Go, Aces! A new blue prop for East High

For nearly a century, Wichita East High School has honored the courageous fighter pilots of World War I with its mascot, the Blue Aces.

Soon the city’s oldest high school will have a new life-size rendition hanging in its gymnasium lobby – a renovated biplane painted with the school’s logo and colors.

“This just helps everyone really understand the reason why we are the Blue Aces and the historical significance to our mascot,” said Ken Thiessen, East High’s principal.

“A lot of people worked together to make this possible and it’s … exciting to see it all come together.”

A germ of the idea began more than a decade ago, when East High’s old gymnasium was replaced as part of the 2000 bond issue. The new gym’s foyer stretches more than two stories tall, thanks to an elevated walking track.

“People said this lobby space was bigger than the whole court area of our old gym,” Thiessen said. “So we started thinking, ‘You know what would be cool? To have a plane hanging down from that ceiling.’ ”

The effort began in earnest last year, when a staff member alerted Thiessen to an old biplane owned by a former teacher in Oklahoma. The man wanted only the engine from the plane, so he donated the body – an experimental, amateur-built biplane – to East High.

Members of the East High class of 1976 raised money to transport the plane and finance the project, Thiessen said.

Dave Blanton and Steve Manweiler, members of the Experimental Aircraft Association, agreed to do much of the renovation work for free. Spectrum Promotional Products designed logos for the sides, wings and tail of the plane, and volunteers from Wichita Area Technical College volunteered to do the painting, Thiessen said.

Coonrod Construction helped set up the suspension mechanism. Crews are scheduled to hoist and secure the 600-pound plane into its flight position in the gym foyer on Friday.

On Thursday at 6 p.m., East High will host a reveal and reception, allowing people to see the biplane before it is hoisted overhead. The event is open to the public.

“It’s very exciting,” Thiessen said. “We’re just really looking forward to being able to show this off to our students.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Go, Aces! A new blue prop for East High."