Museum Documentary Filming

Though the weather here today is cold with snow and rain, fun is being had inside! Filming on the museum contents documentary is concluding today with interesting interior footage.

Andy and Art getting a call from "Ethel" on the vintage phone!
Andy, Art and Russ readying for the archive shots.

Filming in the archives.

In the archives with a signicant piece from Eddie Rickenbacker

Andy decked out in a WWI French uniform.

Andy being filmed by Russ in a German WWI uniform next to the Dr1

The Spad Project

The Spad Project has come home to be finished up! Stewart and Andy will be getting her air worthy.

Andy and Corkey unloading ......Gerry and Andy manuevering...
...and pushing... ...and finally in place! But wait a second-it's missing something...

...ah yes, the wings! Here VAFM webmaster and Moose owner Ted Waltman assists Andy.

Gerry giving a hand while Ted gives his back!

And the wings...

...slowly, but surely...

...make their way to their new perch.

The Spad project has been moved to VAFM's maintenance hangar. Sponsored by Nick and Nancy Rutgers, the Spad 13 is in the markings of James Norman Hall of the 103rd Aero Squadron. James Norman Hall was one of the "Valliant 38"- the first to fly with the French before the Americans entered WWI. After the war, Hall wanted to escape to a tranquil, serene place and write for travel magazines. He landed in Tahiti. He fell in love with Tahiti and a Tahitian woman. Hall made his home there, raised his family and wrote his novels. Of all of his novels, most notable is "Mutiny on the Bounty".

There are currently 3 projects in the works at the VAFM maintenance hangar:

Left to right: the Sopwith Project to be done in Bob Todd's markings, the Spad Project, James Norman Hall and the full scale Se5a to be done in Bill Lambert's markings.

Post-Production Filming Today!

Dr1 Pilot Mark Holliday, Stinson L-5 Pilot today Mark Beam, Art and Russ discussing the manueversfor the air-to-air shots.
Camera ship TaylorCraft with Mark Beam and Russ Wiltse

Gerry Coe attaching a camera to the Dr1

Stinson L-5 pilot, Mark Beam, Art and Mark Holliday discussing a flight plan.

Russ Wiltse adjusting his camera

Art making sure the camera is just right on the Dr1!

Art once again, getting the angle just right!

Art says: "Today was a great, beautiful, sunny day and I was able to get a lot of pick-ups that we missed the last 3 weeks."

Filming Back at the Front!

Filming of the museum collection documentary began yesterday.

Art and Andy going over last minute details.

Russ getting the camera angle just right while Gerry Coe checks lighting.

Andy on camera!

The museum documentary is about the collection's contents. Andy will be shown highlighting the cases with the respective Ace featured and will be discussing that pilot's contibution in WWI, his memorabilia, medals awarded and significant documents. The purpose of this documentary is for educational purposes.

BT-13 Getting Some Tinkering Done

Ryan Lunde and Mark Beam have been working hard on the BT-13.

Beamer

Lunde

...and the BT-13.

Ryan had this to say:

"Did some wrenching on a Pratt and Whiney radial today and have a new appreciation for the men who had to maintain these engines under fire 65 years ago. We, (Mark Beam and I), inspected the BT-13's fuel system and then moved to the ignition. Even getting the special tool on the rear spark plug leads was a chore. Then we cleaned and tested all 18 plugs. It has a periodic miss in flight."

The boys are excited to take the Bt-13 up in the air....now if only the weather would cooperate!!

A Couple of Exciting Events Coming Up for VAFM

A couple of exciting upcoming events for the museum are on Saturday, October 17 2009 and Saturday November 21, 2009.

On Saturday October 17, our 7/8 scale British SE5a will be flying over the park in Hudson and make a candy drop for the kids! This will happen around 4pm (weather permitting). On a special note, our SE5a was the only non-CGI (computer generated image) to actually fly in the movie, "The Aviator"!

A beautiful shot of our SE5a by Dan Simonsen

On November 21, we are joining forces with the Adams County Sheriff's Department and Rocky's Autos for OPERATION FREE BIRD! Many of the museum's aircraft will be performing fly-overs and the event itself will have several special features including:

* $10 gift cards towards the purchase of a Thanksgiving turkey
* Free presentations and sample products
* Career and life skills information
* Free food and entertainment

Andy speaking with Adams County Deputy Officer Medina, Rocky's Auto's marketing director Sergio and Ron Vigil. (AKA-Shaggy!)

The SE5a and the Triplane doing a little flying demonstration for the gang at Rocky's Autos!

Art flew the 2500 mile round trip to Ohio and back in his gorgeous Waco.
Here's the Waco back home in its Longmont hangar.

Beautiful wife, Betty, in front of the Waco.

