Kermit's Blog

Change yourself . . . and you change the World!

Monthly Archives: January 2012

Sopwith Snipe Flies!

My Sopwith Snipe has been completed, signed-off by the authorities, and recently test-flown!

All this is courtesy of Peter Jackson’s great interest and efforts building up very authentic reproductions of famous WWI aircraft.  As mentioned in a previous blog, I did a trade with Peter for the Snipe and Albatros and sent down several engines they overhauled for the projects.

Snipe being Rigged for Flight!

Since this is the first Snipe built by Gene DeMarco and The Vintage Aviator Ltd. (TVAL), it took considerably longer than my Albatros, which already had a prototype flying.  I blogged about my exploits in April flying the Albatros at the Omaka Airshow.

I chose to paint the Snipe in the colors of highly-decorated WWI Canadian Ace Billy Barker, who was the 12th highest scoring ace in WWI with 50 confirmed kills.  It represents the airplane he flew his last combat in on October 27, 1918, in which he received the Victoria Cross for his valiant efforts against enemy aircraft.

Ready to Test-Fly!

One of the cooler aspects of the restoration was that Barker and his squadron mates used to put car ornaments of the time on their airplanes to “personalize” them.  Gene and his restoration crew did some research and found the ornaments are still being made for period cars . . . by the SAME COMPANY that built them in WWI!  How cool is that?  They ordered me the one Barker used . . . a Red Devil!

Barker's personalized weapon with WWI period car hood ornament!

The Snipe uses the largest Rotary engine ever built: a British Bentley BR-2 with 230 hp!  I have seen videos of it running on a test stand and can’t wait to get it back to hear it in person.  Better yet, fly behind it!

She Flies!

As I write this, both the Snipe and the Albatros are on a ship headed to Florida.  We hope to have them assembled and flying at Fantasy of Flight and by the end of March in time for the 2012 Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In!

Kermit

Curtiss Pusher Arrival!

The Curtiss Pusher I purchased earlier this year is now at Fantasy of Flight!  Shipped down from Idaho, it made the trip in record time in the back of a semi-trailer.  With the help of my guys, we unloaded it and eventually hung the wings on temporarily while we had everyone there.

The precarious part with the help of a forklift!

While in the trailer unloading parts . . . with my three of my guys looking in . . . I couldn’t help but have them pose for a picture!

Grease Monkeys?

As mentioned in a previous blog, I think the airplane will make a great trainer for the Benoist Flying Boat we’re building.

Hangar Flying!

The airplane has since been completely assembled, inspected, and test run.  We now only await paperwork from the FAA.

Kermit

Roar ‘n Soar 2011!

We held another Roar ‘n Soar event again this year.  I flew four different airplanes each day and talked to the crowds about each one after landing.  There are many things going on at the event like; R/C planes, boat races on the lake, BMX jumping, hang gliding, a car show, music, and lots of fun things for the kids to do.

One fun thing I got to do for me was to race a Hydroplane around the course one morning.  It does about 100 mph on the straightaways!  What a rush!

What fun!

Another cool thing I got to do was demonstrate a Hovercraft I’ve had for many years.

More fun!

When I moved out of my Miami shop to Central Florida I rented it to the people that built them.  After visiting from time to time, I decided I had to have one.  It is equally as comfortable on water as it is on land and I routinely go from the runway into the retention ponds and back.  One of the fun things you can do with it is go down the runway at full speed, turn the control hard over, and do spins down the runway!

Kermit

Liberty Engine Progress!

Restoration Specialist, Andy Salter, just completed a milestone on one of our onsite airplane projects . . . the installation of a Liberty engine he overhauled himself for our WWI DeHavilland 4!

Andy makes last minute checks!

Andy is an expert machinist and comes from a background of tool and die making as well as car and airplane restoration.  He was involved in the rebuild of the Spitfire we have at Fantasy of Flight as well as several other projects I had done in England before he came to work for me.

Hoisting the Liberty to its new Home!

One of the more tedious parts of the overhaul was hand-scraping the silver babbitted crankshaft bearings, which alone took him three weeks!  Next steps on the project will be to begin installing anything that connects to the engine like fuel lines, instruments, radiator, etc.

Installed!

Andy is also working on another Liberty for our other DH-4 Mailplane so what he’s learned from this project will have a direct carry over to the Mailplane.

I can’t wait to hear one run!

