The WayBack Machine

During my visit with Al Kelch he allowed me to step into his time machine. The door to his gigantic old barn, creaked open and the first step forward transported me backward to the roaring 20’s of aviation.  I saw parts of planes, old radial engines, and there under the lights:  a beautifully restored Stearman Bi-Plane and a high winged Welsh OW8M. There was a J-3 Cub, the aerobatic Decathlon and his most recent project, a Travel Air formerly owned by Robertson Aircraft and flown by Charles Lindbergh.  Planes from the past, when Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman joined Clyde Cessna to form a company with surplus WWI aircraft parts called Travel Air.  You couldn’t love planes and not like being around Al. It was a close as I’d get to visiting with Charles Lindberg, who he still revered to that day. Aside from his wife Lois, planes were the most important thing and he spent a lifetime promoting aviation. During his life, he rebuilt and restored sixteen vintage planes. I am not aware of anyone matching that feat and many components were painstakingly built from scratch. He and his wife hosted numerous antique aircraft fly ins at their home (photo below).

My first flight in a J-3 Cub was after we pushed the taildragger out of his “time machine” and onto the grass strip by his home. Once inside the cockpit, I began looking for missing instruments. (Doesn’t every plane have an attitude indicator and directional gyro?) Fuel gage? It was outside and in front: nothing but a piece of red wire bobbing up and down on a cork. When the wire goes down, so do you.  There was no key. Al provided the start by spinning the prop.  Flying the little tail dragger with doors open was fun and it was hard. With the wheel located in the back instead of in the nose, the plane acted like a weather vane.  Maintaining the centerline was like balancing a pencil on your fingers, with your feet dancing on the rudder pedals. The smell of the grassy field was in the air as we bumped down the runway alongside the barn, lifting off at 40mph. The cruise speed wouldn’t be much different as we leveled off at 65mph. Clearly this plane was for fun and not to get anywhere. My ham fisted techniques were soon rewarded with a whack on the head. The sectional chart smacked me again as Al shouted above the engine noise; “Lighter on the stick!” We were low, slow and had a stiff headwind. Al took over and had the plane smoothly gliding to a near stall. It literally hovered over a house. We were standing still. He laughed: “Actually flew this thing backwards in very strong wind” he paused: “Had traffic backed up for a mile with folks looking up”. I believed him. Before long, we were back on the ground and I was tremendously grateful to Al for sharing part of his life.

Al is now gone but his legacy lives on in the Vintage Aircraft Association which he labored to establish. He also created the EAA Lindy trophy recognized today as one of aviation’s most prestigious awards for aircraft construction or restoration. Anytime I see a Cub in flight, I smile remembering the most dedicated aviator I’ve ever met.

The Plane That Built the House of Wax

My brother-in-law flew the 1998 expedition to Brazil  15,000 Miles with this.

It had a vital role in establishing one of the largest U.S. Corporations: Johnson’s Wax.

The twin engine Sikorsky S-38 was important in early  commercial aviation. Charles Lindbergh flew Pan American’s inaugural airmail run from Miami to the Panama Canal in an S-38 in 1929. The airline operated a fleet of 38 of the these in the Caribbean and Latin America. H.F. Johnson, Jr. flew the amphibious plane 15,000 miles to Brazil in 1935, searching for a sustainable source of wax — the Carnauba palm tree. In 1998, Sam Johnson, and sons Curt and Fisk retraced the expedition in an exact copy of the Carnauba S-38 Sikorsky plane. Built from scratch. It was flown round trip from Racine, WI to the jungles of Brazil, replicating the expedition of H.F. Johnson Jr. This picture of Fisk  Johnson is not photo enhanced. He is outside the airplane looking in from the hatch (In flight) where you’d drop anchor.

The Brother -in Law was to fly chase using the Sikorsky S-76 Helicopter for photography but also had time in the S-38 and Falcon 900 (as one of the senior pilots).We visited the Carnauba before it flew and it’s on my list of strange planes. Long flight in a wicker chair.

Update: From Brother-in-Law Ted:  Fisk Johnson, is the one popping out of the hatch in flight. Also: The “Carnauba” is destined to reside in a glass memorial museum (to their father, Sam), currently under construction in downtown Racine, WI. Lastly, the original Carnuaba from 1935 was located in 90 feet of water off Indonesia.

Traveling in Style

This was as it should be – passengers in closed cabin, pilot in open cockpit so he will stay awake. This airplane is in Spokane and is the oldest flying Boeing aircraft.

After 8 years of repair and rebuilding and 8,000 hours of toil the Boeing 40C rolled out last winter as a finished airplane. They had to wait a few weeks for the snow to melt to fly this baby. They received their Standard Airworthiness Certificate from the FAA and completed the engine pre-oil and fuel flow tests for the first of the taxi tests. 

Facts for the Boeing 40 project: 

221 gallons of dope/reducer and 120 yards of 102 ceconite fabric. 12 gallons of polyurethane paint for the sheet metal. The wings have 33,000 individual parts in them. The airplane weighs 4080 lbs empty, has a gross weight of 6075 lbs. It is 34 ft long and 13 feet tall with a wing span of 44 feet.       

Wing loading is 10 lbs per sq ft and power loading is 10 Pounds per HP. It should cruise at 115 mph using 28 GPH, and 32 GPH at 120 mph. It carries 120 gallons of fuel in three tanks. 

350 – 2 inch brushes were used to apply 6 gallons of West Systems epoxy, and 181 rolls of paper towels for cleanup. 

There were a total of 62 volunteers who worked on the project to some degree. 21 of the volunteers did a significant amount of work, and 9 of the volunteers worked continuously during the 8 year project.