WERE YOU, A RELATIVE, OR ACQUAINTANCE STATIONED AT THE
MISSOURI INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS IN 1941 ?
Do you recall conversation about the crash of an unidentified object, an alleged UFO?
Notable Record For Air School
Size of Plant and Number of Cadets Doubled in First Year
During the first complete year of operation of the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics, ending this week, more than four hundred young American boys successfully completed the first phase of their training as future United States Army pilots, figures available at the air school indicate.
To graduate successful this number of cadets, a total of 658 youths, representing all states of the Union, were admitted into the school, with 251 boys finding they were not fitted to be flyers and being "eliminated" from further training. Many of these youths remained in the Air Corps and were trained at other schools as bombardiers, navigators, photographers and in other phases where piloting is not required.
Now at the school are two of the largest classes to be received here, with the advanced class, consisting of 101 cadets originally, scheduled to complete its training within the next month. The "new" class, which was received about two weeks ago, consisted of 108 cadets. It is the tenth class to begin training here.
During the first year of its active operation, the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics has taken strides equally as great as those which last year resulted in its opening, with its first class of 32 cadets, three months after the project was first suggested.
When it was opened on September 12, 1940, the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics consisted of one hangar, an administration building, cafeteria, educational building and two barracks. Now three hangars are in regular use with the foundation for a fourth ready when it is needed, the number of barracks has been doubled, the size of the cafeteria enlarged, and almost ready for occupancy is a new building to house the hospital and serve as the medical office of the institution. Other work done at the airport includes conditioning of the flying field, construction of roads and walks, and the building of a fence around the entire grounds. Tennis courts, enclosed basketball courts and other facilities for the entertainment of the cadets when off duty are also being added constantly.
So constant has been building and improving, in fact, that hardly a day since the opening of the school has the sound of hammers and machinery been silenced.
DEDICATION
A big day for the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics was last May 24 when with ceremony the airport was formally dedicated to the memory of Harvey Parks, brother of the Institute's president, Oliver L. Parks of St. Louis. Visiting officials were present, the cadet corps
was on hand, and a plaque dedicating the airport as the Harvey Parks Airport was unveiled by Sikeston's May Queen, Miss Betty Jane Taylor.
A.B. Woodbury, vice-president and general manager, is in charge of
the civilian side of the air school, with the Air Corps Training Detachment under the command of Capt. Ralph C. Rockwood.
Capt C. R. Root, who served as commander of the Detachment during most of its first year, was recently transferred to Uvalde, Texas, where he is in charge of a new air school being opened there.
Present personnel, civilian and Army, now located at the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics, is as follows:
Official and office: Oliver L. Parks, Alden B. Woodbury, John W. Bryan, Ben B Schade, Merlin Taylor, Dorothy McCain and Evelyn Poe.
Construction: William Ehlers, Jr and John W. Bell
Watchmen: Wallace H. Nelson, Fred Beal, Allen W. Marchbanks, George W. Sutton, George D. Harris and Willard G. Wheeler.
Ground School: James E. Christopher, Albert E. Klamm and Richard. E. Learning
Flight Department: William S. Murphy, Coen V. Sexton, W. Elwood Taylor, Ralph W. Deane, Harvey H Glass, Joe B. Lambert, William L. Walker, John F. Edwards, John F. Ahlfeld, A. Allen Libby, James H. Allen, William R. Sprague, James C. Sanders, David E. Droz, Guy E. Dixon, Raymond J. Leeward, Frank T. Dunn, Woodrow W. Wilson, William E. Allyn, Robert G. Petry, Williard H. Moose, Arthur R. Wiedinger, Hubert H. Steinmeyer, Alftred A. Brockland, Oscar C. Berge, James A. Hopkins, Lurlin R. Collins, James Smith, S. Claude Johnson, William F. Blair, Kenneth C. Clark, Phil P. Zampini, Earl B. Dahl, Romain J. Dunham, Robert Beauchamp, Carl R. Weber, Lowell C. Little, Ralph W. Palmer, John A. Treinies, Louis M. Blaisdell Jr., Julius J. Konrath, Robert L. Nelson, Daniel E. Getman, J. Beatty Hostetler, Hugh E. Fulk, Agustus C. Martyn, Edward B. Shine, William R. Falck, Harold H. Hunter, Clarence L Dowden, Arnold P. Sielaff, Titurston M. Plantinga, Allan S. Herrington, Robert W. Housworth, Lloyd L. Creswell and Carl E. Dichl Jr.
