Wolfeboro's Little Airport & Ralph M. Horn

[MJM]

I was sad to see that the plan to develop 38 residential homes on the site is progressing....

[ApS]

I was reminded that Wolfeboro's well-known, and highly regarded Lakeview Inn was once Ralph Merwin Horn's family residence at the airport.

I recall that it was moved on the ice across the Broads and up the hill (and it's some hill) to its present location — by teams of oxen!

Ralph stated that they had to move quickly because the water became four inches deep as the house passed over the ice.

Yes, the airport runway -- though busy as ever before -- is scheduled to be torn up this year.

Homesites are priced from $300,000 for the "cheap seats", to $4½ Million.

Home sites.

[ApS]

Here's another site describing the airport's more technical points: http://www.fltplan.com/AirportInformation/69NH.htm
(The address and telephone numbers are no longer attended to).

About fifteen years ago, I had an occasion to speak with Ralph "Merwin" Horn again.

At the time, however, he was distracted by a recurring problem with the new airport beacon light. Ralph was in the process of packaging up the remains — again — to send in under warrantee when I arrived.

The beacon had been a good "advertisement/reminder" for the airport, and was printed on thousands of maps of Lake Winnipesaukee. (Even unlighted during the daytime it is still tall enough to be a landmark).

Included with the beacon, an entire airport lighting system was provided at no cost to the airport some time in the '80s. A gift from the Wolfeboro civic organizations Rotarians and Masons, the beacon's lenses kept breaking — the pieces falling to the ground. A Town of Wolfeboro volunteer would climb to the very top to replace the lenses each time. The beacon (and all the airport lighting) stopped operating altogether after his death.

In the hour I spent visiting in the hanger and examining the glass fragments, my first inclination was that the light was being "shot out" by somebody. Ralph never mentioned the possibility of such an outrage and my own suspicions stayed to myself.

Ralph spoke proudly of the Lakes Region, and never spoke badly about individuals (except for pilots doing bad fly-things at the airport). A very hard worker, and keeping very long and unsteady hours into his later years, he remains today my favorite "archetype" of a native Granite-Stater.

His ashes were spread over the airport in 1997. (Eleanor's ashes had preceded his by a few years).

In the end, both had "given their everything" to the Lakes Region Airpark of Wolfeboro.

[KevinPlante]

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it closed now?

[ApS]

Good question: It depends on your meaning of "Closed".

While the runway is in good condition, a big "X" was painted on the runway a couple of years ago, which should have indicated "Closed" back then. But flights continue. The east landing-approach from Wolfeboro direction is actually more friendly now that Johnson's Cove trees have been cut down.

Floatplane access has been stopped: Shortly after Ralph Horn died, his new floatplane docks were torn up. (Which started some serious lobbying and lawyering with the State of New Hampshire Attorney General, who tried to enforce a 1984 law keeping small NH airports as local resources). The AG is still "involved", but I don't know how as yet. Even today, the occasional floatplane will taxi the shoreline -- trying to find those docks.

Fees have been raised: Gas, services, lighting, storage, and maintenance have been gradually restricted to pilots over the past years; however, there are regular users every decent flying day -- and, for October, many visitors -- perhaps for leaf-peeping?

October activity included helicopters (private and government -- some very large) and twin- and single-engine aircraft -- night and day. There were three visits made by an immense Russian Antonov AN-2 biplane just last week. Very impressive sight and sounds!

From my boat, I watched a Cessna make an approach on Monday's very blustery late afternoon, but he declined to land. There is some commercial boat/trailer outdoor-storage activities going on there presently, and may have presented a landing hazard.

Sunset is the best time for us airport-junkies to watch this "closed" airport in action.

[SIKSUKR]

I know I sound like I'm stirring things up APC but why is an"offshore" boats' loud motor such an annoyance and an "immense Russian Antonov AN-2 biplane" noise "very impressive".Very confusing isn't it?

