Dedicated to the history and preservation of artifacts and memorabilia commemorating
CHARLES A. LINDBERGH and The Spirit of St. Louis
First solo, non-stop flight from New York to Paris - May 20 - 21, 1927
VOLUME MMIII
JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER 2003
ISSUE No. 3
Kindred “Spirits”
PUBLISHED IN THE MEMORY OF MAX HEALEY, FOUNDER (1915 - 1990)
C.A.L./N-X-211
Collectors Society
Executive Committee
President
Juan A. José
5 de Mayo #136 - Casa 1
Col. Tepepan
Mexico D.F. C.P. 16020 Mexico
Vice President
Joena Meier (217) 243-7032
2 Millwood Manor
Jacksonville, IL 62650
Secretary
Bill Grant
P.O. Box 295
Patton, CA 92369
Treasurer
Gary Fisk (310) 539-2599
24506 Cadiz Drive
Lomita, CA 90717
Immediate Past President
Doug Studer
RR3 Box 327A
Butler, KY 41006
Board of Directors
Barry Friedman
Kurt Francis
Duane Jacobson
Havner Parish Jr., MD
Max Rensberger
Marketing & Communication
Juan A. José – Director & Chairman
Newsletter Editors
Doug Studer & Joena Meier
Preservation Committee
Duane Jacobson, Curator
9119 16th Avenue South
Bloomington, MN 55420
(952) 854-8260
Membership Committee
Gene Weisenberg, Chairman
1562 Bradbury Road
San Marino, CA 91108-2727
(626) 286-9596
S poifrtihte
Society
I recently observed that the restaurant that occupied the
building where the former US Embassy was located in
Mexico City (where Charles and Anne first met in 1927)
has been closed and the building itself is being offered for
sale. I realized how important the efforts are to perserve
the memory of mankind’s great achievements. What’s
going to happen to this particular building? Will the new
owners care about the history of the place or will they try
to demolish it? Will they respect its decoration (the same
that it had when Dwight Morrow was the tenant) or will
they put in new carpets, rugs or walls? I don’t know! If I
have a chance to get in touch with those who buy the
building I will make sure they are aware of the historical
value of the property. Hopefully the local history authorities have already cataloged the building as a historic site or
as a protected work of architecture, hopefully the old US
Embassy in Mexico will stay just as it is (maybe some conservation work will be welcomed). Unfortunately, I don’t
have the money to buy it (I think it could make a great
Lindbergh Museum!) nor do I have the time to get some
volunteers together and have it moved or a replica made
(just as Dick Hoerle did with the Rickenbacker house in
Columbus). I am just aware of how valuable the building
is in terms of USA-Mexico relations and most of all how
valuable it is in terms of Lindbergh’s life. From that standpoint I will try to make sure that this very special piece of
Lindberghiana stays protected. “We” may not be able to
collect it all but I am sure “we” collectors can make a difference preserving valuable reminders of the life and times
of Lindbergh.
Saludos cordiales desde México.
Juan
jajpcal@prodigy.net.mx
Nominating Committee
Doug Studer, Chairman
14154 Aulick Road
Butler, KY 41006
(859) 448-0711
Past Presidents Committee
Bob Arehart, Cris Sauer,
Lyn Sheldon, Doug Studer
Gene Weisenberg, Rosie Zuern
Society Web Site: http://fly.to/cal-n-x-211/
Mailbag
Notes and News from Members
Hi! Your J/F/M 2003 Newsletter arrived just
before I headed off for Sun-n-Fun in Lakeland,
Florida. Another fine piece of work with many
good stories and announcements. Congratulations.
That was a good story on Lindbergh and Major
Tom Lanphier. I thought you and the members
would be interested in the following which is in
my “to be published” memoirs:
“...On 1 July 1927 Lindbergh landed at Selfridge
Field in Michigan flying in from St. Louis, Mo.
(Sitting in our living room, Lanphier related the
following) after a few words of greeting, and
with the engine still running, he (Lindbergh) said,
“Tom, I’ve never seen the Spirit in the air. Would
you mind taking it around the field?” You’d think
I would have questions like: I understand that
the airplane is a little unstable, will that be a
problem for me? What is the best climb speed?
You would think that for the ten minutes I was in
the air I would have kept my eyes on the instruments, but I can assure you, all that I could see
in front of me were the big headlines on the
newspapers around the world that read “LANPHIER CRASHES THE SPIRIT!” Major Lanphier
had a successful spin and he was the first, and
only one of two, who flew the Spirit besides
Lindbergh.
William F. Chana
Hi, Doug,
Received the N/L yesterday and I must say, it is
genuinely impressive.
Beautifully done.
Congratulations to you, Mr. Editor.
I haven’t taken the time to do more than whip
through it, yet. But, I will enjoy reading it thoroughly, I know. The photos and the color really
make it an attractive publication.
Maybe by e-mail, you might solicit some assistance from the existing membership...begin by
asking if they received their copy of the newsletter...and then, ask them to request several addiCAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
tional copies that they will volunteer to drop by
their local airports, museum shops, gift shops or
wherever their creativity leads them.
Who
knows? It might work.
And, if it means that you have to print up another batch of this issue...it will be the best, most
cost-efficient advertising bucks you can spend.
Mort Kuff
How about it, readers? Any takers out there? If
you can distribute them, I can print more.
Dear Doug:
Many thanks for publishing my letter in the
Society Newsletter. I’m enclosing a copy of Von
Hardesty’s reply. Apologies are fine, but the
damage is already done. Hopefully, if there is a
second printing/edition of his book, the error will
be corrected. In the meantime, if you would be
so kind as to publish his reply, at least our members will know the truth.
Also, I especially enjoyed Jean Saunders’ article
on Joe Foss. I’ve been in an informal breakfast
group with Joe in Scottsdale, AZ for several
years. “The Knights of the Round Engine Table” the “Old Goats Squadron” was Joe’s group. He
entertained us with many a story of his WW II
experiences. He was especially fond of “Charlie”
Lindbergh and loved to talk about the times that
C.A.L. spent with his squadron, both as a “Tech
Rep” and in flying combat missions. He really
got a charge out of “Charlie” downing a
Japanese plane and keeping it from the “top
brass.” Joe was a classic hero in his own right.
He will be sorely missed.
Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Frank H. Robertson, Jr.
Dear Mr. Robertson:
Thank you for your courteous, if pained, letter of
February 3. I appreciate your kind effort to alert
me to a grievous omission in the book
“Lindbergh: Flight’s Enigmatic Hero”, the failure
to list your father as one of the St. Louis backers
of Charles Lindbergh’s historic transatlantic flight
of 1927.
I regret this unintended error, and please accept
my profound apologies.
PAGE 3
Reading your letter reminded me again of the
perils of preparing a short illustrated biography
on an epic figure in the American experience,
Charles Lindbergh. With a limited word count
for the narrative (around 55,000 words), I had to
work carefully with my editor at Tehabi Books to
identify a finite sequence of historic themes on
the entirety of Lindbergh’s life: some familiar
themes were given brief coverage; others
received greater stress to portray Lindbergh’s
career and persona in a balanced way. We did
not have the space afforded to Scott Berg and
others who have prepared more exhaustive
accounts of Lindbergh’s life. All who have written on Lindbergh, of course, have been guilty of
certain errors and omissions. All are painful, if
they are genuine lapses in historical coverage or
interpretation.
One of the ironies associated with “Lindbergh:
Flight’s Enigmatic Hero” is the fact that there was
a conscious desire to showcase the St. Louis
backers as pivotal to the story. Sadly, this goal
was undermined by the omission you have
appropriately brought to our attention. Many
secondary accounts, some even written over the
years by my colleagues at the Smithsonian, have
touched on these men only in a glancing way,
often just mentioning one or two of the group.
Lindbergh himself was always generous in his
praise of his backers in St. Louis and San Diego.
The historical reality is that the St. Louis group,
including your father, played a key role in the
Lindbergh saga: Lindbergh required their timely
backing to build the “Spirit of St. Louis”.
