Buckingham is a remarkable woman, working in a man’s world. She began working on cars in high school, and went on to work for NASA in the Space Shuttle program as a “ground astronaut inspector”.  Today, as an electrical engineer, and flight instructor, she is editor and president of the Women in Aviation Maintenance Organization.  She continues to inspire everyone around her.     Early Airfields in Illinois   Opposite the flight suit display will be early area airports both here and gone today. Photos, maps and other information will take the viewer back to the exciting early years of aviation in Illinois.   MORE VINTAGE VEHICLES AND OTHER EXHIBITS   1928 Cessna AW This aircraft is significant in Cessna aircraft    history because it marked the end of tube and fabric single engine, open cockpit aircraft.  The grandfather of the highly successful Cessna 172, the AW, with its cantilevered, strutless wing was far ahead of it’s time.  This one is the oldest known flying example of its kind.   1930 LaSalle Passenger Coupe w/ Rumble Seat This 2 passenger coupe originally cost $2,590 and only 1400 units of this type were built.  Built by Cadillac, the LaSalle was meant to be a less costly alternative, but proved to be very competitive even with its older sibling.  With a name taken from the historical explorer, the coupe’s lines and artistic qualities were to create for LaSalle the honor of being dubbed “the beginning of modern auto styling”.  GM equipped her with a “Ninety Degree V-8” which made the car fast, while it’s smaller size made it sportier and more agile.  Popular with movie stars and business owners, even in the depression years, Cadillac and LaSalle managed to hold to their standards of being among the very best automobiles produced in America.   1928 Model A Ford The museum’s drivable Model A Ford will cruise along between 45 and 50 MPH.  Henry Ford liked the model “T’s” which he made for 19 years, but his son, Edsel, talked him into manufacturing the Model “A”, which had more horsepower, so they could be more competitive in the marketplace.   1929 Chevrolet Landau Powered by the “stove-bolt six” engine, the car had a top speed of 65 MPH.  Cars similar to this were seen in many popular “gangster movies”.  Purchased by a frugal grandfather who said “he didn’t need a heater because his buggy didn’t have one”, this beautifully restored car has been in the same family for 3 generations.   1942 Harley Davidson Motorcycle This beautiful example of the classic American motorcycle has only 181 original miles.   1931 Corbin Baby Ace This airplane is the original prototype of a homebuilt airplane designed and built by O. C. “Ace” Corben, of Madison, WI.  It is powered by a 9-cylinder Salmson Radial Engine.  Several hundred were flown and a few are still under construction today.   Wright Brothers and Charles Lindbergh See framed memorabilia, a signed letter from Lindbergh, and a check with the Wright Brothers signature.  Legend has it that Lindbergh visited this hangar when it was part of the Waukesha   Airport.   Aircraft Engines Among the museum’s display engines, is a Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone, rated at 575 hp, similar to that used in the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.  This cutaway version allows viewers to see some of the complex internal workings of the engine. There is also a prototype of a Skymotor, an engine intended for airplanes, but never went into production.   Display Propellers There are examples of several different types of aircraft propellers displayed inside the museum.  Some were used on military type airplanes, others for smaller civilian ones.  There are examples of both metal and wooden propellers.