Line Service (Maintenance)-J. Bud Dunleavy, superintendent; Paul L. Rider, S. L. H. Ward, James P. Wallace, Horace E. Yeaton, R. Eugene Smith, Willard M Hanson, Ivan R. Koch, Raymond Jahn, Manuel L. Farris, Chares T. .Morgan, Paul Wolk, Eugene S. Propf, Frank Ambuel, John Tamul, Leonard Willens, Charles C. Hile, William E. Higdon, Lewis D. Anderson, Donald M. Henricks, Herbert E. Ellinger, Chares T. Pyles, Frank H. Myers, Phillip H. May, James F. Watson, Victor Cromaz, Edwin Zak, Kenneth Griffith, Josehp M. Gover, Joe LeFeber, John W. Symns, Francis M. Cripe, Roger T. Seitz, Clarence E. Wilkinson, William D. Dudley, Sam B. Whetstone, Marion C. Johnson, Billy M. Tinder, James H. Tucker, Cline E. Lacy, L.C. Tucker, Willie W. Tubbs, Ochel G. Grim, Floyd E. Grim, Cleo Grim, Paul A. Lasater, William E. May, John L. Baker, Cecil Grigsby, John Tubbs, Elwood Terrell, Frank E. Aldridge, Harold L. Swanagon, James E. Lacy, and Robert Boyanovsky.
Field Maintenance: William C. Sutton, field manager; Woodrow W. Horton, Miner Lee Cobb, Orville L. Ables, Carl W. Bruenig, Otto E. Penick, Eara P. Aldridge, Ira C. Taylor, Phillip M. Munott, Otto E. Penick, and Roy F. Collins Jr.
Army Staff:
Personnel of the Army staff in charge of the Air Corps Training Detachment located at Harvey Parks Air Field and their civilian employees: Captain Ralph C. Rockwood, Commanding officer: Lt Lewis Stocking, engineering officer: Major Charles Fogarty. Flight surgeon: Lt. Worthy C. Boden, assistant flight surgeon: Lt. J. Fred McClendon. adjutant Lt. Phil Huges, Lt. Robert Allen Shaw, Sgt. Calvin C. Maranville, Sgt. Harold English, Sgt. Michael J. Rohaley, Sgt.Orren Nix, Sgt. Charles Cossairt and Privates Jenks, Robertson, Wheat and Stickel.
Civilians employed in the Army offices are Misses Katherine Bowers, Alfreda Denion, Vera Smith and Mrs. Camille Stone, Frankie Engram and C. J. Bert
Four New Officers At Local Air School
New officers added to the Army staff of the Air Corps Training Detachment located at the Harvey Parks Airport here, as announced by the adjutant, Lt. J. Fred McClendon, are as follows: First Lieut. Thomas Gerald Pearse Jr. and First Lieut. Harold Otto Fichte, who come from Randolph Field, Texas and First Lieut. Phil Huges and Second Lieut Robert Allen Shaw who come to Sikeston from Kelly Field, Texas
New Class At Air Institute
More Than Half of One Hundred New Cadets From Ohio
Twenty-two States are represented in the new class of Flying Cadets which began its course of instruction at the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics here Monday.
Ohioans predominate in the new class, more than half of the prospective pilots being residents of that state.
Other states represented are Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Michigan, Indian, Kentucky, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota, Arkansas, Washington, West Virginia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kansas, North Dakota, Virginia and Colorado.
