October 25, 2011 A Fly-In Weekend part 2

The Liberty Gazette

October 25, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The U.S. National aerobatic competition had just wrapped up its week-long activities north of Dallas on a recent Saturday and three-time U.S. National Aerobatic Champion Debby Rihn-Harvey would make Critters Lodge her weekend stopover on her way home to LaPorte. While Debby treated the Lodge guests to an impromptu show in her high performance CAP 232 named “Hurricane,” we were at another fly-in 50 miles away. This was part of our anniversary weekend and we had put two fly-ins on our agenda.

Since the fly-in at Critters Lodge spanned the whole weekend, we planned to take part of our Saturday to visit the airstrip right next to Old Fort Parker in Groesbeck. Friday night while socializing with fellow flyers we spread the word about the other fly-in, “Old Planes at the Old Fort.” The Fort was the homestead of the Parker family, whose nine-year old daughter Cynthia Ann was captured by Indians in 1836, adopted by Comanches and married Chief Peta Nocona. Their son, Quanah Parker, became one of the last great Warrior Chiefs of the Comanches, and later became a judge, a businessman and friends with three U.S. Presidents. The Fort’s old cabins and blockhouses are open for exploring, the atmosphere enhanced by the cowboy shooting range, home of the Old Fort Parker Patriots who host a monthly western style shooting competition.

“Old Planes at the Old Fort” would only last a few hours and would give folks another destination, another reason to spin those props, and then return to the Lodge for more fly-in/camp-out fun. Many of the guests from the Lodge met us at the Fort.

Mike: It was a perfect morning to step back in time and welcome vintage aircraft to the newly completed 2,000 foot grass airstrip christened Fort Parker Flying Field, also the home of the International Bi-plane Association. Men and women Patriots dressed in Western period clothing strolled over from their shooting range about a hundred feet away across the road to join others from the community and the gathering of 17 airplanes at the inaugural fly-in.

This year’s drought has abused grass runways in Texas. For weeks Airfield Manager Darius Farmer kept the field watered, rolling up and down the runway with a tractor towing a trailer with a big water tank. After watering, he used a roller to knock down gopher holes and then filled in some of the low spots with more dirt making it smoother for airplanes to land. Darius and some volunteers labored all week long getting the field into condition for vintage aircraft.

As it turned out, while Debby was wowing the crowd at the Lodge, our friends Jim and Rex, in a Steen Skybolt and Pitts respectively, two open cockpit bi-planes, arrived at Fort Parker in flying formation, with one giving the folks an impromptu airshow of loops and rolls and Cuban Eights.

We returned to Critters Lodge in the afternoon, in time for a big dinner in the dining hangar, sunset fly-bys, plenty of great fellowship with fellow aviators, and camped out like everyone else in the tents that spotted the hide-away coves along the runway’s edge. They say New York City has a beat – a heartbeat all its own. These airfields are the kinds of places that are soothing, a salve for the aviator’s soul; hard to leave when the weekend is over.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 18, 2011 A Fly-In Weekend

The Liberty Gazette

October 18, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Having our Cheetah in the paint shop did not dampen our anniversary weekend. Five years of marriage was celebrated at two fly-ins on grass strips. There are many fly-in choices this time of year, but being ground-bound we had to keep the distance short, and it turned out to be one of the best weekends ever.

First was the gathering at Critters Lodge near Centerville. Wendell and Beverly Dillard have done a great job of maintaining their 3,100 foot-long turf runway in spite of the severe drought. Unlike many grass strips, theirs wasn’t marked by gaping cracks where one might break a wheel fairing, or worse. That happened recently at the home strip of our friends who rebuilt our engine. Linda was first to notice the front half of the wheel fairing on the left main gear was missing. Turns out, we bumped it on the rough ground on take-off during one of our many test flights testing the timing and engine temperatures. There are a couple of new, more aerodynamic wheel fairings available for our airplane, and given Linda’s need for speed, she almost celebrated upon seeing that one of the old ones was destroyed. Prior to that, our friends’ only concern had been the possibility of losing one of their Chihuahuas in those cracks. But back to Critters Lodge.

