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- Jun 10, 2006
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Here is a little article I wrote for EAA 1252 about our trip today to Smith Field, Fort Wayne, IN and the Barnstormers Tour.
A Day in the Indiana Sun –
Some people who know me call me a hopeless aviation romatic of the 30’s and 40’s. I have to confess, to me that was the era of true aviation, the golden age. Give me a big round engine, an instrument panel full of steam gages, switches and levers, and maybe two sets of wings, that’s what I call flying. That’s why today, I took the day off, picked up my father “Bernie” and headed to Elyria Airport (1G1) to make a flight back in time to Smith Field (KSMD), Fort Wayne, Indian and the second stop of the month long, “Old Fashioned Barnstormers Tour.” Back to the days of the great aircraft builders such as Travel Air, Waco, Fleet, Fairchild, Stinson, Command-Aire, and New Standard.
The trip was 143 nautical and right at an hour. Bernie and I arrived early and walked the field, where the first of the Tour aircraft had arrived. Slowly, two by two, flight of antique aircraft began to arrive every 15 minutes until a marvelous collection of some 16 vintage aircraft from the late 20’s and 30’ graced Smith Field.
What a fitting salute to the longest continuously active airport in Indiana. Smith Field started 1919 with the recommendation of Army Air Corp Pilots who were scouting fields for development. The airports growth continued with the air mail routes. It is said that that the DC3 was the savior of this field and many other in the 30’s as commercial air transport grew significantly with this design.
In the war era, the Interstate Aircraft TDR1 Assault Drone, was built at the field. This early drone is credited as the first “cruise missile.”
The airports general and commercial aviation operations expanded and contracted, as did many others, with the rise and fall of the economy. Today the city and suburbs of Fort Wayne has grown to encircle the airport. This monument to the history of the development of aviation is once again in the spotlight, as the host for the Barnstormers Tour.
The Barnstormers Tour is a small group of pilots with their vintage aircraft who take the summer to fly around the Midwest much the same as the barnstormers of old, and offer rides and memorabilia related to the aircraft of the 30’s and 40’s, my aircraft.
The tour stops include:
7/15 in Kalamazoo MI, 7/21 Albertus Airport, Freeport IL
7/17 Smith Field Fort Wayne, IN 7/22 Baraboo AP, Baraboo, WI
7/18 Monroe County, Bloomington, IN 7/23-24 Wausau Airport,Wausau,WI
7/19 Frasca Field, Champaign/Urbana, IL 7/25-30 Airventure, Oshkosh, WI
7/20 Southeast Iowa Regional, Burlington, IA
Bernie and I walked the flight line, we marveled at the beauty and grace of these classic aircraft. Many with joy sticks, some with steering wheels, most with two sets of wings and all sparkling in the Indiana sun.
The crowd grew as the flight operations began. I had spoken with some of the pilots and we all agreed that the best airplane to get Bernie (now 87) into was the New Standard D-25. The low cut sides and double row of seats would provide the greatest access for him to get into the aircraft.
So, I signed us up, $45/person (what a deal) we were scheduled for flight number 3. The aircraft fly a 15 minute route and then back to the airport to deplane. Before long, the brown New Standard is taxiing up to position and we are off to the aircraft. With the kind help of the staff, we assist Bernie into the aircraft, I follow, goggles down, and we are rolling down the taxi way to the departure end of 23. Pilot Rob “Waldo” Lock “S Turns” the biplane as we taxi to provide forward visibility from the rear pilots seat. Rolling now, the open exhaust stacks bark their report as Rob advances the throttle. The tail is now up, visibility over the nose improves, I can feel Rob correcting for a bit of cross wind, and then we take wing and are off. Climbing out to approx 1,800 feet (have to stay out of Ft. Wayne airspace) we are cruising at 90 mph. The roar of the big radial and tremendous wind blast would have you believe you are flying much faster, then you look down and the ground is lazily passing by. This is true flying, the wind buffeting and pulling at anything loose, the noise and fumes from the great radial engine, all telling you that your are alive and flying. Rob does some steep turns, lazy 8’s and a small dipsey doo to get a touch of zero gravity. I am snapping pictures everywhere to capture the moment.
Here I am in 2006 flying in a 75 year old classic biplane with my 87 year old father who is grinning from ear to ear, a memory for a lifetime. The aircraft gracefully returns to the runway without a bounce or skid, a testament to the pilots ability and experience with the New Standard. We are back at the FBO and I see another group of excited passengers anxiously waiting for their opportunity to fly in the big biplane. We deplane and as we walk back to the FBO, I turn to Bernie and say, “Happy Fathers Day”
Nothing compares to a flight in an open cockpit biplane, and “The Barnstormers Tour” does it better than anybody. If you live in the Midwest, make a flight plan to get to one of the tour stops to see the aircraft. And, if you’re a hopeless romantic like I am, get yourself into a Travel-Air or New Standard Biplane for a nostalgic flight back in time to the golden age of aviation.
