Oh yea mike is the "finest kind". He is up here all the time. If you read that web site, the airplane was painted in NY by Champlain Enterprises. My uncle is Bob who was mentioned in the article. My dad came up and painted the Letters on the tail and the fuselage. I was also part of the paint crew laying out the stripes on the fuselage and the tail. I also had the dirty job of removing the #1 oil tank!!
In my years of being around airplanes, I have got to do many things and ride in many airplanes. One of my greatest moments was because of mike and his DC-3!! When I was a kid, my uncle was the DOM for Business Air. They operated a fleet of 6 or 7 C-47's here in VT on a freight contract. My dad for a time moonlighted right seat while he was the airport manager of BTV. Well when I was a kid, about 13. I met Mitch, he loved old airplanes and he flew as co-pilot for them. Now I used to hear them leave every night, climbing out of BTV headed for Hartford. One day I got a offer to go on a overnight to Hartford and I said yes!!!!! We took N54NA and on take off I rode in the Navigators position until mitch got out of the right seat and let me sit. Capt. Bruce let me fly a heading for a while but mitch let me ride all the way in on the right seat that night!! On occasion I would jump up in the N3N and turn on the radio and call out........."mitch 122.8" chat with my friend for a couple of min and wish him a good flight. I eventually went on a overnight with dad but being a seat hog, I just fell asleep to the tune of in sync 1830's at the navigators table.
Now when I went to work in NY for my uncle at the age of 24. Many people would ask me how come I would not go for a ride in the DC-3's These were N700CA and N922CA. I told them that there is only one spot for me to ride in and thats the left seat!!
Well one morning after working the night shift on the company 1900's, Mike had showed up to take the DC-3 to a tail wheel fly in at Rutland. He was supposed to meet my uncle Wheels up at 830 with my uncle and dad in his H18 for a formation flight down. I asked mike if I could bum a ride and he said sure. So I helped preflight the airplane and then we got aboard and closed the door. As we headed up front I paused to let them go figuring I would take the jump seat when mike said "go ahead sit up front" yea I though, so I went to sit in the right seat and he said "naw you take the left, I got everything I need on the right" So the left I sat. Mike started in on me, "now this is your bird, your taking us to rutland" I just wanted a ride, now I am working!!!" So i helped get the engines running and he said, here you go, take her to the runway. I still insisted that I just wanted a ride and that the last airplane I got any time in was a PA-18. Mikes answer was "well then, your qualified cause were just a big ole cub" So to make a very long story short, I got to do the take off in a DC-3 because he said we were not going if I diddent and so I did and mike was kind of right about the cub part. After about 15 minutes of loitering south of burlington, we got the call that the H18 was airborne. I made the turn south and thats when mike commensed to harass my uncle about the H18 being so slow!!! He finally caught up to us as we made a pass over the airport. Comments were made that it looked like we were standing still as the Twin beech passed us. (Later dad told me that my uncle was pushing the throttles up at every comment mike made) Anyways, I made a lazy right turn where mike did all the co pilot dutys and I brought in the DC-3 for a very nice (proud to say) SWEET!!!!! landing infront of everyone!!!!! Now to the part that makes me proud!!! As we taxied up, a huge DC-3 fan marshaled us into a parking spot. I recognised him and stuck my head out the window to see my friend mitch!!!! As we shut down, he met me at the back door smiling from ear to ear. Guess he was pretty proud to see me in that seat!!!!
We had a great time that day talking about our ride together years before. Milke let me fly home and it was still great even though I had now been up for almost 24 hrs. I got to make my next landing in the DC-3 and I can still proudly say, it was not my best!!! My 3 bounces in a DC-3 was witnessed by us and another Business Air employee who ragged on me about my landing until he died. I can still see mike with his hands crossed "doing a FINE job" as it finally settled after my 3rd touchdown. It was a long day but a day that I gotto log 1.7 hrs of left seat time in a DC-3 where I had flown a PA-18 two yrs prior
Sad to say but 2 yrs later mitch was killed in a head on accident when he was returning home with a load of stearman parts. This is why I will never forget mike and his DC-3 and when it comes time to get her back in the air, I will be there!
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Long Live the N3N-3 "The Last US Military Bi-Plane" 1940-1959
Badmouthing Stearmans on WIX since 2005
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