Somehow, as I wrote that part of the narrative
and we gathered photographs, the name of your
father slipped away from our routine fact checking. I take full responsibility and express my
regrets to you.
Reading your letter has prompted me to muse on
the process of historical writing, especially for
illustrated books on major historical figures or
events. For the Lindbergh book, we selected well
over 300 images. Each illustration needed a caption. Sometimes a photo came with detailed
information to write a caption. More often than
not, we worked in a vacuum of sorts, possessing
only fragmentary information. Some photos
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
posed real mysteries: I remember the time taken
to identify two photos dealing with the chapter
on Lindbergh’s visit to Germany. Even after
showing the photos to several historians, we
could not get a consensus! So, there can be sins
of commission as well as omission.
Our Lindbergh book has been praised by several informed readers for its proper use of technical terms associated with aviation. Yet, several
errors slipped by us; e.g., letting a caption suggest that an airplane was a P-38 when, in fact, it
was a P-36 (I know the difference, but this one
escaped attention during successive waves of
proofreading and fact checking!).
When I was invited to write the narrative for the
book, I decided to stay as close as possible to the
primary materials, in particular the writings of
Charles Lindbergh and his family. Lindbergh’s
visits to Germany and his service in World War
II were of special interest to me. These years, as
you know, gave birth to fierce controversy and
no small amount of distortion of Lindbergh’s
ideas and motives. Here I found some hitherto
untapped sources, which I incorporated into the
narrative. My main goal was to place Lindbergh
into proper historical context. I am pleased that
many have found this dimension of the book
compelling and insightful.
Yet, there are many bumps in the road. One person complained that I had not mentioned that
Lindbergh had been a member of the German
American Bund! I told this person that he never
belonged to this group, and that anyone familiar
with Lindbergh’s personality and disdain of
organized movements would know that he was
no candidate for membership in the Bund.
Curiously, this person refused to accept my version of history, preferring bias to historical truth.
Getting the precise tone is problematical as well,
even when you are essentially correct in your
analysis. Reeve Lindbergh kindly read an early
draft of the manuscript, and she alerted me to the
fact that I had understated her father’s opposition
to the Moral Rearmament Movement: I had mentioned that Lindbergh adopted a negative view of
the Moral Rearmament movement, something
that was apparent in the record, but Reeve told
me that my description in no way reflected her
PAGE 4
father’s emotional rejection of the movement. In
the end, as we shortened the length of the narrative, I omitted this passing reference. However, it
reminded me that a person working off the printed record can often miss the tone implied in the
historical record. Again, there are many pitfalls
along the way, especially when you are dealing
with a person of the complexity of Charles
Lindbergh.
In recent years, there have been a number of
books on the Lindbergh kidnapping, where FBI
agents, amateur detectives, and celebrity forensic scientists have revisited the event. With the
limited space for my narrative, to the chagrin of
some I am sure, I did not give the kidnapping
story extended coverage, being content to see it
as a tragedy and a cautionary tale on perils of
celebrity in American history. I had other priorities for the narrative. However, I did read
exhaustively in the literature surrounding the
kidnapping, reaching the same conclusion as
Charles Lindbergh himself (and echoed in Scott
Berg) that Bruno Hauptmann, in fact, was the
kidnapper. Again, you have to make fateful decisions on interpretation, not just the details in
your coverage.
We recently faced these same problems at the
Museum with a new book on the centennial of
flight, an anthology of great aviators and epic
flights. One source sent us the wrong photos
(they had the originals), an error we discovered
only at the eleventh hour. In this same book, I
should add, there was also a debate on whether
one photo showed a Bleriot XI or a Bleriot XII.
We made a decision, but no doubt someone will
challenge us on this judgment call. One could
add many other examples in books and museum
exhibits. Error is a constant and unwelcome
companion to all researchers.
I have taken this long aside to suggest that the
writing of history is an art, not a science. I appreciate your kind letter. I anticipate that with any
reprinting of the book, we will have a chance to
correct this omission as well as the several errors
with the captions.
Whatever is said or done in the future, of course,
does not touch on a fundamental reality – that
your father played a pivotal role in Charles
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
Lindbergh’s quest to win the Orteig Prize.
Mistake prone historians will not alter this fact.
All the best.
Sincerely,
Von Hardesty
Hi, Doug,
Here’s another reply to my letter on the omission
of my father as one of C.A.L.’s financial backers
from Von Hardesty’s book “Lindbergh: Flight’s
Enigmatic Hero.” I’m glad to see that they, at
least, got the word out at the Lindbergh
Foundation meeting and that they will correct
any future editions of the book. If you have room
for it in an upcoming newsletter, could you run
at least the Addendum so our Society members
that have the book can have copies of it?
Sorry that I missed the Symposium in Oshkosh.
Seems like that time of year we always have
something else that we have to do – like grandkid’s graduating from high school and college!
Maybe we'll make it next year.
Many thanks for your good work. Keep in touch.
Best personal regards,
Frank H. Robertson, Jr.
Dear Mr. Robertson:
I was the editor of “Lindbergh: Flight’s Enigmatic
Hero” (published by Harcourt last fall), and I
write to apologize for the omission of your father
from our list of backers of the “Spirit of St.
Louis.” The author and I deeply regret the omission and have taken steps to ensure that he is listed in any future reprint of the book.
I do hope that the author’s letter of February 11,
2003, was reassuring to you. I know that he was
terribly concerned when he first learned of the
omission, and I think his letter provides ample
evidence of his conscientiousness.
On May 17, 2003, the San Diego Aerospace
Museum hosted the Lindbergh Foundation’s
annual awards banquet. For that event, Tehabi
was able to create an official addendum that was
inserted into each book that was given away. I
have enclosed a copy with this letter. Additional
copies have been given to the Lindbergh
Foundation so that they can include them in
their copies of the book as well.
PAGE 5
Thank you very much for sharing your concern.
Kindest regards,
Garrett Brown
Editor, Tehabi Books
e-mail: garrett@tehabi.com
Collectibles
They Got Questions...
Do You Have Answers?
Hi, Doug.
My grandfather has a bust of Charles Lindbergh.
On the bottom of it, there is engraved the year
1927. The name of the sculptor is Jean Appleton.
I was wondering if this would be of any value to
anyone, or if it is just trash. It’s slightly worn, but
not much.
height - 7 inches
width (at shoulders) - 7 inches
(at top of head) - 3 inches
weight - between 3 and 3 1/2 pounds
material - bronze or pewter casting with plaster
filling
condition - fairly good to good ... (There are a
few cracks on the casting on the shoulder,
behind the neck and on the right front collar.)
Please e-mail me back with any information.
Thank you for your time and help.
S.R.
Perhaps a note to Mr. Brown could get an
addendum for copies that may have been purchased previously.
Member Bill Chana also writes:
Doug, here’s another subject. I hate to take the
wind out of the sails of the Frank Robertson story,
but there were ten (not nine) who contributed to
the $15,000 raised for Lindbergh to buy an airplane. Yes, Frank is right, his father was one of
the contributors. My good friend, Von Hardesty,
was wrong in not including Robertson, Sr. I am
pleased to include a photo page that includes all
ten participants.
The page includes none other than Charles A.
Lindbergh, who contributred $2,000 of his own
savings to the flight!
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
e-mail at skramsey33@aol.com
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am attaching three shots of an envelope I purchased recently.
The envelope is “From the Home of Abraham
Lincoln” (Springfield, Illinois) and is postmarked
from Springfield on February 20, 1928.
I have determined that this envelope was carried
during a commemorative flight made by
Lindbergh over his old air mail route (St. Louis to
PAGE 6
Chicago).
The back of the envelope has stamps from
Moweaqua and Chicago, Illinois.
The envelope is not in great condition.
Is there anyone associated with your group who
can give me an idea what such an envelope
might be worth?
Thank you for your assistance.
Ron Stone
Pueblo West, Colorado
e-mail at rstone@mindspring.com
“Collectible” House of the Week
Member Ken Taylor writes:
Hi, Doug,
I was going through my files and I ran across this
copy of a real estate listing in the Wall Street
Journal. I don’t know the year but the description
is self-expalnatory. I don’t know if this would
reproduce for the Newsletter, but I thought you
and others might be interested.
