Those men and their flying machines

Every now and then our town, as does others, gets a special treat; some famous person finds his or her way to the outreaches of northern Maine and performs. Likely none of you recalls ex-President William Howard Taft back in May of 1917 being paraded through Main St. after a leisurely meal in the home of Charles Phair, original owner of  the building which now houses Governor’s. Likely, though, many readers remember Gene Autry and Trigger appearing on stage with the Northern Maine Fair of 1954. Boys o’ boys, now that gathered a crowd, indeed! In the same year Ted Williams stepped off the train at the B&A Station and signed a few autographs. The Splendid Splinter was on his way to Fish River for a little R&R. Hundreds gathered ‘round to view baseball’s best hitter (arguably) ever. In the fall of 1960 presidential hopeful, Jack Kennedy, appeared at Presque Isle Air Force Base to a huge cheering crowd of 8,000. It was said that the visit was his kick-off announcement to be president of the United States. A few years later in October of 1964, ex-President Richard Nixon wowed a crowd of several hundred Presque Isleites as he delivered a fiery political speech on the corner of State and Main. Nixon was stumping for Senatorial candidate Cliff McIntire. A stage had been built on the corner for the event. Dr. Reynolds presented Nixon with the key to the city, an act he may or my not have regretted later. And in August of 1978 the Double Eagle II lifted off in Merle Sprague’s field in Spragueville – it’s mission, to be the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon. Several days later, its mission was accomplished without incident when it sat down in a field in Miserey, France.
This weekend several thousand Presque Isleites and other Aroostookans gathered once more to witness, either up close and personal or from afar, the fly-in of one of the now most celebrated airplanes of our time, a P-38 Lightning, now known as the Glacier Girl. By now many know the story of how the aircraft was salvaged from 268 feet of ice in its icy grave on the island of Greenland and restored. A historical sketch appeared in “Forgotten Times” in the Star-Herald a few weeks ago. Before I continue, though, I want it noted that it was on the nation’s 166th birthday, July 4, 1942, that two squadrons departed U.S. soil on their way to England to help in the defeat of Germany. It was 11 days later that the planes were forced down on Greenland. Somehow in my hurried research, I failed to note (actually, didn’t realize) the important date of July 4th in the recent historical sketch. Thanks to Gary Boone of this city, I’m able to include that date in today’s offering.
But beyond the nostalgic roar of the WWII airplanes flying overhead, as I remember during the war and, after, the Korean War sitting on the front steps of the family homestead on Second St., and beyond the familiar silhouettes of the fast-flying warbirds taking off from our local airfield, were the faceless pilots who flew them, each with a history and family back home. But this weekend we viewed a couple of those warbird pilots up close and personal. The pilot of the famous Glacier Girl, Steve Hinton, and the pilot of the its companion plane, a P-51, Ed Shipley, are included in a small handful of the most skilled pilots of vintage aircraft on our planet. Each arrived with a professional resume as long as, well, your arm, as they say. After all, isn’t it obvious that after spending 5-6 million bucks in salvage and restoration that the project owners would reach out for the world’s best to fly it (Glacier Girl)? Of course!
Ed Shipley spends 200-300 hours a year flying his P-51 Mustang and his F-86 (yes, his) at air shows around the world. Shipley’s F-86 Sabre fighter of Korean war vintage was formerly owned by former NASA astronaut and former CEO of Eastern Airlines, Frank Borman. In 1999 Shipley joined Atlas Air, the largest operator of 747s in the world. By the way, if you’re following the flight of the Glacier Girl on airshowbuzz.com, Shipley was directly responsible for that site. You can view him directly as he delivers daily updates in video format. Again (if you already haven’t), go to airshowbuzz.com and ‘fly’ with the crew as the flight makes its way to Duxford Airfield, England, in order to participate in Duxford’s air show over the 4th.
Steve Hinton, the older of the two and perhaps more experienced (if you can believe it), for over 25 years has provided his unequaled services and expertise as a pilot and/or aerial coordinator for countless motion pictures, movies made for TV and TV series and commercials. He began his flying career while doing odd jobs in a fledging air museum out in California where he grew up. By his mid teens, Hinton was flying. He’s now world famous and is well known for his ability to fly anything with wings. In 1979 he established a world speed record for a piston-powered aircraft. That record, 499 mph, was set in a modified P-51 Mustang and stood for 10 years. He’s a member of many flying organizations and is a good-standing member of the Screen Actors Guild. His TV career started in 1976 flying a variety of warbirds for the TV series, “Baa Baa Black Sheep.”
Both Glacier Girl and Miss Velma are headed for Duxford Airfield in Cambridge, England. Both are scheduled to appear in Duxford’s famous air show in the first week of July. Duxford Airfield, situated eight miles from Cambridge, has a long and distinguished service career. It was built in 1914 as a Royal Flying Corps training station. It now hosts Europe’s finest aviation museum.
Now, at the time of this writing, Friday morning, June 29, Glacier Girl has developed a serious problem with its coolant system. At the moment it’s unable to continue its journey until the problem is solved. It was, however, decided that Ed Shipley and his P-51 would continue. Early this morning, Shipley landed in Reykjavik, Iceland, and is scheduled to continue later. Glacier Girl will follow in the near future.
I certainly can’t close this piece without giving special praise to the members of the Presque Isle Air Museum who helped tremendously coordinating efforts in order that the public could view  the event last weekend. Another special thanks to Nate Grass, a founding member of the Air Museum, for his attention to details and his presentation to the crew members of the Glacier Girl re-enactment flight from Presque Isle to Duxford Airfield, England.
Again, thanks for reading “Forgotten Times.” It’s always my pleasure to inform you of the past (and sometimes the present). More to come, for sure.
Postscript: A postscript is necessary at this point because since I wrote this piece last week for the July 4th issue (the piece was postponed for a week) the P-38’s coolant problem has been insurmountable – recall that Glacier Girl had broken down at Goose Bay – and has been unable to complete its journey to Duxford Airfield in England in time for the famed air show.  Ed Shipley, however, has flown his restored P-51 (Miss Velma) safely to its destination and has appeared and performed at Duxford. Apparently, Miss Velma will remain at its new home at Duxford. Eventually, though, Glacier Girl and its crew will continue the July 1942 re-enactment flight. It goes without saying that we all wish them a safe journey.