The Dillards are developing an aviation community. This isn't an airpark in the usual sense. Wendell envisions a place where plane-minded folks can come and enjoy a weekend camping out or staying in one of many cabins he plans to build scattered in the woods about the property.

Joined by helpful friends who work like crazy they serve three meals a day during the weekend-long fly-in. Upon our arrival Friday evening we enjoyed a great barbeque dinner while socializing with fellow aviators from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Breakfast in the big dining hangar was a smorgasbord of every option you could think of – even fresh fruit.

Linda: They’re building a really neat place. Saturday evening we hopped aboard one of the many “Mules,” toured the 300-plus acres and found the locations for a future fishing hole, cabin spots tucked away and generously spaced for privacy, and even an area to hit some golf balls. A friend was staying in the first luxury cabin which isn’t quite finished yet. Together the three of us meandered and explored the grounds, imagining how it will look when all that’s planned has been built.

Another friend, Jim, recently finished his 13-year project building a beautiful Steen Skybolt, an open cockpit bi-wing. We first saw it at the New Year’s fly-in up in Waco this year, and what a pleasant surprise it was when Jim and his friend Rex, a former fighter pilot flying a Pitts, arrived at Critters Lodge flying in formation and treated us to a couple of low passes. Approaching the grass runway, you can’t tell that all along both sides are areas where the trees have been cut out, making perfect runway campsites with room to park two or three small planes and tents. Campers set up chairs and judge the low passes and landings. Lots of fun to be had and plenty more to tell so check back next week. Till then, blue skies.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com.

October 11, 2011 In the Pitts part 2

The Liberty Gazette

October 11, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Last week I started to tell about my recent encounter with making a Pitts S2B biplane dance through the air. Being my first time in this airplane I had to learn how the plane handled and the only way to do so was by wringing it out under the tutelage of my instructor, world record holder Bruce Bohannon. To perform an aileron roll to the left, first establish airspeed –140 knots is good – then pitch the nose up ten degrees above the horizon. Push the stick to the left and as the airplane rolls about halfway through the maneuver, when you’re upside down, push the stick a little forward to keep the nose on the horizon. Continuing the roll through the last half, begin putting in lots of left rudder while pulling the stick back a little. Really step on that left rudder hard through the last 90 degrees of rotation while pulling the nose up, gradually releasing the left rudder as you roll around to wings level flight. It takes a lot of practice to end up pointing the way you intended to. The loops, the half-Cubans, and even the hammerhead turned out more smoothly than most of my rolls, hence, an incentive to return.

Mike: Getting into the cockpit of the Pitts requires one to have performed as a contortionist at some point in life. Strapping into the parachute, then the five point harness and the lap belt requires feats of super-human strength. If you don’t get it right it can make for a very uncomfortable feeling, especially when you are upside down, dangling from a loose harness, looking at the earth over your head.

The takeoff was a bit bumpy on the drought-stricken grass strip. If this persists, Bruce will have to make arrangements to take his airplanes to a paved airport. The Pitts has tough landing gear but some of those cracks in the ground could cause a prop strike, meaning the potential for a costly engine tear-down.

Once we were airborne the Pitts’ powerful engine whisked us skyward to over 3,000 feet where we began maneuvers. I last flew a Pitts over 30 years ago when I was taking aerobatic lessons and somehow my instructor and I ended up in a dogfight with another Pitts out over the Pacific. I’d long since forgotten how light the controls were and how easy it was to over-control and pull a lot of “G’s.” One “G” is equivalent to the gravitational pull we are subjected to while on the earth’s surface. Roller coasters typically subject a body to two or three “G’s” and an aerobatic airplane like the Pitts can subject its occupants to so many G’s they can black out. I didn’t pull that many but the G-meter read nearly six positive and a bit over one negative. My very first roll was so quick and over controlled that we practically slammed our heads against the canopy; oops!