Fly Safe
Gary Gembala
A Day in the Indiana Sun –
Some people who know me call me a hopeless aviation romatic of the 30’s and 40’s. I have to confess, to me that was the era of true aviation, the golden age. Give me a big round engine, an instrument panel full of steam gages, switches and levers, and maybe two sets of wings, that’s what I call flying. That’s why today, I took the day off, picked up my father “Bernie” and headed to Elyria Airport (1G1) to make a flight back in time to Smith Field (KSMD), Fort Wayne, Indian and the second stop of the month long, “Old Fashioned Barnstormers Tour.” Back to the days of the great aircraft builders such as Travel Air, Waco, Fleet, Fairchild, Stinson, Command-Aire, and New Standard.
The trip was 143 nautical and right at an hour. Bernie and I arrived early and walked the field, where the first of the Tour aircraft had arrived. Slowly, two by two, flight of antique aircraft began to arrive every 15 minutes until a marvelous collection of some 16 vintage aircraft from the late 20’s and 30’ graced Smith Field.
What a fitting salute to the longest continuously active airport in Indiana. Smith Field started 1919 with the recommendation of Army Air Corp Pilots who were scouting fields for development. The airports growth continued with the air mail routes. It is said that that the DC3 was the savior of this field and many other in the 30’s as commercial air transport grew significantly with this design.
In the war era, the Interstate Aircraft TDR1 Assault Drone, was built at the field. This early drone is credited as the first “cruise missile.”
The airports general and commercial aviation operations expanded and contracted, as did many others, with the rise and fall of the economy. Today the city and suburbs of Fort Wayne has grown to encircle the airport. This monument to the history of the development of aviation is once again in the spotlight, as the host for the Barnstormers Tour.
The Barnstormers Tour is a small group of pilots with their vintage aircraft who take the summer to fly around the Midwest much the same as the barnstormers of old, and offer rides and memorabilia related to the aircraft of the 30’s and 40’s, my aircraft.
The tour stops include:
7/15 in Kalamazoo MI, 7/21 Albertus Airport, Freeport IL
7/17 Smith Field Fort Wayne, IN 7/22 Baraboo AP, Baraboo, WI
7/18 Monroe County, Bloomington, IN 7/23-24 Wausau Airport,Wausau,WI
7/19 Frasca Field, Champaign/Urbana, IL 7/25-30 Airventure, Oshkosh, WI
7/20 Southeast Iowa Regional, Burlington, IA
Bernie and I walked the flight line, we marveled at the beauty and grace of these classic aircraft. Many with joy sticks, some with steering wheels, most with two sets of wings and all sparkling in the Indiana sun.
The crowd grew as the flight operations began. I had spoken with some of the pilots and we all agreed that the best airplane to get Bernie (now 87) into was the New Standard D-25. The low cut sides and double row of seats would provide the greatest access for him to get into the aircraft.
So, I signed us up, $45/person (what a deal) we were scheduled for flight number 3. The aircraft fly a 15 minute route and then back to the airport to deplane. Before long, the brown New Standard is taxiing up to position and we are off to the aircraft. With the kind help of the staff, we assist Bernie into the aircraft, I follow, goggles down, and we are rolling down the taxi way to the departure end of 23. Pilot Rob “Waldo” Lock “S Turns” the biplane as we taxi to provide forward visibility from the rear pilots seat. Rolling now, the open exhaust stacks bark their report as Rob advances the throttle. The tail is now up, visibility over the nose improves, I can feel Rob correcting for a bit of cross wind, and then we take wing and are off. Climbing out to approx 1,800 feet (have to stay out of Ft. Wayne airspace) we are cruising at 90 mph. The roar of the big radial and tremendous wind blast would have you believe you are flying much faster, then you look down and the ground is lazily passing by. This is true flying, the wind buffeting and pulling at anything loose, the noise and fumes from the great radial engine, all telling you that your are alive and flying. Rob does some steep turns, lazy 8’s and a small dipsey doo to get a touch of zero gravity. I am snapping pictures everywhere to capture the moment.
Here I am in 2006 flying in a 75 year old classic biplane with my 87 year old father who is grinning from ear to ear, a memory for a lifetime. The aircraft gracefully returns to the runway without a bounce or skid, a testament to the pilots ability and experience with the New Standard. We are back at the FBO and I see another group of excited passengers anxiously waiting for their opportunity to fly in the big biplane. We deplane and as we walk back to the FBO, I turn to Bernie and say, “Happy Fathers Day”
Nothing compares to a flight in an open cockpit biplane, and “The Barnstormers Tour” does it better than anybody. If you live in the Midwest, make a flight plan to get to one of the tour stops to see the aircraft. And, if you’re a hopeless romantic like I am, get yourself into a Travel-Air or New Standard Biplane for a nostalgic flight back in time to the golden age of aviation.
Fly Safe
Gary Gembala
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