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#11
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How About Story Time
The Kindness of Strangers
I was in North Carolina driving back from the Cordele Nationals in 1985 pulling my Komet trailer with a mini motorhome. Tough to see the trailer behind us. A tricked-out, good-ole-boy van pulled up in the left lane and the passenger rolled the window down. I rolled my eyes and shouted "it's a glider!" but they started gesturing more frantically. There was smoke pouring off both brakes. The front mount where the tongue inserts into the trailer had failed where it was welded to the steel tubing frame. The rear mount had held but the trailer had settled down, actuating the overrun brake. They pulled off ahead of us and the driver walked back to help. He was pretty savvy about cars a mechanical things. He was late to dinner but he even took me to the local Walmart to pick up some wheel bearing grease. On the way back, I gave him the speech about gliders. "Yeah," he said. "I got a ride in one a few weeks ago. I think it was called...a Grobee? I've got the pictures right here." He had gone for a ride in a Grob two-seater at a nearby operation and liked it a lot. I repacked the wheel bearings, then lifted the trailer front end back up and chained the front of the tongue mount to the cross member. With someone standing at the rear door of the motor home watching the chained connection carefully, we limped on into my brother's in-laws' house an hour or so away that night. The next morning, a friend of theirs made a new front attachment by heating and bending a very large bolt into a U shape. Stronger than new. And the driver of the van? He refused to accept anything that night so when I got home, I signed him up for an SSA membership and bought him a copy of "The Joy of Soaring". I don't whether he renewed or not but I had to do something. I figured having the magazine come in every month would remind him how grateful I was throughout the year. This wasn't my idea. Another pilot had told me that's what he does. We're all ambassadors for our sport in this country and need to think about how we're perceived by others. Chip Bearden JB |
#12
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How About Story Time
Very cool Chip! Ideas for the future! Providing we have one
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#13
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How About Story Time
On Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 2:40:32 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Maybe this is a good opportunity for some of us to share some stories of our experiences. I'll go first.- During the regional at Harris Hill in 2013 I was flying K21 with grandson Calvin Mampe, Rachel Conklin, and her sister Michelle. All 3 had flown multiple contests with me before, 2 having done so before they were old enough to solo. Half way through the contest, my wife Dianne had a terrible fall and ended up hospitalized with some very serious injuries. All 3 of the juniors had good flights with me earlier in the contest so I told them to just keep on flying. On Friday, Calvin and Rachel flew but decided to abandon the task part way around the course due to rain. They did not want to land out and take the ship apart in the rain. Smart! The next day Rachel and Michelle flew together. About 4:00 I was in the ICU with Dianne when Calvin called. When I answered, he simply said “K21 four miles”. Our 2 young ladies had flown the course for a reasonable score. To my knowledge, this is the first time two young sisters had ever flown in competition. We had a seriously great group hug that night. This may be my best ever moment as a supporter of youth soaring. Following up- Michelle is now an A&P working for Textron and just finished her first restoration, a 1-26E. Rachel is instructing at Flight Safety and soon will have all the requirements for her ATP. UH Not soaring related but aviation and history come together. The day was October 27 1942, that day probably doesn't mean anything, except to a 96 year old sailor named Joe Miller. Joe was an aircraft mechanic aboard the USS Hornet CV-8 and may be one of the two or three remaining alive men who was there as Jimmy Doolittle executed the raid on Tokyo. Joe, worked on his aircraft and other aircraft that were used in the raid. The reason that I mention this is because I have an autographed picture of the raiders on the deck of the Hornet prior to departure. I have scanned this pic and did a high resolution scan and Joe will be signing this print this week. After so thought about what I wanted him to write on the print I have decided that he will start by entering the current date, his name, US Navy, USS Hornet CV-9, 1942, sunk 10-27-1942, "I Was There", signature Joe Miller. Any other ideas ? After completed I will hang in my man cave and toast a drink or two. Bob |
#14
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We'll definitely have a future and I hope it's one that has us all happily soaring again