Kermit

My first Product Endorsement!

I was recently asked to endorse a product for a Radio Control Airplane version of the famous Gee Bee R-1 Racer!  This was the airplane that Jimmy Doolittle flew and won the famous Thompson Trophy Race in Cleveland, OH in 1932.  They actually built two versions of the airplane: one for racing in the Thompson closed-course pylon races and another for participating in the cross-country Bendix Race from Los Angeles to Cleveland.

I'm now on the side of a box!

We’re fortunate to have a reproduction of the airplane on display at Fantasy of Flight, which has since become one of the characters in my illustrated children’s book series.  The first book is called All of Life is a School and I’m rapidly narrowing down on my second one.

It’s a cute little airplane with an electric motor.  Guess what it weighs with the motor and all the radio control gear in it?  FIVE OUNCES!  They brought one out for the photo shoot and later flew it for me off the ramp.  How cool!

While we aren’t getting paid for the endorsement, we are getting some great advertising on the side of the box to help advertise Fantasy of Flight.

I used to fly R/C airplanes when I was a kid and now joke to people that I crashed so many of them, it got too expensive . . . so I got into collecting Warbirds!

Kermit

New Attraction for Fantasy of Flight!

We are very excited about a new attraction element at Fantasy of Flight that we just installed. It’s a Confidence / Ropes Course we’ve named Wing Walk Air!

Wing Walk Air!

Last year at the IAAPA Convention in Orlando (International Association for Amusement Parks and Attractions), myself, and three of my top employees were independently drawn to its display and picked up information about it. It seemed a perfect fit for the future of where Fantasy of Flight is headed and in less than a year we had one installed!

Now you’ve got to be asking yourself, “What’s this got to do with airplanes?” It doesn’t! But it has everything to do with our future product, which is to create a place where people self-discover themselves for themselves.

Fantasy of Flight is more about the metaphor of flight and what it symbolizes to each and everyone of us: pushing our boundaries and reaching beyond ourselves. We will just happen to use it and aviation history in the current aspect of what we’re creating as a medium of delivery. And this is a great example!

After putting on a harness that safely follows you around in an overhead track, you climb a set of stairs and get to experience three different levels of fun elements to negotiate. Each element is a slightly different challenge made up of beams, open wooden bridges, and different rope elements.

Checking it out!

Most people have some fear of heights and, while immersed in the experience, you will most likely find an element that reaches your boundary and intimidates you. You get to experience and sense this boundary . . . and then have the opportunity of self-discovering yourself pushing through it! Just like life!

We intend to install pictures of wing-walkers around the experience so you can relate to the crazy things they did while you’re immersed in the experience. We will also get you to reflect on your own current journey of life with sayings such as, “What’s stopping you?” “When was the last time you did something for the first time?” “If not now . . . when?” “If you knew you couldn’t fail . . . what would you do?”

You get the idea! There are always opportunities in life to take a step beyond your perceived boundaries and the Confidence Course is no exception. Too easy for you? Let go of the safety strap and try walking across a shaky beam at 40 feet using pure balance! How about timing yourself how fast you can get through all the elements . . . and they try to beat your record!

Go back and look at the first picture of the Confidence Course and ask yourself, “How long do you think it would take me to negotiate all the elements from top to bottom?” Guess what the record is of one of my employees? Less than three minutes!

As part of the installation, we also included the option of installing a Zip Line that allows patrons to zip over one of our retention ponds.

Zippity do da!

The Zip Line uses a different harness that clips into the same overhead safety track as the Confidence Course but includes rollers that allow you to zip across the pond on cables to a tower on the other side. There, you climb a short set of stairs and zip back the other way. It’s about 600 feet total and is a lot of fun!

We still have to install a nice entrance booth, signage, and some decorative enhancements, but that shouldn’t stop you from coming out and giving it a try. If you want to experience Wing Walk Air RIGHT NOW, check out this link on Youtube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlhlMxvnebw.

We’re open for business, so come on out and check it out!

Kermit


NBAA 2011!

Recently, I attended the National Business Aircraft Association convention in Las Vegas.  We were having a Board meeting of the Lindberg Foundation and I got the opportunity to visit with new and old friends and get a chance to check out the latest business jets and products.  I had supported the NBAA cause in the past by donating a tour of Fantasy of Flight and flight in a cool airplane for one of their charity auctions.

