New Collection: Cincinnati Parachute Club Collection

The Cincinnati Parachute Club was one of the first parachute clubs in the country. Their jumps were mostly at Western Hills Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio. The collection focuses on one member of the club, Quentin Honnert. The collection is composed of largely photographs from jumps in Ohio and Indiana. There is also pages from a logbook, a newspaper article page, and a member agreement for Honnert for the club. Materials in the collection date from 1940 to 1961.

Quentin Honnert in parachute jump gear, undated
Quentin Honnert in parachute jump gear, undated

Quentin Emil Honnert was born in the Cincinnati area on September 12, 1920, the youngest child of Emil and Emma (Kunz) Honnert. He joined the Cincinnati Parachute Club in June 1940, logging several at least 11 jumps before the end of the year using a backpack parachute made by the Cincinnati-based company Triangle Parachute Company. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 1941 and served as a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II and later the Korean War, achieving the rank of Captain. In 1945, he married Eleanor Susan Keach (1921-1981). He graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. In addition to being active in the Cincinnati Parachute Club, he was a supervisor of the Parachute Department at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in the early 1950s. Quentin died August 9, 1999, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was cremated and his ashes scattered.

This collection was processed in October 2019 by WSU Public History graduate student Abigail Search. For more information about this collection, please review the MS-525: Cincinnati Parachute Club Collection finding aid or contact Special Collections and Archives.

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