Airplane

When I got the announcement from the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association about their Land, Speed and Air show this Sunday, I was intrigued. M-ASA's annual open house is an opportunity for the public to see the flying club's airstrip and see classic and antique cars and airplanes. And the club will have its gliders out, and, if conditions were OK, pilots will give rides to visitors. I'd never seen a glider up close. I called Bob Jackson, the president of the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association, to see if The Herald-Mail could send a reporter for a ride in a glider.

The Parachutists Over Phorty Society (POPS) hosted the POPS Nationals competition Thursday in Chambersburg, Pa. Harold White of Columbia, Md., dives out of an airplane at an altitude of 15,000 feet.

Editor's note: On Fridays, Herald-Mail reporters and editors will answer some of the questions that are called in by readers to Mail Call. Consider this us returning your call. Why is that white airplane making so many trips here? Question: "I'm sitting here in my back yard, watching this white airplane fly around. He's made about 30 trips and he's still going, and I've heard that he's looking for oil in the West End. Is that possibly true?" - Hagerstown Answer: We have been told by Hagerstown Regional Airport Manager Carolyn Motz that the plane is being used to conduct an aerial environmental survey.

Douglas Jaffe handed a check for $5,895,000 to Sino Swearingen Board Chairman and CEO Ching-Chaing Kuo Monday morning and received in return an oversized gold key as a memento for purchasing the airplane company's first SJ30-2 corporate jet. Read the full story in Tuesday's Herald-Mail newspapers.

Ward Wilkins flew a silver-and-black Fairchild PT-19 to Hagerstown last Saturday. His journey started in Indiana the day before, but the journey for the airplane started 64 years ago in Hagerstown. The 1943 airplane returned to the place where it was built, and Wilkins donated it to the Hagerstown Aviation Museum. The airplane is one of an ever-decreasing number of flying PT-19s still in existence. The PT-19 was manufactured in Hagerstown by the Fairchild Co. starting in 1939.

By BRENDAN KIRBY Staff Writer A firefighter was injured and damage was estimated at $450,000 in a Tuesday morning fire at an airplane paint shop near Washington County Regional Airport. Volunteer Firefighter Charles Moquin suffered a wrist burn fighting the blaze at Alphin Aircraft Inc., said Maugansville Goodwill Volunteer Fire Co. Capt. Chris Gelwicks. Moquin was taken to Washington County Hospital, where he was treated and released. An airplane inside the building was destroyed in the fire that broke out just before 5 a.m. in the paint shop of Alphin Aircraft, a company that rebuilds, repairs and paints airplanes for private owners.

Flash of light may have been meteor BUNKER HILL, W.Va. - The flaming object a Virginia motorist reported seeing streaking across the skies of southern Berkeley County Monday night might have been a meteor. The call came in at 8:55 p.m., according to a dispatcher at Berkeley County Central Dispatch. The Winchester man said he was northbound on Interstate 81 when he saw the object in the sky and told them he thought it might be an airplane on fire. "We didn't find a thing.

HAGERSTOWN -- Six jets flared from a clearing high into the sky above a cornfield. They whined full throttle into the sky, gaining as much altitude as possible for 30 seconds. Then, they cut their engines. Thousands of feet below stood remote control airplane enthusiasts maneuvering the aircraft across the sky, vying to see whose model would remain in the air the longest. One by one, they descended. After about two minutes floating, the last plane touched down. The pilots of the aircraft -- which are referred to as RC models -- were testing their aeronautical mettle in a contest called "all-up-last-down" Saturday at the Pegasus Radio Control Airplane Club's Fun Fly on Old Forge Road outside of Hagerstown.

HAGERSTOWN -- Microphone in hand, Sam Venneri was preparing to read off a list of car-show winners when he was interrupted by an engine roar and a powerful gust of wind. A few hundred feet away, the propeller had begun to spin on the front of a bright blue-and-yellow Fairchild PT-19 airplane, which then took off and flew away. Such disruptions come with the territory when you host a combination car, truck and airplane show such as the one Saturday near Hagerstown Regional Airport by the Hagerstown Aviation Museum.

HAGERSTOWN -- Many of the airplane enthusiasts with the Hagerstown Aviation Museum also have an interest in cars, said the museum's president, Kurtis Meyers. "Cars and planes seem to go together," he said. The organization decided to combine the interests of many of its members Sunday for its first airplane and car show at Hagerstown Aircraft Services at Hagerstown Regional Airport. The event was called Wings & Wheels, and drew about 600 people by midday. Tracey Potter, president of Hagerstown Aircraft Services and vice president of the Aviation Museum, said the event "complements" the group's annual fly-in, which will be in October.

