Traveling in Style

This was as it should be - passengers in closed cabin, pilot in open cockpit so he will stay awake. This airplane is in Spokane and is the oldest flying Boeing aircraft.

After 8 years of repair and rebuilding and 8,000 hours of toil the Boeing 40C rolled out last winter as a finished airplane. They had to wait a few weeks for the snow to melt to fly this baby. They received their Standard Airworthiness Certificate from the FAA and completed the engine pre-oil and fuel flow tests for the first of the taxi tests.

Facts for the Boeing 40 project:

221 gallons of dope/reducer and 120 yards of 102 ceconite fabric. 12 gallons of polyurethane paint for the sheet metal. The wings have 33,000 individual parts in them. The airplane weighs 4080 lbs empty, has a gross weight of 6075 lbs. It is 34 ft long and 13 feet tall with a wing span of 44 feet.

Wing loading is 10 lbs per sq ft and power loading is 10 Pounds per HP. It should cruise at 115 mph using 28 GPH, and 32 GPH at 120 mph. It carries 120 gallons of fuel in three tanks.

350 - 2 inch brushes were used to apply 6 gallons of West Systems epoxy, and 181 rolls of paper towels for cleanup.

There were a total of 62 volunteers who worked on the project to some degree. 21 of the volunteers did a significant amount of work, and 9 of the volunteers worked continuously during the 8 year project.

Great Aviation Wisdom

A superior pilot is one who uses superior judgement to avoid situations that would require using superior skill.

"Instrument flying is when your mind gets a grip on the fact that there is vision beyond sight."
 - U.S. Navy Approach magazine circa W.W.II

"If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible."
 - Bob Hoover

"Though I Fly Through The Valley Of Death I Shall Fear No Evil, For I Am At 80,000 feet And Climbing."
 - sign over the entrance to the SR-71 location on Kadena AB, Okinawa

"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3."- Paul F. Crickmore

"The emergencies you train for almost never happen. It's the one you can't train for that kills you."
 - Ernest K. Gann, advice from the Old Pelican

"If you want to grow old as a pilot you've got to know when to push it, and when to back off."
 - Chuck Yeager

"There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime."
 - Sign over Squadron Ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970.

"The only time an aircraft has too much fuel on board is when it is on fire."
 - Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, sometime before his death in the 1920's

"If you can't afford to do something right, then be darn sure you can afford to do it wrong."
 - Charlie Nelson

"Just remember, if you crash because of weather your funeral will be held on a sunny day."
 - Layton A. Bennett

"Keep thy airspeed up, lest the earth come from below and smite thee."
 - William Kershner

"When a prang seems inevitable, endeavour to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity, as slowly and gently as possible."
 - advice given to RAF pilots during W.W.II