After several maneuvers we descended back toward Bruce’s strip. He rolled into a bank with enough rudder to make it feel like we were flying sideways in a steep slipping approach past the power lines on one side and the trees and ditch on the other and deftly touched down on the grass. Our teeth rattled as the plane decelerated and came to a stop right in front of his hangar. I’ll be back.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 4, 2011 In the Pitts part 1

The Liberty Gazette

October 4, 2011

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The FAA Safety Seminar scheduled for October 29 must be one of the most popular offered through “WINGS,” a voluntary continuing education program for pilots. Credits are accumulated by attending approved programs and logging certain types of training. Hot off the press came the invitation to join aerobatic champions and world record holders Debby Rihn-Harvey, Joy Bowden, Bruce Bohannon and John Dunbar for a day of spin training. The seminar would be held at “Flyin’ Tiger,” Bruce’s airport south of Houston. Lunch provided. Seminar free. Arrange flights individually with one of the host instructor pilots.

A spin is a stalled aircraft spiraling down. With proper training pilots learn to recognize when they are about to enter a spin, and procedures to recover from this abnormal situation. It is required training for all flight instructors and many believe it should be required of all pilots.

I hadn’t flown with Bruce before but several of our friends have, although I’d flown right over his turf strips–a turn point in the Galveston Air Rally earlier this year. I’d seen his highly modified RV-4 about five years ago at the Reklaw fly-in – the RV that holds all altitude and “time-to-climb” records save one. Bruce holds 35 speed and altitude world records, and his experience includes many races won at Reno.

For this spin training seminar he was offering time in a Pitts S2B, a two-place tandem bi-wing airplane. It had been too long since my last acro fix so I quickly shot Bruce an email: “Put me down for one of those slots!” But the next morning I had one of those “OY!” moments, the kind where you’d kick yourself in the head if you could. What was I thinking! The fourth annual Tennessee Valley air race, speed dash, and punkin’ chunkin’ contest is October 29th! Even if we weren’t racing, competing with other race nuts to see who can splat a pumpkin on a port-a-potty is totally worth the trip! As quickly as the realization about the scheduling conflict had set in, the Plan “B” solution came just as fast. I would just call Bruce and re-schedule – tomorrow! Why wait till October 29?

I felt like I had a pretty good handle on the basics the last time I did any aerobatic maneuvers, but the last couple of times was in a Super Decathlon, a very different airplane than the Pitts. Still, recovery from a spin is basically the same: full rudder deflection in the opposite direction of the spin, push the nose down, and reduce the power.

Parachute strapped on, me strapped in we cinched every belt until they wouldn’t cinch anymore. Bruce hopped in, closed the canopy, and we taxied down the dry ground to the end of the runway. A little “systems check” we call a run-up, and off we went. This runway is 2,300’, the longer of the two, and we were in the air about halfway down. All 260 horses galloped the little red and white bi-wing up over the trees and up, up, up to the blue sky. The few puffy cumulus were well above us so we climbed to 3,000’ and I began to become familiar with the flying characteristics of the Pitts. Check in next week for the roll-by-roll of my inaugural Pitts flight, and Mike’s long awaited return to a Pitts. Till then, blue skies.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 27, 2011 Flying the Idaho Back Country

The Liberty Gazette

September 27, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: I watched, fascinated as ancient volcanic rock and dirt dotted by an occasional tree passed by my window and the Cessna T206 Turbo Stationaire that was my chariot was now soaring down in the canyon well below the ridges. The sun glistened off the rippling and often white swirling water of the river below us. We bounced around a bit in the bumpy air and suddenly the pilot announced, “We’re on base now.” I’d been looking out the window but saw no airstrip, not even see a patch of open flat ground; nothing but a “V” shaped canyon that seemed to dead-end.

The pilot eased off on the power a bit and my seat shifted as he began to lower the flaps. I still couldn’t see a place to land. Flaps down a little more, the airplane slowed and we descended further into the canyon. I was too young and too excited to be nervous or scared. As we rolled into a bank toward the rock wall, its jagged edge dropped behind us as the river made a large sweeping curve as though it were leading our way. Trees swept by our wingtips and instantly there was a small clearing in front of us. Thump! Thump! Thump! We bumped over the rough field, my teeth rattling in my head, as we came to a stop at the end of the clearing. The pilot made the airplane pirouette on its left tire and stopped facing the direction we came. To our right were heavy, green bear-proof boxes.

