News from Carolinas Aviation Museum

From the Carolinas Aviation Museum

The CAM News. A changing newsletter for a museum on the move!

Education and Exhibits Director Katie McClamrock accepts the AWARD of EXCELLENCE from the NCMC

Carolinas Aviation Museum recently received the

Award of Excellence from the

North Carolina Museums Council (NCMC).

This prestigious award was presented on March 24th and 25th as part of the Annual Conference in Raleigh where the Council presented a slate of awards to individuals and institutions that exemplify excellence in the museum community around the state.

Judging Criteria for the Award of Excellence

A museum's size, budget and staff will be taken into consideration by the Awards Committee in evaluating the nomination. Other factors which may be considered include: How much did the project benefit the public? What was the museum's accomplishment relative to its resources? Nominees for the Awards of Excellence must be Members of NCMC, and nominations must be made by an NCMC Member.

Exhibits nominated for the Awards of Excellence must have been completed during calendar year 2012 or implemented in 2012 but continue over a longer period of time.

CAM won the award for the redesign of the main hangar which we titled Flight is Possible to Man.

We have worked hard over the past year to transform CAM into a serious exhibit and we're very pleased that the North Carolina museum community has recognized our efforts. This award is just another step towards becoming a professional first class museum.

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Volunteer Appreciation Dinner A Success

Over 100 volunteers and guests attended the annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner held on Friday, March 15th at the museum. As Wally Coppinger said in his address, "Nothing can be done at CAM without the help of so many volunteers and we gratefully thank you for all that you do."

Floyd Wilson presents Bob Cottom with the Floyd S. Wilson Award

The awards have changed this year reflecting the people who have been instrumental in shaping the museum. Each volunteer received a gift as a token of appreciation and a total of 7 volunteers received special recognition for their service over the past year.

Awards:

Dolph Overton Award: Dolph was a great supporter of the museum and made large donations to our library. Our Library is named after him.

Awarded to Don Opgenorth.

Don supported the redesign and changes at the museum and he played an integral role in research and image scanning for our exhibits.

Tom Davis Award: Tom Davis and the Piedmont story have long been an important part of CAM.

Awarded to Charlie Sugg

Charlie has been here almost from the beginning. He has served in various areas, he continues to support the many changes in the museum and he always does it with a smile!

Michael Clausen Award: Clausen was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for going above and beyond what was expected.

Awarded to Diana and Rick Cromer.

The Cromers are always willing to go above and beyond to help with projects at the museum. Traveling over an hour and a half to get to CAM, they helped in numerous exhibition projects including the restoration of the Wright Flyer and the Cessna 150. They also serve as docents and often answer the call to help out during special events.

Jeff Skiles Award: Skiles played a major role in the Miracle on the Hudson event but often out of the spotlight.

Awarded to Lowell Warner.

Lowell is responsible for much of our marketing exposure. You see many of his images on our website, in brochures, magazines, signs, and in the images that surround you in our museum.

A second Jeff Skiles Award is

Awarded to Charlie Montagna

Charlie started as a docent but expanded his talents to include our WI-FI capabilities, the air traffic control heard outside the gift shop, new volunteer badges, and in general, solving problems that arise with IT, or audio.

Floyd S. Wilson Award This award represents the highest honor and is named in honor of the museum's founder. Without Floyd's hard work, determination, persistence and vision, there would be no Carolinas Aviation Museum.

Awarded to Bob Cottom

Bob never fails to respond to our pleas for help. He is an avid supporter of the museum and he exudes a real passion, sincerity, and enthusiasm that inspires our visitors. Several folks have asked to volunteer after talking with Bob.

Hangar B Opens!

The museum recently opened a smaller hangar that we call Hangar B. This hangar currently houses several helicopters, a travelling cockpit exhibit, a KC-97 cockpit and a few other smaller exhibits. This addition expands the museum and adds more value for our visitors at no additional charge.

Because Hangar B requires an additional docent each day, it will be open when we have the appropriate number of volunteers.

Museum founders Letter

Dear Members

Highlights of years gone by.

Looking back at March and April, 1993

On March 27, six CHAC members, Charles Wagner, CG 15-A recovery Chairman, Richard Schlegelmilch, Don Creason, D Creason II, Jimmy Stewart and Curtis Stewart, went to Greenville SC, and recovered a CG 15-A, WWII glider. It was given to our organization by CHAC member Jimmy Stewart. The glider was recovered from a muddy, wooded, overgrown field. Trees and other growth had to be removed by chainsaw before it could be loaded on the truck owned by CHAC members Don Creason an D Creason. The glider was delivered to the CHAC hangar the same day, to be restored at a future date.

WWII CG 15-A Glider (1995)

The City of Charlotte Airport Authority has had high-bay lighting and electric power brought into the hangar. Ken Connor was the project leader for this project. Ken is also working on getting our hangar doors fixed. For the first time, we had electric power and lighting in our hangar.

Jenks Caldwell, of Charlotte Aircraft, and his son Jenks Caldwell Jr. gave us a wind tunnel model of a P-61 Black Widow. It was later restored by Richard "Rich" Schlegelmilch

P-61 model being restored

Richard "Rich" Schlegelmilch in his workshop

Finished Model

A personal note to Dorothy Schlegelmilch, all of us who new Rich, miss him very much.

Sincerely,

Floyd S. Wilson

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101 Years Ago This Month

From the CAM Library. More ads from the early years of aviation. This one is from April 1912!

Zoom in on your computer for some of the fine print.

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Plane Spotter!

Can you name this aircraft?

We'll print the answer in next month's CAM News.

The aircraft in our Plane Spotter for February was:

Boeing B-1 Mail plane built in 1919 operating on the first international air mail route. This plane flew between Seattle and Victoria for seven years when it was retired after logging 350,000 miles.

Be sure to check out our website at:
www.carolinasaviation.org

April 2013

Oops! We missed March
There was no CAM News in March because the coordinator was in the hospital for surgery. Both the coordinator and the newsletter are back in business now!

In This Issue

More Links

Contacts

Wally Coppinger

Executive Director

Phone: 704-997-3771

Jerry Gunter

Museum Operations Manager

Phone: 704-997-3770

Katie McClamrock

Education and Exhibits Director

phone: 704-997-3772

Kristen Winseman

Senior Accountant

Phone: 704-997-3777

Donna Auer

Gift Shop Manager

Phone: 704-997-3773

Christopher Sandel

Volunteer Coordinator

Phone: 704-997-3778

Library Hours

Tuesday and Thursday, 10:00 - 4:30

Friday 11:00 - 4:00

or by appointment.

New Members

Charles Patrick

Charlotte, NC

Peter Ryan

Charlotte, NC

Vadom Bopomolov

Matthews NC

Jeff Ingraham Charlotte, NC

Rodney Whedbee Winston-Salem, NC

Total 5 new members

Death Notices

Dolph Overton

passed away

March 25th.

Carolinas Aviation Museum Library is named in honor of Dolph Overton, an American ace pilot and native of South Carolina who upon retirement, donated many artifacts to the Carolinas Aviation Library.

Ed Taylor passed away on March 12th.

Ed was member and volunteer of the Carolinas Aviation Museum.

He worked in the office with our auditor and bookkeeper and helped with many financial issues. Ed was a member of the museum for 18 years.

William Culpepper passed away on February 27th.

museum. Ed was a member and volunteer of the Carolinas Aviation Museum since 1992. He would go out in the community and speak on behalf of the museum.

away on Monday

Carolinas Aviation Museum