Yes, another legend has passed. This one was a legend among legends... I didn't know Glenn all that well, him being basically a speed guy and me a trick flier guy, but I did have one very special meeting with him at the 1975 Nats in Lake Charles, LA. And that meeting endeared him to me from that point on. The following is an excerpt from my Genesis Saga book that tells the story of that meeting, and shows just how special this great man was.
The Nats were held again in Lake Charles in 1975. It was hot, and the one thing the dorm rooms didn’t have were functioning air conditioners. Did I mention that it was hot?
Place photo G.027 here.
Early in the week I was practicing on the huge ramp that was once a B-47 tie-down area. The contest site was the old Chenault Air Force Base and there were just acres and acres of smooth concrete over which to fly. Everyone who was flying in the CL Stunt event could, if they wished, have had their very own practice circle!
While nearing the end of one practice flight early in the week the wind started to come up very strong. And, it just kept increasing in speed. I later found out that this is what the locals called a “Zephyr.” The wind speed reached a constant 40-plus MPH! Al Rabe was flying in the circle next to me and we were both nearing the point where our engines would run out of fuel. The wind showed no signs of diminishing and then my engine went dead. I had to find a way to land safely in a wind that was capable of easily tossing my ship around like a dead leaf.
I whipped the plane through the upwind portion of the circle and then slammed it down onto the pavement as it started to go downwind. I thought that I could just hold full down elevator as it rolled toward the upwind side of the circle and save it. No such luck! Oh, I got it down on the pavement safely alright, but as it started to roll upwind again the wind picked it up off the ground even though I was holding full down at the handle. I knew that it would soon be blown right at me and my Nats would be over in a split second. Then, out of nowhere, Frank McMillan appeared and he just snatched my ship out of the air. It was amazing. I never saw him at or near the edge of the circle while I was flying or trying to land. It’s as if he just materialized out of thin air to save my ship!
Al somehow got down safely too. He was flying the Sea Fury in 1975 and he later told me that was the first time he even considered dead-stick wind-flying something that big! Frank set my ship next to my flight box and held onto it until the Zephyr passed. When the wind subsided there was a sand dune formed against the upwind side of my flight box that went almost to the very top of the lid! My ship was covered with grit where it blew onto the burnt castor oil residue. The worst part was that a lot of grit had blown into the cowl and into the muffler opening. Some of it had gotten into the engine. Frank warned me to not turn the engine over until we could get it out of the ship and clean it properly. Fortunately when we got back to the work hangar we met up with famed engine man, Glenn Lee. Glenn offered to do the cleaning for me, and I gladly and thankfully accepted! What a great sport and great people.
Bob Hunt