Headed to Corvair College #29 the 27th -31st
Builders,
We will be out of the shop from the 27th to the 31st for Corvair College #29 in Leesburg FL. We have been prepping long hours for the event. Of great assistance in this has been 601XL builder and flyer Lynn Dingfelder from Cory PA. He has been working in the shop with Vern and I all week. Over the years he has done this several times since 2006. He blends right in with us, and helps out a lot. He manufactured a pile of case stands and hub stands for engines to eliminate builders from waiting at futures Colleges for these specialty tools to be available. The tripled the number of engines we can have in the stands at any one stage. This will have a positive effect on builders at colleges for many, many years to come. Lynn is an extraordinary guy, but the spirit of doing something to assist builders who will follow you is very strong in the Corvair movement.
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Lynn Dingfelder’s 601 XL at CC#25 in Florida, 2013. “Lynn had previously flown the plane to CC #20 in Michigan. After the College, Lynn took a short tour of southern Florida and then headed to SnF, where his aircraft was on display at the Zenith booth all week. Lynn is very mechanically inclined, and he has very good judgment, but he is relatively new to flying. He got his sport pilot license four years ago and has slowly and carefully accumulated a few hundred hours, gradually expanding his personal flight envelope. His experience and path is an excellent model for anyone new to homebuilding and flying. “
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Above from 2013: the Zenith booth at Sun n Fun. Lynn Dingfelder’s 601XLB with 2,700cc Corvair. The engine has a Weseman bearing and is fed with an Elison EFS-3A. The installation is right out of our parts catalog. The Plane was the 25th ^01/Corvair to fly. Today there are more than 70 of them.
2012, Lynn Dingfelder’s 601XL(B) at the Zenith open house in Mexico MO.
Blast from the past, from our website 2010, Corvair College #20 coverage: “The pilots of Corvair College #20, from left to right: Lynn Dingfelder, Joe Horton, Mark Langford, and Dr. Gary Ray.”
Blast from the past, from our web page in 2008: “Above, the 25th Corvair powered 601 to fly was built by our friend Lynn Dingfelder from Corry, Penn. Lynn’s plane features an engine he crafted himself utilizing our Conversion parts. The engine was cowled and installed using virtually every component available from our Catalog. Lynn is a very friendly guy who has been to our hangar as well as a number of airshows. We look forward to seeing him fly into many of the same events at 2009. Hats off to Lynn Dingfelder for proving yet again that persistence pays. “
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Sun n Fun forums 2014
Builders,
I am giving three forums at sun n fun. They are on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, all at 12 noon. They are in the three story educational building, along with the other forums. The actual room number is posted in the program and on the boards downstairs in the building’s lobby.
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Blast from the past: Giving a forum at Sun n Fun 2003. In the old days when the forums were given in tents. My first year giving Corvair forums at SnF was 1995, 19 years ago. My first year at the event was 1989. I have not missed a single one since. -ww.
Thought for the day #2 – To the new homebuilder
Builders:
If you are new to the world of homebuilding, and maybe even flying, here’s something that you may not suspect: you’re actually in an excellent position to avoid the actions of fools.
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Compared to the general aviation pilots who are starting their flight lessons down at the local FBO mill, you have many distinct advantages. Down there, you take the first polyester clad flying prodigy they assign you as an instructor. You’re flying a worn-out airplane, that they can hardly afford to keep going. Their mechanic is paid a wage that precludes him from living in a double wide trailer. The student enters a system that takes no consideration of who he is or what he wants out of flying. Whatever the intention of the FBO owner when starting out, a lot of these operations devolve to a poorly disguised system of draining your bank account into theirs.
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It’s very important to understand that such settings attract and tolerate idiots. Nobody wants to upset the system. Whatever ambitions they had of higher standards have long ago been worn away Homebuilding can be just as bad, but it doesn’t have to be. You can make it any way that you want to.
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In this case, you’re going to be the aircraft manufacturer, and the engine manufacturer also. You have time to seek out intelligent qualified people for your further learning. Building an engine can teach you a lot about whose advice you take, and who you don’t listen to. This phase can be done while you’re still safely on the ground. If you set your standards very high, you will attract other people who take flying seriously. Aviation works just like life, quality people tend to gravitate towards the same setting, and dirt bags tend to collect where the standards are low enough that they don’t stick out.
