Some words from Amelia Earhart to start off with this month: “Flying may not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price.”– Amelia Earhart
We have a nice Ercoupe for sale. This is a 415-C model which can be flown on a Sport Pilot Certificate. This won’t last long, so if you are interested in a light sport aircraft check out this Ercoupe. Click here for more info.
We have several inexpensive headsets for sale, including 2 David Clark models. Click here for the headsets. Visit our store at Flymall.org for more pilot supplies.
Earlier this month we celebrated Paul McCartney’s birthday. Visit our events calendar for more dates in Beatle history. Just select the “Beatle” category in our calendar.
Here is a Facebook find and this lady deserves some recognition for being able to drive up to the young age of 100. She was the original owner of this 1973 Mercury Comet (pictured below). When she turned in her drivers license the car had 35,500 original miles. From the picture it looks like she took care of the car.
A local airport gets some special recognition this month. On June 14, 2018, Easton Airport logged more flight operations in the day than any other airport in Maryland–even exceeding the total operations conducted at BWI. ESN routinely ranks as one of the busiest airports in the state
Aviation/Aviators in the news: Here is a cute act that we have been lucky enough to see in person. Enjoy!
Here is an interesting read. It is about a WWII gunner on a Boeing B-17 that jumped from his damaged aircraft at 22,000 feet without a parachute and survived the fall. His name is Alan Magee. Click here for the story.
Car/Motorcycle Show News: The Flymall team was planning to have our 1975 Lomax Roadster at The Original Car Day in early June, however as with most of May, we had heavy rain and storms on the day of the show. Hope for better weather next year.
The Family Room located where we have the Laytonsville Cruise In is becoming a popular spot for the cruise in folks. The have specialty coffee and ice cream as well as other snacks and sandwiches. So if you at the cruise in please stop in a check them out.
Check out this rare Datsun double cab pickup spotted on Craigslist. She is a 1954 Datsun 6147. They were referred to as a ranch sedan or a station wagon. It could be yours for just $20,000.00 USD. This would surely be a show winner as is or restored.
While on the topic of rare pickups. Here is a 1982 Dodge Rampage ad.
Pat & Harry attended The White Rose Motorcycle Club swap meet on June 8 2018. There were a lot of interesting bikes for sale as well as parts, manuals, etc. Click here for pictures from the event.
Here is a YouTube video of Harry’s still pictures from the White Rose event.
We were invited to a friend’s farm (Putt’s farm, Century farm, Retirement farm, Putts Farm) today for a cookout. It is a 99 acre farm that has been in his family since the 1700s. The stone house is from the late 1700s and the small log cabin (actually a smoke house) is from the early 1700s. There is even a family cemetery on the farm with graves from the 1700s and 1800s. One of his relatives (one of the first owners of the farm) was a witness to the signing of the declaration of independence. The buildings you see house his car collection and his vintage tractor collection. Click here for Harry’s Facebook album of pictures from the event.
This beautiful Morton building houses his collection of GTOs.
The stone house in the background is from the late 1700s.
This smoke house is from the early 1700s. We’re told this was originally build in 1740. Most of the wood is original.
The farm is from a time when families buried the dead on their property. This farm has a family cemetery with graves dating back to the 1700s.
We recently had a Batmobile and cool drag car at Laytonsville Cruise In. The Barmobile took 900 hours and about a year to build. He started with a 1978 Lincoln Town Car. Here is Bill Gibson’s Batmobile.
Here it is leaving the Bat Cave. He has a barrier that folds down just like in the TV series.
He even has flames coming from the jet engine exhaust system.
For more info on the build of the unique build check out the builder’s YouTube Channel – billsmetal.
Barn Finds/Hangar Finds: Here is an interesting barn find for this month. A 1950 Chevrolet 3100 Short-bed Pickup for only $6,500.00 USD. It has been sitting in a shop in Kansas. It comes with the all original 216 motor, 4 speed transmission, new tires, new tail gate, new rear fenders, and a few more new items including a new chrome grill.
Harry was tipped off to a hangar find. This little Piper Cherokee 140 had been sitting for almost 10 years. He was able to get it presentable and had it sold in a few weeks for under $20,000.00 USD.
If you’re looking for a deal like this, bookmark our used aircraft page and check it often since these deals do not last very long.
Weather in the news: Rain, rain, and more rain. This has been the topic for a lot of May and early June in the Mid-Atlantic region. The historic Whites Ferry has been closed due to flooding from the rain.