Ken
House of the Week / Darien, Conn.
What: 8 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms in 5,700 square
feet on 1.25 acres.
Where: Darien, Conn.; 40 miles from Manhattan
Amenities: the property has views of Long Island
Sound and is located in an area known as Scott’s
Cove.
Asking Price: $7.5 million
Sound familiar? What a great place to display
all those wonderful Lindy Collectibles!
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 2
Fisk Files
Lindy quiz time; we should all know these, do
we?
From USA WEEKEND of May 17-19, 2002
True or False? Answers on page 8.
1. Lindbergh was the first pilot to cross the
Atlantic.
2. The crossing was part of an Army test flight.
3. The famous flight took about 24 hours.
4. Lindbergh also helped start the space program.
5. In 1938, Nazi official Hermann Goering presented Lindbergh with a German medal of
honor.
6. Congress reacted to the Lindbergh kidnapping
with a new law.
From Plane and Pilot Magazine’s website, posted June 2000.
How much DO you know? Answers on page 8.
1. In 1926 Charles Lindbergh decided to attempt
a solo nonstop crossing of the Atlantic. His
choice for the best airplane was:
a. Wright-Bellanca
b. Ford Trimotor
c. Ryan
d. Fokker
e. Travel Air
2. Lindbergh’s first choice of aircraft wasn’t
deemed suitable. Why?
a. It was too slow
b. It was too expensive
c. The fuel load was marginal
d. The engine wasn’t robust enough
3. The total time for Lindbergh’s flight from New
York to Paris was:
a. 33 hours, 30 minutes, 29.8 seconds
b. 26 hours, 14 minutes
b. 22 hours, 38 minutes
b. 19 hours, 28 minutes
4. True or False? The engine and navigation logs
for this famous trip reside in the Smithsonian
Institute.
5. What was Lindbergh’s cost for the “Spirit of St.
Louis”?
PAGE 7
a. $6,000
b. $9,270
c. $10,580
d. $12,450
6. The “Spirit of St. Louis” doesn’t have a windshield. Why?
a. The airplane was lighter without a windshield.
b. The engine intruded into the space where the
windshield should have been.
c. Fuel tanks were placed where the window
should have been.
d. Lindbergh was superstitious.
7. How long did it take Ryan Aircraft to build the
“Spirit of St. Louis” from acceptance of the order
to the completion of the aircraft?
a. Two months
b. Three months
c. Four months
d. Five months
8. How much fuel did Lindbergh start with on
his trip across the Atlantic?
a. 300 gallons
b. 450 gallons
c. 350 gallons
d. 250 gallons
9. How much was the prize that was offered to
the first person who successfully crossed the
Atlantic?
a. $25,000
b. $50,000
c. $75,000
d. $100,000
10. What trade-off did Lindbergh make regarding engine oil in order to save weight?
a. He decided not to take five gallons of oil.
b. He used a special oil that was 1.4 lbs. per gallon lighter.
c. He carried oil in the cockpit and added it as
needed.
d. He used a mixture of engine oil and gasoline.
11. How old was Lindbergh when he made this
flight?
a. 25
b. 28
c. 30
d. 34
12. True or False? Lindbergh used a custommade sextant for navigation over the ocean.
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
USA WEEKEND Answers: 1. False. Other pilots
had crossed the ocean before him, but he was the
first to do it alone, non-stop. 2. False. In 1919, a
New York hotel owner offered $25,00 to the first
aviator to fly non-stop from New York to Paris.
Several pilots were killed or hurt in the attempt. 3.
False. It took 33 1/2 hours. 4. True. Lindbergh
helped obtain support for the rocket research of
Robert Goddard, whose experiments led to the
development of space travel. 5. True. In 1941, he
joined the America First Committee, which
opposed U.S. entry into World War II. He charged
that Bristish and Jewish groups were leading
America into war. 6. True. Bruno Hauptmann was
convicted of the crime and executed in 1936. The
case gave birth to the “Lindbergh Law,” which
made kidnapping a federal offense if the victim was
taken across state lines or if ransom demands were
mailed.
Plane and Pilot Magazine Answers: 1. a. Lindbergh
was initially interested in Guiseppe Bellanca’s new
monoplane, but ended up with a custom-designed
Ryan. Many recommended that Lindbergh fly a
Trimotor for safety. 2. b. Bellanca wanted $25,000
for the airplane, but was willing to discount the
price by $10,000. The $15,000 asking price was
the amount Lindbergh had budgeted for the entire
program including the flight. 3. a. Lindbergh was
awake for 63 hours. 4. False. The engine and navigation logs were stolen by someone in the crowd at
LeBourget the day Lindbergh landed in Paris. Their
whereabouts are unknown. 5. c. The Ryan’s basic
airframe was $6000. With the Wright J-5 engine
and instruments, the price was $10,580. 6. c. A fuel
tank was originally designed to be placed in the
mail compartment behind the pilot. for increased
safety, Lindbergh preferred to be behind the engine
and fuel tank, so the cockpit and storage areas were
reversed. 7. a “The Spirit of St. Louis”, a different
airplane than Ryan had previously built, was completed in just 60 days from the date work began. 8.
b. Upon landing in Paris, Lindbergh had just
enough fuel for another 8 to 10 hours of flight. 9. a.
Lindbergh took off a few days before he was officially eligible for the Orteig prize, but he was
awarded it anyway. 10. a. By only filling 20 gallons
of the 25 gallons of oil that the plane’s engine
required, Lindbergh saved 36 pounds, which he
used for fuel. 11. a. He was born on January 4,
1902. 12. False. Lindbergh didn’t use a sextant. He
used dead (deduced) reckoning.
PAGE 8
Features
¡simposio 2004 de la sociedad
que se sostendrá en Cancún,
México!
2004 Society Symposium to be
held in Cancún, Mexico!
Our CANCUN SYMPOSIUM is going to take
place May 13 - 16, 2004!
Tentative schedule:
May 12 (Wednesday): Early arrivals.
May 13: Board meeting at the hotel.
May 14: General Business meeting, show & tell
at hotel and special presentation on CAL in
Mexico and Latin America.
May 15: Tour to Tulum and Xel-Ha. Official dinner.
May 16 (Sunday): Departures.
Hotel rates: The Society will receive a special
group hotel rate of $90 USD per night on double
occupancy. This price includes breakfast and
hotel taxes.
Hotel selection: Hotel name will be announced
as soon as possible, as we are settling details
with a couple of alternatives. The hotel will be a
4-star beach front hotel in Cancún Hotel Strip.
Air Transportation: Members attending should
make airline reservations to fly into Cancún,
Mexico International Airport (CUN).
Airport/Hotel/Airport transportation: Because
of the diverse potential arrivals, airport/
hotel/transportation will not be group transfers
but by each member when he or she arrives in
Cancún. A specialized transportation company
will offer us a special symposium rate.
Bringing collectibles into Mexico: The Cancún
symposium will have limited collectibles showand-tell. It is suggested that members bring
reduced numbers of items as most of the transportation will be air transportation.
More details will be announced in the next NL,
including final hotel, cut-off dates, symposium
registration fees and other information.
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
Another “Lucky”
Lindbergh Landing
Rowland Hall/John Dirks
I thoroughly enjoyed the latest CAL / NX 211
newsletter, particularly the Kohn article. Without
detracting from it, I would point out that the
Curtiss P-6C aircraft was powered by a D-12
engine of 1145 cubic inch displacement and 435
HP, not the 1550 CID Conqueror. The question
as to why Buffalo rather than Mitchel (not
Mitchell) Field? Probably because both the aircraft and the engine were manufactured there by
Curtiss. I think it is great that we still have people like Mr. Kohn who dig deep and come up
with these priceless accounts of little-known
incidents to share with serious students of aviation history.