Back at the Home Front

Though the journey is complete, the story has just begun. In the posts to come, look for snippits from the documentary and post-production filming excerpts! Exciting, upcoming information on other museum and aircraft happenings will be highlighted soon, too.

The DVII getting ready for its comfortable ride home in the trailer!

The DVIII, next to the museum's SE5a, and the Dr1 out for a bit of welcomed sun!

Mark Beam and Brian Waltman spiffying up the DVIII after the journey.

Finally Home!

Some beautiful photos taken by Don of the journey through Kansas on the way home.

Dr1 pilot, Mark Holliday and DVIII pilot Andrew King landed safely yesterday at Platte Valley Airport at around 3pm. It was rainy and cold, but they were home! Andy arrived just before them with the trailer housing the DVII. Art and Cliff flew into Longmont safely as well. Grounds crewman, Gerry Coe, also made it home safely in the comfortable, warm van donated to us for the trip by Berkenkotter Motors. DVII pilot, Dan Murray, his wife Linda, cinematographer Russ Wiltse and ground crewman Chuck Gardner all arrived home safe and sound in their van provided by Berkenkotter Motors this past Staurday.

Next week, laborsome editing will be done of the mass amounts of footage taken for the documentary--that should be a slap-happy time for Art and Russ!--Pictures to follow soon! Shooting is also scheduled next week for the documentary to be made on the museums' artifacts.

Finally On Our Way Home

After sitting out rainy weather and without the Fokker DVII, the pilots are finally on their way home! After suffering some mechanical issues, it was decided that the DVII would not fly anymore and Andy is trailering it home. Currently in Kansas, he is due back tomorrow.


I received a call from DVIII pilot, Andrew King this morning with the following report:

"Left Creve Couer at 7:30am and arrived in Booneville, MO around 9:30am. The Boonville airport had a large bank of fog that made for a spectacular and beautiful backdrop for the landing. Arrived in Gardener, KS around 10:30am with blue skies and a strong tail wind!"


Pictures to follow soon!

Vintage Aero Flying Museum Featured in Latest EAA News Online!

An incredible find today by Gerry Coe is this actual 4 leaf clover!! Looks like things will be turning around now for the gang!

The pilots are still being laywayed by weather and hope to fly home in the next couple of days. Filming has been mostly completed and editing is taking precedence now. All inolved are anxious to get home. They are missing their wives and families. Because of weather, they have now been delayed 4 days.

Film footage shot so far has been extremely rewarding. This has been the main source for lifting spirits for the gang! Another source of uplift is the article done by EAA News. Please check it out through the following link:

http://www.eaa.org/news/2009/2009-10-01_dayton.asp

The gang has seen some interesting roadside attactions along the way. Here are just a few of them:

Ground support crewman Gerry Coe provided us with the these photos and updates: "Yesterday morning we visited the Model T Museum. While there, we were advised to use the men’s’ restroom at The Candle Store next door. When we did this is what we found."



"Yesterday evening a few of visited Jim Hammond, a friend of Andrew’s, and saw his planes and the wonderful work he is doing on them. He also surprised us when he opened the door to a building and showed us this carousel that he restored. It was built in the early 1900’s and all the animals were carved from wood. At least one, a chicken, dates back to 1902. What a beautiful job he did on it!"

Comfort food helps the gang cope!

Misfortune Strikes the Wright Flyer

On an unfortunate note, the replica Wright Flyer, featured a few segments below, crash landed today and the pilot had to be air-lifted to the nearest hospital. Art was going to film this flight for a segment in the documentary. Our thoughts and prayers are with the pilot for a full and speedy recovery.

Russ says, "Got an early start this morning, and we're starting to hit some rough weather. A quick stop at Litchfield airport before Creve Couer. Mark allows Corey here a chance to get a feel of the Dr1.

Russ Wiltse commented Wednesday Sept 30: "The crew makes it to Kasey, Illinois for a stopover on our way to Creve Couer, MO. We're expecting some bad weather to hit us by midday tomorrow so our goal is to get to Creve Couer and hunker down for a day or so. Had a very "filling" meal at the restaurant pictured here. We should have guessed it would be satisfying since we were given the recommendation by the guy at the front desk of our motel that looked like he had had a good meal in his life before!" Hey, I want to know whose kissing Art?!

Wed, Sep 30, 2009 8:00 am Russ writes:
"The team inspects a replica of the first Wright Flyer at Huffman Prairie, known as the first airfield in the world.We had a plan to shoot a quick scene for the film here as the plane lifted off, but the weather did not cooperate so the flight was cancelled."

A little boy named Ryan thrilled that he held in his hand the same airplane as our Dr1!

Chris Patton, the director of the Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, Ohio, allowed us to use his museum hanger to store the planes for 2 days and shoot another interview with the pilots for the film.