Three Wheel Association (TWA): Many car manufacturers started with 3 wheelers. Oldsmobile did as well as the AC Car Company. It is generally accepted that Karl Benz (which became Mercedes Benz) invented the motor car, but did you know that car was a three wheeler?
This month we have a few rare Japanese 3 wheelers in the news. Toyo Kogyo (which is now know as Mazda) built 3 wheelers before and after WWII. Here is their Tricycle Truck Type GA, powered by 669cc air-cooled single cylinder SV engine.
Here is a Toyo Kogyo Type PB tricycle. Also know as the 90 yen Taxi. This was a popular means of transportation in the city of Hiroshima.
Slightly larger than the Tricycle Truck Type GA, here is a Tricycle Truck Type GB with a 701cc air-cooled single cylinder engine.
While at the White Rose Motorcycle Club swap meet in June 2018, Harry spotted a rare Hyosung golf cart for sale. There is not much info online about this rare little 3 wheeler. It was in very good running condition. An electric motor with 4 12 volt batteries powered it.
Here is another very rare 3 wheeler for this month. A 1961 Roustabout Concept, this was a prototype of the Trivan three-wheeler.
Prototypes: This month we’re featuring some of the Ercoupe prototypes. Pat & Harry were lucky enough to meet Betsy Weick (the designer Fred Weick’s daughter). We were able to have her sign a copy of her dad’s book.
The Ercoupe was the first aircraft to use rocket assisted takeoff technology. During WWII a two aircraft were built using Birch and plywood to demonstrate use of non-strategic materials, but no further aircraft were built and the test aircraft were scrapped. We have been unable to find any pictures of the wood Ercoupe.
In 1948 J. B. Collie of Southeast Air Service produced a Twin Ercoupe by joining two Ercoupe fuselages with a new centre section, similar to the North American P-82 Twin Mustang. This aircraft was built to be used in airshows by Thrasher Brothers Air Circus of Elberton GA. The aircraft had a smoke system for each engine, and could be flown from either cockpit
There was also a retractable gear version made.
Here is another prototype for this month. This is the 1962 prototype of the Dassault Mytère 20 (Falcon). This is the aircraft that would become known as the Falcon 20.
Animals in the headlines: We have two Jets (little Jet and Jett Kraemer) in the headlines this month.
This month we celebrate Jett’s 5th birthday. We also need to remember little Jet, our first Tamaskan (wolf dog).
Remembering Little Jet (Emely/Emily): April 19 2013 – June 20 2013
John Lennon once said “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end”. I guess our little puppy is ok now. Every life deserves a chance no matter what the odds are and Pat and I gave this little girl a chance. The odds were against her when Pat picked her up from the breeder.
Here is a Facebook post I did a few days after she passed away: With very little sleep for the past week and giving constant care for the puppy I have not been able to keep you updated but I did want to thank everyone for staying in touch with me and thanks for asking about our little puppy over the past week. She lost her struggle this past Thursday peacefully in my arms. She lived 2 months and 1 day. She has a permanent resting place poolside in one of our gardens. By the time we got her she was very weak. Her blood sugar level was 17 and it should have been around 80. We were able to get it up to 47. During her last two days she went downhill fast. The last two vets that saw her could not get blood from her little legs or ears (blood to check blood sugar level). The last blood sample was gotten by clipping one of her nails very short which only yielded one drop of blood. Her heart was not sending blood to her legs, etc in an effort to keep her vital organs alive. I was with her round the clock since my wife left Tuesday morning for her business trip. No sleep, just naps (naps on the floor next to the dog) here and there. I was so tired one morning that I put shaving cream on my tooth brush and brushed my teeth – yuck! No matter how tired I got I was determined to be with her round the clock, if she passed I wanted her to feel a warm body next to her, if she pulled through I wanted her to see me first. She passed with a warm body next to her.
Pat and I feel that every living thing deserves a chance on life and we gave this little girl her best shot on life. I was feeding this puppy round the clock with numerous different foods and liquids. She was seeing a vet every day for a checkup and to be hydrated. The puppy was too weak for most tests and she had very little blood. All of the tests that were completed were normal – blood, urine, stool sample, all normal. No one knew what was wrong with her.
I do have to send out a special thanks to Joan Macri who gave us some encouragement by suggesting some food that when put in front of the puppy she woke up from a sleep and started eating on her own. That was the first time we saw her eat on her own. Thanks Joan for some brief happiness with our puppy.
Also this month we’re starting to see our tadpoles morph into little frogs/toads.
