We are very pleased to announce that one of our Island windsled's had been chosen to appear in "Forward in Flight" a newsletter of Aviation History in Wisconsin. Because our Museum will include Aviation History we hope that this will bring us one step closer to gaining acceptance in the Aviation Community.

     The windsled that appears in the Fall 2000 newsletter was built by Elmer Nelson in 1950 for Howard Russell also of La Pointe. This is the same windsled that will be celebrating it's 50th anniversary April 2001.

    Look, out on the bay. It's a boat. It's a plane. No, it's a windsled.

    Madeline Island, the largest of Lake Superior's Apostle Islands, has been home to hundreds of Native Americans, Island settlers or part time residents, the people of Madeline have lived with the fact that several miles of Chequamegon Bay water separate them from the mainland. In the summer, ferry boats bridged the gap; in the winter, sleds and, later, autos maintained the connection. In between seasons, when the bay is too icy for boats, but not frozen enough to drive, or even walk on, Islanders have been truly isolated.

    In the years after World War ll, enterprising Islanders looked for ways to travel on the partially-frozen, slushy Bay in spring and autumn. Island inventors experimented with runner sleds powered by airplane engines mounted on their sterns in air boat fashion. In 1950, Howard Russell and Elmer Nelson tried a new design. Nelson, who had worked on several runner sleds, designed a sled that incorporated nautical and aeronautical elements. He built a 23 foot long plywood hull sheathed in galvanized steel that, unlike the runner sleds, would float on open water. To power and steer the sled, Russell went to the Ashland airport and discovered the fuselage, engine and at least one wing of a war surplus Stinson Reliant designated as an AT-19 by the military.

A Stinson Relint AT-19 in its World War ll military colors

    Although all the fabric was gone, the Stinson's 9-cylinder, 300 HP Lycoming radial engine was in fine shape. Russell brought the material home and Nelson went to work.

    He built a housing for the engine and mounted it face forward. To steer the sled, as Nelson later recalled, "I thought about how easy it would be to cut the fuselage off just in front of the tail and mount the whole thing onto the end of the boat hull....It would be a lot to hang over the rear of the sled but it was a portion of an aircraft....built very light and very strong." After modifying the tail slightly, Nelson prepared to cover it with fabric. With no aircraft grade linen available on the Island, he accepted a donation of bedsheets from Mrs. Russell and, following the instructions in the manual, glued, stretched and doped the fabric onto the tail. "I would have to say it turned out really well."

    Nelson also transferred the stinson's pilot seat, control quadrant, gauges and rudder control system to the boat sled. For steering purposes the Stinson's joystick was replaced by a Studebaker auto steering wheel mounted on a post.

    The Sled was ready to launch in January 1951. After a false start during which the Lycoming blew a plug and sprayed oil all over the freshly-painted hull and tail, the sled proved to be successful. could haul mail, freight and people over water, slush, and black ice too thin to walk on, and soon became the Island school bus, carrying students to and from classes in Bayfield. The sled's top speed was never accurately measured but anyone who saw it or rode in it testified that it could "really fly".

    The airplane-windsled made its greatest contribution to Island life in April 1955, when three fishermen fell through the rotten ice about a half-mile out from the Madeline shore. On its way to the island from Bayfield, the sled docked at La Pointe, where it was quickly loaded with lift-saving gear. In minutes it reached the fishermen and Nelson tossed a lifeline to them. Two of the three were hauled to the sled, but the third was too weak to pull himself out of the water. Nelson then jumped into the frigid water and brought him to the sled. He then revved up the Lycoming and carried them all to warmth and safety. The airplane based windsled had done just what it was designed to do, go where no vehicle, sled or boat could.

     If you would like to know more about Wisconsin Aviation you can purchase FORWARD IN FLIGHT The History Of Aviation In Wisconsin by Michael J. Goc.

     Books may be ordered by mail from:
New Past Press Inc.,
Box 558, Friendship WI, 53934

by fax at 608-339-7191

by e-mail from newpast@maqs.net.

Books retail for $45.00.
Total cost with tax and shipping is $50.48.