# Internet meme? Civil war planes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258 "2016-07-18T21:44:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/1 "2016-07-18T21:44:51Z")
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?? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/2 "2016-07-18T21:50:24Z")
Perhaps it’s referring to the woodworking tool? A lot of people collect old tools. –Mark ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/3 "2016-07-18T21:53:21Z")
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](http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/finley-hunts-flying-machine-93170974/?no-ist) that seemed to have been auctioned a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/4 "2016-07-18T21:53:44Z")
Haven’t seen a memo but I do know about this: > **[Civil War Planes](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/civil-war-planes)** > > In a recent post, Tom Paone described the plans of William Powell, a resident of Mobile, Alabama, for a Confederate helicopter. In fact, Powell’s scheme was only the tip of the iceberg. In researching a scholarly paper on Civil War Planes, I have... ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/5 "2016-07-18T22:09:24Z")
Spanish Civil War, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/6 "2016-07-18T22:20:04Z")
Based on the web search I’m doing, that [headline](http://www.jeffersoniowanews.com/News/oldplanes.htm) 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/7 "2016-07-18T22:37:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/8 "2016-07-18T22:52:45Z")
There was a severe weight limit on coal so they couldn’t run the steam engine for long enough. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/9 "2016-07-18T23:00:17Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/10 "2016-07-18T23:59:06Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Based on the web search I’m doing, that [headline](http://www.jeffersoniowanews.com/News/oldplanes.htm) 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.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/11 "2016-07-19T00:17:46Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Spanish Civil War, maybe? I want a Polikarpov I-16! ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/12 "2016-07-19T23:56:57Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/13 "2016-07-20T00:11:29Z")
[Here’s the headline in question](https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F_sA_-3O6TH3E%2FSewAiFwlsII%2FAAAAAAAAGCQ%2F1fRRWwDOW5Y%2Fs320%2F090419CivilWarPlanes-700644.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmegastarcomedy.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F04%2Fvolunteers-search-for-old-civil-war.html&docid=HJF3BMpKcbbRaM&tbnid=AUYf7RiXvxC4LM%3A&w=320&h=137&bih=914&biw=1466&ved=0ahUKEwj0wfyA4IDOAhWKAcAKHXyUCDsQMwggKAIwAg&iact=mrc&uact=8). Image is far too small to see details. ETA - following the link [provides an explanation](http://megastarcomedy.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/volunteers-search-for-old-civil-war.html)\> \* 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. \* ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/14 "2016-07-20T02:51:19Z")
> [@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](http://www.evergreenmuseum.org/the-spruce-goose) ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/15 "2016-07-20T03:43:47Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/16 "2016-07-20T12:56:53Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/17 "2016-07-20T13:02:34Z")
They built a Civil War plane but it couldn’t keep up with good ol’ John Henry who glued feathers all over his arms. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-meme-civil-war-planes/760258/18 "2016-07-20T13:55:48Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > [Here’s the headline in question](https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F_sA_-3O6TH3E%2FSewAiFwlsII%2FAAAAAAAAGCQ%2F1fRRWwDOW5Y%2Fs320%2F090419CivilWarPlanes-700644.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmegastarcomedy.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F04%2Fvolunteers-search-for-old-civil-war.html&docid=HJF3BMpKcbbRaM&tbnid=AUYf7RiXvxC4LM%3A&w=320&h=137&bih=914&biw=1466&ved=0ahUKEwj0wfyA4IDOAhWKAcAKHXyUCDsQMwggKAIwAg&iact=mrc&uact=8). Image is far too small to see details. > > ETA - following the link [provides an explanation](http://megastarcomedy.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/volunteers-search-for-old-civil-war.html)\> > \* > 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!