tell a Model A related story

[Fullraceflathead]

Remarkable engineering and beautiful pictures!!!

[mercman from oz]

[IMG][/IMG]

[woofa.express]

As you can see I have posted the wrong Christmas Card (below, and with the help of Mercman have had him enlarge. (I have insufficient computer skills). It was intended for my other group I call Tocumwal Flyers and Friends Short Magazine.
Each month I write of some aviation history, both local and international and I have 2 articles on the Spruce Goose and 1 of Howard Hughs. I will post them very shortly and I think many of you will enjoy reading them.
Did you know the Spruce Goose was not made of Spruce timber? Bet you don’t.
Do you know where it is now hangared?

I am about to fill my ute, which most readers (being American) call the pickup. Ute being short for utility.
I hope Christmas brings your family and friends together.

[katy]

Originally Posted by woofa.express

Do you know where it is now hangared?

Last I heard, it was in McMinnville, Oregon.

[ThirstyThirty]

Originally Posted by DKnapp

<snip> On the road again after 45 year rest... by Dick Knapp

This is my 1929 Business Coupe that I drove to High School in 1955.

Nice! Thanks for sharing story and your HS Model A. I drove my Model A to HS, too... 1965! 1930 Ford, Model A coupe. Bought for $200.00. And earned the $$ mowing lawns and doing yard work.

[woofa.express]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by katy

Last I heard, it was in McMinnville, Oregon.

Correct Katy. Who is the current owner and who was the last owner?
and what timber is it made from?

[katy]

It's been a few years since I was there, the SG was in the Evergreen museum, owned by the Evergreen transportation company.
Ever notice the green shipping containers with the name EVERGREEN on them?

[woofa.express]

Good try Katy. But no, sorry.

There is an Evergreen Marine, started in China and is still operating. Thus the big green containers with "Evergreen" painted on the sides.
It was Evergreen Aviation which took delivery of the Goose and relocated it to McMinnville, Oregon. It's a shame but they went bankrupt after an illustrious past which is worth reading. It's all published on the internet. I have copied a small part and pasted it below. I can't help wondering if the multi million dollar relocation cost of the Goose may well have contributed. Now a couple of small paragraphs from Wikipedia.

In June of 2014, Evergreen had declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy[14][15] and began a liquidation of assets, including its headquarters campus in McMinnville.[16]
By the time of Smith's death 7 November 2014, the remains of his once billion-dollar Evergreen Aviation empire had been sold off, shut down, or was in bankruptcy and under investigation by tax authorities.[1]

A brief history of the Goose along with a brief history of Howard Hughs will follow tomorrow.

[woofa.express]

Here you are Katy. Howard Hugh''s story tomorrow.

[woofa.express]

[SIZE="3"]Howard Hugh’s. This month’s history story.
Industrialist, movie maker, aeronautical engineer and pilot. Born
1905 and died in 1976 aged 70. Hugh’s inherited his father’s money,
nearly 1 million and the Hugh’s Tool Company and left an estate of
3.5 billion which equates to 55 billion in todays value. His estate was
contested by many who it seems had forged or false wills. As he
was childless his fortune was divided amongst relatives. Hugh’s was
an eccentric man, was reclusive and apparently suffered from
Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder. He was an introvert and had lived
in seclusion for many years prior to his death which was of kidney
failure enroute to seek medical help. He was a bed ridden and
dishevelled man and I choose to show only pictures of his earlier life.
Two of the several movies made about Hugh’s were “The Carpet
Baggers and The Aviator”.

It is, of course aviation I write about and I’ll keep it relatively short. I
read he was a cousin to the Wright Brothers but closer enquiry
reveals he was a 5th cousin only. One of his companies may have
designed and built many aeroplanes but it is 2 of significance listed
here below.
The Hugh’s racer. What an elegant and outstanding looking
aeroplane. Originally 700hp Pratt and Whitney radial, 2 banks of
cylinders, 14 cylinders in all then fine-tuned and modified to 1,000 hp
capable of more than 300 knots. It set many world speed records
during the 30’s and 40’s.Wouldn’t I have liked to have got my hands
on that!
More well-known is the “Spruce Goose”. Designed to carry fully
armed troops to England or Europe during WW2, so as to avoid
German U-boats enroute. It was powered by 8 Pratt and Whitney
engines which each 28 cylinders and each producing 300hp. It
consumed 100 gallons per hour.
But it was too late, first flying in 1947 and whilst only 1 was
produced. It flew only a few hundred yards and only a few feet off
the water- pictured here. The plan was to build many but it came too
late; 1947 and the war was well over by then. It is now on display in
a big air coned hanger south of Los Angeles. I once saw it from the
highway and now regret not having stopped for a conducted tour of it
and its history. The name Spruce Goose was derived from the
material it was constructed of.[/SIZE]

[woofa.express]

Next weeks story is on the re-ownership of the Goose and it's relocation to McMinnville as correctly stated by Katy.

