Finding the "Final" Lindbergh Plaque on "Holy Ground"

You will recall the quest to find all the Charles Lindbergh memorabilia in San Diego on May 20th

Retracing Charles Lindbergh's Steps in San Diego

There was one "missing" plaque that Larry Barnes and I failed to see on that day.  Lindbergh mythology states that there is a plaque on a building on the site of the Ryan Aircraft Factory, property that is owned and used today by Solar Turbines just across the street from the departure end of the runway at Lindbergh Field.  But internet searches don't seem to ever reveal the plaque.  Here is a photograph taken in 1946 of the location of the old Ryan Plant.  The letter "A" marks the spot of the Ryan hangar.

(Note: Photo credit to John Fry's Website and to Howard Rozelle, photographer)

Larry did his usual excellent job of historical fact-finding and found a person in the public relations department for Solar Turbines who volunteered to help us.  Lisa Wuller located the plaque and agreed to be our hostess for its viewing.  On July 3rd we met Lisa at the main entrance to the complex of buildings for our tour.  She showed us a room dedicated to the history of Ryan Aircraft and Solar Turbines with displays their many products dating from milk cans, to early aviation, through World War II and to the jet age.  Impressive stuff.

Next, Lisa led us down a long row of buildings of the manufacturing complex with employees and electric carts zooming back and forth busy with the commerce of the company.  We went past a courtyard that was dedicated to a female employee who has worked at the company for more than 50 years -- and who is still working on the shop floor today!

Then, standing at the entrance to an inconspicuous plant building, Lisa pointed above the door, and there it was -- the "final" plaque!

Cool!  We asked Lisa to take our picture to prove we were there!

Here is an article from the Los Angels Times from May 7, 1997 describing the site we visited as "holy ground!"

"It is probably true that the first and only city that people associate with Lindbergh is St. Louis because of the plane's name," said Gene Bratsch, executive director of the Minneapolis-based Lindbergh Foundation. "But people who know aviation are well aware of San Diego and Ryan."

Wernher von Braun, the German rocket scientist who immigrated to the United States after World War II and became a leader in the U.S. space program, came to San Diego in the late 1940s and visited the converted cannery that had been the Ryan factory.

By then, the building was owned by Solar Aircraft Co., now Solar-Turbines Inc. Solar engineer Robert Magness was with von Braun as he spotted a plaque identifying the building as the site where the Spirit of St. Louis was built.

"This," von Braun intoned, "is holy ground."

Detroit Iron (Corvette and Viper) Rules at Watkins Glen

For the third IMSA | TUDOR race in a row, Corvette racing placed first!  After qualifying in second place on Saturday, the #3 Corvette C7R passed the pole-sitting BMW on the first lap, led for 154 of the 185 laps, then running on nearly empty at the end of the race, held off Mark Goossens Viper by a margin of only 0.185 seconds.  The Vipers finished in second and third place, followed by the #4 Corvette in fourth place.

Earlier in the season it was the German teams that were hot (reminds you of the WorldCup right now, huh?).  A factory-sponsored Porsche team and the always powerful BMW team had been neck-and-neck for the lead up until today. After starting the season at the rear of the pack, working out the bugs in the new 7th generation platform, the Corvettes are on a tear at mid-season.  They now lead in points for the "triple crown" -- Driver, Team, and Manufacturer points.

Here are a few articles with more details:

IMSA Report on Corvette Victory at Watkins Glen

Report from Corvette Racing

Remembering Ed Mooney

One of my all-time best Corvette-owner buddies is Ed Mooney.  But we had so many more connections than just Corvettes -- USC, Computers, Rock 'N Roll, and a family tie.

I met Ed while working at USC in the 1980's.  At the time Ed was working for the School of Engineering supporting the use of computers by all the aspiring engineers.  Ed "started" the micro-computer revolution at USC at a time when most engineering schools were using DEC-Vax technology for engineering curricula.  Ed instantly "got it" that the personal computer would dominate computing in the future and predicted that the "mainframe was dead".  To the chagrin of the main-framers on the corner of Jefferson and McClintock Ed was right.

By the time I moved to the Information Sciences Institute at USC Ed and I became closer.  We both loved 50's and 60's Rock 'N Roll music.  Ed was an expert.  He could name every song title, the artist(s), and the year the song was a hit.  Ed and his wife, Monique invited me and Nancy to concerts, especially the K-Earth 101 Legends of Rock 'N Roll epics.  What a blast!  We also went to smaller, more intimate performances at boutique bars and clubs -- I remember an especially fun night watching Al Stewart (I love "Year of the Cat").  We drove our Corvettes that night.

I never had much influence on Ed, but I think I might have had an impact in his decision to buy a Corvette.  He purchased a 1992 Polo Green Metallic Corvette Coupe with the new LT1 engine.

Ed honored Nancy and me by being one of the groom's men at our wedding in 1992.  David Shawaker was best man.

