Kraemer Aviation / Flymall.org December 2021 Wheels & Wings Newsletter
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2021
Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation/Flymall.org Wheels & Wings Newsletter. This month is all about pushing the limits. And we’re introducing a new section to our newsletter dedicated to trains and rail travel, its called “Riding The Rails”.
Since it is the Christmas season, here is our post on different takes on “Twas The Night Before Christmas“.
You can view past newsletters here.
Interested in living at an airport? Visit our Aviation Real Estate page here. You can view price data for airport property in our Market Watch section of the Flymall. Here is the data for all airport property. You can refine the search by “state” simply by searching for the desired state under “Model”.
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: In 1929, Vivian Bales pushed the limits of her 1929 Harley Davidson and rode it for 78 days and 5,000 miles across the country. She told the papers her motorcycle was a “key” to the whole United States. It would be interesting to know how many repairs were made along the way.
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.
Achievements & Special Recognition: In 1928, Elinor Smith, then 16, earned national recognition as the youngest pilot to receive a license from the Federal Aviation Administration. Orville Wright signed her license. Her final cockpit time was spent in April 2001, when, at the age of 89, she flew a four-passenger plane while visiting NASA’s Langley Research Center. Smith set records and blazed a trail for women in flight and for aviation in general. In 1930, Elinor Smith was voted, “best female pilot” by her peers, a group that included Amelia Earhart. Smith’s aviation records for endurance, altitude and speed in the 1920s and 30s led to worldwide fame.
Elinor would not have been able to do what she did if it wasn’t for the accomplishments of the Wright Bros. Two wrongs don’t make a right. But two Wrights made an airplane. December 17 1903. They certainly pushed the limits of research for powered flight and actually wrote the book along the way.
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.
The guy or gal that can operate this V twin chainsaw certainly deserves some special recognition. It looks like an old Harley engine. We’d have to say that this has not only pushed the limits, it set new limits for chainsaw horsepower.
Aviation/Aviators in the news: Kraemer Aviation’s own Harry Kraemer was involved in a record setting flight back in the mid 1990s. This flight would push the limits of a student pilot certificate. During the summer of 1994, a 16 year old Jimmy Mathis left Ocean City Maryland headed west. His final destination was Long Beach California. He did this trip SOLO with just a student pilot certificate! Jimmy soloed on his 16th birthday and earned his private pilot certificate on his 17th birthday. This in itself is amazing considering his birthday is in February and the weather in the Northeast can be windy and snowy during February. His trip made headlines across the country and around the world, click here for a short YouTube video about the trip. Here’s an article about the trip, written by Harry that was published in a national aviation newspaper. There were younger “pilots” before Jimmy that did such a trip, however they had a flight instructor with them. Jimmy was solo with only a student pilot certificate. Harry and Dave (a fellow flight instructor) came up with the idea to show everyone that with proper training, a pilot of minimum age and the most very minimum level of pilot certificate, can complete such a trip safely. And Jimmy did it! Jimmy became the youngest licensed pilot and the only student pilot to ever make such a trip. After the trip, Harry & David were contacted by the Air & Space Museum, they wanted the airplane Jimmy used for the flight to be displayed in the museum. The flight school wasn’t willing to donate the plane and Harry & David didn’t have the money to purchase the plane to then donate it. So it never made it to the Air & Space Museum.
History books tell us that the Wrights Bros were the first to fly. But was there powered flight before the Wright Bros? There was Solomon Andrews that flew his Aereon (pictured below) in June of 1863. His Aereon was basically an early airship that used hydrogen gas for buoyancy. This flight was 23 years before Karl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen. Twenty three years before the first car! Karl Benz was only 19 years old when Solomon Andrews first flew the Aereon.
The aviation section of the Flymall is full of aviation news, training info, and much more for the aviator.
Working as a contributing editor and writer for numerous aviation publications, Harry has personally met many aviators that pushed and/or set the limits. These include Scott Crossfield, Chuck Yeager, Reeve Morrow Lindbergh (Charles Lindbergh’s daughter), Patty Wagstaff, Sir Richard Branson, and dozens more. For each that he met, he had a picture signed by them for his collection. These pictures hang in his office.
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.
An internet find, an aerial runway. This would certainly be a challenge for any pilot.
Car/Motorcycle Show News: The Laytonsville Cruise In is the place to be on a Friday night in Montgomery County. The Laytonsville Cruise In was started by Harry in 2010. It has become one of the most popular cruise ins in the area. You can follow Harry on Facebook for daily updates during the many shows and events he attends. Speaking of the Laytonsville Cruise In and while on the subject of pushing the limits, here’s a 1960 Cadillac with a Cummins diesel engine that is supercharged and turbocharged. The guy said he built it with this engine because it sounded like a bad idea. Complete with suicide doors and lots of hand fabricated sheet metal. This guy was a regular at the Laytonsville Cruise In. Click here for more pictures of this Caddy that not only pushed the limits, the builder also set higher standards for design and creativity.