We quickly unloaded the airplane of packages and mail and climbed back in. The pilot cranked up the engine, pushed the throttle forward while standing on the brakes, releasing them once we had full power. My teeth repeated the rattling and those trees at the end of the runway looked awfully tall. I wondered, would we clear them? We did, and with a bit more clearance than we had upon landing. Retracing our route down river we found a junction that made the canyon wide enough for a U-turn, continuing on what the local pilots in McCall, Idaho call the “Salmon River Run.”

Linda: A friend of ours recently made a trip to Idaho in his Beechcraft Bonanza with a group of people who were learning the techniques of back country flying. A big part of that training is developing good judgment, including which strips are safe for landing in whatever particular airplane one is flying.

The State of Idaho Department of Aeronautics and the U.S. Forest Service maintain several back country airstrips for the purpose of getting support personnel into the isolated areas and most are open for recreational use as well. Additionally there are a number of private strips where a pilot can land with prior permission. Idaho is such a great place to learn these skills that Mission Aviation Fellowship, an aerial support ministry does much of their training on these back country strips. MAF was handing out DVDs at Oshkosh this year with lots of video clips of landings in tight places that make pilots go “ooo” and “ahhh”.

Mike: I’ve returned many times since that first experience over 35 years ago to learn from those old hands at back country flying – quite useful skills they’ve given me.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 20, 2011 U.S. Air Mail

The Liberty Gazette

September 20, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely


Linda: Wars and letter writing, that’s what built airports–well that, and the need for places to land those new-fangled flying machines. I finally took Sharon and Bill Tinkler up on their long-standing offer to visit them at their home on Chandelle Airpark in Tullahoma, Tennessee, with a beautifully maintained grass strip next to the large Tullahoma Airport, built in 1942. Like Ellington Field in Houston and others around the country, WWII encouraged the U.S. to build large airports to accommodate military pilot training and serve as an integral part of our defense.

Before WWI however, the notion that we could deliver mail by air sprouted many small airports, and the world’s first airline, flown by brave pioneers, cowboys of the sky.

I received a substantial but partial history lesson on the beginning of the Air Mail Service from Bill Tinkler, who made a commemorative flight in 1984 of the original east-west route, from New York to California, on the 60th anniversary of the first daily Transcontinental Air Mail service involving both day and night flying. I have more history lessons to attend, after which no doubt you will become familiar with not only an exciting and significant part of our country’s history, but also one fascinatingly fun man.

Until then enjoy this smidgen of homage to another great American, one who wrangled the safety of an embryonic industry like a true bronco-buster of the old west, and gave back to us infinitely more possibilities of flight.

Mike: The year before the Wright brothers made the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, Mrs. Lederer, of New York, named her newborn boy Jerome. Jerry, as he was often called, turned out to be a mechanical genius, which New York University recognized by conferring on him a master’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1925, just as the U.S. Post Office was about to begin that daily transcontinental air mail service. Success at his first job, building, calibrating, and operating a wind tunnel, opened the door for his next as aeronautical engineer for the Post Office. The open cockpit bi-wing deHavilland DH-4’s weren’t the most stable airplane to fly, but it’s what they had, and they flew them in every kind of weather, mostly at night. There is only one in flyable condition today.

Those daring early pilots were paid handsomely, but one in six who flew the mail at the dawn of aviation perished in aircraft accidents, forging a safety record that had no where to go but up. Jerry Lederer reconstructed the airplanes that crashed to determine the cause of their misfortune, then designed modifications which would help prevent accidents.

Among his friends were Charles Lindbergh, whose Spirit of St. Louis he inspected before Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight, and Neil Armstrong, having contributed directly to the safety of both men’s missions. Apollo 8 had 5,600,000 parts and 1.5 million systems, subsystems and assemblies, with which Lederer was intimately familiar.

