News & Events

Mid-America News
Show Calendar
State Event Calendars

Regular Features

The Antique Detective
Antique Detective Q&A
Common Sense Antiques
Refurnished Thoughts
Traveling with Ken
Good Eye
Books for Collectors

Directories & Classifieds

The Finder: Unique Shops
Lodgings Directory
Museum Directory
  Aviation Museums
Wineries in the Heartland

Classifieds
Web Links

Archived Features

Antiquing in Colorado
Dealer Profile Archive
Editor's Notebook
Heirloom Recipes
Helpful Hints
   for Collectors
Is This An Antique?
Past Cover Features
Reflecting History

2005 Best Of Winners
Destinations 2006

Discovery Mid-America November 2009

Marshall museum honors aviation pioneers

Back in the early 1920s, with the world between wars and money flowing, Americans were becoming infatuated with a relatively new concept: flying. The recent world war had proved aviation’s effectiveness, and the public was beginning to embrace its possibilities. Wichita had Clyde Cessna and Walter Beech. Kansas City had Ed Porterfield. Throughout the country, young men were tinkering with flying machines, organizing air shows, starting flight schools, and finding ways to be a part of the new industry.

In Marshall, MO, 80 miles east of Kansas City, Russell Nicholas, fresh from a stint with the Marine Corps Flying Service as a mechanic, was trying to get into the aviation business. In 1921, he began buying and selling surplus engines and parts from WW-I trainers, renting several buildings in Marshall for storage.

Bryan Berlin and the NB-3 (photos by Ken Weyand)

That same year he and a couple of pilots rebuilt an airplane with parts from crashed aircraft and started a flying school. (Pilots say, “Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.”) When they weren’t teaching flying, the men operated a flying circus with a wing walker and “trick flying,” barnstorming Missouri, Iowa and Kansas.

In 1923, Nicholas partnered with Howard Beazley and formed the NB Motor Company, selling Durant automobiles. Their automobile business was short-lived, and the following year they entered the booming field of aviation, forming the Nicholas-Beazley Aviation Company. The first year, they sold 160 aircraft, including surplus Standard J-1 trainers, and developed a catalog with a large inventory of aircraft parts. They also built an improved version of the J-1, selling it for $850.

By 1927, they were the largest distributor of airplane parts in the U.S. Airplane manufacturers – and do-it-yourselfers -- seeking low-cost engines, bought OX-5s and OX-6s from Nicholas-Beazley.

That year, they hired Walter Barling, an airplane designer and engineer who had built the Barling Bomber, the world’s largest aircraft at the time. Barling designed the NB-3, said to be America’s first production monoplane.

The company won national acclaim in 1929 at the Cleveland Air Races when the NB-3 won the light plane efficiency class. That year, Dwight Zimmerley, later the father-in-law of Missouri Tigers basketball coach Norm Stewart, flew an NB-3 non-stop from Brownville, TX to Winnipeg, Canada, setting a world record.

In 1931, as the Great Depression deepened, Nicholas-Beazley built their NB-8, a parasol monoplane with an 80-hp engine. The plane could reach 116 mph, a respectable speed for aircraft of its type. Its wings folded for easier hangaring and towing. A total of 57 were built in 1931-1932.

The NB-8, the company’s final production aircraft

The NB-8’s factory price was $1,340. A competitor was the American Eaglet, built in Kansas City and priced at $1,000. The NB-8s advantage over the Eaglet was its larger engine, side-by-side seating, and folding wings. Both aircraft were last-ditch efforts to bring in business as the economy faltered.

The Great Depression caught up with Nicholas-Beazley as it did with the largest aviation firms. The company built its last airplane in 1933 and merged with a New York company, Air Associates, in 1937. The merger spelled the end of aviation for the partners.

Marshall found a way to celebrate the contributions of Russell Nicholas and Howard Beazley. In June 2009, the Martin Community Center and Nicholas Beazley Aviation Museum opened adjacent to the Marshall Memorial Municipal Airport. The facility was made possible by a bequest from Shirley Nightwine Martin, and the acquisition by of the NB-3, the only one in existence.

The museum also acquired an NB-8, and the Flying Flea, a tiny homebuilt aircraft built in 1937 by a nephew of Beazley, using parts manufactured by the company.

Bryan Berlin, director of the community center and museum, told me the museum appeals to both genders and all ages.

The “Flying Flea,” a popular exhibit at the museum

“We have displays that women appreciate,” he said, “and men are always interested in the airplanes. The interactive exhibits were designed with young people in mind and school field trips are encouraged.”

Collectors of historical aviation have contributed to the museum displays. “We’ve worked with collectors on eBay and other sources,” Berlin said. “Many specialize in aircraft advertising. Others have memorabilia of Nicholas-Beazley aircraft.”

The aircraft are only a part of the museum. Berlin pointed out engine displays, old advertising, letters, photos, model aircraft, wing panels, instruments, uniforms and more. A recreated assembly building had architectural décor from the original. A lifelike worker was shown welding a fuselage. Realistic murals completed the tableau.

Hanging in another room was a restored WW-II Taylor glider, built for the military. Its original home was Slater, MO. Also in the room: a display of miniature engines, a Link trainer and a simulated airliner cockpit.

Berlin said he has worked on the museum since 2002. “I didn’t know much about Nicholas-Beazley then,” he said. “The more I learned, the more fascinated I became.”

Volunteers and inexpensive materials kept costs in line. “The theater uses seats from a courthouse, and the screen is from a theater,” he added. “Like people in the era the museum depicts, we made use of what we had.”

The museum, located at 1985 S. Odell, is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays, and 1-4 p.m., Sundays. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children under 12. For details or to schedule a group tour call 660-886-2630 or visit www.nicholasbeazley.org/museum.php.

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

> Traveling with Ken Archive — past columns

Sur la Cote d'AzurArt Print
Broders, Roger
Buy at AllPosters.com