In 1956, photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris snapped this photo of Leroy Randall Jr., K. Leroy Irvis, LuGene "Buddy" Bray, John "Jackie" Gordon Butler, Milton Swan Jr. and Sam Anderson working on model airplanes in Irvis’s basement workshop.
Photo courtesy Carnegie Museum of Art’s Charles "Teenie" Harris Archive
K. Leroy Irvis represented Pittsburgh’s Hill District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and served several terms as speaker of the house. He was a model-airplane enthusiast and secured funding for the airfield in 1977 when he was first elected speaker. Before moving to Pittsburgh, he founded a model-airplane club in Baltimore for Black model aeronauts after the city’s existing, racially discriminatory club denied him membership.
The K. Leroy Irvis Radio Control Model Airport is not always accessible to vehicles, but visitors can park along Kramer Road and take the short walk up Model Airplane Road. For those interested in a longer hike, the Airport West Trail passes by the airport.
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The Great American Rail-Trail promises an all-new American experience. Through 12 states and the District of Columbia, the trail will directly serve nearly 50 million people within 50 miles of the route. Across the nation—and the world—only the limits of imagination will limit its use.
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