Flymall.org Wheels & Wings April Newsletter

Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation/Flymall.org Wheels & Wings Newsletter.

To view our current newsletter click here. You can view past newsletters here.

This month: Bruce Jenner motorcycle cop? Bicycle lost for over 30 years and was found!  A 200 hour ATP pilot. First Englishman that built a petrol vehicle.  Shooting down an enemy aircraft with your pistol while parachuting from your own plane!  And more!!!

Next month: A Cessna Helicopter. A Lamborghini tractor. A Ural powered amphibious car.

The Kraemer Aviation Easter 2020 celebration was much smaller this year due to the Conoravirus outbreak. The team spent Easter 2020 with a fellow bicycle/motorcycle collector.  Click here for pictures.

Interested in living at an airport?  Visit our Aviation Real Estate page here.  We have a very nice hangar for lease at the Hagerstown Regional Airport.  It has 40,000 sq ft hangar space with 20,000 sq ft. of office/shop space.  Click here for more details.

Want to have your business highlighted on the Flymall???  We offer inexpensive rates to have your business featured on our Wheels & Wings page.  Contact us for more info.

History Trivia:  Owen J. Baggett was the first and only person to have shot down an enemy plane using a pistol.  In fact he did it while parachuting to the ground after his bomber was hit.   For more reading click here.

If you enjoy history we have a new aviation history fact each day at the bottom of our webpages.  Some days there may be more than one, just refresh the page.  And if you like Beatles history, checkout our Events Calendar and select the Beatles category.  This is a work in progress, we’re building the most comprehensive calendar of important dates in Beatle history.

For those that like to stick with current news, we have an aviation news ticker on our home page.  This is updated daily to show the current aviation news.

Here is a different piece of history trivia for this month.  It about a ghost town in Pennsylvania called Centralia.  A town that was built over an abandoned coal mine.  The coal mine caught fire in 1962 and has been burning ever since. All the residents were force to leave their homes and businesses, all but 7 left.  In 2002 the USPS discontinued the zip code for the town. 

Achievements & Special Recognition:  Do you have a memorable experience in aviation?  Share it with us and we’ll post it here for you.  Click here for Harry’s most memorable experience in aviation.   Click here for more of Harry’s published material.

Instructors, what to highlight your students first solo or other achievement here?  Just send us a short write-up and a picture or two and we’ll post it here for you.  Click here for our contact info.

Aviation/Aviators in the news:  About a year ago Harry returned from DPE school.  Here is a picture that was taken at the FAA Training Center in Oklahoma.

When Harry returned from Oklahoma, a friend had a cake made from that picture.

A sign of the times.  Airliners parked, not flying!  All due to the Coronavirus outbreak. 

The aviation section of the Flymall is full of aviation news, training info, and much more for the aviator.

Air show season is always just around the corner.  Want to travel to air shows in your own aircraft?  Visit our used aircraft page on the Flymall to view our inventory.

Car/Motorcycle Show News:  Most local shows have been canceled through May due to the virus.  We’re trying to keep our calendar updated.  In the meantime, enjoy some of Harry’s pictures from past car shows, from past motorcycle shows, and from British car & motorcycle shows.

Sad news this month in the auto racing world. Sir Stirling Moss passed away.

Did you know that Bruce Jenner was a motorcycle cop?  Yes he was, on the TV series CHiPs.  In 1981 Eric Estrada asked for more money. His request was denied so he walked out. His character was replace by Bruce Jenner as Steve McLeish. This lasted just a half dozen episodes and then  Estrada returned. 

Want to go to car shows in your own classic?  We have a Jaguar for sale and a MG Midget for sale on the Flymall. 

Our Events Calendar has the most current info regarding local and national car shows, air shows, and more.  With nearly 30 categories, there is something for everyone.  The Day Tripper section of the Flymall has dozens of day trip ideals and interesting places to visit.  Check it out here.

Barn Finds/Hangar Finds:  This month we have a barn find of Harry’s that was purchased by him in the 1960s and became lost until about 2010. 

Here is Harry on this month’s barn find “Growing up, our family was not very wealthy. Whenever I received a new bicycle for Christmas, my father would give me a lecture about when he was young, he never had a new bike. He would go on to say that every bike he had, he had to steal. After a few years of hearing this story, I decided to do something about it. For Christmas, sometime in the mid to late 1960s, I saved up my allowance and purchased my dad his first new bike. I was about 10 years old at the time. I surprised him for Christmas with it. Needless to say, it was very emotional. He passed away when I was 23 and over the years I lost track of the bicycle. Around the year 2010 the bike made it’s way back to me. The bicycle was in poor condition, however all of the parts were there. I recently had a local bicycle shop do a mechanical restoration on it. Here she is, purchased by me in the 1960s for my dad. Now she is ready to ride again. Now, as a serious collector of vintage bicycles and motorcycles, it sits proudly in my collection.”

