Exhibit tells story of North Iowa aviation pioneers 

(ABC 6 News) – Kinney Pioneer Museum’s newest exhibit, “Our Flying World,” illustrates important events and figures in aviation history and their ties to North Iowa. 

The museum’s timeline begins a century ago, in 1924. Mason City native Albert (Burt) Kogle attempted multiple times to jump out of a plane and parachute onto a speedboat on Clear Lake, failing twice and later dying in a plane crash in 1930 at just 25.

Also highlighted in the exhibit is the first woman to earn a pilot’s license in Iowa, Ila Fox, in 1929, who was a contemporary of world-famous aviator Amelia Earhart. 

Earhart lived in Iowa for six years of her childhood. Her visit to Mason City in 1933 after her solo flight across the Atlantic is another feature in the exhibit. 

Mason City resident Tom Homan said he worked at the Mason City Municipal Airport for thirty years, yet had no idea of Earhart’s connection to Iowa. 

“It was fascinating to learn about the pioneers of early aviation,” Homan said, “and their connection to North Iowa.” 

The neighboring airport, built in 1945, earned infamy on February 3, 1959, when, shortly after takeoff from Mason City Municipal Airport, a plane piloted by local charter pilot Roger Peterson crashed, killing Peterson and his passengers, musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. 

The Kinney Pioneer Museum is open annually from May to September, and details about upcoming events and exhibits can be found here.