Flymall / Kraemer Aviation February 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”.

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: Emma Morano was the last living person verified to have been born in the 1800s. Emma Martina Luigia Morano (November 29 1899 – April 15 2017) was an Italian supercentenarian. She was the world’s oldest living person from May 13 2016 until her death on April 15 2017, aged 117 years and 137 days. She remains the oldest Italian person ever to be documented and the fourth-oldest European ever.

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.

 What is the history on letting a rodent forecast the weather? It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from its burrows on this day and sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will go on for six more weeks; if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early. The Pennsylvania Dutch were immigrants from German-speaking areas of Europe. The Germans had a tradition of marking Candlemas (February 2) as “Badger Day” (Dachstag), on which if a badger emerging from its den encountered a sunny day, thereby casting a shadow, it presaged four more weeks of winter. The Pennsylvanians maintained the same tradition as the Germans on Groundhog Day, except that winter’s spell would be prolonged for six weeks instead of four.  For the Pennsylvania Dutch, the badger became the dox, which in Deitsch referred to “groundhog”.

We cannot talk about German engineering without mentioning Wernher von Braun. Von Braun is widely seen as the “father of space travel”, the “father of rocket science” or the “father of the American lunar program”. In Germany he invented the famous V-2 rocket. He got the Americans to the moon and back. Near the end of WWII, von Braun and his team were making plans to surrender to the Americans, which they eventually did. Von Braun actually became NASA’s first director in 1960 and held that position until 1970. We could do an entire post on von Braun, however his Wikipedia page has a lot of good reading.

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

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 gs from wind-drag deceleration and spends .29 sec above 20 gs. 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. He was not expected to live. He was in a coma for about 6 months. Smith recovers after a long convalescence and returns to testing high performance aircraft.

Achievements & Special Recognition: February 3 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.

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.

On February 18 1973, Evel Knievel jumps 50 crushed cars at the LA Coliseum. His did this jump on a Harley Davidson XR-750 like the one pictured here.

On February 3 1974, Debbie Lawler beat Evel Knievel’s indoor jump record at the Houston Astrodome with a jump of 101 feet over 16 Chevrolet pickup trucks. She was the first woman to set this kind of record. Debbie Lawler was only 21 years old at the time. The jump was broadcast live on ABC’s Wide World of Sports and secured her an entry in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records. Unlike Knievel, who bragged about not practicing his jumps, Lawler had a very precise driving and jumping technique due to intensive training accurately landing on the pink heart that marked her landing point. Her record was beaten the same month by Evel Knievel in Portland in a jump over 17 cars, but Lawler remained the female world record holder for this jumping distance.

Aviation/Aviators in the news: Less than 3 years ago, Nir Blumenfeld passed his initial flight instructor checkride. He has already earned numerous industry awards and honors. On February 26 2026, the FAA came to the Montgomery County Airpark to present Nir with the District Flight Instructor of the Year award. Out of about 850 active instructors in the Baltimore FSDO, Nir is the best of the best. Congratulations.

Here’s Nir receiving the award from Jim Logie, the FAASTeam Program Manager for the Baltimore FSDO. FSDO Representatives Jim Logie and Dan Wagonseller were on hand to present Nir with the award. Click here for more pictures from the event.

Here’s Nir on August 2 2023 when he passed his initial flight instructor checkride.

On February 4, we celebrated Charles Lindbergh birthday (born Feb 4 1902).

Here’s an interesting story. On February 14 2007, Ewa Wiśnierska was flying her paraglider when she was sucked into the updrafts of a cumulonimbus cloud (a building thunderstorm). She was unable to escape the updrafts and according to her GPS data, she reached an altitude of 32,986 feet. She landed about 3 hours later just under 40 miles from where she started.

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.

February 24 1989. United Airlines Flight 811 was a regularly scheduled international flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, with intermediate stops at Honolulu and Auckland. On February 24, 1989, the Boeing 747-122 serving the flight experienced a cargo-door failure in flight shortly after leaving Honolulu. The resulting explosive decompression blew out several rows of seats, killing nine passengers. The aircraft returned to Honolulu and landed without further incident. The captain was David M. Cronin. At the time of the accident, Cronin had logged around 28,000 flight hours, including roughly 1,600 hours in Boeing 747 aircraft. Cronin was just a few flights away from his last flight due to mandatory retirement.

On February 25 1988, Harry passed his instrument checkride with the legendary Annabelle.

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.

This year for the Laytonsville Cruise In, we have 2 very special awards. They’re both a Collector Car Outstanding Achievement Award sponsored by Scott Spillers. One will be presented on the June award night and one will be presented on the August award night. This year, we have over $5,000 in sponsorship money for awards/trophies.

We also have 2 other special awards/trophies for this year (in addition to our regular awards). These are sponsored by Guardian Aero Services based at the Montgomery County Airpark. This award is for outstanding craftsmanship. One will be presented at the June award night and the other one will be presented at the August award night.

Here’s the world’s first self-propelled passenger-carrying vehicle. The London Steam Carriage or Trevithick’s Steam Carriage. Constructed by Richard Trevithick and his cousin in 1802 (some resources have the date as 1803). It was tested on Christmas Eve with 8 persons on board. 

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 5 1958 Debbie Evans was born. In the 1970s, Evans was considered the best female observed trials rider in the United States, earning factory-backed sponsorship from Yamaha. She later expanded her motorcycling experience to become a successful film industry stunt performer. Evans was inducted to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003.

In motorcycle news, the new Ural Neo 500 will be starting a US demo tour soon. The Neo 500 is an all-new modern sidecar motorcycle scheduled for North American release in 2026. Aimed at beginners and daily commuters, this model features a 446-452cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine, produces 35-45 hp, and is expected to be priced under $15,000. It is manufactured in China through a partnership with Ying Gang.

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.

This is the Railton Mobil Special. She was built in 1938. It was the first vehicle to break 400 MPH. Click here for more info. Pictured here is a scale model from Harry’s collection.

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.

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 22 – 23, the Mid Atlantic area had their second major snow storm of the season. In Germantown Maryland, we received about 6 inches of snow.

Ace was out enjoying the snow.

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.  

Animals in the headlines: Jett & Ace enjoyed the late February snow storm.

Here they are bowing together.

Even Sherman was out in the snow.

Here’s Jett & Ace after the snow melted.