Meet Jim Hoak of Candler Field Museum

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Hoak.

Jim, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The Candler Field Museum is the creation of founder Ron Alexander. Although not a native of Georgia, Ron settled here while employed as a pilot for Delta Airlines, after serving in the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam.

Ron’s vision was to create an operating museum depicting the Atlanta Municipal Airport of the 1920’s and 1930’s, called Candler Field at that time.

He succeeded in getting the Candler Field Museum established as well as an adjoining Airpark where aviation enthusiasts are building homes with hangars to house their airplanes. The grass runway is also a throwback to the time when Candler Field also was operated on grass. The museum has the requirement that all aircraft and other display items, such as old cars, trucks and tractors must be operational.

The original museum building is a replication of an early American Airlines hangar that was located on Candler Field in the 1930’s. In this building, there is the main museum hangar as well as an aviation library, banquet room, restoration shop, upstairs offices and a fine period restaurant called the Barnstormer’s Grill. The Grill has become a favorite gathering and eating place for those living in the area and of course for many of the pilots in the greater Atlanta area, who fly in for a meal at the Grill. Aviators just love to fly out for joy of flying and then do what they call “hangar flying” while they enjoy a great meal.

The first stop for visitors is the Entrance Lobby to the main museum building which has several Story Boards with many pictures of the original Candler Field and some of the early aviators who lived in the area and flew out of Candler Field. This tells the story of early Atlanta aviation.

Also included in the Lobby are many pictures of more recent movie industry Actors and Directors who have used the Candler Field Museum facility and its period aircraft backdrops and props for recent movies. The likes of Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood and Tom Cruise and others are there in pictures with Ron.

Has it been a smooth road?
Our greatest challenge has been the constant need to build our volunteer base to keep up with the demand of our growth in the Youth Program and with our events in the museum.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
In 2013, on board one of the museum aircraft, a 1940 Douglas DC-3, a discussion between founder Ron Alexander and Jim Hoak, a retired Delta Airlines Mechanic and Inspector, resulted in a decision to begin a program to urge high school aged students to consider careers in aviation. The objective here being to “give back” to aviation.

In October, the first meeting with seven students and their parents was held in the museum library. Ron and Jim, the Student Program Manager, explained that this was to be a “earn your way” program, where the students would work on museum aircraft restoration projects and even sweep and mop the hangar to earn future flying time. The flying time is one hour of use of program aircraft for each ten hour work in the shop.

The objective was for the students to get exposure to aircraft restoration mechanic skills, which are actually logged, and later learn to fly in the aircraft they helped restore. Thus far, five of the students have earned their Private Pilot Certification through the Youth Aviation Program. These students are all continuing their formal education and working toward further aviation ratings.

Needless to say, this program has become a main focus of the Candler Field Museum. There are forty currently enrolled students working on five aircraft restoration projects.

One fourth of the students are currently flying program aircraft with volunteer instructors giving them their early training in aircraft the students have restored. Ron, who passed away in November of 2016, believed that all of the students should learn basic pilot skills in aircraft with a tail wheel. These were the type of aircraft used in the early days of aviation.

The Youth Aviation Program started with nothing written down and just the small restoration shop. It is now housed in a larger second hangar, named the Doug Davis Hangar, after one of the early pioneers at the original Candler Field in the 1920’s. The program now has written guidelines which were developed by program volunteers.

Support for the program is now to the point where the students are able to compete for substantial scholarships in aviation and general education. There is no doubt, this program is a success!

Contact Info:

• Phone:  770-467-8318
• Email: info@candlerfield.com

Image Credit:
John Ellis
Rachel Dumas

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