Have you heard of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run? The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the world’s longest-running motoring event, held on a course between London and Brighton, England. To qualify, participating cars must have been built before 1905. It is also the world’s largest gathering of veteran cars. Try keeping a 1930s or 1920s motorcycle or car in running condition and you will appreciate the significance of this race. This race is for vehicles built BEFORE 1905. This is certainly pushing the limits of these very valuable vintage autos and motorcycles.
The Motorcycle Cannonball Run is a cross country race to push the limits of motorcycles built in the year 1929 or earlier. You can find more info on this race as well as other historic races on the Wheels & Wings page of the Flymall.
The above two races or drives were all about vintage cars/motorcycles going the distance. Now we’ll speed it up a bit and show a picture of pushing the limits of horsepower. Soo much power going to the rear wheels, that they twisted and snapped the frame of the car.
Most folks think that electric cars are something new. Not true. They are almost as old as the car itself. Here is the 1910 Electric Detroit Model D. It had a range of 100 miles and could reach 25mph – but was abandoned in favor of gasoline cars. This was outstanding engineering for the time and was pushing the limits of technology.
No info on this 8 wheel race car, however its pushing the limits of automotive design.
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: Need an appraisal on your barn find? Visit our Appraisal Page for information on our appraisals. If you enjoy Barn Finds, you’ll enjoy this series on YouTube called Barn Find Hunter.
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: 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.
The theme of this newsletter is pushing the limits, however while on a checkride, the applicant should not be trying to push any limits. If fact, if an applicant exceeds the aircraft limits, this would be a failure.
Weather in the news: Here’s some weather that was pushing the limits of the pilots that had to land in it. December 11th we had a strong system moving across the country and it was producing winds in excess of 40 knots.
Three Wheel Association (TWA): Harry started the Three Wheel Association in 2013 to promote/support the industry of three wheel vehicles of all types. Visit the Three Wheel Association page on the Flymall for more info on the association.
Here’s a cool three wheeler that pushed the limits. Charles Jarrott set a new British record for the hour on a motor tricycle at the Crystal Palace race track in London on Easter Monday, April 16, 1900. (He covered 38 miles /868 yards in 60 minutes. ) The unprecedented speed of Jarrott’s machine was produced by two 3 1/2 h.p. Aster motors with Longuemare carburetor’s installed inside the frame.
Want a reproduction vintage 3 wheeler. Walker Aviation can scratch built from pictures or drawings. Visit his page on the Flymall.
Prototypes: Here’s the Spirit of Australia. Built by Ken Warby to set speed records on the water. We’re calling this a prototype only because Ken’s son built a Spirit of Australia II to go after his dad’s records. Ken built the Spirit of Australia on a shoestring budget. The military surplus jet engine cost him a mere $65. Ken reached a speed of 464.44 km/h in 1977 at Blowering Dam in the southern highlands of New South Wales. And in 1978, Warby pushed the Spirit of Australia to 511.11 km/h. This is what we call pushing the limits.
Nautical Notes: When talking about pushing the limits, we need to include the Bluebird K7 water speed record boat. This was the first successful jet-powered hydroplane.
Here’s an awesome trimaran designed and built by VPLP of France. She’s a 148 foot long sailing yacht. The sailing power is supplemented by a hybrid engine that runs on electricity produced by a hydrogen fuel cell. Click here for more info on this awesome boat that is pushing the limits of both design and technology. This yacht has set new limits in terms of technology and luxury.
Riding The Rails: What do you do with a couple of General Electric J47-19 jet engines that you have just sitting around? You attach them to the top of a locomotive, that’s what you do with them if you were Don Wetzel! Here’s his M497 experimental jet rail car. The M497 was an experimental jet-powered railcar built in 1966 by Don Wetzel, an engineer with the New York Central Railroad. In an effort to find a faster and less expensive method of moving trains, Wetzel fitted two second-hand General Electric J47-19 jet engines, originally used on the Convair B-36 bomber, to an RDC-3 Budd Rail Car, which then received a streamlined front cowling. The unit was successfully tested on a section of perfectly straight existing track and reached 295.6 km/h in July 1966. An American rail speed record that still stands today. The tests provided valuable data on the stresses of high-speed rail travel on conventional tracks and equipment. The engines were removed and the Budd returned to normal service after the tests.
Animals in the headlines: One of the most famous races in dog sled history started with the Great Race of Mercy in 1925. This was truly pushing the limits back in 1925. While she’s not going to brake any records, our own Jett (Jett the wolf dog) is learning to pull a sled.
One on the most famous dogs of of the 1925 serum run to Nome, was Balto.
We close this newsletter with these words: When they say you can’t, they show you their limits, not yours.
Comments Off on Kraemer Aviation / Flymall.org December 2021 Wheels & Wings Newsletter
Category Newsletters | Tags:
Social Networks: Facebook, Twitter, Google Bookmarks, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, Posterous.
