Back in about 1960 we lived in Pittsburg, Kansas, a small town of about 20,000 population. One morning my wife called me at work and said "Did you ever hear of a Bob Palmer?" I said "well yes I went to school with a Bob Palmer". She said "no that isn't the one, this guy flies model airplanes" I said well there is a Bob Palmer that is one of the best fliers in the world" She said "Yes that's the one. They just called from the hobby shop and he is in town visiting some relatives and he would like to fly with some of you guys" . Needless to say I was in a state of shock. I told her to see if she could make arrangements to fly at Joplin, Missouri which was about 30 miles away and they had a paved circle. Most of the regular fliers also lived closer to Joplin. She made the arrangements and called all the guys that she could. That evening we met in Joplin. Wisely none of us brought any planes. Bob was associated with Veco at that time and I can not for the life of me remember what plane he flew, but I do remember it had a Veco engine of course. The engine was bigger than a .35 (possibly a .45) and that was the first time I had ever seen anyone fly stunt with anything bigger than a .35. He flew for about an hour and it was the most unbelievable thing I had ever seen. The circle was built on the side of a slight hill and one side was about a foot or so higher than the low side. I can remember him flying lap after lap inverted about 18 inches high and adjusting to the slope of the circle perfectly. After he flew he visited with all of us for a while. Even to this day it still seems like a dream.
Topic: Stunt Hanger Hall of Fame info (Read 1278 times)