Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
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There are so many important aviation dates to remember in the month of December. The Wright Brothers' first powered flight was on December 17, 1903, the first glide flight of SpaceShipOne was December 17, 2003, on the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' historic flight and the flight of Voyager between December 14 and December 23, 1986. The Mojave Transportation Museum's monthly Plane Crazy Saturday event will honor designer Burt Rutan; Command Pilot, Dick Rutan; Pilot Jeana Yeager and...
America's military Veterans were honored at Legacy Park at Mojave Air & Space Port on Nov. 11. The ceremony was sponsored by the Mojave Transportation Museum Foundation, Mojave Chamber of Commerce and the Mojave Air & Space Port. Veteran aircraft were on the flightline for visitors to view. Dave VanHoy flew his North American T-6 to Mojave, Diane Barney and Dustin Mosher brought their PT-17 Stearman and Todd Schultz flew his Vultee BT-13 over from Bakersfield. Al Hansen displayed his North...
Weneth "Wen" Dwane Painter passed away in Pleasanton, California, April 21, 2020, at the age of 84. Wen was born May 8, 1935, in Ainsworth, Nebraska, and grew up in Mills and Long Pine, Nebraska. He attended a one-room school house in Mills, and never let anyone forget that America's first astronauts were Midwest, one-room-school-house educated, too! Everyone who knew Wen had heard his stories about growing up in the Midwest and how America went to the moon with incredible men who were grounded...
I remember speaking at a funeral for a dear friend from Navy League nearly twenty years ago. Another one of the "greatest generation" gone from this Earth. Rufus Cook, born in Gilroy, California in 1919, was a student at Stanford University in 1941 when WWII beckoned. Already a licensed pilot, he joined the Army Air Corps. Rufus trained in Oxnard, Bakersfield (Minter Field) and graduated in the class of 42-D from Stockton. He became a bombardier cadet and B-17 instructor in Albuquerque, New Mexi...
My parents were married in 1927 and lived through the Great Depression. My father learned at an early age to fix things and keep them working: tractors, cars, vacuum cleaners, washing machines or whatever. It was a work ethic that he and my mother passed on to my brothers and me, and I tried to pass it on to my children. When you have something of value, you take care of it and make it last. I remember having great difficulty in understanding the whole idea behind the "cash for clunkers"...
The Ukrainian AN-2 was initially developed as an agricultural aircraft and the first prototype flew on Aug. 31, 1947. The designer, Oleg Antonov, had been an aircraft designer during World War II. The aircraft went in production in 1949 and over 20,000 have been built. The Antonov AN-2, sometimes called the "Ant," "Colt" or nicknamed the Kolkhoznik "Collective Farmer," is the world's largest biplane. The design gives it extremely short take-off and landing (STOL) capabilities, which is partly...
Plane Crazy Saturday (PCS) continues to be successful at Mojave Air & Space Port. Mojave Transportation Museum Foundation (MTM) is celebrating the 12th year of their Plane Crazy family-friendly event. On the third Saturday of each month, local Mojave-based aircraft and planes from airports as far away as Carson City, Nevada come to participate. Participants with aircraft and visitors who drive to the airport enjoy the low-key, friendly atmosphere. Many pilots stay by their aircraft and answer...
Sally and Mike Melvill are two of the finest people on planet Earth! Mike Melvill was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1940 and immigrated to England in 1960. Mike and Sally were married in Scotland 60 years ago, in 1961. Sally was 17 and Mike was 19 when they eloped. Sally's father was born in the U.S.A., and as a citizen he was able to bring his family members to the U.S. Mike and Sally came to the U.S. with their two sons in 1967 and settled in Indiana. Mike often has said that he had...
The Mojave Transportation Museum saluted radial engines at the May 15 Plane Crazy Saturday and Mike Nixon, president/CEO of Vintage Radials, was so good to come and tell everyone about these great round engines. It reminded me of some of the airplanes we have owned with big radial engines. In January 2003, we owned a C-123K Provider and my husband Al decided to start the engines. It sounds easy enough, but it takes a lot of preparation since it had been sitting for several months. The Fairchild...
Al Hansen's little N3N-3"Yellow Peril" two-hole, biplane flew away to a new home in Lake Tahoe sixteen years ago, in 2005. The new owner had been building up a project N3N-3 for over three years and saw Al's ad in Trade-A-Plane and decided he wanted something he could fly immediately and not later. He was impressed with the low-time engine and prop and quality restoration workmanship that had been accomplished by the Yank's Air Museum at Chino. This guy was a true "victim of passion," as my...
The East Kern Cemetery District and Mojave Transportation Museum Foundation are joining together to honor those who gave their all this Memorial Day at the Mojave Cemetery, 2040 Belshaw St., Mojave on Monday, May 31 at 11 a.m. District General Manager, Paul Holzer, sees to it that every Veteran's grave has an American Flag placed to thank them for their service. Over 400 veterans are buried in the Mojave Cemetery. Jason Stverak wrote an article about reviving Decoration Day in 2014 and said, "Th...
After days of waiting for high winds and bad weather to clear on April 29, the colossal six-engine Stratolaunch carrier aircraft, with its enormous wingspan, lifted off gracefully from Runway 30 at Mojave Air & Spaceport ... just as it had done two years ago on April 13. The composite flying machine climbed effortlessly into the clear blue skies for a three-hour test flight. This gigantic aircraft is nicknamed Roc, as a tribute to the giant bird of Arabian and Persian mythology. Pilots Evan...