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In homebuilding you control the entire show. After the plane is done, you’re going to be the director of maintenance, the chief of flight operations, scheduling, dispatching, and the chief financial officer. It’s a beautiful system where you’re entirely in control of things that you normally have to resign to others.
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To me this is at the heart of what is captivating about homebuilding. The process is an opportunity, but not a guaranteed transformation. If there is a guy in your local EAA Chapter who doesn’t really strike you as the human personification of self-reliance and self-actualization through homebuilding, yet he has completed an airplane, it isn’t the process’ fault.
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If you are new to homebuilding, do not judge the potential of the experience by looking at people who merely went through the motions, ended up with the plane, learned the minimum amount, etc. The greatest dad ever and a guy who made a deposit at a sperm bank are both technically involved in fatherhood. Only the former understands the rewards of the experience.
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In general it is plenty of protection to not take advice from nor fly with idiots. There are rare occurrences their range is further, but for the most part if you give them up wide berth and don’t listen to them you’ll do okay.
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If you have not spent much time in airports, the basic rules are pretty simple: Pay attention to what’s going on; don’t talk on your cell phone or walk around with your head somewhere else; don’t drive your car on the runway, taxiways or parking aprons; don’t smoke around airplanes or in hangars; do not interrupt people who are pre-flighting airplanes or engaged in intensive maintenance. Introduce yourself before you ask a question, and if you do ask, make sure that you listen to the answer. If you’re addicted to looking at your smart phone, leave it in the car. Most older aviators take it as a sign of real disrespect if you glance to your phone the whole time they’re talking to you. Spend twice as much time listening as talking. If someone specifically tells you not to do something, don’t do it. This is all that it takes to blend in at 90% of the airports in America.
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There are a couple of obvious character traits in people who I like to steer clear of when it comes to planes. I only fly with people I know fairly well; I will not get in an airplane that a guy pre-flighted while he was talking on his cell phone. I stay away from people who are in a big rush at the airport. These people often don’t have the time for a preflight, a mag check or taxiing to the downwind and to the runway. I will not speak to a person who knowingly does downwind takeoffs or landings to shorten the distance to his parking spot. I have nothing to do with people who brag about having their annual inspections or biennial flight reviews pencil whipped. I don’t fly with pilots who do things that are forbidden in capital letters in the pilots operating handbook (Example: slipping a 172 with the flaps down).
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I’ve never taken a flight lesson of any kind with an instructor who couldn’t tell me what condition achieves the minimum turn radius in any aircraft ( Maneuvering speed, bank angle increased until the plane reaches its positive G limit, full power.) I stay away from pilots who say things like “this plane has a bad glide ratio when it’s heavily loaded” (aircraft of the same glide ratio and gross weight glide as they do lightly loaded) I steer clear of people who offer testimonials on flight characteristics planes they never sat in (“Republic Seabees glide like bricks” ), avoid people who are poor listeners or openly brag about things that they have gotten away with.
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The above paragraph might describe 40% of the people in airports. That’s okay, I don’t need to pal around with everyone. If you’re new to aviation, spend some time observing people and develop your own set of values. Be discriminating. If you’re new you have no track record, then you’re a thoroughbred as far as anybody’s concerned, and the only way that is changed is if you spend a lot of time with fools and idiots and let them turn you into one. If you believe this is possible, then the corollary is also possible. You can choose to spend your time with skilled, competent, aviators and let their experience and your hard work turn you into one yourself.
-William Wynne
Thought for the day: Getting Started.
Here is my perspective: Aviation costs money. About the least expensive plane I can picture has an all up cost of $10,000. Let’s say that you take 8 years to build it, that’s $1,250/year or $3 and 42 cents a day. If you smoke or drink coffee, you spend a lot more than this. Don’t like to hear about 8 years? Want to change that? Here is the easy way: Do nothing this year, and next year it will be nine years. $20 a day for 3 years is $21,900. For that kind of money you can have many airplanes, including a Panther with engine. Being wealthy isn’t the key, getting started is.
Take this thought with you: You can’t really change the cost of planes by more than 25% or 35% even by extreme scrounging and plans building. There is no way to drop the cost by 75%, stuff just costs money at some point. Here is what you do control: What you get out of building and flying. Picture two guys, both spend 4 years, and 2,000 hours building a plane, and 50 hours aloft and 200 studying to get a LSA rating. It’s five years into it. If guy “A” was a super scrounger, bought a used kit and spent only $20K vs guy “B” who spent $34K for the same plane by purchasing a kit and getting all his parts from Aircraft Spruce instead of the flymart, Which builder got the better value? Who won?
