AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 1958 - (Page 29) Hid) school's small wind tunnel Is used in ground instruction: Students Palmer and Muss take notes High School offer8 flying course t o students wifk good gmdes Ieenagers Give City lar course of study. After that waa done, it was a case of a snowball gaining size as it rolls down a hill. Perhaps the 'best symbol of Creacent City's aviation development is to be found in its neat, well-equipped Del N o w County Airport. When the two AOPA'eis started oat to reform the town, aviation-wiae,people smiled when fbey referred to the landing strip outside of town as an airport. Del Norte Airport, incidentally, now is paying its own way. Crescent City people like to think of their high school aviation program as second to none anywhere. The school, Del N o h Union High School, owns its own airplane and offers flyiag courses to students able to qualify. Qualifying means something, too. The youngster has to make good grade and be a good citizen of the community and the echo01 in order to gain A Lift in aviation in Crescent City. Its airport was little more than a poor landing strip. Few persona could see the necessity for more elaboratelanding facilities at a place where there was little flying. Claasen leaded the airport and bought a Taylorcraft and set u p shop, His goal was to mftfee tfee airport a paying proposition. His fellow-townsmen smiled behind hia back. "Such a fooUah idea," they said.Butthetownspeopledidn't reckon on a Glausen-Thunen combination. Clausen's first student waa Thuen, prmdpd o the Del Norte Union f High School. (He is now superintendent of the school district.) After the school principal had re* ceived a few leaaona in flying from Clauses, the two started discuaaisg means of getting their hometown intereated i aviation. n (continuedçmm 98) est admission to the flying courses. The small California city is one of the least likely places where you would expect to find a thriving aviation industry. Crescent City is backed up against the Pacific Ocean in the extreme northweatem comer of the State. Only one main highway -conneets it with the remainder of the' State and southern Oregon. When Clausen and Tinmen started working on the town, Crescent City was entireir o f the recognized air lanes. f Now it ia serviced by an airline aerving the three Vest Coast States. It all started back in 1945 when Clmsen, now a Del N * County o supervisor and insurance man, came home from World War II determined to get into the aviation byatnesa in his .home town. The outlook wasn't too promising. There was little inter-
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