Stolen bitz triplane ei-apw

[j ferguson]

Lynn, maybe this plane is trying to tell you something.

[Jim Bruton]

That's some weird, and persistent, karma- for sure.

[AeroCraftsman]

This if from the Flabob Airport Website and was written by John Lyon, airport attorney and executive director. When I posted the original inquiry last year about the Triplane and found out it was purported to be stolen, I decided the best course of action was to let our airport attorney take over so it could be sorted out. This type of thing is best done legally and correctly, rather than by slinging it out on the internet. Anyway, it has been sorted out and happily the airplane is reunited with it's rightful owner.

Mark



LOST TRIPLANE FINDS OWNER, AT LAST

Here's a tale of mystery and intrigue, featuring a lost airplane, a colorful aviator, and a swirling, still unresolved, plot. The story so far, as much as we know it:

About five years ago a gentlemen came to see us about a Fokker Triplane. Yes, we did a double-take, too. He explained that he had formerly run an aircraft repair business at a Los Angeles area airport, and that years ago a person had brought in a Fokker Triplane on a trailer and asked to rent hangar storage. A deal was struck and the Fokker moved into the hangar. After a time, the rent stopped, letters and telephone calls were not answered, and the whereabouts of the person who had brought the airplane were a mystery. Then the aircraft repair business was closed, and the proprietor, to protect the airplane, took it home and stored it in the best place he had, under the garage eaves, covered in plastic and tarps. But now (five years ago) he was moving to a place where there was no room to store it. Rather than abandon it or send it to the landfill, he wondered if we would give it shelter. We said sure, but privately had some doubts whether the gentleman could tell a triplane from a trimotor. We were wrong to doubt him because the airplane proved to be a Fokker DR-1 Triplane, a replica obviously intended to fly, with a Siemens-Halske radial engine. We knew it would be happy at Flabob because that is where the Applebys and Mac McRiley pretty much pioneered the World War One replica airplane back in the sixties and seventies.

We brought the DR-1 back to Flabob and put it in a dry shed way out back in the obscure corner of Flabob called "Dogpatch," while we tried to learn what the airplane was and to whom it belonged. Early on, we surmised that it was a replica built for a movie, and we thought of The Blue Max, with James Mason, George Peppard, and Ursula Andress. (Your scribe, being of the male persuasion, liked Ursula Andress almost as much as the airplanes.) Our friend John Underwood, one of the world's most knowledgeable aircraft people, was by coincidence going to Germany, and we asked him to investigate and report. John returned with the news that the DR-1 was most likely one of two built for The Blue Max by the Bitz brothers of Bavaria.

Meanwhile, we looked for the owner. The gentlemen who brought the airplane to us said that it had been delivered to his shop by a Lynn Garrison, who had spent a lot of time in Haitian politics, and the cessation of correspondence correlated with a turbulent time in Haiti. Armed with this information and Google, we found a trove of information on Lynn, who is one of the most accomplished and most colorful aviators we will ever hope to meet. He hails from the prairies of Western Canada, home of free-spirited men, and lied about his age to win his wings in the RCAF at age 17. He flew just about everything in the RCAF inventory during the height of the Cold War, and amassed an astonishing collection of his own, including a Lancaster, a Spitfire, a P-51, a Mosquito, and much more. In the seventies he was in Ireland where he was a tenant on the aerodrome where The Blue Max was shot. After filming was complete, he bought all the World War One replicas, most of which he later resold. He kept one of the Triplanes, registered EI-APW.

We thought, based on this, that Lynn was likely the owner, and we set out to try to find him. In the years since his Ireland venture, Lynn had become passionate about the plight of the Haitian people, and had devoted himself to trying to improve their lot. He had written a book, Voodoo Politics, about the corruption which perpetuated Haitian poverty. He spent much of his time in Haiti. Using the internet we found a Florida address for him, and a telephone number. Letters to the address did not come back, but drew no response, nor did voicemails left on the Florida telephone number.

After a time we gave up active efforts. Then. late last year, one of our Flabobians made a web posting using the Irish registration numbers EI-APW, and in short order we heard from Lynn, who was seriously ticked off. And here comes the mystery. Lynn was ticked off because the last time he had knowledge of the DR-1 was when it vanished from the premises of a Chino restorer, where Lynn had taken it. (Oddly enough, he took it there after he had recovered it from an auction in Florida, where it had been offered by a person not its owner with no authority from Lynn.) The self-proclaimed "Lynn Garrison" who brought it to the aircraft repair person was evidently an impostor. Lynn and his friends and family, with whatever help we can give, are trying to get to the bottom of this. At this point, all we can say is that it is that it appears that someone took the DR-1 without authority, impersonated Lynn, forged checks and letters from him, and in general went to a lot of trouble, until after a number of years, the scheme - whatever it was - was simply abandoned.

The address we found for Lynn, and the telephone number, were good up until about four months before we used them, so it was a near-miss.


