Captain Arthur Hammond Amick, of the Air Service Reserve, was one of the Cumberland veteran pilots of WW I, having learned to fly, ironically, from a non-English speaking instructor in Italy. Cap Amick, as he was known locally, was an adventurer. In 1912 he, along with his brother and parents, drove a Franklin automobile to the West Coast over terrain at that time practically devoid of improved roads. Amick was a member of Maryland’s National Guard, 115th Infantry Regiment and Cumberland’s Company G, when that unit was called to suppress the Mexican uprising along the border of Texas in 1916. That unit was called to active duty in 1917 during World War I.
As chairman of the aviation committee of the Cumberland Chamber of Commerce during the 1920’s, Amick was instrumental in aviation development. He was the designated Maryland Director of the National Aeronautic Association, an organization that regulated aerial record attempts, air races, and other aerial contests. The biggest contests that occurred in the 1920’s were the Ford Reliability Tours, designed to promote and display the advancement of national aviation by touring numerous cities in a competitive fashion.
Amick was influential after WW I and helped convince the local leaders and the US Army Air Service that the Long Farm property in the Mexico Farms area south of Cumberland (currently owned by Bill Lee Smith) would be a suitable site for a landing field. This field would be among many located along a proposed model airway from Bolling Field, Washington, DC all the way to Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio.
Copy of 1926 letter from Major General Patrick (photo on right) to Captain Amick.
Cap Amick related a story involving Major General Mason Patrick, who at age 59 became a pilot. General Patrick was selected from the Army Corps of Engineers by the US Army Chief of Staff, to be the head of the Army Air Service. In the mid 1920’s General Patrick’s pilot was on a ferry flight from Bolling Field to Dayton, Ohio in General Patrick’s personal DeHavilland DH-4. A stop was made at Mexico Farms Government Field and Cap Amick accompanied the pilot to Wright Field. This double open cockpit DH-4 bi-plane, with a 450 hp V-12 Liberty engine, was given special attention by the Air Service. The craft was painted a special blue and white paint scheme, with General Patrick’s name and stars denoting his rank on the fuselage. It was an impressive airplane for anyone viewing and especially to the personnel of the Army Air Service.
Major General Patrick’s DH-4 on display at the Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH.
It proved to be a cold flight and the pilot insisted that Cap wear General Patrick’s flight suit, duly attired with stars on the epaulets and name and rank on the left breast. This was temporarily forgotten on arrival at Wright Field, and when egressing from the lower wing Cap Amick was suddenly extended sharp military courtesy and salutes by all the military personnel due to the apparent unannounced arrival of General Patrick, the Commander of the Army Air Service. Cap Amick quickly removed the outer flight suit, revealing his proper uniform and rank of Captain. Needless to relate, Cap Amick was scorned and embarrassed for a period of time.
In 1929 Cap Amick purchased a beautiful powder-blue double open cockpit Driggs Skylark bi-plane, powered by a 75 hp Rover engine. Cap flew this aircraft through the mid-west and Canada. He was an early member of the Soaring Society of America, basing his German-built Goeppingen-Wolf glider at Harris Hill, Elmira, New York, in the 1930’s. Cap related that he assisted General Henry ‘Hap’ Arnold, Commander of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, in securing his seat belt for a demonstration flight at Harris Hill in a Schweizer TG-2 Training Glider. During WW II, Cap was recalled to active duty and served in a non-flying capacity for the duration of the war. About a year before his death the author had the rare privilege, honor and thrill of visiting with Captain Amick for an afternoon at Mexico Farms Airport and taking him for a ride in his Piper J-3 Cub. During this flight Cap handled the controls superbly and enjoyed being airborne once again. Captain Arthur Hammond Amick was born in 1893, died in1980, and left a notable aviation legacy in the Cumberland area.
Captain Art Amick. Driggs Skylark owned by Amick at Mexico Farms.
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Wings Over Cumberland 