[ApS]

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

[KevinPlante]

So the difference is the nostalgia? A half-century old Harley that is running like crap does not sound good. Most well tuned engines have a good sound to them, to a gearhead anyways. A well dialed-in Formula1 engine has its own high pitch scream while big Detroit iron has its own rumble, as does a race-ready Ducati. Very different sounds, but all pleasing to the ear. I will agree that well-tuned radial engines have a great sound to them. Radials are usually very loud. To say that it does not annoy people because it is a radial instead of another configuration does not make sense. What about something like a P-51 or a Spitfire? Do those sound good? They don't have radials, but fit in to the nostalgia idea...

[ApS]

I was recently regaled by a "Greatest Generation" friend of Ralph Horn's that Ralph once had a buyer for one of his aircraft. The only stipulation was that it had to be delivered THAT DAY!

Scanning the runway with its two feet of snow on it, Ralph got out the snowplow and plowed a track to the runway, clearing about one third of the runway's length. (The east end, at Johnson's Cove).

He then taxied the aircraft to the very end, and took off diagonally, using every inch of the cleared runway. He overflew the "T"-hangers pictured below by a few feet and delivered the aircraft -- that day.

Hey, the guy trained WWII pilots -- who's going to argue?

[PaulH]

I've been travelling to Winnipesaukee every August for the past sixteen years. For most of that time, Lakes Region Airpark was the way we got there. Even now, three years after I last used the airport, it seems strange to get there any other way. To me, the Airpark was the heart and soul of the Lakes Region. Wolfeboro meant Airpark. The seaplanes tied up at the dock were evocative of the north woods. Coming over the dark ridges of trees to the narrow little runway, surrounded on three sides by clear water, it was obvious that I was a long way from Washington, DC, if not in another world entirely.

Over my sixteen years, I got a once-a-year snapshot of the Airpark, and watched its fortunes rise and fall. There was a golden period in the mid-1990s when there were lots of people there, even a Saturday hamburger cookout. Then, there was a bleak period of deterioration and no fuel available. In the late 1990s, there was a brilliant recovery, anfd the airport returned to health. This was short-lived, and the facility went into its final decline. At the end, I had to use my own stakes to tie the aircraft down and it required a long negotiation to get a local car rental place to transport us between the airpark and the Sandy Island dock. Laconia and, finally, Moultonboro were so much more convenient, had fuel, and offered a quicker trip to the island. I felt disloyal not to use Wolfeboro, but the airport was becoming almost impossible to use as a gateway to the region.

This summer, they started digging up the runway. Lots of little houses on the way, all built out of ticky-tacky and all looking just the same. All part of a general pattern of removing beauty and individuality from Wolfeboro. Then again, if people don't appreciate what they have, they deserve to lose it. One of the good things about using Moultonboro Airport is that I can come for a two week stay on the island without every having to spend a dime at, or even see, that town that threw away their beautiful airport.

Paul

[ApS]

Lots of Lakes Region pilots get misty about the airport and thinking of the supreme effort put forth by the Horn family to get it there.

Planes still "shoot" the runway, and it may be possible to land a plane there today-though it's
still uphill )

Here's a photo of the tiedown area in its "Happy Skies" days:



Atop the red and white pole at the extreme right is the airport's beacon. It appears on many charts of the Lake Region as "flashing green and white".

[jrc]

Originally Posted by Acres per Second

...Atop the red and white pole at the extreme right is the airport's beacon. It appears on many charts of the Lake Region as "flashing green and white".

Maybe they can convert that beacon into a cell phone tower and quell the arguements in Alton.

[ApS]

It was intended for floatplanes, but with this super-long gas line you could fill up your boat with 100 octane gasoline at the water's edge. (And some neighbors did). Town concerns resulted in having the pump removed.

The pump was replaced by a big gasoline tank in a 1-ton pickup's bed!

On the driver's seat was a clipboard where you would post the number of gallons you used and your address. You would—eventually—be sent a bill. (The Honor System until 1997, when the delivery system was again dramatically changed).

This re-photo, from the mid-60s, shows how crowded Winter Harbor could get on a sunny day!

(That's the truck's door to the left).

[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...?