The Hagerstown Aviation Museum will present Open Airplane Afternoon on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at Washington County Regional Airport as part of the 10th annual Museum Ramble. Museum aircraft will be open to the public. Attendees will be able to board and sit in the cockpit of the Fairchild C-82 and C-119 Flying Boxcar and see other museum aircraft, such as the 1943 Fairchild PT-19 World War II Trainer and the 1928 Kreider Reisner KR-31 biplane, all built in Hagerstown. The museum owns 19 historic aircraft, 14 of which were built in Hagerstown.

The Top Five Wind Down Friday The Rhythm Kings with Kim Tantillo will perform. 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, at The Maryland Theatre, 21 S. Potomac St., downtown Hagerstown. $5; $2, ages 12 and younger. A luminaria ceremony by the American Cancer Society will be held. Luminaria will be sold for $10 each from 6 to 9 p.m. Go to www.mdtheatre.org . 'Annie' wraps up A musical about Little Orphan Annie, a spunky girl adopted by a business tycoon. 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, and Saturday, Aug. 18. Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater, 44 N. Potomac St., downtown Hagerstown.

Several hundred people streamed onto the grounds of the Hagerstown Regional Airport Sunday to see military aircraft that were once manufactured there, including cargo planes like the “Flying Boxcar,” which was designed to transport Jeeps and trucks. Six planes were on display as the Hagerstown Aviation Museum sponsored its Open Airplane Afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. The Hagerstown Aviation Museum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the region's aviation history, which spans more than 90 years, according to the organization.

The Hagerstown Aviation Museum will hold its Open Airplane Afternoon on Sunday, July 15, from 1 to 4 p.m. On display will be the Fairchild C-82 and C-119 Flying Boxcar and other museum aircraft such as the 1943 Fairchild PT-19 WWII Trainer and the 1928 Kreider Reisner KR-31 biplane. All of the planes were built in Hagerstown. Admission is free, and donations are accepted. Museum merchandise, books, DVDs and hats will be for sale. Free museum magazines and aircraft collection 14-by-28-inch color posters will be available while supplies last.

The Hagerstown Aviation Museum will present “Open Airplane Afternoon” Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The open house is geared toward aviation enthusiasts. Museum aircraft will be open to the public. Participants will be able to climb aboard and sit in the cockpit of the Fairchild C-82 and C-119 Flying Boxcar. Also, they will be able to see other museum aircraft, such as the 1943 Fairchild PT-19 WWII Trainer and the 1928 Kreider Reisner KR-31 biplane. All of these planes were built in Hagerstown.

The “Pegasus Flight for Cancer” Model Air Show will be Saturday, June 18, from 5 a.m. to midnight. It will be a flying marathon for pilots to raise money. Flight demonstrations will be given throughout the day. The event will include an inflatable bounce and face painting.   Club pilots will fly their model airplanes to raise money for the John Marsh Cancer Center’s Patient Assistance Fund. Food will be sold. Free remote control computer simulators will be available.

On Saturday, Aug. 14, there were many replays and newspaper photos of the scene in New York City's Times Square of the joyful celebration of the end of World War II. This marking of the 65th anniversary of that fateful war was a tribute to all who served in some way to bring three totalitarian states to defeat. The coincidence of seeing two heroic accomplishments of the Catalina flying boat (PBY) brought back memories of WWII experiences while serving as a gunner in a "Black Cat" squadron in the South Pacific.

The local Pegasus Radio Control Airplane Club in Hagerstown will host the End of Season Contest for the Eastern Soaring League. The event will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. and end at mid-afternoon Sunday at Pegasus Field off Old Forge Road in Hagerstown. Approximately 30 pilots from as far as New England and the Carolinas have signed up for the competition. The sailplanes they will be flying are handmade, high performance gliders. The planes are constructed using a composite of carbon fiber, Kevlar and fiberglass.

HAGERSTOWN -- Six jets flared from a clearing high into the sky above a cornfield. They whined full throttle into the sky, gaining as much altitude as possible for 30 seconds. Then, they cut their engines. Thousands of feet below stood remote control airplane enthusiasts maneuvering the aircraft across the sky, vying to see whose model would remain in the air the longest. One by one, they descended. After about two minutes floating, the last plane touched down. The pilots of the aircraft -- which are referred to as RC models -- were testing their aeronautical mettle in a contest called "all-up-last-down" Saturday at the Pegasus Radio Control Airplane Club's Fun Fly on Old Forge Road outside of Hagerstown.