He lived to be 101 years, and for more than seven decades Jerry’s contributions improved safety of flight, from small parts found on simple aircraft today to manned space flight. But Jerry didn’t focus only on the airplanes. He recognized the importance of the human factor and investigated unique and challenging problems facing aviation safety, such as subtle cognitive incapacitation of pilots, cockpit boredom, and interpersonal communications. His warning, “You always have to fight complacency,” can be applied to all of life.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 13, 2011 Justice, gifts, and investment ideas

The Liberty Gazette

September 13, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: True story: a helicopter pilot who wanted to go fishing with some friends was concerned about the level of the Mississippi River so he borrowed a friend’s Cessna 172 and flew his fishing buddies over the river to check it out. On the way back one of the fishing-buddy-passengers asked if they could fly over his house. That’s not an unusual request. In fact, normally in a “discovery flight,” the first flight one would take prior to beginning flight lessons, instructors often guide the flight over the prospective student’s house. It’s also not unusual for non-pilots to have difficulty orienting to the view from above. So the pilot pointed out to his friend where his house was – and the white pickup truck that was parked nearby. It was then that the passenger realized there were a couple of men taking things out of his house. He called police and a nearby uncle from his cell phone aboard the circling 172. The uncle rushed over and stopped the thieves, who tried to explain away their actions, but then “cried uncle” when he pointed upward and told them they were being watched. The burglars fled the scene, the Cessna followed, enabling the plane load of fishing buddies to witness apprehension of the thieves from 1,000’ up.

Linda: Need a gift idea for your favorite pilot? The Southwest Flying Club of Houston is offering a chance for one lucky pilot to win a one hour session in the brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Raffle tickets are $10 each, or $100 for 11. Proceeds benefit Angel Flight South Central/Grace Flight of America, a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. Email Pete Perez, President of the Southwest Flying Club and an active Grace Flight pilot volunteer, at peter@polyseed.com. He will email you a ticket number and at their annual benefit dinner September 17 they’ll draw the winning ticket. You don’t have to be present to win.

Mike: Ever thought of going into the airline business? Aeropodium and Airline Visions are offering a new aviation workshop October 5 in Washington, D.C. on how to start an airline. The workshop covers airline business plan development and will include Introduction to the Airline Industry, Generic vs. Airline Business Plan, Common Business Plan Mistakes, Non-Disclosure Agreement, Elements of the Airline Business Plan, Implementation Plan, Management and Support Team, Risk Factors, Capitalization Plan, Certification, and Success Strategies. The cost to attend is only $399 but we’re wondering if they’re offering a discount to any present airlines that have previously filed bankruptcy, received government bail-outs, or merged to avoid failure.

Linda: If an airline isn’t quite your cup of tea, perhaps you’d like to invest in General Aviation – GA encompasses all aviation that is not airline or military. The GA industry is growing in China. The freedom to fly one’s own airplane has been foreign to that country, as has freedom in general, but now they’re building infrastructure and opening up low-altitude airspace for GA operations. The Chinese government recently allowed the first GA flight through Chinese airspace when Tennessee businessman Wei Chen flew his TBM 700 around the world, making an historic landing at Beijing Capital International Airport. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association will be holding a China General Aviation Summit in Beijing later this month, bringing American ideals to a Communist nation. Let’s hope it has far reaching effects.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com 

September 6, 2011 Breaking Through the Clouds

The Liberty Gazette

September 6, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: “In the early days of powered flight, airplanes were made of little more than wood, fabric and primitive, unreliable motors. Pilots flew low, following roads and railroad tracks as directional guides. If lost, the pilot was forced to land and ask for directions, often from the very farmer in whose field they landed,” writes film producer, director Heather Taylor.