More baby frogs/toads from our pond. Click here for some high resolution pictures of them.
We close this newsletter with this:
Comments Off on Flymall Wheels & Wings June 2018 Newsletter
We have a nice starter airplane for sale, a 1967 Piper Cherokee 140 that can be purchased for under $20,000.00 USD. Click here for details.
Visit our ebay store for some great deals on pilot supplies, car parts, collectables, and more. You can also shop on the Flymall by clicking on our store button on the left side panel. We have numerous categories in our store, and you can pay online.
Achievements & Special Recognition: Do you want to promote/celebrate your first solo or new pilot certificate or rating? Send us an email and we’ll post it here for you.
Aviation/Aviators in the news: Each day on Flymall.org we have a new history fact at the bottom of our webpages. Just look where it says “Today in Aviation History”.
Car/Motorcycle Show News: The Flymall team visited The Rural Heritage Museum in early May. They had an entire building dedicated to transportation (cars, bicycles, motorcycles, and covered wagons).
Harry’s favorite from the show was a 1930s Zundapp Military Motorcycle.
Car trivia. What car had a step down design. One of the reasons the manufacturer went out of business was because they did not offer a V8. Click here for answer.
Barn Finds/Hangar Finds: 1966 Pontiac Star Chief that has been sitting in a barn for 8 years. It sold on eBay for $2,250.00 USD. The seller said that it ran when parked. Looked like a good deal.
CFI Notes: Here are some pictures of a recent Piper Arrow crash. Let’s examine the pictures and determine what could have possibly happened. Notice how the tips of the propeller blades are not curled like you typically see with a prop strike. It appears that the pilot stalled just above the runway and the aircraft nosed in to the ground “nose first”. From looking at the propeller blades it looks like once the one blade hit the ground it dug in and the rotation of the blades stopped since one blade shows no sign of hitting the ground.
Weather in the news: We had a lot of rain in Germantown Maryland this May.
Here is a snapshot of the radar from May 14 in Germantown Maryland.
After the storms passed on May 14.
Just 2 years after the historic flooding in Ellicott City Maryland, May 2018 brings it on again.
May 2018 ends with heavy rain and storms (May 31 2018).
Three Wheel Association (TWA): There are plans in the future for the Three Wheel Association to have a building to house the collection and to be headquarters for the association. Keep checking the TWA page on the Flymall for updates.
Prototypes: This month we’re featuring some unknown cars by well known manufacturers.
Toyota EX-III, 1969 concept
Here is another interesting prototype we found online. This is a full-scale mockup for a 1965 Cadillac V16 two-seater. Too bad it was never put in to production.
The XP-755 concept car, better known as the Corvette Mako Shark concept car.
And here is one by Ford. The 1969 Ford XW SurferRoo GS utility from Australia was a prototype that never went into mass production. They were powered by a 5.0Litre V8 and 4-speed. Three cars were built, featuring a massive rear wing and wooden deck. They were taken on a national promotion tour and, at the end, were offered to dealers and sold to the public.
Animals in the headlines: Jett Kraemer (JK) looking over her kingdom for coyote. After her fight with the coyote she goes by JCK – Jett Coyote Killer.
Dogs and coyote were once again in the news in May 2018. Memorial Day weekend a dog was attacked and killed by a coyote in Northern Virginia.
April & May frog/toad eggs
We close this newsletter with these words of wisdom: Strive for excellence, not perfection.
Comments Off on Flymall Wheels & Wings May 2018 Newsletter
Earlier this month we celebrated April 27 or 4-27. We celebrate in true gear head style. Car enthusiasts will know what vehicle this came from.
Achievements & Special Recognition: Ringo Star becomes Sir Ringo! The former Beatle receives his knighthood by the Queen. This comes 21 years after Paul McCartney received the same honor.
If you enjoy The Beatles and Beatle history visit our events calendar and select the Beatles category to view dates in The Beatles history.
Earlier in April, Pat’s student Jake did his first solo at KGAI.
Aviation/Aviators in the news: Tammie Jo Shults. The female pilot who safely landed Southwest Airline flight #1380 that experienced a rapid decompression at 32,000ft due to a blown engine.
