The above painting, by noted aviation artist Russell Smith, is the result of 18 months collaboration. Titled “Birds of Paradise,” it’s now in its new home at the Pacific Aviation Museum.
I’ve long thought that one good way of interpreting aircraft and historical events is through original art. Aircraft are pieces of technology that are designed to move, to fly, to interact with people, but airplanes in a museum just sit there. Also, often there are no visual records of key events in aviation history. At the Ford Island museum, pre-1941 Hawaii aviation history is largely missing.
My father enlisted in the Army Air Forces during World War II, and the Air Force I grew up in still largely had Army traditions and veterans. When he died a couple of years ago, my brother David and I became trustees of the estate. We talked about finding a way of commemorating Dad’s military service. But Dad also worked as an educator, and so we decided on something that would aid in education. To kickstart the Pacific Aviation Museum’s nascent art collection, we commissioned an original oil painting to be given to the museum in our father’s memory, something that would help the museum tell its story.
The logical place to start was at the beginning. The first military aircraft in Hawaii were Signal Corps #8, a Curtiss Model D, and Signal Corps #21, the Curtiss Model G Tractor Scout. The G was a groundbreaking aircraft, the first “tractor” — an airframe with the engine in front — built by Curtiss. Both plane were originally desined for wing-wartping control, but had new-fangled ailerons installed. Neither had a control stick. Ailerons were controlled by shoulder yokes that required complex Body English from the pilots. By modern standards, crude, pioneering aircraft.
They were brought to the islands by Lt. Harold Geiger and a detachment of Signal Corps enlisted troops attached to the coastal defense batteries at Fort Kamehameha, right at the mouth of Pearl Harbor. These pioneers were an ideal subject for the initial painting to enter the museum’s art collection.
Russell Smith was chosen because of his mastery of light, finesse of detail and sheer enthusiasm for early aircraft. A price was agreed upon — Russ charges by the square inch! — and we set to work.
We discovered that only five blurry photos exist of the Geiger Detachment’s aircraft in the islands. A fair amount of technical research had to be done even to get the details of the aircraft right, and it didn’t help that the planes were continually modified during their service life. Russ wound up making a mathematical projection of the plane’s details to get the proportions correct.
The early flights were made during calm conditions at dawn, and we decided to set the image then, with #8 in the air and #21 — the primary subject — being pushed out across the reef flats. This was also a nice metaphor for the dawn of military aviation in Hawaii, and the early morning light illuminates the inherent fragility of the design.
I visited Fort Kamehameha several times to locate the original location and take digital photos to send to Russ in North Carolina. Pearl Harbor can be awfully cold at dawn.
The image went through several iterations, and Russ turned out to be a master at tweaking compositions for effect and clarity. Russ explains the process well at his site, and says he may include this work in his upcoming art-collection book.
After a year of email research and artistic chitchat, the painting was done. It was presented to the museum last week. The museum flew Russ out for a couple of talks and personal contact, which was great of them. We had fun visiting various historic sites on Oahu, including the now-closed area at Fort Kamehameha.
Now, take a squint at the guy by the pontoon talking to Geiger, who’s standing on the float. That’s my dad!
Yes, prints are available. Buy one and support the museum. Click on the above image to see it larger.