Heather Taylor, Executive Producer, "Breaking Through the Clouds"
Photo courtesy Heather Taylor

One of the things I get the most enjoyment out of from aviation is meeting interesting people. Aviation brings together people of diverse backgrounds. I’ve met people whose life journeys have brought them incredible accomplishments and those who are involved in fascinating activities both in and out of aviation. Such is the case with meeting Heather Taylor in June, 2010. One of a very fortunate few, I was present at the
first public showing of her film, “Breaking Through the Clouds: The First Women’s National Air Derby”. It was quite an event, attended by air racers who had just completed the 2,700 mile Air Race Classic.

The 2010 race was special for Heather because it ended in Frederick, Maryland, where she received her undergraduate degree from Hood College. Her film was shown at Hood after the finish of this historic race, exactly 20 years from the date she graduated. Since the race is organized two years in advance, the timing and location were perfect and serendipitous.

DVD  cover
Phot courtesy
Heather Taylor

13 years in the making, “Breaking Through the Clouds” is a multiple award-winning documentary of the first all-women’s air race in 1929, the predecessor to the Air Race Classic.

Heather grew up in Tennessee in a family of pilots and spent countless hours at local airports. She told me, “I said, ‘God, if You give me a story I know I can make a film.’ Better watch out for what you ask for!” Sure enough, Heather found a story when she interviewed Evelyn Bryan Johnson, aviatrix extraordinaire. Evelyn was “just looking for a break from the dry cleaning business” when she saw an ad for flight lessons. After a long career, Evelyn was inducted into the Women in Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame, the National Flight Instructors Hall of Fame and the Kentucky and Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame; she holds the record for the most flight hours of any woman, 57,635.4 hours, and has administered over 9,000 check rides. No wonder she was such an inspiration to Heather! But she mentioned the race, and that’s when Heather knew–the race was her story to tell.

Race pilots of the First Women's National Air Derby, 1929.
Photo courtesy International Women's Air & Space Museum

She worked on it part time for 10 years, then in 2007 decided it’s now or never, left Discovery Communications and went full throttle, forming her own production company, Archetypal Images, LLC. If I listed all Heather’s film credits I’d have no room for anything else. But you would be impressed.

Heather aims to “produce films that explore and harnesses that light in the eyes of people who have found their calling in life and share that sparkle with others who are still searching to find their own passion.” The pilots featured in “Breaking Through The Clouds” are role models of this objective. They persevered and have continued to influence others, including me, over 80 years later.

Heather hopes her film will encourage each person to “take to the skies” with their own dreams, as did the women of “Breaking Through the Clouds.” Get the DVD at http://www.breakingthroughtheclouds.com/.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

August 30, 2011 Warbirds on Parade

The Liberty Gazette

August 30, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely



Photo courtesy DFW Wing CAF

Linda: Lancaster, 20 minutes from downtown Dallas, is home to a busy community airport. The International Aerobatic Club has contests there and this spring the locals hosted their first air race. It’s also home to the DFW Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF). This Saturday, September 3, you’re all invited to the Lancaster airport for the annual Warbirds on Parade. This year promises to be even bigger and better; just ask Charlie Wood, a man in the know. Come see WW11 Bombers, Fighters, Cargoes, Trainers, L-Birds, Communist Mig 21, 23, Hind 24, Hind 2 Helicopters, L-39's, L-29's, “and a few surprises.” There will be nearly 100 classic cars, along with military vehicle and equipment displays. Re-enactors and living history groups will take you back in time - they’ll have their communication gear and may be calling in air strikes - let the kids come and see that cell phones haven’t always been in existence. And don't miss the restored farm tractors and tractor pull, and the “Hit & Miss Engine Display.” WW11 Marine Veteran, R.V Burgin, author of "Island of the Damned" will be selling and autographing his book. His character appeared in episodes 5,6,7,8,9,10, of the HBO series, "The Pacific." They’d like a donation of $10 per car or $5 per person because it costs a lot to keep this show running.



BT15 Photo courtesy DFW Wing CAF

It’s a lot of hard work, but Charlie can’t be happier about the event’s success. They’ll be setting up all day Friday and will be back before daylight. A former DFW Wing leader, Charlie will get to the airport about 5 a.m. Saturday “and there will already be about 300 people there,” he laughs. Last year he served 85 pounds of barbeque, plus hot dogs. This year he expects to serve more. “We’ll all be dead tired but will have a smile on our face.”



