IOWA AVIATION MUSEUM

Russell and Dolly Zangger have owned, financed and operated Zangger Airfield on the family farm in Larchwood, Iowa since 1949. The airport boasts four runways, 24-hour service and the first airpark in Iowa featuring five homes with direct private hangar…

Walter Cunningham was born in Creston, Iowa on March 16, 1932. When he was a child his family moved to Venice, California where he graduated from high school. He joined the Navy in 1951 and began flight training. He served…

Ralph Weberg was one of three brothers who started Weberg Airways, Inc., at Denison. At a time when it was the only commercial airport between Sioux City, Des Moines and Council Bluffs, Ralph was the only brother who was interested…

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…