Al Meyers Airport - History

​     The Rockwell corporation renamed the Meyers 200, "Aero Commander 200," and set up manufacture under the Meyers Type Certificate at Albany Georgia. For the first time, Al Meyers was able to pay the mortgage on his land. Previously, all his funds had been in constant use to finance his production, prepare new models, and meet the payroll.
     To this day, the true airplane devotees seek out the original Tecumseh-built Meyers 200. Many owners still come back to the Tecumseh plant for their overhauls, and special problems where the plant has been converted to an FAA approved repair center.
     Characteristically, too, from the funds realized in the sale, Al Meyers and his wife, Nydia Meyers, set aside a portion to form the Allen H. Meyers Foundation, which supports grants -in-aid for students in the sciences and aviation.
     From 1971 to 1976, Allen H. Meyers made the greatest of his life's efforts. Because of life -long hypertension, a condition developed which required surgery and blood transfusion. A stroke followed the surgery, and two months later, serum hepatitis set in. All of this left him with a weakened right side, and considerable speech loss. Without complaint, he worked at restoring his health with the same Will To Win (as he did for the first biplane, the Out to Win), which led him to complete the designing, testing, certification, and manufacture of three types of airplanes.
     In 1974, Al Meyers was elected to the Pioneer Aviation Hall of Fame. Even though weakened by illness, he stood proudly to receive his citation. Later, he placed his own bronze plaque on the wall-sized, steel plate hanging in the Curtiss Aviation Museum. This roster of names includes Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Stinson, Rickenbacker, and many other aviation pioneers. His citation reads in part:
     "As an indiv idual, Allen H. Meyers designed and put into production, three airplanes, each an advanced concept in its time. Meyers put quality, integrity, and safety in his engineering. The pilot's welfare was at the base of all designs. Insurance Underwriters published that no student or instructor was killed in an OTW during the entire World War II training program. No corrections,  'Airworthiness Directives', were needed for the OTW (the biplane), the Meyers 145 (two-place airplane), or the Meyers 200 - the most efficient and fastest four-place, single engine, personal plane in the 1960's."Note that all this was accomplished in thirty years.
     All his life, Al Meyers was a young man in a hurry. He was working against time because time was not on his side. On March 15, 1976, Allen H. Meyers passed away in his sleep. His memory lives on in the Al Meyers Airport,  the Allen H. Meyers Foundation, the planes he designed and built, and the hearts of the hundreds of pilots and plain folks to whom he brought the joy and inspiration of flying.

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