That Mosquito owned by Don Bussart was called "The Wooden Wonder" and was brought here to St. Louis that year to get it's enginmes worked over and airframe prepped for an around the world speed record attempt. My Uncle Bob McEntee was service manager of the Brayton Flying Service at Lambert Field before and after the war and did most of the work on the airplane. I have a newspaper clipping from a 1949 St. Louis newspaper with a photo of Uncle Bob and Bussart standing in front of the port side engine. My Uncle Bob was one of the best of the best in commercial aviation at that time. He went on to fly for the Kennedy family in the summer of 1960 and brought Jack and Jackie to St. Louis the weekend before the election for a department store grand opening. My whole family was invited out to the airport for their arrival to meet them, and I supposedly met them both and shook their hand. I don't remember that (I was all of 5 years old at the time) but remember vividly being taken on a tour of the "Caroline", (the Kennedy family airplane, a Convair 340 I think) and being allowed to sit in the co-pilot's seat in the cockpit! That was probably what ignited my interest in airplanes and aviation. Uncle Bob passed away before I learned of the Wooden Wonder and his involvement with it. Sure would have loved to talked to him about that experience! He really wouldn't talk at all about time with the Kennedy's .
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
Topic: For all pilots - National Air Races. (Read 3214 times)