Flymall / Kraemer Aviation August 2024 Wheels & Wings Newsletter

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

You can view past newsletters here.

Kraemer Aviation Services hosted their annual Labor Day cookout and car show on September 2. A good time was had by all. Click here for more pictures.

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: The first “official airmail flight” during this month in 1859. On August 17, 1859, John Wise ascends from Lafayette, IN, with the first official air mail (intended for NY) but lands at Crawfordsville, IN about 28 miles away. Wise did the flight aboard his gas balloon Jupiter.

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: Nir Levy recently crossed over 1500 flight hours.

She achieved this milestone while on a trip across the United States with her father.

The trip was 13 days in total. They flew 5,350 NM in 58 hours in flight time. And they refueled a total of 18 times.

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.

On August 26 1967, at the age of 68 and on a 47-year-old bike, Burt Munro set a new World Record in the Flying One Mile Class S-A 1000cc!

On August 27 1978 Don Vesco averaged 318.598 mph on the Lightning Bolt. The 21-foot streamliner motorcycle featured two 1016cc turbocharged Kawasaki KZ1000 engines.

While mentioning land speed records, we need to remember Jessi Combs this month. She died August 27 2019, in an accident while driving a jet-powered car in the Alvord Desert in Oregon. Combs was 36. She was posthumously awarded the female land-speed world record by Guinness World Records in June 2020.

Aviation/Aviators in the news: A very famous aviator was born in August. The first human to walk on the moon, Neil Alden Armstrong, was born on August 5 1930.

We have another very famous aviator to recognize this month. Orville Wright was born on August 19 1871. And this is why we celebrate National Aviation Day on August 19 each year.

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

Earlier in August, N176TA departed Merced Regional Airport (KMCE) in California and flew 2,425 miles before landing in Honolulu, Hawaii, 17 hours and 33 minutes later. The flight was in a Cessna 172 SP. This is more than 3 times the range of this aircraft. Very cool flight!

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. We currently have a classic Cessna 150 for sale. Click here for details.

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.

August 16 was our award night at the Laytonsville Cruise In. We had a great turnout. Click here for more pictures.

Here’s our award winners from August.

Last month (July), Marlee lady won an award at the Laytonsville Cruise In for her Pontiac Firebird. That was on a Friday. The following Monday, she was taking her drivers test for her drivers license. To celebrate, for the August award night, Harry had a congratulations cake for her for passing her drivers license test. Congratulations Marlee on passing your test to earn your drivers license.

At the August award night, we had a special guest. Dave, a friend of Harry’s has a very cool WWII dog tag machine in a military trailer. He was there selling custom made dog tags. Click here for more pictures of Dave’s setup. Click here to checkout Dave’s Facebook page. The earliest mention of an identification tag for soldiers comes in Polyaenus (Stratagems 1.17) where the Spartans wrote their names on sticks tied to their left wrists. The British Army introduced identity discs in place of identity cards in 1907, in the form of aluminum discs, typically made at regimental depots using machines similar to those common at fun fairs, the details being pressed into the thin metal one letter at a time.

Randy McPhillips has been a long time sponsor of our award night. And this month his daughter, Paige had a truck entered for an award. This is her first truck, and the August award night was her first car show with the truck. And she won her first award.

Meet Troy. Troy owns an awesome 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix. He is a regular at the Laytonsville Cruise In. The Grand Prix was his dream car for 30 years and he finally has it, plus he has been winning some awards with it as well. The car is all original and it even has an original working 8-track tape player.

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.  Our Day Tripper section now has different categories to choose from to make it easier to find events that interest you. 

had his 1925 Packard at the Laytonsville Cruise In for the first time. While we were all admiring it, someone mentioned an old Packard advertisement that said you can balance a nickel on the cylinder head while the engine is running. Then Jason replied that he did find a nickel in a small metal fuse box under the hood and he didn’t know why it was there. Now we know. So we had to test the theory. These pictures were taken with the engine running.

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

How about an entire museum found in a barn? The FDR Living Museum is a private museum in Sandy Spring Maryland. The owner is starting to sell items in the museum and he’s also planning on donating a large part of the museum to the Reading Aviation Museum. Harry is appraising the museum for the owner. Click here for more pictures.