Here’s some old news, aviation related from Baltimore Maryland (Harry’s hometown). The first Mars supermarket.The idea for Mars supermarkets came in the early 1940s from Joseph D’Anna, whose location for his upstart grocery store was an apartment complex in Essex, Maryland, called Mars Estates. Nearby, Glenn L. Martin was developing an airplane called the Mars Flying Boat that could take off and land in water, so “Mars” seemed a perfectly logical name to instill local pride and …recognition. His first store opened on Old Eastern Avenue in 1943. It was operated for three years in a partnership with friend Bob Baum. They decided to open a second location in the 300 block of Eastern Ave. As more joined the team, the company decided to relocate to the south in Dundalk, Maryland, where they purchased a strip center with seven shopfronts to expand their business, closing the Essex locations.
Next month on May 20 we will have a few of our bikes on display and the British and European Bike Day. Stop by and say hello.
Barn Finds/Hangar Finds: Here is a 1921 Morgan 3 wheeler. No details were listed. Would be very cool just to keep as it is. If this vehicle could talk. It probably has a few stories to tell.
Weather in the news: Our Aviation Weather page has a lot of information regarding weather reports, understanding weather, and more. We also feature severe weather videos.
Three Wheel Association (TWA): Not really a three wheeler. A friend’s ice cycle. It runs on 3 blades. It is powered by a working REO engine. A very talented guy, he can build most anything by just looking at a picture. He has built several vintage and rare 3 wheelers.
Did you know that our newsletter section is searchable? Want to find a topic or subject we covered? Looking for the newsletter that featured a certain car or aircraft? Just use the search box on the right side of our newsletter section of the Flymall. The search box is just above where it says “Recent Post”.
Visit our Pilot Shop for some great deals on pilot supplies. We have added an online checkout. Now you can place your order online and pay via PayPal.
Achievements & Special Recognition: Do you know someone that stands out and should have recognition, let us know and we’ll post it here. Our newsletter reaches hundreds of readers each month. You can use the contact us section on the Flymall to send any achievements & special recognition to Harry.
Aviation/Aviators in the news: If you enjoy reading about aviation history, we have a “Today in aviation history” fact at the bottom of each page on the Flymall. Each day there is a new fact regarding aviation history for that day. Some days have more than one fact.
The Flymall team attended their first show of the season, an annual swap meet/car show at the Howard County Fairgrounds. Click here for some pictures from the event. Visit our appearance schedule to see where the Flymall team will be next.
Enjoy this 1970s TV commercial: Supermarine Spitfire vs Triumph Spitfire.
Barn Finds/Hangar Finds: Here is a very interesting barn find for this month. A 1978 Buick Opel by Isuzu. As far as we can tell this is the only vehicle without a model name. It does have three different brand names. Read the full story on Barn Finds by clicking here.
Weather in the news: On March 2 2018 much of the east coast experienced a wind storm. Wind gusts were over 70 mph in Maryland. Here are some pictures of a downed tree from the storm. This is the driveway at Kraemer Aviation.
Three Wheel Association (TWA): A lot of progress has been made on the Heald Hauler fire-truck project. Click here for pictures. The Heald Hauler was a yard vehicle made in the 1970s – 1980s. The Heald Hauler will be displayed in the TWA museum.
Prototypes: This month we’re featuring a Harley Earl design. The 1954 Buick Wildcat II.
Animals in the headlines: Flymall’s own Jett makes the news this month. In late March 2018 she was attacked by a coyote in her own fenced in back yard. By the time Harry realized what was going on Jett had the coyote pinned down on its back with one paw holding it down and the other paw hitting the face of the coyote. It appears that Jett won the fight, but not before getting bit on the leg. The attack/fight only lasted a few minutes. Harry broke up the fight and got Jett inside. The strangest thing was that the coyote showed no fear of humans when Harry was yelling at Jett to get inside. In fact the coyote tried to calmly follow Jett inside.
We close this newsletter with some words from Wilbur Wright.
Comments Off on Flymall Wheels & Wings March 2018 Newsletter
Achievements & Special Recognition: The Flymall team would like to congratulate Ira Walker & Walker Aviation and his Early Snow Transportation Club. Ira has been working hard getting the Early Snow Transportation Club started. Coming soon there will be an entire section on the Flymall dedicated to the club. Visit Ira’s section in the Flymall store by clicking here.
Aviation/Aviators in the news: Earlier this month SpaceX launched Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster into space on top of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket.
Sort of like this scene from Spaceballs with their Winnebago
Car/Motorcycle Show News: This month we have some show news that is 101 years old. It was in February 1917 that Glen Curtiss showed the public is Autoplane at the Pan-American Aeronautic Exposition in New York City. This vehicle is considered the first attempt to build a roadable aircraft.
CFI Notes: The first to correctly identify the area shown by the blue arrows wins a Flymall Wheels & Wings tool kit. Tool kit pictured below.