The new Flying Cadets, and their home addresses, are as follows:
Flying cadets from Ohio are Franklin Morris Rizer - Syracuse, Albert Wilson Roby Jr. -Gahanna, Edward Francis Roddy, J. Donald Scullian - Sanford, Morris Simon - Clifton, Howard Troxell, Edwin Arundel Ralph, Jack Richard Walsh - Cleveland, John Crawford Roth - Newton Falls, Thomas Lee Ruddy, Kemper William Merriam, Earl William Finley - Lakewood, Harry Kay Bush - Clifford, Morris Stocky - East Cleveland, Robert Antony Saner, Ernest Jens Bahnsen - Fremont, Raymond Theodore Schlanser, Albert Geo Schmerge - Norwood, Clarence Arthur Schorr - Dayton, Edgar Ernest Snyder Jr - Van Wert, Robert Lane Steddom - Midletown, Harold Eugene Stephens - Tiffin, William Elmer Taylor, Edward Frank Waller, Gustave Robert Rau, Ralph Pearson, Thomas James Sears Lovett Jr., Wm Henry Payne, Jr., Edward Harrison Calvert, George Herbert Davis, Horace Chester Craig - Columbus, Charles Seymour Upson, George Francis Schwartz, Eugene Walter O'Neill Jr., John Phillip Willett - Cincinnati, Eugene Thomas Tisonyai - Cashockton, Thurl Charles Van Kirk - Greenville, Richard George Varney - Chardon, James William Lauck - Findley, Paul Edmund Leas, Edward Peter Ognowski, Vicent James Zimbardi - Akron, William Barclay Love - Granville, Arthur Joseph McCormick - Ballaire, Jay Houghton Maish Jr., Donald Loring Quigley, Donald Dean Renwick - Marion, John Joseph Musial, Stephen Poleschuk, Martin Raymond Walsh Jr. - Youngstown, Chester Thomas Namola - Warren, Amos Andrew Norman - Glenford, William Garland Norton - Wooster, Ralph Cecil Payne - Ironton, John Harness Porter, Thomas Scott Rankin - Springfield, Durward Ray Reed - Lackland, Edward Charles Buhrer - 
Sandusky, Richard E. Critchfield - Barberton, Ralph Donovan Davis, Wollston, Richard Thomson Delp - Canton, Donald Charles Dittler, Maderia, Willis Allan Jarvis - Zenid [Zenia], Ralph Davis Wilson - Galena, Richard Maurice Wilson - Ravenna.
Missouri
Only two Missouri youths, James Davis Webb of Kansas City and Frederick Timothy Allen of Columbia are included in the class. Allen is the cadet who was injured several months ago, when his plan crashed, and though officially transferred to the new class, is now at his home in Columbia recuperating.
Other States
"Closest home" of the new cadets is Paul P. Douglas Jr., of Paragould, Ark
Other cadets and their home addresses are as follows: John Douglas Bailey, Crosby, Minn.; Robert Nelson Beals, Owosso, Mich; Lyle Thomas Boley, Manhattan, Kans.; Otto Henry Brandau, Wilton, Wis.; Hoyle Miller Elvins, Dreson, Ia.; Vernon Ellifritz, Keyser, West Virginia; John Darwood Guthrie, Kittanning,Penn; John Dietrich Walker Haesler, Loup City, Neb.; Willaim Eldon Hanes, Goldendale, Wash.; Simon Nathaneil Harris, Bester Springs, W. Va.
Ernest Darl Hartmant, Indianapolis, Ind.; Omar Wesler Headrick, Superior, Neb.; Leonard Lorenzo Hicks, Pachuta, Miss.; William Dwight Holford, Bartlesville, Okla.; Robert Joseph Jennings, Gate City, Va.; Martin Henry Johnson, Sublette, Kans. Albert Adam Kurz, Gackle, N.D.; George Elden Sloan, Danville, Ill.; Wm. George Stainbrook, Franklin, Ind.; Eugene John Rybicki, Chicago, Ill.; Charles Franklin Riggle, Philadelphia, Penn.; Thomas Branch Withers, Greenville, Ky.; Raymond Vincent Wetzel, Gilman, Wis., Burdette Lawrence Wertmand, David City, Neb.; Paul Josehp Wata, Denver, Colo.
Eugene Carroll McCaffrey, Maquoketa, Ia.; Carl Fredrick Mcyer, Kearney, Neb.; Noel Elgin Moffett, Potsdam, N.Y.; John Pasuk, Slate Hill, N.Y.; Bernard Joseph Muloy, Detroit, Mich.; Roger Gale Nusbaum, Cass, Ind.; Harvey Stanton Pence, Paris Ky.; and Harlow N. Ream, Douglas, Ariz.
