Thrills of Early Flight Abound at Museum Run by Aviation Pioneer, 90

It is hard to imagine anyone climbing on board a fragile-looking 1914 model Curtiss Pusher airplane and intentionally leaving the ground. It looks something like a bicycle with wings.

But Clarence E. Page, who recently turned 90, says:

“That’s my kind of airplane. You sit right out there in front--in control.”

Now the Curtiss Pusher sits in the Air Space Museum, where it is one of many attractions at the Kirkpatrick Center Museum Complex in Oklahoma City.

Although he never seems to tire of recounting myriad stories of his own and his colleagues’ adventures, Page is looking to the future. For him, that means preparing the museum to operate without him.

“I’ll keep this museum open,” he said. “If we can hold on two more years, until the Remington Park race track is up and running, we’ll have it made.”

Page has put some $1.3 million into the 83,000-square-foot museum, in addition to the $5 million John Kirkpatrick put into an expansion (from 5,000 square feet) that was completed in 1983.

Expensive Proposition

Page will tell you it takes a lot of money to run a museum, what with the acquisition of artifacts and operating costs.

“They hit me up for $90,000 just last week,” he said, laughing, in a recent interview.

According to Ruth Howard, Page’s personal secretary for 39 years, that was Page’s contribution to the $300,000 it takes to run the museum every year.

Page is not flying pusher planes these days, but he walks by the Curtiss Pusher exhibit every morning on his way to his office.

It reminds him of his own barnstorming days--in the dawn of aviation, when pilots were about half crazy, intoxicated with the thrill of flight. His face lights up with the recollection.

In the Curtiss Pusher, he would strap on a leather belt, which held him in what looked like a kitchen chair. Wires and pulleys were fashioned around him like a delicate spider web.

He would grip the huge steering wheel and, with the 90-horsepower, water-cooled engine whining, taxi down whatever “runway” was available. With the wind in his face taking his breath, he would feel the exhilaration of being lifted into the air.

A Romantic Heritage

It is that feeling Page seems to want to preserve--the thrills, as well as the hard facts and artifacts. They are reminders of the beginnings of aviation, a romantic heritage that is much a part of Oklahoma history.

Page was an aviation pioneer. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps, where he learned to fly in 1918. He was a part-time barnstormer in the 1920s, and remained active in the Air Corps Reserve between the world wars.

He participated in the development of airports in the Oklahoma City area, one of which is named for him.

During World War II, Page trained pilots for the Army Air Corps. Following the war, he developed an aviation business with a fixed-base operation at Will Rogers Airport and an engine rebuilding plant at Cimarron Field, since renamed Clarence E. Page Airport.