HANGAR FLYIN'

- Billy Tucker

Gray's article last month made me think about how much our club has grown in the past few years. I joined in 1995. I wanted to be around people who talked airplanes. At that time, our time together consisted of a monthly meeting at which we heard the monthly reports and sometimes had a speaker. After adjourning, we enjoyed a few minutes of fellowship and caught up with who was building or flying what. I enjoyed those monthly get-togethers.

Fast forward a few years and look at our EAA 471 chapter now. Our numbers have grown from a handful to over 60 members. Our activities include not only a monthly meeting, but breakfast, fly-outs, movies at Gray's, flying, working together, and now, our own annual fly-in. We have become quite an aviation community.

Thank you to all who have made this happen. The planning, and leg work invested in the past several years is now paying off. Let's not take it for granted. Find a role in our club and fill it. Find a need and meet it.

Forwarded by Tiny Malm

The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.

He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm Howitzers.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.

He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark.

He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.

He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity.  Far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful. Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom.

Beardless or not, he is not a boy.

He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years. He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding.

Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

Airforce One

Most of our membership has never really given much thought to the fact that our chapter 471 President has been flying all over the country side in Airforce One. That is the President's plane right? Most have never taken the time to look at the decal on the vertical stabilizer of his RV-6A. For those who are in the dark, it reads: "The United States of Texas," but is looks very official.

This apparently started as an accident. Carroll Bird purchased the stickers for his plane, and Gray thinking it looked pretty cool, wanted to use the sticker too.

I guess the word to the wise is, don’t buy the sticker if you don’t want to continue the trend that has been set forth.

Once again our chapter was invited to participate at the Business Expo as a guest of Abilene Aero. Charlotte Rhodes and Harold Cannon worked the long day talking about our chapter and activities to passers by. They represented our chapter and made all of us proud to be members of chapter 471.

Over 300 flyers were passed out for our September 20^th fly-in. Magazines and stickers were passed out to hundreds of folks stopped by. Our great marketing team furthered sport aviation to big country residents.

A big round of thanks to Charlotte and Harold for their efforts. Also, thanks to Abilene Aero for the Booth space.

Just to let you guys know. I won't be able to lead up the trip to Burnett Texas on 12 April. Mike Gommel (RV-4) and I are basking in the sun of the South Pacific here on Guam.

As I'm sure you know we've got a bunch of B-1's and B-52's out here to increase our defensive posture in the region.  Most likely will be home in time for Oshkosh trip, as we are both still planning on attending. Chris Ulibarri has volunteered to look after my airplane while I'm away and I've encouraged my wife to still attend meetings. Attached are a couple or photos for your viewing pleasure or website.

Dave

Stand Up for America Rally Speech
Alabama State Auditor Beth Chapman

I'm here tonight because men and women of the United States military have given their lives for my freedom. I am not here tonight because Sheryl Crowe, Rosie O'Donnell, Martin Sheen, George Clooney, Jane Fonda or Phil Donahue, sacrificed their lives for me.

If my memory serves me correctly, it was not movie stars or musicians, but the United States Military who fought on the shores of Iwo Jima, the jungles of Vietnam, and the beaches of Normandy. Tonight, I say we should support the President of the United States and the U.S. Military and tell the liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippy, tie-dyed liberals to go make their movies and music and whine somewhere else.

After all, if they lived in Iraq, they wouldn't be allowed the freedom of speech they're being given here today. Ironically, they would be put to death at the hands of Sadam Husssein or Osama Bin Laden.  I want to know how the very people who are against war because of the loss of life, can possibly be the same people who are for abortion?  They are the same people who are for animal rights but against the rights of the unborn.
The movie stars say they want to go to Iraq and serve as "human shields" for the Iraqis. I say let them buy a one-way ticket and go.

No one likes war. I hate war! But the one thing I hate more is the fact that this country has been forced into war-innocent people have lost their lives - - and there but for the grace of God, it could have been my brother, my husband, or even worse my own son.

On December 7, 1941, there are no records of movie stars treading the blazing waters of Pearl Harbor.

On September 11, 2001; there are no photos of movie stars standing as "human shields" against the debris and falling bodies ascending from the World Trade Center. There were only policemen and firemen - -underpaid civil servants who gave their all with nothing expected in return.

When the USS Cole was bombed, there were no movie stars guarding the ship - - where were the human shields then?

