The Bellanca Airfield Museum, Delaware & The Warbird Airplane Museum, Idaho

Issue 27 Newcastle, Delaware & Driggs, Idaho September, 2021

————————————————————————-

Part 1- The Bellanca Airfield Museum

----------------------------------

On the early morning of May 20, 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in The Spirit of St. Louis. He landed in Paris 33½ hours later, an accomplishment that is well-known and celebrated today. Just two weeks later there was an even longer flight, which was just as much of an accomplishment. That event, a solo flight from Roosevelt Field to near Berlin, Germany is little remembered today, but the pilot, Clarence Chamberlin, was just as celebrated as Lindbergh in 1927.

Chamberlin made his record setting flight (155 miles longer than Lindbergh’s) in a Wright-Bellanca WB-2. The Columbia (originally named Miss Columbia), was designed and built by Italian immigrant, Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (known as GM Bellanca). The Bellanca had been built specifically for long-range flight and, in fact, Charles Lindbergh had hoped to purchase the WB-2 for his flight. The story is complicated, but basically, the Wright-Bellanca company wanted to name the crew for the flight while Lindbergh was determined to fly the Atlantic himself (by this time, the Wright Aircraft Company was specializing in engine building. The Columbia and The Spirit of St. Louis had the same engine, a Wright R-790 Whirlwind). After Lindbergh gave up on buying the Bellanca and went to San Diego to the Ryan Aircraft Corporation, the WB-2 was sold to entrepreneur, Charles Levine.

In the 1920s, aviation was very popular but it was still mostly limited to barnstormers and their airshows, and air mail flying. There were also many air racing events and attempts at record-breaking flights. The interest in flying across the Atlantic had been spurred by hotel owner Raymond Orteig who, in 1919, had offered a $25,000 prize for the first person to fly from New York to Paris, or vice-versa.

Roosevelt Field had become the hub for aviators hoping to win the prize and Levine set up operations there. Bellanca remained associated with Levine and they hired Chamberlin, a well-known and accomplished pilot to organize the flight. On April 12, Chamberlin took off from Roosevelt field in the WB-2, along with co-pilot Bert Acosta, in an effort to break the air endurance record. The pair stayed aloft (without refueling) for over 50 hours, easily breaking the previous record and showing that they would have been able to fly to Paris, non-stop.

By May, the race for the Orteig Prize had heated up, with Admiral Byrd and others arriving at Roosevelt Field with their aircraft and crews. A pair of aviators, Charles Nungesser and François Coli, were in Paris preparing to attempt a west-bound crossing. They left Paris on May 8 and were seen crossing the French coast, but were never heard from again.

The Columbia was now considered the favorite to win the Orteig Prize but Charles Levine was a flamboyant and erratic personality. He fired Bert Acosta as the co-pilot and also fired his replacement. He had major disagreements with Bellanca and Chamberlin, which resulted in an injunction, keeping the WB-2 in the hangar, as Lindbergh departed on his historic flight on May 20.

With the legal problems settled and the Orteig Prize having been claimed by Lindbergh, Levine decided to make the flight anyway. Replacing “New York- Paris” with “New York- Berlin” on the side of the plane, they set out to beat Lindbergh’s distance record. With no co-pilot now on the staff, Chamberlin decided to make the flight on his own (perhaps because Lindbergh had flown solo). On June 4, Chamberlin prepared to depart and, literally at the last moment, Levine himself hopped in the plane, becoming the first trans-Atlantic air passenger. The story of the flight of the Columbia is just as dramatic as that of The Spirit of St .Louis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Chamberlin

Following the Columbia flight, Bellanca parted ways with Charles Levine and explored other opportunities. After establishing a manufacturing facility on Long Island, Bellanca went to Delaware to pursue a partnership with the DuPont family, who were interested in getting into aviation. In 1928, Bellanca and Henry B. duPont built an airfield, aircraft plant, and service hangar in New Castle, Delaware

Bellanca Field, 1929. Photo Courtesy of the Hagley Museum and Library.