The correct answer: The guy who actually mastered each skill, learned the why’s of every step, didn’t just do every task to minimums, but aimed to master it. The guy who sought to know every piece and part of his plane and its correct care, feeding and operation. He aimed higher, did more. He has been changed by the experience, the guy who just did the minimums only accomplished the task, but it wasn’t transformative. Real value isn’t based just on what it cost, it is far more affected by the other side of the equation…what did you get out of it? On this point, the majority of builders cheat themselves. Reading Stick and Rudder is all about aiming to get the best value out of the hours of your life you invest in homebuilding and flying. The book is for aviators who will master light plane flight, not just be adequate at it.
Years ago I was a contributor to the “Corvaircraft” Internet discussion group. If you read the archives, I left 400 stories there, before I was banned for life (due to poor etiquette and intolerance of foolish people). In retrospect, most of my time there was wasted. In 10 years, the site produced only a handful of flyers, most of whom were already regular builders of ours. The great majority of the several hundred readers there were just doing one thing: Waiting.
What for you ask? Something better than what I was showing them could be done. I was basically showing how a very good engine that weighed 225 pounds, cost $5,000, burned 5 gallons an hour, and lasted 1,000 hours could be built, if you were willing to learn a little and get your hands dirty, and think some. Yet the vast majority of readers thought that was not good enough. Every time some troll/daydreamer/psycho surfaced and said “I know how to save 35 pounds!” they waited to see how he would do it. When people said “I know how to have an EFI system for $200,” they waited to see how it worked. When people said “We can use shareware and develop this as a Net group,” people waited. Every new thing discussed, virtually all of which turned out to be pure unicorns, was cause for these men to wait.
Many of the ones who were there 10 years ago are still there waiting, certain that this week, someone will show up and tell them how to build a 170 pound Corvair that has EFI, is reliable, burns 2.5 gallons per hour, makes 130 hp, assembles itself, lasts 2,500 hours for an investment of $1,500, no check that, $995. They will be waiting there in another 10 years because that bus isn’t ever going to come. The rainbow bus line from unicornville doesn’t have a stop on reality street, it only is headed to cyberville, and there is no airport in cyberville.
Their waiting is partially driven by the “consumer electronics experience.” To these people, their cell phones were vastly better and far cheaper than the ones they had 10 years before, why shouldn’t they expect the same from Corvairs? Because it is the mechanical world, not electronics, and it doesn’t work that way in metal, and things that you can fly. Popular Mechanics has been telling readers for 60 years that personal helicopters are 2 years away, and rip off artists like “Cartercopter” stole millions of dollars from NASA (yes, stolen from the taxpayers) for alleged R&D on this, but it doesn’t exist. You can’t fly it, but the people who wait eat this stuff up as the sand runs out of their personal hour-glass.
48 Hours until Corvair College #29 Cutoff.
Builders,
We are now down to the last 48 hours to sign up. The cutoff is Thursday night 9pm EST. The sing up is:
https://corvaircollege.wufoo.com/forms/corvair-college-29-registration/
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for more information:
Corvair College #29, close to last call.
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Below is a photo tribute to my friend Ken Pavlou, the man who takes care of all of the on line sign up for the colleges. Everything we do has been assisted by the contributions of friends, both large and small. Ken’s assistance with our efforts has been priceless over the years. Besides the sign up, he also Co-Hosted CC#14, he set up the software for this blog, he has been the life of many cookouts at Oshkosh, and he once drove several hundred miles in a blinding snowstorm with me, in a 2wd pickup of mine, towing a trailer with no brakes, with a Zenith on it we needed to deliver. He thought it was fun.
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There is a joke that originated in NJ that goes like this: Friends are people who would help you move, real friends are people who would help you move a human body.” Ken is that kind of friend.
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Photo taken January 2014, in our backyard in Florida.
Ken at Oshkosh 2013:
Ken in 2009, introductions at Corvair College #14 “he has a long list of accomplishments: emigrating from Greece at age 8, he has gone on to earn an electrical engineering degree, become a registered nurse and skilled pilot. Happily married and the father of two, he’s also the State Ballroom Dancing Champion of Connecticut (no kidding). Not bad for a guy who’s barely 40.”
