Centennial Celebrations

One Hundred Years of Flying at Plum Island
This year Plum Island Airport will be in the historical limelight as we celebrate one hundred years of flight. Steve Noyes and the Board of Directors of Plum Island Aerodrome Inc. will host a series of events to commemorate the centennial. Coincidentally, Historic New England(HNE) is celebrating its one hundredth birthday and the Town of Newbury its 375th birthday. Planning for the year began in the fall of 2009 when Steve met with Ted Russell, Bert Noyes, Charles Eaton and myself to schedule some key events for 2010. It was quickly decided that Ted would take the lead for the airport, with help from Charlie and myself. Bert is on the Newbury anniversary committee and will be coordinating events that can take place at the airfield. Ted, our historian, will be involved both in events at the airport, as well as those planned by Massachusetts Aviation Historical Society, where he is a prominent member and lecturer. On February 28, 2010, The Massachusetts Aviation Historical Society will kick off the celebrations that relate to flight at Plum Island. The event will commemorate Augustus Herring's first flight in the Herring Burgess #1 from the ice on Chebacco Lake in Hamilton on February 28, 1910. Yes, he did make a safe landing. Burgess and Herring then moved to Plum Island where they built an airstrip and hangar on land that is now part of the Parker River US Fish and Wildlife Refuge. The history is covered well on our web site, in our museum and at Ted's lectures. Scheduled happenings are listed on the calendar in the Events link on our web site. The first event at 2B2 will be on April 17 with a fly-over the Burgess site, a fly-in at the airport and a slide show presentation by Ted Russell. So check the calendar out and come join us this year as we honor those pioneers who took all the risks then, so we could enjoy the view from above today!