The airfield, which stretched to the Delaware River for seaplane operations, was called Bellanca Field, the first full-service public aviation facility in Delaware. The facility operated from 1928 to 1960 and approximately 3,000 Bellanca aircraft were produced there between 1928 and 1954.

After the field closed in 1960, the buildings fell into disrepair and were all eventually taken down. The only remaining building is the former Air Service, Inc hangar which was built around 1936. By 2003, that building was also in disrepair and Friends of Bellanca Airfield, Inc. was formed to undertake a restoration of the building which is on the National Register of Historic sites. That building now houses the Bellanca Airfield Museum.

As a post-script to the WB-2 story, Columbia (which was built in 1926 in New Jersey), arrived at Bellanca Airfield in 1934 to undergo repairs. While there, Columbia was destroyed in a fire- a piece of history lost forever.

-----------------------------------------------------

The small museum has around a half dozen aircraft, in varying conditions, on display. This 1948 Cruiseair Senior is representative of what you will see.

This plane also illustrates the direction Bellanca took after WW-II. Although GM had always been interested in building large, long-range aircraft, he realized that the market had changed drastically because of WW-II. There were now numerous large and inexpensive surplus aircraft available (mainly DC-3s) and, in addition, there were now thousands of pilots leaving the military and returning to civilian life. Many of those pilots would be interested in pleasure flying.

The Bellanca Model 14-9, the Cruiseair, was developed before WW-II, first flying at the end of 1937. Only 50 were produced before the war culminating in the model 14-12 (there was an unsuccessful attempt to market the Cruiseair as a military trainer).

After the war, Bellanca refined the design and the model 14-13 was introduced and designated the Cruiseair Senior. The main difference was the switch from the pre-war Le Blond radial engine to a Franklin 6-A4 horizontally opposed engine. The distinctive end plates on the horizontal stabilizer were also added.

The Cruiseair was an efficient, well-built, and inexpensive aircraft but, by the time the post war model was produced, the boom in pleasure flying had died out. It was, though, a popular design and, eventually, a little over 2,000 of all models were built. They are sought after classics today.

Besides the complete Cruiseair, the museum has two Cruiseair airframes on display. This one gives a great look at how the planes were designed and built, including the welded frame.

This third Cruiseair is under restoration, also giving an interesting look at the construction, as well as restoration techniques.

Tucked in a corner of the museum is this Bellanca Viking. After GM Bellanca stopped building aircraft, various companies took over the name and heritage and continued to build Bellanca aircraft from his designs. Today the line is continued by Alexandria Aircraft. Essentially derived from the Cruiseair, the Viking first flew in 1967, with later models being called the Super Viking. This Viking was built by AviaBellanca Aircraft .

Half of the hangar has the aircraft on display, and the other half is nicely divided into exhibit halls, each well marked and captioned. They are full of interesting photographs and details about the Bellanca factory as well as other significant aviation events in Delaware.

The “Bellanca Builders” hall displays workers, their tools, and their products from the factory.

The halls have many interesting stories on display, such as this ‘airplanes for coffee beans’ photo.

Like most manufacturers during WW-II, the Bellanca factory expanded greatly. Although Bellanca had not been successful in developing his own military aircraft, numerous parts and components were built here under military contracts. The factory did build a number of Fairchild AT-21 Gunnery trainers under license. Interestingly, GM Bellanca moved to New Orleans during the war and worked with Andrew Higgins, builder of the famous Higgins Boat. They formed a partnership to design and build a cargo transport plane capable of dropping a tank by parachute. The innovative blended wing design was not available in time for the D-Day invasion and the project was eventually cancelled before any of the advanced design were built.

A view of the Bellanca facility and the housing units that were built during WW-II for the over 3,000 workers employed here during the war.

