AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022 - 16

LETTERS
Golden age pioneer
Exploring a collection of dustcovered
aviation relics
I read about the Fairchild 71 ( " Golden Age
Pioneer " April 2022 AOPA Pilot by Dave
Hirschman) as I am a sucker for restoration stories.
Much to my delight, a mention of Gene O.
Frank in Idaho. I bought my Piper Cub from him
many years ago. It was so much fun reading people's
description of the man and his collection. I
had a very similar experience.
After two days on a Greyhound bus, I arrived
in Caldwell, Idaho, early in the morning. I was
wandering the streets waiting for a decent time
before calling him to let him know I had arrived.
A kind person stopped in a truck and asked if
I needed a ride somewhere. I explained I was
going to a strip outside of town but I would wait
until it got later. " I know the place, hop in, I will
give you a ride. "
Frank's dog met me at the fence and woke
up the caretaker living in a single-wide trailer.
He was not happy to be woken up. He said he
would call Gene, and I said, " No! I will just wait. "
I didn't want to start my visit out this way. It was
too late. A short time later, a car drove up and the
door swung open. Gene told me we were going
to breakfast. I sat quietly while he ate his breakfast
and visited with his morning coffee gang.
We eventually drove back to his place, and
it was exactly as described. The Cub was sitting
in a hangar full of Naval Aircraft Factory N3Ns
covered in dust but complete, like the day they
last flew, just all done and put away for years.
I spent a couple of days there. I got a tour of
his place: the serial number one Super Cub that
he was especially proud of; the Brunner-Winkle
Bird that I had never heard of; and all the other
amazing things tucked away in those buildings
covered in dust.
I always wondered what became of him
and his things. Ran in to him years later at the
Watsonville fly-in where he was flying the
Mylar-covered Jenny. He remembered me and
was struggling to remember the N number of
the Cub. He told me not to tell him. I waited a
bit, then blurted it out, " N33112. " He yelled, " I
told you not to tell me! " He was the same gruff
guy I had met many years earlier.
Rowena Mason / AOPA 6922536
Santa Paula, California
16
AOPA PILOT / July 2022
A rescued Fairchild 71 bonds a father and son
BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN
This remnant of aviation's
" golden age " spent decades
trapped in amber.
The Fairchild 71's origins are clear enough. The pioneering
airplane was built by the Fairchild Aircraft Company of New
York in 1929 and first flew a few months before the stock market
crash put a lid on the Roaring '20s.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS ROSE
50
AOPA PILOT / April 2022
AOPA PILOT / April 2022
51
Not a joke
In 1929, a 7,200-mile nonstop flight took place.
The was the first and only transcontinental and
return flight with no stops in a single-engine aircraft
utilizing aerial refueling ( " Is This a Joke? "
April 2022 AOPA Pilot). The pilot was Nicholas
Bernard Mamer, a World War I fighter pilot, with
co-pilot Art Walker, who was also a mechanic.
The 120-hour flight started August 15, 1929.
It went from Spokane to San Francisco, then to
New York and back to Spokane after 120 hours
and 7,200 miles in a modified Buhl Airsedan, a
single-engine 300-hp, six-passenger airplane.
Preparations involved a number of airports,
each with a tanker carrying up to four 50-gallon
tanks of fuel flying 10 feet above the Airsedan.
Gravity and hose were used, taking up to an
hour to transfer the fuel, which was provided
by sponsor Texaco. There were no radios or navigational
aids, just a lot of ingenuity.
Frank Singer / AOPA 131549
Huntington Beach, California
Places to fly
What a great article ( " Member Favorites: Your
picks for best places to fly, " March 2022 AOPA
Pilot) by Julie Summers Walker, with lots of
fly-in destinations that I'll add to my list. I was
surprised by two omissions from the list that I
believe will resonate with a number of pilots
out west.
The first is Camarillo Airport (CMA) in
Camarillo, California. A favorite activity for my
wife and me is brunch at the Waypoint Cafe,
where you can enjoy a terrific breakfast or lunch
and watch the airport and ramp activity. They
even have a small mockup of the airport for kids
to play on before or after eating that includes
a live broadcast of the control tower frequency
and a 50-foot runway.
I loved the feature
" Is This a Joke? " in
April 2022 AOPA Pilot
by Julie Summers
Walker. Here's another
aviation tidbit: In 1986,
Dick Rutan and Jeana
Yeager made a nineday,
around-the-world,
unrefueled flight-the
world's first. Because
they took off and
landed at the same
airport (Edwards
Air Force Base in
California), the flight
could not be logged as
cross-country under
FAA rules.
Ed Fischer / AOPA
1386365
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022
