The Missoulian from Missoula, Montana • 43

SUNDAY Sunday, January 29, 1995 Missoulian Section aPoft Robert Wrigley E2 a Evelyn King E3 a Sunday Crossword E5 a Dave Barry E6 lontana I il I UJ in I 'W'TW I ill- -t I Volunteers are keeping busy converting an old hangar Into a temporary air museum. They hope It will open by May or June. 'sNw -i Museum aims ml mm (i to remember Rockies' pioneer aviators Story by MICK HOLIEN Photos by Tim Thompson of the Missoulian inging through a steep and narrow river canyon, snaking through the heavy gl rain-filled clouds and landing his airplane IM v.r-..-u '--'-r4 wonder how long it will be until it finds you," Bob Johnson told the Missoulian in 1973. By then, his flying business, started on a shoestring in the '40s, had grown to 37 airplanes, 10 helicopters and more than 100 employees. Brazen, individualistic and courageous, these aerial trailblazers' daring contributions have gone largely unrecognized until a group of Missoulians decided to build a museum to preserve their legacy.

"A significant chapter in the overall history of aviation in America was written right here in our regional backyard the Rocky Mountain West. Unfortunately the remarkable achievements of some great pilots never have been fully documented and recorded for posterity," said Steve Smith, an aviation historian and president of the Museum of Mountain Flying's board of directors. Some of the aviation artifacts that are museum bound are stored in a barren hangar near the airport terminal, while a mostly stark stretch of land sits nearby waiting to be their eventual resting place. Bill Barba has loaned his meticulously hand-built replica of a SE5-A World War I British pursuit plane, while a gleaming black experimental plane owned by Minuteman Aviation's Jerry Mamuzich sits nearby. The Museum of Mountain Flying has inducted seven aviators into its Hall of Fame.

They are: Bob Johnson was the dean of the pilots who started Johnson Flying Service on a shoestring and turned it into a moneymaking proposition. Dick Johnson was Bob's oldest brother and a legendary mountain pilot, who was killed when his plane crashed in Wyoming in 1945. Jack Hughes was Johnson's former chief pilot and the first person in the state licensed to fly a helicopter. Kenny Roth was described as the best of the best of mountain flyers. Bob Schellinger, also a fabled helicopter pilot, built a reputation flying rescue missions in places like Glacier National Park and the Grand Tetons.

He died in a helicopter crash near Townsend in 1981. Ruth Marie Nelson was the first woman in the Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, licensed to fly a transport plane. Penn Stohr was second only to Bob Johnson as a mountain pilot. Stohr knew the rugged country of Montana and Idaho better than anyone. on a sandbar in the Salmon River to rescue an ailing man, Dick Johnson's wizardry in 1935 epitomizes the legendary actions of high-flying aviators who shaped the Rocky Mountain West.

Bob Johnson, the founder of Johnson Flying Service and the younger brother of Dick, was Missoula's first licensed pilot and flew more than 200,000 miles, making his reputation in the Idaho wilds where the only other means of transportation was dog sled. In the winter of 1932, Johnson was flying food, supplies and mail to snowbound miners and ranchers in a plane equipped with skis instead of wheels. Airplanes were cumbersome and difficult to keep airborne in the squirrely mountain air. Flying an airplane was an art-form. "My life has passed before my eyes on several occasions.

Especially when flying in the mountains, you A 6-foot wooden waiting bench with "Johnson Flying Service" stenciled on its back sits beneath the propeller of a B-17 slurry bomber that crashed near Superior in the late '70s. The tail stabilizer from a workhorse Ford Tri-Motor hangs nearby. The spacious hanger gives the nonprofit group promoting the regional flying museum a place to hang its shingle, set up offices and hopefully start an youth flying education program that they hope will be a cornerstone of the organization. They bought 2.8 acres east of Missoula International Airport from the McCue family last year. Three dilapidated buildings, that once sat at Hale Field on South Avenue and later served as a "parts boneyard" for Johnson Flying Service, sit on the T-shaped lot.

They were moved there when the airport was relocated to its present site in 1954. Four P2V retardant tankers sit outside the Northstar Aviation hangar a few hundred yards away and commercial and private airplanes fly nearby. Snowbowl and Squaw Peak sparkle in the fading sun in the distance. While standing next to discarded rusted parts and rotted wood stacked in the middle of the property, Smith talked about his passion for a location so close to the sights and sounds of aviation. "This is a real special piece of land Some of the people that we intend to commemorate walked that land," said Smith.

But the group, which recently received nonprofit, tax-exempt status, plans to build more than a sanctuary to view the flying history of the mountain west. "I would like to have a facility that could be used as a jumping off point for young people who want to take to the air and ultimately maybe want to get into space," said Smith, who along with many other group members got hooked on flying after hanging around Hale Field when they were youngsters. The roots of flying in Missoula can be traced back to 1911 when Eugene Ely flew a Wright Pusher from Fort Missoula. The area's first dirt airstrip was built in the early 1920s along the base of Mount This bent-up prop from a B-17 slurry bomber that crashed near Superior about 20 years ago is one of the items that will be on display at the museum. The bomber's crew died in the crash.

Sentinel, Smith said. "(These mountain pilots) have a lot to teach and a lot to say to the younger generation These should be things that are passed on," he said. Terry Caton, a teacher at Meadow Hills Middle School who heads the education committee, one of the group's 15 committees, is adapting an aviation education curriculum he helped design to be used at the museum. The group hopes to have a facility up and running in five years and will grade and level the property this spring. A summer air show has become the primary fundraiser and this year will feature aerial acrobatics.

The Ford Tri-Motor also will fly in from McMinnville, Ore. Standing close to a Brian Schmid Hall of Fame painting depicting Bob Johnson with the famed Ford Tri-Motor winging over a mountain in the background, Smith said the possibilities for the museum are endless. just enough to keep you awake all night thinking about it." 4f 1 I 1 i i People interested in getting involved with the Museum of Mountain Flying or those with something to donate can contact Steve Smith, 542-0148, Stan Cohen, 549-8488, or Duane Felstet, 626-4425. Gary and Patsy Coleman, two of the people Involved in getting the museum going, take a look at the site for the new museum building. No date has been set for the start of construction..