ox5
Russ Berry, National President berrygoodwine@yahoo.com
Tim Pinkerton, Vice President wacopinky@aol.com
Patty Wagner, Treasurer nc7444h@aol.com
Donald Voland, Secretary aerooptics@aerooptics.com
James Beisner, National Governor james.beisner@bright.net
Sam Meek, National Governor pt17j3@comcast.net
Greg Gaynor, National Governor gregganor@hotmail.com
Dennis G Yerkey, National Gov – Webmaster d.yerkey@comcast.net
NEW 2023 OX5 PRESIDENT
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Russ Berry, National President
West Milton, OH
berrygoodwine@yahoo.com
I would like to take a moment and introduce myself. My name is Russ Berry and I am from Ohio. Aviation has always been my first love. I can remember standing next to the fence at our local airPort and watching the airplanes arrive and depart. Iam sure most of the commercial pilots in the club will remember North Central Airlines and the Blue Goose. These were the DC-3 ‘s painted with a big blue nose art.
I started flying when I turned 45. I paid my daughters last college bill, and then went to our local GA airport and talked to the local salesman about buying an airplane. I knew from talking to other folks that a tail dragger was the way to start. The salesman showed me a Piper Colt that was converted to a tail wheel and it had a mid-time O-320. He also mentioned that a couple of other guys were also interested in the airplane and might be interested in forming a club. It turns out that one of the other guys was our past president Tim Pinkerton.
So where did the OX-5 fit in this time period? I got a call from Tim to meet him at the airport. He wanted to show me an airplane that had just arrived. It turned out to be a WACO model 4 with this water cooled V-8 engine with its valve train all exposed. It was an amazing site. The pilot climbed out and it was my first introduction to Jim Beisner. Our friendship grew over the years.
This is also the time that WACO Historical Society was growing and needed volunteers. Jim, Tim and I helped out with the barn and cataloging the stuff that was donated to the new museum. One day a fuselage to aWACO 10 showed up with an engine mount for the OX-5 . Jim put the word out that we were looking for an engine and parts to build up this Model 10!
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