So many historical aircraft have been tucked away in hangars at Mojave Airport through the years. In 2003, this genuine Messerschmitt Bf 109E, Werke Number 3579 was in Hangar #77 (the same hangar that housed the Voyager Aircraft in the 1980s). The Bf 109 was recovered near St. Petersburg, Russia in 1991 and was fully restored to flying condition, complete with WWII instruments, for the Santa Monica Museum of Flying. The restoration was completed on the Isle of Wight, in the south of England. The...
Sixteen years ago, my husband Al and his son Dor helped set up a UH-1B "Huey" for a Vietnam Veteran Memorial at Tehachapi Airport. The UH-1 helicopter was the "icon" of Vietnam. All veterans of Vietnam know the image and the familiar sound of the Huey. The plaque says it all: "This Vietnam War 'Huey' Helicopter is a symbol dedicated to honor all the brave men and women who courageously fought the tyranny and oppression in Vietnam. May their courage and heroic efforts – for which many lost their...
My husband Al and I had a special opportunity last week to visit with Mike Nixon at Vintage Radials and watch the running of a very rare German aircraft engine from a World War II fighter. This very engine powered a Focke-Wulf 190 that actually downed many of our fighters and bombers in combat during the war, yet those who love history want to preserve this impressive adversary and bring her back to life in flying condition. There is no desire to rewrite the history. Mike Nixon is the...
You know how you feel when the wind is howling and you see the standing lenticular clouds, (the clouds that look like flying saucers), when looking north? I know I don't want to go outside at all. On the other hand, there are people who look forward to those days. Jim Payne and Bob Harris come to mind. They like flying high and fast in gliders when the Sierra Wave is working. On Feb. 17, 1986, Bob Harris flew his Grob 102 Standard Astir III to 49,009 feet. He had taken off from California City...
Twenty years ago, in 2001, our friends Larry and Joan Mockford owned a very rare North American Aviation built FJ-4B Fury. At first glance you immediately think of the F-86 Sabre, but if you look more closely or see them side-by-side, you would recognize that the Navy Fury Bravo is a totally different aircraft. This Navy fighter was designed with folding wings, the break falling seven feet inboard of the wingtips. It had all equipment necessary for carrier borne operations, plus four 20 mm canno...
On December 4, 2020, Mojave Air & Spaceport Director Jim Balentine presided over the swearing-in ceremony for three new directors who were elected in the November election. Robert "Bob" Morgan; Charles "Chuck" Coleman and Diane Barney were the three top vote receivers. All three are General Aviation, Commercial rated pilots. Morgan is an aerospace engineer and manager with 30 years of experience in the aerospace industry. His career has involved the design and management of over 33 cutting-edge...
Happy New Year to everyone! Praying for a bright, joyful and healthy 2021 for you and yours! I have been watching an aviation series called Legends of Air Power and am reminded of how many of the classic movie stars served America in the military during World War II and Korea. You don't hear of that from the hot stars of today. There just seems to be a different feeling about patriotism. Tom Landry, famous coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1988, flew B-17s in World War II. Landry was in...
Aviation enthusiasts everywhere know there are many very important dates to remember in the month of December. At 10:35 a.m., on December 17, 1903, Orville Wright made history by flying a powered machine into full flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. This year marks the 117th anniversary of that famous flight. The first experience Orville and Wilbur Wright had with a flying machine was an object given to them by their father. It was made of paper, bamboo sticks and cork. He turned a stick that...
Beautiful November weather with light winds greeted Veterans and supporting citizens at the Veterans Day Ceremony in Legacy Park at Mojave Air & Spaceport. Thank you to everyone who prayed for good weather! The annual event is sponsored by Mojave Transportation Museum Foundation, Mojave Chamber of Commerce and Mojave Air & Spaceport. Al Hansen displayed veteran aircraft, including a North American T-28B and Canadair Mk VI (F-86) Sabre. The keynote speaker was U.S. Air Force Veteran and Tehachapi...
Tech Sergeant James Curtis Peck will be the Keynote Speaker at the Veterans Day Ceremony at the Mojave Air and Spaceport’s Legacy Park on Wednesday, November 11 at 11 a.m. Peck graduated Reseda High School in 1959 and became a traveling musician with a dance band playing one-nights all over the country. He entered college in 1960 as a music major and was offered a saxophone position with the 562nd U.S. Air Force Band, Van Nuys, California and served 9 years. He also played with many other b...
There have been many unusual airplanes at Mojave Airport. In 2001, when Bruce Lockwood had the maintenance facility for The Museum of Flying at Mojave, he worked on a rare flying Messerschmitt Bf 109E. The unique sound of the inverted 12-cylinder, liquid-cooled, 1,100 h.p. Daimler Benz engine was very loud and distinctive. This aircraft was the only remaining Bf 109 in flying condition with the original Daimler Benz engine and after restoration, it first flew right here at Mojave Airport! As it...
Isn't it amazing when you can experience a lifelong dream? When I was in my early 20s, I loved looking in "Trade-A-Plane" for airplanes I couldn't afford in a million years; aircraft like P-51 Mustangs, F4U Corsairs and LearJets. There is a certain romance in dreaming and I have learned that it is a significant part of a happy life. When Al planned a trip for us to Clarksville, Tennessee in 1987, to look at a Lear 23 that was listed in "Trade-A-Plane" I didn't have a clue that he would actually...
Dick Lawyer, one of our very good friends and a big part of Mojave Airport's flying history, passed away on November 12, 2005. It was just the month before that Dick flew Flight Systems F-100F at Mojave Airport for FTA and Jeremy Mosher of Jet Photos captured this photo. Dick's wife, Gayle, emailed to tell me that they wouldn't be able to make the Veterans Day Ceremony that year because he was going elk hunting. I received a call from their close friend and neighbor, GaIL Knight, that morning...
