Evening star., 1952-09-07
900 Planes L and at Rehoboth
For Private Pilots Roundup

of the Mississippi, they say. It
belongs to Bob Baber. 43, an auto
mobile salesman of 36O5 Longfel-
low street, Hyattsville. Md. He
and several other pilots built the
little plane in a year. completing
it at Hyde Field, Clinton, Md. A
biplane, the top wing only has a
15-foot spread, and the red-and-
white ship is but IA feet long. Mr..
Baber flew the lis miles from
Hyde Field in the Twister in so
minutes.
The big heroes of the day were
the Civil Aeronautics Administra-
ton men who brought the hun
dreds of planes in on the grass
runways at rate Of about three
a minute at the peak time. with
a high degree of safety.
Kenneth McMechen, tower man
at the New Castle Del) airport,
communicated landing instruc-
tions to planes with radio from
a CAA mobile aircraft traffic con-
troll. Meanwhile AL Rose, tower
controller at Newark. N. j.. air.
port took care of the actual sig
mails to the incoming ships. Green
meant all clear and come on in.
red meant go around again be-
fore touching down, and alter
mating red and green told the
pilots to proceed with extreme
caution.
Air Thick With Planes.
At times the air looked as it
were full of mosquitoes, but the
CAA men had full control of the
planes. Mr.. Rose, who has brought
in $4,000 planes in 81 years, cas-
ually remarked that he took his
job in stride and pointed out that
the AOPA pilots helped him in
his job by abiding fully with his
instructions. Tomorrow night, Mr..
Rose will dispatch the ships to
their home bases two or three
at a time by using signal flags.
The CAA also handled all flight
plans. The Weather Bureau in
stalled a station at Rehoboth fol-
the special use of the pilots.
The roundup had a full COM
plement of well known visitors
Prominent among them was w.
T. Piper, 72, president of the air.
craft firm bearing his name. He
flew a Piper PAGER down from
Lock Haven, Pa. where the factory
is located. Mr.. Piper has been
flying for % years. and in that
time has manufactured $4,000
piper planes. He flies $4,000 miles
a year.
Holds Worlds Record.
He also had on the field the
Piper PAGER which has flown the
Atlantic Ocean nonstop four
times. It holds the worlds distance
record for planes weighing up to
2,206 pounds. Its pilot, Max Con-
rad, also has flown the aircraft
nonstop from Los Angeles to
New York.
One woman flyer came all the
way from the Bahamas for the
event. She is Miss Curly Kimber-
ly, of 1921 Thirtieth place NV,
Washington. She was down in
Nassau and flew to the roundup
in commercial plane. Miss KIM
berly is a secretary at the National
Institute of Health in Bethesda,
Md. She acts as a navigator to
Edward Synan. president of the
Washington Air Derby ASsocia-
ton. Many WADA members at
tended the roundup.
Useful prizes, like chronometers
and travel bags, were awarded to
lucky pilots who distinguished
themselves in certain ways, like
being the oldest and youngest
pilots present. having the highest
or lowest AOPA numbers and COM
ing the longest and shortest dis
tanceS.
Others present were j. B. Hart
ranft, president and general man
ager of AOPA, who lives at 5000
Jones Mill road. Chevy Chase, Md:
Max Karant. assistant general
manager of AOPA, who lives at
10 Alcott road, Bethesda, and Miss
Joy Willis, Of 3601 Wisconsin ave-
nue. NV, executive assistant Of
AOPA.