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The Midway Airport Historians would like to thank the Blackhawk Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. We were recently contacted by the president of the chapter regarding some old airplane photos. The group acquired an old photo album that contained mostly train photos but tucked in the back of the album were several pages that contained photos of aircraft including many that were taken at Midway Airport! The chapter president graciously donated the airplane photos to our group. We are in the process of digitizing the old pics and will soon add them to our photo archives and post them on our Flickr page. Look for them shortly.
Also, we were contacted last week by Missy M. who recently came across her father's collection of 8mm movies. Amongst the home movies was a reel mostly shot at Midway Airport in 1958 (the first minute was taken at Glenview NAS). We've posted a link to her YouTube video on our page under the "Videos" tab. Thanks for taking the time to digitize the film Missy and thanks for sharing with us. You and your dad helped preserve a piece of Chicago's aviation history!
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We deeply regret to inform you of the passing of a charter member of the Midway Historians. Captain John Chiros passed away unexpectedly Wednesday in Atlanta. John was presently working as an FAA Air Carrier Inspector and was in Atlanta in the furtherance of his duties as an inspector of airmen. John was a highly respected member of our group. His knowledge of airline history, equipment flown by each airline, and knowledge of the history of MDW was amazing. On a personal note, I remember seeing John and his brother Al on the observation deck at MDW shortly after United returned to MDW in 1964. Our friendship developed shortly thereafter as we pursued our goal of eventually flying for the airlines. After becoming a flight instructor and instructing at various flight schools at Midway, John was hired by Air Illinois and flew Twin Otters. After Air Illinois, John flew for a number of airlines including Orion, Spirit, Midway I & II, ATA, and finally Ryan International which took him around the world. John was a role model for his fellow airmen and as an employee of the FAA "he was always here to help." We are going to miss our friend terribly but we will never forget having been associated with a truly exceptional individual. Smooth air and tailwinds, my friend, and we'll see you again on the other side. Keep the blue side up you "old pelican." Our condolences go out to his family, 3 children, grandchildren, sister, and former wife. —Bob Russo, 1/18/2024  John C. Chiros, age 71, loving father of Chris (Leigh), Dave (Noel), and Katie (Justin) Shook; cherished grandfather of Gabriel, and Julian, Jeffery, Harrison Chiros, and Teddy, John “Jack”, and Lucy Shook; dear brother of Georgia (the late John) Sievert, and the late George “Allen” (Kathy) Chiros; also, many nieces and nephews. Visitation Wednesday, 3 to 7 pm., at Modell Funeral Home, 7710 South Cass Avenue, Darien, where funeral service will be held Thursday 10:00 a.m.…. Int. Evergreen Cemetery. For information 630-852-3595 or www.modelldarien.com
 It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we inform you of the death of our colleague, John Chiros, who passed away unexpectedly on January 17, 2024.
John was a good friend to all and we will all miss John more than words can express. We will share with you the details regarding the funeral or memorial service as we hear more details from his family. Watch as Midway Airport Historians members Bob Russo and Dave Kaufman make the last landing ever on runway 31R. The Midway Historians are happy to announce our first meeting in over a year!
WHAT: Midway Historians Meeting WHO: Anyone who is is interested in the history of Midway Airport is welcome to attend WHEN: Sunday, April 30, 1:00 p.m. WHERE: Illinois Bar & Grill — 1131 State Street, Lemont, IL Join us for this social event to discuss the storied history of Midway Airport and Chicago aviation history! Hello everyone! It's been a long 2 years but the time has come for a meeting of the MDW Historians. Rob Bitunjic, Head Librarian of the Clearing Library and President of the ClearRidge Historical Society has offered the use of one of the rooms of the Clearing Library (6423 W. 63rd Place, Chicago) for a gathering to include any interested residents of the Clearing and Garfield Ridge neighborhoods. The meeting will take place Sunday April 3, 2022 from 1-3 pm at the Clearing Library.
—Bob Russo Today, September 1, marks the 60th anniversary of the crash of TWA Flight 529. N86511, an L-049 Lockheed Constellation, departed Midway at 0200 en route to Las Vegas. The aircraft crashed at 0205 in Clarendon Hills killing all 73 passengers and 5 crew on board. At the time, it was the deadliest single airplane disaster in U.S. history. The CAB concluded the probable cause was "... the loss of an AN-175-21 nickel steel bolt from the parallelogram linkage of the elevator boost system, resulting in loss of control of the aircraft." Tonight, WGN Channel 9 News will air a special report on the accident during their 9 pm broadcast. One of our members, the late Elmer Maze, lived a short distance from the accident site and as an 11-year-old boy, heard this aircraft crash. Bob Russo 9/1/2021  N86511  Crash site, just west of 6100 Clarendon Hills Road. It is with a sad heart that I announce the passing of one of our own historians, Elmer Maves. Elmer "flew west" on July 5, 2021.
Elmer was champion of commercial propliners and had the dubious distinction of having been eyewitness to a terrible aviation disaster, that of TWA Flight 529, early in the morning on September 1, 1961. Along with Elmer, who was 11 at the time, was his brother Charlie, who is today an expert on propliners and an aviation enthusiast. The accident haunted Elmer for 60 years and he was elated to recently learn of the new memorial marker being erected close to the site of the disaster, for which there will be a memorial ceremony marking the Flight 529 crash 60 years ago, Sept. 1st. — Dave Kent 7/21/2021 I regret to inform the Midway Historians of the passing of two of our members: John Daraska the holder of the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award has Flown West. John, spent the majority of his career at MDW, having started as a fueler with TWA in 1957. In 1958, John enlisted in the Air Force and served 4 years maintaining B-47's, B-52's, and KC-135's. Returning to civilian life John went to work for B&M Aircraft as an A&P at both Elgin and Rosell. He also served as Director of Maintenance for Graubart Aviation VPZ. In 1966 he was hired as Director of Aviation for MDW Mooney dealer Illinois Aircraft, then Morgan Aviation and Arcy Aircraft Sales. As a Commercial pilot, he also flew as Co-pilot/Mechanic for Chicago & Southern Commuter Airlines, Executive Airlines and Rynes Airlines. In 1973 John started J&D Aircraft Maintenance in 1973 at MDW and for many years had his business in the original TWA Hangar/ CHA Hangar 5240 W. 63rd St. Our condolences go out to his family. May you have a smooth ride and tailwinds, John. Will Martin has also Flown West. Will was the owner of P-51"El Gato Rapido." El Gato was based at MDW for a number of years. Will was the author of the book "So I Bought an Air Force: The True Story of a Gritty Midwesterner in Somoza's Nicaragua". Will attended our Spring meeting in 2014 and entertained us with his stories of buying and flying P-51's and P-47's from the Nicaraguan Air Force. At the same time he was selling A-26's and flying them down to Nicaragua — many of these aircraft passing through MDW. This book is a great read capturing the excitement of dealing with a dictator in the "Wild West" of a Central American country and living with continually changing "deals". Will founded the Squadron 4 Warbird Chapter of the EAA. The EAA has established a scholarship fund in Will's name that will provide young people the chance to learn to fly. If you wish to donate, visit www.eaa.org/donate and select "Other Named Scholarship" then enter "Will Martin Flight Training Scholarship." Our condolences go out to Will's family. May you have a smooth ride and tailwinds, Will. Until we meet again, Bob Russo President -- The Midway Historians
In Memory of Our Friend Clifford Eugene "Gene" Smith |
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It's with great sadness that I report the passing of one of our early members and all-around good guy, Captain Gene Smith. Gene passed away last night, June 4.
