Donaldo,
Picture it, 1968. SoCal, early morning. 67 Country Squire wagon with a sheet of ply across the reardeck, Dad's 68 Shark on top, Jim's Playboy underneath. I'm sleeping in the back seat, cold as can be as it is January. I awake to see nothing but snow through the windshield!
WHAT? is going on here?
Jim says, "Stay in the truck's tracks, Jerry" as they slip and slide along (no radials back then) behind the big rig through the Banning Pass (which isn't that high, but it was a heck of a storm). "I can't see!", says Dad. The wipers are full tilt, defroster not even coping. Jim asks me for the paper towels, wiping the windshield as we go. The truck is throwing heavy wet snow all over the car. If Dad hangs back, the snow is so deep the car starts slowing in the slush! Dad guns it back to the "draft" position. Wild.
We punch through to the desert and as the sun rises. The high desert seems unaffected. Jim tells of how the desert will look completely white for a moment. As if it is covered with snow. It doesn't, and I'm disapointed. But were going to a contest, so all is well.
Jim says the Southwest Regionals are the big thing, flying against the west's best. Dad complains bitterly of the cold (he hates cold, moved to Florida because California is too cold). It's windy too. The field is an old Luke AFB auxiliary airport laid out in a triangle with pavement made of 1 inch gravel minimum. My old two inch Perfect wheels on the Flying Clown were barely adequate.
Jim is unaffected, puts in a practice flight and is ready for anything. Gordy Delaney is there with Two Much, and Dad has the Shark. I don't remember who was where, or any other flyers except Bart was not there because he was in Viet Nam.
Jim's presence was cool, though. He seemed so up beat and ready to compete. He kept a positive outlook on the whole event, and coaxed me to try some loops with the Clown (if he only had known about the handling of it with the McCoy 19 on a 9x6 with 65 foot .015 lines on Dad's Hot Rod City brew of 1% nitro 30% castor and he'd have known better to try). He was slim and trim, just like his models.
I miss that guy. Hope he shows up someday.
Donaldo, I'll raid some more of Dad's albums this winter and get some pics of Jim's ships. I think there are pics of the Playboy and the Toronado in color.
Chris...