Suspended from the ceiling is a recent addition to the museum. This beautiful model, with a 10-foot wingspan, is of a Bellanca P-100 Airbus. Three versions of this 12-14 seat airliner were built: the P-100, P-200 and P-300. The name Aircruiser and the designation C-27 were also used. First flown in 1930, a total of 23 were built and they flew with four different airlines as well as the Army Air Corps. Although the design was very successful and efficient (it could carry as much as the Ford Tri-motor), few airliners were ordered during the depression of the 1930s. Later in the 1930s, larger aircraft such as the Boeing 247 and the Douglas DC-3 were coming on line and the type was phased out by 1938.

Photo from Aero Digest Magazine, September 1930

The plane was often called the “Flying W” and it illustrates one aspect of Bellanca’s design philosophy. His aircraft achieved excellent efficiency by using airfoils as struts, giving his aircraft great lifting power.

Information added December 2021. I recently read that the original Aircruiser CF-AWR is undergoing restoration in Canada. It will become a display in the newly constructed Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in Winnipeg. The museum was established in 1974 and the new, purpose built, facility is slated to open in early 2022. https://royalaviationmuseum.com/

Also hanging from the ceiling is this 1950s XM-24 tow target. Bellanca was always interested in finding efficient manufacturing methods and after WW-II he studied the use of plastics. This tow target was designed to train Army gunners and Radar operators. It was towed behind a B-47 at high speed and high altitude, and it could withstand near supersonic speeds.

While looking up, you will also see the design of the ceiling- an engineering marvel of heavy wooden fan trusses, giving the roof a 120-foot span.

The “Significant Women in Aviation” hall recognizes many famous women aviators but centers on Elinor Smith who was a Bellanca test pilot for many years. She began flying at age 10, taking lessons from Clyde Pangborne. Elinor earned an official pilot’s license (signed by Orville Wright) at age 16, making her the youngest licensed pilot at the time.

Smith held several altitude records as a teenager and once flew under all four bridges in New York’s East river- probably the only person to ever do so. Elinor Smith joined Bellanca Aircraft in 1929 while still a teen-ager, and continued to set aviation records. In 1930 she was named aviatrix of the year and, in 1934, was the first woman (and just the third person) to appear on a Wheaties box.

The museum hosts the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame, honoring a wide variety of aviators who have contributed to aviation both in Delaware and nationally. Reader Gaylan Crumley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.

In Issue 9, Gaylan wrote about his experience in the F-106 and the F-106 simulator that are in the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover, DE.

Issue 9

I found this hall intriguing, with interesting old maps and photos.

Biggs Airfield was located just a mile or so from Bellanca Field and was open from approximately 1933-1959. All traces of it are gone today, replaced by a housing development. There is information about Biggs and hundreds of other lost airfields on the very interesting site “Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields” http://www.airfields-freeman.com/index.htm

This Bellanca model 19-25 SkyRocket II, was first flown in 1975. It was an attempt by Bellanca and his son, August, to revive the Bellanca company. First conceived in the late 1950s, it was an all-composite design that was very innovative for the time. It continued Bellancas approach of using production techniques that produced both strength and aerodynamic efficiency. The wing design was an early example of the laminar flow theory. Although it was contested at the time, later testing showed that it was, in fact, a true laminar flow wing. Within several months of its first flight, the Skyrocket II set five world speed records, several of which remain today. The beautifully restored plane still looks current today and is a fitting illustration of the forward-thinking designs of GM Bellanca. Unfortunately, August Bellanca was unable to raise the funds to put the SkyRocket II into production and it was never certified.

Public Domain – courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

Let’s conclude our visit to the Bellanca Airfield Museum by looking at the first plane Giuseppe Mario Bellanca built. GM arrived in the U.S. from Italy in 1912 (the same year my grandparents- Liborio and Angelina Bruno arrived). He had earned an engineering degree from The Royal Technical Institute in Milan and had developed an early interest in building airplanes. After an initial effort to build a plane in Italy, he realized that his efforts would be greatly hampered by the rules and regulations of Italian bureaucracy and he left to find his destiny in America.

