THE DOUGLAS DC-3 AND MILITARY C-47

"2014 IF I WERE A RICH MAN"

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ehwvZXVKmPU

"If I were a rich man, ya da dah dah da dum..." So goes the song from "Fiddler on the Roof." Indeed, if I were a rich, rich, ,man, I would be first in line to seek out those historic sites that are being neglected and allowed to deteriorate due to the lack of funding to restore, or at least preserve them for possible future restoration. The link above was sent to me by my friend and auto historian Ray Paskiewicz. The link will take you to a video telling the story of the very first "Air Force One" which was a Lockheed "Constellation" used by President Eisenhower. A real sad story as we see at the end of the video the historic aircraft rotting away in the Arizona desert. Below is a photo of one of Hamilton's historic treasures which is now boarded up and presenting a depressing site on Nottingham Way here in Hamilton. It occurred to me that this historic old structure built back in the 1890's by Charles Fulkert would be a wonderful headquarters for Hamilton's exquisite "Grounds For Sculpture"or another local entity with the interest in historic preservation. Ahh, If only I were a rich man!"

1964: HI TECH IN FLIGHT TELEVISION!

As that old cigarette commercial had for a slogan back in the day, "You've Come a Long Way, Baby,"here is mute testimony to that fact. As I read this ad from a 1964 TIME magazine article, I assured myself that they couldn't watch live television while in the air traveling away from the transmitting antenna of a specific city. Apparently they were using one of those newfangled "Betamax" tape recorders.

1940: BEFORE JET PROPULSION

I find this to be a very fascinating photo of a plane of the future as illustrated in an old Mechanics Illustrated magazine. Not being an aeronautical engineer, I must say I wonder if the push props on the back of the wings were superior to the conventional engine nacelles being installed as they were on most multi engine aircraft. I have a fear of flying but I love to spot those airliners in the early evening when the sun is going down here on earth, but still shines brightly on passing aircraft. However, unlike when I was a boy, I could really get closeup views with a 10 x 35 pair of binoculars because those old DC3 passenger airliners didn't fly the normal 30 to 40,000 feet. Unfortunatly my zoom binoculars are impossible to hold steady as the magnification is zoomed in and the price of image stabilization binoculars is out of the question.

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure that the Russian's had a few pusher bombers in their fleet. The "prototype" of the B-2 in the 1950's, the flying wing (V configuration), was a pusher also.

Ed Millerick

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Anonymous said...

Tom, the "flying V" that I mentioned was the Northrop YB-35. The only one manufactured in any numbers was the Convair B-36, of which they made 389.

The only others of note were a handful of flying boats done by the French, Italians and Germans only one of which saw commercial production and even that was only about 30.

Ed Millerick

Sunday, September 22, 2013

1981: I DON'T RECALL THIS PLANE CRASH

Over the years, a number of people have asked me about the WWII aircraft that crashed over in the area behind Cedar Gardens. Somewhere in my files I have an account of that crash. I find it strange that I don't recall the Cessna crash pictured above.

1912: AIRCRAFT THEN AND NOW

It took a lot of tweaking to restore this faded, torn and tattered clipping from an old scrapbook which was also in terrible condition. These old scrapbooks from the early 20th century were basically filled with very dark brown ("foxed") clippings that are torn, faded, and in most cases, ready for the recycle bin. However, when an historic clipping such as the above scan is found within those darkened pages, it behooves those of us who are involved in historical preservationist to try to bring back a semblance of the genuine article....and voila! The above article resurrected from 100 years of scrapbook exile.

1909: MERCER MOTOR CO. TO BUILD PLANCHE ENGINES FOR DIRIGIBLES

I learn something new every day, and this is a fact that I found buried deep in an old 1909 newspaper. It gives an insight to the early years of the Mercer Automobile Company and the involvement of the Roebling family.

