BLAKESBURG — Frank Schelling’s first trip to the Antique Airplane Association/Airpower Museum fly-in at Antique Airfield was to take part in the reenactment of the 90th anniversary of the first air mail flight. He came with friends from Pleasant Hill, Calif., and his 1918 Curtiss Jn-4H (Curtiss Jenny), one of only two still flying with the original engine — a 150 HP Hispano-Suiza, known as the “Hisso.”

The first re-enactment of several scheduled this week was Wednesday, with Schelling’s Curtiss Jenny, flying the leg between Ottumwa Air Base and Antique Airfield.

A Curtiss Jenny was the first to fly mail. It flew from the polo ground, now part of the Capitol Mall in Washington, D.C. he proudly explained.

The 90th anniversary of air mail is the theme this year for the annual AAA/APM fly-in at Antique Airfield.

The original airplanes were fragile, made of wood and fabric which deteriorated or disintegrated during years of neglect before being rescued from fence row, hay loft or back lot. Most of those flying now have a few or many duplicated parts or parts from another plane of same make and model.

This particular gleaming white by-plane was once a trainer for U.S. Navy pilots, one of 30 delivered in March of 1918.

“It is as authentic as I can make it, to the original,” with 50 percent of the wood, 99.9 percent of the fittings and turnbuckles and all of the instruments original. The struts even have the original part numbers. I checked all the colors and markings at the Naval Museum in Pensacola, Fla.,” he said.

Equipped with a metal cowling; the wings and frame are wood, covered with Irish Linen, the edges of the reinforcing tape over the seams is frayed, just like in the original. Frayed edges bond better to the fabric he explained. Today the edges are usually pinked he added..

The two front wheels have skinny, high pressure smooth tread tires. There are no brakes. The tail skid slows the airplane which is the reason it has to “fly off of grass or sod,” he said.

Schelling explained that he “already had wings and fittings” when he got the fuselage in the late 1970s in Miami, Fla.

For the next 31 years he collected parts and worked at restoring the airplane until finally in 2003 it was flying and collecting honors, including grand champion antique at the 2004 Oshkosh, Wis. Fly-in; 2004 grand champion at Merced and Watsonville fly-ins and 2006 grand champion and people’s choice at the Rolls Royce Heritage Invitational Fly-in Reno Air Races in Reno, Nev.

The biggest honor was being presented the awards by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan at the Reno races. They were the first and last men on the moon. There were other great pilots at the event. “It is humbling to see all your aviation heroes” he said.

“I enjoy showing the plane” he said. “I like to see reaction of people. Old airplanes like this should not be in a museum, they should be flying he concluded.

Schelling and crew flew to Iowa City Friday to “meet other bi-planes, do barnstorming and hop passengers (give rides).