At Ken’s house in 2008: striking a pose with his Corvair.
Oshkosh 2007 cookout, Ken brings his engine. We had a wonderful evening enjoying Ken’s childhood memories, worthy of any national comedy tour.
Corvair College #29, close to last call.
Builders,
I type this on Sunday night, and we are going to cut off the sign up for Corvair College #29 in four days. I may type one more last call notice, but we are getting into high gear for the event, and this may be the last notice we put out. If you are planning on attending, it is time to sign up today. The link to sign up is:
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https://corvaircollege.wufoo.com/forms/corvair-college-29-registration/
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You can read more detailed information at this link:
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Corvair College #29, Three weeks out.
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Please understand, registration is required this year. Last
year we had an open event as an introduction top the new date and venue. This year we are working the College just like any other, with required registration in advance.
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Do not miss a chance to sign up for this event. Although local hosts have let some people slide on sign up and pay at check in, Arnold has explained that he is limiting admission to the people who sign up normally, and he is not going to make an exception for people who are unwilling to work within the normal system. (Keep in mind he is volunteering to host his third College, so it is more than fair to ask people to follow his guidelines.)
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Below, Pictures from Corvair College #25, Last Years College at the same location. It was a very fun and productive event. Get your flying season off to a good start, choose to do something that will start an outstanding year. Do not let this year get started without you.
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Above: Every College is a mixture of individual supervised work and group learning, shown in the scene above. In the photo, I am giving everyone a detailed look at, and Corvair specific training, on a differential compression test.
Above, the engine we are instructing on is Larry Magruder’s (in the maroon shirt at right) 2700 cc/Weseman bearing engine.
Pietenpol builder and veteran of several Colleges Dave Aldrich with a high thrust line Pietenpol motor mount we made for him. It is powdercoated white. He saved $80 on shipping by picking it up in person. We are always glad to ship mounts, we do it all the time, but it is nice to head to a College also.
Bob Lester strikes the “Intrepid Aviator” pose with his Pietenpol. He is good at this because he has seen every old aviation movie ever made. He built his 2,700/Weseman bearing engine at CC #17, and flew it back to CC #25.
Corvair College #28, San Marcos, Texas
Builders,
Here is a review in photos of Corvair college #28 in Texas, with local Hosts Kevin Purtee and Shelley Tumino. The pictures are mostly people, because a lot of the focus of colleges are people. As you look, picture yourself, among new friends, making progress, learning. We are a few weeks away from College #29. Don’t miss the sign up, College #30 is six long months after #29. Don’t give up most of another flying season to delay. Success in aviation comes from having a plan, the support of a small group of experienced builders, and learning. You can find all three at a College.
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Byron Engle, old school EAA builder, working on a 2700 for his Turner t-40. He has been in the EAA since the 1960’s. Byron was also at CC#22 in Texas 2 years ago.
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Kevin wears the “Hat of Power” while builders gets started on core engines.
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Team work of new friends took cores apart very rapidly.
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A mentor in the making: Award winning Corvair Pietenpol builder pilot Hans Vandervoort, speaking with father / son Kelly and Joseph Jameson, who have a Piet in process. Dad is very clear that his 16-year-old son is heading up the project, he is just supporting it. Joseph has a set of skills and maturity that are truly uncommon in teenagers. Engine is a 2,700 Roy bearing power plant.
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Demonstrating an upgrade to exhaust valve rotators on Ken Bickers Piet engine. Ken has been working on his plane for 19 years but is closing in on finishing. Persistence pays, Kevin Purtee worked on his Piet for 16 years before it flew.
Hands on practical demonstrations, done on builders engines, are what colleges are all about. In orange is Tim Hansen, who as a college student to a Greyhound bus 27 hours each way to Corvair College#9. Today he is a pilot and building a first class Corvair for his project. Success in airplanes is made out of determination to win, not money.
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1/2 of “Team Stinemetze,” brothers Tom and Karl, with an engine destined for their Pietenpol.
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Core from a manual trans mission Corvair. Pose with attitude comes from builder satisfaction at knowing Corvairs and Colleges are a good choice.
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Piet Builders Dean and Robynn Trzynka, working on their core. They drove 20 hours from Wisconsin to get to the college. They now have several personal friends in the Piet and Corvair community. This is how you build a group of supporting friends for your project.
