V23|NO42
and they’re not exactly predictable on the way that they end up,� he says. “So you want to be comfortable doing them low in case you come out on your back or in a spin or something like that.� Though starting a maneuver without knowing exactly how it’s going to end seems like the definition of crazy, for Ward it’s just another day in the office.
FLAGSHIP DETROIT — AN AMERICAN CLASSIC FLAGSHIP DETROIT
One of the most historic participants in this year’s Boshears Skyfest is the Flagship Detroit, the oldest flying DC-3 in the world. The goal of the group formed to preserve it is to operate the aircraft as a historically accurate example of the American Airlines fleet of Flagship airliners, which flew from 1936 to 1947. “We did a lot of research to get it right,� says George Dennis, executive director of the nonprofit Flagship Detroit Foundation. “We had the advantage of a lot of references at the C.R. Smith Museum, which is a nonprofit museum all about American Airlines. They had a huge archive, so we were able to get everything exactly as it came out of the factory in Santa Monica in 1937.� Not only is the outside paint authentic to the period, so is the inside. “We had already purchased the seats,� Dennis says. “They were already dated 1937, so we had a bunch of volunteers take all our seats — and these volunteers were all American Airlines mechanics in Kansas City — and they re-welded all our seats. We re-certified them and took them to the upholstery shop and put the same color upholstery that was on them in 1937.� To complete the historic look, they have a couple of authentic stewardess uniforms and a couple of pilot uniforms, too. Unlike most DC-3s, the Flagship Detroit did not see service in WWII, though 60 of American’s 85 DC-3s did. When planes came back from the war they could have up to 80,000 miles on them. More than 60 years later, the Flagship Detroit only has about 48,000. After its service with American, the plane was sold to the president of Mexico, who flew it for nine or 10 years back in the 1950s. It was then sold to a corporate entity and then to a company that used it as a fruit fly sprayer in California for a year. The first year the foundation flew the restored plane on the air show circuit, they performed at 51 events. “I’ve never worked so hard in my life,� Dennis says. “These air shows aren’t easy. You get there at 7 a.m. and they shut it down at 7 p.m. and then you have to do maintenance work and stuff like that. It can be pretty trying, but that’s what keeps bringing me back.� The plane has a team of about 15, along with a few reserve pilots and a couple of mechanics. “We don’t get anything from American Airlines except for the fact that they let us have a little spot in the 777 maintenance hanger in Dallas,� he says. “They’re very generous with that, but they don’t give us any money unless they hire us to do an event.� They’ve done several of those in the past, including one in New York for an employee celebrating 70 years with the airline, but given the fact that American filed 18OCTOBER2012
Come in for a tour TODAY!
‡ %HDXWLIXO UHWLUHPHQW FRPPXQLW\ ORFDWHG LQ DQ DIIOXHQW VXEXUE RI $XJXVWD LQ &ROXPELD &RXQW\ ‡ DVVLVWHG OLYLQJ DSDUWPHQW VXLWHV WKH SHUIHFW VL]H WR OHW WKH VWDII DQG UHVLGHQWV JHW WR NQRZ RQH DQRWKHU OLNH IDPLO\ ‡ 3URPRWHV D VSLULW RI IDPLO\ DQG VWULYH WR SURYLGH D KLJK TXDOLW\ RI OLIH ZLWKLQ WKHLU TXDLQW FRPPXQLW\ WKURXJK D GHGLFDWHG WHDP DQG VWDII ‡ &RQYHQLHQWO\ ORFDWHG QHDU PDMRU PHGLFDO IDFLOLWLHV VKRSSLQJ DQG GLQLQJ
&DOO .HOOLH 3XJK DW WR VFKHGXOH \RXU SHUVRQDO WRXU WRGD\ 353 N. Belair Rd | Evans M O R N I N G S I D E O F E V A N S . C O M AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989
METROSPIRIT 13