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.

This is why I say that on landing that you need to demand perfection. Meaning, the airplane must be aligned with the runway centerline and most importantly, the fuselage needs to be parallel with the centerline (not at an angle). I landed on the centerline and as the plane slowed down I started having control issues. The plane started pulling to the right and the slower I got, the harder it pulled to the right. I did manage to get it to the left a bit while fighting the right turn. It turned out to be a flat tire. With a flat tire, you will lose directional control and it is best just to stop the plane and advise the CTAF or control tower. Look at the angle the plane is to the centerline. You cannot control this with a flat tire.

Harry’s beginnings. August 18 1984, Harry took first official flight lesson in N2346V, a Piper Tomahawk. He had been flying in general aviation aircraft since the late 1960s. On this day in 1984, he actually took the flight controls for the first time and it was logged in his logbook.

Weather in the news: Here’s some local flooding on August 9 due to Hurricane Debby.

Earlier in August, hurricane Ernesto makes landfall in Bermuda. This was only the 12th hurricane to make landfall on Bermuda since the 1800s.

Three Wheel Association (TWA) & 3-Wheelers.com:  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.

Earlier in August, we attended the District Harley Davidson BBQ & Bikini Bike Wash with our 1947 Safticycle. Click here for more pictures. The Safticycle is a new addition to our collection of rare motorcycles and bicycles.

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

Prototypes: Manufacturers sometimes use pre-production cars to provide the automotive press a chance to experience and create publicity and articles about the models that are yet to appear in dealer showrooms for public view. Some of these cars are exhibited at auto shows. They may also be destroyed during crash tests.  Most of the rest are scrapped, as some may not meet automobile safety regulations or emission standards. An example was the Dodge Tomahawk motorcycle, “that hundreds were projected to be built”, but even the few that were sold “do not meet the legal requirements to be classified as a motorcycle by the U.S. government, or to be driven on the street”.

Nautical Notes: Watercraft such as rafts and boats have been used far into pre-historic times and possibly even by Homo erectus more than a million years ago crossing straits between landmasses. Little evidence remains that would pinpoint when the first seafarer made their journey. We know, for instance, that a sea voyage had to have been made to reach Greater Australia  50,000 or more years ago. Functional maritime technology was required to progress between the many islands of Wallacea before making this crossing. We do not know what seafaring predated the milestone of the first settling of Australia.  One of the oldest known boats to be found is the Pesse canoe, and carbon dating has estimated its construction from 8040 to 7510 BCE. The Pesse canoe is the oldest physical object that can date the use of watercraft, but the oldest depiction of a watercraft is from Norway. The rock art at Valle, Norway depicts a carving of a more than 4 meter long boat and it is dated to be 10,000 to 11,000 years old

Riding The Rails: Did you know that they very first aeroplane used tracks or rails to takeoff? This is correct. The Wright Brothers aeroplane used a set of rails as the runway.

Native American Indian Transportation: Earlier in this newsletter, we mentioned Troy and his Pontiac Grand Prix. Pontiac was part of General Motors. The Pontiac division’s name stems from the Odawa Chief named Pontiac, who led an indigenous uprising around the city of Detroit from 1763 to 1766. Pontiac is just one of many Indian names of companies or products that are found in the states.

Animals in the headlines: Here’s a project that Harry has been working on this for over 2 years. A birthday gift for Pat. Harry interviewed dozens of artists trying to find someone to do this. The 2 front dogs are dogs that have passed away. The black Husky in the front is Delilah, our first Husky that died in 2009. The German Shepherd in the front is Dutches, Pat’s childhood dog. Ace and Jett are being led by Delilah and Dutches. Harry had the dog sled custom made for Pat and Jett. The sled was hand made by a husband and wife couple that does the work the way it was 100 years ago.

On August 26, we celebrated National Dog Day. Jett celebrated on her favorite spot, our waterfall.

We close this newsletter with these words: Treat all of your friends like they are worth a million dollars and then, all of your friends will be millionaires.