The Loud Blue Yonder

To most drive-in movie operators, a nearby military base means a box-office bonanza. But not to Delbert Kinsel, proprietor of the Skyborn Cruise-In at Fairborn, Ohio. Every time a jet from busy Wright-Patterson Air Force Base howled overhead, it drowned out the sound track and rattled the patrons' teeth. To no avail, Kinsel asked the base commander to keep his planes on the ground at night. Once, in desperation, he even sent season passes to all Wright-Patterson pilots, innocently assuming that they would rather see a movie than fly their assigned missions.

Last week Proprietor Kinsel and the U.S. Air Force finally signed a truce. The Air Force made a movie (hero: Delbert Kinsel) to be shown at his drive-in. From the screen he welcomes his patrons, reminds them that they are just across the road from one of the nation's most vital Air Force bases, and points out that each time a jet passes overhead it means that the U.S. Air Force is on guard. He also suggests that by tuning up their carside loudspeakers patrons can still hear the lovers' mumble above the military rumble. Air Force brass will watch the experiment closely; if it works, any U.S. drive-in theater bothered by Air Force planes in the future may be able to get a similar film to soothe its customers and explain why the U.S. Air Force makes history at night.

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