Month: December 2023

Born in 1889 in Davenport, aviation inspiration came early to Frank Wallace when he watched Eugene Ely make his first flights in 1910. In those early days, Frank dreamed of an airport with a flying school and hangers for area…

Bill Fox was born and raised near Osage in North Central Iowa. He served in the Naval Aviation Branch of the United States   Navy aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Oriskany in Korea. Upon receiving his honorable discharge, he attended Iowa State College…

Born on October 24, 1957, in Waukegan, Illinois, Kimberly Olson spent most of her youth in New Hampton, Iowa. She entered the Unites States Air Force in the late 1970s. When she applied for military flight school during officer training,…

Jack E. Conger was born April 6, 1921 near Orient, Iowa.  After high school, he attended the South Dakota School of Mines, in Rapid City studying metallurgy. Conger enlisted in the United States Marines in March 1941. On October 25,…

Delbert Clayton was born in Fontanelle, Iowa. As a high school student, he was obsessed with flying. So much so, that in July 1930, a mere nine months after the stock market crash of 1929, he convinced his father to…

Born in Marshalltown in 1910, Glen T. Niederhauser quit high school to help on the family dairy farm. He earned his pilot’s license in 1929. He was a barnstormer and flew the first air mail route between Marshalltown and Des…

Clyde Cable was born May 14, 1928 in Waterloo, Iowa. Shortly after his birth, he became the youngest person ever to fly in an airplane when his father, well-known aviator and first inductee into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame,…

Born on Febrwuary 9, 1960, Peggy Whitson grew up on the family farm near Beaconsfield, Iowa. She graduated from Mount Ayr High School, received a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa Wesleyan College and a Doctorate in biochemistry from Rice…

George Everette Day was born in Sioux City, Iowa on February 24, 1925. In 1942, he dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Marines. He served two and a half years in the South Pacific during World War…

Born in Missouri, Olin “Olie†Pash came to Iowa as a young child. He was educated in Harlan, Iowa. After serving in the Navy, he returned to Harlan and became a farm implement dealer. In 1987, he became the manager…