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19-599: The Explorer was designed by aerial survey pioneer Talbert Abrams , to meet his needs for a stable aircraft with excellent visibility for his work. Abrams was an early aerial photographer in World War I. He used a Curtiss Jenny post-war, forming ABC airlines. In 1923, Abrams founded Abrams Aerial Survey Company and in 1937, Abrams Aircraft Corporation to build the specialized P-1 aircraft. The standard single front-engined airplane of this era had many drawbacks for carrying out scientific photography. They were created to be nimble in

38-623: A Standard J-1 , fitted it with cameras, and founded the Abrams Aerial Survey Corporation (sold to Aerocon in 2003). Over the next few years, he formed the Abrams Instrument Corporation to develop better cameras and instruments for his work, and the Abrams Aircraft Corporation in 1937 to develop specially designed aircraft. He got his first income from aerial photography when he took a photo of

57-465: A racetrack from his biplane for a newspaper. Later he used stereo-plotters to make maps for highway design and construction projects. In 1937 he developed a novel form of aircraft called " The Explorer ", which was the first aircraft designed exclusively for aerial photography. During World War II , he founded the Abrams School of Aerial Surveying and Photo Interpretation to teach these skills to

76-574: A wooden model of each window pane, the Plexiglas was clamped in a frame similar to a window frame. Heated until it began to sag, it was then pushed down by two workers holding the frame until it was molded to the wooden model. The Plexiglas could then be trimmed and mounted in the frame work. When the Explorer came back for restoration, the panels which had been heated were as clear as when new, though were destroyed due to abuse during disassembly. The Explorer

95-763: Is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission . LCC is also a National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium Training Center. Most of the classes in this center are located at the college's West Campus. The LCC Athletic Department fields nine intercollegiate teams. The Lansing Community College Stars play in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association , and is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association . Lansing Community College intercollegiate sports include: LCC also has

114-724: The Lansing Community College aviation program. However, the restoration attempt was never completed; in 1981, the Lansing Community College truck driving school returned the plane to the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility of the Smithsonian, where it remains. Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1938 General characteristics Performance Related lists Talbert Abrams Talbert "Ted" Abrams (August 17, 1895 – August 25, 1990)

133-518: The US Navy flying school at Pensacola . Following World War I , his squadron took photos of rebel activities on Haiti , and Abrams became interested in the potential of aerial photography. In 1920, he left the military, purchased a war-surplus Curtiss JN-4 and founded a small airline, ABC Airline ( A lways B e C areful!), but remained more interested in photographic work. On January 17, 1923, he married Leota Pearl Fry. The same year, he purchased

152-582: The 1960s he became one of the few persons in the world to have a mountain named after him, besides being awarded the Antarctic Service Medal ." Lansing Community College Lansing Community College is a public community college with its main campus in Lansing, Michigan . Founded in 1957, the college's main campus is located on an urban , 42-acre (0.17 km ) site in downtown Lansing spanning seven city blocks approximately two blocks from

171-764: The Michigan Aerospace Educational Association. They worked with Don Lopez, the Assistant Director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum to release the aircraft, and in January 1975 the Explorer was transported in a Michigan National Guard Lockheed C-130 Hercules to the Capital City Airport in Lansing, Michigan . The aircraft was moved to a state-owned hangar, where Dietz carried out careful photography before any disassembly

190-559: The US military, while his Instrument Corporation built reconnaissance cameras for aircraft. In 1961, he sold the Abrams Instrument Corporation to Curtiss-Wright and went into semi-retirement. In 1962 Abrams and his wife made a large donation to Michigan State University in order to fund the construction of a planetarium, which was then named in their honor. He died in a nursing home in Lansing, Michigan on August 26, 1990, at

209-697: The age of 95. Every year, the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) presents the Talbert Abrams Award to a person who makes an outstanding contribution to aerial photography and mapping. Mount Abrams in the Antarctic is named after him, as is the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University . "For his participation in " Operation Deep Freeze " at the South Pole in

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228-545: The air rather than stable photographic platforms. Their engines leaked oil which would then flow under the aircraft and affect the camera lens. Finally, the loud engines made cockpit conversation difficult. Abrams designed an aircraft with a rear engine to keep the camera apertures clean and reduce cockpit noise, and used a delta type wing to facilitate side vision. He hired engineers Kenneth Ronan and Andrew Edward Kunzl, in Marshall, Michigan , who drew plans and began construction in

247-510: The former Page Brothers Buggy Company factory. Ronan and Kunzl operated an aeronautical repair station at the Marshall airfield. Planning and construction took ten months, and resulted in an airplane designed for more efficient and economical aerial photography. To create the clear nose so the pilot had an unobstructed view, Abrams hired the German company Rohm and Haas , creators of Plexiglas . With

266-783: The state capitol. A West Campus opened in 2004 in Delta Township , southwest of Lansing. There is also an East Campus located in the Eyde Plaza in East Lansing . The school is the third largest community college in Michigan by enrollment, with a fall 2013 enrollment of 18,551, a decrease from 20,394 in 2008. The college was founded in 1957 by Philip Gannon who served as president between 1957 and 1989. Lansing Community College (LCC) offers 230 associate degree and certificate programs while offering approximately 1,150 courses each academic year. It

285-473: The wing top to the fuselage and they added a three-bladed propeller, with Abrams hoping the increased power would attract a buyer. World War II interrupted Abrams's work, and the single aircraft built was put into storage for the duration of the war. Obsolete by the end of the conflict, it was donated to the US National Air and Space Museum in 1948 , where it remains today awaiting restoration. The P-1

304-445: Was a low-wing aluminium monoplane with twin booms and a central nacelle for the pilot and camera equipment. The pod's nose section was extensively glazed in Plexiglas. The undercarriage was fixed and of tricycle configuration. Originally powered with a 330 hp (250 kW) engine and a two-bladed propeller, it was sent back to Ronan & Kunzul to increase the horsepower to 450. This change required braces to be added from

323-585: Was an American photographer and aviator known as the "father of aerial photography ". Born in Tekonsha, Michigan , Abrams learned to fly at the Curtiss Aviation School while working as a mechanic for Curtiss . He was issued Fédération Aéronautique Internationale pilot's license number 282. The certificate was signed by Orville Wright . He joined the US Marine Corps in 1917 and was assigned to

342-407: Was done, as well as detailed tracings of all the lettering so it could be recreated accurately at the end of the project. The wings were sent to Montcalm Community College , where they were stripped, cleaned, repainted and recovered with silver painted fabric. The instruments panels and controls were disassembled and restored by Dietz's colleagues at Oldsmobile. The aircraft was physically moved to

361-404: Was flown with a variety of camera gear. The Abrams Instrument Corporation C-3 camera was used to produce 650 nine by nine inch photos per flight. In 1968, a group of aviation enthusiasts began a project to restore the Explorer, including Jim Linn, who worked at Abrams Aerial Survey, Ron Dietz, a student pilot and engineer at Oldsmobile Division of General Motors , and Ellis Hammond, President of

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