|
Brothers Are Auctioning Pieces Of Patsy Cline’s Doomed Plane
By: Stephanie K. Moran The Winchester Star Two portions of an airplane involved in one of country music’s darkest moments go on the Internet auction block at the beginning of September.
That quartet were Winchester native and singing legend Patsy Cline, country artists Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins, as well as pilot Randy Hughes — who was both Cline’s manager and the son-in-law of Copas. The wreckage was discovered by members of the Camden-area Hollingsworth family in an area known as Fatty Bottom, according to a number of Cline biographers. The plane sections being sold on eBay by the Mills brothers are from the airplane’s belly and tail, Eric said in a recent telephone interview. “These plane pieces are the largest pieces in the world,” he said. Some other bits of the green and yellow Comanche — the landing gear and a clock — are housed at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, and Eric Mills, 22, said that’s the facility he feels should show the items he’s now selling. The Mills family acquired the belly portion of the plane in around 1978. Eric’s father — who was a bit of a treasure hunter — and brother, Scott, visited the crash site about 30 minutes from Jackson visited W.C. Hollingsworth’s home, Eric said. The group talked for a few hours and Hollingsworth talked about the plane’s discovery. When the Mills were about to leave, Hollingsworth dragged a large piece of tin from his barn. Mills’ father bought the plane section for about $20, Eric Mills said. In June, Eric and his brother ventured to the Hollingsworth place again, talked to W.C. and fixed the aged man’s lawnmower, and the brothers were then led out to the barn. “I started hyperventilating when I saw it,” is how Eric described his reaction upon seeing the tail section of the Comanche — which Mills said had not been seen since the time of the crash. The tail section also carried the plane’s identification number — N7000P — of which the N70 is still visible, said Mills, adding that eight serial numbers are also present in the section’s interior. The brothers met Hollingsworth’s price for the piece, which Eric Mills would only say was “a very large sum.” A few months later, the two are preparing for the Internet auction. Eric said he and his brother are selling in part because they are unable to display the items, and the plane sections are just sitting in a barn. After talking to hundreds of people on the Internet, Eric said he knew he had items that people really wanted to see. By putting the plane sections on eBay, Eric said he figured, “That way, the whole world could kind of get in on it.” “You’ll never see anything else like this in the world,” he added. To those who may argue that the sale has morbid overtones, Mills said he’s cleared the sale with the families of the celebrities killed in the crash. “I was raised not to disrespect anybody,” said Mills, who added that he never would have considered the auction without consulting the families. A fan of the music made by the artists killed in the 1963 crash, Mills said of Cline in particular, “I love Patsy Cline. In my opinion, you can’t get any better than Patsy Cline.” The sale doesn’t bother Cline widower Charlie Dick, who spoke in a telephone interview from his Tennessee home. “It’s of no value to me,” he said. Dick also spent most of his formative years in Winchester and he and Cline married in Winchester on Sept. 15, 1957, just a few days after her 25th birthday on Sept. 8. “We have things of Patsy’s . . . mementos we will cherish and keep forever,” he said when asked about his family’s feelings about the sale. While the family does not have a plethora of her possessions, Dick said he has no desire to own any part of the airplane. Although Dick said he didn’t want to sound cold, the plane remnants are just “two pieces of tin.” However, he said he could understand why fans may want to see the items, and could see the plane portions being placed in a museum. Winchester’s Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc. won’t be a part of the bidding, said the group’s treasurer, Judy Sue Huyett-Kempf. “We don’t have the monies to purchase that,” she said on behalf of CPC, which is trying to establish a Cline museum in Winchester. “Our concentrated effort right now is getting the doors open,” she said. The search is still on for items to be donated for display — “. . . memories as well as objects,” Huyett-Kempf said. The original $100,000 low bid price came after consultation with family, Country Music Hall of Fame officials, and musician friends, said Eric Mills. “I didn’t know how to price something like this.” Eric Mills said Friday the brothers have lowered the minimun bid to $50,000. It appears that Mills would prefer that the plane sections go to a museum like the Country Music Hall of Fame. “That’s really where it belongs,” he said. Although, if the Hall of Fame can’t bid on it, Mills said he feels it they could be bought by someone who then donates the items to a museum. “I feel the highest bid’s probably going to come in Nashville,” he said. The eBay auction begins Sept. 1 and will last 10 days. To see more photos of Mills’ items on the Internet, visit www.patsified.com. |
Originally Published In The Winchester Star On August 18, 2001
WLC © 2005. All Rights Reserved.