WINGS OVER BLAKESBURG

However, this year, AAAers enthused over a little monoplane: The Golden Eagle Chief N68N (c/n 803) which was fresh out of the workshop. It was the first time the plane was presented to the public, the first flight taking place less than a month before. Bill Rassmussen of Matoon, Illinois, acquired this very rare machine in 1995 from Warren Gardner of Cheney, Washington, who salvaged it from a dump and partially restored the craft. Work started immediately on the engine, while the fuselage entered restoration in 1999.

On 16 June 1929, Bobbi Trout, the famed aviatrix and demonstration pilot for the Golden Eagle Monoplane Company, established a 15,200-ft altitude record for light-class aircraft in the 90-hp Chief c/n 802. Having discovered the relation between Bobbi and the Chief, Bill wrote to her and, to his surprise, obtained a response. After visiting Bobbi at her home in San Diego in 2001, Bill had an extra incentive to put all his energy in the project and present her with the restored airplane. This was not to be as Bobbi Trout passed away on 24 January 2004, only a few months before completion.

Rill comments: "I am sorry that she did not get to sec it... Bohhi would have liked that. She was traveling right to the end, and I was hoping she'd get to come out."

The Chief stands out as an homage to her accomplishments and as a symbol of the AAA's main mission: To he a link hetween the past and the future.

After over 50 years of continuous operation, Rrent comments on the future of the AAA and the antique movement: "Every year, I see the quality of restoration reaching new heights. It really harries me to see a wreck straight out of the landfill find a new lease on life, looking even hotter than the day it was horn. As far as I can forecast the future, it seems that the antique movement has a hright future as long as there will he people ready to repair and fly antique airplanes. The overall population of antiques should not increase significantly in the future. My father always says, 'there are more antiques than people willing to restore them.' There are some airplane types that were common .30 years ago and are all hut gone today. They have not been destroyed, they are just waiting in the darkness of Α ham, or in the far corner of a dusty hangar. They are waiting for the next generation of antiquers to re-discover them, pull them out in the sunlight, restore them, and fly them away.

"The average antiquer is in his late 40s. His kids are now out of college. His financial situation has improved and, now, he can fulfill his long time dream of owning an antique. He is coming from all sectors of the economy. There is no social structure at the AAA, everybody is equal. I have been told that it was that way in aviation in the 1930s, you could walk up to anybody on an airfield and start a conversation. The future is bright, one can see the third generation of antiquers around the airfield. If you were raised in this arena, it stays with you for your entire life. I am a second generation antiquer, and my son is very involved here. I hope he will take over when I become too tired to go on..."