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CC#28 is ScoobE’s latest college. His first was CC#16 in SC. In between he missed only #18 and #20. He wanted to go so bad that he sat in the Suburban by himself for many hours before our departure from Florida. Show him a suitcase, and he is headed for the truck.
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Mark from Falcon shipped in heads direct for Gary Bassham’s 3,000 cc Zenith engine. They came in this box. “Ice station Zebra” is how Mark answers the phone in his shop in winter. It is a metal building in Fitchburg Wisconsin. I called Mark last month and found out there was a 85 degree temperature differential between our shop in FL and his.
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Introduction speech on Friday. Our drive to Texas was slow going, taking 28 hours on the road with breaks. We arrived a little tired, but enthusiasm kicks in right away and we worked until 11pm on Friday. Saturday was the big productive day running from 8am until 11 pm. Sunday started with 75 degree sunny weather, which deteriorated to 50mph winds, torrential rain, and then snow by noon. Puddles in the parking lot turned to ice. People from outside Texas got very concerned, Texans just slowed down long enough to put on sweatshirts. I spent the morning trying to work through a bad migraine that was harsh enough to have me intermittently out of action. My sincere thanks to the builders who recognized this and kicked into high gear support mode to assist Grace in getting things done.
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Left, Hans Vandervort, middle Kevin Purtee and myself, all three Corvair /Piet guys with a total of about 1,000 hours on the combination between our planes. Photo was Friday afternoon. Although we have worked with him for many years, this was the first time Grace and I had a chance to meet Hans, a native of The Netherlands (Holland), in person. He has been flying his Piet a number of years, and is now building a Bearhawk.
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Zenith 601XL-TD Builder Andy Elliott flew in from Mesa AZ in his 3,000 cc Corvair powered bird. It has about 600 hours on it. The trip was about 750 miles. Read his story at this link: Zenith 601XL-3100cc Dr. Andy Elliott. Engine is now a 3,000 with a Dan Bearing.
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John Franklin brought his Corvair powered Grega GN-1 to the college on a trailer for inspection and test run. The engine ran at CC#22. Stainless exhaust is one of our U-2 systems. Read the engine story at this link: Franklin Engine Runs at CC ##22 KGTU Spring Break 2012
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Zenith 650 builder Larry Magruder and I putting a dent in the coffee pot. Larry’s engine ran at CC#25, but he brought it to #28 so I could install exhaust valve rotators. We did this with air pressure in the cylinder, so the heads did not have to come off. Neat trick with basic tools. Read about Larry’s engine running at: Corvair College #25, In Photos.
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Saturday’s group photo, 55 Builders were on hand. The was the first college for 70% of the builders.
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We got the Pietenpol builders to pose as a sub group. The Chouinards are Tallest and shortest builders in the photo. Nice to have two marred couples and two father/son teams in the picture.
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The “other”Builders, representing Dragonflys, KRs , Neuports, Turner, Little wing Gyro and more. Corvair works on many airframes. Yes, you can be in two sub photos, if you have both a Piet and a KR project.
The Zenith Builder sub group. About an equal split between 601/650 builders and 750 builders. Many of these guys are planning on attending CC#30, which will be held in September in Mexico MO, at the Zenith factory, just before their open house.
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Kevin and Shelley arranged to have generous amounts of hot chow available for builders at most time during the long days. Builders, took breaks and gathered in small groups to fuel up and compare notes. The only “formal” dinner was Saturday night. Friday we all ate the College traditional pizza dinner. Having the food on hand is a key element of productivity, that no one need to leave the hangar, even in a very long day.
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Andy Elliott took a number of builders for their first flight in a Corvair powered plane, as weather permitted. This is fun, but it is also valid training. Understanding what a properly running engine sounds and feels like in the cockpit is important. Years ago I had a builder who had never seen another Corvair turn a prop call me before his first flight and say “My engines running good, It is almost as smooth as my C-150’s O-200.” I told him to stop immediately. Another inspection revealed he had reversed two plug wires. Anyone who has seen a correctly set Corvair run understands the engine is far smoother than any four-cylinder Continental.
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Gary Bassham leads a team of builders that includes his brother, assembling his 3,000 cc engine. It is destined for his Zenith 601XL.
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Kevin had pre-constructed several dozen 2′ x 4′ work tables. It proved to be very efficient, each engine having its own table. In a pre-college message Kevin called the 2″x4″ tables which lead to some jokes about the 18″ tall Stonehenge in the spoof film Spinal Tap.
