An Airplane Builder

Sylvia Dyer Turnage sits in a home built ultra-light airplane

  This ultra-light plane was constructed by a man who builds his own airplanes and flies them over his fields. Amazingly, his airplanes are very simple and he uses machinery and materials that are locally available for building them.
     Here I am sitting in one of them, but I confess that I am not brave enough to fly in it!

Video of Chamber interview on Channel 4

Know your history - On April 4, 2017, Blairsville-Union County Chamber of Commerce President, Regina Allison, interviewed Sylvia Dyer Turnage to learn about a part of history that is not too well known. That history is the saga of the 1874 invention of the flying machine by Micajah Clark Dyer of Union County. The interview was filmed by Mr. Mark Mote of Windstream for broadcasting a number of times on Cable Channel 4 during the month of April. 

      Here is the link to the YouTube video of the interview. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/1OryL39Zrgs

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Chamber Connection TV Show Features Micajah Clark Dyer

Display Sept. 2016 at Chamber of Commerce

We are happy to have the history of Micajah Clark Dyer featured in a recent filming by Mr. Mark Mote with Windstream and Ms. Regina Allison, President of the Blairsville Chamber of Commerce. The video will air this week and next, April 11 through April 22, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., and on Saturdays at 11 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., on Windstream Channel 4. We expect to have a video of the filming available to post here soon.

     Following is an excerpt from the North Georgia News article April 12, 2017, page 4A, Chamber Connection TV Show by Regina Allison:

     "Every 6 weeks, a new episode of the Chamber Connection airs for Union County. In June we will be coming up on our 1 year anniversary of the show. I want to thank Mark Mote and Windstream for the opportunity to share information about our Chamber Members and our amazing community. I also want to thank the guests that have appeared on the show with me thus far; I have enjoyed spending the time with each of you and I have learned a great deal.

     "We recently taped the next episode which will air the weeks of April 11^th through the 22^nd. I enjoyed spending time learning about part of Union County History with Sylvia Dyer Turnage of the Micajah Clark Dyer Foundation. Sylvia has spent a lot of time researching and gathering information about her great, great grandfather, known as Clark Dyer to family and friends, a very talented inventor who studied the way birds flew and wondered, “Why couldn’t a man fly like a bird?” He received the patent on September 1, 1874 for his invention. The purpose of his invention, “navigating the air” as he liked to refer to it, was conceptualized and patented 29 years prior to the Wright Brothers’ famous First Flight. A model of his invention is on display at the Old Union County Courthouse along with a wealth of information about the History of Union County. A special thank you to Union County Historical Society for all that you do to preserve the history of Union County and your involvement in the Chamber and the Community. . . and thank you to Sylvia. . ."
     Please visit our blog posts below to learn more about this remarkable pioneer aviator.