While there, we presented Jeppesen CEO Mark Van Tine an award for his company joining the Lindbergh Foundation Aviation Green Alliance, which supports and honors the Aviation Industry for promoting environmental challenges within their field.  True to my typical form, no one told me I was supposed to wear a suit and tie!

Presentation to Jeppesen

After checking out the goodies at the Las Vegas Convention Center, I got out to Henderson Airfield to check out the latest hardware.  While there, I couldn’t help but check out my Dream Jet – the Embraer Phenom 300!

My Dream Jet!

Now how cool is that!  One day I hope to be able to justify one, as it’s an aspect of my flying career I would love to experience.

Dreaming of my own personal transportation!

Hey, Kermit, maybe you should work on getting your Instrument Rating first!

Kermit

Another Mustang for the Herd!

Most everyone is aware of the two beautiful P-51 Mustangs we have on display at Fantasy of Flight: P-51C, Ina the Macon Belle, and P-51D, Cripes A’Mighty. But did you know that I’ve also had a North American P-51A in storage for many years?  I purchased it in the early 1980′s but, because I had first the “D”, and then the “C” to fly, I never really pursued getting the “A” flyable and focused on other projects.

The project is in great shape and years ago I sent the it out to Art Teeters’ Cal Pacific Airmotive in California to slowly begin working on.  I was in no hurry and the project has been on and off the “burner” for several decades.  Art and his son Dave did the restorations on both the “C” and the “D”, which both won Grand Champion Warbird at the Sun ‘n Fun as well as the Oshkosh Fly-In’s.  It seemed only natural to let them do the “A.”

New Stainless Steel Parts

Recently, I told Art to get back on the project again.  They had just completed the metalwork on another P-51A project and the shop was now up to speed on its slightly different construction.  It seemed only natural to take advantage of their current knowledge.

There came a great opportunity to visit the shop again when I was invited out to Dave Teeters recent wedding!  I had not been out to the shop in years.  One wing is basically done and the other is in assembly.  Currently they are focusing on finishing up the wings before diving in to the fuselage.

Right Aileron in Jig

As we began to think of how we were going to paint the airplane, I decided to do something different.  It seems everyone wants their airplane to stand out from the crowd, whether its the paint job or some special thing about it that no one else has.  Well, I guess I’m no different!

Early in the War, the factory made some of the P-51A’s with cannons instead of guns.  They were built mostly for the British but in researching into it, I discovered there were a few Americans that flew them as well.

Second Wing Half in Jig

Left Wing in Jig

Eventually, we discovered a likely candidate flown in the Mediterranean Theater by a 1st Lt. Dean R. Gilmore in a 111th Photo Recon paint scheme.  It was an airplane called Snoopers with some great artwork on the nose depicting its photo mission status as well as the number of missions it had flown.  Dean was awarded the DFC for one of his Recon missions over Monte Cassino, Italy and went on to fly 91 missions between August, 1943 and May, 1944.  By the time he returned home, he had accumulated a total of 194 combat flying hours and had flown more missions than anyone else in his squadron.

As a side twist to all this, Racing Legend Jack Roush at one point wanted to buy my P-51C but I told him it was not for sale.  He did the next best thing and acquired a data plate and paperwork for an early Mustang and had it basically built up from scratch by Cal Pacific Airmotive.  He originally intended to paint it in Dean’s colors but eventually decided on a paint scheme for another P-51B.

Lt. Gilmore and Snoopers

But this is where the story gets interesting.  After serving overseas, Dean returned to the States to train other pilots in Central Florida, flying out of the Bartow Airbase.  Unfortunately, he was killed on a training mission in a P-51B over Lake Louisa, near Clermont, FL just north of Fantasy of Flight.

Through an amazing twist of synchronicity, I had been asked years ago to do a fly-over for a memorial service in Cripes A’Mighty while family and friends watched from the shoreline.  I had no idea at the time that IT WAS OVER LAKE LOUISA AND WAS FOR LT. GILMORE!

The event was to commemorate a memorial for Dean’s contributions and sacrifices, which now stands at the south shore of Lake Louisa.  To add another bizarre twist to the story , the wreck Jack Roush got his data plate from WAS FROM THE RECOVERED WRECK OF LAKE LOUISA!

Lt. Gilmore's Noseart!

Needless to say, his family is very excited about the project and have offered to help in any way with information and photos.  In the words of famous radio personality Paul Harvey . . . “So now you know . . . the rest of the story!”

