Flying Greats Help Launch a New Museum

The crowd at the shiny Museum of Flying inaugural Saturday evening in Santa Monica was on Cloud 9, in Seventh Heaven, soaring on a high. Aviation’s most-storied pioneers, many in aviation attire, joined black-tie Southern California society on the very spot where the late Donald Douglas founded Douglas Aircraft Co. nearly 70 years ago. If the Wright Brothers were alive, they would have been there.

At the front door were David and Dallas Price. He’s chairman and CEO of American Golf Corp., which owns/leases more than 110 public golf courses. He came up with the concept for a flying museum alongside the Santa Monica Airport--a museum with famous planes that would actually fly in public exhibition. He got philanthropist Donald Douglas Jr., son and namesake of the late founder of Douglas Aircraft and its president from 1953 until 1967, to be chairman; they helped form an illustrious board, including Paul MacCready, designer of the human-powered Gossamer Condor.

The greats flew in for the gala: Buzz Aldrin of the Apollo 11 moon-landing crew buzzed in from Emerald Bay in medal regalia, stepping off Jim (Orange County land developer) and Nancy Baldwin’s aircopter with the Baldwins and his wind-blown wife, Lois, swathed in Amen Wardy’s famous emblem-patched flight jacket.

The New Earhart

Former Secretary of the Interior William Clark and his wife, Joan, flew from Paso Robles with the new Amelia Earhart--Jeana Yeager, one of two pilots who flew the Voyager to an around-the-world non-stop, non-refuel record in 1986. The Clarks have loaned their green P-40, used by World War II Gen. Claire L. Chennault, to the museum.

Joan Stewart (museum developer and Price’s sister) and party co-chairs Madine Pulaski (wearing her 1950s TWA stewardess uniform let out 4 inches) and Hyla Bertea, placed the blue-clothed dinner tables under the famous Douglas World Cruiser. It’s one of four cruisers that set off from the museum site in 1924 to circle the globe (two finished for a world first; two crashed, one in Alaska, the other off the coast of Nova Scotia). The cruiser is dubbed the New Orleans, and it was what everyone wanted to see, along with the other 14 flight-worthy planes in the museum’s collection.

For the night, the famous guests were in starlight: Arthur Raymond, who designed the DC-3 (according to David Price, “Probably the most famous plane of all time because it allowed countries to have passenger service”); sitting next to him, Edward Heinemann, the designer of the SBD fighter plane (it won the World War II Battle of Midway), the AD Skyraider and the A-4 Skyhawk. Handsome USN Lt. Eric Hinson, son of David and Ursula Hinson (he’s chairman of Midway Airlines, which just spent $1 billion for 37 MD-80s from Douglas), approached Heinemann and said with emotion, “I am so honored to meet you, Sir. I have 800 hours in your plane.” He referred to the Skyhawk.

All Types of Fliers

The air power there was electric: Lee and Patti Atwood (he was a Douglas engineer in 1930, who later originated the P-51 Mustang design and was chairman of North American Aviation; John (lawyer and former chief test pilot for the Northrop Black Widow) and Lucia Myers; pioneer aviator/teacher Eddie Martin; racing pilots Steve Hinton, Clay Lacy, Tony LeVier, Alan Preston, Bill (Tiger) Destefani; combat aviators Jack Allavie, Zeke Cormier, Edwin D. McKellar Jr.; aerobatic genius Bob Hoover; aviation historian Walter Boyne; founder of the vintage aircraft restoration movement, Ed Maloney; Dan J. Sabovich, leader in airport development; and test pilot Darryl Greenamyer.

The Douglases were abundant: Donald and Linda Douglas, James Douglas (wearing the Douglas kilt), and their sister, Barbara Arnold, and her husband, Col. Bruce Arnold, son of the late five-star Gen. Hap Arnold, father of the U.S. Air Force. Said Donald: “My father would be so damn proud. He loved aviation and what it brought to the world. The fact that this museum will have real flying machines--is just unbelievable.”

David Price reflected, “When I was 7, I used to live a block away (from the museum site), and I used to go watch the airplanes during World War II. Later I was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy.” Four of his planes--two British Spitfires (they sell for about $1 million these days) and two P-51 Mustangs will be displayed periodically. One of the Mustangs is his record-breaking Dago Red, which he’ll race himself in the Reno National Championship in September.

The museum opens to the public on May 1.