Back at the Airport

I'm working at learning the rather daunting interface of the Blender 3D drawing program. Meanwhile, I'm still having fun noodling around with Google SketchUp.



The small airport composition is made mostly from recycled parts. The planes were replicated from a previous drawing. The two figures, the bike rack and the bench are from SketchUp's sample box. The spiral stairs is nearly a one-click production, thanks to the marvelous on line plugin from The Engineering Toolbox.

The inspiration for my small airport came in part from the ad below which appeared in the Nov. 1944 issue of Popular Mechanics. I also have my own memories of flying off grass strips in the '40s and '50s in Kent and Renton, Washington.



It certainly made good sense for Aeronca to target farmers with their ad pitch for new dealers. Farmers had the land, as well as the necessary mechanical and construction skills to support such an undertaking. I don't know how many such ventures were successful; probably a rather small percentage in the long run, I'd guess. Ultimately, of course, the small airports succumbed to the same suburban development onslaught that contributed to killing off the small farms.

I suppose there is still some possibility that one could start up a small aviation business these days, but the budding entrepreneur had better have an MBA, and maybe a minor in computer science.

Aeronca Adventure

The Aeronca Champ appeared immediately after the end of WWII. It had an appearance and performance characteristics similar to the Piper Cub, but with some design refinefments that made it a bit more comfortable flyer. Foremost among these was a taller cockpit and a weight distribution that allowed a solo flyer to sit in the front seat.


Wikipedia

We spent a lot of time in Aeroncas around the time I was ten or twelve thanks to my uncle Jack who piloted planes for some Seattle department store executives. The float planes were especially handy for getting into remote Cascade lakes with good supplies of rainbow trout.

A favorite spot for those airborne fishing outings was a small lake surrounded by steep fir-covered peaks that took some tricky flying to get into. Once, after stowing the inflatable boat and starting the takeoff run, my uncle noticed the plane listing a bit to one side. He showed me how to steer with the rudder pedals and then got out on the float to see what the problem was. I wasn't tall enough to operate the pedals and see out at the same time, so he yelled out directions.

It turned out that we had grazed a submerged snag and put a small hole in one pontoon. I think he may have tried to bail out some of the water with the pump from the boat, but he soon hopped in and headed us quickly back to shore, beaching the plane near a group of boy scouts who had hiked in to the lake. They helped us pull the plane all the way up onto the beach. Jack stuffed some rags into the breach, the boy scouts helped push off the plane, and we made a hasty takeoff from the lake.

Jack had more harrowing adventures flying in three wars, but the trip in the Aeronca was one of my more memorable flights.

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Aeronca Ad, Popular Science, July 1946, p.219