Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum Acquires Home-Built Tern as Second Sailplane Exhibit

By Carmelo Turdo

The Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum has acquired a home-built Tern sailplane from the Prairie Aviation Museum in Bloomington, IL for display in historic Curtiss-Wright Hangar 2 at St. Louis Downtown Airport. The aircraft was built by Steve Steckler of Evansville, Indiana in 1981, and later donated to the Prairie Aviation Museum. The aircraft will soon take roost beside the other sailplane on display in Hangar 2, a Standard Austria Sailplane, manufactured in 1963 by Schempp-Hirth. That sailplane represents one of the earliest extensive uses of fiberglass construction, and was donated to the museum by the family of the late Robert Fenton, the famous St. Louis region sailplane pilot. More information on the Tern will be provided when the aircraft display is dedicated in the near future. Here are some photos of the aircraft on its transport trailer in Bloomington:

For more information about the Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum, please visit http://airandspacemuseum.org/.