1935: DON LUSCOMBE'S WEST TRENTON BUILT AIRCRAFT

When I was a boy building "stick" model airplanes, one of my favorite models and as it turned out, one of my best was my model of the Luscombe "Silvaire." While most boy model builders focused on the very popular Piper "Cub," my fascination was with the locally built "Silvaire." How I wish I had kept that model that I worked on so hard back in the 1940's! It was one of the few that I built that actually flew true blue when I wound up that rubber band and lofted it into the air. Little has been written about Don Luscombe's aircraft plant over in West Trenton. This Trenton Sunday Times Advertiser feature with the page 2 continuation added to the right, will prove to be a "bear" in order to read the huge graphic, will undoubtedly be of interest to future aircraft historians, and others such as I who was completely absorbed with my devotion to my model "Silvaire."

1932: A HELICOPTER, RIGHT? WRONG! IT'S AN AUTOGIRO (AUTOGYRO)

At first glance the above aircraft would seem to be an early helicopter. However, the helicopter has rotary blades that are POWERED by an engine. The Auto giro's rotors are powered by air. Think of the seeds of a maple tree as the rotate to the ground rather than fall flat. The gas driven propeller on the auto giro give the aircraft the power to climb and descend, all aided by the rotation of the rotors through various air changes in the speed of the craft. Further fascinating information on this incredible aircraft is to be found right here in the Mercer County area, where the Garth Pitcairn auto giro is housed in a hangar at Robbinsville Airport. If you Google PITCAIRN AUTO GIRO you will find fascinating videos and info on the auto giro.

1941: PEARL HARBOR PLUS 5: EWING'S EASTERN AIRCRAFT

The mobilization effort in America was an incredible experience in efficiency, rapidity, and above all, patriotism. As can be seen in the article above, Ewing Township's Ternstedt Division of General Motors began conversion efforts which would change the plant from the manufacture of automotive hardware to TBM Grumman "Avengers."

(The hand-colored engraving accompanying the article is from "A History of Eastern Aircraft Division," published by General Motors in 1944.)

This from Steve Csorgo, Jr.:

Hi Tom,

So neat to see this article as just recently, while going through stuff from the attic, I found check stubs from when my dad Steve Csorgo - W2QJO Amateur Radio Callsign) - worked at GM - then Eastern Aircraft before he went into the Army Aircorps. He started at GM in 1939 and returned in 1946 after coming home from his time in Florida training radar operators going to war across the pond. His radio experience allowed him to stay stateside for the war. Hope to see you soon, as I have a bunch of old stuff to give you for the library collection. A very Merry Christmas.
Steve Csorgo Jr

1944: Eastern Aircraft's "Miss Avenger"

Here they are, the lovely Miss Avenger and her two "runners-up" to the crown as they pose in the cockpit of a Grumman Avenger in Ewing's Eastern Aircraft plant. I well remember those beautiful torpedo bombers flying over my neighborhood back during WWII; sometimes flying so low, one could see the pilot in the cockpit of that beautiful torpedo bomber.

1944: P59 JET FLIES OVER TRENTON

During the WWII era, the letter "P" prefixing an aircraft was the designation they gave to a pursuit aircraft. As time passed and aircraft technology witnessed the advent of jet propulsion, the letter "P" was replaced with "F" as in fighter. I can't say that I remember this local history making flight, but it obviously thrilled those who saw one of those newfangled jet aircraft streaking across Trenton skies.

1941 ARE FORCE CANDIDATES AT LUSCOMBE SCHOOL

One wonders how many of the young men in the photo actually went into Uncle Sam's United States Air Corps as a result of the meeting pictured in the photo above. Luscombe was a thriving aircraft manufacturer during this era. I was introduced to the building of model airplanes when brother Bud and his buddies Bill and Elmer Peters introduced me to the joys of model aircraft construction. Among my first "stick models" was the Luscombe "Silvaire." She flew like a trooper!

