Flymall January 2026 Wheels & Wings Newsletter

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

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”.

What could be cooler than living at an airport? How about living at an airport in a spaceship! A Futuro house to be correct. Futuro house, or Futuro Pod, is a round, prefabricated house designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, of which fewer than 100 were built during the late 1960s and early 1970s. There’s one located at the Eagle Crest Aerodrome in Delaware. You can see it on the airport’s website and it is pictured below.

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: January 29 1973, Emily Hanrahan Howell Warner was hired by Frontier Airlines as a second officer, and is considered to be the first woman to be hired as a pilot for a U.S. commercial airline.

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.

On January 1 1962, The Beatles & The Tremeloes both audition for Decca Records. Decca signs The Tremeloes, reasoning that guitar groups are on the way out. The Beatles failed the audition. And the rest is history.

Achievements & Special Recognition: On Saturday January 10, Pat & Harry attended the awards banquet for Dave Schober. The banquet was actually the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association Annual Banquet and Dave receiving the awards was one of the major highlights of the banquet. Dave received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award as well as the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award. Harry worked with Dave at Frederick Aviation and Harry & Pat both nominated Dave for these awards. For those that do not know the story of Charles Taylor, here’s an article written by Harry in December 20023 and published in a magazine called Aviation Maintenance. Sources online say that only 1,000 people have received both awards, while over 9,000 pilots have received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. And about 3,500 mechanics have received the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award. Click here for more pictures of the event.

Dave did his first solo on September 13 1969 in a Cessna 140. He earned his private pilot certificate on July 22 1973. By 1982, Dave was a commercial pilot and soon added seaplane and glider ratings to his certificate. Dave is also a flight instructor as well as an advanced ground instructor and instrument ground instructor. He has logged over 5,000 hours which includes over 3,000 in taildraggers. And he has 700 plus hours flying gliders. Dave has flown over 130 different type of aircraft. Dave is also a Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR) and a Designated Engineering Representative (DER). In 2004 he was designated a DAR-T to inspect and Re-certify existing aircraft for an airworthiness certificate. In 2017 he was designated a DAR-F to Inspect and Certificate new aircraft. In 2017 he was designated a DER to determine if engineering data complies with the appropriate Airworthiness standards for an aircraft repair or modification.

Here’s Dave proudly display his awards with Harry.

Both the Wright Brothers and Charles Taylor award are administered by the local FAASteam Program Manager (Jim Logie for the Baltimore FSDO). Here’s Jim presenting Dave with his awards.

The main speaker at the event was Francis Gary Powers Jr. He is the son of the famous U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers Sr. Click here for the program from the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association Annual Banquet that includes a bio on Francis Gary Powers Jr.

From Wikipedia: Francis Gary Powers Sr. was an American pilot who served as a United States Air Force officer and a CIA employee. Powers is best known for his involvement in the 1960 U-2 incident, when he was shot down while flying a secret CIA spying mission over the Soviet Union. Powers survived, but was captured and sentenced to 10 years in a Soviet prison for espionage. He served 21 months of his sentence before being released in a prisoner swap in 1962. On 1 May 1960, Powers was shot down by an S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missile over Sverdlovsk. A total of 14 Dvinas were launched, one of which hit a MiG-19 jet fighter which was sent to intercept the U-2 but could not reach a high enough altitude. Its pilot, Sergei Safronov, ejected but died of his injuries. Another Soviet aircraft, a newly manufactured Su-9 on a transit flight, also attempted to intercept Powers’ U-2. The unarmed Su-9 was directed to ram the U-2 but missed because of the large differences in speed.

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: It was one year ago that Harry presented Amin with his Outstanding Aviator award. What is the difference between a pilot and an aviator? Here’s what I found online; An aviator is the airplane, and they move as one, while the pilot is simply manipulating the proper controls at the appropriate time and sees the airplane as a machine that he forces to do things. Pilots are just drivers. Aviators are artists of the trade. If you fly like a professional, study constantly and never push your or your aircraft’s limits unnecessarily, even if your ride is the most basic trainer, then you can call yourself an aviator.

