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Photo showing part of the Smithsonian Exhibit set up in the Wings Club for the 1964 Early Birds New York Reunion.
(Front row, from left) Arthur H. Mix, Wm. C. Diehl,
Elmo N. Pickerill, Ralph S. Barnaby,
Clarence A. DeGiers, Russell Holderman,
Stanley Vaughn, Frank Schober. (Back row, left to right)
Allen F. Bonnalie, John Petre,
Leo B. Kimball, Roland Rohlfs, R. C.
"Tex" Marshall, Niels Bangs (top of head only),
Beckwith Havens, Andrew H. Heermance.
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Saturday, September 26th, 1964, having been proclaimed "EARLY BIRDS OF AVIATION DAY" by the World's Fair got everybody up bright and early that day to board three buses at the Vanderbilt entrance of the Biltmore to take everybody over to the World's fair Grounds, a short distance across the East River from Manhattan. RCA officials invited Mr. Pickerill, one of their retired employees, to appear on their color TV program in their World's Fair Studio and to bring along any other Early Birds to appear with him, who might have an interesting story to tell on television about their early pioneering days in aviation. After rounding up Grover Loening, Robert Fowler and Stanley Hiller, all four of them appeared on the RCA color TV program at 11:30 A.M. The program was taped and put on a closed circuit consisting of 350 television sets located throughout the World's Fair Grounds in buildings and outdoors, so that everybody could see it. Later the program was put on the air at Radio City and shown in color, also in black and white and on radio from the NBC studios in New York. .Besides President "Tex" Marshall, there were eight Past Presidents present, six of whom brought their wives. Past President, Captain Ralph S. Barnaby had as his guest, Mrs. Simone Bleriot Rubel, daughter of the distinguished Louis Bleriot, first man to fly an airplane across the English Channel from Calais to Dover in July, 1909. Past Presidents in attendance were George H. Scragg, Clarence A. DeGiers, Russell Holderman, Ralph S. Barnaby, Beckwith Havens, Bernard L. Whelan, Waldo D. Waterman and Will D. Parker. A special table for Past Presidents and their wives and guests was set up directly in front of the head table. Secretary Elmo N. Pickerill presented 50-year bronze plaques to the following members: Curtiss L. Day, R. C. "Tex" Marshall, Bertell W. King, Charles R. Witteman, Herman A. Ecker, Maj. Gen. Errol H. Zistel, Mrs. Hilder Smith and Mrs. Lloyd E. "Hank" Miller for her husband Hank Miller who could not attend on account of being hospitalized in Miami. December 1964, Number 71 |
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