By October of 1912, the Bellanca Aeronautical Company was founded in Brooklyn. His shareholders were his brothers, a local restaurant owner, and several cooks and waiters from the restaurant. Legal services were provided by a young Fiorello LaGuardia. GM set up shop in his Brooklyn basement and, with the help of family members, he built his first plane. Most planes of the time followed the lead of the Wright Brothers, with a pusher engine. Bellanca felt that the tractor set-up was better aerodynamically and he put the engine up front. He also built it as a high wing monoplane (called a “parasol” at the time), a configuration still in use today.

Bellanca disassembled the completed plane and took it out to Mineola, Long Island for its first flight. GM was not yet a pilot but, in testing the plane, he taught himself to fly. Although he was at first ridiculed by other aviators for his attempts, the plane flew very well and soon Bellanca was recognized as an aircraft builder and aviator. By 1913, GM had established a flying school on Long Island and his success grew from there.

The museum has an elegant reproduction of Bellanca’s first plane which helps bring the story of Giuseppe Bellanca to life. Museum docent Bruce Lambrecht built this great replica and I asked him about the building experience.

“My decision to recreate Giuseppe Bellanca’s high wing parasol monoplane was developed over a period of years from looking at the picture of the plane taken in 1912. After exhaustive research, it was determined that there were no engineering drawings, no dimensions and no written descriptions of the plane. The reproduction had to be made from approximate dimensions gleaned from the photograph.

I made the decision not to make a flyable aircraft but rather one that would be as close to the represented original as possible. It was known that the engine used was a 25 HP, 3 cylinder Anzani radial. An existing engine was found at the Shuttleworth Museum in England, and they were kind enough to provide pictures taken from all different angles so that a reproduction could be made. The recreated engine was made from existing plumbing parts (which caused some “concern” at the local building supply store!).

In creating the wings, the ribs were cut out and taken to the Girl Scouts who were working on an aviation-related badge. An agreement was made to have them sand the ribs and in return they could sign their names on them. Knowing that the wings would be covered, pictures were taken of their signatures and designs and a book of those pictures is displayed at the museum.

While the aircraft replica was never built to be airworthy, all the control surfaces work as intended including the wing warping that Bellanca borrowed from the Wright Brothers.

The Bellanca family, traveling from Italy, attended the unveiling of the replica which was officiated by Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall Long and U.S. Senator Tom Carper. It now resides in the Museum with the Cruisair (the official State of Delaware Historic Airplane) and the Skyrocket II (the last airplane Bellanca designed).”

Thanks Bruce, and thanks for the great replica!

This museum is an amazing little piece of history and truly worth a visit. It will continue to get better, as a capital campaign is underway to heat and air condition the building. Opening hours are very limited (see below) so it takes a little planning to visit, but it is well worth the effort.

Many thanks to Bruce Lambrecht, museum docent, and President of the Board of Trustees of the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame, for his assistance in researching this blog.

Thanks, as always, to my brother Mike for editing the blog, and to Bill Buckingham who is always helpful in catching mistakes I make!

Join the email list

——————————————————————

To learn about what to do in the local area, museum hours and costs, as well as books to read and other interesting odds and ends, keep reading! As we have two museums this week, the photo galleries for both museums are after the next segment.

PLANNING YOUR VISIT

Unfortunately, the Bellanca Airfield Museum has limited opening hours, so you will have to plan well to see this great little museum. As you read this blog, the remaining dates for 2021 are-

October 9th and October 23rd

The museum is open 11 AM to 3 PM, admission $5.

FLYING IN

The museum is about one mile from Wilmington Airport (KILG). There are two FBOs on the airport, Fly Advanced and Atlantic Aviation. Be cautious of TFRs in the area, almost every weekend.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

Just down the road from the museum (about one mile) is Old New Castle. This historic town has many colonial houses and the entire town is on the register of historic places. It is a great place to walk around, with lots of historic markers. hhttps://newcastlecity.delaware.gov/visitor-information/

WHERE TO EAT

There are a number of restaurants in Old New Castle, but my favorite is Jessop’s Tavern, located in a building that was built in 1674. https://jessops-tavern.com/ . You can’t go wrong with the fish and chips or shepherd’s pie!

