Leslie J. Payne Flight Log, circa 1950

Biographical/Historical note

As a young child, Leslie Payne (1907-1981) went to an air show and became fascinated by aviation. Although he worked as a handyman and crabber on the Chesapeake Bay, his real passion was creating what he called "imitation" airplanes, crafted out of scrap metal, fabric and wood. Payne eventually created assemblages large enough to take local kids for rides up and down his family's field, propelled by salvaged aircraft engines he had restored. Payne also kept "flight logs," or scrapbooks in which he entered the names of his passengers and his imaginary destination for a flight. In addition to this flight log, Anacostia Community Museum holds one of Payne's airplanes in its collection, as well as a flight suit, aviator's cap and a section of Payne's replica of a control tower.