It is possible that the enclosure tells a story
already familiar to you. I had flown over Athens,
Illinois, a number of times during my four-year
project of exploring CAM No. 2, but little did I
realize that there was an eye witness to the incident living only a short distance away. I guess
you would say that I stumbled across John Dirks
just a few months ago. Over the course of several phone conversations with him, I became so
intrigued with this 93-year-old man and his story
that I made the 210-mile drive down there last
week to meet him. It was one of the most heartwarming experiences I have ever had in my 87
years. To stand with him by this open field and
hear him relate in the greatest detail the account
that follows was like I had been transported back
in time over 76 years!
February 23, 2003
“Many years ago, I would say probably in
October of 1926, we lived right on the airmail
route that went from St. Louis to Springfield and
then to Chicago. One evening while doing my
chores on the farm, we saw an airplane come
down. The first thing we did was we went to the
plane to see what happened. Well the plane
came down of course and the only thing we
knew that happened was he just came down.
The first thing the man asked us was if we could
take his mail to Springfield. Well first we did that
PAGE 9
and then that evening he came back with us and
he stayed all night with us. Of course we didn’t
know who the man was. We knew he was an
aviator pilot, probably airmail. He stayed all
night with us and the next morning we had to
call him for breakfast. He came down, had
breakfast and we had a nice visit. He decided
“well maybe we better go see if I can get the
plane started.” We went to the plane and there
he worked on the engine not very long, a very
few minutes. He said, “Well I think it will go
now.” He tried to start it and, of course, at that
time planes didn’t have an electrical starter or
anything like that, they had to start it with a propeller. So he worked with it for quite a while. Of
course, he had to set the propeller at a certain
position and then he would go back around to
the cockpit and be sure that the ignition was off
and he would set the choke on and then he
would go around and turn this propeller several
rounds to get it to the right position and then he
would walk clear around the wing and give the
propeller one pull and either it would start ok or
if not he would have to go through the whole
procedure again. After so long a time of that, he
told me, “Come over here. You get in this plane
and I will tell you what to do.” I wasn’t too keen
going, I wasn’t more than a youngster, but they
will try anything. So I crawled into the plane and
he told me what to do. He said, “I will set this
throttle on the side here so it won’t run too fast.”
Well that sounded awful good to me. After a
while I had all the controls, turned the ignition
on, controlled the choke and everything and
finally he got the thing started and about the first
or second cough that engine made, I started out
of the plane because I didn’t know what could
happen. We came to find out this man was none
other than Charles Lindbergh. At that time he
was an airmail pilot, and then the following May
is when he made his flight to Paris. Of course,
then he did fly the mail again a few times and I
never will forget that every time he would fly
over he would dip the wing and wave even after
he made that historic flight to Paris. He was a
very common individual.”
John Dirks
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
The photograph shows John on the left and me
sitting at the same table where the Dirks Family
shared their supper and breakfast with their
unexpected young guest who dropped in from
the sky. I can well imagine how some of you collectors would like to get your hands on it!
The Lindbergh Trailer
Gerry and Carole Gariepy
Anne Morrow Lindbergh”s “War Within and
Without” contains her journal accounts of the
war years when CAL was a consultant for Ford
Motor Company at the Willow Run plant in
Michigan where the B-24’s were built. Charles
moved his family to a temporary rental property
in Bloomfield within commuting distance of his
work and placed a house trailer in the backyard
to serve as a writing studio for Anne. She often
referred to the trailer in her journals as her private haven and place of retreat. On our recent
trip to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn,
Michigan we saw that trailer and learned its
whole story.
Courtesy of The Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI
PAGE 10
Henry Ford bought the camping trailer for the
museum he was organizing. Camping with a
house trailer was a new concept at that time, and
new ideas fascinated Mr. Ford. In 1942, when he
heard that Anne needed a private place for writing, he removed it from the museum and gave it
to Charles for their use. In 1944 the trailer
moved with them to Westport, Conn., and then
in 1946 to Scott Cove, Conn., and finally in
1947 to Darien, Conn.
CAL must have been pleased with the quality of
the trailer. It is framed in wood and is canvascovered, similar to the construction of a canvas
canoe. The entry door at the side of the trailer
led into a large room that contained the living
room and kitchen. There is a good-sized couch,
which probably opened up to make a double
bed, and the kitchen looked very adequate with
its stove, sink, icebox and wooden cupboards. A
bathroom with a chemical toilet was in the small
room to the right of the living room, and the dining area was at the left of the kitchen. Probably,
the seats and table there converted into a sleeping place also. The overall size appears to be
about 20 feet long.
he registered them on a piece of wood that was
always with them – the plywood undersurface of
the top kitchen drawer! The dates of each trip
are carefully listed and the initials of those who
went. The list shows that they visited 36 states.
(The over-turned drawer with the trailer’s itinerary is in a glass case displayed in front of the
trailer.)
Courtesy of The Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI
Courtesy of The Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI
Beyond using the trailer for her writing studio,
she and Charles used it for traveling in the
United States. In typical CAL fashion, he documented all the trips they took with the trailer, and
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
The wonderful little trailer home allowed them
to live in their beloved place while they traveled
and provided them with more privacy than they
would have had if they’d registered at a hotel. In
1957, when they no longer used the trailer,
Charles wrote to his old friend Henry and asked
him if he’d like the trailer back for the museum.
(The letter is exhibited in the case beside the
drawer.) Of course, Henry wanted the trailer for
the museum. The fact that Charles and Anne
Lindbergh used it certainly increased its value. It
is now an important piece of memorabilia –
obvious to any visitor by the number of people
who gather around to view it.
We are impressed by the number of places we
visit that have something about CAL included in
their exhibits. He touched so many lives.
PAGE 11
The Spirit Flies Again!
Dan Clemons
On Saturday, August 16, 2003, the San Diego
Aerospace Museum’s replica of the Ryan “Spirit
of St. Louis” took flight for the first time since
1979 with Captain Roger Baker at the controls.
The flight was made in celebration of the 75th
anniversary of Lindbergh Field at San Diego
International Airport. Charles A. Lindbergh’s historic 1927 transatlantic flight in the original
“Spirit of St. Louis” galvanized public enthusiasm for the potential of air travel. The Museum’s
plane is the only known replica built by three of
the original builders of the “Spirit of St. Louis”.
hours and 28 minutes. The fire engines shooting
water, the crowd, the antique car was all great
fun to watch. The landing was a 4 on a scale of
1 to 10. That 46-foot wing span just wants to
keep that plane in the float.
The first picture is the Donald Hall exhibit showing some of his drafting tools used to make drawings of the “Spirit of St. Louis”. The second picture is of the total exhibit with the Airports “Spirit
of St. Louis” #15.
It was GREAT seeing the San Diego Aerospace
Museum’s “Spirit of St. Louis” #9 fly. I have
longed to hear the sound of a Wright Whirlwind
J-5 rotary engine that Lindbergh heard for 489
Courtesy of Dan Clemons
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
PAGE 12
Replica of Lindbergh’s plane
flies again
By James Steinberg, San Diego UnionTribune, August 14, 2003
sent by Paul Erickson
A replica of Charles A. Lindbergh’s history-making “Spirit of St. Louis” took to the air for the first
time in 24 years during a test flight yesterday.
The flight lasted 19 minutes, and the plane
climbed to 2,000 feet before making a “perfect
three-point landing,” said Bruce Bleakley, the
San Diego Aerospace Museum’s executive director.
Roger Baker, a retired United Airlines pilot,
made the test flight and will pilot the plane into
Lindbergh Field Saturday as part of the airport’s
75th anniversary celebration.
People near the downtown airport on Saturday
will have two opportunities to see it airborne.
The first will be about noon, when it lands, and
the other about 3 p.m., when it takes off.
The airport was dedicated August 16, 1928, little
more than a year after Lindbergh made the first
nonstop flight from New York to Paris. His 3,600
mile journey across the Atlantic took 33 1/2
hours.
The aircraft has a special link to Lindbergh. Four
of the Ryan Airlines employees who built the
original 1927 “Spirit of St. Louis” in San Diego
were among the Aerospace Museum volunteers
who built the 1979 replica.