We hope to learn more about the missing years. But the important thing is that Lynn found his airplane. He is in the wayback in Haiti, building roads in very primitive conditions, but sent his son Patrick to represent him. We have now delivered the airplane to Patrick, who is evaluating what is to be done. Jim and Carl helped load, and curious Flabobians gawked when it saw the light of day for the first time in five years. It is not impossible that it might return to Flabob for restoration, in which case we will throw a heckuva big celebration of its return to the skies!

[Blue Max Aviation DR1]

John, and all the people at Flabob were really wonderful.

As it happens, Flabob was the first place I hit when I flew into California in 1965, settling in Claremont. I was ferrying a Harvard I sold to a guy in Whittier and was lost in the smog. Flabob appeared and I plunked down on its minimal runway. (It now has a great runway and taxi strip) Over the years, I would spend a lot of time there with the likes of Art Scholl. When I overhauled my collection in Ireland, it was Stits at Flabob who supplied the material.
The place was about to be turned into another boring housing estate when Thomas Wathen, ex-chief of Pinkerton, purchased the field, preserving it for the real aviation - that struggles to exist worldwide.

Mark is a special type of guy who creates masterpieces from long ago. His replica Caudron fighter is in France and will appear at this year's air show.

If Flabob had turned into a housing estate, Mark, John and the rest of the people at Flabob would not have been there when the Triplane really needed a shelter.

It was a very emotional moment, for my son Patrick, who had been involved with this particular aircraft since the early seventies. In fact, he was involved before he was born. His mother visited the set of Richthofen & Brown when she was pregnant. He now specializes in restoration projects focused on WW2 vehicles and vintage motorcycles.

Once again, on behalf of Fokker Triplane EI-APW, thanks to all the folks at Flabob, past and present.

Lynn Garrison

And a last thought. Thanks to The Aerodrome. Had it not been for this site the survival of EI-APW would have remained unknown.

[tengew]

thanks for filling use in. glad to see all partys where working for the same goal

[Blue Max Aviation DR1]

Originally Posted by tengew

thanks for filling use in. glad to see all partys where working for the same goal

The situation had one important, but possibly overlooked result. It created a new network of friends, each of them involved in the real aviation world, not the one that sees all challenges and excitement removed from the game.

Had it not been for my association with Matthew Boddington's father, so many years ago, I would not have gotten to know his son. Without Matthew there would have been no contact with The Aerodrome and the circuit would never have been completed.

Our element of aviation is founded on friendships, and associations between people who may never meet face-to-face but come to know and support each other.

That is the aviation world I entered as a child, a lifetime ago, and I am pleased to see that it still exists, ignoring borders and distance...made much more effective through the introduction of the Internet.

Once again, Thanks to everyone.

Lynn Garrison

[Major Larabee]

Lynn

Great result, and the right one. You have part of the family back in the fold
I recently found this pic that was taken by my sister Rachel at Baldonnel durring filming of "Darling Lili", Its show me an my sister Deb with Dad infront of EI-APW. Again well done and pleased i was able to be a small cog in reaching a fantastic conclusion.

Matthew

[Blue Max Aviation DR1]

Originally Posted by Major Larabee

Lynn

Great result, and the right one. You have part of the family back in the fold
I recently found this pic that was taken by my sister Rachel at Baldonnel durring filming of "Darling Lili", Its show me an my sister Deb with Dad infront of EI-APW. Again well done and pleased i was able to be a small cog in reaching a fantastic conclusion.

Matthew

That's what friends are for.
Thanks again.

Lynn

[CORVUS]

Originally Posted by Blue Max Aviation DR1

That's what friends are for.
Thanks again.

Lynn

Hi,

What a great story. Is there any chance that you or somone you know could post pictures of the Triplane as it is now and through the restoration process ? Either on this web site or one devoted to your Triplane ?

Good luck with your road !!

Lou

[Blue Max Aviation DR1]

Originally Posted by CORVUS

Hi,

What a great story. Is there any chance that you or somone you know could post pictures of the Triplane as it is now and through the restoration process ? Either on this web site or one devoted to your Triplane ?

Good luck with your road !!

Lou

Patrick went to pick it up and will post some of his shots at Flabob and beyond. He plans to create a web site devoted to the past, present and future of EI-APW. (Now N-BMA for Blue Max Aviation) And, of course, he will look to the experts on This Aerodrome site to make his restoration project a success.

Lucky for me that I have a son who is also an aviation nut....even though his focus is on restoration of antique motorcycles and World War Two vehicles.
He used to sit in the Triplane during the early seventies, as a small boy with my helmet and goggles on making strange noises to simulate the Siemans. Now he can sit in it and make the Siemens talk for him.

Slowly but surely we are building the road under primitive conditions - picks, shovels and determination. The Burma Road was a cake walk compared to this.

Lynn Garrison