They were a big Irish family in Hamilton, Ohio. I’m not sure if Bernie or Joe was the oldest, but Art and Bill came along about 10 years later with another brother and three sisters somewhere in between. In 1929, after a neighboring farmer, “Pop” Muhlburger, taught the two oldest boys to fly in his Waco 10, the Hogan family bought both Muhlburger’s farm and the Waco. By the early 1930s, Art and Bill were flying and their sisters were helping run what had now become an airport. To paraphrase Gill Robb Wilson’s poem, the springing turf of that green meadow became a catapult from which, 86 years later, men are still leaping.
Unusual Attitudes: A Big Irish Family
Key Takeaways:
- The Hogan family established a successful airport in Hamilton, Ohio, in the 1930s, operating it for 50 years with brothers Bernie, Joe, Art, and Bill known as skilled pilots and mechanics.
- Bill Hogan, the youngest and most colorful, was an expert restorer and aerobatic pilot, famously performing in a P-51H and a highly modified Taperwing Waco.
- Despite the original airport being sold to Butler County, the Hogan aviation legacy persists through Art's sons, who continue to operate a shop and flying school at the same location.
- A significant incident occurred when Bill and his son Terry crashed the modified Taperwing due to an inadvertent fuel tank selection during a checkout flight, highlighting the challenges of vintage aircraft and human error.
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