Kraemer Aviation / Flymall February 2025 Wheels and Wings Newsletter

Welcome to the Kraemer Aviation/Flymall.org Wheels & Wings Newsletter. This month we’re covering a couple of Harry’s trips. The first trip was to Port Arthur Texas to get the Chaparral and the second trip was to the Glenn H Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport NY to their WinterCycle Therapy 2025 event. For more information on places to visit in Hammondsport, we have a section in our Day Tripper pages just for Hammondsport.

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: February 3rd, 1995, at 05:22:04 UTC; Space Shuttle Discovery STS-63 was launched, making Col Eileen Marie Collins, former military instructor and test pilot, the first female pilot of a Space Shuttle. Collins later became the first female commander of a U.S. Spacecraft with Shuttle mission STS-93.

February 20, 1962: John H. Glenn becomes the first American astronaut to orbit the earth. His 4 hour 55 min 23 sec flight in the Mercury capsule, Friendship 7, completes three orbits before splashing down.

Did you know that the very first Corvette logo had an American flag and a checkered flag on it? However, due to restrictions on usage of the American flag on commercial products, Chevy removed the American flag.

February 26, 1952: North American test pilot George Smith becomes the first person to survive a supersonic ejection. During a test flight the controls of a production F-100A Super Sabre, the controls lock and the plane enters a near vertical dive. At an altitude of 6000 ft at Mach 1.05 (675 mph), Smith ejects. He experiences a peak 64 g from wind-drag deceleration and spends .29 sec above 20 g. Smith immediate lost consciousness and his chute deploys but with 1/3 of its panels ripped. Gravely injured he lands in the Pacific where a fishing boat finds him. Smith recovers after a long convalescence and returns to testing high performance aircraft.

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: Instructors, want 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: On February 4, we celebrated the birthday of Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh was a true pioneer of aviation.

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.

Our current used aircraft inventory includes a Piper Cherokee 140, A one owner Cessna 182T, and a 2006 Cessna 172S G1000.

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.

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. 

On February 21, Harry headed North to Hammondsport NY to the Glenn Curtiss Museum for their 2025 Winter Cycle Therapy event. Friday included a visit to the Finger Lakes Boating Museum. And Saturday & Sunday was the big show at the Glenn Curtiss Museum. They had hundreds of bikes entered in the show. Click here for more pictures.

The Finger Lakes Beer Company is always a nice stop on the way back to the motel. They serve locally brewed beer and have live music.

Here is the legendary Curtiss V-8 motorcycle. This is a replica on display at the Glenn Curtiss Museum.

Have you ever seen a 1911 Marvel motorcycle? The Glenn Curtiss Museum has 2 on display. Do you know the connection between Glenn Curtiss and Marvel Motorcycles? Click here to find out.

Barn Finds/Hangar Finds:  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:  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 February 6, the Mid-Atlantic had a snow and ice storm that disrupted travel.

On February 11, we had the first of several storm systems move through for this week.

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.

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

Prototypes: Here’s a Glenn Curtiss built Hercules V-Twin Racer on display at the Glenn Curtiss Museum. On May 30 1903 Curtiss debuts his Hercules 5 HP V-Twin. He reached a top speed of 35 MPH. This marked the first V-Twin configuration in the U.S. Other manufacturers were making “multi-engine” twins that were used in tandem racers.

Nautical Notes: The Finger Lakes region is rich with boating history and the Finger Lakes Boating Museum has it all gathered into one place. This is always an enjoyable place to visit and on Friday February 21, Harry spent a few hours in the museum enjoying the engines and boats. Click here for pictures from this visit.

Here’s a 1905 Fay and Bowen Engine on display at the museum. This is just one of the many engines on display at the museum. If you enjoy reading about historic engines, visit our Wheels & Wings section of the Flymall, we have numerous A to Z list there including; Automobiles, Aviation, Engines, Flying Cars, Motorcycles, and Nautical.

And now for the story on the Chaparral. Here’s how Harry became the caretaker of this historic race car. It all started while Harry was driving through the town of Laytonsville Maryland and he spotted a unique 3 wheeler sitting outside a repair shop called Erdle Automotive. Being the 3 wheeler enthusiast that he is, Harry stopped and started asking the shop owner about the 3 wheel car and who owned it.  Click here for the full story. Fast forward to the year 2024, Larry passed away and left the 3 wheeler and the Chaparral to Harry in his will. As Harry tried to make arrangements with the museum to get the Chaparral, there was a lot of confusion as to who actually owned the car. And after a few months of emails with the Director (Tom) of the Museum of the Gulf Coast, Tom had decided that yes, Harry does indeed own the Chaparral. So, Harry left for Port Arthur on Sunday January 26 2025 to meet the transport company and bring the Chaparral home to Maryland. The trip to Port Arthur went very smoothly. Click here for the full story. The date was Tuesday, January 28 2025. The Chaparral was loaded and on it’s way to Maryland with Jay Ferraro of Ferraro Auto Transport. Houston we have a problem. Harry’s return trip to Maryland did not go too well. The return trip was just problem after problem. Click here for the full story.

The Chaparral was stored at the Montgomery County Airpark for a few weeks while Harry rearranged vehicles at his house to make room for the Chaparral. She now sits in the Harry’s garage with good company.

We close this newsletter with these words: And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make!!! Words by Paul McCartney.