:-) Colin |
#15
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How About Story Time
On Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 2:40:32 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Maybe this is a good opportunity for some of us to share some stories of our experiences. I'll go first.- Back in the seventies, I landed out in my 1-23 on what turned out to be a prison farm! I was soon approached by a couple of concerned armed guards. After explaining, and calling for a towplane that soon landed near me, I talked one of them into running my wing as we took off, the inmates all hanging on a chain link fence watching us fly away! |
#16
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How About Story Time
On Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 2:40:32 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Maybe this is a good opportunity for some of us to share some stories of our experiences. I'll go first.- During the regional at Harris Hill in 2013 I was flying K21 with grandson Calvin Mampe, Rachel Conklin, and her sister Michelle. All 3 had flown multiple contests with me before, 2 having done so before they were old enough to solo. Half way through the contest, my wife Dianne had a terrible fall and ended up hospitalized with some very serious injuries. All 3 of the juniors had good flights with me earlier in the contest so I told them to just keep on flying. On Friday, Calvin and Rachel flew but decided to abandon the task part way around the course due to rain. They did not want to land out and take the ship apart in the rain. Smart! The next day Rachel and Michelle flew together. About 4:00 I was in the ICU with Dianne when Calvin called. When I answered, he simply said “K21 four miles”. Our 2 young ladies had flown the course for a reasonable score. To my knowledge, this is the first time two young sisters had ever flown in competition. We had a seriously great group hug that night. This may be my best ever moment as a supporter of youth soaring. Following up- Michelle is now an A&P working for Textron and just finished her first restoration, a 1-26E. Rachel is instructing at Flight Safety and soon will have all the requirements for her ATP. UH Another story. I hope some more folks share. At the SSA convention a few years ago I was catching up with my friend and fellow glider restorer Walter Cannon. He asked what I was working on. I told him that a couple of juniors and I were restoring 1-26 serial number 2 so it could go to IVSM later in the summer. Walter sort of gulped and I saw a tear in his eye. Ha asked if it was N91894. It is. He told me that back in 1954 he was learning to fly gliders at the Schweizer Soaring School, 002 was the first single seat glider he got to fly. It turns out he was the first young person to fly it. Fast forward to the 2016 IVSM. Walter was there flying one of his ships. We decided that he really needed to fly 002 again. He did and came back with a big smile. We got some good photos. We have asked a lot of folks and have not found anyone that can claim to have flown the same glider 62 years apart. If we are lucky maybe he will be able to make it 66 years this summer. Special ship - Special guy. More stories- we need some smiles. UH |
#17
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How About Story Time
Another story. I hope some more folks share.
At the SSA convention a few years ago I was catching up with my friend and fellow glider restorer Walter Cannon. He asked what I was working on. I told him that a couple of juniors and I were restoring 1-26 serial number 2 so it could go to IVSM later in the summer. Walter sort of gulped and I saw a tear in his eye. Ha asked if it was N91894. It is. He told me that back in 1954 he was learning to fly gliders at the Schweizer Soaring School, 002 was the first single seat glider he got to fly. It turns out he was the first young person to fly it. Fast forward to the 2016 IVSM. Walter was there flying one of his ships. We decided that he really needed to fly 002 again. He did and came back with a big smile. We got some good photos. We have asked a lot of folks and have not found anyone that can claim to have flown the same glider 62 years apart. If we are lucky maybe he will be able to make it 66 years this summer. Special ship - Special guy. More stories- we need some smiles. UH It's interesting what we remember. My father got into soaring around 1960. Within a few years, he and a partner bought an inactive 1-23B out of a barn in Maine and painted it, put in new instruments, etc. He loved that glider and flew it for several years, eventually getting his Gold Distance/Diamond Goal in it in Ohio. The registration number was N91880, 14 numbers before 1-26 002. My understanding is that Schweizer had blocks of N numbers that they assigned as they built gliders so I'll occasionally see one on a 1-23 or 1-26 that I recognize from "the old days". The 1-23B was a long-wing, thinner-skin one-off built, IIRC, for the World