The Jenny: last cross-country flying 1917 bi-plane is in Bowling Green

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-A piece of 100-year-old history is flying above Bowling Green. 

“It is probably the single icon of American aviation,” said pilot Dorian Walker. 

“It’s just a unique plane. A very unique plane,” said Mark Vanmeter, who works on maintenance.

A group of local men have restored a 1917 biplane Curtiss Jenny JN4. Commonly known as ‘The Jenny’, it was used to train pilots in World War I. 

“95% of the pilots that learned to fly from Canada and the United States in World War I learned to fly in The Jenny…95%,” said Walker. 

7,000 of ‘The Jenny’ were built…this is only one of six left in the world…and right now it’s the only one that can fly cross country.

“This is the only Jenny in the world that can fly to you. Of the other five Jennys that are flying they only fly around their airfield,” said Walker. 

The Jenny is an open cockpit airplane…you can feel the wind rushing past your face while you fly.

“It’s hard to describe…it’s going up and being open where you see the ground and you see the wind speed and it says by the wind it’s doing 70-75 miles per hour,” said Vanmeter. 

And The Jenny played another critical part in our past.

“It was the first airplane to regularly schedule air mail,” said Walker. 

They hope this Jenny…and piece of American history… stays alive for many years to come.

“People come by just to see if they could see The Jenny after seeing it in the air. It’s just an unusual plane that I think everyone loves…just loves,” said Vanmeter. 

The team that works on The Jenny relies on donations to keep their plane going. To help out, click here.