SUGGESTED READING

The only Bellanca book I could find was Bellanca’s Golden Age by Alan Abel & Drina Welch Abel, but it’s a good one. With numerous vintage photographs and diagrams, this easy-to-read volume covers all the events of Giuseppe Mario Bellanca’s life.

MUSEUM WEBSITE

http://www.bellancamuseum.org/

--------------------------------------------------------

Before we move on to the Teton Air Museum, just a quick note about some of the museums we have visited that were in the path of the recent hurricane Ida.

The Nation WW-II Museum in New Orleans, Issue 8, was the most affected, having had to close for about a week. It has now re-opened, with just minor disruptions.

Teterboro Airport in New Jersey was closed for three days with major flooding. Luckily, The Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey (Issue number 1) was not affected.

The NAS Wildwood Aviation Museum in Cape May, NJ (Issue 5) also escaped damage. Bruce Fournier sent some photos of their AirFest fund raiser that took place on Labor Day weekend, just after the storm passed. Some of the aircraft in the show were flown in from the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach (Issue 11).

——————————————————-

Part 2- The Warbird Airplane Museum

Sitting in a valley facing the Grand Teton Range, is the Driggs, Idaho airport. Located in the FBO, Teton Aviation Center, is a unique museum, The Warbird Airplane Museum. It is not a museum like we usually see, but it is a private collection of aircraft that regularly fly and are made available for the public to view. The main purpose of air museums is to preserve historic planes for future generations to see. That is a worthwhile, and challenging goal in itself. Museums like this, that maintain their planes in flying condition go much further.

All the aircraft in this small museum regularly fly and the location makes for some spectacular views of these historic aircraft in flight. The weather was bad on the day I visited and all the planes were either away from the airport or in the hangar. Usually, with good weather, there will be a variety of aircraft on the flight line, with some arriving or departing. If the planes are in the hangar, they are available to view any time the FBO is open.

I was unable to come up with much information about the history or the operation of this museum, so I am just going to give a brief overview of what I saw.

There were five aircraft in the hangar that day: a MiG 15, a MiG 17, an N3N, a T-34, and a Corsair.

We have talked about the Vought F-4U Corsair in a number of other issues, particularly Issue 22, Issue 11 and Issue 8. It is exceptional to be able to view this historic plane up close. It is especially impressive to see the size of this beautifully restored and maintained WW-II aircraft.

Last month, at the Palm Springs Air Museum, we saw a MiG 15 and a MiG 17 and made the point that they are visually very similar. At Driggs, the two planes were parked close together and the similarity (and differences) were easy to see.

This MiG 15 was built in Poland in 1955 and flown by the Polish Air Force until 1990. It has a Klimov VK-1 turbojet (a copy of the Rolls Royce Nene engine) with 5,952 pounds of thrust.

The MiG-15 in flight. Photo Courtesy of the Warbird Airplane Museum Collection

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 was first flown in 1950 and a total of over 10,000 were built in various countries. The MiG-17 had the same Klimov VK-1 engine as the MiG-15, but later models had an afterburner. Although neither plane was supersonic, the MiG-17 was capable of approaching the speed of sound. The MiG-17 is also somewhat longer than the MiG-15, providing more stability.

This MiG-17 was built on April 30, 1958, in Poland, and, like the MiG-15 in the collection, it also flew in Poland until 1990.

The MiG-17 in flight. Photo Courtesy of the Warbird Airplane Museum Collection

Built in Philadelphia at the Naval Air Factory, the N3N was the last biplane to serve in the Navy. The N3N was built as either a land plane or a float plane, which were not interchangeable (we saw a float plane version at the Military Aviation Museum in Issue 11).

The Naval Air factory, in Philadelphia, was opened in 1918 to solve supply issues that the Navy was experiencing during WW-I. It closed in 1945, at the end of WW-II.