Saturday’s flight will be a relatively brief one,
departing Gillespie Field in El Cajon about 11:30
a.m. with a noon landing at Lindbergh Field.
Baker will park the plane at the airport’s commuter terminal, where the aircraft will be on display until 2:30 p.m. Baker will take the plane
back to Gillespie Field at 3 p.m.
The aircraft made seven brief flights shortly after
it was built and was then installed in the
Aerospace Museum rotunda.
Those short hops, for a total air time of 2 hours
and 40 minutes, were all in and out of Lindbergh
Field, said Gordon Witter, the Aerospace
Museum’s chairman emeritus and project officer
for Saturday’s flight.
“This aircraft is an incredibly accurate (replica)
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
of one of the two most important airplanes in
aviation,” Baker said. The other aircraft was
Wilbur and Orville Wright’s Flyer, which made
the first heavier-than-air flight 100 years ago this
December.
The Spirit’s 1930 nine-cylinder, 223-horsepower
Wright Whirlwind J-5A engine was started for
the first time in 24 years on August 1. “It hiccoughed a couple of times and spit a little carbon out the exhaust and then purred,” Witter
said.
The replica was disassembled July 2 in the
Aerospace Museum rotunda, where it has been
on display for nearly a quarter-century. It was
then trucked from Balboa Park to Gillespie Field,
where it was inspected piece by piece and
reassembled.
Baker said the only things replaced were the
cables leading from the cockpit to the aircraft’s
control surfaces on the wing and tail, and the
load-bearing fasteners that hold the aircraft
together.
Baker, who flew 877,000-pound Boeing 747s
commercially, is an avid small-plane pilot. The
Spirit replica he will fly weighs 1,950 pounds,
about 200 pounds less than the original. It has a
smaller fuel tank and a rear wheel instead of a
skid, but it is otherwise identical to Lindbergh’s
plane.
And, like the original, the replica had no forward
visibility and very little ground maneuvering
capability. It also is clumsy to handle, he said
after yesterday’s test.
“This plane was designed with a narrow focus to
accomplish just one thing – go a long way without stopping,” Baker said. Other factors, including pilot comfort, had low priority.
PAGE 13
Another Spirit’s Last Flight
Submitted by Gene Weisenberg
A Spirit replica based in Sweden crashed on May
31, 2003, killing the pilot, who was 59 years old
with 21,200 total hours. He had logged 190 of
those hours on the plane type he was flying. The
details of the accident are included here. The
information source is the AAIB field investigation
report.
The aircraft was a replica of the Ryan “Spirit of St
Louis”, in which Charles Lindbergh made the
first solo transatlantic crossing in 1927. ES-XCL
was built in 1997 from drawings used in the construction of the flying replica displayed at the
San Diego Aerospace Museum.
Shortly after take off from Runway 23 at
Coventry Airport, whilst climbing and manoeuvring gently to begin its display sequence, the
aircraft’s right wing suffered a major structural
failure and the aircraft fell steeply into an industrial compound bordering the airfield. The pilot
survived the impact, but died shortly afterwards
from his injuries.
Examination of the aircraft wreckage quickly
determined that the outboard end of a tubular
steel wishbone strut, which locates and supports
both the upper end of the right landing gear
shock strut and the lower end of the forward
right wing strut, had failed in flight as a result of
fatigue cracking. This failure had permitted the
landing gear and its shock strut, together with
the lower end of the forward lift strut, to articulate upward and outward. The resulting movement not only rendered the lift strut ineffective,
but also induced a severe levering-type contact
between the side of the shock strut and the right
wheel rim, fracturing the axle and allowing the
wheel to separate and fall free. The sudden dislocation of the wing strut resulted in an immediate overload failure of the forward (wooden) spar
at its attachment to the fuselage, and consequential failure of the remaining inboard wing
structure, as the forward part of the wing twisted
upward and rearward. Detailed investigation
into the underlying cause of the fatigue failure is
ongoing, and a full report into this accident will
be published as an AAIB Bulletin in due course.
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
Lindbergh Symposium to
Celebrate 100th Anniversary
of Flight
FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 22, 2003) In celebration of the 100th anniversary of flight, a
Lindbergh Symposium will be held Saturday,
November 15, 2003, at Florida Gulf Coast
University in Fort Myers, Fla. The symposium,
titled “Wings to Lift the World,” will feature several well-known speakers associated with
Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and
will focus on significant achievements in aviation history and the Lindberghs’ shared vision of
a balance between technological advancement
and environmental preservation.
Confirmed speakers for the event include:
Jim Fowler, a Lindbergh Award recipient, internationally noted naturalist, authority on predatory birds and media spokesman for wildlife conservation. Fowler earned international acclaim
for his work as co-host and host of “Mutual of
Omaha’s Wild Kingdom,” and later the “Spirit of
Adventure” program.
Sergei Sikorsky, early pioneer in the helicopter
search and rescue field, past vice president of
United Technologies Sikorsky Aircraft USA.
Sergei Sikorsky is the son of Igor Sikorsky, who
invented and flew the world’s first practical operational helicopter and worked with Charles
Lindbergh on the early amphibian aircraft that
paved the way for future commercial international air travel.
Dr. Richard Hallion, the eminent aviation historian and author of “Taking Flight; Inventing the
Aerial Age.” Dr. Hallion is the author of many
admired books on aviation, including the history
of the Guggenheim Fund for which he conferred
with Charles Lindbergh just before Lindbergh’s
death.
Kristina Lindbergh, granddaughter of Charles
and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
Welcome and opening remarks: Margaret
Eiluned Morgan, niece of Charles A. and Anne
Morrow Lindbergh and president of The Earth
Shine Institute and Lindbergh Symposium.
Closing Remarks: Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of
Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, awardPAGE 14
winning author, and president of The Charles A.
and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation.
“The 2003 Lindbergh Symposium will celebrate
the 100th anniversary of powered flight and celebrate ‘balance’: balance of heritage and horizon, insight and foresight, nature and technology, and how all it came together at Kitty Hawk in
1903, and how it all still comes together in powered flight today,” said Margaret Eiluned
Morgan, niece of the Lindberghs and president
of the symposium.
The symposium will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
with a reception and book signing with the
speakers from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The admission
fee is $50, which includes all speaker sessions,
lunch, refreshments and the reception/booksigning. Books authored by symposium speakers, as well as the Lindberghs, will be available
for purchase at the reception/book-signing, and
several speakers are invited to participate in the
signing.
More information and a registration form are
available on the Web at: www.earthshineinstitute.com. Registration forms can also be requested by phone at (239) 334-2154, ext. 125 or email at: lindbergh@wwrecpa.com.
The Lindbergh Symposium is presented by The
Earth Shine Institute, a supporting organization
of The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Foundation. Additional event sponsors and supporters include The Charles A. and Anne
Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, the Lee Island
Coast Tourist Development Council, Florida Gulf
Coast University, Northern Trust Bank and the
Southwest Florida Community Foundation.
The Earth Shine Institute was founded in 2002,
the 75th anniversary year of Charles Lindbergh’s
historic solo New York-to-Paris flight. The
Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization based in
Florida that serves as a supporting organization
of The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Foundation and presents educational and cultural programs in Southwest Florida that further the
shared vision of Charles A. and Anne Morrow
Lindbergh.
The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Foundation is an international non-profit organization based in Anoka, Minnesota, whose misCAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
sion is to honor the lifelong partnership between
Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh in aviation,
writing and their shared commitment to the
advancement of scientific knowledge they
helped pioneer, while maintaining a long-term
respect for the environment they cherished. The
Lindbergh Foundation administers three types of
programs: Lindbergh Grants; an annual honorary
Lindbergh Award for lifetime achievement, and a
variety of educational programs and publications, all dedicated to the Lindberghs’ philosophy of balance between technology and the
environment. More information on the
Foundation and the Lindberghs is available on
the Foundation Web site at:
www.lindberghfoundation.org.
Additional information about the 100th anniversary of flight can be found on the Web at:
www.centennialofflight.gov.
