AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 69

Ray Wiseman of Fredericksburg came
to Shannon Airport in 1967, the same year
he built his Pitts S1-S-which he flew in
the last Sid Shannon-era airshow, in 1981.
"He got the best in here-people like Bevo
Howard," he said. Wiseman flew airshows
for about 15 years, and won the Canadian
aerobatic championship in 1970. "When
Luke came along, it was a real revelation.
We didn't have to taxi through the lakes on
the taxiway. It's made a huge difference."
Retired airline pilot Don Serio of
Irvington, Virginia, flies a Stearman. He
first came to Shannon in 1957, at age 16,
and worked for Sidney Shannon Jr. after
school. "I was interested in flying, but I
really was a gofer," Serio said. "He was
really generous in sharing information. I
wish I'd paid more attention."
Serio earned his certificate and ratings,
leaving for the Army and then the airlines,
but he returned often. "I flew what he had,"
Serio said. "He wanted the Golden Age-flying-that was his pursuit." The museum's

Bücker Jungmeister replicates Bevo
Howard's. "[Howard] was a good friend. He
would come up here and do shows."
While Shannon Jr. had a lot of favorites, "the Pitcairn was one that he really,
really liked, because his father was associated with it," Serio recalled. One day
Shannon Sr. visited and saw the restored
mail plane. "He said, 'Son, you did a good
job with that.' I remember Mr. Shannon
being really proud of that."
The Vultee V-1A single-engine airliner
was bought in April 1977, for $155,000,
because of Shannon Jr.'s relationship with
Dick Merrill. "It was the last one."
Serio flew every airplane in the collection except the 1918 Standard E-1 biplane,
which they decided not to fly because it was
one of a kind. "The Vultee looks like a big
monster, but you don't want to do a threepoint landing. The Pitcairn is very heavy on
the controls-I wouldn't call it a truck, but
it's approaching it. On grass it makes you
look good, but on asphalt.... The Curtiss

Robin was the easiest one to fly," Serio said.
Learning that the collection would
return to Shannon Airport "really was a
dream come true. I couldn't believe it at
first," Serio said. "Luke brought [the airport] back to what Sidney had at the time,
and would have liked-he's improved it.
Sidney would be smiling down."
"We're trying to get some of these
running, some of them flying," Doran
added. "It would be in the spirit of Sidney
Shannon." Except for the Cub, the aircraft were disassembled and trucked to
Richmond; when the volunteers started
disassembling them for the return to
Fredericksburg they found the control

IT TAKES A VILLAGE (facing page). From

left, Albert Wachtmeister, Tom Doran, Luke
Curtas, Lee Ragsdale, Don Serio, and Ray
Wiseman have helped bring about Shannon Airport's rebirth and the return of the
air museum. A Sonex homebuilt airplane
touches down on the Shannon airport at
twilight (below).

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018

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