A historian from the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture Museum visited St. Joseph recently with three interesting individuals.

The museum has an oral history project, and Zack Baughman, the program coordinator, was on the road from Oshkosh, Wis., to interview aviation people in a trip that will go south to New Mexico and west to California.

Mr. Baughman’s first stop was an orientation meeting with Greg Starkel, the president of Association’s XP Sky Writers local chapter No. 1749. The local chapter, formed in late January, already has 38 members.

“When we got the e-mail from Mr. Baughman looking for people to interview, I knew St. Joseph had to be a stop for this historian,” he said.

Mr. Starkel arranged an interview with a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber pilot and a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot.

Harvey Ryder, an Army Air Corps veteran, talked about flying the four-engine bomber on 30 combat missions out of England over Europe. He landed in France on Dec. 31, 1944, after a flax burst damaged the plane’s engines. Mr. Ryder became a squadron commander for his last 15 missions over Europe, leading bombers into Germany.

John Vestal, an Army Air Corps and Air Force veteran, talked about flying a P-51 Mustang. In World War II, Mr. Vestal flew as part of a weather reconnaissance squadron. He was ordered on a secret mission on June 5, 1944, over the coastline in France to check weather and ocean conditions. That flight was a precursor to D-Day, and Mr. Vestal received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts. During the Korean War, Mr. Vestal was back on active duty and flew 160 combat missions strafing and bombing enemy targets.

The interviews will become part of the AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisc.

Marshall White can be reached

at marshall@npgco.com.