The Item from Sumter, South Carolina • 25

9 Flying Machines Feature Plane THURSDAY JAN 30 1969 DAILY PAGE 9B SUMTER It pays to save with us generous interest plus Green Stamps! By BRENDA MOULTON Item Staff Writer Up up and away Wings and Wheels the newest attraction at Santee does not go back to the balloons but it does'qpver the era of the Wright brothers flying njchines Planes dating as far back as 1903 are being exhibited at Wings and Wheels located on Highway 301 two miles-south of the Lake Marion Bridge Antique airplanes engines and cars are housed in the museum part of the complex such airplanes as a replica of the 1903 Wright brothers Flyer which flew for 12 seconds and for 120 feet at Kitty Hawk NC and also a Fokker f-l-DR-l better known as the plane of the Red Baron There are also gliders a 1912 Curtiss pusher S-7 a WACO Nine a Piper E-2 Cub a Bleriot XI a Travel Air 2000 and a 1918 Ace plus many more planes and cars Accord ng to Jack Cox public relations man for Wings and Wheels the airplane companies which made these planes are no longer in existence Therefore most of the planes came from the restoration efforts of Louis Anderson and Bill Stora The 1911 Wright EX or which made the first transcontinental flight and the longest flight in the world at that time was originally built by the Wright Brothers The one displayed at Wings and Wheels was built by Anderson on his in Mansfield Mo The Duane Hostelter glider was' also restored on the farm One of the biggest attractions of Wings and Wheels is a ride in a Ford Tri-Motor The Tri-Motor which seats 15 first flew in 1928 as Pan American's frst commercial airplane It saw over 40 years of service The as the Tri-Motor is sometimes called takes off from a grass runway and gracefully flies over Lake 1 FEDERMi Marion and the country-side at an altitude of 1200 to 1500 feet and at 100 miles an hour Pilots of the Tri-Motor are Captain Bob Mishler and copilot Mac Rogers Both pilots said they had never flown anything I ke the Ford but that it was basically the same as far as controls and flying were concerned Capt Mishler is from Ohio and has flown as a private pilot for corporations arid travel groups Rogers is from Orangeburg and was a flying instructor before coming to Wings and Wheels Wings and Wheels is owned by Dolph Overton a jet Ace (shooting down over five planes) in the Korean War Col Johnson Hagood a retired Army colonel is the director of Wings arid Wheels These airplanes and the museum are the beginning of a new recreation-type complex which should be finished within the next four years On 126 acres plans are being made for a steam-drawn train antique car rides camping grounds horse paths bicycle paths an antique airplane research library and an exhibition hall A full scale reproduction of Southern Friend erf will rides through the country The original train was the first steam-drawn locomotive in the US Model will be available for drives and a research library for antique airplanes is being planned This library will provide olid data manuals and other needed information for persons working on restoring old airplanes Some of these plans will be completed this year The steam locomotive is expected in early fall In May a hangar larger than the area of a football field will be completed In this building will be over $2 million worth of antique airplanes of which the youngest is 40 years old and cars There will be 30 more airplanes and there are also plans for a Dusenberg car savings and loan association CORNER MAIN AND CALHOUN SUMTE'R 773 9323 ENEMY This Fokker F-lDR-1 the most famous of all WW I planes is better known as the plane of the Red Baron The plane is a scale model made in Hollywood and has been more popularized by a character Snoopy The Fokker entered combat in 1917 and was still in action at the Armistic' which was one of America's finest cars in the The first weekend in May an antique is scheduled which will be the biggest meet of this kind on the east coast Over 200 planes from the and will be flying in and participating in different programs and formations Wings and Wheels opened on December 17 and is open all year round The hours are 9 to 9 seven days a week The Ford-Tri-Motor makes five to six air trips daily and accommodates 15 passengers per flight for adventurous souls who want to imagine flying as it was 30 years ago 12 CURTISS PUSHER The Pusher was flown by Curtiss in the first In-rnational Air Meet at Re ms France in 1909 The US Navy bought a Pusher 1910 and used it as its first plane Th plane had 85-horse power and wire was used to brace the wings Fairlane 2-Door Hardtop Special package deal prices now on Fairlane 2-Door Hardtop with most popular options included: Vinyl roof Dual racing mirrors Racing stripe Deluxe wheel covers Whitewalls Full carpeting Pop-Option Sale in Ford Country McLaughlin Motors Inc Main St at Hwy 76-378 By-Pass Sumterf This is the Ford Tri- Motor which makes five flights a day with 15 oassengers as one of the attractions at Wings and Wheels in Santee This plane was Pan first Commercial plane in 1928 She cruises at 100 miles an hour at an altitude of 1200 to 1500 feet i.