1929: Stanley Switlik's New Escape Seat

My very dear friend, the late Steve Horvath was a Switlik man from the word "go." I grew up with Steve on Hartley Avenue, and in his later years, he was one of my "all stars" when I was the President of St. Anthony's Holy Name Society. Along with the Soffel, Slabicki, and Dilts families, he and his wife Carrie, were close neighborhood friends back in the years of my youth. Every time I hear of the Switlik Parachute Company, I think of Steve. He was a Switlik man through and through, and one of the nicest gentlemen I have had the pleasure to call my friend.

1929: AIRPLANE + STALLED ENGINE = CRASH

The pilot of this airplane slowed down too much, the slow RPM of propellor couldn't sustain the weight of the plane, and the crash described above was the result. There is a treasure of stories relating Mercer Airport, and also to the Switlik Parachute Company. As they surface, they will be posted.

1929: SWITLIK'S ASTOUNDING PARACHUTE

From the "Aircraft" and "Local Businesses" folder comes this very interesting graphic which tells of the successful thousand foot drop of a Switlik parachute over the skies of Ewing Township's Mercer Airport. Apparently the jump was made by a plane was rigged with a trap door, where the jumpers sat in a seat attached to the parachute. As we all know, most flyers "bailed out," pulling on the "rip cord." It would be an impossible task to even attempt to count the number of lives saved by Stanley Switlik's parachute. The company started business in the South Trenton area and ultimately moved to its current location on Walnut Avenue in Hamilton Township.

1945: EASTERN AIRCRAFT AND GRUMMAN AVENGERS

In my very lucid memory, I can still see those beautiful navy "Avengers" buzzing over my Hamilton home back during the WWII years. Some were flying so low, the pilot could be clearly seen in the plane's cabin, or as we called it, the "greenhouse." A number of years ago, I attended a "fly in" at Mercer Airport. As one of those restored TBM's roared to life, I recalled a very familar sound.

THE DOUGLAS DC-3 - MILITARY C-47

I haven't heard the drone of a DC3 or C47 passing overhead since the arrival of the jet age, but I be I would recognize that familiar sound if I heard it today. When I was a boy, the familiar sound of a DC3, the whistle of a P39 Bell Airacobra, the familiar sound of a Grumman Avenger passing overhead imprinted a permanent memory into my young gray matter. The DC-3 was one of the aircraft heroes of WWII, and I felt moved to put together the above graphic in memory of an airplane which is still in use around the world.

1944: THE CRASH OF THE P47. THANKS GEORGE!

GEORGE GOLDY RECALLS THE CRASH. HERE'S HIS EMAIL DETAILING THE INCIDENT:
Tom
I remember the crash in 1944. I lived in Lakeside and went over the farms and visited the site the next day.The crash occurred on the Mays Farm which was located between Klockner Road and Rt 33 and. was in the area behind Cedar Gardens. The site was in a wood area and was a large hole filled with gas, oil and water. The engine was still embedded in the bottom. The trees at the site showed that the plane came in at about a 60 degree angle. I was outside the night it happened and remember the rest of the flight circling very low for about 10 minutes before returning to Millville. There is a housing development on the site now. I hope that this helps you. As you have indicated I too was very interested in airplanes at that time.
George Goldy

MANY THANKS, GEORGE.

1946: HOPES WERE HIGH THAT WE WOULD BE FLYERS

MANY AIRCRAFT ADS BACK IN THE AREA IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING WWII WERE SUGGESTING THAT THE AIRPLANE, ALONG WITH THE AUTOMOBILE WOULD MAKE A COMPLETE ADDITION TO THE TYPICAL AMERICAN FAMILY. THE PIPER CUB WAS AND IS, A CLASSIC AIRCRAFT.; EASY TO LEARN AND ECONOMICAL TO FLY. THERE WERE ALSO A FEW "AUTO AIRPLANES" WITH 4 WHEELS, AND REMOVABLE WINGS. THAT IDEA NEVER TOOK OFF, IF YOU WILL PARDON THE PUN.