Allen Airways Flying Museum Trip
The following Cadet Squadron 144 assembled next to the Gillespie Field Airport Air Traffic Control Tower at 1830 hours, 29 May 2007 for a tour of Mr. Bill Allen’s hangar:
Senior Members
LtCol Ben Aaron
Capt Dennis Ammann
SM David Saavedra
Cadets
C/2Lt Matthew Corey
C/2Lt Joseph Connolly
C/SMSgt Douglas Saavedra
C/MSgt Chandra Murphy
C/SrAmn Daniel Gorin
C/A1c Laura Brown
C/A1c Joe Culver
C/Amn Chris Riha
C/Amn Eric Johnson
C/Amn Marshall Bryan
C/Amn Spencer Beaulieu
C/AB Erika Goodall
C/AB Anthony Tavan
C/AB Andrew Elsken
C/AB Kevin Mihalik
C/AB Scott Lynch
The group then walked around to the front of the hangar in front of runway 27L where Mr. Bill Allen greeted the cadets and senior members and introduced himself. He also introduced Barney his faithful ‘wing cat’ who actually patrols the hangar for unauthorized rodents and other riff-raff. Throughout the evening Barney followed behind looking for a gentle rub along his back and neck.
Mr. Allen is a past president of the International Aerospace Hall of Fame (SD Air & Space Museum portrait gallery) and on the Board of Directors, San Diego Air & Space Museum for almost 30 years, contributes a breadth of knowledge from his 45 years as an aviation enthusiast and accomplished collector of aircraft and aviation artifacts. So internationally regarded is the Allen Airways Flying Museum collection, it serves as the exclusive provider for the 32 vintage posters featured in the Smithsonian Institution companion exhibition "Looping the Loop: Posters of Early Flight." All of the exhibition's posters are presented in his book. Other designs from the Allen collection are also included among the book's featured artworks.
Mr. Allen started his tour with a walk around of a Stearman PT-17 Kaydet and one other in a civilian configuration. His knowledge and history of this Boeing WWII primary training is fascinating, relating all facets about this bi-plane. He then switched to his immaculate Cessna C-182 Skylane, pointing out the extra features he included on this plane, i.e., variable pitch prop, short take-off landing (STOL) kit, and ailerons that extend down as additional flaps, etc. Next was his Ryan PT-22 Recruit made right here in San Diego prior to WWII. Mr. Allen related how the wings are slightly swept back and the dangers students had if they stalled the aircraft. He also has another PT-22 with Dutch East Indies WWII markings in restoration up in northern California. Next to this pristine trainer was a display case with WWI medals and awards inside. One of particular interest was a German Blue Max, the highest decoration a German fighter pilot could receive! Another interesting aircraft being stored in this hangar was an Australian Firefly AS-6 anti-submarine warfare aircraft made by Fairy Aircraft Co. This single engine fighter looks like a WWII Supermarine Spitfire on steroids! It was a carrier based plane operating during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
For the next portion of the tour, Mr. Allen led us into a small room with flight gear, uniforms, aviation paintings, aviation movie/air show posters, WWI machine aircraft machine guns, helmets, goggles, antique aircraft models, and various other interesting pieces of historical artifacts.
A short walk to the lounge portion of the hangar, Mr. Allen pointed out several trophies won by pilots during the 1930s and one trophy in particular that was awarded to a British WWI fighter pilot who shot down a Zeppelin during a bombing raid over London.
As we entered another large room, a display case exhibited numerous mementos from the German Zeppelin Hindenburg. There were boarding tickets, a piece of the girder, and other items of interest from this famous air ship. Also parked inside, a third Stearman bi-plane, silver in color, and in mint condition. This plane has been awarded many trophies in the past during antique fly-ins for the best restoration/best of show; a real beauty!
The last stop was his personal theater where lush chairs and sofas awaited us for a quick review of the 2002 Czechoslovakian made movie, “Dark Blue World”, about Czech pilots who fled Nazi occupied Europe to fly for the British during the Battle of Britain and throughout WWII. The sound in his theater was so realistic; we were ducking as the Spitfires were flying overhead!
At about 2030 hours everyone gathered back in the main hangar for a group photo next to one of the Stearman bi-planes with Mr. and Mrs. Allen and of course Barney the “wing cat.” We thanked Mr. Allen and his lovely wife Claudia for inviting us into their “hangar home” and expanding our knowledge of aviation history.
San Diego is a gold mine, rich in aviation history, where the general public can learn all about aerospace at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, their annex at Gillespie Field Airport, the Marine Air Museum at MCAS Miramar, and USS Midway Museum. We were very fortunate to be invited to Mr. Allen’s hangar for another glimpse of aviation history spanning from the Wright Brothers to artifacts of today. What a wonderful gentleman, pilot, and unofficial Mayor of Gillespie Field to open his private collection for this excellent aerospace education opportunity.
