Tri-motor that would not die!

Air Classics, Aug 2003 by Pahl, Gerard

THROUGH TRIALS OF FIRE ANO ICE, THIS HISTORIC FORD TRI-MOTOR KEPT COMING BACK TO FLY AGAIN. HOWEVER, IT NOW FACES A NEW AND THREATENING CHALLENGE

Fire is probably the most frightening threat to an aircraft and its occupants - it is definitely the one hazard that will almost guarantee a pilot will leave the aircraft rather than ride it down. In days gone by, flying was kind of like putting yourself inside a bag of kindling - with a hot engine and a fuel tank hanging on the nose. Airplanes were made of dope, fabric, and wood - all highly flammable. Add fuel, oil and hydraulic fluid to this chemical equation and things begin to happen very quickly.

Almost a decade ago, when I was comparatively new to writing aviation articles, I authored a story about the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum's Ford Tri-Motor NC8419. It was printed in a Challenge Publications International Air Review (V4/N1, 1993) and, frankly, I made some big mistakes that need to be corrected and the corrections make an interesting story in and of themselves.

This Ford has an illustrious history, initially being one of five Tri-Motors owned by Northwest Airways, then working as a bush plane with Northern Air Transport, Inc., and ultimately flying smokejumpers for Johnson Flying Service - where it almost ended its days in a fiery crash on 4 August 1959 at Moose Creek, Idaho.

As a young author, prone to making mistakes now and then, I received some information about that fire that was just plain wrong. But I thought it came from a reliable source - someone "close" to the accident, but not actually having been there - and I used it. When I look back in my notes I don't even find an indication from whom I got the information - now that is poor journalism! I think I remember who told me the story. I can even remember the situation: Late night call, grabbing a piece of scrap paper and scribbling down the information as the source told me the story, as he knew it. But I am not going to name names, as I cannot be sure who that source was and don't want to make the same mistake twice!

Until recently, I had no reason to doubt that the information was correct - no one from Johnson, or the Smokejumpers Association ever contacted me. But then I received a shocking phone call last August. Ray Williams, the voice on the other end of the line, said, "My brother was a smokejumper who died in your airplane when it caught on fire." Talk about the hairs standing up on your neck! Hearing that kind of a statement coming out of the earpiece of your phone is not what you would call an everyday event. Ray and his wife Mabel were going to be attending an Army reunion in Wisconsin and thought, since they were coming so close on their trip from West Valley, New York, that they would stop to see the aircraft in which Ray's brother Gary had died. I was both thrilled and a little uneasy - this might be a very difficult meeting. It wasn't. The Williams are great people and Ray's wounds have pretty much healed over time, so it was a real pleasure to show them the aircraft and take them to lunch.

And this is where I heard a different story about the fire than the one I had known, so I became determined to find out what was fact and what was fiction. Ray was able to give me the address of the only survivor of that crash still living today, Roland Stoleson.

I contacted Mr. Stoleson and he had a few choice words for my article of ten years ago - and I deserved them. But he was kind enough to agree to help me set the record straight. He sent an article from the October 1994 issue of National Smokejumpers Association Newsletter. So that I get everything as it should be, I will quote it almost in its entirety (the article was attributed to no specific author).

"Roland was a Region 1 Foreman and was to drop the other two jumpers on a fire after they had landed at Moose Creek to check on the location of the fire to the southeast of the ranger station. The Tri-Motor had supplies that were to be delivered at the station also.

"A tricky wind prevented the ship from landing on the first attempt (Mr. Stoleson interjected here that "it did not happen. We made a usual pass over [the] field to check [the] windsock. Then headed back down [the] canyon to turn on [to] final"). Culver took the Ford up and around for a second try. This time the plane landed, but was shoved ahead by the wind at the end of the strip." Ironically, 41 years later Gary's brother Ray, would make a very similar statement about his visit to the ranger station: "(We) had to fly in at about six o'clock (in the morning) and fly out by ten o'clock because when it gets hot, the air currents are kind of rough on small planes."

"Culver was taken to a hospital in Missoula where my wife and I visited him some days later. As I recall - from talking with Bob - both he and Blackerby exited the cockpit through the sliding side windows, which was a difficult feat considering the small size of the windows.

"I attribute my survival to being seated right next to the door, a position I occupied for the first time that summer. As Foreman, I always rode in the right seat on takeoffs and landings. The Forest Supervisor was given that position on this flight so he could better observe. Fate -?"