Championships in Spain in 1952. I recall the N91880 number because in those days, not everyone had a contest # and my dad used the last three digits of the registration #, 880, as his competition ID. It wasn't until around 1965 or 1966 that he acquired "JB" when John Baird generously offered it to him. I sort of took over JB when I started flying our 201 Libelle in 1970 and have been campaigning it ever since. I occasionally wonder who will end up with it when I stand down. Unlike contest #s, registration #s usually stay with the glider. Not always, though: N707JB first appeared on my father's Diamant, then we moved it to the Libelle in 1970 along with JB, then transferred both #s to our LS-3 in 1978. I transferred both, again, to the ASW 24 that I've been flying since 1992. Chip Bearden JB |
#18
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How About Story Time
Chip
Speaking of N numbers, I picked up a sgs2-22 a few years ago as a restoration project. This particular bird had an interesting history. She went right from the schweizer factory over to the school and was actually used as the test bed to check out the then new swept tail used on latter —26’s and the 2-33. The interesting part is her N number that she came with from the factory, N694U. Think about it lol😄 |
#19
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How About Story Time
On Sunday, April 12, 2020 at 10:50:48 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Chip Speaking of N numbers, I picked up a sgs2-22 a few years ago as a restoration project. This particular bird had an interesting history. She went right from the schweizer factory over to the school and was actually used as the test bed to check out the then new swept tail used on latter —26’s and the 2-33. The interesting part is her N number that she came with from the factory, N694U. Think about it lol😄 I also have an unique tail number story. When I bought my used Stemme the tail number was not quite reflective of my personality, so I changed it. It would have fit a few people on this group thou. It was N3FU.🖕🏻. Think about that!! Not sure how the FAA let that one thru. Bruce |
#20
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How About Story Time
On Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 2:40:32 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Maybe this is a good opportunity for some of us to share some stories of our experiences. I'll go first.- During the regional at Harris Hill in 2013 I was flying K21 with grandson Calvin Mampe, Rachel Conklin, and her sister Michelle. All 3 had flown multiple contests with me before, 2 having done so before they were old enough to solo. Half way through the contest, my wife Dianne had a terrible fall and ended up hospitalized with some very serious injuries. All 3 of the juniors had good flights with me earlier in the contest so I told them to just keep on flying. On Friday, Calvin and Rachel flew but decided to abandon the task part way around the course due to rain. They did not want to land out and take the ship apart in the rain. Smart! The next day Rachel and Michelle flew together. About 4:00 I was in the ICU with Dianne when Calvin called. When I answered, he simply said “K21 four miles”. Our 2 young ladies had flown the course for a reasonable score. To my knowledge, this is the first time two young sisters had ever flown in competition. We had a seriously great group hug that night. This may be my best ever moment as a supporter of youth soaring. Following up- Michelle is now an A&P working for Textron and just finished her first restoration, a 1-26E. Rachel is instructing at Flight Safety and soon will have all the requirements for her ATP. UH Well I will go back to the mid 70's when I was flying with the renegades from Miami, it was such a fine group of guys. We were sitting around the table at the side door when war stories began to come from some of the older gentlemen. First it was Lou Salvatore, who told stories of being a waist gunner on a B17 and flying deep into Germany on many harrowing missions. Then it was another guy named Bennie Flowers, who was one of the if not the best glider pilot that I ever knew. Bennie told his story about training glider tow pilots in a C 47 with the AAC. Paul, "Pablo Crowell", told of being a very young B 29 commander and flying into Japan to drop bombs, Pablo said that the briefer's never told the truth about the Japanese not having any fuel, they were shooting the hell out of us as we dropped from 5 thousand feet. Then the spokesman became Paul Lowman, a very soft spoken guy who had an LS-3. One of the guys asked Paul did you fly in the military, the reply was yes. Paul told the group that he did not fly in the AAC, he flew for the RAF, he then replied that he flew Spitfires in the Battle Of Britain. They was not much said after that! What a great group of guys to have been a part of my early glider days. E9, Bennie, Pablo, Fritz, Walter, and many more, Thanks, Bob |
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