Meridian’s Al and Fred Key had a problem. The Great Depression had threatened Meridian’s airport and they weren’t going to allow it to close.
So they did what they did best: They took to the air. And didn’t come back down for 653 hours.
Flying a borrowed a Curtis Robin, they constantly fed it gasoline during their nonstop flight. The Robin’s name? Ole Miss. The Ole Miss now hangs in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum on the Washington Mall.
Al and Fred took off on June 4, 1935 and landed 27 days later, breaking the endurance record. In the process, they traveled an estimated 52,320 miles and used more than 6,000 gallons of gas.
To service the engine and refuel it, they built a little walkway out to the engine. And to prevent the fuel from spilling (and catching fire) when they finished refueling the plane, they and A.D. Hunter invented special value. That valve, in modified form, is what the KC-135 tankers use to refuel planes today. So it’s very appropriate that those very tankers are based at that airfield Al and Fred successfully kept open — Key Field.
I look forward to speaking to my friends at Meridian Regional Airport tomorrow. I’ll talk to them about how the worst moments turn into the best. Just like what Al and Fred did so many years ago.