Re: Cosmoline -- warning, off-topic (was corrosion control)

Jon wrote: >Only problem with cosmolene is that it is tough to get off, or at least it >was by the time I got to it. Maybe not if it is fresh. This reminds me of a great story from my family. My grandfather was enamoured with aviation, but was too young to fly combat in WWI, so he was sent to the Keys to train Navy pilots. (He was also too old for WWII, and spent the war helping build aircraft in Ohio.) He learned to fly while in high school, and I have an article he wrote about how he spent his summer vacation flying. But on to the story. he and his college roommate got word about WWI surplus float planes being sold off, so they chipped in together and bought one. It was delivered to some port in New Jersey, where all they had to do was go and pick it up. They thought that meant pick it up and fly it home. So they arrived in their boaters and white ducks, only to find their aircraft in crates and the engine smothered in cosmoline! To their credit, they rolled up their sleeves and put the two-seater together on the spot. They then flew it out to Shelter Island where my great-grandfather had a home (and where he kept his sailboat and hosted New York Yacht Club rendezvous - obligatory sailing content) (rendezvouses?), and they spent the summer flying the plane. Okay, if you're still with me this far, here's the rest of the legend. They were preparing for a flight one late summer morning when a businessman rushed up, asking "How fast can this get me to Manhattan?" He was too late to take a train to get to an urgent meeting, and was prepared to pay if they could get him there in time. It was a two-seater, so the two young partners tossed a coin to see who would get to make the flight. My grandfather lost the toss, and his partner Juan Trippe got the flight. and the fare. And that was the first paying flight for the man who went on to found Pan Am. Alfred Poor 1969 Cal 29 #132, "Pentaquod"

Alfred, Are you kidding? Shelter Island? That's where I have spent summers for the past 35 yrs and where I sail. Do you know more about the story and locations? For years a local old timer has kept a grass strip for small planes. Frank Klenawakus (sp?). He died a year ago and his kids have organized to keep the strip open. Great story. May I forward this to a friend on the island? Jon Brush On 10/18/06, Alfred Poor <ap… [at] bellatlantic.net> wrote: > > Jon wrote: > > > > >Only problem with cosmolene is that it is tough to get off, or at least > it > > >was by the time I got to it. Maybe not if it is fresh. > > > > This reminds me of a great story from my family. My grandfather was > enamoured with aviation, but was too young to fly combat in WWI, so he was > sent to the Keys to train Navy pilots. (He was also too old for WWII, and > spent the war helping build aircraft in Ohio.) He learned to fly while in > high school, and I have an article he wrote about how he spent his summer > vacation flying. > > > > But on to the story… he and his college roommate got word about WWI > surplus float planes being sold off, so they chipped in together and bought > one. It was delivered to some port in New Jersey, where all they had to do > was go and pick it up. They thought that meant pick it up and fly it home. > So they arrived in their boaters and white ducks, only to find their > aircraft in crates and the engine smothered in cosmoline! To their credit, > they rolled up their sleeves and put the two-seater together on the spot. > They then flew it out to Shelter Island where my great-grandfather had a > home (and where he kept his sailboat and hosted New York Yacht Club > rendezvous — obligatory sailing content) (rendezvouses?), and they spent the > summer flying the plane. > > > > Okay, if you're still with me this far, here's the rest of the legend. > They were preparing for a flight one late summer morning when a businessman > rushed up, asking "How fast can this get me to Manhattan?" He was too late > to take a train to get to an urgent meeting, and was prepared to pay if they > could get him there in time. It was a two-seater, so the two young partners > tossed a coin to see who would get to make the flight. My grandfather lost > the toss, and his partner Juan Trippe got the flight… and the fare. And that > was the first paying flight for the man who went on to found Pan Am. > > > > Alfred Poor > > 1969 Cal 29 #132, "Pentaquod" > > > > >

Alfred Poor wrote: > > They then flew it out to Shelter Island where my great-grandfather had > a home (and where he kept his sailboat and hosted New York Yacht Club > rendezvous --- obligatory sailing content) (rendezvouses?), and they > spent the summer flying the plane. > > > That reminds me of reading yesterday about a Michiganian explaining to others about the Great Lakes. People raised on the east and west coasts often have no concept of the existence of these huge bodies of water, so the person in question used our portable Michigan map--the hand, raised mitten-style--to show where the lakes are arrayed around the state. I, of course, find it hard to comprehend that somebody else can't comprehend the Great Lakes. And so when you refer to Shelter Island, it means something since last fall when a bunch of us schooner-crew folks drove to Mystic and sailed on the famous Stephens schooner _Brilliant_. Because of the hurricane that was wandering around, our anchorages were off places like Shelter Island. Before that, it was just a name. The lesson is, sail more. Work less. Time to go off and buy a lottery ticket. Chris Campbell