If you want to learn more about Lt. Gilmore and his exploits, check out http://www.swissmustangs.ch/72468.html.

Kermit

Back to WAS for another Presentation!

Last year I was honored by being inducted into the World Acrobatics Society Hall of Fame in Extreme Sports for my accomplishments in airplane aerobatics.  This was also partly due to  my beginning background in Gymnastics, where I competed on my High School’s first year Gymnastic Team and later went on to compete at the college level.  While I never got to the level of my flying, it was certainly an influence in my early pursuit of competition aerobatics.

One of the cool things after being inducted  was that I was now able to nominate others.  I was not aware of this until asked to do so for my category of Extreme Sports.  There was no question who that would be: my good friend Sean Tucker!  I had know Sean over the years from the flying circuit and we were Heli-ski partners for ten years.  He is, without a doubt, the most prolific solo airshow performer in the world and has dazzled millions of spectators over the years as well as given back to the aviation community by inspiring speeches as well as running a flight school to teach aerobatics, flight safety, and unusual attitudes to many pilots.

Two Extreme Sports Awardees's!

This September I was honored to return to Las Vegas to present Sean with his Award.  Go Sean!

Kermit

Airplane Projects Trip!

While on a recent California business trip this September, I got the chance to check up on a couple of airplane projects as well as acquire another great addition to the collection.

Over the years, I’ve had several projects worked on by Carl Scholl and Tony Ritzman’s Aero Trader facility at the Chino Airport.  They were responsible building up my North American B-25, the Apache Princess, which received Grand Champion Warbird at the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In and Reserve Grand Champion Warbird at the EAA Oshkosh Fly-In.  After Hurricane Andrew devastated the Weeks Air Museum in Miami in 1992, I sent my Douglas A-26C attack bomber out to them to rebuild.

A-26 under restoration

When I purchased the airplane back in the mid-1980′s, it was very original and probably the most authentic A-26 in the world.  While flying it back from California, I happened to stop at an airshow in Texas and while showing someone the airplane, flipped on a couple of switches in the back and found that the rear gunner turrets still operated!  I was impressed.

Rear gunner position for the upper and lower remote turrets

My airplane had the distinction of having flown in both WWII as well as Korea and sported the colors of Whistler’s Mother for many years.  Other A-26′s went on to be used during the Vietnam war, giving them the distinction of being the only American combat airplane to have participated in three wars.  Seeing the opportunity to take what was already the most original A-26 in the world to an even higher level of detail, I told them to disassemble and go through the entire airplane.

Bomb Bay detail

While the airplane appears to have been originally built with the glass bomber nose, which the “C” model designation signifies, it also came with four gun packs under the wings, housing a total of eight .50 caliber machine guns.  I’m not sure whether or not it was originally built this way in WWII or modified for Korea but we intend to continue researching this as well as its original colors.  Combined with the four .50 guns in the upper and lower turrets, it was not an airplane to mess with.

Three of the four guns mounted per side that are housed in streamlined pods

Three of the four guns mounted under one wing, which are contained in streamlined pods

I also got a chance to check up on a project we’re about to start on for a Rosie the Riveter display we’ve been designing for Fantasy of Flight.  It’s one of the new attraction elements were striving to create that immerse people in history around a theme common to the human experience and in a way they self-discover something about themselves for themselves.  It will involve a factory assembly line for B-29′s and that’s were Aero Trader comes in.

B-29 nose for a new Rosie the Riveter Display!

I purchased a B-29 nose years ago and we intend to clean it up, as if it was being built on an assembly line.  I don’t want to give away too many details of our plans but keep an eye on our progress!

I also had the chance to check out a rather historic helicopter: a Sikorsky S-55, which had flown with the world’s first Helicopter Airline out of New York City to La Guardia Airport and other local destinations.  The owner and I had talked over the years and he recently called to tell me he decided to sell it.

With my new (well, OK, old) Sikorsky S-55!

Having decided to include early helicopters in the collection, I couldn’t resist checking it out.  It had flown as recently as the late nineties but had a light blade strike, which will require going through everything to be safe.  While it will be a long-term project, I couldn’t resist acquiring this great piece of history!

Due to space considerations, I will leave it in California until we get our new storage facility completed.  Look for it to arrive at Fantasy of Flight sometime in the early Spring of 2012!

Kermit