Wolfeboro's Little Airport & Ralph M. Horn

[NoBozo]

Originally Posted by Acres per Second

Ah...Grasshopper.

It is the Antonov's radial engine that makes the difference.

Like the sound that a Harley-Davidson makes from its own antique design lineage, a radial engine makes a very distinctive sound: If it's flying over Winnipesaukee, you can detect it.

The radial engine sound has even produced a cottage industry in CD recordings. (You can listen on-line!)
http://www.spitcrazy.com/sounds_of_aviation.htm
http://rareaviation.com/raenfrso.html

One recording company has even added music to the sound:
http://sounddogs.com/results.asp? (Vocals!)

I don't know of any similar recordings of any other engine.

Too, it is the sound of our WWII American "Warbird" legacy. These designs produced engines of 3600+HP from a single engine. Here's the radial engine principle.

Like some boats on Winnipesaukee, Harley-Davidson motorcyclists try to project a kind of "Warbird" image. (Paint jobs, graphics, decals, leather jackets and "character"). It's just ridiculous that our Warbird legacy of WWII could be matched or experienced through paint jobs and appearances: think "poseur". All the other engine sounds that strike my ear at Winnipesaukee are projected through noisy Detroit-Iron exhaust pipes, housed in expensive fiberglass jukeboxes.

And the Antonov has never awakened me in the middle of the night.

APS

Thanks APS for the interesting thread. Speaking of recorded engine sounds, there is a (2) CD set of engine sounds of Classic Speedboats ("Powering The Classics") by Vertual Visit Rercordings, Brighton, MI 1996, that recorded the sounds of many of the well known antique mahogany speedboats.... quite a few of which reside on Winni. Many of these boats inherited their engines from WWI and WWII aircraft. No one has used an air cooled radial so far in a boat though.

Comparing old aircraft engines with modern GFBL engines is a stretch. None of the "Round"... (Radial)... engines, or even the water cooled V-12s found in Spitfires or P-51 Mustangs turn much faster than about 2800 RPM, and cruise at 2100 RPM, so the sound is nothing like todays big V-8s that turn over 8000 RPM in some cases.

One has to actually HEAR a big Radial start up from COLD, from just a few feet away to get an inkling of what facinates classic aircraft buffs. I would drive 100 miles just to get close to one when it starts up. I also like to hear the go fasts when thay start up as well. My wife says it's a guy thing. NB

BTW: Favorite Old Coot pastime...."Lets Go To The Airport"...you never know what you might see...

[ApS]

Originally Posted by NoBozo

"...One has to actually HEAR a big Radial start up from COLD, from just a few feet away to get an inkling of what facinates classic aircraft buffs..."

'Tis true.

(Oops...sorry, tis!)

1) I was at an airshow and found a booth selling expensive ear protection. They showed some "electronically-active" ear protectors that I dearly needed in my career (based completely on explosive noises).

The demonstration (to have been diminished by the ear protectors) was a CD-recording of a radial engine starting-up. The recording was designed to be loud—and it was!

Though I "passed" on those ear protectors, I did purchase that same CD!

At my Dad's 92nd birthday last year, I gave him that CD as a present. (And some "PBY-Warbird" books and reference materials from Amazon.com to benefit Winni.com).

He heard the radial engine starting up—identified it as to manufacturer (!)—and "spoke" to the pilot saying, "Check that second magneto!"

2) As my Dad and I live only two miles apart, we both listen for that distinctive "radial sound" over Lake Winnipesaukee.

Last week, it was a Russian "Yak" doing aerial acrobatics over Rattlesnake Island. Yesterday, it was a white Waco biplane flying slowly into strong winds: last Wednesday, he advised of seeing a rare "Stinson Gullwing" flying low over his house:



The "Stinson Gullwing" was made in about a dozen models, but don't ask me how he identified it as an SR-7!

3) This week, while searching for something totally unrelated I found this AP blurb that references the State's participation in the 90's sale of the Airpark:

Posted: July 8th, 2008
ASSOCIATED PRESS

"CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- The state Supreme Court said Tuesday a lower court must determine whether a pair of developers can sue the state for allegedly undermining their attempt to buy property that includes the Lakes Region Airpark in Wolfeboro.

"Donald and Robert Hughes had a purchase-and-sale agreement to buy the private airport and seaplane base, subdivide the property and put up a housing development on part of it.

"The state has been fighting the sale the late 1990s, arguing the Hughes' proposed housing development would infringe on the airport's space. Among other things, the state tried to get someone else to buy it, subdivide it, turn over the airport and seaplane facilities to the state, then develop the remaining property on Lake Winnipesaukee, according to court records.

"The Hughes alleged the state acted unconstitutionally and violated contract law when it interfered with the purchase-and-sale agreement, and thus should be liable to being sued. A lower court disagreed and ruled in the state's favor, effectively dismissing the suit.

"The high court rejected the Hughes' constitutional arguments, but returned part of the case to Carroll County Superior Court to resolve factual questions about the contractual interference claim and state immunity from a lawsuit."
—www.Airportbiz.com

ETA:


4) On the topic of floatplanes in the Lakes Region, in late July of 2011, my 94-year-old Dad happened to mention Dr. Libby and that Dr. Libby flew a Stinson Gull Wing on floats, and stored it on a ramp on Mirror Lake close to the museum.



