Month: December 2023

Glenn Luther Martin, born in Macksburg, Iowa in 1886, was one of the pioneer airmen of the country. An early interest in kites and gliders was enhanced by the achievements of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. By 1909 Glenn…

Carl Sterling Bates was born in Clear Lake, Iowa, in 1884. At age fourteen, he built and flew the first gilder to be flown in Iowa. This was accomplished by having the glider towed by a horse. Carl attended the…

On December 17, 1903, a cold, blustery winter day at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, Orville Wright embarked on the first flight of the first powered aircraft in the history of man’s flight. With his brother Wilbur running along side,…

Robert Parmele was born February 10, 1917 in what is now Bettendorf, Iowa. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 he was called to duty as a member of the U.S. Air Corps. He became a lead crew navigator…

Louis Wellington Schalk Jr. was born May 29, 1926 in Alden, Iowa. In 1948, he graduated from West Point Military Academy and entered the United States Air Force. He received pilot training and graduated as a flight instructor. In 1954,…

Joseph P. Gomer was born in Iowa Falls, Iowa on June 20, 1920. Even as a boy, he dreamed of flying airplanes. In 1938, Joe graduated from high school first in his class. During his two years at Ellsworth Community…

Born on September 22, 1904 on a farm near Cresco, Iowa, Ellen Church graduated from Cresco High School, became a registered nurse and for a short time was the school nurse at Cresco. Ellen was interested in aviation and took…

Born October 11, 1930, Jerry Dwyer developed his love for flying at an early age. At the airport near his home, he mowed runways and scrubbed the hangar to pay for flying lessons. He started flying at 13 years old.…

In the early 40s, the military believed that black people lacked adequate skills to operate or maintain sophisticated military aviation equipment. Despite much pressure, it seemed nothing would change their minds. In 1941, thanks to a lawsuit filed by Yancy…

Born in Lanyon, Iowa in 1912, Wilmer (Bill) Reedholm grew up in nearby Boxholm. When he was nine, a barnstormer landing near Lanyon gave him his first flight, thus beginning a lifelong passion for aviation. In 1928, when Bill was…