Editor’s Note: This story is from an article in the Wichita Eagle, August 16, 2017, by Suzanne Perez Tobias.
“For nearly a century, Wichita East High School has honored the courageous fighter pilots of World War I with its mascot, the Blue Aces.
“Soon the city’s oldest high school will have a new life-size rendition hanging in its gymnasium lobby – a renovated biplane painted with the school’s logo and colors.
“This just helps everyone really understand the reason why we are the Blue Aces and the historical significance to our mascot”‘ said Ken Thiessen, East High’s principal.
“A germ of the idea began more than a decade ago when East’s old gymnasium was replaced as a part of the 2000 bond issue. The new gym’s foyer stretches more than two stories high, thanks to an elevated walking track.
“People said this lobby space was bigger than the whole court area of our old gym,” Thiessen said. “So we started thinking, ‘You know what would be cool? To have a plane hanging down from that ceiling.’ ” The effort began in earnest last year when a staff member alerted Thiessen to an old biplane owned by a former teacher in Oklahoma. The man wanted only the engine from the plane, so he donated the body – an experimental, amateur-built biplane – to East High.
“Members of the East High class of 1976 raised money to transport the plane and finance the project,” Thiessen said. “Dave Blanton and Steve Manweiler, members of the Experimental Aircraft Association, agreed to do much of the renovation work for free. Spectrum Promotional Products designed logos for the sides, wings and tail of the plane, and volunteers from Wichita Area Technical College volunteered to do the painting,” Thiessen said.
“Coonrod Construction helped set up the suspension mechanism. Crews are scheduled to hoist and secure the 600-pound plane into its flight position in the gym foyer on Friday.
“The first official viewing of the biplane was on August 6, 2017, before the plane was hoisted into its destined position. The event was open to the public. The restored biplane was hoisted to its current position on August 18, 2017.”
From Diane Rusch Zinn: When the old gym was replaced, the wood court floor was cut into pieces to sell and raise money for East. This is the section we have.
What a great idea to hang a plane in the atrium! It certainly confers the meaning of Aces and a sense of pride to young students who now live in a much different time. I didn’t know about this, so thanks for bringing the story to us. I suspect that it makes all of us proud, too!