Dr. Libby's takeoffs and landings from Mirror Lake would have been spectacular, but those events had long preceded nearly all of us—including everybody living on Mirror Lake today.

My Dad comes up with some astonishing trivia: Just to check his memory after a story following the Korean War, I asked what the specific military designation of the plane he landed in, which was a "Twin Beech". He promptly answered, "R-32".

Actually, the desingation could have been something else—rather than R-32—but I can't be expected to remember a designation three characters long for three entire days!

[RailroadJoe]

So Hughes could not buy it BUT Marriotts could. Wonder why?

[ApS]

Can't say. It appears the state lost its fighting will to keep this little airport as a little airport.

This particular dispute centered around developing the former "Seaplane Base".

From his vehicle, Ralph Merwin Horn is videotaping the delivery of the newest floatplane ramp in 1996. His summer cottage—which received electricity in 1949—is shown in the background. It received $120,000 in upgrades (fireplace, wood flooring, triple-pane windows, and a huge porch) in about the year 2000. Six years later, the entire cottage was bulldozed.



The three lots used as the floatplane base (pictured) could have had two McMansions built on it, except that it was "just-shy" of about 15-feet of the legally-required waterfront.

As stated, the cottage was torn down and a three-fireplace Mega-McMansion replaced it—requiring three years of spec-building!

Since this particular shoreline was nearly treeless, the new structure instantly acquired one of the most-desired features to be found in lakefront homes: a lake-view from every room in the house.

Out of view to the far left, their 100-ft-wide abutter has a wing-span-wide easement across its corner: that width was required formerly to tow floatplanes needing repair or storage to the appropriate facility uphill.

That same "fractured" lot acquired a shared leachfield with its other neighbor—in 2004.

Both properties have—meantime—expanded the number of their bedrooms.

[PapaBarnCat]

I just, as a "newbie" stumbled on this thread. I want to thank all the participants in this thread. My late father was an avid pilot many years ago, prior to marrying my mother and then me coming along. He used to affectionately refer to Merwin and the Airport, so I've always felt it was a part of his enjoyment of flying and love of the area. I'm not ashamed to admit that reading this was the trigger that allowed a good part of the grief that had been repressed for fifteen or so years to pour out.

[jkjoshuatree]

Is it still just the single model home or have others been built?

Who knows...if it stays the way it is and goes up for sale in 3-5 years, I may just have to make an offer.

Of course I'd leave it just as it is...the way it was meant to stay.

[tis]

THe Marriots have bought it.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by jkjoshuatree

Is it still just the single model home or have others been built?

Who knows...if it stays the way it is and goes up for sale in 3-5 years, I may just have to make an offer.

Of course I'd leave it just as it is...the way it was meant to stay.

That "model home" is presently occupied by a caretaker of all that land: One hundred-thirty acres—±.

Like yours, he has two dogs that have no trouble finding porcupines. The Golden Retriever reportedly leads the Black Lab astray!

Nothing's changed from last year. I understand the Marriotts intend to add new homes as the family grows.

Marriottboro, New Hampshire?

Originally Posted by PapaBarnCat

I just, as a "newbie" stumbled on this thread. I want to thank all the participants in this thread. My late father was an avid pilot many years ago, prior to marrying my mother and then me coming along. He used to affectionately refer to Merwin and the Airport, so I've always felt it was a part of his enjoyment of flying and love of the area. I'm not ashamed to admit that reading this was the trigger that allowed a good part of the grief that had been repressed for fifteen or so years to pour out.

These changes have been hard-felt by everyone who knew both Ralph Merwin Horn and Eleanor. Both were delightful people—on a mission!

The only "grace" is that the change has been gradual since Merwin's 1997 death.

Breaking-up the floatplane ramps on the shoreline was a tough "message" for our neighbors and the many floatplane pilots who'd frequented the ramps. No more repairs, no storage, no transport, no maintenance, no fuel, no modifications—no more "shop talk".

Everyone here loved it as their hard work succeeded to "make a name". He managed to chart a course for the airport that kept him occupied in every decision—including the "boom" years of the mid-90s—right up to his passing away.

I don't think he would allow the thought—that someday—Wolfeboro's Little Airport wouldn't be here.

[ApS]

To the best of my knowledge, this is the last publication of The Lakes Region Airpark, dating from about 1997:

[ApS]

An all-white Stinson Gull-Wing that was identified as such last year, flew over Winter Harbor again yesterday. I immediately telephoned my Dad nearby, and he said he'd just heard it (!)

Seen from above or below, it presents a unique and interesting wing shape, being strongly tapered.



Never having seen one before, it was like a page taken from "yesteryear", when Stinson Gull-Wings were everywhere. (75 years ago).

Dr. Libby had a Stinson Gull-Wing on floats, and before the war, frequently landed on Mirror Lake—adjacent to the Wolfeboro museum that bears his name.

But this saga continues, a rare 1937 Stinson Gull-Wing had crashed into a berm on a field in May, 2012—just over the border in Maine. This is a large aircraft, and these are expensive collector-items nowadays... Was yesterday's sighting the same "crashed" aircraft—but restored...?