Additional Background on Symposium Title,
“Wings to Lift the World”:
Charles Lindbergh was one of the first people to
receive the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy
after Orville Wright’s passing in 1948. Charles
Lindbergh met Orville Wright shortly after
Charles’ historic solo flight from New York-toParis in 1927 and served for many years on the
Board of NACA (the precursor of NASA). So on
December 17, 1949, in the closing sentences of
his acceptance speech for the Wright Brothers
Memorial Trophy, Charles Lindbergh was not just
honoring an American icon who gave mankind
a new dimension to explore, but also someone
he knew, admired and called friend.
“In honoring the Wright Brothers, it is proper and
customary to emphasize their contribution to
scientific progress. But I believe it is equally
important to emphasize the qualities in their pioneering life and the character in man that such a
life produced. The Wright Brothers balanced
success with modesty; science with simplicity.
At Kitty Hawk, their intellects and senses worked
in mutual support. They represented man in balance. And from that balance came wings to lift
a world,” Lindbergh said.
Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of aviator-authors
Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was
born in 1945 and grew up with her three brothPAGE 15
ers and her sister in Connecticut.
Mrs.
Lindbergh graduated from Radcliffe College in
1968 and moved to Vermont, where she has
been teaching, writing and raising a family ever
since. She is the award-winning author of 17
books for children and five books for adults. She
is the president of The Charles A. and Anne
Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, a Minnesota
non-profit organization seeking balance
between technological advancement and environmental wisdom. She lives near St. Johnsbury,
Vermont, with her husband, Nathaniel Tripp,
and their family.
Mrs. Lindbergh will offer closing remarks for the
symposium.
Contact: Kelly Powell, (239) 415-3155 or (239)
633-2238 for information.
Be sure to check out The Marketplace for great
Foundation items at great Society prices!
First Flight Centennial
Celebration
December 12 - 17, 2003
Kill Devil Hills, NC, September 29, 2003
Ticket sales for the First Flight Centennial
Celebration continue to ascend as people from
all over the world plan to come to the very site
where the historic first manned, powered, controlled flights were made by Orville and Wilbur
Wright. As of September 28, with less than
eighty days to go, 126,869 tickets have been
sold for the First Flight Centennial Celebration,
taking place December 12-17, 2003 at Wright
Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills,
NC.
“We encourage those who haven’t done so to
purchase their tickets as soon as possible,” said
Lawrence A. Belli, Superintendent of the
National Park Service’s Outer Banks Group.
“Tickets are still available for all days. The
National Park Service, the State of North
Carolina and all of our centennial partners have
created a memorable and fitting celebration in
honor of these two brothers who changed the
world.”
Belli also added that event planners have set the
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
daily maximum capacity of the park at 35,000
attendees in order to provide the best visitor
experience.
Ticket breakout per day is:
Friday
Dec. 12 – non-ticketed day
Saturday
Dec. 13 – 23,533 tickets
Sunday,
Dec. 14 – 23,323 tickets
Monday,
Dec. 15 – 23,417 tickets
Tuesday,
Dec. 16 – 24,950 tickets
Wednesday, Dec. 17 – 31,646 tickets
The majority of tickets sold to date have been in
five-day package increments, accounting for
22,879 tickets each day. Fewer buyers purchased individual day tickets. December 17 had
the highest number of individual day sales with
8,767 tickets.
Individual one-day tickets are $10 per day. If an
individual adult purchases entrance tickets for
all five days at the time of original purchase, the
package price is a one-time fee of $25.
However, once 35,000 tickets have been sold for
any of the days, the five-day ticket packages will
no longer be available. Individual one-day tickets for the four previous days will still be available for purchase at $10 per day until the
35,000-ticket limit has been reached for each of
those days.
Senior citizens, age 62 and over, and disabled
individuals may purchase a daily ticket for $5
each, while available. Incentive package price
for all five days is $20.
Although children age 12 and under are free,
they will still need a ticket to enter the park.
The ticket entitles the ticket holder to shuttle
transportation between Wright Brothers National
Memorial and designated remote parking sites
,plus access to all buildings, grounds, exhibits
and performances open to the general public at
the memorial during the event. Seating is not
included in the price; and may be rented on site.
Tickets are currently available online at
http://www.wrightbrothers.reserveworld.com or
by calling 1-800-973-7327, or (301) 722-1257
for callers outside of the United States.
All of the most recent information on the First
Flight Centennial Celebration can be accessed at
the Centennial website, www.firstflightcentennial.org. For information on accommodations,
PAGE 16
check the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau website at
www.outerbanks.org or call their toll-free number at (877) 298-4373.
Contact: Erin Porter, Centennial Planning Office
Tel: (252) 441-6291, ext. 224
ErinPorterNPS@aol.com
Schedule of Events
Friday, December 12
IGNITING THE IMAGINATION
This day is designed to inspire the next generation of aviators by engaging children of all ages
in the power of flight. Highlights include interacting with NASA; interviews with the Wright
Family children; Candy Bomber demonstrations;
a chance to soar with the EAA Young Eagles; and
performance by the Raleigh Boy Choir. The only
non-ticketed day. School Groups Register Here.
Saturday and Sunday, December 13-14
REMEMBER THE PAST, IMAGINE THE FUTURE
This two-day festival will celebrate aviation’s
impact over the last century. Features include
appearances by historic aviators; exhibits; aircraft demonstrations; 100-person jump team;
skywriting competition; wing-walker team; and
“The Temptations” on the Main Stage at 1 p.m.
on Sunday.
Monday, December 15
PROTECTING THE HOME OF THE BRAVE
Celebrating the impact of aviation in the military,
this day is designed to honor those men and
women who developed and flew military aircraft
through the years. Highlights include military
aircraft dating back to World War I, participation
from the U.S. military stationed around the
world, and Aaron Tippin on the Main Stage at 1
p.m. (Monday). There will be a skydiving presentation.
Tuesday, December 16
IN HISTORY’S FOOTSTEPS, CELEBRATING 100
AVIATION PIONEERS
The North Carolina Centennial special committee will hold a ceremony to honor 100 aviation
heroes, as selected by the commission. In addition, the historic contributions of these individuals will be examined through film and exhibits.
Also included will be a performance of “Riding
the Winds of December” by the Dare County
Schools.
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
Wednesday, December 17
12 SECONDS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
The celebration will culminate with EAA’s recreation of the single-most significant moment of
the last century – the Wright Brothers’ first
heavier-than-air powered flight which took off at
precisely 10:35 a.m. and lasted 12 seconds,
traveling 120 feet. The Wright Experience team
will re-enact the first flight with an authentic
reproduction of the 1903 Flyer. Later that day,
Harry B. Combs, noted pilot, author, and former
president of Gates Learjet Corporation will
donate a full-scale, authentic reproduction of the
1903 Wright Flyer to the National Park Service.
Dignitaries, celebrities, and aviation legends will
be on hand to celebrate and commemorate this
occasion. Highlights include a 100-Plane Flyby
(spaced throughout the day), Millionth EAA
Young Eagle flight with retired Brigadier General
Chuck Yeager. Second show starts at 2 p.m.
Traveling Lindbergh exhibit
begins its final week at EAA
(next stop: Raleigh, NC)
By Jim Collar of The Northwestern
More than 100,000 people made their way
through the Experimental Aircraft Association’s
AirVenture Museum this summer to grab a
glance at history.
John Sepka of Eagle River quickly learned why
Saturday afternoon. While Stepka didn’t come to
Oshkosh specifically to see the traveling Charles
Lindbergh exhibit, he was amazed at how the
attraction captured the life of the famed aviator.
“This is beautiful,” he said, “I’ve already learned
a few things about Lindbergh that I didn’t know
before.”
There is still one week to see the exhibition on
the life of Lindbergh. The exhibit remains open
through Oct. 5. Adam Smith, director of the
AirVenture Museum, said the exhibit was the
largest undertaking in the museum’s history and
it’s been a great success.
Lindbergh is one figure who’s never fallen from
the public’s curiosity. He drew international
fame in 1927 by becoming the first person to
PAGE 17
complete a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
He left New York in the “Spirit of St. Louis” on
May 20 and landed in Paris 33 hours later.