[woofa.express]

Howard Hugh’s. Uploaded from Tocumwal flyers and friends.

Industrialist, movie maker, aeronautical engineer and pilot. Born 1905 and
Howard Hughes, industrialist, movie maker, aviator. Born in Houston on Christmas eve 1905 and died aged 70. He was wealthy and influential. Hughe’s inherited his father’s money, nearly 1 million and the Hugh’s Tool Company and left an estate of 3.5 billion which equates to 55 billion in todays value. His estate was contested by many who it seems had forged or false wills. As he was childless his fortune was divided amongst relatives. Hughe’s was an eccentric man, was reclusive and apparently suffered from Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder. He was an introvert and had lived in seclusion for many years prior to his death which was of kidney failure. He had been bed ridden and dishevelled for a long time and I choose to show only pictures of his earlier life.
Two of the several movies made about Hugh’s were “The Carpet Baggers and The Aviator”.

It is, of course aviation I write about and I’ll keep it relatively short. I read he was a cousin to the Wright Brothers but closer enquiry reveals he was a 5th cousin only. One of his companies designed and built many aeroplanes but it is 2 of significance listed here below.
The Hugh’s racer. What an elegant and outstanding looking aeroplane. Originally 700hp Pratt and Whitney radial, 2 banks of cylinders, 14 cylinders in all then fine-tuned and modified to 1,000 hp capable of more than 300 knots. It set many world speed records during the 30’s and 40’s. Wouldn’t I have liked to have got my hands on that!
More well-known is the “Spruce Goose”. Designed to carry fully armed troops to England or Europe during WW2, so as to avoid German U-boats enroute. It was powered by 8 Pratt and Whitney engines which each 28 cylinders and each producing 300hp. It consumed 100 gallons per hour.
But it was too late, first flying in 1947 and whilst only 1 was produced. It flew only a few hundred yards and only a few feet off the water- pictured here. The plan was to build many but it came too late; 1947 and the war was well over by then. It is now on display in a big air coned hanger south of Los Angeles. I once saw it from the highway and now regret not having stopped for a conducted tour of it and it’s history. The name Spruce Goose was derived from the material it was constructed of.

The January edition will include the story of the disassembly of the Goose and it’s relocation to Oregon.
The January edition will include a story of the disassembly of the Spruce Goose and it’s relocation.

[George Goodridge]

A family story from my mom who grew up in Detroit in the 20s and 30s. In 1928, she was 19 and a Flapper who enjoyed a party. She had a date with a young man (not my dad--that was much later in the 30s) who had a fairly new Model A. Mom didn't remember the body style. They drove to a party at a country club where the young man became inebriated. He spilled a drink on my mom's dress, so she demanded to return home and change her dress. The young man refused but gave her the keys to his Model A. "Can you drive?" he said. "Oh yes" she said and proceeded to drive home and back after changing her dress.
Mom said that was the first time she had ever driven a car. How did she get it home and back? Well, she said, I had watched my dad drive many times and Detroit was so flat it was hard to stall a Model A. Until she was in her 70s, she was a good driver and was comfortable driving a manual transmission.

[woofa.express]

This is the last of 3 stories on Howard Hughs I wrote for my local Toc Flyers short magazine.

The Goose.
After the death of Howard Hugh’s the Goose was bought out of seclusion and that was in 1980. It was put on public display at Long beach which is only a few miles south of Los Angeles. I spotted this from the roadside and nowadays regret not having stopped for a conducted tour. Now I’ll cut to the chase. In 1980 Disney purchased the Long Beach precinct but had no interest in the Goose and after 2 years of owning quit the Long Beach precinct. Shortly after the owners of the dome hanger wanted the aeroplane out. The owners of the Goose were the Aeroclub of Southern California and they invited expressions of future ownership. The successful applicant (from 6 expressions) was Del Smith and his son Michael King-Smith. Del Smith was a wealthy and successful aeroplane freight operator trading as Evergreen Aviation whose head office was McMinnville, Oregon, 40 miles south of Vancouver, Canada. relocation of the Goose to Oregon was arduous, intriguing and very expensive.To relocate this big monster it needed to be disassembled into many sections. Smaller components such as engines etc were trucked and the fuse, wings and tail section and each was shipped up the west coast, an 1100 mile sea journey, up 2 rivers and then by land to its current and no doubt last home at McMinnville.
Goose wing span 320 feet.
Boeing 747 224 feet.
A380 260 feet.
Antonov 225 290 feet
Coincidently it’s Long Beach neighbour was the cruise liner The Queen Mary.

