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Discover Mid-America — July 2007

Airline collectors to
touch down in KC

Did you know the world’s first airline didn’t use airplanes?

In 1912, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, using a type of rigid dirigible, started hauling passengers in Germany and the rest of Europe. By the time World War I broke out in 1914, his airline had carried more than 34,000 paying fares.

But the future for airlines was heavier-than-air. After the war, various European entrepreneurs used surplus military bomber aircraft and pilots to haul passengers. By the 1920s, government subsidies in Europe created the first major airlines, which included British Airways, Air France and KLM.

In the United States, the airline industry got a boost in 1919 when the U.S. Post Office established the airmail service and set up a series of airports across the country. By 1925, subsidized companies that had been hauling mail began carrying passengers and over the next few years the fledgling market spawned America’s first airlines.

In 1924, Juan Trippe and some Yale college buddies bought a few surplus military planes and started Colonial Air Transport. They soon had a contract to haul airmail from New York to Boston. In 1927, Trippe merged Colonial with two other airlines and formed Pan American Airways, flying airmail from Key West to Havana. Pan Am later became known for its elegant China Clippers — flying boats with sleeping accommodations that carried passengers internationally, including trans-Pacific routes. Pan Am would soon share the market with U.S. carriers, including TWA, Delta, American Airlines and United Airlines.

As airlines developed, they generated thousands of pieces of historical memorabilia — advertising, postcards, flight schedules, logbooks, galley items, uniforms and much more. Today, collectors from around the globe find kindred spirits (and trade partners) in the World Airline Historical Society, which has sponsored an annual Airline Collectors Show for the past 30 years in various cities.

This year’s show, said to be the largest of its kind, is set for July 5-7 in Kansas City, MO at The KCI Expo Center. It will bring together airline collectors and enthusiasts from around the world, and will feature more than 200 tables of airline and aviation collectibles. During the show, tours of the Airline History Museum, American Airlines, the MCI Maintenance Base and other aviation facilities in Kansas City will be offered. Admission both days is $6.

Chris Slimmer, a collector/dealer and the show’s director, said that exhibitors will be treated to a barbecue, sightseeing flights, and a tour of a local “aircraft bone yard” east of Kansas City with thousands of airliner parts.

“The bone yard is a real treat for collectors,” he said. “They can spend hours copying registration numbers from tail sections.”

Slimmer said his collection is so advanced that he has started branching out to subdivide it.

“I collect airport books,” he said. “They’re hard to find, but I have about 200.
Slimmer added that stewardess memorabilia are also considered collectible. “I also collect ties with airline logos. I’ll be wearing one at the show.”

The Airline History Museum, an organization of Kansas City area airline enthusiasts, is producing the show. The group originally came together in 1985, with its focus the Lockheed Super G Constellation, (often called the “Connie,”) owned and restored by Save A Connie, Inc., from which the museum name evolved. The group later acquired a Martin 404, and then a Douglas DC-3, which is currently being restored.

The museum maintains hangar space for all three airliners, working maintenance facilities, a gift shop and a large museum displaying artifacts and memorabilia relating to the days of prop-driven airliners. The museum is located at Hangar 9 at Kansas City’s Downtown Airport and open daily.

Larry Lilge, the museum’s director, met me as I admired the large collection of historic photos, model aircraft, uniforms, badges and other items. Several airlines are represented.

“Although the original members tended to be TWA, the current worldwide membership is very diverse,” he said. However, many TWA veterans live in the KC area and regard the museum as a Mecca.

Linda Burgess, a volunteer at the museum, has a 43-year career with TWA under her belt. A long-time airline collector, she organized a successful fund-raising auction for the museum when a blown engine on the Connie created a financial crisis.

Burgess pointed out some highly collectible items owned by the museum. A glass case contained a pilot’s memorial, including a uniform cap and sleeve, airline insignia, and an engraved name placard. “This is a nice way to remember a loved one who was a pilot,” she said.

“Model aircraft depicting airliners are very popular,” Burgess added.

A case with a Transcontinental and Western Air badge caught my eye. “Because of its age, this would be a highly sought-after collectible,” she said.

For many years, TWA was headquartered in Kansas City. Originally called Transcontinental and Western Air, the airline grew out of Western Air Express, which merged with Transcontinental Air Transport in 1930 to become TWA.

The eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes, who gained control of the airline in 1939, used an office at Kansas City’s Downtown Airport for a time. It’s said Hughes often slept on a cot in a back room rather than shell out the money for a hotel.

In 1946, Hughes was largely responsible for TWA’s purchase of the Lockheed Constellation, which made the airline the leader in transcontinental service. The airline’s 75-year history came to an end on April 9, 2001 when American Airlines purchased its assets. American, now the largest airline in the U.S., still uses the former TWA overhaul base at KCI Airport.

For details on the Airline Collectors Show, go to www.AI2007.com. To learn more about the Airline History Museum, visit www.airlinehistorymuseum.com.

Ken Weyand can be reached at kweyand1@kc.rr.com

> Traveling with Ken Archive — past columns