Historian to speak at meeting

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SIDNEY– Jon Hampton, president of the Sidney Pilot’s Association, has announced that national historian, Bill Albers, will be the feature guest speaker of the organization’s April monthly meeting. The meeting will be held this Thursday, April 7, at 7 p.m. in the Airport terminal building. The public is invited to attend.

Albers will be speaking on the aviation exploits of brothers Edward and Milton Korn, of Jackson Center, and their contributions to aviation’s fledgling growth in the early 1900’s. One of which is in aerial photography. The Korn’s were the first to take an in-flight self-portrait. Or, as it is known today, a selfie.

Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands during World War II, Albers has many stories of his native country being occupied by the German Army. He says a German anti-aircraft position was located less than a mile and a half from his home. Towards the end of the War, he tells of the many bombers headed from England to Berlin. The B-17’s bombers were protected from German fighter planes by the iconic American P-51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts. He remembers one huge mission in particular that was flown by both British and American bombers. The mission consisted of hundreds of bombers and fighters headed to Germany. Because there were so many planes, the formation had a length of 300 hundred miles or more. It was like the day had turned to night because of the overcast of the planes. Albers is a pilot, who flies out of Sidney.

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