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Byron Engle has the moment of victory on installing his Gen #1 Dan bearing, where his total run out was down to .0004″.
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Above, I check the timing marks on Gary Bassham’s 3,000 equipped with a Gen #2 Dan bearing.
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Piet builder Ken Bickers cam in from Colorado with his 2700 cc Roy bearing engine. We popped the heads back off to install rotators and change the sub standard exhaust valves that were installed by a local machine shop. It was a quick lesson to everyone present that it is never worth putting off things your motor will benefit from. The entire job took a few hours of casual work. Ken’s airframe is done and painted.
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Zenith 650 builder Larry Magruder changing to rotators on his exhaust valves. This was done with the heads on the engine. Larrys heads were done a number of years ago. Today all heads done by Falcon have rotators installed.
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Builders enjoy smiles and stories on Saturday. Tee shirts are a good indication of the weather we enjoyed other than Sunday afternoon.
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I stand on a stool to assist Piet builder Mark Chouinard to install his balancer. This was the in-person training to go with the written story: Balancer Installation. The engine is a 2,700 Roy bearing power plant, with Falcon heads.
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Zenith 650 builder Brian Manlove works on his 2700 cc Roy bearing engine while Kevin Purtee watches. By the end of the event, Brian had the engine completely assembled.
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Grace and Old friend/KR expert/Mr. NVaero.com Steve Glover. He is kind of a prankster; Two weeks before the college I walked into my shop with a neighbor, and caught the end of a phone message where an ominous voice repeated “You can expect trouble in Texas.” My neighbor was worried until I explained that this was just my friend Steve saying he was planning on attending the College. Steve’s sense of humor and definition of entertainment was developed during long service in the Marines.
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Many builders talk about all the things they get out of Colleges, but lets reverse this for a minute. The above photo is a snapshot of what Grace and I get from colleges: a level of friendship and mutual respect we have with our builders. I have been working in experimental aviation a long time, I know many other people who also do, and I will flat-out tell you that other businessmen do not enjoy the friendship of builders at the same level. Being constantly exposed to builders, not at airshows but in the workshop setting, gives us a priceless reality check on the success of our program in the way that mere sales figures never could. I can say that we really understand builders in a way that most other aviation business never will. The Colleges have refined our work in so many ways it is hard to consider what out efforts would look like in their absence.
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Thanks again to Kevin and Shelley for hosting their second college. They are truly the kind of people I hoped to meet and have as friend when I was daydreaming in 1989. Only a handful of the things I expected when I started working on Corvairs have come to pass, but I always envisioned the work being done in the company of great people like Kevin and Shelley, and in the final measure, if I could have only have one element of my vision come true, I would pick that one.-ww
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Robert Hedrix, Aviator, Nha Trang, 1975
Builders,
Below is one of the most famous photos from the Vietnam war, taken in 1975. This week, almost 39 years later, it is being widely circulated on the internet in a collection of “20 iconic photos.” The fact it is being circulated with a complete bullshit caption on the internet comes as little surprise to me. What does bother me is having people I know in aviation send this as a forward, lending credibility to the completely fabricated story that this is an “American Agent in a Helicopter in Saigon” If someone sent this to you, they don’t know aircraft, history, pilots, nor how to research anything.
Above is the image, published in 1975. The man was not identified until 10 years later. I remember reading the interview with him in 1985. I have reprinted it below. It took me ten minutes of looking on the internet to find it.
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While I was looking I came across a site where retired journalists claimed this was a C-47 they personally saw. Really? Does that look like a tail dragger being loaded? I also read several people who claimed it was the head of World Airways, Ed Dailey, who they claimed to know personally (it isn’t Dailey). There were also several claims it was a Bell UH1, in spite of the fact no Huey has a door like that. All of these claims are outright lies, perpetuated this week by a new generation of people allegedly ‘informed’ by the internet. I have little expectation that most people think critically, but I would like to think that aviators do. Maybe not this week.
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Below is the exact same moment photographed from a different angle. It took me 60 seconds to find this image, although I have never seen it before, and I am pretty sure it was never published in conjunction with the one above. All that was required to find it was to search “DC-6 Vietnam Nha Trang images” on Google. Maybe I should have been a research journalist….oh wait, that wouldn’t have worked, I’m too concerned about what the truth is to earn a living like that.