R4D Photo courtesy DFW Wing CAF



What drives Charlie Wood and others like him to dedicate their time and resources? “We need to educate these children,” he says. “The CAF teaches about the sacrifices and suffering, and that freedom isn’t free. We fly exhibitions in remembrance and to honor those who flew and protected our freedom.”



 Mike: The 8,000 member CAF boasts ownership of 160 WWII airplanes, seen by at least 10 million people a year. “We give them a history lesson and these are the tools,” Charlie says.


Photo courtesy
Raymond Jeffcoat, DFW Wing CAF

He’s only 61, but he feels an obligation to an older generation. He did not serve in the military; this is his way to pay back. He’s “just a hometown boy who tries to make a difference.” One of his grandmothers worked in the North American plant where T-6s and P51s and bomber sections were built. His other grandmother worked at the Johnny Mitchell Company, a cotton-gin-builder-turned-war-ordinance maker for anti-aircraft guns (armament on ships). “The country came together. Everybody did something for the war effort and that’s why we have freedom today,” he says. So he flies in air shows and does his part to educate and honor. It’s not uncommon, but deeply meaningful, each time an elderly man walks up to Charlie and starts telling his story. “I’m privileged to hear it at the same time his family is hearing it, with a tear in his eye.”

Go to www.DFWWing.com or call Charlie at (972) 287-6228. 

"Ziggy" Stinson L3 Photo courtesy DFW Wing CAF

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August 23, 2011 The only way to fly

The Liberty Gazette

August 23, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely


Mike: Just the little unpainted Grumman Cheetah and me, winging our way back from Indianapolis following The Indy Air Race; she may be an ugly duckling now, but after a new paint job, er, make-over, she will be stunning.

The large storms we encountered en route were circumnavigatable, and when the Elyminator began to feel thirsty, she brought me to a small airport in Newport, Arkansas. Her thirst quenched, I saddled back up and we climbed out past Little Rock, contacting approach control for traffic advisories on the way into Houston. Passing east of Shreveport well above the haze layer the sun was setting, reflecting a host of hues through the prisms of raindrops and ice crystals in the lower layers of the clouds to the west. An intricate symphony for the eyes, a vast gourmet setting so awe inspiring one can’t help but want to share it. Alas, photos from a cell phone camera can’t convey what my eyes soaked in. That beautiful view of colors suspended in the atmosphere is reserved for those who escape the bonds of gravity, separated from the ground by a mile or more of air molecules, as we were, the Elyminator and I.

From wheels up at Indianapolis Executive Airport to wheels down at Ellington Field, total time to travel, including the fuel stop, was accomplished in seven hours. Not only did I marvel at the scenery, I was also not inconvenienced with having to go through a security line and being subjected to a head-to-toe search for whatever they look for. I simply loaded up, climbed in, and blasted off. Even with the high price of fuel these days, the bottom line comes out about the same as a round trip airline ticket–without the hassle and with the wondrous exhibition of God’s pageantry of color. To make the same trip by airliner would require arrival at the main airport at least an hour before departure, with likely one or two leg transfers at Chicago, Atlanta or somewhere. Add to that the time it takes for the rigmarole of checking bags and picking them up at baggage claim at the other end; one could easily spend more time journeying by airline than I did flying myself. The only direct flight offered by one airline cost more than I paid in fuel and with it I would still have had to endure the federal government’s impositions on airline passengers.

A contrasting scene from airline travel, as I taxied to the hangar a couple of friends in an adjacent hangar stopped working on their airplanes to come out and greet me and helped tuck in the Elyminator. Our version of “baggage claim” was pulling my car up to the airplane and unloading my bags. In a few minutes I was on my way home with no lines, no hassles, and for less than the price of an airline ticket. As an old Western Airlines ad used to say “It’s the only way to fly.”

Linda: And, it sure beats driving. The race in Indy went very well, especially for a first-time race, and in spite of a first-time race director. More on that another day. Until then, blue skies.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com