Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation/Flymall July 2023 Wheels & Wings Newsletter

Friday, July 28th, 2023

You can view past newsletters here. This month the theme is General Motors. We’re highlighting vehicles, ships, and planes built by General Motors.

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.

Kraemer Aviation hosted it’s annual 4th of July celebration. Click here for more pictures and videos from the event.

On July 4th, Harry was busy giving rides on our 1969 Ural, Manco Rustler, and our 1975 Lomax 223.

Our turtles were well feed on July 4th.

On July 4th, we presented Nir Levy with a congratulations cake for the Air Race Classic.

And July 5th was Mel Short’s birthday so we had a special cake made for him as well.

On July 26, one of our yellow-bellied sliders laid some eggs in one of our turtle habitats. This was remarkable for several reasons. This was also the anniversary of Delilah passing away in 2009. Delilah is buried just a few feet away from where this turtle laid her eggs. When Delilah passed away, Harry decided to create a garden of life around her grave. That is how all of the turtle habitats started. So Delilah’s garden of life is producing some new life (as long as the eggs were fertile).

Here is the yellow bellied slider digging: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

Here she is just getting ready to lay the eggs.

Here she is laying the eggs.

Here she is covering the nest. She spent about 30 minutes covering and hiding the nest.

After the nest was covered, she spend some time making sure that it was not visible and then she returned to the pond.

History Trivia: On July 6 1928 Amelia Earhart returned back to the United States after her flight (as a crew member) across the Atlantic Ocean.

After Charles Lindbergh‘s solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, Amy Guest (1873–1959) expressed interest in being the first woman to fly (or be flown) across the Atlantic Ocean. After deciding that the trip was too perilous for her to undertake, she offered to sponsor the project, suggesting that they find “another girl with the right image”. While at work one afternoon in April 1928, Earhart got a phone call from Capt. Hilton H. Railey, who asked her, “Would you like to fly the Atlantic?”

The project coordinators (including book publisher and publicist George P. Putnam) interviewed Earhart and asked her to accompany pilot Wilmer Stultz and copilot/mechanic Louis Gordon on the flight, nominally as a passenger, but with the added duty of keeping the flight log. The team departed from Trepassey Harbor, Newfoundland, in a Fokker F.VIIb/3m named “Friendship” on June 17, 1928, landing at Pwll near Burry Port, South Wales, exactly 20 hours and 40 minutes later. There is a commemorative blue plaque at the site. Since most of the flight was on instruments and Earhart had no training for this type of flying, she did not pilot the aircraft. When interviewed after landing, she said, “Stultz did all the flying—had to. I was just baggage, like a sack of potatoes.” She added, “… maybe someday I’ll try it alone.”^[

Earhart reportedly received a rousing welcome on June 19, 1928, when she landed at Woolston in Southampton, England.  She flew the Avro Avian 594 Avian III, SN: R3/AV/101 owned by Lady Mary Heath and later purchased the aircraft and had it shipped back to the United States (where it was assigned “unlicensed aircraft identification mark” 7083).

When the Stultz, Gordon, and Earhart flight crew returned to the United States on July 6, they were greeted with a ticker-tape parade along the Canyon of Heroes in Manhattan, followed by a reception with President Calvin Coolidge at the White House.

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: Earlier this month Chris Meyer passed his CFII checkride with Harry. This was their fourth checkride together. He is an excellent pilot and flight instructor. Chris wants to be an airline pilot one day.

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: Earlier this month we celebrated Amelia Earhart’s birthday and  National Amelia Earhart Day.

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.

During WWI and WWII, car manufacturers were called upon the assist in the war effort. During WWII, General Motors was a major manufacturer of aircraft and aircraft parts. One of the aircraft built by General Motors was the Grumman TBF Avenger. The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval aviation services around the world.

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.

July 21st was award night at the Laytonsville Cruise In. We gave out 34 awards that evening. Click here for pictures of the award winners from July 21st award night.

Earlier this month we celebrated National Collector Car Appreciation Day. This is celebrated on the second Friday of July each year.

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 ideas and interesting places to visit.  Check it out here.

Are you familiar with the Greyhound Scenicruiser? Built by GMC specially for Greyhound from 1954 to 1956. The design was influence by the observation railroad cars. There were only 1001 made.

Barn Finds/Hangar Finds:  Need an appraisal on your barn find?  Visit our Appraisal Page for information on our appraisals. 

How would you like to find a 1969 Chevy Camaro that has been sitting in a barn untouched for the last 45 years? This is exactly what Joe Al did. Click here to read this story on Hemmings.com.

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.

Weather in the news: Here in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic region, we have settled into the typical summer time weather pattern. Thunderstorms most afternoons into early evening.

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.

Most of the major car manufacturers have toyed with building three wheel vehicles. General Motors is not exception. Here is a three wheeler designed by Peter Maier in 1966. Peter Maier At the age of 20, Maier was one of the youngest designers ever hired by General Motors Corporation.

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

Prototypes: The General Motors EV1 was an electric car produced and leased by General Motors from 1996 to 1999. It was the first mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era from a major automaker and the first GM car designed to be an electric vehicle from the outset.

The decision to mass-produce an electric car came after GM received a favorable reception for its 1990 Impact electric concept car, upon which the design of the EV1 drew heavily.

Nautical Notes: General Motors also made a very cool amphibious vehicle known as the Duck. The DUKW (GMC type nomenclature, colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the 2+¹⁄₂-ton CCKW trucks used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War.

Designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Stephens and General Motors Corporation (GMC), the DUKW was used for the transportation of goods and troops over land and water. Excelling at approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious warfare attacks, it was intended only to last long enough to meet the demands of combat. Surviving DUKWs have since found popularity as tourist craft in marine environments.

Here’s something very cool, although not General Motors related. This is the Pont du Sart Aqueduct in Belgium. This massive structure was built to carry the Centrumkanaal water channel, and is one of the longest of its kind.

Riding The Rails: And yes, General Motors also built trains.

Here is an abandoned General Motors Aerotrain. Only 3 were placed into service, beginning in 1955. They were rented to several railroads, including Pennsylvania RR, New York Central RR, Union Pacific, and Santa Fe. Although futuristic in appearance, they developed a poor reputation in service. Aerotrains reportedly were underpowered and unable to ascend Santa Fe’s Cajon Pass without assistance. Passengers complained about their discomfort. The coaches designed for Aerotrain service were modified Scenicruiser buses that GMC produced for Greyhound at the time. In the state of Michigan, they ran briefly in revenue service between Chicago and Detroit as the Great Lakes Aerotrain. Eventually, GM sold them to the Rock Island Line at a substantial discount. Rock Island used them in commuter service in the Chicago area until 1966. None have run in revenue service since then. Two survive on display at museums – one in St. Louis, Missouri and the other in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

This month in history. On July 3rd 1938 – A world speed record for a steam locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 125.88 miles per hour (202.58 km/h).

While not General Motors related or built, here is a YouTube video of Funbob, an insanely steep alpine coaster located at Adventure Park Cimone, in Sestola, Italy.

Native American Indian Transportation: Long before Detroit became know as the Motor City and even before the French and British came to America in the 1600s and 1700s, Michigan was home to several Native American Indian tribes. Michigan’s three largest tribes are the Ojibwe (also called Chippewa), the Odawa (also called Ottowa) and the Potawatomi (also called the Bode’wadmi).

Animals in the headlines: Nancy & Paul McCartney have recently adopted a new dog and they named him Jet. Here’s Nancy with Jet.

We close this newsletter with these words: You can improve your performance by improving your attitude.