Written and submitted by PA (05/2022); transcribed by JS (10/2022); reformatted by JS (10/2022)
My father, Richard Lee Apple (1923-2011) was an avid model plane builder and flyer as a child in the late 1920s and early 1930s….He was a life-long resident of New Castle. After high school, he attended the Spartan College of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma and received a degree in aeronautical engineering. He also took pilot lessons, and his pilot log is with the Henry County Historical Society. He then served in the army during WWII in Europe. After retirement, he again began building model airplanes and flying them in his fields of his farm at 891N County Rd 100 West in New Castle. He was an AMA member.
The photographs in this biography are from the Richard Lee Apple Family Collection, #0510, at the National Model Aviation Museum. The full collection can be accessed online via the Museum’s Digital Collections at https://modelaircraft.pastperfectonline.com/.
August 24, 1930: Richard, age 7, building airplanes out of scraps of wood and nails. Handwritten on back: “Midcift Farm” and “Richard Lee Apple Aug 24, ‘30”.
Circa 1930s: Richard Lee Apple flying his airplane, outdoors with other children. Handwritten on back: ”Richard flying his airplane”.
Credit: Donated by the Apple Family. (A2022.16.20)
Credit: Donated by the Apple Family. (A2022.16.14) Circa 1930s: Richard Lee Apple’s basement workshop, New Castle, IN. Handwritten on back:
“1930’s Richard Apple Basement Workshop 1323 Audubon New Castle, IN”.
Credit: Donated by the Apple Family. (A2022.16.21)
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