If America's movie stars want to be human shields, let them shield the gang-ridden streets of Los Angeles, or New York City, let them shield the lives of the children of North Birmingham whose mothers lay them down to sleep on the floor each night to shelter them from stray bullets.

If they want to be human shields, I say let them shield the men and women of honesty and integrity that epitomizes courage and embody the spirit of freedom by wearing the proud uniforms of the United States Military. Those are the people who have earned and deserve shielding!

Throughout the course of history, this country has remained free, not because of movie stars and liberal activists, but because of brave men and women who hated war too. However, they lay down their lives so that we all may live in freedom. After all - "What greater love hath no man, that he lay down his life for his friend," or in this case a country.

We should give our military honor and acknowledgement and not let their lives be in vain. If you want to see true human shields, walk through Arlington Cemetery.  There lie human shields, heroes, and the BRAVE Americans who didn't get on television and talk about being a human shield - they were human shields.

I thank God tonight for freedom - - those who bought and paid for it with their lives in the past - - those who will protect it in the present and defend it in the future.

America has remained silent too long! God-fearing people have remained silent too long!

We must lift our voices united in a humble prayer to God for guidance and the strength and courage to sustain us throughout whatever the future may hold.

After the tragic events of Sept. 11th, my then eleven -year-old son said terrorism is a war against them and us and if you're not one of us, then you're one of them.

So in closing tonight, let us be of one accord, let us stand proud, and let us be the human shields of prayer, encouragement and support for the President, our troops and their families and our country.

May God bless America, the land of the free, the home of the brave and the greatest country on the face of this earth!

-by Chris Ulibarri

Charlie was born in Cerro Gordo, IL, on May 24, 1868. His family later moved to Lincoln, NE and at 12 he quit school to work as an errand boy for the Nebraska State Journal. Later he worked on the machines at the Journal. He did this because he was more inclined to mechanics rather than running errands.

In his twenties he moved to Kearny, NE where he met his bride-to-be Herietia Webbert in 1892 and married her in 1894. In 1896 they moved to Dayton, OH. This is where Charlie met the Wright brothers for the first time. In 1898, Charlie started his own machine shop and the Wright brothers brought him special projects to do.

The Wright’s offered him a job on June 15^th, 1901 working for $18.00 a week. This was more than he was making before and he liked the Wright brothers so he took it. While the Wright’s were doing experiments with gliders and on their trips to Kitty Hawk, Charlie worked on bicycles.

The Wright brothers decided to build a wind tunnel to test their theories of aerodynamics related to air pressures on plain and curved surfaces and they asked Charlie for his help. This was the first time he had any connection to aeronautics. He built a rectangular box with an engine driven fan for this purpose. The Wright’s learned much from this and made their 1902 glider. Charlie machined many of the parts needed. On August 13, 1902 the Wright’s flight tested their glider at Kitty Hawk and made calculations as to the power required to go from glider to powered flight.

For powered flight the Wright’s calculated they would need an engine that put out eight to nine brake horsepower and not weigh more than 200 pounds. There were no engines available that would fit their needs. This is when they decided to make their own engine. Because of his mechanical knowledge of engines, they gave this important task to Charlie while they concentrated on building the airframe. Charlie started work on the engine in the winter of 1902-1903 from crudely sketched drawings he pinned to his workbench. Amazingly, he completed this extremely difficult task in just six weeks.

The crankcase was made of the strongest aluminum available in those days and it was considered a rare metal. The cylinders were made of fine-grain gray cast iron and had a four-inch bore. The crankshaft was made of high carbon tool steel measuring 1 5/8 inches thick, six inches wide, and 31 inches long. He turned out this magnificent crankshaft to within a thousandth of an inch of his specifications. That’s 0.001 of an inch from perfection. The flywheel was made from a solid block of cast iron. The rest of the components such as connecting rods, intake valves, pistons, etc. were as meticulously made with similar perfection and attention to detail. Charlie was a perfectionist as he labored to ensure its safe and efficient operation. Charlie had successfully completed the first aeronautical engine in February of 1903. It produced 12 horsepower at 1,025 RPM and weighed 180 pounds. Charlie was a true genius and craftsman.

With the engine complete, Charlie made the metal components used for the truss wires connections and other fittings for the wooden wing struts.

On December 17^th, 1903, the Wright Flyer made its first powered flight by flying 120 feet at seven to eight miles per hour in 12 seconds. Charlie and the Wright brothers were very excited at their accomplishment that resonated throughout aviation history and on to the present. Charlie had other major accomplishments since then that are presently unknown by many that you will now know also.

