Letters From Readers - March 2008 - Aviation History

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Treasured Ike Photo

When I read the “Briefing” article about the restoration of pylon racers Mike and Ike in the November 2007 issue, it brought back many memories. In 1934, when I was in high school, I wanted to go to the new Peoria Municipal Airport, but my dad told me he had no gasoline in his car for pleasure trips. So I tied his Brownie camera—with one exposure left in it—to my back and rode my bicycle to the airport.

With that one exposure I shot a picture of Benny Howard’s Ike (below). Harold Neuman was its pilot that day. I remember that John Livingston was there too, with his Number 14 monocoupe, and George Burell’s Ford TriMotor was also at the airport for a week. Burell was supposed to have been the first pilot to fly a TriMotor in a complete loop.

Rides in the Ford cost one cent for each pound of the passenger’s weight. Mine cost me $1.15. I got to sit in the right side pilot’s seat, hold the big wheel and put my feet in the big cast-aluminum rudder pedals.

I have been an avid follower of aviation from that time, and I was even able to achieve a commercial pilot’s rating. At my age, though, I can only read about what went on—a lot of it in Aviation History Magazine.

Robert Eckhart
Washington, Ill.

Fairchild Model 47 Update

Regarding your question in the November issue as to whether any readers had further information on the Fairchild Model 47 pictured in the “Mystery Ship” section of “Briefing,” I have seen the Fairchild Model 47 in person in almost fully restored condition at Aurora Airport (KUAO) last fall. I was amazed at the construction of this unique aircraft. It was built using the same process as Howard Hughes’ H4 flying boat (better known as the Spruce Goose).

I also had the honor of being invited to the memorial service for Dave Lewis, a test pilot who worked at Fairchild aviation during the time the Model 47 was being built. He saved this airplane from fading into history and worked to make it airworthy again.

Note that there is some good information at this Web site about the Fairchild Model 47’s history: http://members.tripod.com/deluxe_o_rama/fairchild46/index.htm.

Thank you for your fine magazine!

John A. Michaud
Beaverton, Ore.

Thanks to you and several other readers who wrote to update us on the Fairchild 47’s status. Jim Johnson sent us a picture (above) he took of it at Torrance Airport in the ’70s.

Murphy Strikes

Three errors in recent issues have come to light, thanks to our eagle-eyed readers:

Retired U-2 pilot Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Halloran pointed out a mistake in the September 2007 issue in the timeline that ran below the “Reflections on the U.S. Air Force” article. The timeline text stated that an F-100 was the first U.S. Air Force plane to enter North Vietnamese airspace, on February 8, 1965. In reality U-2s from the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Davis Monthan Air Force Base were in place at Bien Hoa, South Vietnam, on February 14, 1964, and began flying reconnaissance sorties over both South and North Vietnam shortly thereafter, as well as missions to Laos and Cambodia.

Another reader, Dave Caster, questioned the insignia we included for the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill in July 2007’s “Ace in a Day” feature. The insignia we showed was in fact for the guided missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, not the carrier of the same name—hence the “CG 52” for “cruiser guided.” The correct insignia is shown below.

Several readers wrote to straighten out references to Generals LeMay, Creech and Shriever as “ring-knockers” in the “Mailbag” department of the January 2008 issue. In fact, none of them was a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate. That mistake was made by neither author Walter Boyne nor letter-writer Jack Hoyt—it was introduced during editing. We should also point out that Indian Springs Air Force Base, renamed Creech Air Force Base, is located 60 miles north of Las Vegas, Nev., not in Colorado. It serves as the practice base for the Thunderbirds as well as home to flight testing operations for the UAV Predator.

Send letters to Aviation History Editor, Weider History Group, 741 Miller Drive SE, Suite D-2, Leesburg, VA 20175, or e-mail to aviationhistory@weiderhistorygroup.com. Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited.

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