Part 4: Come Fly With Me
| Airplanes as a Hobby | |
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Pilot Tom Kahlert took me up in his plane the day I visited Moontown 
Airport. I found the hardest part was getting IN the plane! But once up, we had a wonderful view of Huntsville.
This is what Tom shared with me about his plane:
"The airplane we were in is a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog. It was the first airplane designed to an Army specification (for Army Aviation) after the Air Force became an independent service in 1947. The basic design was submitted to the Army in 1949 and the airplanes were produced in mass from 1950 through 1966. The name Bird Dog was decided from a competition held among the Cessna workers. The winner was selected by General Mark Clark. The "prize" was a week off with pay, $200 cash and rides for three persons plus the winner in any Cessna airplane. The US Army, Air Force and Marine Corps all employed the Bird Dog in a Forward Air Control role. They were used extensively in the Korean and Viet Nam wars.
As you noted, it is a two person airplane, but one of the most famous
flights in a Bird Dog happened at the end of Viet Nam when Vietnamese Air
Force Major Ly smuggled his wife and 5 children out of Viet Nam and landed
on the US Navy Carrier Midway. 7 Persons must have been something. That aircraft is in the US Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola today.
The airplane we rode in was built in 1961 for the Italian Army and served
with them for about 20 years before returning to the United States. It
underwent overhaul and two other pilots owned it before me. I flew an
identical airplane in Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos in 1970 and 71 while
assigned to he US Army 219th Reconnaissance Airplane Company."
As you can see, the members of EAA are very knowledgeable, friendly, and informative. I hope you'll take time to go out to Moontown Airport some third Saturday of the month and meet them for yourself!
