a total of 42 hops and carried 89 passengers. Not a bad day's work. The wives of the Robin's owners, Evva Solien and Viola Henderson, usually accompanied Ole on the barnstorming tours out of Jamestown. They drove a new Oldsmobile and would meet Ole at the intended towns so they would have ground transportation while on tour. When this group appeared .. . two attractive ladies, a new Olds, a handsome young pilot and a new cabin plane .. . there was no doubt that a class act had arrived. The ladies sold tickets, and soon their ticket selling prowess far ex ceeded that of the men that had previously accompanied Ole. The combination was a success, for the daily passen ger count rapidly surpassed the previous season.
buffeting violently with the gusts. Over the infield John nie kicked it straight and touched his wheels to the grass, but the wind was to be the master of this landing. The right wing rose, the left lower dragged in the dirt, and the big biplane turned 45 to its right - pointed directly at Ole and his Robin. Johnnie cut the mags, but not soon enough to prevent the prop blades from each taking a slice through the fuselage of the Robin. Vince Cavasino, a friend and FBO at Bismarck, arrived the next day to help Ole with the damaged airplane. They lashed the aft fuselage together with 2x4s and applied some temporary covering. The following morning it was ready for a ferry flight to Bismarck. So ended the Robin's first two days off since it left its birthplace some two months earlier.
The proud owners of the new Curtiss Robin, NC35H and their full- time pilot. L-R: Viola Henderson, Noel and Evva SOlien, Dr. Claude Henderson, and pilot Ole Anderson.
As the summer of 1929 passed into the dog days of August, the wisdom of the partners' investment was obvi ous. The reliable Robin, coupled with Ole's enthusiasm for flying and his penchant for work proved to be a profitable combination. From the day Ole arrived in Jamestown on June 30th, through August 27th at Leith, southwest of Bismarck, the Robin had flown EVERY DAY, and had carried over 1000 passengers. . .. 59 consecutive days and 1019 passengers to be exact. But on the 60th day, Ole and the Robin would get a rest. Ole arrived in Leith late in the afternoon of the 26th for a celebration the following day. Johnnie Osterhaus, from Wilton, North Dakota was already there with a Travel Air 3000. Their flying field was the center of an oval race track. It was oriented east-west and was a bit small, but provided adequate length for both the Robin and the Travel Air. On the morning of the 27th there was a brisk wind blowing out of the west. Eager passengers began to assem ble, and Ole began the day's work . As the sun rose higher the wind became stronger, and it began to shift to the northwest. On the sixth hop it became clear that the crosswind was getting too strong for safe operation. Ole shut down the OX-5, and pushed the Robin to the north side of the oval, and faced it into the wind. "What's the matter?" Johnnie yelled from his cockpit. "Too much crosswind," Ole replied. "Nothing to it ... I can handle it," and he waved for two more passengers. On the next approach the Travel Air was sharply crabbed as it passed over the east curve of the oval , a nd
Ole (with hat) and master repairman, Vince Cavasino at Vince's shop at Bismarck, NO. On 8/29/29 Ole ferried this damaged Robin from Leith, NO to Bismarck with the aft fuselage lashed together with 2x4s.
Vince was a master repairman and , with Ole's help, had the Robin ready to go back to work in ten days . It was good as new, but now had a new distinguishing feature. With a flair , Vince had painted t he taped fabric seam yellow and pinstriped it with black. It now sported a yel low belt around its orange fuselage . .. perhaps the only Robin to ever have a racing stripe. As the popularity of barnstorming grew, so did the profits, and this attracted promoters, who would arrange wide ranging tours that might involve up to a dozen VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9