Anacortes Senior College

Class 1: History Mystery 1: Only 2 out of 3 returned

On December 26, 1943, three Lockheed Vega Ventura PV-1 aircraft based at Ault Field on Whidbey Island departed on a routine “out and back” navigation training exercise. Only two planes returned.

Class 2: History Mystery 2: A 3-hour tour gone wrong

On January 14, 1945, a Lockheed Vega Ventura PV-1 from Ault Field on Whidbey Island departed on a three-hour flight. Their mission was to rendezvous with a plane towing an aerial target over Cape Flattery for a free gunnery training exercise and return directly to Ault Field. The plane never made it back to Ault Field.

Class 3: History Mystery 3: It was just a short hop

On August 12, 1945, a PB4Y-2 Navy Privateer departed Ault Field on a short test flight after scheduled maintenance with 16 aboard.  It did not turn out well.

Instructor: Jesse G. Kennedy III PhD   

Following twenty years of university teaching, Jesse worked in cultural resource management for North Cascades National Park Service Complex for more than twenty-six years. A Pacific Northwest native, he became the first Chief of Cultural Resource Management at the park in 1995 and continues to explore the history of Skagit County and the North Cascades through the images, stories, and structures of this heroic environment.

Requested presenter of over 50 programs to various audiences highlighting special aspects of the historical character and characters of Skagit County and the North Cascades.