McMinnville is in the proximity of where the timber for the Spruce Goose was felled and milled. In fact it is not made of Spruce but Birch. Bet you didn’t know that, neither did I until I researched. It was Hughes who named it the Spruce Goose because the name appealed to him.
Del Smith’s son Michael was killed in a motorcar accident during the shift but the project continued by his dad in memorial to Michael.
McMinnville is a small city by American standards with a 34k population. A map with pictures can be easily found on Google Maps.
The propellors were 17 foot long and engines weighed 2 ½ tons. Pratt twin R4360, 28 cylinder which, by deduction makes it 7 cylinder, 4 rows. Each, of the 8 engines was 3,000hp and each had a fuel burn of 100 gallons per hour.
It was disassembled at Long Beach California it’s sea voyage ended not far from Long Beach Canada.
The big components, fuse, wings and tail were barged 1100 miles to the Columbia river, then 100 miles to Portland then a short distance to Vancouver- Washington (state) not to be confused with Vancouver Canada. It was then split into 3 separate pieces and put on smaller barges and shipped, so to speak to its final water league. It had to pass beneath 17 bridges and through a lock. The difficult part was the river water levels. Too high and it could pass beneath the bridges and too low to allow the barge to float. A planned time interval was 2 weeks which turned into 2 months.
That road journey was only 7 ½ miles but most difficult. At one time there was less than 1 inch clearance down a some country roads. Power lines had to be cut or lowered, traffic detoured. In all it was a 4 ½ month journey. It had continuous audiences all the way, sometimes thousands of people.
On arrival at final destination some 70 people began restoring fabric and paint to its original silver colour. It was finally finished in 2001, a decade from its disassembly at Long Beach. Del Smith enjoyed this for 13 years before his passing in 2014.
I have source this information from YouTube and I encourage you too to go the site link below to view it. I am sure that you will find it informative and interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBPJhRCqXjA

[woofa.express]

The Pietenpol Scout.

It was more than 1 year ago I wrote of the Pietenpol Camper in this Model A forum and more recently in my Toc Flyers short magazine. In an aviation career I had never heard of the aeroplane and was fairly intrigued with it. My friend Jim Brearley has recently told me of the Model T powered version (Pietenpol Scout) so I researched this on YouTube and planned to publish on my Tocumwal Flyers short magazine this coming January. So here it is, a preview.
The Pietenpol Sky Scout.
From the December edition of Toc Flyers I received an email from my friend Jim in California and this is it below. The 2 Pietenpol aeroplanes have been news to me. I first learned of the Pietenpol Camper and now of the Pietenpol Scout. Jim’s email is below and I have gone to the internet for specs and the picture.
Did you know that Pietenpol made two versions of his aircraft? The first was Model A powered, a two-place craft. Piets came out during the depression years, so the public wanted one that was less expensive to build. He then made a Scout version, powered by the Model T, and was a one-place plane. The 2-place plane was called the Air Camper. If you thought the A powered plane was scary, would you want to fly in a Scout ???

In answer to your question Jim. Yes, provided there were plenty of pasture paddocks in proximity of the aerodrome and the fuel was in the wings.

The Pietenpol Sky Scout aircraft specs are below:
Engine
The Ford Model T engine was a 177 cubic inch (2.9 litre) inline 4-cylinder engine that produced 20 horsepower. It weighed 385 pound. It was known for being simple, reliable, and economical. .
Aircraft
The Pietenpol Sky Scout was a single-seat aircraft designed to be less expensive than the Pietenpol Air Camper, which used a Ford Model A engine. The Sky Scout was redesigned to accommodate the heavier Model T engine by reducing the aircraft to a single seat. The pilot stood up to get in and out of the aircraft through a hinged section of the wing called a "flop". The Sky Scout was designed to be built from spruce and plywood.


