Pat Macha – Aviation Archeologist
Gramps was delighted to see Pat Macha at our May meeting. Pat got his start in this field while working for the park rangers in his youth. While working in the wilderness, he took a route that was not commonly used and discovered an aviation crash site. This really caught fire with him and he has been doing it ever since. Pat has written books on the subject of aviation archeology in California for years. The original crash site was that of a C-47 with thirteen people aboard. Two rescuers helicoptered in and the rescue copter went down. They were picked up by another but it was in December and the snow did not melt until May. His discovery was four days after the crash so it would otherwise probably not been discovered until May.
A Curtis F5L mail plane crashed at Catalina. The pilot was carrying $300 for delivery so he had to stay with the aircraft. He saw a ridge but too late and crashed. A reconnaissance plane also crashed while looking for the F5L.
One of the most fascinating crashes was the crash of a C-53 that left Van Nuys in marginal weather for the purpose of towing a Waco to Victorville over the mountains. The glider pulled the tail off the C-53 over Castaic. The glider crew bailed out and the C-53 crew made a hard landing. The wreck was found by a nine year old girl, Mary Lyn Winkler, who lived in the area. She was much appreciated and received personal thanks from General Hap Arnold.
Family of C-53 pilot at crash site
Another interesting crash was that of a P-61 Black Widow. It was flying with two P-80s flying chase when an engine caught fire. The camera man bailed out, but the pilot was not wearing a chute. The copilot helped out and the pilot finally ejected as the plane fell apart in an inverted spin.
Gertrude Thompkins Silver
One of Pat’s books is dedicated to Gertrude Thompkins Silver, a WASP, who departed Mines Field in Los Angeles in a P-51D for transport to New Jersey. She was thought to have gone into the ocean off the coast, but her plane has never been found. Her status is well known in the still missing category and there has been considerable search done to find the answers. We thank Pat for his tremendous work for so many years helping to answer the questions of friends and relatives of the missing flights. This has brought closure and comfort to many families. We look forward to hearing from him again.
Dick Fields – PAO
