Flying High with the Harvard Flying Club

For the 20 active members of the Harvard Flying Club, weekends mean a lot more then the chance to sleep late and take in a movie--they offer the opportunity to fly an airplane.

"If I don't fly at least every other weekend, I get a little antsy," says Clifford T. Russell '85, one of the club's co presidents. "I'd like to fly every day, flying is very much an obsession with me."

This week, however, these avid flyers will be staying on the ground for a while to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Boston Harvard Air Meet, one of the world's first international air meets. This series of events will be the first program of its kind that the club has sponsored.

Usually, each weekend, members of this two-year old organization drive 30 miles out of Boston to Mansfield, where they rent single-engine, two-seater Cessna 152 airplanes for $30 an hour from Powell Aviation. According to club Co-President Javier F. Arango '85, he and the other Certified Flight Instructors (CFIs) in the club fly for recreation and also provide one-and-a-half hour lessons for less experienced flyers.

Air Show

Club officials say that their organization is a revival of the Harvard Aeronautics Society, which dissolved in the 1960s. The Aeronautics Society was one of the first flying clubs in the world when it was formed in 1909; not only did it build and fly an airplane and a glider that broke the New England record for altitude and distance, but also organized the Harvard Boston Air Meet, in 1910.

Historians say that that meet, held in nearby Quincy, included over 27 airplanes, a dirigible, and several man-carrying kites. These entries participated in a precision flying competition, altitude and distance competitions, and a dive-bombing contest. The largest prize, of $10,000, went to a British aviator who flew a race at an average speed of about 58 miles per hour.

The event is memorable not only for its comprehensive display of early flying contrivances, but also for its group of celebrity spectators. Among the show's thousands of observers were President Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor Draper of Massachusetts, the mayor of Boston, and President Lowell of Harvard.

Arango says, "It's hard to realize what this event really means. 1910 was only seven years after the Wright brothers flew, and to have all the kinds of aircraft available here in Boston was incredible."

To honor the 75th anniversary of this air meet, the Harvard Flying club is presenting a week of flying-related events including a guided tour of of the Logan Airport control tower and radar room, a room where the air meet, several movies, and three speeches concerning aviation and its history.

The final speaker for the week will be Dr. Warren E.C. Wacker, director of University Health Services, who also serves as the club's advisor. "I was a B-17 pilot during World War II, flying in combat from November, 1944, until the end of the war," Wacker says. "I'll be talking about the airplane rather than the experience." He explains that the B-17 is the "classical American bomber of World War II" and that 1985 is the 50th anniversary of Boeing's construction of the first one.

"Being a pilot is not nearly so much of an oddity as people think," says Russell, a CFI who teaches Harvard students to fly as well, as teaching at a Chicago-based professional flight school called American Flyers. He adds that the club contains a number of people who are interested in learning to fly as well as many who already have licenses.

According to Russell, the club provides a service to the aviation community by running a "Ground School," a two-day course--addressing such diverse topics as engine function, meteorology and aerodynamics--that prepares students to take a written exam necessary to start pilot training.

Once students pass Ground School, Russell and Arango take them to Mansfield and give them the hands-on training, Russell says, "It's very satisfying to see students at the end of two days having achieved competency with whatever brief glance of the subject they've got."

He adds, "But, when you're starting on the runway seeing your student solo-going around in circles, his wings shaking a little--you're as nervous as they are. It's a lot of responsibility on your shoulders."

Ecologist and third-year Law student Basha Hicks, who passed the Ground School test after taking the course with the Harvard Flying Club says, "The problem with joining the Flying Club is that soon you start buying "Flying" magazine, and then you write to the companies and send for brochures, and you dream of buying a plane."

Although Hicks has not yet logged enough flying hours to get her license--a novice needs 20 hours with an instructor and 20 hours solo--she says that she has co-piloted many small planes while doing consulting work in South America. "I learned just by doing it from the seat of my pants--just the way children learn to drive cars."

Although a new, single-engine, two-seater, six-gear aircraft costs around $30,000 to $40,000, Hicks is not the only club member who dreams of owning an airplane. Arango says that he hopes to pursue a career that will allow him to fly himself places for business reasons.

Arango, whose uncle owns airplanes and was the first Mexican to fly around the world in a twin-engine airplane, explains that he started flying planes in Mexico City with his father when he was eight years old. He says, "Now that I teach, I think it's definitely an advantage to learn young. When you're young, you tend not to take things so seriously. I don't want to say you don't get scared, but it's a different perspective."

Russell says that he also plans to continue flying planes--his immediate plans include joining a two-year training program to be a pilot in the air force reserve. This type of training for combat flying entails mastering aerobatics and low level flying. He explains that the the challenge of becoming a fighter flyer is "learning to do loops and spins and turns at 50 feet off the ground at 600 miles per hour."

Like his flying partner Arango, Russell also learned his skills at a young age--from his father, a commerical pilot, and his mother, a flight attendant. He recalls. "Most kids would go fishing, but my dad and I would talk airplanes. We'd go down to the airport and he'd show me the control rooms and weather maps."

Russell says that, while pilots can get a license as early as age 18, it takes many hours of practice to become proficient in the air. He adds, "You either do it right or you don't ever do it again."

"The problem with joining the flying club is that you soon start buying "Flying" magazine, and then you write to the companies and send for brochures, and you dream of buying a plane." Ecologist and third-year law student Basha Hicks, who passed the ground school test after taking a course with the Harvard Flying Club