A Family Affair: Biplanes Hold Memories for Berwick Man
Posted September 15, 2008

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Webmaster’s Note: This story appeared in the  Sept. 2 2008, edition of The Register-Mail, Galesburg’s daily newspaper, and is posted here with the publication’s permission.

By MICHELLE ANSTETT
The Register-Mail

GALESBURG, IL -- Charles Head spent the day before his 80th birthday hearkening back to his youth.

“That’s 28,842 days,” he said of his age, smiling from underneath the light blue pinstriped cap on his head. The Berwick resident and his wife, Joan, brought their visiting family members to the Galesburg Municipal Airport for opening day of the 37th annual National Stearman Fly-In.

“We’ve been fans” of the Stearman planes, he explained. “The planes are exciting.”

The family had just come from the Labor Day parade in downtown Galesburg, where they saw the planes zoom overhead.

They were joined at the airport by nearly 100 other people early Monday afternoon, some who took advantage of the flight line tours and others who ate lunch while watching the planes.

“We have come to many of these” Fly-ins, Joan Head added. This time, “we brought the children, mainly to see the planes and enjoy.”

Charles Head stood at the edge of the flight line with his grandson, 5-year-old Mason Shimkus of Dallas, Texas. Mason and his mother, Jane, traveled to central Illinois to celebrate Charles Head’s birthday.

The National Stearman Fly-In, a tribute to the World War II- era biplanes manufactured for a while by Boeing, continues today through Sunday with daily tram tours of the flight line and various activities for the public. Stearman restorers from across the country fly their planes in for the week.

Pilots will be participating in fun flying, buddy hops and hangar flying throughout the day today.

Although he didn’t fly any Stearman planes while serving as a Private First Class during the Korean Conflict, Charles Head says Stearmans hold some memories for his family.

“My brother flew a bomber (B-24)” in World War II and trained in a Stearman, he explained. “He was shot down over Yugoslavia. He came out (escaped) through the underground.”

As the engines of the Stearman roared and their propellers began to twirl, Mason compared the planes in front of him to the one he rode in from Dallas.

“They are smaller,” he stated, but couldn’t think of a whole lot of other differences, with the exception of an age difference.

When asked when the Stearman planes were built, he shrugged: “8,000 years ago?”