New museum exhibit highlights Idaho’s aviation history and achievements
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IDAHO FALLS – J. Mark Hoff and Rudolph Nelson landed their L-2 Grasshopper airplane off the runway at the Idaho Falls Airport.
It was Dec. 7, 1941 and a snowstorm made it difficult to see. Hoff and Nelson could see runway lights through the storm and used that as their guide, but they landed on the wrong side in a deep layer of snow. The snow dipped the propellor to the ground and flipped the two-seater aircraft upside down.
The duo crawled out uninjured, but they were surprised no one was coming to their aid. They quickly learned why when they walked inside and found everyone huddled around a radio.
The Japanese military had just bombed Pearl Harbor, plunging the U.S. into World War II.
Years later, the broken propellor from that plane was made into a clock and is now on display at the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls. It’s part of an aviation exhibit called “Idaho Takes Flight,” which opens to the public on Friday. It highlights local tie-ins to the world of aviation over the years.
Museum of Idaho Managing Director Chloe Doucette points to airborne fish planting as one of Idaho’s major aviation accomplishments. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game stocks the state’s rivers and lakes with millions of fish every year by dropping them out of an airplane. The agency conducted the initial fish plant flight experiment over Stanley Basin in 1939.
The fish were dropped head first into the water from a maximum of 500 feet in the air. The Department of Public Works fish planting report, which is displayed in the museum, says the fish’s shape and weight made it possible for them to land in the water quickly with less than 1% being hurt or killed.
“They found it was a viable way to move animals around and to make sure that management of our natural resources was happening in the most efficient way possible,” Doucette tells EastIdahoNews.com.
Bob Hoff, Mark’s son who owns Aeromark, a commercial aviation service station in Idaho Falls, considers an air racing speed record from the now-defunct Red Baron Air Racing team as one of Idaho’s greatest aviation achievements.
During the 1970s, Ed Browning bought the former Idaho Falls Aviation and launched Red Baron Aviation, which was a service station just like Aeromark. Housed in a log hangar on Foote Drive, it was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1936. It’s one of the country’s last log hangars in existence.
Browning sponsored annual air races between 1974 and 1979. In 1977, F-104 jet pilot Darryl Greenamyer broke a low-altitude speed record of 988.26 mph that still stands.
“If you get up to 50 or 60,000 feet, you can go a lot faster. But in a low altitude below 5,000 feet, the air is a lot thicker and it’s more difficult to go fast,” Bob explains.
A second plane, a modified P-51 Mustang, held a speed record of about 500 mph for about 10 years.
The loss of two planes and the expensive cost of hosting the races eventually led to its demise. Bob bought Red Baron Aviation in 1984.
Today, Bob says Idaho is aviation-minded and has the second most airports per capita nationwide.
The Idaho Transportation Department reports there are seven commercial airports funded by the Federal Aviation Administration. There are almost 100 general aviation and public airports in the Gem State and another 22 airports used by the U.S. Forest Service. A military airport at Mountain Home Air Force Base and a private airport in Coeur d’Alene and Lava Hot Springs brings the total to 130.
Finishing an aviator’s story and flight exhibit takeaways
Bob inherited his love of aviation from his dad, who learned to fly in 1938. He isn’t sure why Mark was flying on that day in 1941, but the National Museum of the United States Air Force reports the L-2 Grasshopper was a plane used for liaison pilot training.
Mark was never in the military but he’d wanted to join the U.S. Army Air Corps years before this. The attack on Pearl Harbor finally prompted him to act, but by then he was 43 and the army thought he was too old.
He eventually got involved in the Auxiliary Air Corps, which later became the Civil Air Patrol. Mark and his wife, Onita, volunteered as civilian pilots to carry out emergency service missions as needed and promote aviation in their community.
Mark and Onita have since passed away. He died in 1969 and she died in 1995. Several years ago, Mark was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s top civilian honors.
“We went to Boise and Gov. Butch Otter gave us those awards, but it came from U.S. Congress,” Bob says.
Bob has contributed a lot of artifacts for the museum exhibit and he’s excited for the public to see it. He hopes it’s eye-opening for people to learn how Idaho has been “involved in aviation in significant ways” over the years.
The debut of “Idaho Takes Flight” comes ahead of the museum’s new main attraction opening June 1 called “Above and Beyond.” This exhibit will have interactive displays that highlight the science and “magic” of flight in America, Doucette says.
“Idaho Takes Flight,” which runs through August, will lead right into the main attraction. Doucette is excited about the timing of these exhibits and invites the community to take a look.
“Idaho is not always written about in the history books … but it’s had an impact on the history of the United States and this highlights that in a really interesting and exciting way,” says Doucette.