April 28 Today in OPC History

On April 28, 1964, the Rev. Glenn Black arrived in style for the opening of the Thirty-first General Assembly held at Knox OPC, Silver Spring, Maryland. Chartering a plane from the T-Bird Flying club, Mr. Black flew fellow pastors and commissioners Al Edwards and Tom Champness, and four year-old Paul Champness, from the West Coast to the Assembly.

On the return trip the quartet stopped in St. Louis where they stayed with Mr. Edwards' mother and worshipped on the Lord's Day. On Monday they flew to Sterling College in Kansas where they had lunch with Glenn's son, Roger. At various times, Black allowed Edwards and Champness to try flying the plane, which neither had done before. Delayed in Ogden, Utah for a day by poor weather, they then flew northwest to Klamath Falls, Oregon, where the Champnesses took a bus southward home to Modesto, CA.

The trip proved to be economical for all involved. The 5,900 miles were covered in 48 hours of actual flight time at an average ground speed of 123 m.p.h. and a cost, including the charge for the use of the plane, of 7.1¢ per mile. The total cost ended up being less than 2¢ per passenger mile.

Picture: Glenn Black and Tom Champness in 1965.