Back to last months issue the Pietenpol camper has a Model A 200 cubic inch (3.3 litre) engine delivering 40hp (except in UK where government tax was proportional to engine HP so a 28HP engine was fitted). It’s weight was 350 pounds. Remember the radiator obstructed the pilot’s forward vision. Picture on right. The internet pictures (of which includes these 2) show many without the radiator so there must be a mod to relocate it.

[woofa.express]

Model A Forum. Hope you spend quality time with your family and
those who have lost family I hope you find solace with relatives and
friends.

For those who are lonely I hope you find companionship and they

become people whose friendship you retain.

Toys ready for delivery in the new and upgraded “Tin Lizzy”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RxbMgHPqoA

On the left is the song, centre, the name of the Motorcar and on the

right is Woofa.

A Merry Christmas from Gary and Patsy Mexted.

2024.Screenshot 2024-12-25 at 10.17.27.jpg

[Big hammer]

Merry Christmas Gary & Patsy Mexted ! Very good words of wisdom about family friends

[woofa.express]

A big Thankyou.

This is a thank you to the Big Hammer and those on private message who wished me well at Christmas. It is gratifying to know people do read my stories. I do like writing them and they have improved my written English and communication skills with people. I have always found English rather difficult and struggled to get 30 at school for the subject. My brain is setup for mechanical things, maths being mechanical. With conversations I can remember an early school report which said Gary has difficulty in expressing himself. I spent my whole working like sitting in a small one seat cabin and conversed with very few during the day. So my skills remained somewhat poorly as well. I have a retired doctor friend who found himself in a similar position; all he did was ask questions and deliver professional instructions. Like me he had very little social time. Readers possibly won’t understand this.
Well I have improved. I thought about how Europeans spoke, those whose first language is not English. They use concise/precise words so I copied them and use thesaurus to find better words. However I do struggle with computer programs to the extent I become disheartened and discouraged.
Thank you again for your best wishes and again it is pleasing to know readers enjoy the stories I write.

[woofa.express]

Here's one for Aviation Buffs.

1940 Brocklesby Mid-air Collision—Avro Anson Aircraft;
On 29 September 1940, a mid-air collision occurred over Brocklesby, New South Wales. The 2 of them were Avro Ansons from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No. 2 Flying Training School, Wagga Wagga. They collided and remained locked together then landed safely. The Collision stopped the engines of the upper Anson, but those of the aeroplane underneath continued to run allowing the aircraft to keep flying. Three of the aviators bailed out. The pilot of the upper Anson, Fuller was his name renamed because he found that he was able to control the two aeroplanes with his ailerons and flaps, and made an emergency landing in a nearby paddock. All four crewman survived the incident, and the upper Anson was repaired and returned to flight service.
Two Ansons took off from Forest Hill on a cross-country training exercise over Southern New South Wales. Their planned route was expected to take them first to Corowa, then to Narrandera, then back to base.
Collision and emergency Landing.
The Ansons were over the township of Brocklesby, near Albury, when they collided. Both of the upper aircraft’s engines had been knocked out in the collision but the engines of the lower continued to run. Fuller nevertheless found that he was able to control the piggybacking pair with his ailerons and flaps and made a successful landing in a large paddock near Brockelsby. Fuller said the touchdown was better than any he had made when practising circuits and bumps at Forest Hill (Wagga) airfield the previous day. His acting commanding officer, Squadron Leader Cooper, commended Fuller.
The freak accident garnered news coverage around the world, and cast a spotlight on the small town of Brockelsby. In preventing the destruction of the Ansons, Fuller was credited not only with avoiding possible damage to Brocklesby, but with saving approximately $40,000 ($1.7 million today) worth of military hardware. Both Ansons were repaired; the top aircraft (N4876) returned to flight service, and the lower (L9162) was used as an instructional air frame.
Fuller was promoted to Sergeant but also confined to barracks for fourteen days and docked seven days’ pay for speaking about incident to newspapers without authorisation. He graduated in October1940, and saw active service, in the Middle East, and then in Europe with the RAF. He earned the Distinguished Flying Medal for his actions. In 1942 he was commissioned then posted back to Australia as a flying officer, and became an instructor at No. 1 Operational Training Unit in Sale, Victoria.
Now the irony. he must have run over a Chinaman perhaps several for he died near Sale on 18 March 1944, when he was hit by a bus while riding his bicycle.
The Beaver is applying lime on pasture, it is flown by a contemporary and of old friend of mine. It was included by error but I have elected to leave it in because it is a rather spectacular shot.

[Fullraceflathead]

A very unique story and interesting piece of history!!!