The collection of close to 400 personal artifacts
from Lindbergh’s life came to Oshkosh on loan
from the Missouri Historical Society. Many of
those artifacts were open to display for the first
time in decades.
Visitors can view the flight suit Lindbergh wore
on the historic flight. Lindbergh’s Pulitzer Prize,
other awards and even some run-of-the-mill
items line the exhibit walls. Artifacts range from
a stick of gum that made the flight in Lindbergh’s
pocket to the many gifts showered on him following the trek.
“It’s been a very good year for us, and we like to
think that the exhibit played a role,” Smith said.
“It was a chance to encourage people to visit
Oshkosh and do something special for the centennial of flight.”
EAA brought the exhibit to Oshkosh both in
recognition of flight’s centennial and the museum’s 20th anniversary. The exhibit will move to
Raleigh, N.C., in recognition of centennial
events taking place there.
Smith said the success of the exhibit could lead
to other major exhibitions in the future. With the
museum’s limited scope of aviation, however,
it’s difficult to imagine any other exhibits that
could rival the Lindbergh collection, he said. “It
was certainly a learning experience, and part of
it was determining if we could make it a success,” Smith said. “It’s certainly been a positive
experience for us.”
Several people
look around the
Charles Lindbergh
Exhibit at the EAA
AirVenture
Museum.
ROAD TRIP!!! I for one am l traveling to Kitty
Hawk, North Carolina via Raleigh in December
this year. The exhibit will be in Raleigh at the
North Carolina Museum of History from
November 8, 2003 through February 1, 2004.
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
Society
News
Summer in Oshkosh
by Rosemary Zuern
Hello, Collector Friends,
We certainly have enjoyed a number of visitors
here in Oshkosh since the Symposium in May.
Of course, the large EAA Fly In always attracts a
lot of our society members and other friends.
Member Bob Hurd and Tonya Hensley came
again this year to set up their two tents in the Fly
Market and sell aviation memorabilia, sun glasses and jewelry. Dave and I worked for them
again this year. This area becomes a stopping off
point for many of our acquaintances.
Member Steve Marquette from Mt. Prospect, IL
had hoped to finish his Fire Star to fly to
Oshkosh, but he did not quite get it completed
so he will plan to fly it in next year ... and hope
for a prize.
Member Bud Rogers from Stoughton, Wl (about
90 miles southwest of Oshkosh) works in the
ultra light area at EAA. He is an ultra light pilot
and has his own craft, as well as a large motor
home which he uses to travel the United States
and to visit aviation museums. We enjoy receiving cards from him as he travels. Bud is a retired
school teacher, but still does some subbing.
Our Society VP, Joena Meier and her school
chum Willy and his nephew came to EAA and
camped as they normally do. Willy and Joena
grew up together and share the interest in flying
created by their parents. Joena still flys the family Stinson aircraft. Both look for collectibles and
Willy is always looking for Modeling magazines.
Joena is from Jacksonville, IL.
Member Pat Doty and her husband Bill flew in
from Florida for the week. We always enjoy seeing them each year. Pat loves to search the vendor areas for jewelry and other artifacts for her
collection.
Bill Signs flew up from Dallas, Texas with his
PAGE 18
friend, Alice. You will recall that Bill reenacted
Lindbergh’s flight on the 70th anniversary –
crossing the Atlantic in his single engine Cessna.
It was good to see Bill again and a number of us
shared an evening dinner at the Fin ‘n Feather in
Winneconne, about 10 miles from Oshkosh on
the Fox River.
Bill and Claudia Allen came from San Diego.
They are also EAA members and were honored
on the night of the “Gathering of Eagles” ceremony. Nice! They have two lovely Dietz pieces
of their art on display at the EAA Museum. It was
fun seeing them again, and we spent a couple of
hours with them at our firehouse. They had
always been such great hosts when the Society
met in San Diego, sharing their wonderful
hangar home and memorabilia.
Dave Mars from Jackson, MS comes to Bob
Hurd’s Aviation Antique Mall tent every year to
purchase “stuff,” so we got to see him again.
I had a nice visit, again this year, with Mark
Miller from Vickery, Ohio. Mark has been with
the railroad and he also farms. He visited Dick
and Janet Hoerle when Dick was selling his
Lindbergh collection.
Don Kise from Minnesota has a really neat plane
pedalcar which he shared with us in Minnesota
the first time we met with the Charles A. and
Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation. He did not
make it to Oshkosh, but his son stopped by the
tent to send his greetings.
Member Dave Lammers and his wife, Katy, were
in for the Fly In. Dave is one of the “Spirit” replica pilots. Dave and I were privileged to each
have a ride with him in the “Spirit”. The
Lammers live in Marion, IA.
Chris Ogren was in from Iowa, too, and I missed
her visit at the tent. However, she and three of
her friends flew in and toured our firehouse, and
the Lindbergh display earlier in July.
Speaking of the Lindbergh traveling display,
Dave and I attended the pre-opening event for
the ribbon cutting. That evening, Paul
Poberezny, son Tom; EAA President, Adam Smith
and Verne Jobst gave short talks. During this
time, they nicely recognized our Dave Jameson
who spawned the idea, when on the EAA Board,
to reenact Lindbergh’s flight in 1977. What a
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
great idea that turned out to be, and it was really nice to have him so recognized. Dave and I
consider Dave Jameson one of our good friends.
The traveling Lindbergh display is marvelous,
and it is just wonderful to have it here in our
backyard. EAA got it at a cost of $60,000-plus,
and it is here until early October. Watch for it in
a city close to you. It has all of those items we
have seen only in the booklets.
Verne Jobst, longtime “Spirit” replica pilot, and
chief pilot on the 1977 tour, was on hand at the
Fly In for presentations. He has a number of
responsibilities, and this is always a busy time
for him.
Dan Witkoff and his two artist friends, all from
California, had space in the Fly Market, and they
sold their art work again. They do wonderful
work. Dave and I couldn’t resist and we had to
make a couple of purchases.
Two weeks ago Duane Jacobson sent an e-mail
and said he and Rachel and daughter Anna were
planning a visit to see the Lindbergh display.
They loved it. We also met at the firehouse for a
tour – and I had my ‘61 Chev convertible. Duane
said Anna had never ridden in a convertible so
we topped off their visit and gave a ride to her
and Duane. Good to see those folks again.
By the way, Erik Lindbergh was at Air Venture
2003, also. The people he was staying with
called at the last minute, to see if he could see
my collection the night before he left. Alas, we
could not work it in. It is pretty bad when our
hero’s grandson is turned down. Maybe next
time.
As you can see, it has been busy here in
Oshkosh. I have rambled on a bit, but I do hope
you’ve enjoyed these small member profiles.
Welcome, New Members!
Gary Gray
1705 Charter Ave.
Portage, MI 49024
Michael Cullen
1008 Gibraltor Ave.
Fargo, ND 58102
Richard Sanders Allen
831A Stewart Ave.
Lewiston, ID 83501
PAGE 19
Captain Eddie’s House
Member Dick Hoerle has been busy in
Columbus, volunteering time to create a “replica” of Captain Eddie Rickenbacher’s boyhood
home and sends the following:
Here is a picture of the Rickenbacher House.
Still some things to be done, but, we are walking
people through it. Thought you (and other members) may be interested. It is exact except for the
wheelchair ramp.
Best wishes,
Janet & Dick
Member Bill Chana Named to
EAA’s Fame Hall
from the Pacific Flyer, July 2003
Renowned Convair flight test engineer William F.
“Bill” Chana, 82, has been selected for induction
into the EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame this
fall.
Chana, who lives in San Diego, Calif. with his
wife, Norine, was notified of the honor by EAA
President, Tom Poberezny. The induction ceremony will take place at EAA headquarters in
Oshkosh, Wisc. this Oct. 24.
