Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
Spring 1997
Citation
Great Plains Quarterly Vol. 17, No. 2, Spring 1997, pp. 153-54.
Abstract
This book is a must read for every pilot in Nebraska. Even readers with only a mild interest in fliers and flying will find Robert Adwers's low-key history and reminiscences about flying in Nebraska rewarding.
From his childhood and teenage years in the 1920s until now, Adwers has both keenly observed and actively participated in Nebraska flying, especially in the formative decades of the '20s and '30s. He had his first flight in the spring of 1929 at Steele Field, a cow pasture airport in northeast Omaha on land where a huge power plant now stands. From that time on he was hooked, determined more than ever to be a pilot.
Adwers's book is crammed with interesting stories about the early days of flight in Nebraska. The first actual flight in the state, for example, was by balloon, not airplane. On 27 July 1900 "Professor" Sam Murphy (most early balloonists called themselves "professor") flew from the Ak-Sar-Ben carnival grounds in Omaha to near the Union Pacific Missouri River bridge.
The first "aeroplane" flight in the state was on 23 July 1910 by the renowned Glenn Curtis. Nebraskans got to see Curtis make the flight because of his bitter rivalry with the Wright brothers. When he learned the Wrights were scheduled to fly at the Nebraska State Fair in September, he gladly accepted an offer to fly in July at a meet organized by the Aero Club of Nebraska.
Although the only airplanes now being built in Nebraska are "homebuilts," this was not always so. Most everyone who has passed through Lincoln's air terminal is aware of the red Arrow Sport hanging from its ceiling. The Arrow Sport, along with the Lincoln Standard-another well-known biplane of the 1920s-was built by the Lincoln Standard Aircraft Company located at 24th and O streets.
These are only a sample of the many fascinating tales about Nebraska pilots and Nebraska aviation in Adwers's book. Who was Omaha's "Ace" from World War I? Who buzzed Farnam Street in Omaha from 16th to the Blackstone Hotel in a B-17 bomber during World War II? Who built the first airplane in Nebraska? How did the second, world-famous Pulitzer Race happen to be held in Omaha? When did the first air mail flight land in Nebraska? Who was the pilot? What do we really know about Charles "Speed" Holman's fatal crash at the 1931 Omaha Air Races? For answers to these questions and many more, read Rudder, Stick, and Throttle.
Comments
Copyright 1997 by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln