1906-1983 |
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Collection of Ray Dance, 1-12-04 |
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Courtesy of Ray Dance, 1-12-04 The biggest plane flying in was a DC-4, and things were busy at Rochester Municipal and at a half-dozen airports around town: Brizee's Commercial, Partridge Field, Shoremont, Homemakers, Hemlock...names now long forgotten. It was that year too, that Ray Hylan opened his airport at Jefferson and West Henrietta roads. This week, after 32 years and several other similar announcements, Hylan's field is finally being closed. The stakes already have been planted whre the new Clay Road will bite through the two narrow runways. And work on "Miracle City," a large shopping mall complex, is about to begin. Hylan originally bought six farms in the area, and the 100 acres or so he set aside for his airport was marshland. Even during the airport's early days, each take-off and landing would send the local frog population scampering. The resulting nickname, "Hylan's frog pond," lingered long after the frogs had gone. In those days students learned in old Wacos and Fairchilds and J-3 Cubs, designed by the Taylor brothers from Newark. One wall of Hylan Aircraft which occupies part of the hangars built around 1940. is still lined with J-3 landing gear, all brand new. "Cubs, you'll find them in some private strips or some farmer's barn," Hylan observes, "but they don't come to civilization anymore." Hylan's field was sod at first, then cinders. Not until about 10 years ago was it finally paved. A few stories continue to be passed down to each new generation of pilots who've spent hours struggling to learn take-offs and landings: O how Red Panella, Hylan's one-time partner, sent spectators sprawling in the mud as he flew between the office and the hangar. Of how Hylan landed upside down across the road in Rochester Gas & Electric Corp's back yard one winter when a student pulled the mixture control by mistake and the engine quit. There were blimps, the old Flying A and the Goodyear which last visited the airport two summers ago. There were air shows, like the Cole Brothers and passenger hopping for $3 a ride. And during World War II, there was Civilian Pilot Training there (and at the main airport where he's operated since 1922, Utica, Binghamton and LaFayette, La. where Hylan also ran flight schools.) Thousands have learned to fly at Hylan Airport and the skies are filled today with airline and military pilots who started out as lineboys or otherwise got their feet in aviation there. "Yeh, there's been a big change in aviation since then," Hylan concedes. "It's a different class of people flying today. They're older. "It used to be a young man's game...exhibition flying and they earned a living from it. There was an airshow every day. That's gone. Today they're businessmen and the airplane means transportation." Hylan bagan announcing the closing of the field several years ago. But few figured the intractable, cigar-chomping pilot would give up what had been his headquarters for the past three decades. His strategy, he says, was to get the county moving on building a general aviation field. But it didn't work and now the county's only paved airport left (outside of the Rochester-Monroe County Airport) is in Brockport. The others are sod and the closest airports comparable to Hylan's are in Dansville, Fulton or Buffalo. Now there are a hundred things to be packed or left behind as Hylan School of Aeronautics, (at Hylan Airport), moves in with Hylan Flying School (at the main airport). Dozens of shirttails clipped from students the day they soloed; a dozen model airplanes dangling on strings from thr ceiling; plaques hung up so long ago only Hylan can remember why; the J-3 gear; a smattering of pictures - of Tex Johnston, who won the 1946 Thompson Trophy Race and is now Boeing's chief test pilot ("He still drops in," Hylan Says), of Hylan arm-in-arm with the flamboyant Roscoe Turner, one of aviation's best-known race pilots and the only three-time winner of the Thompson; of Hylan's old Boeing F4B-4 which is boldly inscribed, "Ray, Remember the good old days, Red (Panella.)" The F4B-4, a bi-winged Navy fighter, is the only one of its kind left. In 1960, Hylan donated it to the Smithsonian and it is now on display in Pensacola, Fla. |
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from Socked In! Instrument Flying in a Century of U.S. Aviation by Franklyn E. Dailey Jr. A few of those events are unforgettable. Citizens around the world, including young people just learning to read and write, joined in the triumph of Charles Lindbergh's 1927 solo non-stop flight from New York to Paris. That flight spanned two calendar days, leaving Roosevelt Field on Long Island in the early daylight of May 20, 1927 and landing in the early evening at Le Bourget Field, Paris on May 21, 1927 Two flights, known now to almost no living persons, come frequently to the author's mind. One was recorded in two small-town newspapers. The other was recorded only in human memory. These occurred within two months, and within two years, respectively, after Lindbergh and his Spirit of St. Louis made it to Paris.................. The Holley Standard began its story with these lines. "In order to gratify a desire for 'some extra thrills' expressed by Stephen Peters of Brockport at the beginning of a flight Tuesday night, the pilot of the plane, Roy Hylan of Rochester, attempted a tail spin which ended in a crash in which Peters lost his life and Hylan was severely injured. After leaving his landing field a half-mile east of Brockport, Hylan took his plane up gradually until he was six hundred feet above Main Street where he decided to satisfy Peters' flare for thrills by going into a tail spin." Steve Peters was dead at the scene while Hylan was taken to the Brockport Sanitarium. When Hylan regained consciousness, he stated, according to the Holley Standard, that he "made a tailspin which he could not control." The Brockport paper closed its coverage with these lines. "Many people have remarked about the plane flying very low and the pilot was questioned about it the afternoon of the accident. Mr. Hylan claimed he always flew 500 feet or more above the ground and that that height was considered safe." Editor's Note: These are just a few paragraphs which I have extracted from the full text of this extensive and fascinating article. It includes detailed stories of the careers of Ray Hylan and Russell Holderman. I heartily recommend that you take advantage of this opportunity to read the entire article, as well as copies of the two newspaper articles from 1912 which reported on the accident. You can access the articles by clicking on the title above. For complete information on this book, see the "Recommended Reading" section below. |
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Editor's Note: This collection is housed in the New York Historical Society Collection. |
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"A special tour of Mount Hope Cemetery will be given by Fran Coleman, Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery, on Sunday, September 24th at 1:00 pm. The tour is entitled "The Back Forty" and will be conducted rain or shine. The focus of the tour is people who are well-known but are not on our regularly scheduled Sunday tours. An example is Ray Hylan, who was a pioneer in the flying profession and owner of Hylan School of Aeronautics which was once located on Scottsville Road." |
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The Triumph of Instrument Flight A Retrospective in a Century of U.S. Aviation Franklyn E. Dailey, Jr. Product Details Cloth: 335 pages 6 x 9" List Price: $18.95 Direct from Publisher: $15.00 plus $2.25 S&H: Massachusetts residents add $.75 ISBN: 0966625137 |
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Author's notes: August 6, 2004-The Wright brothers made their first flight in 1903. Their contribution was enduring. Their airframe,
controls and power plant became the model for powered flight. The author's first flying experience took place in 1929. The
record-making flight events of 1929-1931 demonstrated that the airplane had gone well beyond the novelty stage to reliable
performance. Its utility for the transport of passengers who needed ontime departures and arrivals had not yet been achieved. The early
airlines transferred their passengers to the train at the approach of nightfall. Pilot and aircraft were not yet able to challenge the
weather. The book then focuses attention on the years 1932-1935 when the necessary elements for intrument flying were recognized
(the flight instrument technology had existed unrecognized since 1929), configured into aircraft and into ground installations, and were
accepted by pilots qualified to put them to use. Editor's Note: More details about the book, including the Table of Contents, and about the author can be had from the official website. You can access it by clicking on: |
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Ray Hylan died May 27, 1983 and is buried in Mt Hope Cemetery in Rochester. I found a reference
that he was born on August 12, 1906, but could not verify that in NYS vital record index I also saw a reference to Ray's birth as Aug 7, 1906 on the internet somewhere. When I reread the obit is states Aug 7, 1907 in Fitchburh Mass. If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper Back 
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