This Newsletter was almost ready for finishing and distribution in January 2013 - but too many activities got "in the way." So - I've now finished it - it's January, make that March 2014. Some people have actually been asking about it - so here it is.

Well, there's absolutely no doubt about what this year was about around here - It was The Year of the Airplane. About which, we will get to shortly. But first, we hope you all are well, and will first report on some more important things.

     Outside for the first time - November 2012

We are well! - Always a nice report to give - and for a change, too. The week of Dec. 17, Dot had a CAT scan and assorted tests and doctor visits. The report: No sign of recurrence. This makes five years since she began treatment for her lymphoma, and Five Years is a magic milestone in cancer treatment!

My new hip has steadily improved and I can honestly say, I am as good as new - well almost as good as new. A few other parts are showing their high mileage. But the Hip is as good as new (it ought to be - it IS new!) . In February, I finally relented and gave in to my Doctor Bob M.'s 18 years of nagging, and had a colonoscopy. Fully expecting a bad report as a payback for being a bad boy for so long, I was surprised to instead get an All Clear , with nothing found. The doc said that I was good for another 10 years, but, with no symptoms, they are not normally given past the age of 75, so I likely had had my first and last one. Dot, envious of my good report, and also seriously delinquent in getting this done, then had her own - also with good results. As my friend Dave Early would say - it was a Two-Fer. and, as my father used to say - it really pays to study hard for these tests......

Finally, in the Spring, I got an eye job as well - a cataract operation that resulted in my left eye going from 20/200 - 20/50 best corrected, - to 20/20 uncorrected. I can now see fine without my glasses at all - for the first time since I was 8 years old. One of these days, I may do this to my right eye. How come I couldn't have done this 60 years ago???

Dot continues with her dancing and community activities, and this year added helping me on "our" airplane to her tasks. Dot not only bought in to this acqusition, but actually made the final decision. I wondered whether she really bought-in for sometime, until overhearing her on the phone talking to her friends about "our airplane.". 

    Here she is climbing in the tail.

And now, for the airplane. As recounted in last years newsletter, my return to mobility was an eye-opener and led to exploring things that ought to be on my Bucket List - which led, in turn, to my purchase of an airplane - or more accurately, an airplane KIT. I bought the airplane early in the year as a partially built machine from a guy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I had it moved from there to Oklahoma City, where it was painted, and then trucked up here to the hangar I had rented at the Bremerton Airport. It arrived March 17. My desire was to return to active flying, and not build an airplane, but it didn't exactly work out that way. It turned out to be a lot more work than I had anticipated - A LOT!!!! And so, I spent the next 10 months mostly building the airplane, and not just finishing it. From the cold, wet, and dark (inside the hangar), through the fine weather of the summer, and again into the cold, wet, and dark, I've struggled on, setting most other activities aside - make that almost ALL other activities aside, as I describe below. I realized soon enough, that if I wasn't down there working on it, it wasn't going to get finished.

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares", I've now arrived at the end game. I put electrical power on Oct 1, resolved all the electrical and electronic challenges, getting the very sophisticated black boxes and computers to (finally) all talk to each other (which took the next six weeks.) With the help of my friend and mentor Tony T., we finished the fuel system, rigged the flight controls, and installed the wings. On Dec. 6, we ran the engine for the first time. Now, I am working off the final jobs in preparation for the FAA's Airworthiness Inspection, set for Jan 23. After that - Taxi Tests and First Flight! Last year, I reported it would hopefully be in the air by late Spring - it's a good thing I didn't specify what Year!

Lots more info and pictures on this webpage Click here.

Along the way, I had to tune-up my rusty flying skills. Although I've been flying for 48 years, it's been a while since I was active, and so I got my License renewed and updated over a series of 5 flights with 24 landings at Bremerton. Then, I went down to Oregon and took Transition Training on the RV-12 - the type airplane I am building - over a 3-day / 8 flight routine with the Factory approved Instructor. Another 43 landings - making 67 in a few short weeks - all without a call to the insurance company. Hope that continues!

    Training with Mike S. down in Oregon for 3 days

 
Museum of Flight and Public Speaking

My Museum activities continued with several important projects competing for time with my own airplane building activities.

Electra

For about five years, I've been working on getting a Lockheed Model 10 Electra added to the Museum's collection. Ths airplane was Lockheed designer Kelly Johnson's first project in 1934. We already have 8 of his great creations - including the Blackbird - his last design. So this would complete the collection. His First, and his Last. This was also the airplane that Amelia Earhart disappeared in while trying to circumnavigate the globe. After tracking all the airplanes still in existance, contacting many people and running into many dead-ends, an airplane and a "deal" surfaced in the Spring. It was my favorite kind of deal, since it involved trading one of our airplanes (a model of which we have two), for an Airworthy airplane in California. This airplane is a very rare Model 10E (only two in the world), and not only is it configured exactly like Amelia's airplane, but it has actually flown around the world, recreating her flight (successfully.)

    Lockheed Model 10 Electra

The net cost to the Museum would be zero, and the Electra would replace the airplane we were trading for on the floor, eliminating a space problem. Unfortunately, the Museum Board decided they didn't want to do the trade, - but, - they did want to acquire the Electra. After many months of dickering, the Museum finally signed a sales contract for the airplane, while also conducting a fund raising for the purchase price of $1.2M. The purchase is an installment contract, and so the airplane will not be coming immediately to Seattle, pending the fund raising. I had hoped to fly it in on July 2, which would have been the 75th Anniversary of Amerlia's disappearance. But, better late than never.

