Internet meme? Civil war planes?

[CC]

A friend sent me something that must have circulated on the interwebs many times, but Snopes is no help tracking it down. It’s allegedly a newspaper headline saying “Volunteers search for old civil war planes.” I tried enlarging it and couldn’t make out any details of the paper, the date, or anything. I suspect it started as a gag. Anyone know anything about this? Dopers??

[markn_1]

Perhaps it’s referring to the woodworking tool? A lot of people collect old tools.

–Mark

[TriPolar]

Which civil war? The American Civil War had balloons for aircraft. There are also designs of flying machines from that period, but no planes were built, none that flew at least. So it could be a headline about a different civil war, or about the plane designs that existed, or maybe just about woodworking tools.

ETA: Here’s a link to the Confererate airplane plans that seemed to have been auctioned a few years ago.

[DrFidelius]

Haven’t seen a memo but I do know about this:

Civil War Planes

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

Spanish Civil War, maybe?

[Dewey_Finn]

Based on the web search I’m doing, that headline appeared in “The Jefferson Iowa News”, although poking around the site, I get the impression that the site might not be entirely sincere. (Shocking, I know.)

[Shagnasty]

It is a little known fact that Abraham Lincoln commissioned the first presidential airplane to quickly travel to the battle areas during the Civil War but it didn’t fly very well. Aeronautical engineers have studied the plans and found that the basic idea was sound but you can’t make an efficient airframe out of rough hewn logs like he attempted.

[watchwolf49]

There was a severe weight limit on coal so they couldn’t run the steam engine for long enough.

[Chronos]

Some other civil war seems unlikely, since the headline is in English, and no English-speaking country, so far as I know, has had a civil war since the Wright Brothers (and a war outside of the paper’s country would be more specific).

More likely, it’s a typo for “plans”.

[Colibri]

@Dewey_Finn

Based on the web search I’m doing, that headline appeared in “The Jefferson Iowa News”, although poking around the site, I get the impression that the site might not be entirely sincere. (Shocking, I know.)

It’s obviously a joke. The only odd thing is it’s dated on April 25th instead of the first.

Several local citizens have joined in the search for old, civil-war era airplanes that may be recovered, restored, and donated to the National Aeronautics Museum in Cleveport, South Carolina. Johann Starkey, of Scranton, has been a member of the Retired Pilots Guild for nearly 40 years. Their most recent project involves digging around old farmsteads and abandoned runway sites in an effort to locate some of these old, forgotten craft.

“We intend to do a grid search of the entire Greene County area,” he says. “That’s the only way we can be sure to cover all areas and leave no stone unturned.” Or plane, we assume. Mr. Starkey hopes to eventually search every state in the union, and when and if these old civil-war area planes are found, recover and restore them. “Almost no one alive today has ever seen an aircraft that old,” he stated. “Including myself.”

[dropzone]

@Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor

Spanish Civil War, maybe?

I want a Polikarpov I-16!

[Number]

@Shagnasty

It is a little known fact that Abraham Lincoln commissioned the first presidential airplane to quickly travel to the battle areas during the Civil War but it didn’t fly very well. Aeronautical engineers have studied the plans and found that the basic idea was sound but you can’t make an efficient airframe out of rough hewn logs like he attempted.

I had always wondered why they call the interior a cabin.

[Peter_Morris]

Here’s the headline in question. Image is far too small to see details.

ETA - following the link provides an explanation>
*
In December 1941, a volunteer civilian group was chartered by US Congress known as “Civil Air Patrol” and did the coastal patrol for enemy submarines. This article was an effort to find some of those planes used in WWII. Another duty of CAP today is to aide in search and rescue. This group is an official Air Force Auxiliary.
The headline should have been: Volunteers Search for Old Civil Air Patrol Planes used during WWII. *

[penultima_thule]

@Shagnasty

Aeronautical engineers have studied the plans and found that the basic idea was sound but you can’t make an efficient airframe out of rough hewn logs like he attempted.

These lessons were learned well when 80 years later Howard Hughes built his Spruce Goose

[UDS]

@Chronos

Some other civil war seems unlikely, since the headline is in English, and no English-speaking country, so far as I know, has had a civil war since the Wright Brothers (and a war outside of the paper’s country would be more specific).

Ireland, 1922-23.
Nigeria, 1967-70.

[Boyo_Jim]

@UDS

… Nigeria, 1967-70.

More recently too. I have been enlisted to help some of the Nigerian royal family to move its wealth out of the country.

[pool]

They built a Civil War plane but it couldn’t keep up with good ol’ John Henry who glued feathers all over his arms.

[CC]

@Peter_Morris

Here’s the headline in question. Image is far too small to see details.

ETA - following the link provides an explanation>
*
In December 1941, a volunteer civilian group was chartered by US Congress known as “Civil Air Patrol” and did the coastal patrol for enemy submarines. This article was an effort to find some of those planes used in WWII. Another duty of CAP today is to aide in search and rescue. This group is an official Air Force Auxiliary.
The headline should have been: Volunteers Search for Old Civil Air Patrol Planes used during WWII. *

Q.E.D. Thank you!