Weather in the news: Earlier this month (Feb 7 2018) we had an array of liquid precipitation in the north east. Here is a screen shot of the radar from that day.
So with that day in mind we’re explaining some weather terms for our readers (especially the pilots). Do you know the difference between freezing rain, sleet, and snow? Which is the most hazardous for a pilot? Click here for an explanation by AccuWeather.
Here is a weather term that you probably never heard: Hoar frost. What is it? After a cold, clear winter night without much wind, the ground and nearby tree branches may be covered by tiny, white ice crystals. These loosely interlocked ice crystals are a phenomena known as hoar frost or radiation frost. For more reading on this topic click here.
Since we’re on the topic of snow, here is how a pilot measures snow fall in his/her back yard. It appears to be about 40 nautical miles deep on a true course of 090.
Three Wheel Association (TWA): Visit our appearance schedule to find out where we will be displaying our rare three wheel vehicles. We will be at a lot of airport open house events and car shows this year with our collection.
Prototypes: This month we’re featuring a 1942 Hydromobile. This one is on display in the Auto Mobil museum in Loheac France, but was built in the USA by a Hungarian engineer – only one prototype was built. It has a fully wooden superstructure and retractable wheels (three),therefor the vehicle can plane on the surface of the water.
Engine: Ford 100 HP flathead 8 cylinder 4700 cc
Speed land: 140 km/h, Water: 45 km/h
1948 de Coucy wind tunnel prototype: This vehicle (pictured below) was one of several small engine, one seaters funded by engineer, racing patron, and brilliant mathematician – the Count Enguerrand de Coucy – who lived from 1887 to 1974. Read more on BarnFinds.com by clicking here.
Animals in the headlines:
We close this newsletter with some words for the dog lovers.
Comments Off on Flymall / Kraemer Aviation February 2018 Newsletter
Recently there was some great news in the music industry. Ringo Starr is now Sir Richard Starkey. Ringo was recently Knighted by the Queen. If you’re a Beatles fan like we are check out our events calendar, select the Beatles category to view historic dates in Beatle history.
Achievements & Special Recognition: December 22 2017 German M. passed his checkride for his initial flight instructor certificate. German is a friend from Harry’s days at a flight school at KGAI.
Harry’s former student Francesca is enjoying her first year at Embry Riddle. She is also in a Navy ROTC program. They enjoyed a dinner together at Julliano’s while she was in town for the holidays.
Next month (Feb 2018) will be the 30th anniversary of Harry receiving his instrument rating. He earned his instrument rating on February 25 1988. Thirty years of flying around with his head in the clouds.
Aviation/Aviators in the news: This month we’re featuring some aviators in the news from WWII. Their interesting story is about 2 Boeing B-17 Bombers that became entangled in the air during WWII. The 2 aircraft actually flew joined together for some time while the crews of each were able to parachute to safety. Click here for the full story.
Car/Motorcycle Show News: Here is a new design motorcycle by Yamaha that show be at shows in 2018. The all new Yamaha Niken. It has side by side front wheels.
We have been receiving a lot of entries for our events calendar for cars shows this coming spring and summer. Check it out to get the latest and most accurate dates for upcoming shows and other events.
Here is a flashback from Harry’s hometown, Baltimore Maryland. Kind of, sort of car show news. Long before Eastpoint Mall was a mall, it was known as Eastpoint Shopping Center. There was a miniaturized village there called Safety Town. It was used to educate children about the laws of the road. Here are a few pictures found online of Safety Town.
Barn Finds/Hangar Finds: This month in Barn Finds we’re featuring a 1925 Julian Sport Coupe. This car is said to be the granddaddy of the Volkswagen Beetle. The Julian Sport Coupe had an air-cooled engine. The prototype sat in a storage garage for 24 years until it was sold to recoup some of the storage fees. It has since been restored and is now owned by the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada. Click here for the full story on this interesting vehicle.
The Flymall Market Watch is a great resource for “pickers”. We designed the database to be smart phone friendly and easy to use. The database over 10,000 entries including vintage cars, antique motorcycles, aircraft, bicycles, and more. You can even search the database by a celebrity name (if you want to know how much celebrity ownership increases a vehicle’s value). We have even expanded the database to include memorabilia that can be searched by key words such as Beatles, John Lennon, Chip Foose, etc.
Here is another interesting barn find or maybe a tree find we seen while scrolling through barn finds on Facebook. Look closely, the tree actually grew through the rear wheel of this bike.
