In the black-and-white video, Keith, who passed away in 1999, is listed as a character named Gabby.īart Klapinski poses with model airplanes and tether cars that he had operated at the Disneyland Flight Circle on its last day of operations. For two years, he flew eight shows a day, seven days a week, and was in charge of hiring the crew, setting the routines, announcing, and flying, according to his AMA biography.Ī video of Hobbyland, which showed the daily events in the Flight Circle, also was donated to the museum by Anita. He became a Disneyland employee and performer in 1955. Model and Hobby Club and the First All Speed Team (FAST) club. In the beginning, the Flight Circle was staffed by model airplane clubs such as L.A. Keith became associated with Walt Disney Studios in Burbank in the 1950s. The date of the drawing is August 9, 1955, and shows that the Flight Circle would be built near the Court of Honor, an exhibition building, and Rocket to the Moon. In the beginning, there were benches for them to sit on, but those were later replaced with chairs.Ī conceptual drawing of the Flight Circle-which includes the depth of the pool (12 inches), the painted runways for the airplanes and tether cars, and the height of the fence (7 feet, 11 inches)-was donated to the National Model Aviation Museum in 2002 by Anita Storey, wife of Keith Storey, who served as AMA president from 1953 to 1956. Inside the fence, there were tables on which to repair and tweak the models, a shallow pool of water for model boats, painted runways for tether cars and airplanes, a carrier deck, an air-speed timer, and a chair for the announcer.ĭisneyland Park visitors viewed the show from outside the fence. The Flight Circle resembled a giant compass, and was surrounded by a chain-link fence. Although other attractions around the Flight Circle closed throughout the years, Walt was firm in his decision to keep this one going. Walt Disney wanted the Flight Circle to be included in his new theme park because he loved hobbies. Tomorrowland also included attractions such as Rocket to the Moon, the Aluminum Hall of Fame, the Color Gallery, The World Beneath Us, the Phantom Boats, Astro-Jets, and Autopia. We flew the Camachi, the Lil’ Stinker, the Curtiss Pusher, Super Cub models for Combat, Cox P-40 Flying Tigers.”īart flew this Cox Lil’ Stinker, which he still owns, in the Flight Circle.ĭisneyland Park, located in Anaheim, California, opened in July of 1955, and the Flight Circle, located in Tomorrowland, launched that fall. “I flew there for quite a while and it was quite an experience,” he said. He began working at the Flight Circle in 1961 when he was approximately 18 years old, and stayed until it closed in 1966. He was a pilot at the Disneyland Flight Circle-an attraction that closed more than 45 years ago.īart is now 70 years old and resides in Tuscon, Arizona. He can still hear the roar of the crowd as his airplanes take flight, feel the breeze created by the lightning-fast tether cars, and smell the gasoline expelled from the model boat engines. What others can only view in black-and-white videos and photographs, he has ingrained in the back of his mind. Within minutes, the young man is flying Combat with three airplanes.īart Klapinski remembers days such as these. ![]() The youngsters peer through the holes in the metal fence, curl their fingers around it, and strain to see what the pilot in the blue trousers and white shirt will do next. ![]() But how could he fly the third airplane when he only has two hands? Then a third engine starts … wait, a third? Yes, that’s right. As the second engine whirs, their pupils enlarge and they no longer hear the music or the squeals of joy that surround them. The children jump to their feet when the first propeller starts spinning. ![]() Disneyland was once a magical place for a few lucky Control Line pilotsĪs seen in the February 2013 issue of Model Aviation.
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