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Does this look like a DC-3 or a Huey to anyone? A big part of what I am moved by in aviation is history. In 1985 I was 22 years old, yet I only needed to read this story once to remember it, because the man in the photo is part of the pantheon of humans who have done something extraordinary in aviation.
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I don’t give a damn for the crap in Flying magazine , the National Business aviation show, nor any to the turboprops advertised in our home building magazine, because those planes and the people who use them have nothing to contribute to the human endeavor of flight They are transportation and toys for the wealthy, people who would only have you at their country club as a servant, yet for some reason we tolerate having them at our homebuilding convention, Oshkosh. There are countless people who wander through or play in aviation with zero respect for the history of human courage in flight. It is their loss, and they have shallow perspectives to go with their shallow lives.
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If you are reading this, and you are producing a plane with your own hands, then you are in the arena of flight. You will know it’s great challenges and rewards. You will struggle to make it right, to learn, to keep going when most others quit; You will feel fear, and overcome it before your first take off. The hours you spend aloft in your own creation will mark special days in your life long remembered when most are forgotten. Homebuilt planes can be very modest, but they are direct access to the human endeavor of flight, and through it you can understand some kinship with a man who’s “crowded hour” in the arena of flight came in April of 1975.
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Obituary of Robert Hedrix; pilot linked to last days of Vietnam War
By Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times | November 9, 2006
LOS ANGELES — One of the most arresting images from the last days of the Vietnam War shows an unruly crowd rushing the door of a plane in Nha Trang, a rural seaside city north of Saigon. The focal point of the photograph is a balding, middle-aged American who is landing a jab to the head of a Vietnamese man desperate to board. The American is all grim determination; his jaw is clenched as he lunges right, extending his arm like a ramrod in the face of the intruder. Resolute in the crush of bodies, he is a bulwark in the bedlam of a turbulent era’s violent finale. The caption accompanying the United Press International photo identified him only as an American official, but he was actually a charter pilot hired by the US State Department to relocate Americans from the countryside to Saigon. In 1985, after People magazine ran the photo with a story about the 10th anniversary of Saigon’s fall, some of his war-era buddies identified him: He was Robert D. Hedrix, a North Dakota native and veteran of World War II and Korea who spent most of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s in and around Southeast Asia as a pilot for the Air Force, the CIA, and various commercial outfits. “He was a real warrior. He felt it was his calling to fight on behalf of America,” his son-in-law, Phil Hernandez, said last week. Mr. Hedrix, who returned to the United States in 1977 and flew planes for the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, died of a heart attack last month at 81, according to his family. He had been dead for a few days when his landlord found his body Oct. 25 in his Lafayette, Colo., home. Mr. Hedrix rarely talked about his Vietnam experiences, even though the photograph in which he played a starring role was widely reprinted over the years. It was taken on April 1, 1975, when South Vietnam’s capitulation was only a matter of time. The North Vietnamese army was sweeping south to Saigon, and Nha Trang was among the cities falling. Mr. Hedrix had been hired to transport Americans, but if room allowed he also evacuated Vietnamese people — the sick, the elderly, and children. In Nha Trang that day, one mother handed him her twins, only a few weeks old, and begged him to take them. “The sacrifice was heartbreaking,” he told People magazine in 1985. With defeat imminent, soldiers were deserting the South Vietnamese army in droves, disguising themselves in civilian clothes and joining the panicked exodus. Mr. Hedrix was alert to their presence. Referring to the famous photograph, he told People: “I’m pretty sure the guy I’m throwing off is a deserter because I could see a pistol stuffed under his belt.” Mr. Hedrix’s plane, a DC-6, took off amid gunfire with 264 passengers, almost 150 more than the official capacity. He would log more than 100 flights that month before he left Vietnam for good on April 30, the day Saigon collapsed. Years later, he told an interviewer that the photograph brought one word to his mind: security. “These people didn’t have it; people walking down the streets of America do,” he said. As for the man he slugged outside that plane, he said: “I feel sorry for those guys now.” Mr. Hedrix was buried Friday at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. He leaves a daughter, Mary Hernandez; two sons, Mike and John; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.![]()
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Text of People magazine article in 1985:
“Robert D. Hedrix, now in his 60s, was working as a charter pilot based in Singapore when South Vietnam’s defeat became imminent in the spring of 1975. Hired by the State Department to transport Americans from the countryside into Saigon, he logged more than 100 flights in the month before the final collapse. “I was there for the money,” Hedrix says. “But I also had a commitment to help the Vietnamese people and our guys fighting there.” During a hectic mission in Nha Trang in early April, he was photographed sorting out a volatile mob (above, left) and socking a South Vietnamese Army deserter (right) who tried to force his way onto the pilot’s overcrowded DC-6. PEOPLE ran the first photo five weeks ago as part of our Vietnam “Where Are They Now?” series, and several of Hedrix’s war-era friends telephoned to identify him.
