It was only a haymow of a large barn southwest of Ewing in northeast Nebraska. But it served as the workshop for seven brothers whose remarkable but short-lived flying career will be recognized Jan. 29 by induction into the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame.

From that haymow, the seven sons of farmer Martin Savidge  — George, John, Joe, Dave, Matt, Phillip and Louis — studied hawks in flight, determined to live out their dreams of flying.

Beginning with miniature gliders, they built larger and larger gliders until one could carry a cat. They then tied the cat to the glider and slid it out the haymow door. When the glider was perfected to the point it could land without harm to the cat, the brothers enlarged their gliders to work with a man.

The boys bought custom-made engines, propellers and rubber-tired wheels, piecing together their first bi-winged airplanes without any written plans.

In a local newspaper, they announced that anyone who wanted to see them fly could come to the farm May 7, 1911. On that evening, Matt Savidge piloted the brothers’ aircraft in its first public demonstration — believed to be Nebraska’s first successful airplane flight.

As noted in Keith Terry’s book “Nebraska’s Cowboy Trail,” the brothers soon began a five-year brainstorming tour across the Midwest and South. Matt Savidge introduced skywriting to the region — tying smoke candles to the frame of his plane — and carried the first airmail shipment from Clearwater to Ewing.

The Savidge brothers’ flying career ended abruptly and tragically five years later. 

John had tested a new plane the siblings had built, but was not satisfied with its performance. Matt, against the advice of his brothers, decided to take it up for some stunts.  At a height of 500 to 600 feet, he purposely began a spiral glide.  But about 100 feet above ground something went wrong and the plane crashed. The front of the plane was driven into the earth and the engine landed on Matt, who was killed instantly.

Other family members persuaded the remaining brothers to end their flying careers. The planes were dismantled. The engines were boxed  and stored, along with the propellers and other parts, in the same hayloft where a dream had taken wing only a few years before.

 

Aviation veterans

Also being inducted into the hall of fame will be three Nebraska natives with long and varied aviation careers or avocations.

 

John Kugler

McCook native John Kugler fell in love with hot air ballooning about 30 years ago. Since then, his ballooning has taken him across North America and around the world on numerous occasions.

He’s credited with teaching ballooning to Steve Fossett, the late record-setting aviator and adventurer.

 He initially taught Fossett how to fly gas balloons and served in various capacities on Fossett’s solo around-the-world attempts, including Fossett’s successful flight in June 2002.

Kugler’s list of accomplishments also includes:

— Builder of hot air and gas balloons;

— Leading U.S. pilot with experience in ammonia gas balloons;

— Key figure in the rebirth of gas ballooning in the U.S.;

— Participant in the Virgin Global Challenger flights;

— Participant in Celestial Eagle, a proposed trans-Pacific balloon flight now in its development stages.

He and co-pilot Ralph “Red” Sheese qualified for the 2000 International Gordon Bennett Cup competition in Belgium, considered one of the world’s most prestigious annual ballooning events.

Kugler is marketing president for the family fertilizer business, Kugler Co., in McCook.

Richard E. Russell

A native of Broken Bow, Richard Russell says he feels fortunate to have flown everything from his Meyers OTW biplane to the F16 and F4 aircraft.

A veteran of both the Korea and Vietnam wars, he retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2001 after serving for 41 years on active, Reserve and Guard duty. He received numerous commendations and citations.

In 1984, he became an aviation safety inspector for the FAA, eventually serving as manager of all FAA flight programs and as the aircraft policy officer for the FAA flight inspection program based in Oklahoma.

Russell has served with the Civil Air Patrol and Coast Guard Auxiliary as an emergency services operations specialist, incident commander and search and rescue pilot for more than 40 years.

He has accumulated more than 21,000 accident-free hours in military and civilian aircraft since his first flight in Broken Bow in a Howard DGA15.

He currently serves as an adjunct professor of aviation studies for Southeastern Oklahoma State University and is a partner in DNR Aviation for the preservation and continued flying of antique and classic airplanes.

 

Phil Brown

When the city of Alliance installed a new water tower but had no crane to hoist the safety light atop the tower, officials called Phil Brown. Using a Brantly helicopter, he landed atop the tower so the lamp could be installed.

When an oil drilling barge was being crushed by ice on the North Slope above the Arctic Circle, Brown, then employed by Hamilton Brothers Oil Co., flew a civilian Huey to rescue the crew.

He’s helped with power outages from Nebraska blizzards, delivered medicine to snowbound families, and pulled from the Platte River a hunter who had fallen through the ice and couldn’t get out.

Brown was born in Lincoln but was only a toddler when his family moved to Lodgepole.  He grew up around aviation, soloing four airplanes on his 16th birthday. He gained experience helping out with the family business, Lodgepole Flying Service and later Don’s Air Service in Alliance.

He’s been involved with helicopters and planes, flight instruction, charter operations, agricultural spraying, air shows and helping to start the Mid-Continent School of Aeronautics.

From 1970 to 1972, he was vice president and chief pilot of Trans-Nebraska Airlines, working with his father, Don Brown, on the commuter airline that tied Nebraska to Denver and Chicago.

He retired from Seattle Jetstream in 2004 and is currently flying part-time charter and rescue missions in Meeker, Wash.

He has flown more than 110 makes and models of aircraft and has logged more than 25,000 accident-free hours.

Hall induction

The annual induction ceremony for the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame will be held in conjunction with the Nebraska Aviation Symposium at the Kearney Holiday Inn.  To learn more about the ceremony, visit:

http://avmechseminar.org/page6.html