Cole Palen's Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome - Page 85

AAC Cadet Leader · 26 January 2007, 05:39 PM

Welcome cadzag72! So glad to have you and your wonderful story. One question tho, tell me you did not paint over Cole's autograph when you repainted your rubber-powered Camel model - did you??

Looking forward to your pictures when you find them.

cadzag72 · 27 January 2007, 09:43 PM

Nope, I promise I left the landing gear exactly as it was, bare balsa with cole's signature. I painted it to look the the first paint sceme of that camel, with the aluminum cowling and white wheel covers. Both scemes of that plane were very good, but I prefer the first one, with the american markings and that bright, shiny cowling. what a beautiful plane, I hope they're able to fix it up! If I had the time and money, and lived colse enough, I'd be there doing it right now!

by the way, since this forum is for dreams and memories, is there anyone out there who might know how to go about learning how to rebuild and maintain those old rotary engines? I'm sure it's a trade that not many people are familiar with anymore, and I'd love to learn how. I did buy myself a shop manual for the Gnome Monosoupape (It claimed to be the rebiuld manual for the Nieuport 28's 160 Gnome, but since it had no mention of the selector magneto at all, I've decided it must be for the 100 Gnome. No problem there, still some great light reading material). Since it's not all that realistic to go to a swap meet and pick up an old rotary to tinker with, I wonder if there's a way for an interested individual to get started in this field.

and I know this has been said many, many times in this thread by many different individuals, this is a wonderful way to remember what Cole was all about. I've always been fascinated by the early days of rhinebeck, and I wish I had been born a few years earlier just so I could have remembered seeing the rotary triplane fly. And thank you to Greenknight for sending me to colepalen.com, what an amazing site! once I'm finished obsessing over the pictures and movies, I'll hopefully get around to posting my story! Also, I apologize for rambling; in person, I'm a quite individual, give me a keyboard and I can't stop! anyways, I hope to upload those pictures asap. Thanks for the warm welcome!

AAC Cadet Leader · 28 January 2007, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadzag72

Nope, I promise I left the landing gear exactly as it was, bare balsa with cole's signature.

oh, phew. now i can exhale.

Quote:

by the way, since this forum is for dreams and memories, is there anyone out there who might know how to go about learning how to rebuild and maintain those old rotary engines?

i can think of a small handful of names. if you don't hear from any of them directly, p.m. me.

Quote:

I'm sure it's a trade that not many people are familiar with anymore, and I'd love to learn how. I did buy myself a shop manual for the Gnome Monosoupape (It claimed to be the rebiuld manual for the Nieuport 28's 160 Gnome, but since it had no mention of the selector magneto at all, I've decided it must be for the 100 Gnome. No problem there, still some great light reading material). Since it's not all that realistic to go to a swap meet and pick up an old rotary to tinker with, I wonder if there's a way for an interested individual to get started in this field.

pretty sure you have the most important assets to getting into the rare field - enthusiam and desire.

you know, Cole used to say that working on the old aeroplanes and engines allowed him to be more creative and that it forced him to use his ingenuity and resources much more so than working on modern airplanes, which requires strict adherance to doing repairs as prescribed in the manuals.

Quote:

and I know this has been said many, many times in this thread by many different individuals, this is a wonderful way to remember what Cole was all about. I've always been fascinated by the early days of rhinebeck, and I wish I had been born a few years earlier just so I could have remembered seeing the rotary triplane fly. And thank you to Greenknight for sending me to colepalen.com, what an amazing site! once I'm finished obsessing over the pictures and movies, I'll hopefully get around to posting my story! Also, I apologize for rambling; in person, I'm a quiet individual, give me a keyboard and I can't stop! anyways, I hope to upload those pictures asap. Thanks for the warm welcome!

your happy rambling is inspiring, cadzag72. stick with us and keep on rambling!

jonathan fallon did a great job at colepalen.com - please, also check out www.oldrhinebeckaerodrome.org - only costs a dollar to become a member and you'll get to read the "wandering rotary"...and our other good stuff.

how did you come by your forum name?

SteveS · 28 January 2007, 08:36 AM

Hi Cadzag72! ..and welcome!

Cole touched so many of us in the same way but I never tire of hearing their stories. For all the hustle and bustle of preparing and running a show, Cole always found the time to meet and converse with spectators, laughing with and inspiring old and young alike.

Like you, my last memory of Cole was also during his last show season where he was walking through the stands, greeting old friends and making new ones. He even stopped to sit a minute and take in a bit of the show from our perspective. I have to be honest, at first I thought him wearing an eye-patch was part of a new act for the show. It was only then that I realised that one of my superheroes was also human and being so would be called to an even greater place.

But he was kind enough to leave us what I call one of the great "aviation wonders of the world", Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome!