A native of North Dakota, Hedrix joined the Navy during World War II and later saw action in Korea. Working variously for the Air Force, the CIA—which he will not discuss—and as a charter pilot, he spent most of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s in and about Southeast Asia. He now lives near Denver and flies for the U.S. Forest Service. He douses fires from the air, and also checks for acid-rain damage as well as occasionally scouting for marijuana crops. Hedrix talked about his Vietnam experience with correspondent Mary Chandler.
It was the first week of April and we were up north around Nha Trang boarding passengers for the customer [the State Department]. We were there to pick up the Americans, mostly journalists—we called Americans “round-eyes”—as well as some of the Vietnamese sick, children and old people. Our State Department was very generous about space available. I made four or five flights to Saigon daily. During the evacuation we had to be very careful because some of the people getting on board were Vietnamese military guys who had dressed up in sports clothes and were deserting. In the second picture, I’m pretty sure the guy I’m throwing off is a deserter because I could see a pistol stuffed under his belt. I feel sorry for those guys now.
I was asking for children at the door. The bare-bottomed child in the first picture made it aboard. Later a mother handed up her twins, maybe 3 weeks old. These people wanted to get their children out and hoped to catch up with them later. The sacrifice was heartbreaking. Someone told me later that we took off with 264 souls, which could be a record for a DC-6. Normally it was set up for about 118 adults.
Just before we taxied I heard a gunshot, but I didn’t know what it was at the time. I was told later that a Vietnamese airport guard had shot a guy who tried to open the door after we had shut it. I understand the guy died.
My first association with Vietnam was in 1955, and I left there April 30, 1975.1 was flying over the China Sea in the late ’50s when I heard John Foster Dulles, the Secretary of State, talking about the demilitarized zone. I had a tear in one eye and laughter in the other because it was nonsensical. He was talking about how, if the North Vietnamese crossed the DMZ, we would retaliate. And they were already across! It was public knowledge throughout Southeast Asia that they’d infiltrated, that they had an active insurrection going in South Vietnam. And yet our Secretary of State was talking to the American public about how great we were doing down there.
To start with, I was against our involvement. Every one who knew the area—the French, early American advisers—warned us to stay out. But once we pledged our aid, I wholeheartedly supported our effort. I still think it was a terrible mistake to get involved without the full intent of winning.
We didn’t lose the war over there militarily; we lost it politically. There were so many over there doing difficult, even valiant work, and there were a few people over here just destroying it. The stateside protesters were ill-informed. I was involved in events over there that I could barely recognize when I read about them in U.S. newspapers. I’ve become very jaundiced about how news is reported.
Once we became involved I felt we had as much moral right to be in Asia as we had to be in Europe in World War II. These people are entitled to as much liberty and pursuit of happiness as the Europeans.
As a civilian pilot, I flew a lot of supply-type missions for the Air Force and Army. We went over there for pay. But while we were there, we did things you can’t pay for—rescuing wounded, coming under fire. I was shot down over Laos. If someone said I was a hero, I’d have to say I was a low-grade hero. There are lots of guys with marks on their bodies to prove they’re heroes. But I was fortunate. All the mercenaries over there: They came for money, but they worked for valor. Oh, we had a lot of excitement. Sometimes, say during mortar attacks, your tongue would stick in your mouth, your mouth would hang open. There was nothing to do but wait till the shells went by because you didn’t know if the plane was going to get hit. Sometimes it was so close that you kind of looked around to see if you were hit.
The one word I’d use to sum up the photos taken at Nha Trang is “security.” These people didn’t have it; people walking down the streets of America do. That’s why we need a strong defense. The chaos in this picture could happen in the United States. The only thing that stands between us and the confusion and the lawlessness and the murder in that picture is the Defense Department. Whether it’s managed right or wrong, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying what the difference is.”
