Ren joined me on my pilgrimage to Tehacahpi last week and got lots of great images that I missed out on while scouring hangers, introducing myself to and talking to the many pilots and restoration experts and crawling on my back under Pawnee's to measure landing gear details for future projects.
I wanted to share a few of them here immediately, and Ren has allowed us to post many of them so you will be seeing even more in the future on these pages.
Chip Burr and I looking through his father's photo collection.
Chip offered me his dad's complete collection of old prints to take home and scan. Most of these have never been published and offer a wealth of historical information on many of the worlds vintage sailplanes and those that flew them from the 1930s through the 1970s. Thanks Chip!
Checking out the details of the Augustine-Holtzman 3.5 scale Zanonia (RS-1).
A perfectly restored Aeronca L-16 is one of many aircraft on display at the Antelope Valley Aero Museum.
The museum is located on the east side of the Gen. Wm J. Fox Airfield north of Lancaster, CA where I learned to fly and only 20 minutes from Tehachapi. The fields serves as the refueling base for the National Forestry Services air tankers and we were also able to watch Neptune Aviation's P-2Vs landing and taking off to fight the fires in the Angeles National Forest during our visit.
Helping stabilize Ron Martin's SGS 12-6B s/n 323 while he mates the wing for the first time after its year-long restoration at his hanger in Tehachapi.
Ron has offered to share a bit of his modeling history and mentoring by his father that was instrumental in his becoming one of the best vintage glider restoration experts in the country. More on this in a future blog entry.
My family and I had to show Ren the local Antelope Valley night life which meant a drive out to the west side in search of rattlesnakes. Here I am with a shit-eating grin after moving two Mohave Rattlesnakes off the road so they wouldn't get hit by a car.
Known locally as the Mojave Green, this species is regarded as having one of the most toxic venoms of any snake in the world and although I won't pick them up with bare hands, I witnessed one of my high school buds pick the largest one I've ever seen (over three feet) up by the tail with bare hands.
Approaching the airport from the west along Tehachapi Mt. at the controls.
Jason and Charlie Nemake flew over from Hesperia CA in this Cessna 182 to meet us at the Tehachapi ESA Workshop. On Saturday, Jason, Ren, and my brother-in-law Bob Coker took a short jaunt out over Bear Mountain and the old Arvin Flying Site. The Arvin site is a small hill at the foot of Bear Mountain in the San Jauquin Valley which was used by early soaring pioneers like Bowlus, Ross and Lindberg for several years in the 1940s. One can read more about the Arvin Meets in Wind and Wings by Dr. Gary Fogel. More on this and other early California soaring sites on these pages in future blogs as well.
Gary is working on a new book on aviation pioneer John Montgomery and has asked me to do the three-views for this new work which documents the earliest manned aircraft flight and the importance of these early discoveries.
Ren-
I am a builder when I have a minute as well as an illustrator.
If you ever need an extra pen on a project let me know.
I have a small model company called
Teaford Aerospace Company. We don't manufacture the big stuff, but our little gliders fly well and look cool.
Years ago I flew my dad into Fox Field to show him a cool little airport. It was all but closed down at the time (late 1980s).
Sounds like there is a little life left in the place after-all.
This site is terrific!
Look us up at www.teafordaerospacecompany.com some time.
Jeff Teafordd
Posted by: Jeff Teaford | February 19, 2010 at 09:33 AM