Arguably the best way to get even close to these gems is to volunteer your time at a local museum. I don’t know of any museum that isn’t short of help and wouldn’t love to have a passionate volunteer join their team. You’re bound to meet like-minded people, learn a great deal and make good friends and contacts. And who knows where that could lead you? The skies the limit!

Salute,
Steve

6/2006

cadzag72 · 30 January 2007, 09:29 AM

OK, dug up some of the old pictures! I decided to also take the photobucket route, so I didn't have to shrink down the pictures.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...elstarting.jpg

This is a shot of the Camel on it's public debut weekend, on the rained-out Saturday show. Just about 3 seconds after this picture was taken, the engine burst into flames, and they had it out in two seconds. It was really an awesome sight. They got it started right afterwards, and taxied it up and down the runway. they also taxied the Hanriot that day.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...lfenceline.jpg

Here it is after pulled up to the fence, with who looks like Gene Demarco discussing something with Cole. I'm not sure who the third person is. the little blonde head at the bottom was my 4 year old brother (I was 8 at the time)

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...buttakeoff.jpg

Here's the camel making its airshow debut, during the sunday dogfight. behind it on the hill you can see the "S.E.5" that was discussed earlier in this thread. These pictures were marked "August 1991," with no date.

Anyways, I loved the airplane so much, that my father bought me for my birthday the Sterling Sopwith Camel kit, which I spent a little over a year building. I painted it to look like the one on the box, a

Roy Brown sceme if I remember right. Red cowling, anyways. So, during the summer of 93, my father suggested I bring it along to show Cole, since he enjoyed model airplanes. So, I brought it along, and here's a few pictures of that.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ittlecamel.jpg

Here is my model in front of the Real Deal! I'm not sure what I'm looking at down the field, probably the flying farmer and his raccoon or something. I don't know if he was up to those tricks at that point yet.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...elanddviii.jpg

This is another shot, in front of Brian Coughlin's first D.VIII. I've decided I pretty much love anything powered by that Gnome 160. Anyways, this picture shows the strange upper wing dihedral that the kit called for. I remember arguing with my dad about adding that dihedral, because I thought it would make it look more like a Pup. but he insisted that the designers of the kit put it there for a reason, I guess it was flying stability. I can't complain, because it was a very nice flying kit. Int the background you can see a couple of visiting Stearmans (there were 3 all together) that participated in the show.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...lesigning1.jpg

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...lesigning2.jpg

These two are cole signing my landing gear, with the Baker Electric in the background. what a guy.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...rostakeoff.jpg

Here's another shot from 1991, the Albatros taking off with a really nice shot of the fake SE5 in the background. I guess we had the wrong speed film the camera that day, because the weather for the Sunday show was fantastic. Photo credits for all these pictures go to my parents, I know the takeoff pictures were taken by my mother because my father was running the video camera. the others I'm not sure who took what.

As for my forum name, it's a combination of a high-school nickname and the year of my first car, a 1972 Dodge van. I still have it, it's got 443,000 miles on it! and a good handful of those miles are from making trips to the Aerodrome. I'm driven up at least once a year since I got my liscence, introducing my friends to the aerodrome. and now they go every year! one thing I've noticed, that even with the air shows not being exactly up to par with my memory, the new people I bring along still experience that magic. knowing that gives me hope that good things are to come. I know that might be better suited for a different thread, but it's a positive thought, so I thought it would fit in. anyways, enough rambling for one day! enjoy the pictures; I hope I linked them right!

SteveS · 30 January 2007, 11:18 AM

...a ton for sharing your great photos and story!

Still got that shirt you were wearing? Or like the rest of us, did you wear it once a week to school untill it got so thin, it fell apart!

Salute,
Steve

Harris Hawk · 30 January 2007, 11:53 AM

The photo of Cole, the Camel and GDemarco at the fence, the 3rd person looks like it could be Dave King.

SL DIII · 30 January 2007, 08:36 PM

Hi cadzag72,
Thanks very much for posting your photos and sharing your stories about Cole.
Best regards,
Tom Polapink
SL DIII

AAC Cadet Leader · 31 January 2007, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadzag72

...the little blonde head at the bottom was my 4 year old brother (I was 8 at the time)

what great parents you must have to take you there so many times!

Quote:

This is another shot, in front of Brian Coughlin's first D.VIII. I've decided I pretty much love anything powered by that Gnome 160.

you can't be all bad, kid - fine taste.

Quote:

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...lesigning1.jpg

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...lesigning2.jpg

These two are cole signing my landing gear, with the Baker Electric in the background. what a guy.

wow. cole's looking a little worse for the wear, there. but it didn't keep that good man down.

keep those words and pics coming, cadzag! thanks!

Jon18 · 31 January 2007, 08:13 PM

Check it out......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibCg0O5cVHE