Senior Members
LtCol Ben Aaron
Capt Dennis Ammann
SM David Saavedra
Cadets
C/2Lt Matthew Corey
C/2Lt Joseph Connolly
C/SMSgt Douglas Saavedra
C/MSgt Chandra Murphy
C/SrAmn Daniel Gorin
C/A1c Laura Brown
C/A1c Joe Culver
C/Amn Chris Riha
C/Amn Eric Johnson
C/Amn Marshall Bryan
C/Amn Spencer Beaulieu
C/AB Erika Goodall
C/AB Anthony Tavan
C/AB Andrew Elsken
C/AB Kevin Mihalik
C/AB Scott Lynch
The group then walked around to the front of the hangar in front of runway 27L where Mr. Bill Allen greeted the cadets and senior members and introduced himself. He also introduced Barney his faithful ‘wing cat’ who actually patrols the hangar for unauthorized rodents and other riff-raff. Throughout the evening Barney followed behind looking for a gentle rub along his back and neck.
Mr. Allen is a past president of the International Aerospace Hall of Fame (SD Air & Space Museum portrait gallery) and on the Board of Directors, San Diego Air & Space Museum for almost 30 years, contributes a breadth of knowledge from his 45 years as an aviation enthusiast and accomplished collector of aircraft and aviation artifacts. So internationally regarded is the Allen Airways Flying Museum collection, it serves as the exclusive provider for the 32 vintage posters featured in the Smithsonian Institution companion exhibition "Looping the Loop: Posters of Early Flight." All of the exhibition's posters are presented in his book. Other designs from the Allen collection are also included among the book's featured artworks.
Mr. Allen started his tour with a walk around of a Stearman PT-17 Kaydet and one other in a civilian configuration. His knowledge and history of this Boeing WWII primary training is fascinating, relating all facets about this bi-plane. He then switched to his immaculate Cessna C-182 Skylane, pointing out the extra features he included on this plane, i.e., variable pitch prop, short take-off landing (STOL) kit, and ailerons that extend down as additional flaps, etc. Next was his Ryan PT-22 Recruit made right here in San Diego prior to WWII. Mr. Allen related how the wings are slightly swept back and the dangers students had if they stalled the aircraft. He also has another PT-22 with Dutch East Indies WWII markings in restoration up in northern California. Next to this pristine trainer was a display case with WWI medals and awards inside. One of particular interest was a German Blue Max, the highest decoration a German fighter pilot could receive! Another interesting aircraft being stored in this hangar was an Australian Firefly AS-6 anti-submarine warfare aircraft made by Fairy Aircraft Co. This single engine fighter looks like a WWII Supermarine Spitfire on steroids! It was a carrier based plane operating during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
For the next portion of the tour, Mr. Allen led us into a small room with flight gear, uniforms, aviation paintings, aviation movie/air show posters, WWI machine aircraft machine guns, helmets, goggles, antique aircraft models, and various other interesting pieces of historical artifacts.
A short walk to the lounge portion of the hangar, Mr. Allen pointed out several trophies won by pilots during the 1930s and one trophy in particular that was awarded to a British WWI fighter pilot who shot down a Zeppelin during a bombing raid over London.
As we entered another large room, a display case exhibited numerous mementos from the German Zeppelin Hindenburg. There were boarding tickets, a piece of the girder, and other items of interest from this famous air ship. Also parked inside, a third Stearman bi-plane, silver in color, and in mint condition. This plane has been awarded many trophies in the past during antique fly-ins for the best restoration/best of show; a real beauty!
The last stop was his personal theater where lush chairs and sofas awaited us for a quick review of the 2002 Czechoslovakian made movie, “Dark Blue World”, about Czech pilots who fled Nazi occupied Europe to fly for the British during the Battle of Britain and throughout WWII. The sound in his theater was so realistic; we were ducking as the Spitfires were flying overhead!
At about 2030 hours everyone gathered back in the main hangar for a group photo next to one of the Stearman bi-planes with Mr. and Mrs. Allen and of course Barney the “wing cat.” We thanked Mr. Allen and his lovely wife Claudia for inviting us into their “hangar home” and expanding our knowledge of aviation history.
San Diego is a gold mine, rich in aviation history, where the general public can learn all about aerospace at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, their annex at Gillespie Field Airport, the Marine Air Museum at MCAS Miramar, and USS Midway Museum. We were very fortunate to be invited to Mr. Allen’s hangar for another glimpse of aviation history spanning from the Wright Brothers to artifacts of today. What a wonderful gentleman, pilot, and unofficial Mayor of Gillespie Field to open his private collection for this excellent aerospace education opportunity.
