"Linda, my information came from Jack Kelsey. I visited him in the hospital today, and he is much, much better! The Kelsey Airport was in use by the time Jack Kelsey came home from military service in 1946. Jack and his brother Roscoe learned to fly in 1943. Gene McGill was about the only pilot in the whole country. Bunk Kelsey, Jack's father, kept gas at the airport for airplanes. A lot of people flew in there. The Flying Farmers flew into Kelsey Airport a lot. Gene (McGill) was instrumental in starting the Oklahoma Flying Farmers, the first one in the United States. Bunk Kelsey was on the board of directors. He didn't fly, so Jack flew him to meetings. Gene and the Kelsey's had Aeronca Champion planes. Then Gene got a Cessna 140. Jack was the photographer, and his brother Roscoe the pilot, when the (1946) photos were taken of the trains at Waynoka while Roscoe flew the plane at a low altitude. The movie of the train, and the rail yards at Waynoka, and aerial views of Waynoka, are all on the video that you have. The Kelsey Airport was the only one around at that time. Alva didn't have an airport. Leo Strickland opened a flying school at Northwestern for college boys during the war. I think all 3 of the Kelsey sons were pilots! Jack's first plane ride was in a TAT Ford tri-motor, sitting on his father's knee, in 1929. And the legacy continues - Jack and Jean's son Jeff works for Cessna." -- Sandie Olson, Waynoka Historical Society
The Kelsey Airport was in use by the time Jack Kelsey came home from military service in 1946. Jack and his brother Roscoe learned to fly in 1943. Gene McGill was about the only pilot in the whole country. Bunk Kelsey, Jack's father, kept gas at the airport for airplanes. A lot of people flew in there. The Flying Farmers flew into Kelsey Airport a lot. Gene (McGill) was instrumental in starting the Oklahoma Flying Farmers, the first one in the United States. Bunk Kelsey was on the board of directors. He didn't fly, so Jack flew him to meetings. Gene and the Kelsey's had Aeronca Champion planes. Then Gene got a Cessna 140. Jack was the photographer, and his brother Roscoe the pilot, when the (1946) photos were taken of the trains at Waynoka while Roscoe flew the plane at a low altitude. The movie of the train, and the rail yards at Waynoka, and aerial views of Waynoka, are all on the video that you have. The Kelsey Airport was the only one around at that time. Alva didn't have an airport. Leo Strickland opened a flying school at Northwestern for college boys during the war. I think all 3 of the Kelsey sons were pilots! Jack's first plane ride was in a TAT Ford tri-motor, sitting on his father's knee, in 1929. And the legacy continues - Jack and Jean's son Jeff works for Cessna." -- Sandie Olson, Waynoka Historical Society