Flying forward with aviation museum
Ron Alexander has realized a dream to have an airplane museum. It is part of a larger vision – to commemorate the early days of aviation and Candler Field, Atlanta’s first airport.
Candler Field Museum at Peachstate Aerodrome, formerly Peachstate air field in Williamson, is in a large hangar, built to replicate the exterior of the American Airways hangar as it existed in the 1930s at Candler Field. Inside is a restaurant called Barnstormer’s Grill, banquet and meeting rooms and the museum, which features vintage airplanes, antique cars and information about the 1920s and ‘30s as Candler Field existed. The restaurant helps support the museum.
Candler Field’s connection to Pike County goes back to one of its founders, legendary aviator Douglas Davis. He was born and raised in the second district of Pike County and left high school at 18 to volunteer for the Army Air Service during World War I. He learned to fly and became an instructor and check pilot until his discharge in 1919.
He became a barnstormer (stunt flying) and merged his group with the Cody Flying Circus. Through 1923 the pilots traveled all over the Southeast, including Florida where they would even perform car to plane transfers.
In 1924 Davis and fellow aviator Beeler Blevins helped establish Candler Field, named for Coca Cola magnate Asa Candler, at the site of an old raceway track south of Atlanta near Hapeville. City officials were looking for property on which to build an airfield, and the 287 acre Candler Field fit the bill.
He started Davis Flying Service there in 1926. He was a southeastern sales representative for Curtis-Wright Airplane and Engine Company, a flight instructor, flew passengers on the weekend and flew advertising flights.
His company contracted with Curtis Candy Company to promote the then new Baby Ruth candy bar. As an advertising gimmick, he attached tiny parachutes to the candy bars and threw them out over several states. A picture of his hangar and planes with the Baby Ruth logo hangs in the foyer of the museum.
In 1928 he became a Travel Air distributor. That same year he began to race airplanes, taking first or second place in nearly every race. In 1930 he became a pilot for what would later become Eastern Airlines on its first passenger route from Atlanta to New York.
On Sept. 3, 1934, during the Thompson Trophy Race in Cleveland, Ohio, while traveling more than 300 miles per hour, Davis’s plane was caught in a high speed stall and crashed in a field six miles from the grandstand. The engine of his plane reportedly went six feet into the ground. He left behind his wife Glenna Mae and two children.
He also left behind a legacy as one of the great pioneers in aviation. Alexander wants to commemorate his contribution with the construction of a replica of the Douglas Davis hangar that was at the old Candler Field. It will be built of wood and corrugated metal like the original.
It will be the second of seven buildings he plans to build. To help fund the project, he offers museum memberships for $35 a year. The museum is non-profit. Donations of aviation artifacts and other memorabilia of the 1920s and ‘30s are also welcome.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the local area,” he said.
Just last month the museum hosted its first benefit dinner and there were 110 in attendance. He will soon launch a fundraiser to build the Douglas Davis hangar.
“We need many pictures and anything to do with him to put in that hangar,” Alexander said. He hopes to begin construction in two years.
Plans then call for a replica of the Eastern Airlines hangar, then known as Eastern Air Transport.
Candler Field’s connection to Pike County goes back to one of its founders, legendary aviator Douglas Davis. He was born and raised in the second district of Pike County and left high school at 18 to volunteer for the Army Air Service during World War I. He learned to fly and became an instructor and check pilot until his discharge in 1919.
He became a barnstormer (stunt flying) and merged his group with the Cody Flying Circus. Through 1923 the pilots traveled all over the Southeast, including Florida where they would even perform car to plane transfers.
In 1924 Davis and fellow aviator Beeler Blevins helped establish Candler Field, named for Coca Cola magnate Asa Candler, at the site of an old raceway track south of Atlanta near Hapeville. City officials were looking for property on which to build an airfield, and the 287 acre Candler Field fit the bill.
He started Davis Flying Service there in 1926. He was a southeastern sales representative for Curtis-Wright Airplane and Engine Company, a flight instructor, flew passengers on the weekend and flew advertising flights.
His company contracted with Curtis Candy Company to promote the then new Baby Ruth candy bar. As an advertising gimmick, he attached tiny parachutes to the candy bars and threw them out over several states. A picture of his hangar and planes with the Baby Ruth logo hangs in the foyer of the museum.
In 1928 he became a Travel Air distributor. That same year he began to race airplanes, taking first or second place in nearly every race. In 1930 he became a pilot for what would later become Eastern Airlines on its first passenger route from Atlanta to New York.
On Sept. 3, 1934, during the Thompson Trophy Race in Cleveland, Ohio, while traveling more than 300 miles per hour, Davis’s plane was caught in a high speed stall and crashed in a field six miles from the grandstand. The engine of his plane reportedly went six feet into the ground. He left behind his wife Glenna Mae and two children.
He also left behind a legacy as one of the great pioneers in aviation. Alexander wants to commemorate his contribution with the construction of a replica of the Douglas Davis hangar that was at the old Candler Field. It will be built of wood and corrugated metal like the original.
It will be the second of seven buildings he plans to build. To help fund the project, he offers museum memberships for $35 a year. The museum is non-profit. Donations of aviation artifacts and other memorabilia of the 1920s and ‘30s are also welcome.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the local area,” he said.
Just last month the museum hosted its first benefit dinner and there were 110 in attendance. He will soon launch a fundraiser to build the Douglas Davis hangar.
“We need many pictures and anything to do with him to put in that hangar,” Alexander said. He hopes to begin construction in two years.
Plans then call for a replica of the Eastern Airlines hangar, then known as Eastern Air Transport.
Defined tags for this entry: airplanes, Barnstormer's Grill, Candler Field, Douglas Davis hangar, News, Peachstate Aerodrome, Ron Alexander
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