January 4 1990 Northwest Airlines Flight 5 had the #3 engine separate from the aircraft. Northwest Airlines Flight 5, a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Tampa International Airport (KTPA), Florida, to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (KMSP), Minnesota, operating with a Boeing 727-251, registration N280US, experienced an engine failure and separation while flying over Madison, Florida. The airplane landed at the departure airport without incident. The six crew members and 139 passengers were not injured. Details: While cruising at FL350 the crew heard a bang and noted the loss of #3 engine power. A safe emergency landing was carried out at Tampa International Airport, FL (KTPA). It appeared that the forward lavatory external seal was missing the safety button and the internal seal was improperly installed allowing for leakage when the airplane was pressurized. Frozen chunks of lavatory fluid had been ingested by the #3 engine, causing it to separate from the fuselage. Cause: “The failure of company service personnel to properly service the airplane forward lavatory.”

On January 26 1972, JAT Flight 367, enroute from Copenhagen to Belgrade, disintegrated mid-air over Czechoslovakia, reportedly due to a terrorist bomb. Of the 28 people aboard, only one survived: Vesna Vulović, a 22-year-old Yugoslav flight attendant. Vesna was trapped by a food cart in the rear fuselage as the aircraft broke apart. The section she was in struck a snow-covered, forested slope, which softened the impact. Rescue workers found her critically injured but alive — suffering a fractured skull, broken legs, and spinal injuries. Her miraculous survival from a fall of 33,330 feet (10,160 meters) earned her a place in the Guinness World Records as the highest fall survived without a parachute. Though her flying career ended, Vesna became a national heroine and later a peace activist, admired for her courage and resilience. Her story remains one of aviation history’s most extraordinary accounts of survival against all odds.

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:   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. 

Irv Gordon had an interesting story. Irv was known for driving his Volvo P1800S over 3 million miles. He set  the Guinness World Record for most miles driven by a single owner in a non-commercial vehicle. Click here to read his story on Wikipedia.

If you enjoy reading about historic vehicles, 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.

Barn Finds/Hangar Finds:  Need an appraisal on your barn find?  Visit our Appraisal Page for information on our appraisals.  If you need insurance for your barn find or collector car, visit our insurance section of the Flymall.

Did you know that we can offer insurance on your barn find while you’re doing the restoration? Check out the insurance section of the Flymall for more details.

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: December 29 brought a powerful storm system moving across the states. In Buffalo New York, the surface winds at the airport were over 65 knots.

Here’s an unusual PIREP seen on January 8 2026. Click on the image for a larger view.

The weekend of January 24 and 25, brought a major storm system across the states. In Germantown Maryland we received about 10 inches of snow. In the South, the storm had tornado warnings and ice warnings within 50 miles of each other. This storm has basically shut down most of the smaller airports and flight training has come to a stop, even days after the storm while crews dig out their planes. The picture below was taken 3 days after the storm passed.

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.

Meet Ballistic Bliss, a soapbox racer modeled after the iconic Morgan 3 wheeler. The SK Bombardiers Soapbox Team built their kart, Ballistic Bliss, completely from scratch in the spring of 2023. The name of the kart, Ballistic Bliss, pays tribute to one of the main drivers behind the team which was to raise money for the Bliss charity. A charity which has helped 2 very good friends of the team in their time of need. Click here for more info on this awesome soapbox racer.

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 very cool prototype personal submarine made in Israel by a pilot friend of ours. He is also a scuba diver, speed boat skipper, and auto mechanic. Click here for more information and to read Harry’s interview with Gad on the sub’s development.

Nautical Notes:  Need insurance on your new boat?  Visit the insurance section of the Flymall for our insurance products that we offer.

Animals in the headlines: The January 2026 snow storm was almost exactly 10 years from the 2016 snow storm.

Here’s Jett during the 2016 snow storm.

Jett & Pat at the Montgomery County Airport during the 2016 snow storm. The snow pile was higher than the hangars in the background.

Here’s Jett & Ace during the 2026 snow storm.