Scratch one more thing off the bucket list

This past spring, we went to see the movie "Bucket List." It is about making a list of things to accomplish before you kick the bucket. It was a very good movie I would recommend you rent sometime. It got Kala and I talking about things we wanted to do in life. We both had "go for a ride in an open cockpit biplane" on our lists. She was more hesitant than I was, concerned about falling out if the pilot did a loop or something.

Today the American Barnstormers Tour stopped in Wichita. I left at lunch and picked up Kala and Debbie and we headed to Jabara airport. There were about 25 vintage biplanes from the late 1920's and 1930's. True to their name, the barnstormers were hopping rides in open cockpit biplanes for the modest price of $50, about what a tank of gas costs anymore. So, Kala and I signed up. Debbie decided to fore go the fun and remain planted safely on the ramp.

The wind was between 15 to 20 mph, so I wasn't sure how smooth the flight would be. To my surprise, it was very nice. Kala and I were next to each other in the front cockpit, which can hold 4. We could smell the exhaust and feel the heat from the engine. It was an incredible experience which ended way too soon.

After landing, the local TV station greeted us as we exited the cockpit. They interviewed us for a few minutes about our experience. However, it must all be on the cutting room floor....at least we were not part of the 6:00 news story, though they did do a nice piece on the barnstormers tour and there was a glimpse of Kala and I taxiing out for takeoff. We'll see what the 10:00 news brings.

We both agreed it was a great way to spend $100 and we can now cross one item off our bucket lists. Here is a link to learn more:

http://www.americanbarnstormerstour.com/

Our Time Machine

A 1929 New Standard D-25. Perfect for Barnstorming. The pilot sits aft in his own cockpit, while up front is seating for 4, believe it or not!

Early Responsibilities

My very first job was working at the Citgo gas station up the street to make money to learn to fly. They would let me work part time starting at age 15 and a 1/2. I made $1.50 an hour and sold gas for 25 cents a gallon. When I turned 16 I applied at the Marion Airport for a job as a line boy and got a call a few weeks later. I worked there off and on through college during summers and vacations.

The attached picture is from a slide that Paul Baker took after returning from a vacation in his Cherokee 6 with his family. I was just getting ready to fill the tip tank on the right side when he called my name from inside the airplane. I looked up and he snapped this picture. This was the summer of 1973 I believe. I have not seen this for over 30 years and feared I had lost it in one of my many moves around the country. Last week my mom was sorting through various boxes looking for genealogy pictures for my brother when she ran across it. Knowing I had been looking for it for several years, she called to tell me the good news and then carefully packaged and shipped it to me.

Its funny how the memory plays tricks on you. I would have sworn I was on the other side of the plane and actually had the nozzle in the tank. But, pictures never lie (at least the old ones before the digital age). Thanks Mom for all your efforts to find this.

My daughter held up the slide to the light and said I had a neat hat on. Closer inspection of the actual photo shows that's no hat, that's my hair! Where has it all gone? On my shirt you will see my name on one side and "Marion Aviation Corp" on the other. We were a satellite FBO to the one in Muncie, Indiana appropriately named "Muncie Aviation." We were a Piper dealer, so I got some Cherokee 140 time flying between the 2 cities (about 20 minutes one way) to pick up pay checks once in a while.

It's amazing to me the responsibilities I had as a 16 year old. I fueled airplanes and also washed them. At night I would close up which meant putting the airplanes back into the main hangar using a wheel horse lawn tractor converted to allow you to pick up the nose wheel and either push or pull the airplane. We had Piper Aztecs, Cessna 421's, a Beech Duke, and a MU-2 to name a few of the high dollar planes I had to "stack" into the hangar. I handled airplanes worth 100's of thousands of dollars making $2.00 per hour. Amazing!

So, you are probably thinking, how's the Stinson coming. I've been diverted to other activities lately and have also decided its too hot most of the time to work in the garage. I may have to invest in some sort of air conditioner. In the meantime, I'll do a lot of real flying while the weather is good and plan what to do when it cools down some.

Happy Father's Day

This is a photo of my dad taken in the late 1950's. The airplane he is pictured with is called the Rudderbug. This was his first radio-controlled airplane. In those pioneering days for the hobby, not only did you have to build your airplane, but you also had to build your own equipment. The ground based transmitter with a large, vertical antenna can be seen behind him and to the right. The equipment on board the airplane was very crude by today's standards. There was an escapement that was powered by a large rubber band, and a single channel receiver (plus some batteries). The receiver would command the escapement to one of two positions, resulting in either full left rudder or full right rudder. You pushed a button on the transmitter, once for left and twice for right. There was another mode called "quick blip" such that if you could pulse the button fast enough, you could command the throttle (if you weren't fast enough, you got left rudder). The throttle had low, medium, and high settings that it would sequence through. That was all the control you had! No elevator, no ailerons, no proportional control!

You had to pulse the rudder in a turn, as full rudder would initiate either a tight spiral (to lose altitude) or a spin, depending on airplane speed. You also had to keep track of how many commands you had used, as the rubber band only had about 100 knots in it, and once it un-wound, you were finished controlling the plane.

As you can see from the picture, the Rudderbug was a tricycle landing gear airplane, which allowed good control on takeoff and landing. It also had a long tail arm and lots of dihedral in the wings for good stability. You needed a stable airplane since you didn't have much control. The red covering is silk headscarfs from the dime store, covered with butyrate dope. You always picked a high visibility color, like red, since the likelihood of a fly-away (i.e. loss of control) was wagered on every flight. It was great fun when a fly-away did occur, as everyone would jump in their cars chasing after the airplane across field and meadow. My brothers and I would be hanging out the windows in order to keep an eye on the wayward craft. Once it ran out of gas it would glide to earth awaiting our rescue.

My dad had a lot of success in those early days, winning numerous contests throughout the Midwest. Those radio controlled flying experiences are some of my earliest memories. I know that is how the airplane bug got planted in my brain. I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for these experiences, support, and other lessons I learned through him. He has been a great role model throughout my life. Thanks Dad, and Happy Father's Day. I'll give you a call tomorrow.

The Early Days

This is a picture of myself at age 2 or 3 holding the Rudderbug on my lap. My dad commented once that I had a great respect for airplanes, even at that young age. He never worried about me damaging the airplane because of that.

I believe the engine is a Veco .19 and you can see a brass fuel tank mounted aft of the engine. It ran for about 7 minutes, probably.

I think this is Rudderbug number two. The first one was lost at a contest near Detroit due to radio problems. The airplane climbed into clouds out of sight. Exhaustive searches and newspaper adds never turned it up.