by Gary Schenkel | Sep 4, 2010 | History
As you’d probably expect, the Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-in (MERFI)—September 11 and 12 at Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio—will feature airplanes. In fact, lots of airplanes. About 350 experimental aircraft in all!
But it’s not all about flying machines.
Among the stars of the show are flesh and blood heroes. As young men, they put their lives on the line for our freedom. Just a thin skin of aluminum and skeletal framework separated them from mortal injury.
Our time to hear their stories firsthand is ticking. So, don’t miss the opportunity to meet six of these brave members of the “Greatest Generation”—all of them B-17 crew members—at MERFI.
They’ll share their experiences and answer your questions at 2 p.m. Saturday, September 11 in the conference room of the Champaign Aviation Museum at Grimes Field.
Art Kemp points out the section of the B-17 with which he's most familiar. He's one of six B-17 veterans who will speak about their experiences in World War II at the Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-in at Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio.
Also at MERFI, you can check progress on restoration of the Champaign Lady B-17G at the airport. It’ll help you picture where the veterans were stationed in combat. Restoration of the aircraft’s ball turret, a cramped Plexiglas® sphere where a gunner sat, slung from the belly of the plane, is now about 75 percent complete.
Since the restoration began in 2005, nearly 80 B-17 veterans have stopped by Grimes Field to check on the project and amaze the volunteers with accounts of their missions.
Decorated Hero
Early on I had the pleasure to meet and interview Art Kemp of Bellefontaine, Ohio, a tail gunner who flew in 35 missions against the Nazis from June 21, 1944, to February 1, 1945. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross on July 28, 1944, after his group dropped its bomb load on an oil refinery in Merseburg, Germany, and came under attack by German fighters.
Two gunners in his crew were killed, a hole was ripped in the bottom of the plane, both wings were badly shot up, and two of the four engines were disabled, and a third leaked oil. But Mr. Kemp shot down two of the attacking fighters, and the plane stayed aloft for the 500-mile flight back to Polebrook, England.
“After we landed, Glenn Miller’s band (at Polebrook to entertain the airmen) came out and looked at our plane. They kept asking us how we got back,” Mr. Kemp remembered.
“If we’d been on a B-24, we wouldn’t have made it back. But B-17s could do that.”
Now he can tell us about it 66 years later.
More About MERFI
Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., Sept. 11; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sun., Sept. 12
Admission: $5; under 12 free
Featured events:
- Yankee Warrior, the only B-25 DG combat veteran still flying in the world, will fly in Saturday evening. Rides will be sold during MERFI and flights will take off Sunday
- Tour the Champaign Aviation Museum, the B-17 restoration project, Grimes Flying Lab Foundation Museum and the Flying Lab Foundation’s second Twin Beech restoration project
- Ladies for Liberty concert Saturday evening, featuring music in the style of the Andrews Sisters
- A NASA display
- A presentation for students by teacher in space Chantelle Rose of Graham High School
- Kids’ activities including photos in a 1946 Piper J-3 Cub and Douglas C-47
- Presentation by an FAA safety inspector who served with the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds
For the complete schedule: visit www.merfi.com
by Gary Schenkel | Sep 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
I wish to express my sympathy to the family of Mr. Thomas Spurgin, who died today after the bicycle he was riding was hit by a truck at the Hickory Grove Road crossing of the Simon Kenton Trail. My prayers also are with the driver and his family.
I don’t know the particulars of this incident. As a regular user of the trail, I simply offer the following. Trail users: stop at every crossing. Don’t just slow down. If you listen to music, take your ear buds out as you approach the intersection. Motorists: always slow down as you approach bike trail crossings.
by Gary Schenkel | Aug 30, 2010 | History
Think “museum” and you may picture exhibits frozen in time. Say, a prehistoric winged bug preserved in amber. Captivated by the eerie quiet of its stillness, you imagine how it flew.
But two museums at Grimes Field, Urbana, Ohio’s municipal airport, rev your imagination. They house vintage aircraft that can still take to the air and others that are being restored to fly again—to recall visions of historic exploits.
Many volunteers work tirelessly at Grimes Field to return the Champaign Lady B-17 to the skies. The project will soon move to the Champaign Aviation Museum.
The Grimes Flying Lab Foundation museum features the restored Flying Lab, a modified Beech 18 that was used to test aircraft lighting developed and produced in Urbana by Grimes Manufacturing (now Honeywell Aerospace). The museum preserves the history of the company, which was founded by Warren G. Grimes. This summer Mr. Grimes was posthumously inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame, as the father of aircraft lighting and inventor of aircraft navigational instruments. Grimes Field, Mr. Grimes’ gift to the city of Urbana, continues as a living legacy, and the Grimes Flying Lab Foundation museum is a part of the National Aviation Heritage Area, which was created to recognize the Dayton region’s leadership in American aviation history.
