"Let No Story Go Untold"
by ANN Correspondent Aleta Vinas
The Timeless Voices of Aviation oral history program motto --
one could say, mantra -- is "Let No Story Go Untold." And the EAA
Timeless Voices staff means it. Over 756 people in the aviation
world have given their story.
Folks like Dr. Peggy Chabrian – Founder and President of
Women in Aviation International; Burt Rutan - aircraft designer;
Robert “Hoot” Gibson - astronaut; General Paul Tibbets
- pilot of the Enola Gay. These are names we know but Timeless
Voices seeks to go beyond the names we are familiar with. Anyone
that has had a hand or wrench or pencil in aviation, Timeless
Voices wants you.
"An individual aviation story, be it one of serving a local
airport, starting a flying club, designing and building an airplane
or serving the nation in war or peace, is one of the countless
threads which, woven together, creates the priceless tapestry of
human flight," states the Timeless Voices web site. No thread is
unimportant.
Timeless Voices of Aviation started a mere five years ago in
2002. What originally started as an idea in the EAA Development
Department to use interviews for fundraising was given a new
direction when Adam Smith was hired as the new museum director.
Smith had worked in England in a World War I oral history archive.
Smith saw the benefit of making the interviews into a museum
program.
Zack Baughman was an EAA intern at this time helping the Curator
of Collections. During AirVenture the collections area slowed and
Baughman helped with the helicopter rides, selling tickets and
helping the passengers. Timeless Voices had just started up and
they needed interviewers. Baughman, a history major, thought "that
would be great."
The internship ended but soon after a full time position as
Timeless Voices Program Coordinator opened up in March 2003.
Baughman applied and has been the Program Coordinator ever since.
Almost immediately after being hired, Baughman was sent to
Lakeland, FL. There he met Mel Smith, an EAA member who volunteered
to help.
The interviews were to be held in the EAA Centennial of Flight
tent -- right next to the large fans and generators. This was not
conducive to the audio part of the program so Smith volunteered his
RV for the interviews.
"We needed a quiet place to do interviews," said Baughman.
Smith’s RV worked so well, he has been using it as a
traveling studio for Timeless Voices ever since. At the World
Aerobatic Championship held in Lakeland in 2003, Smith interviewed
40 of the pilots from around the globe. He did have the help of
Sigrid Baumann who’d bring pilots to the RV to get them
interviewed.
Some of the interviews were done shortly before the pilot was to
perform. Smith and the RV were then off to the Dayton Airshow where
another dozen people were interviewed. Then up to Oshkosh. During
that Centennial of Flight year, Timeless Voices recorded 100
interviews during AirVenture, over half by Smith and his traveling
RV.
The EAA B-17 Aluminum Overcast tours also generated interviews.
The B-17 draws the Veterans to see her. The Tour Coordinators would
perform interviews when there was time. About two dozen interviews
were done in 2004 but as the Tour Coordinators became busier
interviews dropped off. The Coordinators do keep a log book of the
Veterans who visit and they are contacted later to see if they are
interested in being interviewed. Baughman has performed many of the
interviews himself. He marvels at being able to speak to men and
women he has admired.
"Members of the 56th Fighter Group are my personal heroes. They
flew P-47’s during WWII and I’m a P-47 nut." Baughman
has been able to capture over a dozen interviews at the 56th
Fighter Group reunions.
Another interview Baughman will never forget was General Paul
Tibbets. Tibbets' schedule at Lakeland in 2004 was completely
booked but Baughman received a surprise when he and volunteers Timm
Edgington and Tracy Miller were invited back to the hotel to do the
interview. While most interviews run 45 minutes to an hour, Tibbets
kept Baughman and company entertained for 90 minutes.
Tibbets spoke of his start in aviation at age 12, when he was
chosen by air racer Doug Davis to help Davis tie napkin parachutes
to the new Baby Ruth candy bars and then drop them over a Hialea,
FL racetrack. The Curtiss Candy Company had hired Davis for the
publicity stunt and Tibbets was small enough to fit in the front of
the biplane with the candy bars and assume the position of
bombardier.
There are so many contributors to aviation worldwide that,
naturally, Baughman is unable to handle all the interviews... and
this is where selfless volunteers, like Mel Smith, come in.
Interviews were originally done using the EAA TV crew and a Beta SP
camera. The interview process needed to be simplified so volunteers
could perform interviews.
The important part was getting the interviews to be archived;
the media they were recorded on was secondary. Though mini digital
video (Mini-DV) is the preferred media, any volunteer with any
video camera and willingness to "hangar-fly" is welcome.
Timeless Voices has made it easy for volunteers with a free
project kit that can be requested. The kit contains release forms,
checklists, the biographical data needed from the subject, tips and
sample questions on conducting the interview. Potential volunteers
can contact Baughman through the website or in person at
AirVenture. A volunteer can perform one interview, perhaps someone
in the local area they know with a story to tell or the volunteer
can be a "have camera, will travel" type.
Occasionally interviewees would like to donate artifacts. While
Timeless Voices can’t make the decision, a form describing
the donation gets passed on to the proper EAA Department for
follow-up.
The Timeless Voices program is completely donation-driven... and
a recent generous donation by Bob and Susan Wilson has resulted in
the Wilson Timeless Voices Theater being built in the museum. The
donation will also allow Timeless Voices to move forward on
upgrades and website improvement. Money is always a factor and
anyone is welcome to join the Wilson’s and other donors in
helping to keep aviation history alive.
During AirVenture, the Wilson Timeless Voices Theater will be
showcasing 23 of the first 48 stories that Timeless Voices
recorded. The interviews have been edited with archival footage and
music. A Timeless Voices tent will be set up as well to accept
volunteers, donations, cookies, a friendly hello and most
definitely to set up appointments for interviews. There is no cost
involved except for the time to tell your story.
While the sign-up will be at the booth, a golf cart will take
the interviewees to one of three quieter locations for the actual
interview. The main site will be in the Chaplain’s office
next to Fergus Chapel at Pioneer Airport, a second site is inside
the museum and the third is Mel Smith’s Traveling RV. The
tent will also feature a DVD player showing the various interviews
collected during AirVenture.
The location, owing to the primary objective of securing WWII
veteran stories, will be located just east of the yellow food stand
near the Warbirds in Review area, along Wittman Road. People that
have been interviewed previously are more than welcome to come back
and give a Part II if there have been significant additions to the
story.
Says Baughman, "Mike Melville was interviewed after the June
21st flight (of SpaceShipOne) but before the X-Prize flight.
I’d love to go back and talk to him about that and talk to
him about SpaceShipTwo and the design of SpaceShipTwo," but
Baughman knows "they’re not talking about that right
now."
After AirVenture, the Timeless Voices website will be changed.
The switch to the Brightcove System should make the site easier to
use. As the editing work on the interviews continues more videos
will be added to the 120 already available for access on the
site.
"The primary goal" say Baughman "is to get everything
we’ve recorded edited down and then digitized and put on the
website for free access." That’s free access for anyone, not
just EAA members. Anyone with a high-speed internet connection and
a craving for first hand history is welcome.
Teachers, Scout leaders, historians can use the streaming videos
for lectures or presentations. No permission is needed. It is even
possible, if an interview is not yet edited and available on the
website, for a copy to be requested through Timeless Voices.