7 minute read
Melincko’s Museum
Hi Everybody! It’s me, Melincko, the famously adventurous aviation monkey. I have exciting news to share with you, and I hope you take it seriously even though I’m just a monkey. Somehow I always happen to be at the right place, at the right time. I have many stories that involve historic airplanes, flights and aviators you see attending the Northwest Aviation Trade Conference!
First of all I should probably tell you where my home is. I live in a1930 gas station that is painted up in the Gilmore Gas Station colors in the City of Wallowa, Oregon. Gilmore Gas station? Back in the 20s and 30s was the golden age of Air Racing. Many colorful pilots filled the sky. One aviator, Roscoe Turner, personified this era the best. His waxed mustache, sharp blue military jacket, riding breeches pressed into tall black boots, and diamond studded aviator wings made him a larger than life character. He also flew with a real lion!
The lion was Roscoe’s flying companion.
Gilmore flew over 25,000 miles and participated in two transcontinental races. Gilmore the flying lion even had a parachute and oxygen mask made special for him by the Irvine Parachute Company (1930). The humane society and the rest of the public were concerned with Gilmore’s safety in case Roscoe had a malfunction with the airplane. Huge public outcry resulted in these modern safety features for Gilmore. His parachute was activated by a static line so he could safely exit the aircraft if he had to. Gilmore the Lion became the mascot for Gilmore Gas and Oil. The brilliantly painted gas stations were done in high gloss yellow, white, and red trim.
The reason that I live in an old 1930s Gilmore Gas station is because it has been converted into a model airplane museum that even has a stuffed giant lion just like Gilmore with his parachute deployed. This incredible model airplane museum was put together so that students of all ages could learn about aviation in a fun and eclectic way. As you will see when you visit, the first learning lesson in this airplane hangar of mine is the history of Roscoe Turner and Gilmore the Flying Lion!
Inside you will also learn about Josef Kotula. He was one of the most prolific aviation artists from 1931 until 1987. He did many of the covers for Model Airplane News, Popular Mechanics, and also did the “Box Art” for Aurora Flying Models. Many of his best covers, since I have one of the most complete collections in the world, and his early “Box Art” can be found on display, along with his rich history and induction into American Society of Aviation Artists.
I will be flying as part of the flight team on this incredible adventure that begins April 6, 2020 departing out of Sand point, Washington. The real flight in 1924, the first circumnavigation of the globe, actually took stuffed monkeys as mascots. My great, great grandmother, Maggie, was on that flight and now lives at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. I am the April 6, 2020 mascot that has the privilege of flying around the world with the Dempsters and our official flight crew.
What other famous flights have I made with many of the pilots you see right here at the trade conference? Well, I was fortunate enough to fly with Addison Pemberton in the Beautiful Boeing 40C from Historic Pearson Field to Boeing Field. This Boeing Model 40 was brought back to its former glory by Pemberton and Sons Aviation in Spokane, Washington.
This Boeing Model 40 is the oldest flying Boeing airplane in existence, and can be found in the incredible Golden Age of Aviation Collection at The Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon (WAAAM). WAAAM is one of the many exhibitors at this Conference too. I have a really big poster of this Boeing 40C hanging in my museum that you must see with a giant monkey holding a wind sock next to it!
Captain Mac and Roni, who fly their historic 1929 Travel Aire 4000, and give biplane rides all over America, also flew
historic model airplanes in suspension, some as small as a moth, like our Wright Flyer, some yet as giant as the ten foot wingspan Douglas World Cruiser (New Orleans #4) that was here at the trade show last year, makes the Scavenger Hunt a real challenge. A great many aircraft you did not even know existed like the Savoia Marchette SM 55X, The Dornier DOX, Heinkel H.E. 70A, Junkers JU 52, Convair B36, Martin M130, Boeing 314G, and more can be found here.
alongside the Boeing 40C for this trip. We flew the old C.A.M. (Contract Air mail) Route 8 from 1200-1400 AGL, and you can see this adventure at my aviation museum. Captain Mac’s amazing story about barnstorming and the Great American Flying Circus can be found in Richard Bach’s book: Nothing By Chance, A Gypsy Pilot’s Adventure in Modern America. Richard also wrote; Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
I also had a fun time flying with the pilots that built and flew the replica of the historic Miss Veedol, also known as The Spirit of Wenatchee. Miss Veedol flew nonstop across the Pacific Ocean on October 5, 1931 with Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon. They crash landed their airplane safely in East Wenatchee, Washington. When I flew in the Miss Veedol we flew out of Wallowa County at Joseph Airport, OR.
There are many exciting aviation developments taking place inthe Pacific Northwest besides my aviation museum. Joseph Charter School in Joseph, OR, just built a new facility dedicated to teaching students how to prepare for careers in the aviation industry. Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho is building the Schweitzer Career & Technical Education Center (CTE). Hillcrest Aircraft Company became the first corporate partner to donate $100,000. It will house many of the technologies like CNC machining, and engineering& electronics technology.
Getting back to Melincko’s Museum in the City of Wallowa,` you will also learn about the famous Marine and Air National Guard “Happy Hooligan” Aviator, James “Fang” Maroney. Fang was one of four pilots flying F-16s providing protection over Washington D.C. for the first thirty days after 9/11. His 80 inch wingspan North American P-51D Mustang can be found inverted over our aero modeling area. Fang was a lifelong member of the Academy of Model Aeronautics. Fang and his father built this huge Mustang with retractable landing gear, flaps, and opening canopy.
Building flying models, gliders, learning about drones, experiencing the Vertical Wind Tunnel, flying the radio controlled flight simulator, or just basking in the rich history of the famous Aviatrixes and leaders of aviation like Katharine Wright, Harriett Quimby, Bessie Coleman, Jackie Cochran, Helen Dutreau, and Mary Riddell, are just a few reasons to come and learn. Dozens of beautifully scaled model aircraft move by themselves creating a giant aircraft mobile while you visit.
This aviation museum is an exciting place to learn about aviation in a fun way. Many What I find really neat too are the informative Talking Towers built by Touchstone Enterprises LLC that you can find all around my museum. They inform and instruct using my fun monkey voice. These push button Talking Towers are a great way to get precise information delivered to our visitors especially since the wing walking monkeys can distract even the most focused docents.
My favorite exhibit is The World Flight Wall that tells the amazing rich history on the flight I will be going on this April 6, 2020. The history of the Douglas World Cruisers is one of the greatest adventures ever to take place, and the largest peacetime logistical effort of the United States Government until the landing on the moon. A very special thank you to my monkey friend, PJ Mueller, at Seattle Museum of Flight who made these incredible reader boards for my exhibit. Seattle Museum of Flight, without a doubt, is one of the greatest aviation education museums in the world, and they were so very kind to even help out this little monkey.
So come out to visit me in Beautiful Wallowa County. My Melincko Museum is just the place for you. You will find me on The Oregon Hells Canyon Scenic Highway 82 in the City of Wallowa, and you cannot miss the brightly colored historic building, and of course my funny little monkey face and a P-40 Flying Tiger War Hawk on the big lit sign. I hope to see you there this summer as our opening day is set for April 15, 2020. Even though I will be flying around the world on the Seattle II with the Seattle World Cruiser Flight Team you can learn all about me and my aviation adventures here. I will quickly come back after our landing in Seattle.
