Cole Palen

At the age of five, Palen discovered an aircraft starting crank in his parents' yard, and he returned it to its owner, Johnny Miller,[4] the famous barnstorming pilot who managed the airport.[2] After graduating from high school in August 1944, Palen was drafted into the United States Army just in time take part in the Battle of the Bulge.He became the owner of an Aeromarine 39B, Avro 504K, Curtiss Jenny, Sopwith Snipe, SPAD XIII and a Standard J-l.[1] He was given just thirty days to remove the aircraft from Roosevelt Field, which required nine 200-mile round trips to the family home where they were stored in a barn which he rented from his father.Tallman told Palen that an opportunity had arisen to rent the SPAD and the Bleriot for use in a movie, Lafayette Escadrille, starring Tab Hunter, being shot in California.He restored them and flew them regularly, and where surviving examples of early original aircraft did not exist, he built accurate reproductions powered by authentic, vintage-era engines.By putting this philosophy into action, Palen made the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome one of the few places in the world where the public could see aircraft from the dawn of aviation actually fly.Where original aircraft existed elsewhere, Palen would visit them, taking copious notes and photographs, and employing a special fuselage measuring clamp and rubbing paper for maximum accuracy.To this end he visited places including the Musee de l'Air in Paris and the Shuttleworth Collection in the U.K.[13] At first Palen lived alone in the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome farmhouse, and would construct and repair some of his aircraft there.[18] In April 1965, Cole Palen flew his 1912 Thomas Pusher 100 miles (160 km) from Rhinebeck to New York City and after a three-day trip, appeared on the television game show I've Got a Secret.Rita took over management of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome and brought some order to the administrative side of things, allowing him to add staff and buildings, grow the collection, and make plans for the future.[13] Palen had a workshop at the Florida home, and started to construct a replica of the Ryan NYP, Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic aircraft.
Palen's restored SPAD XIII, now at the USAF Museum
Airshow flightline showing the slope at the south end of the runway
Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 replica built by Cole Palen flying at Old Rhinebeck
Palen and friends built this replica of a 1910 Hanriot, shown in front of 'the village'
Palen restored and flew this Nieuport 28 C.1 from 1958 to 1972. It went to the NASM 's Udvar-Hazy Center in 1984 [ 29 ]
PennsylvaniaFloridaOld Rhinebeck Aerodromeliving museumRed Hook, New YorkaerodromeBleriot XIUnited StatesPittsburghNew YorkPoughkeepsieRed Oaks MillJohnny MillerbarnstormingNew Standard D-25United States ArmyBattle of the BulgeRoosevelt FieldPiper CubWorld War ISmithsonianAeromarine 39BAvro 504KCurtiss JennySopwith SnipeSPAD XIIIStandard JStormville AirportFrank TallmanLafayette EscadrilleTab HunterRhinebeck, New YorkTexacoWorld War IIRoyal Aircraft Factory F.E.8Musee de l'AirShuttleworth CollectionThose Magnificent Men in their Flying MachinesI've Got a SecretWoody AllenPalm Beach, FloridaRyan NYP, Spirit of St. LouisCharles LindberghNieuport 28NASM 's Udvar-Hazy CenterExperimental Aircraft AssociationUnited States Air Force MuseumCanada Aviation MuseumNational Air and Space Museum