Charlie Spratt

I recall that Charlie made ends meet by towing gliders cross country for their owners.

Wasn't there a story about him being convinced, against his better judgement, to chaperone the owner's teenage son who actually was doing the towing by Charlie following in a separate vehicle? The funny part was the mayhem that ensued.

Anyone remember the details?

The teenager's dad had thought Charlie's towing rates too high so arranged for the kid to haul the trailer along with Charlie towing another. The kid left Charlie in the dust on I-10 going west, and a while later Charlie noted an object in the road ahead - a glider wing! He stopped and got it off the road. A few miles further another wing. Eventually, he found the kid at a rest stop unaware that the back door of the trailer was open.

You get what you pay for!

1979, Sunflower Gliderport, Standard Class Nationals. Flapped gliders were permitted to race in Standard Class, but they must either have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed to indicate if the flaps were not at zero. They were permitted to use the flaps up to three minutes per flight. This was to permit use during the critical takeoff and landing phase, and kind of important to those flying PIK-20Bs. Charlie was assigned to be "The Flap Fuzz". His job was to check the seals and timers on all flapped sailplanes when they landed. Since people were landing all around the airport, Charlie needed a way to get around. He was given a small, 100 CC dirt bike. That would only drive in first gear. So, there was Charlie the Circus Bear on this tiny little motorcycle, screaming like mad, doing 10 MPH across the ramp, scurrying from glider to glider when the gaggles came home. And he did it all with a big smile.

Steve Leonard
Wichita, KS

On Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 10:21:00 AM UTC-5, Steve Leonard wrote:
1979, Sunflower Gliderport, Standard Class Nationals. Flapped gliders were permitted to race in Standard Class, but they must either have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed to indicate if the flaps were not at zero. They were permitted to use the flaps up to three minutes per flight. This was to permit use during the critical takeoff and landing phase, and kind of important to those flying PIK-20Bs. Charlie was assigned to be "The Flap Fuzz". His job was to check the seals and timers on all flapped sailplanes when they landed. Since people were landing all around the airport, Charlie needed a way to get around. He was given a small, 100 CC dirt bike. That would only drive in first gear. So, there was Charlie the Circus Bear on this tiny little motorcycle, screaming like mad, doing 10 MPH across the ramp, scurrying from glider to glider when the gaggles came home. And he did it all with a big smile.

Steve Leonard
Wichita, KS

We started going to contests in 1978 when our kids were 7 and 10 years old. They thought Charlie was the greatest. He had model airplanes, fireworks, and a Holiday Inn bath towel and room key so he could stop at any Holiday Inn and jump into the pool to cool off and clean up. Our kids were looking forward to the next contest to hang out with Charlie at the gate. At the end of the first contest day I had barely rolled to a stop when the kids came running up and excitedly said" Dad, you aren't going to believe it! CHARLIE IS AS OLD AS YOU ARE!"

On Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 10:21:00 AM UTC-5, Steve Leonard wrote:
1979, Sunflower Gliderport, Standard Class Nationals. Flapped gliders were permitted to race in Standard Class, but they must either have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed to indicate if the flaps were not at zero. They were permitted to use the flaps up to three minutes per flight. This was to permit use during the critical takeoff and landing phase, and kind of important to those flying PIK-20Bs. Charlie was assigned to be "The Flap Fuzz". His job was to check the seals and timers on all flapped sailplanes when they landed. Since people were landing all around the airport, Charlie needed a way to get around. He was given a small, 100 CC dirt bike. That would only drive in first gear. So, there was Charlie the Circus Bear on this tiny little motorcycle, screaming like mad, doing 10 MPH across the ramp, scurrying from glider to glider when the gaggles came home. And he did it all with a big smile.

Steve Leonard
Wichita, KS

"...have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed ..."

Sounds strange. I can imagine ways that the flap handle could be locked in position or sealed (maybe "warranty void if seal broken" labels). But how does a flap "timer" work?

On Sunday, April 12, 2020 at 3:55:34 PM UTC-4, John DeRosa OHM Ω http://aviation.derosaweb.net wrote:
On Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 10:21:00 AM UTC-5, Steve Leonard wrote:
1979, Sunflower Gliderport, Standard Class Nationals. Flapped gliders were permitted to race in Standard Class, but they must either have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed to indicate if the flaps were not at zero. They were permitted to use the flaps up to three minutes per flight. This was to permit use during the critical takeoff and landing phase, and kind of important to those flying PIK-20Bs. Charlie was assigned to be "The Flap Fuzz". His job was to check the seals and timers on all flapped sailplanes when they landed. Since people were landing all around the airport, Charlie needed a way to get around. He was given a small, 100 CC dirt bike. That would only drive in first gear. So, there was Charlie the Circus Bear on this tiny little motorcycle, screaming like mad, doing 10 MPH across the ramp, scurrying from glider to glider when the gaggles came home. And he did it all with a big smile.

Steve Leonard
Wichita, KS

"...have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed ..."

Sounds strange. I can imagine ways that the flap handle could be locked in position or sealed (maybe "warranty void if seal broken" labels). But how does a flap "timer" work?

My flap timer was a sealed box with a magnetic switch that closed if the flap push rod moved more than about 1/4 inch. It had to satisfy the CD. Rules allowed 2 minutes of flap time to land. This was on a PIK-20 that had landing flaps only.
UH

On Friday, April 10, 2020 at 6:24:45 PM UTC-4, Karl Striedieck wrote:
Too many Charlie stories to pick one - but.

One night there was window rattling crash from upstairs, and when asked about it Charlie said he fell out of bed.

Or one of the numerous glider delivery sagas when he was passing Flagstaff mid- winter and felt sorry for a freezing hitchhiker. Turned out the guy was drunk so Charlie put him in the front of the trailer.

Speaking of his gift with humans, a favorite kid-on-the-road story was the year he took a lad who had a learning disability. At some point the boy found himself in a game of Scrabble with other young kids, and was the brunt of ridicule for a word choice. When they left for the motel Charlie took the Scrabble game and said to the lad "We'll play some more Scrabble and you can spell the words anyway you want."

My favorite kid on the road story was a lesson on how to spend money. Kids with Charlie had their own food money from parents. The expectation was this could be a learning experience.
Early on a trip Charlie and his young sidekick stopped and convenience store for food and other needs. This was the first real experience for this young kid with having money. He could not resist and spent all his ration of money on fire works.
Later that night the young man came to Charlie and said "I'm hungry".
Charlie's response was "why don't you eat some of those fire works"
Big lesson learned.
He was a classic.
UH