At Pittsburghs Allegheny County Airport kid author would lie drop-off area watch planes streak straight above him overhead shot DC-2 taking off taken borrowed 116 box camera result its easy see chose career avia tion photography EVERY SO OFTEN grandchildren pile car head over airport live some distance large metro politan area airport small ac cessible children take time strolling amid various planes identify distin guishing features showing differ ence between high-wing low-wing explaining ones called taildragger trigear talk pi lots working aircraft chat other airport watchers Caution must observed try teach alert hazards Watch out stay away props warn visit theyre lucky children per mitted sit some airplanes take snapshots future album have some mental recollections photographs own grew up McKeesport PA Twen ties Thirties Bettis Field about seven miles home too far walk Pittsburgh Airport Allegheny County just few miles farther shared passion airplanes mod els several schoolmates built Comet Megow kit extra cash came way plunked down classic Cleveland kits days aircraft arrival notices printed newspapers Daily News also posted arrival dates military planes aviation fanatics kept close watch bulletins Ed Lupy Glenny George Buddy spent boyhood Thir ties chances walk local air port about good got real bliss fleet shiny new fighter planes came thundering U Stephen EKanyusik Hey saw arrival notice Seversky P-35 county airport knew wed playing hooky next day Go school Heck noits airport go way big airport stopped Bettis Field excitement mounted climbed Dravosburg Hill P-35s going replace biplanes Army Air Corps Gosh its low-winger Biplanes plentiful area pilots lived around Pittsburgh sleek new all-metal single-wing aircraft other breed entirely awed Curtiss Robin its large boxy wings flat slab-sided fuse lage big tail section complete Cur tiss emblem rudder looked could fly forever Aeronca C-2 something too its small pugnaciouslooking nose made us think bulldog sniffing air wondered pilot managed sit small space close ground loved touch smooth fabrics planes never abused privi lege Vandalism wasnt script back went someplace expected behaveand behave did Once wed spot Ryan Kinner Sport newer type lightplanelow-wingers covered light 100 Model Aviation Lets Go Airport metal After eating bag lunch set off big Allegheny field see P-35s ar rive always lots interest us county field transport planes service craft corporate airplanes Army Air Corps small section visiting air craft parked Rounding edge field might see Boeing 207 Stin son Tn-Motor coming landingor Douglas DC-2 lucky Al Williams hangared Grumman Gulf Hawk county field Wed circle around reverently taking gles Gosh something able touch airplane like space craft us Today poised overhead makebelieve sky looking majestic ever Hawk can seen National Air Space Museum Washington DC recent visit able identify places Id touched kid Stinsons also fascinated us especially then-new gullwing version Several including some conventional straight wingers used county airport gullwings used mail Ed Usko Lockheed twin youngsters airports hands-on ex periencebut Its just well werent ready reach prop Stinsons both then-new guliwings stodgier straight-wing variety often seen county airport author strikes pose Reliant January 1991 101 photo Staggerwing Beech executive transport taken 1937 Part ardent band airplane fans back row 1 R Ed George author friend Lupy kneels front Another lightplane photographed 1937 ones Aeronca C author stands front Fleet Bipe another old photo Biplanes common sight local airports authors youth pickup service equipped spe cial hook picking up mail bags Al legheny Mountains bags attached poles arranged much like goalpost plane would swoop low flare out hook having land Mail collec tion timetables available taking new terminal Wed pick up follow itinerary going along ourselves Timetables werent things picked up airport junk bins trove broken pistons burnt valves damaged pieces wood fabric metal just waiting us haul away May best part fantasizing about crashed planes finds survived Luck us long-ago day DC-2 came landing snapped couple shots 127 camera Id also borrowed box camera occasion Since Severskys hadnt arrived yet time favorite ritual walked around lower end field runway cut off dropped about 10 ft lay down bottom drop-off area planes took off right over us low vantage point made some great photos fact shot took Douglas DC-2 influenced eventual choice career As Navy photographer close proximity planes aircraft carrier seemed natural Suddenly coming whole squadron Seversky P-35s mesmeriz ing burst speed sound Wow way Michigan Just think day can fly far away P-35s looked exactly fighter shouldsnug shifty faster Main Street barmaid made low fast pass taxied up brakes squealing zig zagging better visibility ap proached tie-down area pilots stepped out canopied cockpitsor out