To say that Job Conger is into airplanes would be an
understatement. In fact, Conger’s interest in aviation could
easily be considered a love affair. It began with him photographing
airplanes during frequent trips to the airport as a young boy. Half a
century later, Conger’s love for aviation has led to the creation of
a newly released book.
From Silas M. Brooks making the first
“human” flight to Illinois on July 4, 1855, and the creation of
the city’s first airport in 1910, to the use of Knight’s Action
Park as an airport in the 1980s and the start of Springfield’s Air
Rendezvous, Springfield Aviation is filled with more than 200 photographs and a wealth
of information chronicling the evolution of aviation in Springfield.
Conger includes aviation’s connection to the
city’s most famous citizen. President Abraham Lincoln
“authorized the creation of the nation’s first air force,
Aeromatic Corps of the Army,” a hydrogen balloon corps charged with
spying on confederate troops. He also points out other firsts, including
Horace F. Kearney’s completion of the first airmail flight to
Williamsville on Oct. 9, 1912. That was14 years before Charles Lindbergh
made the first “official” airmail flight.
The book also contains photographs of dozens of
airplanes, beginning with a Wright plane crafted in the early 1900s,
progressing to more modern planes, which we have become accustomed to
seeing today. The book highlights the creation of the city’s first
airport and its growth into what we now know as Capital Airport.
Even those who don’t share Conger’s love
for aviation will no doubt be fascinated by some of the information
included in the book, such as airplanes that at top speed traveled a mere
46 miles per hour and newly crafted planes that could be purchased for less
than $7,000.
Conger, who considers himself an aviation historian,
has taken hundreds of aviation photographs. “Today, I would no more
visit any airport without my camera than I would visit without my
pants,” he wrote in the book’s introduction. “I consider
both to be essential for the maximum enjoyment of aviation.”
With his love for aviation and his vast personal
collection of pictures, the book “wrote itself,” Conger says.
But that does not mean that he didn’t face challenges. With only
about 40 percent of the pictures coming from Conger’s personal
collection, gathering photos from others was somewhat of a struggle. In the
end, Conger received photographs from sources such as Lincoln
Library’s Sangamon Valley Collection, Illinois National Guard’s
183rd Fighter
Wing, the U.S. Navy, Springfield Airport Authority, Springfield Air
Rendezvous and a number of other photographers.
With Springfield
Aviation under his belt, he is now
planning to pen another aviation book. “This experience has convinced
me of my role in the community. There are still more photos to be had, and
more stories to tell.”
Job Conger will address the Oct. 15 meeting of Slip
n’ Skid Flyers’ Club at 6:30 p.m. at Old Luxemburg Inn, 1900 S. 15th,
Springfield. He will autograph
books before and after the meeting.
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2008.
