"The Grand Finale"
Last Ever Bartlesville BiPlane Expo 2009.
With the patience of Job and a keen sense of humor, Charlie Harris put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. I had asked him the same question everyone else had already asked. "Will you change your mind next year and keep this fly in going?"
His good natured reply was "I'll ask this slowly......What part of NO don't you understand?" "Don't be sad", he said, "consider it to be a Grand Finale." And Grand it was!
Ever since I was just an eight year old kid, running through the sticker patch in bare feet to watch a crop duster at daybreak, I have had a deep love for biplanes. To miss this last event in Bartlesville would have created a regret too heavy to bear. Others share my feelings and they too could not let this pass. It was a record setting convention as far as attendance count goes....414 airplanes and so many people that the food ran out at the evening dinners. Some had to go out for food and then hurry back to listen to the speaker.
Guest of Honor was Dick Rutan. How many pilots do you know who have had to eject out of a F100...twice. His credentials and accomplishments form a lengthy line leading right up to the incredible around-the-World- non-stop and un-refueled flight of the Voyager. As he pointed out..."technically, the Voyager is...a Biplane. Count 'em...two wings."
His Thursday night presentation lead off with an account of an expedition from Anchorage, Alaska, to the North Pole in the last ever built Antonov AN-2 biplane with a Cessna 185 on skis as a support plane. The plan was to land the Cessna at the North Pole...check the thickness of the ice before the AN-2 landed to make sure it was safe. Instead, the AN-2 pilot landed before the ice was checked...and in an escape attempt broke through. The plane slowly sank through the ice. If you need parts for an AN-2, there is a complete airplane resting on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean right at the North Pole.
The story of the Voyager flight kept us on the edge of our chairs. Not unlike the Apollo 13 mission, the Voyager was beset with malfunctions and adversities not then realized by those watching. I remember getting the word from ATC when the Voyager had successfully landed back at Edwards AFB…not knowing any of the details of the flight. Nine days and three minutes in the air…”And with no potty” was my thought at the time. They almost didn’t make it but we just didn’t know.
Perhaps not so well known, but just as much of an adventurer, John Proctor flew his sky-blue and white Hatz biplane all the way in from Glide, Oregon. And on amphibious floats too. While that may seem like a fairly long flight…Oregon to Oklahoma…John’s longer flight was around the Pacific Rim. Not in the Hatz, but in his restored Albatross. He flew 42,500 miles from the Arctic to the Antarctic with 52 water landings. Now, after successfully fighting off cancer, he takes his “Sky Dancer” all over the West and Southwest. A Hatz on amphibious floats is a rare sight, indeed. Good on you, John!
Built for carrying passengers, not for speed, the New Standard biplane carried passengers from early morning until the last light of the day. Not just occasionally, but constantly. I figured each flight took about ten minutes and with ground time there would have been five flights per hour. Makes me need to stand up, just thinking about it. I wonder how many of those folks were on their very first airplane ride. All of them were smiling big wide grins.
One of the most unusual aircraft to be seen was a Fokker DVII replica. Splendidly painted in a “Flying Circus” theme with multi-colored quilt patches and a bright yellow nose cowl, it featured an in-line Ranger engine. Most Ranger engines, as you already know, are mounted with the cylinders hanging down. Oil consumption wasn’t an issue in days gone by, but now most have converted the rings to make a better seal in that configuration. This installation places the cylinders upright and keeps the drive shaft properly aligned at the bottom of the engine. It makes for a more accurate replica and certainly had me fooled for a moment.
Equally unusual and on my list of airplanes to own is the 1929 Zenith Z6A biplane flown in from Creve Coeur, Mo. by Glenn Peck and Don Parsons. The only survivor of five built, it is a flying Stage Coach! What if Wells Fargo had had one of these…. When I load my Cessna 195 I eventually run short of room…three dogs….my wife and her necessary items…tables and chairs…camping equipment…guitars...banjo…etc. This airplane can take it all and in a graceful manner at that. Check out the history of this airplane at www.peckaeroplanerestoration.com.
The Oklahoma winds can become brisk in the afternoon. One of the fly out events was a morning flight up to Beaumont, Kansas to taxi through town and dine at the hotel. Unfortunately for a pair of Champ flyers, the winds made it impossible to get back. They left the airplane in Emporia and rented a car for the return trip.
There was a time when I could tell you of all the variations of the WACO biplanes. Each one is different it seems, as the designations change with each engine option. They now run together and I have to look closer. In my mind there is nothing so nice as the red WACO UPF-7 which drew me back again and again.
From the stately Staggerwings to the tiny Baby Great Lakes they all came for this “last roundup”. Just one more time at Bartlesville, that’s all I could ask for.
The Grand Finale is now over and all the biplanes have gone home. There’s nothing left on the field but stamped out airplane shapes in the grass. I know there will be a movement to keep this event from ending. It’s too good to let it pass. Stay tuned for an update next year. Keep the Antiques Flying!
Richard Hawley