world wandered away leaving us alone sleek shiny icons Running hands over metal surfaces marveled si lence construction couldnt help notice pieces compound curves countless rivets held things together details wheel fairings landing strut retracted wing well knowing term state art could say Gosh P-35s stayed just long enough ser vicing watched pilots climb back cockpits engines came life like thousand lions one planes taxied out arced blue went back city way wed comeon foot saving dimes ice cream treat rather spending carfare passed 10th ward stopped pretzel factory headed up Fifth Avenue bags broken 102 Model Aviation Another Stinson Reliant transport plane Penn Central Airline fleet Photo taken April Fools Day 1937 Now Smithsonian Grumman Gulf Hawk hangared county airport seemed exotic spacecraft author Ford Tn-Motor Bettis Field close authors boyhood home Curtiss Condor biplane transport another aircraft author knew youth red silver either 12388 12398 markings Boeing 247 transport Watching sleek-looking planes come landing always treat author airplane-minded buddies pretzelstired elated saying much Now wed talk about planes wed seen dream boys will about ones wed like own days such aircraft cost about $18OO before operational expenses next stop Isalys ice cream store dime would buy tripledecker Still munching ends soggy cones cut across Versailles Avenue cemetery time tired band airplane fans split upand face inevitable taunts brothers sisters Youre gonna get yuns Pittsburgh ese playing hooky did yuns go Actually parents let us off pretty lightly Staying after supper chance work models read Bill Winter article Air Trails Continued page 106 January 1991 103 Northrop A-17 attack plane small number produced mid-Thirties Note na tional capitol insignia indicates plane attached Army Air Force sup port element Boiling Field near Washington DC Part squadron Seversky P-35s after landing county airport sleek US Army Air Corps fighters flown way Seifridge Field Ml tached 1st Pursuit Group P-35 first single-seat all-metal pursuit plane retractable landing gear enclosed cockpit go regular service USAAC une U Douglas B-lBs developed 1935 replace Martin B-b Army Air Corps standard bomber Prototype forerunner B-leA Bob early 1942 both variants removed first-line bombardment role werent home free yet off adventure school attendance officer checking mothers could hear moms now comes airplanes wont listen thing else Setting off school next day knew wed going straight principal Mr Bowerss station outside au ditorium next statue Abraham Lin coln approached him en masse John Bowers stern-looking princi pal never much say did speak terse point Well fellas did go yester day know school important its necessary achieve goals told him about experiences listened asked driven us airport told him wed walked both ways Mr Bowers didnt hesi airport told him wed walked both ways Mr Bowers didnt hesi tate another moment Anyone will walk far see air planes can get excused Whoopee Thats knew ad venture really fun Fifty years later can still recall euphoria Like others era early age knew wanted career aviation friends sent penny postcards some flying schoolsParks St Louis Spartin Oklahoma Ryan School Aeronautics choice Ryan School fered package deal both re ceived flight training owned air plane dreamed lot about Depression threw shadows over dreams Jobs scarce after graduating high school took what ever available accepted position National Tube Steel Mill sure didnt kid myself lifes work escape valley area around steel mill called came country entered Second World War Enlisting Navy served aircraft carriers photographer Though never became pilot Id dreamed about aer ial assignments taught thrill flight recently retired 40-year career photography After stint Navy continued quite bit aerial photography took aerial photos real estate companies Los Angeles area recorded missile scene employed General Dynamics Corporation Pomona CA Ive done in-flight portraits P-51 T-33 well two World War IIvintage planes BT 13 Ryan PT 22 Just recently did some aerial work over farmlands Minnesota Cessna 170 dream doesnt fade Its always present back mind Im called go big air field sky Ill bet Mr Bowers will sign excuse boys excused go airport U 106 Model Aviation A-30 produced Consolidated Vultee Co Note man wings 1939 photo author looks right home North American BT series major Army Air Corps trainer years just before World War II pair Boeing YIP-28s sprightly looking aircraft assigned 17th Pursuit Squadron Seifridge Field Mount Clemens Ml Boeing B-9 Flying Cigar first twin-engine monoplane bomber US Army Air Corps forerunner Martin B-b also earliest cantilevered wings Wing high lift low-speed efficient Martin B-b first all-metal monoplane bombers produced quantity Half again fast its contemporary bombers internal bomb storage retractable land ing gear rotating gun turret enclosed cockpits
