This seems like a good place to relate a story that is a part of an autobiography that I've been chiiping away at for several years. The story I'm going to paste in here in a moment is just a small part of my remembrances from the years I lived near Doylestown, PA, which was very close to the Nats site in Willow Grove. It concerns Dave Hemstrought. I hope you all enjoy it.
We were still living in the Doylestown area in 1961 when the AMA Nats returned to Willow Grove, as they had every four years since 1953. One of my schoolmates was the son of one of the base big wigs, and he also had an interest in model airplanes. His father was apparently put in charge of helping to promote the Nats in the region, and he asked me if I would consider appearing – along with a couple of other local youths – on the “Morgan in the Morning” television show that originated in Philadelphia. Wow! A chance to be on TV! That was pretty impressive to a young man in those days.
The big day arrived and we were driven to the television station in an official Navy staff car. I was asked to bring along an airplane and all the necessary items I would need to start the engine on the sound stage. Remember, there were no mufflers in those days. I chose to bring my prized Quicker (described earlier) with the flame paint job. It was fitted with a Johnson .35 engine, and those of you who have run them know that it is by far not the quietest engine on the planet. I remember mentioning that to the person who was assigned to direct us, but he said not to worry.
The big moment was nearing. The Morgan in the Morning show was what everyone in the entire area watched when they got up in the morning. I was about to have my few minutes of everlasting fame. Everyone would see me on TV, and I’d be the envy of all my friends. I was told to fuel the model and be ready to crank it up when the program returned from commercial. I remember being cued to be ready to flip the prop. I had the battery leads connected to the engine, and got a bump on the prop. And then . . . Well, you probably won’t believe this next part, but I swear it’s true. At just the moment that we were supposed to come back on air, the program was preempted for coverage of Gus Grissom’s Mercury space flight!
The host (I forgot his first name) Mr. Morgan personally apologized to us for not being able to get us on air. We were not re-scheduled, and that was that.
Larry Scarinzi was asked by the AMA to be the event director for the C/L Stunt event for the 1961 Nats, and he came to stay with us for the week. Each morning I would go with Larry to the Nats, and he put me to work as a gopher. I’d go-for coffee, go-for donuts, etc. I also ran some scores for the Navy officer judges, and performed other crucially important tasks. In other words, Larry kept me from being a pest most of the time.
As mentioned before, I flew C/L Combat with my Quicker at that Nats, but I also had a lot of time to just roam and see the many sights that a Navy Nats had to offer. Those Nats were a lot like a three ring circus, except that there were many more than three rings. Everywhere you turned there was something happening. Combat was being flown on the grass adjacent to the runway where the Stunt event was being flown, and speed was just a few hundred feet away. R/C and F/F were also being contested. It was an amazing contest.
For me, however, the most fascinating aspect of that Nats was the hangar that was filled with workbenches. The Navy actually built what seemed like hundreds of wooden workbenches, and modelers would work on their airplanes there. It was a place where spare models could be stored while a modeler was out competing, without the fear that something would be stolen or damaged. Many actually slept under their assigned benches!
I vividly remember walking through this workbench area one day and coming upon a man working on his stunt model. I knew instantly who it was, because the airplane he was holding had been featured on the cover of the American Modeler Annual just the year before as an S. Calhoun Smith painting.
It was, of course, Dave Hemstrought, and the model was his absolutely gorgeous Fairchild PT-19. Dave was performing some sort of maintenance on the model. I remember just standing and staring at this scene. Here was a genuine celebrity and I was just a few feet from him. After a few moments he looked over at me and asked if I would help him with some chore on the model. I was stunned! This stunt hero was asking me for help!
I don’t really remember just what it was that he had me do, but I do remember asking him a lot of questions. I also remember that he was extremely friendly and patient. He treated me like a real person. He actually listened to what I was saying and held a real conversation with me. I was amazed! In retrospect I’m quite sure that he really didn’t need my help with anything and just wanted to ease my obvious nervousness.
David quit flying stunt soon after that and didn’t come back until around 1974. By that time I was an established stunt flier. I remember seeing Dave and Les McDonald walking toward me at a Nats and wanted to re-introduce myself to him and relate the above story. I was sure he wouldn’t remember the episode at the 1961 Nats, but I wanted him to know how much it meant to me at that time.
I started to tell Dave the story and about half way through he stopped me and finished it in perfect detail. He did remember! I was amazed, impressed and elated to know that our first meeting had been so memorable – for both of us.
Bob Hunt
Topic: Dave Hemstrought's PT-19 (Read 2951 times)
