Unbeknownst to many residents of Petal, two major pieces of aviation and aeronautic history have, for several years, sat right in their backyard – on South Main Street, across from Petal Civic Center – but at least one of the artifacts may be on its way out within the next couple of weeks.
In fact, the two items – a Douglas DC-3 airliner and a Jupiter-C rocket – have been on the site for so long that the owners of the property, Pat and Sonny Hamilton of Petal, are unsure what year they were acquired.
“It’s been so many years ago,” Pat said.
According to www.airhistory.net, this particular DC-3 was delivered to the United States Air Force in May 1943 before being sent to United Airlines in January 1945. Several years later, Sonny’s father, M.W. Hamilton, acquired the plane to display in a museum that he was putting together, and Sonny and his father disassembled the plane and brought it to Petal.
“Sonny was in (Strategic Air Command) in the Air Force, and he found out fast that flying was not for him,” Pat said. “He told the Lord when he took off, ‘if you let me get back on the ground, I won’t go back up,’ and he only had six months left on his tour.
“But his dad was an avid flyer, and he flew B-13s; he had a number of those.”
The Douglas DC-3, which is a propellor-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Airline Company, was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version of the Douglas DC-2. It was produced from 1936 to 1942, with a total of 607 civilian units built.
“At one time, IBM used (ours) for their corporate plane,” Pat said. “It had the blue seats and everything in it.”
The Jupiter-C, which was designed under the direction of German scientist Wernher von Braun, was used in 1956 and 1957 for three unmanned sub-orbital spaceflights. Three Jupiter-C flights were made, followed by three satellite launches (from Juno I), all from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Hamiltons’ particular rocket was on display at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County for approximately 20 years. When the facility opened its new welcome center off Interstate 59, the rocket was acquired by the University of Southern Mississippi.
Shortly thereafter, M.W. was the winning bidder during an auction for the rocket, at which point the Hamilitons brought it to their property.
Unfortunately for Petal history buffs, the DC-3 is on its way out, as it has been purchased by an individual for display in a museum in College Station, Texas, and is currently being disassembled. Although Pat convinced the same person to buy the rocket, that idea didn’t go over too well with Sonny.
“Sonny said he just doesn’t want to sell it,” Pat said. “And that was after I had talked him into buying it!
“I said, ‘well, why did I go through all that trouble of selling it to him (talking him into buying it then? The man said if (Sonny) ever changes his mind, to let him know.”
In addition to the DC-3 and the Jupiter-C rocket, the Hamiltons also have displayed a few other historical items as well, including a Navy jet and a B-25 Mitchell, which was an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941.
“The Navy would not let an individual have (the jet), but the City of Petal managed to get it, but the city didn’t want to bother painting it and displaying it,” Pat said. “So (Sonny’s father) put it up on a frame over here and painted it, and it was on display for a number of years. A museum in New Jersey had located it, and they wanted it for their museum, but I think a museum in Alabama won out and got it.
“They had (the B-25) chained to a tree, because they kept the engines on it, and they ran the engines to make sure it stayed in place. And they had several DC-3s like this plane (here), and Sonny gave one to Camp Shelby, but they never restored it and put it on display like they were supposed to. I think they finally scrapped it.”
While the Hamilton artifacts have never been on public display, per se, the couple has received several requests to come see the items over the years.
“A number of people have come in and contacted us to say they’d like to see it,” Pat said. “A lot of the people, in spite of the (no trespassing) sign out there, they’ll just come in and take pictures.
“And children are especially interested in it.”