The Beechcraft T-34 Mentor first flew in the late 1940s. Derived from the civilian Beech Bonanza, the T-34A was the Air Force primary trainer from 1953 until the late 1950s. The Navy version, the T-34B, served at Saufley Field, north of Pensacola, until the mid-1970s.

The museum web site also lists an F4-J Fury (Navy F-86), a T-2 Buckeye, a T-28 Trojan, and other aircraft as part of the collection. All of these planes are maintained in flying condition and I was told that they are often away at airshows or other events.

This museum is probably not a place that you would make a specific trip to see, but if you are in Jackson Hole, Wyoming or visiting Yellowstone National Park, it is a very worthwhile side visit.

PLANNING YOUR VISIT

When you visit Driggs, you will find the museum at the Teton Aviation FBO. If the weather is nice, the planes will most likely be on the ramp. If the weather is bad, they will be in the hangar which is accessible through the FBO.

FLYING IN

Driggs Airport (KDIJ) has a 7300’ runway (04/22) with an RNAV approach to 04 as well as an RNAV A circling approach. Teton Aviation is a full service FBO.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

If you are in the area of Driggs, then you are most likely visiting Yellowstone Park (90 miles) or Jackson Hole, in the Tetons (40 miles). There are many other things to do locally. https://www.driggsidaho.org/ The Teton Valley Museum is definitely worth a visit. https://tetonmuseum.com/

I have not visited it yet, but the Legacy Flight Museum, is 48 miles away in Rexford, ID. https://www.rexburg.org/area-info/page/legacy-flight-museum

After our visit we stopped in the nearby Grand Teton Distillery for a tasting. My wife, the Vodka fan in family, purchased some potato vodka.

http://www.tetondistillery.com/

WHERE TO EAT

The FBO has a very cool aviation themed restaurant. It has limited hours (especially in the off season), check the website for hours.

https://www.warbirdscafe.com/

SUGGESTED READING

My brother-in-law Sam recently lent me The Cloudbuster Nine by Anne R. Keene, which describes a part of WW-II history that I knew very little about. As the US entered the war, there was a great need for pilots. The Navy developed a Pre-Flight program to prepare civilians to enter flight training. The Navy decided two things in developing this 90-day program. First, it would be located on four existing Universities and second, the program would be designed around a rigorous sports curriculum. The Universities had all the facilities in place- dorms, classrooms, dining facilities and, most importantly, athletic facilities. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was chosen as one of the pre-Flight locations and this book centers there. Many sports and movie stars volunteered for service in WW-II and this Navy program attracted athletes and a number of baseball players, including Ted Williams, who wound up in Chapel Hill. The “Cloudbuster” baseball team was formed and a number of high-level games were played, providing motivation, comradery, and PR. This is an excellent book- but it’s mainly about baseball, with flying just in the background.

MUSEUM WEBSITE

https://tetonaviation.com/museum

UP NEXT

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum – Dulles Virginia.

MUSEUMS ARE WHERE YOU FIND THEM

Located in Spencer North Carolina is the North Carolina Transportation Museum. Built in a former Southern Railway facility, this huge museum is mainly devoted to railway history, but it also has a number of automotive displays and a little bit of aviation. This Piedmont DC-3 had previously been part of the now closed Carolinas Aviation Museum at Charlotte Airport (There will be more about re-opening plans for this museum in a future blog). The DC-3 had been kept in flying condition and is now undergoing a full restoration at the NC Transportation Museum.

Depending on when you visit, you are likely to see restoration work on the DC-3 in progress. It’s always interesting to be able to view the ‘innards’ of aircraft when they are apart like this.

Even if you don’t have a particular interest in railroads, this is an amazing history museum, with the DC-3 and a couple of other aircraft on display as a bonus. https://www.nctransportationmuseum.org/

———————————————————

PHOTO GALLERY

The Bellanca Airfield Museum

The Warbird Airplane Museum

Tony BrunoOctober 2, 2021