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Vintage Wings & Wheels Museum Season Opening
ANNE EICKSTADT PHOTO Belvidere Republican
Wally Falardeau and Steve McGreedy of the original team stand with the Jenny which now live within the Poplar Grove Vintage Wings & Wheels Museum.
Our opening day, May 6, was ready and fully staffed with volunteers. We highlighted the Pitts, donated by Jeff Kaney, and the Curtis Jenny. Our special guests were the Jenny team and project part-ners, Chapter 1414 Board of Directors.
The Jenny has been moved from the workroom into the museum for display and to make room for the next project. The team had to start from scratch with the Jenny. There were plans, but they were scattered across the country in various museums and manufacturing libraries. They had to reach out to many places and people just to locate everything they needed just to make the parts of the plane. Wally Falardeau, Steve McGreedy, Don Perry and Brian Hansen built the plane with their own hands. The only part they obtained from elsewhere was the engine – and that was donated. “The materials for the Jenny were donated,” Falardeau said. “We had $100,000 worth of materials that were all donated. We had to find the plans for the plane and build everything from scratch. It flies slowly.
“When we took the Jenny to Oshkosh, I pulled a trailer with tools while Ken flew the plane. I got there first. The Jenny is underpowered for her size. She only has about 90 horsepower. The Jenny will now live in the museum where she belongs and the workroom will e used for our next project – the ‘Breezy.’ She is next to the hanger door so that it is easy to move her when we want to take her to events.”
“This project is a collaboration between the Museum’s restoration team and EAA Chapter 1414 members. Our goal with this project is to represent historical aviation for children and adults for years to come.
The Jenny, designed by Glenn Curtiss for the American World War I effort and built in various locations around the United States, was the first mass-produced plane in American history. Following WWI, the Jenny was used extensively for barnstorming and served as the mainstay of the fledgling US Air Mail service. The project officially began in the fall of 2016, gathering prints, making jigs and fixtures, and laying out the manufacturing schedule. As of June 2017, the team led by EAA and PGAEA member Don Perry has manufactured many of the parts needed for the fuselage, the wings, the emapenauge, gear and tail.” – Poplar Grove Vintage Wings & Wheels Museum website
“When we started building the Jenny from scratch,” said Steve McGreedy. “It seemed like a monumental task. It took 22,000 volunteer hours to build.”
Jenny pilot Ken Morris said, “Steve and his team did a wonderful job. I had the honor of taking the Jenny to Oshkosh where we won an award. Only the engine was not hand-built here. Even the radiator was built on site here.
“This is a great airport and museum here. I hope more people will come to see it. This place is like nothing else I have seen. Other places have nothing going on. This is the largest privately owned air-port in Illinois with 420 planes. The next largest one is in DuPage with 270 lanes.”
The Pitts Special, donated by Jeffrey J. Kaney of Kaney Aerospace, now hangs upside-down from the ceiling in the Poplar Grove Wings & Wheels Museum. Built by James Martin Killough with a O-360 engine, this Pitts was built specifically in mind for aerobatics. It has a long history of awards and high-performance specs. The Pitts has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts bi-planes dominated world aerobatic competition in the 1960s and 1970s and, even today, re-main potent competition air-craft in the lower categories.
Further information about the museum, hours, and events can be found at wingsand-wheelsmuseum.org or call 815-547-3115.
