MUSCODA - If you have been watching television news in recent days you have probably seen pictures of a big airliner with the word “Trump” emblazoned on its side. When I saw that I remembered there was once a Muscoda resident, Leo (Pat) Muller, who, with a friend, dreamed of starting a new airline.
When Vi and I came to Muscoda in 1958, Leo was the first local businessman we met. He operated a one-man car repair shop in a building next to our office. But his earlier life was much more exciting.
Leo began flying in the U. S. Navy, entering the service in 1919. He first was a mechanic until he entered flight training about a year-and-a-half later. He was among 616 men who took the exams for flight training. Of those, 135 passed the test with Leo one of the 11 who finished to become flying enlisted men. Now, all pilots are officers.
Leo took flight training at Pensacola, Florida and qualified to fly nine types of seaplanes and became a seaplane test pilot before leaving the navy in 1924. In addition to seaplane training he also trained for carrier duty when the big flattop ships were new for warfare.
Following his hitch in the nave he and a friend, EricVMontgomery, became barnstormers in the SouthVand East portion of the country. Some of their earlyVday flying adventures were revealed in the OctoberV5, 1923 edition of “Air Station News.”
The story describes a flight to New Orleans from Montgomery and landing on golf course, out of gas. They then flew up the Mississippi to Jonesville, Louisiana.
Leo described their arrival: “I bet there about 500 people out to see our plane within about 30 minutes after we landed. We were the first aviators and had the first plane that had ever landed there. Some people had never before seen a plane except in the movies or in newspapers.
At Jonesville the pilots gave rides. “We offered the prettiest girl or oldest man a free ride by had no takers. Finally the editor of a small town newspaper, wanting to be a hero, climbed aboard. When he came down there was almost a stampede, everyone wanted to know about his ride!”
Muller, Montgomery and another fellow headed on toward Boulder, Colorado with dreams of starting an airline. But they never made it to their destination. When they tried to land in a field along the way, hidden tree stumps damaged their airplane.
They were able to repair it, but when taking off down the main street of a small village a wingtip hit a tree limb, the plane flipped and hit the front porch of a house. Only the engine of the plane was saved and the village children carried off the rest.
That ended the airline dream.
Leo was living a much quieter life during the years we knew him. I still consider him as one of the most successful northern pike fishermen I knew in the local river bottoms. His favorite time to fish was on misty, windless days, using a black buck-tail as a lure, fishing from a tiny wooden duck boat. He often left for the river bottoms in mid-afternoon and returned with a successful catch before Vi and I had quit work for the day.