He is being honored for his role as a founding
member of EAA Chapter 14, which still meets
monthly at San Diego’s Brown Field. He not only
contributed to the growth of the homebuilt aircraft movement on the West Coast, he test flew
the prone-pilot Wee Bee, which the Guinness
Book of World Records listed as the world’s
lightest airplane.
The president of the Silver Wings Fraternity (anyone who soloed a powered plane 25 years ago
can join), Chana began his aviation career at
Consolidated-Vultee in 1941 as a flight test engiCAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
neer. He helped develop Convair’s XFY-1 Pogo,
XF2Y-1 Sea Dart, XF-92A and Atlas missile.
Chana has been on the board of directors of the
San Diego Aerospace Museum for more than 34
years and served as president from 1996-98. He
is also a member of the OX-5 Aviation Pioneers,
the American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics and the Society of Automotive
Engineers.
The EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame was founded in 1993.
Bill Chana,
CAL/N-X-211 Member
and founding member
of EAA Chapter 14
Congratulations, Bill. What an honor!
Design of the Times
from the Flyer, official newsletter of the
National Air and Space Society
Stanley King, successful designer and businessman, has donated a priceless collection of
Lindbergh memorabilia to the National Air and
Space Museum.
King, owner of Stanley King Design Studios, a
decorative fabric design studio in New York, and
one of the major design forces in his field for half
a century, has amassed a collection of nearly
800 pieces of Lindbergh memorabilia.
At the time that Charles Lindbergh made his triumphant transatlantic flight in 1927, King was
an infant. Yet, as he grew up, something about
Lindbergh and the courage it took for him to
make the flight fascinated King. As an adult he
began collecting items commemoratiing the
flight. And they abounded, anything Lindbergh’s
image could fit on, including matchbooks, dolls,
banjos, wrist watches, tapestries, sheet music,
pennants, tableware, games, toys – even bread
wrappers. The objects show the outpouring of
PAGE 20
emotion surrounding the flight – and the capitalization of it. They are reminders of the astounding impact Lindbergh had on the populace of the
time.
For the Museum, it is a significant collection that
adds to the story that can be told about
Lindbergh. It will be added to the other
Lindbergh artifacts already in the collection two planes, the Ryan NYP “Spirit of St. Louis”
and the Lockheed Sirius “Tingmissartoq”, plus
many items from his flights. Before this donation,
however, the Museum didn’t have many objects
reflecting the truly immense impact of his 1927
flight on the world.
King, who recently retired and sold his business,
decided it was finally time to part with his collection, much of which, after it is catalogued,
will be on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center.
Marketplace
SALE ITEMS FOR LINDBERGH
COLLECTORS SOCIETY
75TH ANNIVERSARY FLEECE SWEATSHIRT –
100% spun polyester heavyweight panda fleece
in burgundy with right chest 3-1/2" diameter
embroidered logo. (Sweatshirts tend to run
large, we recommend purchasing one size smaller.) Adult sizes only in:
XL
XXL
Originally $45, specially reduced to $25.
Amazing, Stan! Thanks for making sure that this
important part of the Lindbergh story is preserved for future generations!
Our Sympathy to Jean Saunders
I know I speak for the whole Society in offering
our condolences to our friend Jean Saunders, on
the passing of her husband, JOSEPH ALLAN
EATON SAUNDERS, who died at home on
Sunday, September 7, 2003 from pulmonary
fibrosis.
Allan was born on March 19, 1927 to Robert
Eaton Saunders and Erika Kruger Saunders in
Darien, Connecticut where he grew up and lived
for many years.
For many years, his hobby was owning and
restoring antique cars. He was an active member and officer of the Fairfield County Horseless
Carriage Club and the Veteran Motor Car Club.
He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and of
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.
A Boy Scout himself, Allan served many years as
scoutmaster and advisor, leading and inspiring
his sons and other boys, as well as his grandsons.
He loved the outdoors, hiking and camping.
Jean, you and your family will be in our
thoughts and prayers
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
75TH ANNIVERSARY T-SHIRT – 100% cotton
shirt in tan with compass rose on the front right
chest and full size logo on the back. (Shirts tend
to run small, we recommend purchasing one
size larger. Would be ideal for older children.)
Adult sizes only in:
S
M
Originally $15, specially reduced to $7.
PAGE 21
75TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE
COIN – 1.5" brass coin with color and diamond
cut edging surrounding the Anniversary logo that
says “1927-2002, Celebrate the Lindbergh
Legacy.” The reverse is plain brass and says
“75th Anniversary, First non-stop flight, Spirit of
St. Louis, New York to Paris, 1927-2002,
Lindbergh Foundation.” Comes in a plastic coin
case.
Originally $10, specially reduced to $8.
HERITAGE WEEK CACHED ENVELOPES – A
cancelled color envelope from the 1985
Lindbergh Heritage Week celebration in
Minnesota, when the terminal at Minneapolis/St.
Paul International Airport was named in honor of
Charles Lindbergh. $2.
HERITAGE WEEK POSTER – A 22" x 28" color
poster created for the 1985 Lindbergh Heritage
Week celebration in Minnesota. $7.50.
50TH ANNIVERSARY MEDALS – 1.5" bronze
coin, one side has an image of Lindbergh and
the “Spirit of St. Louis”, the reverse says “50th
Anniversary, First non-stop flight, Spirit of St.
Louis, New York to Paris, 1927-1977, Lindbergh
Memorial Fund, Official Commemorative
Medal.” Comes in a blue velvet pouch. $10.
2000 LINDBERGH AWARD PRINT – Limited
edition, 18" x 36" full-color print featuring the
likeness of Charles Lindbergh and Burt Rutan,
2000 Lindbergh Award recipient who is best
known for designing the Voyager aircraft, which
transversed the earth nonstop, without re-fueling, in 1986. Signed by Burt Rutan and the artist,
Michael Casad.
Originally $250, specially reduced to $25.
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
PAGE 22
Postage is $4 for the first item and $2 per each
additional item. Check or money order made
payable to the Lindbergh Foundation. We also
take VISA or MasterCard only: Credit card orders
may be phoned, faxed or mailed. If mailing or
faxing, be sure to include:
Name, Full address, Phone number, Type of
Credit Card: (Visa/MasterCard), Credit Card #,
Exp. Date, Cardholder Name, Cardholder
Signature and the Amount to be charged.
Contact:
Lindbergh Foundation
2150 Third Ave. N., Suite 310
Anoka, MN 55303-2200
phone: (763) 576-1596
fax: (763) 576-1664
www.lindberghfoundation.org
The Spirit of St. Louis
Aviator Glasses
With the cooperation of the Lindbergh
Foundation and Missouri Historical Society, the
manufacturer of the Spirit of St. Louis Aviator
Glasses has been able to create a virtual replica.
Here’s your opportunity
to get an official replica
of the original Aviator
Glasses worn on the historic flight of the “Spirit
of St. Louis” in 1927.
Log on to: www.lindberghsunglasses.com
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
PAGE 23
Lindbergh Medallion
This is the commerative medallion issued by the
Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce. It is 2.5 " x
3.5". If interested please make an offer to:
Ciaran Mercier
1811 Novato Blvd. #39
Novato, CA 94947
ciaran_mercer@adidam.org
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• Back issues of the 2 journals
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Slimshots
Eddie Tore
More Society News
Our International President!
Here is a photo of your Mexican friend Juan
while he attended the 45th edition of the Paris
Airshow in June. The aircraft he is with is of special interest, it is the Mystere 20 prototype that
Lindbergh flew and evaluated while searching
for an executive jet for Pan American’s executive
jet division.
Based on
L i n d b e r g h ’s
opinion, Pan
Am ordered it
and the model
became the
well-known
Falcon 20.
CAL/N-X-211 VOLUME MMIII No. 3
“Sure Charlie, anybody can fly 33 hours SITTIN’ in a wicker
chair, INSIDE the plane. Try laying on your belly and flying
from the bottom wing, now that was REAL flyin’ I tell ya!
Let’s make it a Great
Symposium in 2004!
See You in Cancún!
Be sure to watch the next issue for more
Symposium news, and the results of the
member surveys from this summer!
PAGE 24