This page commemorates members who have "Gone West", or passed on, in alphabetical order. Every year at the Blakesburg Fly-in there's a memorial service on Sunday at the Gone West Memorial on the grounds of the Airpower Museum.
Earl "Skeezix" Adkisson
Earl "Skeezix" Adkisson, an APM Director and a master mechanic, passed
away on July 12, 2008. This obituary was written by Giles Henderson.
Earl was born on September 13, 1923 and grew up near Oblong, Illinois. Perhaps his most remarkable attribute was a lifelong, unrelenting commitment and passion for aviation that we can trace back to the 1920's. There is a picture on the wall of Earl's library of a little boy, perhaps 5 years old, wearing a leather flight helmet and goggles and a big grin. The little boy in this picture was Earl nearly 80 years ago shortly after Lindberg's solo Atlantic crossing.
After graduating from the Oblong High School, at the age of 19 he joined the US Army air corps. During the next three years Skeezix served as a mechanic overseas repairing and maintaining American and Allied bombers, transports and fighters in places like North Africa, Corsica, Sardinia and Italy.
Skeezix came home in 1945 and at the age of 22 years married his high school sweetheart, Wanda. Over the years Skeezix and Blondie raised four boys: Bill, Ron, Duke and Steve.
Skeezix acquired his FAA credentials at the University of Illinois Institute of Aviation during the years 1946 - 1948 including a Certified Flight Instructor's rating, a Commercial Pilot's License and Airframe and Engine Mechanic ratings. At the age of 29, Skeezix built a 1300-foot runway and used oil field pipe, sheet metal and his welding torch to build a hanger and shop and started his own business, the Tuscola Flying Service. 20 years later at, Earl moved his maintenance business to the Cooch Atwood airport in 1972.
In the 1950's, during the early days of EAA, he and Jerry designed and built a remarkable little experimental gull wing aircraft known as the headskinner. Those of us that knew Earl in the 60's remember his 1929 Warner powered Simplex Red Arrow. During the 70's and 80's he flew many airshow exhibitions from the Carolinas to Canada and all over the Midwest including Oshkosh in his homemade replica of the 1908 Demoiselle.
In 1966 the governor of Illinois presented the Aviation Mechanic of the Year Award to Skeezix and in 1996 he was the recipient of the FAA's Charles Taylor Master Mechanics award honoring his more than 50 years of service as an aircraft mechanic. One of the staff writers for the News Gazette interviewed Earl about the Taylor award. I would like to share the last paragraph that I believe gives the reader a sense of Earl's character. Earl was in his 70's at the time and the reporter had asked him if he still flew:
"Let's see" he said, "I haven't flown since yesterday." He also likes to get around on the ground with his wife Wanda. "We like to travel around, see the countryside," he said. "We've been to all 48 states. Sometimes we pull a trailer and just haul airplane parts around."
After a few minutes, the cantankerous Adkisson had had enough. He wanted to go back to work. "You know what all of this is going to do? People are going to want to come out here and stand around and talk and then I won't get any business done. I've got too much work to stand around and talk." End of interview.
Unlike many of us who have a focused interest in some particular area of aviation, Skeezix expressed an appreciation and enthusiasm for all of grass-root flying. We have watched him provide assistance, encouragement and express a sincere interest in a remarkable number of aviation areas including warbirds, aerobatic and racing aircraft, as well as ag-planes, aerial mapping aircraft, gyrocopters ultra-lights, powered parachutes, flying wings, automotive engine conversions and perhaps his greatest love, antique aircraft.
Les DeLine
Les DeLine of San Diego was a mainstay of the antique community. He
passed away on June 27th, 2008. Here's a photo of him at Blakesburg
2006 with his Stinson SR9. Les is on the right.
Charles "Chuck" Doyle, Sr
Born: May 26, 1916, St. Louis Park, MN
Died: April 25, 2008, St. Cloud, MN
Charles Peter "Chuck" Doyle was born to be a pilot and stuntman. Impressed with Charles Lindbergh's 1927 solo flight to Europe, Doyle talked his father into taking him to the Minneapolis Airport where he was given an air ride in a Navy trainer. In his teens, Doyle owned a Harley Davidson motorcycle and cut classes at Washburn High School to ride to the airport and hang out. In the summer after his junior year, he offered to trade the motorcycle for flying lessons, but instead was given work helping to rebuild airplanes. He soloed in an airplane that summer and borrowed money to purchase his own Travel Air biplane. During the 1933 fall homecoming football game at the high school, Doyle buzzed the field and was promptly dismissed from school. He would finally graduate from Washburn in a colorful 2002 ceremony!
At the airport, Doyle earned a living working on airplanes, selling tickets for barnstormers, and performing daredevil stunts. In 1935, Doyle made his first parachute jump at the Minnesota State Fair and towed his first aerial banner for Griffith Shoe Polish. He had learned the fine art of skywriting from local veterans and rigged his plane to fulfill local Pepsi Cola assignments. In addition to the flying, Doyle also began to take part in other thrill show events at fairs and celebrations across the country, performing such stunts as driving his motorcycle through burning board walls, head-on auto crashes, crashing airplanes through "houses" built within fairgrounds, as well as climbing from his speeding motorcycle to an airplane by means of a rope ladder hung from the airplane. He used his motorcycle and ramps to jump over cars long before Evel Knievel was born. Despite the spectacular lifestyle, Doyle was never injured.
During WWII, Doyle worked briefly for Northwestern Aeronautical Corporation in St. Paul, building gliders that were used by the Army to land troops behind enemy lines. In 1942, despite having no college education, he was hired by Northwest Airlines in January of 1942 after Pearl Harbor as a training instructor and taught at Rochester, Minnesota. When Northwest was contracted by the Army Air Transport Command, he was assigned to fly Northwest transports in Alaska, making flights as far out as the Aleutian Islands. Following the war, Doyle bought war surplus aircraft, flying, restoring and racing them at Reno NV. Many of his airplanes found their way into museums, including three in the Air Force Museum at Dayton, Ohio, and a Curtiss Pusher aircraft that hangs in the MSP Airport's Lindbergh terminal. Doyle's airline career with Northwest continued until his retirement at age 60 in 1976 after 34 years, but his flying career wasn't over. From his home airstrip in Apple Valley, Doyle continued to sky-write and tow banners. The airstrip's signboard heralded "UFOs Welcome." He owned and flew dozens of aircraft and had his hand in many Minnesota aviation projects, including the publishing of a Minnesota aviation history book. When the City of Apple Valley condemned his property for highway right-of-way, Doyle moved his planes to Fleming Field South St. Paul MN. He knew everybody in aviation and lived flying and restoring airplanes every day of his life. Both Chuck Jr. and Brian were taught to learn to fly by their father and are pilots and continue the family's tradition for the love of aviation. Shannon would fly only with her Father but respects there love for flying.
In 1992 Doyle was inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame. 1996 OX-5 Hall of Fame. 2003 Warbird Hall of Fame. Member and supporter of many other fine aviation organizations. Survived by two sons one daughter and four grandchildren.
Dennis Trone
Dennis Trone was killed flying his Dormoy Bathtub on May 5th, 2008, at
his home field of Brodhead Airport. Dennis was well known for his OX
powered aircraft.
Ted Davis' New Standard D-25, with dedication to Denny.
