Pilot's donated airplane takes wing from Twin Cities airport

Chuck Doyle Sr.'s last flight in his replica 1910 Curtiss Pusher was a memorable one.

In 1986, the former Apple Valley resident persuaded the director of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to allow one takeoff and landing on a grassy area next to a usually busy runway. Doyle later lent the plane for a display inside the airport's Lindbergh Terminal.

A tongue-in-cheek plaque noted that last trip: "Having barely survived this ordeal Mr. Doyle wisely decided to turn the Pusher into a static display rather than give the aircraft another chance to do the same to him."

The Pusher and a 1928 Waco biplane have hung from the ceiling of Concourse G since the mid-1990s - until last week, when the planes were removed in preparation for a multimillion-dollar concourse redesign that will bring a new look with several more restaurants.

The Pusher is headed for the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot, N.D., while the Waco plane will be displayed at the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Leslie Parker, a spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines, which manages the concourse, said the concourse will get a "modern look aesthetically." She said the antique planes "just don't fit in."

"We had always planned to remove those from Concourse G when we redeveloped the concourse, and the (Metropolitan Airports Commission) told us that there wasn't space for them anywhere else," she said. "So our museum is thrilled that they get (the Waco biplane)."

The size of the planes limit where they can be located, said Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which operates the Twin Cities airport.

And because they are ceiling mounted, he said, they are difficult and costly to clean. In addition, the existing concessions will be torn out and the concourse floor plan reconfigured to "accommodate the new concept in MSP concessions."

Northwest Airlines Capt. Dan Neuman donated the Waco biplane to the airline in 1986, Parker said. Delta became its owner after the airline's merger with Northwest.

"The Delta museum is open to the public, and they do all kinds of tours for groups and field trips," Parker said. "So it will be highly visible down there."

Doyle, who also was a Northwest captain, died in 2008. His son, Chuck Doyle Jr., said the airports commission contacted him this month and asked if the family wanted the Pusher plane back.

"I'm happy they took the effort to track me down instead of it just ending up in a storage facility somewhere," he said.

The plane was built in 1961 and featured in the 1965 Hollywood movie "The Great Race," starring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Doyle Sr. bought the plane and kept it inside a barn at his Apple Valley home before restoring it at the airport with help from several college students, his son said.

"It sat out in the barn with two inches of dust and pigeon poop on it," recalled Doyle Jr., who is now a pilot for Sun Country Airlines and lives in Webster, Minn. "He said: 'Get over here and help me wash this.' And I said, 'What do you want to do with this?' "

Doyle Jr. said he chose to donate the Pusher to the Dakota Territory Air Museum because he has worked with it in the past and a friend serves on its board of directors. Now in its 25th year, the museum has more than 30 civilian and military planes, according to its website.

"They're really hard-working, dedicated aviation enthusiasts who built the museum with their own volunteer work," he said.

Doyle Sr. was always proud the airports commission agreed to hang the plane in the Lindbergh Terminal in 1996, his son said.

And the commission also was proud back then.

"It is in the spirit of aviation that on this day July 3rd, 1996, the MAC proudly displays the Curtiss Pusher replica for the public's enjoyment," another plaque read.

Nick Ferraro can be reached at 651-228-2173.