CFI Notes: Here is an NTSB report I found while researching an aircraft for a client. What stands out in this accident is the fact that the CFI asked the student to add fuel (primer) while he pulled the prop through. This is not a good idea.
Aircraft: CESSNA 150M, registration: N714QW
Injuries: 1 Serious, 1 Uninjured.
THE STUDENT & INSTRUCTOR (CFI) WERE PREFLIGHTING THE ACFT TO FLY ON A COLD MORNING. TO FACILITATE BETTER ENG STARTING, THE CFI ELECTED TO TURN THE PROP WHILE THE STUDENT ‘PUSHED THE PRIMER IN.’ HE TOLD THE STUDENT TO CHECK THAT THE MAG & MASTER SWS WERE OFF & THE STUDENT ACKNOWLEDGED. ON THE 2ND ‘TURN THROUGH,’ THE ENG STARTED & RAN APRX 5 SEC. THE CFI WAS INITIALL…Y CLR OF THE PROP, BUT AS HE WAS BACKING AWAY, HE SLIPPED ON INCE & HIS RGT LEG WENT IN THE PATH OF THE TURNING PROP. HE WAS HOSPITALIZED WITH A SEVERE LACERATION & THE PROP WAS SLIGHTLY BENT. AN INV REVEALED THE STUDENT WAS AT THE CONTROLS WITH THE KEYS REMOVED FROM THE MAG SW. A FURTHER EXAM REVEALED THE MAG CIRCUITRY WAS NORMAL, EXCEPT THE MAGNETO KEY COULD BE REMOVED WHILE THE MAG SW WAS IN THE ‘LEFT’ POSITION.
Weather in the news: Erie PA, Christmas 2017 has some weather that is news worthy. They had over 65 inches of snow. Here is a picture that was posted on Facebook. The location was West 8th in Erie PA. That is a lot of snow.
Three Wheel Association (TWA): Many of our readers are familiar with the Morgan 3 wheeler. The first Morgan 3 wheeler was made in 1909 and production stopped in 1952. But not many may know who or what inspired Morgan to start production up again. It was re-introduced in 2011 thanks to the work of Pete Larsen and the Ace Cycle Car (first one rolled out in 2004). Pete was the person that figured out how to mate a Mazda Miata transmission with a Harley Davidson V-twin engine. To read reviews on the Morgan 3 wheeler, visit our Test Drive section of our forum.
Prototypes: This month we’re featuring a rare prototype bicycle that showed up on ebay back in October 2017. This 2006 prototype was made to be sold as a Harley Davidson license, but did not make it to market (internal politics between Toys R Us and HD). It is based from the 2004 award winning Schwinn Stingray, with several modifications: The frame has unique “Tank” gusset. Only 2 of these frames in existence. It has a Fat-boy fork – extra wide spacing for a 4″ x 20″ front wheel, alloy crowns, and chrome plated legs. It has a modified coaster brake which is 170mm wide – The only Chopper made with this hub (note that this hub was used on the limited run”Manta Ray” as well). Equipped with full wrap fenders. It has a springer saddle – not found on the production Stingrays. An extra wide chain guard. None of these features can be found on any production bicycles (except for the rear hub). This bike and ad was found on ebay and the seller claimed that he was the product designer at Schwinn.
And here is a 4 wheel concept car or prototype. A 1938 Y-Job Buick Concept (possibly GM’s first concept car). The car had hidden headlamps, electrically powered windows and top. The top folded away into the trunk. Many of these design features would find their way into post-war production Buicks in the late 40s and early 50s.
One more prototype for this month… Many think that Chrysler was the first US car manufacturer with the minivan. Nope! More than ten years before Chrysler had the minivan, Ford had one. The 1972 Ford Carousel. Ford was kind of hesitant of the idea of the minivan. Lee Iacocca was at Ford at the time the Ford Carousel was introduced. And when Lee Iacocca left Ford and went to Chrysler, the minivan idea went with him. And the rest is history. Here is the 1972 Ford Carousel.
Enjoy this video about a wood fueled 1913 Model T Ford
Animals in the headlines: Enjoy this video about a wolf that made friends with some local dogs in Alaska.
Look for our February 2018 newsletter and learn about the 1942 Hydromobile. And in our March 2018 newsletter hear some words of wisdom from Wilbur Wright.
We close this newsletter with a quote from Winston Churchill: We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Comments Off on Flymall Wheels & Wings January 2018 Newsletter
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
“Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONNER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!
Comments Off on Twas The Night Before Christmas – Collection
