Cole Palen's Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome

I'm sure there's a great story to the Tri-motor, but I don't remember it. Hopefully someone who was their will recall and enlighten us.

nkh

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Wow!!! Thank you all! This is quite a collective photo album we've got going!

Welcome young Nathan! Quite a talent for photography you have! An especially nice pan shot on the New Standard.


That Island Airlines Ford Trimotor, aka the Tin Goose was what I had my very first airplane ride in, way back in - (well on second thought, I decline to reveal what year it was) - but anyway, I was fourteen years old at the time. That flight was a short distance from Port Clinton, Ohio to Put-In-Bay, Ohio on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. The cost for a passenger ticket at that time aboard the "world's shortest airline" wasn't much. I think very near ten bucks and was based on the passenger's weight, (as I recall). Someone correct me if I 'm wrong on that, please.

Nathan, since it could not have been you, then who shot the pic of the Trimotor?


Is that Bill King, pictured to the left of Cole Palen and Jimmy Doolittle?

[Jon18]

Here's one for you... the triplane before the unfortunate accident. I believe this is 1988.

[SteveS]

Old Rhinebeck's Davis D-1W. A truly beautiful airplane! (2002)

[SteveS]

Dave King and Stan Segalla sharing a calm moment before the show. (2000)

[SteveS]

Trying to start the Caudron G.3 (2000)

[Spad13]

Beginning of the Warner Triplane.

I recall Cole telling me how he came about acquiring the Warner Triplane. I forget the date, but he had ground-looped his Triplane during takeoff in the Sunday show. This was the one where he sheered the landing gear off, damaging both lower wings. The plane had to be picked up and carried off the field by hand during the show so the other planes could take off and perform the act.

On Monday and Tuesday he and Rita did their usual get-a-way together. On Wednesday he was looking at the damage to his Triplane and decided that it was pretty bad and could not be repaired in time for the next Sunday show. That night he was looking through the newest issue of Trade-A-Plane and he spotted a Foker DR-1 Triplane listed for sale out in the Chicago area. He immediately called the person selling the plane and decided to fly out the next morning to inspect the plane. Within two hours he purchased the plane.

The owner was telling Cole about the flight characteristics of that particular plane, pointing out that the plane had a 20(?) gallon gas tank and only one brake worked. Cole’s reply was that he was used to flying a Triplane without any brakes, but thanks for letting him know. The man also told Cole that the Warner engine would start easily when it was cold, but would be almost impossible to start if it was hot. Because a weather front was coming in, Cole wanted to get started right away. He put 12(?) gallons of gas in the plane and started toward Rhinebeck. He flew about an hour and landed for the night.

That night Cole plotted his flight back to Rhinebeck. Because he only saw 12 gallons of gas go into the plane, he planned his fuel stops accordingly. Of course neither the plane nor Cole had a radio, so the flight was also planned to not require any radio communication. Because of the starting issue, Cole flew the plane back to Rhinebeck without shutting down the engine. He would taxi up to the fuel pump, climb up to the top wing with the engine running and tell the line person to pass the nozzle up to him. Cole would fill the tank, each time only putting in 12 gallons. He did this all the way back to Rhinebeck, landing Friday night. The plane flew in the Sunday show. He would later say that he flew a Foker DR-1 Triplane from Chicago to Rhinebeck non-stop. The plane performed in the Sunday shows for several years, always having that squealing brake.

Because his original Triplane had experienced several ground loops recently, he decided that after 18 years or so, the plane was telling him it needed a rest. Cole rebuilt the plane and it has been in semi-retirement as a static museum display ever since, occasionally being used as a display at away locations.

Cole relayed to me how the final flight occurred on another occasion. NOVA was filming some documentary on WWI pilots and techniques used by fighter pilots on the day of its final flight. “Heater” Heatly was one of the technical consultants. “Heater” asked Cole if he could fly the Triplane. Cole said yes. “Heater” did several practice taxi runs, experiencing a minor ground loop. The time came for a real takeoff. All went well, he was about 50 feet up and made one mistake – he took his mind off the plane for just a moment to wave at people on the ground. Nathan was kind enough to provide photos illustrating the results of that one error in judgement. Everyone felt there was no way “Heater” could have survived the crash. Cole got there first and was looking through the wreckage for the pilot. He was nowhere to be found in the wreck. Eventually Cole saw him sitting on a log at the edge of the woods. He was holding his head between his hands, looking down saying “I broke the man’s airplane, I broke the man’s airplane.” Cole displayed the wreck along the fence line until the end of the season. It then spent a couple of years up in the museum. Eventually someone bought the remains.

[curtisswright]

What a story! I really enjoyed reading this.

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Me too! Spad13, hope you have many more to share. Welcome! - and also to Jon18 who provided the pre-crash Tri-plane photo!

Where is "Heater" Heatly now? Or was he really one of Cole's many spittin' image cousins???

[Aerodrome Kid]

In regards to "Heater":

He also received tailwheel instruction in my dad's Cub as well as the Great Lakes before transitioning into the DR1. It wasn't just a "Hey can I fly your airplane? Sure go ahead!" situation. Lots of theories I'm sure about this, but my understanding is that he was concerned about the lack of forward visibility and during his taxi runs kept asking for additional cushions to raise him up in the seat, to the point that he was sitting significantly higher in the cockpit than normal. Possibly leading to his body partially negating the slipstream around the rudder, ergo loss of rudder authority in the climbout. He was saved by the electrical wires crossing the road at the point that he put it in. A wing caught the wires as he was coming down and skewed the aircraft around as he hit the ground, saving him from a direct impact.

My understanding was that "Heater" (I think his real name was C.J. Heatley) was filming a special about WWI fighters versus Modern Day fighters. Intentions were for him to be able to personally compare the characteristics of each time period's aircraft. He was already qualified as a naval aviator in our nation's frontline fighter aircraft, flying the triplane was supposed to give him the comparison.

On a side note, Heatley was/is a noted photographer with his own book (can't remember name) of naval aviation pics, and was also very much involved with the movie "Top Gun" as a pilot and videographer for the air-to-air scenes.