On April 20^th, 1904 Charlie became the first airport manager as well. Torrence Huffman, a Dayton bank president, allowed the Wright’s to use his pasture near Dayton called "Huffman Prairie". He offered its use for free so long as they didn’t run over his cows. While the Wright brothers were traveling the country and the world, Charlie maintained the field and facility for them.

In a 1948 interview Charlie said he "always wanted to learn to fly, but I never did. The Wright’s refused to teach me and tried to discourage the idea. They said they needed me in the shop and to service their (flying) machines, and if I learned to fly I’d be gadding about the country and maybe become an exhibition pilot, and they’d never see me again." I believe most flyers would agree.

On September 17^th, 1908 at Fort Myer, VA while performing exhibition flights for the Army to sell aircraft to them, Charlie was going to go on his first airplane ride with Orville. At the last minute Charlie was asked to let Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge, a 20 year old West Point Graduate from San Francisco take his place. During the flight a malfunction occurred and the aircraft crashed killing Lieutenant Selfridge. He became the first passenger casualty in a powered aircraft. Charlie investigated the crash and found the new larger propellers installed to help carry the heavier weights of two crewmembers had delaminated. Charlie reported this finding to Orville and became the first crash investigator of powered flight that resulted in a fatal aircraft accident.

Charlie worked for the Wright-Martin Company until 1920 when he moved back to California. He lost touch with Orville Wright after that. During the Depression, Charlie’s machine shop failed, he lost his life savings, and his wife died. He was forgotten until 1937 when Henry Ford reconstructed the Wright bicycle shop in Dearborn, MI. Detectives found him working at North American Aviation in Los Angeles for 37 cents an hour. None of his co-workers knew of his accomplishment with the Wright brothers. In 1945 he had a heart attack and never worked again.

In November 1955, a reporter found Charlie in a Los Angeles General Hospital charity ward. He was almost destitute except for his Social Security and an $800 a year annuity fund setup belatedly by Orville Wright before his death January 30^th 1948. Upon hearing of this, the aviation industry immediately raised funds for Charlie. He was moved to a private sanitarium where he died on January 30^th, 1956 at 88. He had no close relatives. Charlie was buried at Valhalla Memorial Park, in Los Angeles in the Portal of Folded Wings Mausoleum dedicated to aviation pioneers.

Due to his quiet dedication, Charles E. Taylor, along with Wilbur and Orville Wright, powered flight would not have been possible. They were three visionary men working together as a team in developing and flying the first powered aircraft less than one hundred years ago. We would not have an Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 471 or a Texas State Technical College Aviation section. We certainly wouldn’t have the world we live in where in just over sixty years we landed a man on the moon and go to space on seemingly routine missions.

Our world is better and smaller because of their fantastic achievements and contributions. Lest we forget, Charles E. Taylor made an astounding contribution to aviation and powered flight with his experience, expertise, and dedication in building the first ever aircraft reciprocating, four cycle, five event engine used in the Wright Flyer on its powered flight on December 17^th, 1903. Thanks Charlie and God speed.

In the planning for our big chapter trip to Oshkosh to celebrate the centennial of powered flight, a few members have put their heads together and made a plan. We will load the planes and go camping to see how it is to sleep under the wing. We will determine how to pack the planes and what items we need to bring and what we simply do not really need at all. This will be the dry run before the trip.

We will leave Abilene Saturday evening, July the 5^th and fly direct, cross country, all 15 miles to Gray’s grass strip on the clear fork of the Brazos river. He has two runways to choose from. Either runway is about 2500 feet long.

We will be parking and camping under the wing the Texas way! He will have steaks and good cooking for all the people going to Oshkosh. So if you are not planning to go, sign up now………..

forwarded by Charlotte Rhodes

AIRSPEED - Speed of an airplane. Deduct 25% when listening to a retired

military pilot

BANK - The folks who hold the lien on most pilots' Corvettes.

CARBURETOR ICING - A phenomenon reported to the FAA by pilots immediately

after they run out of gas.

CONE OF CONFUSION - An area about the size of New Jersey located near the

final approach beacon at an airport.

CRAB - A VFR Instructor's attitude on an IFR day.

DEAD RECKONING - You reckon correctly, or you are.

DESTINATION - Geographical location 30 minutes beyond the pilot's bladder

saturation point.

ENGINE FAILURE - A condition that occurs when all fuel tanks mysteriously

become filled with low-octane air.