The still existing WW I surplus aircraft such as the Curtiss OX-5 powered JN-4 Jenny were constructed as wartime aircraft with only a short life expectancy. These relatively fragile aircraft, constructed of wood and fabric, were usually stored out doors exposed to the elements. Virgil Parker was a WW I veteran and was trained by the military as a pilot. After the war he not only continued to fly but was an aircraft mechanic. Virgil would often teach fledgling pilots to fly in their recently purchased Jenny.
Floyd Johnson related that Virgil decided to test hop Murrell’s (first name unknown) Jenny on a solo flight. After taking off and climbing to maneuvering altitude he attempted to stall the JN-4, but instead of the nose falling straight through the horizon as is normal, the aircraft turned and fell into a tail spin. After several spinning rotations Virgil managed to stop the spin, but on recovery the aircraft immediately entered another spin in the opposite direction. This spin became a dreaded slow-turning flat spin with a great whoosh of the wings with each turn, until it reached the ground. The craft impacted the corner of Minnie and Curly Bill Johnson’s hanger. The wings absorbed most of the impact and Virgil was thrown clear, landing practically on his feet. When he returned from the hospital, he looked like he had smallpox. The doctor had removed many small splinters and then touched the wounds with iodine as an antiseptic measure. An old German pilot once said, when you crash a wooden airplane, ‘you get splinters in the body’, a statement Parker could assuredly verify. Most of the flying community believed that one of the wing flying wires on the Jenny broke, rendering the aircraft out of rig and uncontrollable.
Virgil Parker at the scene of his Jenny crash, in a photo taken in 1946, and in 1970, on left, with Cap Amick.
Virgil Parker stayed on in local aviation circles, instructing numerous pilots and repairing airplanes until approximately the 1960’s. He was an important asset to the local aviation community and assisted many local aviation enthusiasts. He was employed by the Cumberland Fire Department, rising to the rank of Fire Chief before his retirement.
* * * * *
Wings Over Cumberland 