It is rumored that after Harry’s father passed away, the bike was given/loaned to numerous different people.  It’s amazing that the bike survived intact and undamaged over the years.  She still has the original paint, wheels, decals, saddle, etc.  

Whenever Harry gets together with other bicycle/motorcycle collectors, they exchange stories.  This Easter we heard a story about a motorcycle collector that answered an ad for a Whizzer motorbike for sale.  This was sometime in the 1970s.  The ad simply said “Whizzer motorbike for sale, $50”.  So the guy researched the address (back before the days of the internet) and found out that is was in a not so good part of town.  He decided to go anyway.  When he looked at the bike, he knew it was not a Whizzer.  The guy still only wanted $50 so he purchased it.  It turned out to be a rare 1901 Orient Motorcycle with a V-twin engine.  He held on to the bike until he was ready to retire and downsize his collection.  He ended up selling the bike for $60,000 and he did nothing to it.

Need an appraisal on your barn find?  Visit our Appraisal Page for information on our appraisals. 

Visit our online store to search for hard to find car parts, aircraft parts, and much more.  You can pay online in our secure store, just click on the Store button on our home page.

Visit the Test Drive section of the Flymall for reviews on automobiles, aircraft, motorcycles, and more. Read about it before you buy it.  You can also research price info on a wide variety of vehicles, collectibles, and more in the Market Watch section of the Flymall. 

If you’re restoring a fabric aircraft, Ira Walker of Walker Aviation is your resource.  Visit his page on the Flymall by clicking here. 

CFI / DPE Notes:  Over Harry’s many years of teaching and professional flying, Harry has used his real life experiences in his lesson plans for his students.  Many of these “real life experiences” have been published in dozens of different aviation publications.  Click here to view/read some of Harry’s published material.

Earlier this month Harry completed his 100th checkride as a DPE. And he did it in a plane that he sold new when he was a Cessna dealer. Allison, with only 200 hours, flew to ATP standards on her instrument checkride.

And the 100th checkride was at an airport (Frederick Municipal Airport) that he would go to with his dad in the 1960s.  Pictured below is Harry at the Frederick Municipal Airport in the 1960s with his dad.

Visit Harry’s Practical Test page for information on his checkrides.  You will also find useful information there to help you prepare for your checkride.  You can also visit Harry’s Lesson Plan section of the Flymall for other flight training information.  Visit our Flight Training page for information on our aviation training classes.

Weather in the news:  On April 2nd & 3rd we had some strong winds in the Mid-Atlantic region.   Checkout the METAR for KIAD.  Click on the image for a larger view.

April 8th and 9th we had back to back storm systems roll through the northeast.  As you can see, both systems had some intense thunderstorms associated with them.

April 8th

April 9th

Spring is the time for storms and Easter did not disappoint us.  Easter Sunday and in to Monday, a storm system moved across the country.  In this slide presentation, notice how the storm system went from one large system and then spun off in to two separate lines.  Click here for the slide show.  The TAF in the presentation was identical for both KBWI and KIAD.  Checkout those winds!

Three Wheel Association (TWA):  Meet Edward Butler – He is credited as the first Englishman who built a petrol vehicle.

Many major car manufacturers got their start building 3 wheel vehicles.  In fact, the AC car company got their start with the AC Delivery Trike.  Harry has a 1912 AC Delivery Trike in his collection of 3 wheelers. 

Visit the Three Wheel Association page on the Flymall for more info on the association.

Want a reproduction vintage 3 wheeler.  Walker Aviation can scratch build from pictures or drawings.  Visit his page on the Flymall.  

Prototypes: During WWII, while under German occupation, the French were not allowed to have petrol.  So the French started improvising and coming up with many designs of pedal powered vehicles.  Here’s one that probably needed some refining.

Animals in the headlines:  Have you heard the story of Frank Hayes the jockey?  It is quite remarkable.  He actually won a horse race (he was the jockey) while dead.  It was at Belmont Park in 1923.  Sometime during the race, he suffered a fatal heart attack and died.  The horse kept running and Hayes stayed in the saddle.  His death was not discovered until race officials came to congratulate him.  

We close this newsletter with these words:  “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.“—Christopher Reeve