Historical Information
Charles S. Downey was born August 2, 1924 in Bridgeport, Conn. His love affair with aviation began almost immediately. At age three he remembers Lindbergh’s dramatic flight. Chuck picks up the story:
“I vividly recall the family dining room where my parents and their friends held vigil, sipping homemade elderberry wine, ears tuned to the staticky, smelly, battery [powered] Atwater-Kent radio, waiting and waiting for news of the famous flyer. For me, at age 3... the excitement was as great as that of the adults.”
Read more: A Toast to Capt. Chuck S. Downey
Allen H. Meyers
September 4, 1908 - March 15, 1976
From birth, aviation has been husbanded by those who came to it bringing with them traditional skills of other trades. The Wright Brothers were bicycle makers. They employed a mechanician, Charles Taylor, who was a machinist for the Dayton Light and Power Company. Glenn Curtiss was a motorcycle rider and engine mechanic. Sydney Carom was a wood worker and self taught draughtsman from the WWI era who designed the Hawker Hurricane of WWII. Among those, one of the many, came Allen H. (Al) Meyers, farm boy, school teacher, sheet metal man and aircraft designer and manufacturer.
Read more: The Allen H. Meyers Story