 B-52

2012 was also a Milestone Year for another historic airplane, and one I am also involved in - the Boeing B-52- the 8-engine jet bomber. April 15 was the 60th Anniversary of its First Flight from Boeing Field. It was also the 50th Anniversary of the delivery of the last airplane to USAF. And, it was the 40th Anniversary of Operation Linebacker II, that ended the Viet Nam War. This remarkable airplane is still in front line service and will remain so for another 30 years - making them 80-90 years old. Boeing built 744 airplanes and about 90 are still flying, with some of today's pilots the kids and grandkids of men who flew the exact same airplane in years past. To commemorate these dates, I helped organize a three-day celebration at the Museum. It took more than the usual nagging, but we did it. Boeing declined to participate.

At the Museum, we have a B-52G named Midnight Express, located at Paine Field in Everett. This airplane participated in the SE Asia campaign, and, it turns out, was the Lead Airplane, in the Lead Element on the first day of Linebacker II. 15 airplanes were shot down during the 11 days of this operation, that led directly to the signing of the Paris Accords.

Via my website pages on this B-52, I was contacted by a member of the crew of this airplane, who had flown this very Lead mission. Over the next few weeks and months, we organized the Reunion, which we expanded into a full-fledged B-52 Anniversary Celebration. All six members of the crew were located and all came to Everett in September for a very emotional reunion with their airplane. Three days of touring and dinners were highlighted by their return - with their families - to their airplane.

A picture of the crew had been taken on Guam in 1972, and we recreated this picture 40 years later - same guys - same airplane - down to the same exact pose - here they are:

An emotional experience for all.

 At the final dinner, they surprised me by graciously presenting me with this plaque - something I will always treasure.

727

My Third major Museum project was working on the Last Flight of our 727 Prototype airplane, from Paine Field in Everett to Boeing Field. The goal was for the flight to take place on 9 Feb 2013 - the 50th Anniversary - but that seems unlikely - we'll hope for sometime in 2013 - the 50th Anniversary Year. This turned out to be definitely one Project too many.

I also have worked quite a bit helping the QANTAS Museum in Australia acquire and move a Super Constellation from Manila to Longreach, where the Museum is located. Ironically, this is the First Super Connie I tried to abtain for the Museum 30 years ago when I stumbled across it, parked and derelict (I thought!), at the Arlington, Washington Airport. I was wrong, however, as it went back into service hauling fish from the S. Pacific to Japan, before becoming again derelict - this time in the Philippines. It would be nice to save it -- again.

And also helping move - and save - yet another Connie - this one in South Africa.  This retirement business is getting pretty grueling......

I continued with my public speaking, giving many talks on many aviation subjects in many locations.

Went seaplane flying with friend Ben Elison in his twin amphibian called the Goeyduck - Ben and his partner Ross Mahan designed and built the airplane themselves in Renton.  We made several land and water landings.

Here we are on Left Base over downtown Seattle setting up for a landing to the north in Lake Union.

Here's a left-over from 2011, that I forgot to include last year - how could I? - my flight in the oldest flying Boeing airplane. My good friend Addison Pemberton from Spokane had recovered a 1928 Boeing Model 40 that had crashed in Oregon decades earlier. After years of hard work, he returned to airplane to the skies. I created a webpage about the airplane marking his flight to Boeing Field, from where it had made its First Flight.

Unfortunately, my bad hip kept me from accepting his long-time invitation to fly with him. Last September, at Paine Field, my new hip allowed my to finally get my ride. What a Thrill !!!!!!

    

We had quite a few visitors in 2012, giving the remodeled Guest Bedroom good use.

Niece Elisabeth and husband Norm from B.C. came not once - but three times!  One one occasion, they were able to join us watching the arrival of the NASA Super Guppy that brought pieces of the Space Shuttle Trainer from Houston to the Museum in Seattle.

And on another visit, we made a trip to visit the Wooden Boat Show in Pt. Townsend.

My college room-mate Jim Hiestand, came and visited for a day during a trip to the West Coast. Jim lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

     A beach lunch down at the Pt. No Point Lighthouse

Good friends Lorna and Maurice came to visit in October - Lorna was Dot's roommate in Montreal and Dot visited with them everytime she returned to P.E.I.

    This time in Hansville

One of our most emotional visits came when Tom Blevins' sister Stephanie and her family came from Honolulu. Tom was my high school chum from New Rochelle. He was killed in Viet Nam on 6 April 1966. I tried unsuccessfully to connect with his family. A few years ago, I dedicated my website to his memory and created a webpage telling his story (found here.) Over time, I was contacted by various of Tom's friends, and was joined by them trying to locate his sister Stephanie. My hope was that eventually, my webpage would come to her attention - which is what happened! I received an emotional email from her - we connected, and, in April, we finally met at the Museum. Our mutual love of Tom and his memory have made us "family."

   

46 years since we lost Tom - still fresh, still painful

  We hope you are all well, and wish you a Happy and especially Healthy New Year.

    Peace.......... Bob and Dot