July 9, 2015

Annual Dyer-Souther Reunion on July 18, 2015


The Annual Dyer-Souther Reunion will be held on Saturday, July 18th at the Choestoe Baptist Church, Blairsville, GA. Registration begins at 11 AM, a meal will be served at Noon, and the program will begin at 1 PM. Please bring a covered dish or two and some items to donate for the silent auction that benefits the Cemetery Fund. A brief musical program is planned, plus lots of visiting with family. We hope to see you there!

June 17, 2015

Spreading the Word about Georgia's Pioneer Aviator


We wanted to share with you some of the places where, during the past 12 months, the story of Micajah Clark Dyer's invention and life’s work was introduced to the public by way of exhibits and presentations. Many more people learned about this remarkable pioneer aviator throughout the year.

Summer Enrichment Program at Union County Middle School
ICL - YHC Class Field Trip to Flight Site
Historical Marker Placed at Flight Site
Airport Awareness Day at Blairsville Airport
Permanent Exhibit at Union County Public Library

    If you are a newcomer to this site, you may wish to scroll down to the earlier posts and discover how the story of Dyer's amazing invention was almost lost before some documents were found that revealed just how impressive his work really is.

     Clark Dyer's craft design is primitive in light of the advancements made throughout the quarter of a century that followed, but in 1874 it represented the beginning of the transition from dirigibles to powered, heavier-than-air craft.

     Dr. Tom D. Crouch, the long-time Senior Curator of Aeronautics at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., said that while it may sound farfetched, it would be a mistake to dismiss the notion that Clark Dyer got the machine airborne. He said, "People like Dyer are absolutely fascinating because they simply incorporated principles that they knew worked, like paddle wheels."

     Mr. Donald Grant Kelly, a patent attorney with Intellectual Asset Management Associates, LLC, in Washington, D.C., who has had many years of experience interacting with the U.S. Patent Office, including a number of years as an employee there, was greatly intrigued upon learning of Dyer's invention at this early date. Regarding the scoffers who say the machine wouldn't fly, Mr. Kelly said:

 "To grant a patent, the Patent Office must determine that an invention is new and not a mere obvious change. Beyond that, it must be clearly apparent that the invention works as described and is useful in its application. So, we can be confident that the Patent Office staff saw to it that Mr. Dyer's application for a patent for 'Improvement in Apparatus for Navigating the Air' was valid, workable, and new—worthy of being sewn into the rapidly expanding quilt of aviation knowledge."  

Please let us know if you have groups that would like to have the Micajah Clark Dyer story presented at their meetings.  Also, we continue to seek someone to build additional models of the airplane to be placed in local libraries, schools, museums, etc.  A large project that we want to see begin is the building of a full-size replica of the plane.  We plan to continue our efforts to get him inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame, and to gain recognition for him in other ways, such as issuance of a U.S. Postage memorial stamp, an exhibit at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, naming an airport for him, and getting the story included in the history books.


May 25, 2015

Memorial to those who gave their all



This video is a beautiful reminder of the Angel Flight service for our servicemen and women who gave their all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=70Ikj1hZDnw

March 9, 2015

Solar Impulse 2 to fly around the world

 Another "first" in flight, a solar-powered airplane!

View image on Twitter

The Verge reports:
The Swiss-engineered airplane Solar Impulse 2 will begin its solar-powered flight around the world on Monday. If weather permits, the plane will launch from Abu Dhabi early in the morning. The plane was scheduled to launch earlier this month, but was delayed due to weather conditions.
The flight should take around five months to complete, and the 21,748-mile journey has been divided into 12 manageable trips. The team behind the Solar Impulse 2, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, will share piloting duties during the 500-hour flight. The single-cabin airplane has a 236-foot wingspan covered in 17,248 solar cells that power four electric motors. Because its wing cells store energy from the Sun, the Solar Impulse 2 can fly at night as well as during the day.
Piccard and Borschberg have been a part of the Solar Impluse team for years now (Piccard is the president of Solar Impulse, and Borschberg is the co-founder and CEO). Together, they hold eight world records for flight, including the first solar-powered flight across the US in the original Solar Impulse.
After taking off in Abu Dhabi, the Solar Impulse 2 will make stops in Oman, India, Myanmar, China, the US, and Southern Europe or Northern Africa before landing back in Abu Dhabi sometime in July. You can track the plane's progress here.

Read the full story here: http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/8/8168179/solar-impulse-2-around-the-world-launch-datesp&nbsp