Our fondest memories of Ed are probably the "Male Bonding" outings and the infamous poker games.  We started the Male Bonding Club (later nicknamed "MFB" -- you can figure it out!)  when Howard Saperston invited me, Ed, David, and Gerry Fleischer to join him at his cabin at Mammoth Mountain.  These outings became semi-annual events.  In the Winter we would go skiing and in the Spring hiking and trout fishing.  Gerry would spend hours cooking up his famous Gumbo recipe while the rest of us sat around drinking beer, telling stories of the craziness at USC, and smoking cigars.  After dinner we would play poker into the early morning hours.  Those were fabulous times.

Ed decided everyone needed a nickname -- even spouses.  After Nancy and I were married we were pretty poor, so Nancy would bring discount coupons to all the group events.  Ed's nickname for her was "The Coup".  Ed was known as "The Mooner" (Note: I just want to be very clear that this didn't mean Ed was "mooning" anyone!).

Once I flew to Mammouth in my Varieze.  The guys had all carpooled up together to Howard's cabin the night before.  The next morning at the expected time of my arrival they drove down the hill to the Mammoth Airport to give me a proper greeting.  Before 9-11 small airports were very accessible, so the guys were walking around staring at the clear sky of the Eastern Sierras looking for a tiny airplane in the distance.  The airport manager came walking over to them to announce: "Gentlemen, you do realize you are standing on an active runway, don't you?"  A few minutes later I landed the little Varieze on the narrow, but long Mammoth runway and as soon as I taxied off the active runway there were my buddies!

The Varieze at Mammoth Airport (L to R:  Cary, Howard, Gerry, David, and Ed)

We decided that poker was best experienced on a more frequent basis.  So monthly poker parties ensued on a rotating basis.  Jim Moore, Joe Devinny,  and Game Quan became regulars.  Ed frequently won -- I always lost!

 In 1993 our daughter, Canon, was born.  The MFBers celebrated her arrival with gifts and a very nice party.  Monique graciously agreed to be Canon's God Mother and participated in her christening.  On the many visits they made to our home in Carlsbad we informed Canon that the visitors were "God Mother Monique and Driver Ed".  The names stuck.

When Gerry married Carolyn the MFBers decided to put on an "ameateur hour" type performance for Jerry's guests during the reception in their home.  As all of Gerry and Carolyn's friends and family gathered Monique played piano while Ed, David, Howard and I sang a modified rendition of "Moments to Remember" that we had composed a week earlier. The camaraderie was the perfect mix of affection, care, teasing, and laughter -- it was, of course,  deep and loving. 

Ed's birthday was May 4th.  I sent a birthday card but didn't get the usual email reply.  I didn't think much about it until later in the month when David called me to tell me of Ed's serious, sudden health problems.  Then came troubling email messages.  Then finally Monique let us all know that Ed died peacefully on Monday June 2nd.   

I understand that a celebration of Ed's amazing life will be held at USC this summer, "Raise a Glass to Ed".  Until then let me say, "Rest easy Mooner -- we loved you and we miss you!"

Cary Thomas, June 23, 2014

Bonneville Legend Visits Cary’s Garage

You may recall:

 
The Brotherhood of the Traveling Book

The same day that Thomas Payne, famous for the 1930’s Auto Shop Restoration Project, visited with me we had an amazing bonus visit: Thomas brought his close friend, Lou Bingham, with him!

Lou is legendary in the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) Circles and on the salt flats of Bonneville.  In his years of racing for land speed records Lou set or broke no less than 11 marks.  He is still active today and if you go to Bonneville this summer you will see Lou there in the thick of it all.

Lou brought his scrap book and gave me, Don, and Wayne the history of his life and racing successes.  Lou was born in the Washington DC area but moved to Southern California at the age of five.  He was handy with automotive mechanics and, with a partner, purchased and operated “Bird Rock Mobil Gas”  a full-service repair shop in La Jolla California.  The income from the shop and his connections to steel fabricators gave him the perfect platform for designing and assembling cars that could compete at Bonneville.  Look at the craftsmanship of this 1962 Bonneville-bound Roadster!

Lou and Thomas met at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.  Lou was crewing on a Formula Ford race car owned by a Continental Airlines pilot.  The owner introduced Lou to Thomas and now they have become fast friends.  The two of them make an annual trek to Bonneville each summer.  

While listening to Lou’s stories I realized that my neighbors, Tom and Jackie Eckles, have a connection to Lou; Jackie’s uncle was Don Blair, of Blair’s Speed Shop in Los Angeles.  I asked Jackie and Tom to come meet Lou.  When they arrived at the garage they brought with them some of Don’s Dash plaques and one of his trophies.  Lou did, in fact, know Don so it was a great time of sharing stories of the legends of early hot rodding.

From left to right: Cary, Linda and Wayne Cowie, Chris and Thomas Payne, Lou Bingham, Don Kingery and Jackie and Tom Eckles

The whole crew enjoyed a great afternoon filled with the nostalgia of hotrods, racing, and meeting new friends.  

I think I need to make a trip to Bonneville!