A more recent addition to the airport, the Champaign Aviation Museum primarily houses World War II aircraft as well as the world’s only surviving flyable Pitcairn Autogiro, a peculiar cross between airplane and helicopter from the ‘20s.
A B-17G restoration project started five and a half years ago in a hangar on the south end of the airport will be moved into the aviation museum by the end of October. Local business leader and community benefactor Jerry Shiffer initiated the Champaign Lady B-17 project before his passing. His family continues the project with a legion of volunteers, and they built the museum as a tribute to veterans.
With this heightened local interest in aviation history, Grimes Field has become a magnet for special events of flight. None stands out more than this April’s fly-in by one of the largest, if not the largest, gatherings of B-25s since World War II. Thousands flocked to Urbana to witness the war birds, which dramatically flew into Grimes Field in support of the Doolittle Raiders’ 68th reunion at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
Don’t miss the next big event at Grimes Field: the Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-in, or MERFI, which will bring 350 experimental aircraft, educational programs and displays—along with a chance to see the Grimes Flying Lab, the Champaign Aviation Museum and the B-17 project—on September 11 and 12.
More on this later…..
by Gary Schenkel | Aug 24, 2010 | Active Living
Like bicycling?
Like bike trails?
Like to see more of them?
Bicyclists enjoy scenic Champaign County.
If so, you’ll like riding in the Simon Kenton Pathfinders’ 11th annual bike ride—the Ruth I. Bentley Memorial Ride—on Sunday, September 12, starting from the Urbana Station Depot, 644 Miami St., Urbana, Ohio.
Print out the registration form at the Simon Kenton Pathfinders’ website–and register now!
All proceeds from the ride will support maintenance of the Simon Kenton Trail and its planned extension north from the Depot to Urbana’s northern city limit near Grimes Field airport. Ultimately, the trail will link Urbana with West Liberty and Bellefontaine!
The more people pedaling and supporting the cause, the sooner we’ll all get there. (It’s events like this and the foresight and perseverance of Pathfinder-in-Chief Nancy Lokai-Baldwin and her band of loyal Pathfinders that made Champaign County an important part of Ohio’s network of bike trails.
The Ruth I. Bentley Memorial Ride offers you a choice of three routes to ride at your own pace:
- A family-friendly 15-mile ride entirely on the Simon Kenton Trail
- A metric half century ride (that’s 31 miles) on Champaign County’s scenic country roads
- A metric century ride (62 miles), also on country roads
I look forward to seeing you there! I plan to be serving up bananas, sport drinks, water and other aid at a support station.
Like to Get Involved?
Pathfinder volunteers maintain the trail.
Check out the SKP website for other ways you can support the trail … becoming a Pathfinder member, helping with trail maintenance, volunteering at events, making a tax-deductible contribution.
We meet at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every month at the Depot Coffee House, 644 Miami St., Urbana, Ohio. So, please stop by and join us!
by Gary Schenkel | Aug 23, 2010 | Active Living
The Simon Kenton Trail meanders through Melvin Miller Park.
Just a reminder from my last post … please leave a comment about how and where you most like to exercise in Champaign County, Ohio.
In the meantime, I’ll tell you my favorite: the Simon Kenton Trail (SKT) bike path.
It’s an 11-mile paved trail for bicyclists, walkers, inline skaters and runners that links some of Urbana’s finest fitness and community assets. It starts (or ends, depending on where you start) at the Champaign Family YMCA, passes the Urbana City Schools’ track and athletic fields, loops around Melvin Miller Park, runs through Urbana to the beautifully restored Urbana Station Depot (home of the Depot Coffee House), continues past Urbana University, then heads out of town right by Cedar Bog Nature Preserve. In Clark County it merges with the Little Miami Scenic Trail and moves on to Cincinnati.
Basically, it’s a long, continuous playground—a big excuse for friends and families to get out and exercise.
Depending on your current fitness level, you can take on any amount of the trail you wish – and measure your progress as you gain distance and discover new parts of the path.
I like to bicycle, but my favorite way to break a sweat is running. Of course, I can do that anywhere, but I feel most at ease on the trail, free of motorized traffic (but please look both ways at the road crossings).
Did you know? Plans are underway to extend the Simon Kenton Trail further – north from the Depot up to Urbana’s northern city limit by Grimes Field airport.
Next up on Champaign Uncorked! find out how you can support the trail extension on September 12, as you and other bicyclists enjoy the SKT and Champaign County’s scenic country roads. And find out how you can support the trail as a member of the all-volunteer organization that maintains the SKT.
Follow Us!