Gene earned his A & P rating at the U of I Champaign. He was employed as a mechanic for TWA at both MDW in the late 1950s and ORD during the early 1960s. His first corporate job as a pilot/mechanic was with International Minerals & Chemical (IMC) in Houston flying and maintaining an Aztec and Howard 350. Gene joined Sears at MDW in the late 1960's just in time to get a right seat checkout in the DC-3 just before Sears transitioned to an all turbine fleet. During his career at Sears, Gene rose to the Chief Pilot position. With the Sears spinoff of Dean Witter, Gene became Chief Pilot at Dean Witter, based at PWK and ultimately Dean Witter/Morgan Stanley from which he retired.
I remember Gene as a Connie trivia expert with knowledge gained while working on TWA Connies. His photographic memory could recall Connie N-numbers and fleet numbers on which he had worked along with 707 trivia gained working on the early 707's at ORD. His photographic memory applied to ALL Sears aircraft be they piston or turbine. We had quite a few discussions on all these trivia subjects and I always learned something I hadn't know before our discussion.
I remember Gene telling us at one of our meetings that when he was working at MDW for TWA, one of the TWA fuelers always carried a camera with him and always took pictures during his shift. Gene said if we could ever find Charlie Feigel - the fueler, we would have a treasure trove of MDW photos taken during the late 1950s. At a subsequent meeting, I remember Gene almost choking on his soup at the Kerry Piper when he looked up as Charlie Feigel walked into the Kerry Piper with Bob Jesko to attend our meeting. And yes, Gene was right, Charlie's photos provided us an irreplaceable photographic history of all the airlines serving MDW in its 'heyday' of the late 1950s. These photos captured not only all the majors airlines, but the non-skeds and international carriers too including the first Caravelle, a Varig, which diverted from ORD on a demo flight.
Gene will be greatly missed but not forgotten. May you have clear skies and smooth air on your Flight West Capt. Smith.
Until we meet again,
Bob Russo
President -- The Midway Historians
Gene earned his A & P rating at the U of I Champaign. He was employed as a mechanic for TWA at both MDW in the late 1950s and ORD during the early 1960s. His first corporate job as a pilot/mechanic was with International Minerals & Chemical (IMC) in Houston flying and maintaining an Aztec and Howard 350. Gene joined Sears at MDW in the late 1960's just in time to get a right seat checkout in the DC-3 just before Sears transitioned to an all turbine fleet. During his career at Sears, Gene rose to the Chief Pilot position. With the Sears spinoff of Dean Witter, Gene became Chief Pilot at Dean Witter, based at PWK and ultimately Dean Witter/Morgan Stanley from which he retired.
I remember Gene as a Connie trivia expert with knowledge gained while working on TWA Connies. His photographic memory could recall Connie N-numbers and fleet numbers on which he had worked along with 707 trivia gained working on the early 707's at ORD. His photographic memory applied to ALL Sears aircraft be they piston or turbine. We had quite a few discussions on all these trivia subjects and I always learned something I hadn't know before our discussion.
I remember Gene telling us at one of our meetings that when he was working at MDW for TWA, one of the TWA fuelers always carried a camera with him and always took pictures during his shift. Gene said if we could ever find Charlie Feigel - the fueler, we would have a treasure trove of MDW photos taken during the late 1950s. At a subsequent meeting, I remember Gene almost choking on his soup at the Kerry Piper when he looked up as Charlie Feigel walked into the Kerry Piper with Bob Jesko to attend our meeting. And yes, Gene was right, Charlie's photos provided us an irreplaceable photographic history of all the airlines serving MDW in its 'heyday' of the late 1950s. These photos captured not only all the majors airlines, but the non-skeds and international carriers too including the first Caravelle, a Varig, which diverted from ORD on a demo flight.
Gene will be greatly missed but not forgotten. May you have clear skies and smooth air on your Flight West Capt. Smith.
Until we meet again,
Bob Russo
President -- The Midway Historians
Author
Midway Airport Historians
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