Stories of the early days

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CRF450R said:
Wahweap fall of 69 I was 18 and Earl Johnson hired me on the spot to help him convert the small fleet then from Mercs to Evinrudes. I do not know who is still alive from the end of the Greenes era until the purchase by Del Webb or even to the day that the linen supply company from Philly took over. But it almost takes the colorful cast of characters that pretty much lived up top at the trailer village and were always at the Driftwood lounge after 5, every day to share the good stuff. See if you lived in Page you really were not connected with the lake, or with what happened there every day as much as we who lived at the trailer village were, like when the wind came on it was not Page folks fighting boats flying up and down 10 feet in the slips as there was not a breakwater in place then. So those are the folks with the intimate stories that endured Vern at the Piano every night and I never see them on this site. David Price was a tour pilot then and maybe Lee but our stories are pretty wild and crazy as that is just how the place was. I am 70 and was a kid then so maybe I will share more. If somebody could get Earl and Irene's daughter Jodi Johnson to tell a few that would be great. She is in Oregon now

I met Stan while working for Tommy Norris and Old Charlie Parsons at Canyon Boat Works on Vista who btw taught model A classes at Henry Fords tech school in the 30's. I had the best teachers then as the place had really smart craftsmen left over from the dam boom. I was a fresh kid from the OMC / Evinrude school and I think his 16 Duracraft was one of the very first outboards I had ever worked on. I remember that he blew the gears out of it. I also own his last boat named Kismet. It is a 1979 Starfire 207 New Yorker that is on the cover of his book Ramblings. I converted it from a Ford OMC to late model Bravo 3 with BBC. It is the boat that he made the maps with that we all Love. It has made the perimeter of the lake twice. It now cruises the Columbia River above and below Bonneville dam. I am in the picture at The Dam Bar & Grill where we had the World Record Ski pull in Wahweap bay and after a few attempts 89 people got up behind the Nonne. My next goal is to restore the original Tseh Nani Ago Atin air boat that Art and Earl ran out of Cliff Dwellers to Rainbow. I am also setting up a 78 SS 16 Starcraft for Glen Cyn as I write this for a trip there next fall. I use a 1968 Merc ( Kiekhaefer ) 1000 SS for power as they are raw and reliable ! My main concern is always having enough fuel. You will too ! Really great old Wahweap images are to be found at the NAU Cline archives online. Search Tad Nichols or Art Greene Wahweap. The original Wahweap Lodge are the small stone cabins up at the Trailer village. What is really cool is to go to the Lake and never go into Page.
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I've actually wondered where Stan's boat ended up, if it was around and if I could buy it. I heard his wife is still alive and delivers all the maps to the retailers. (I'm a LP Geek, I know) Question answered, glad it's in good hands and not rotting away in some yard or landfill. Great stories, Please post more! Thanks for the Kline library tip, I'll look it up.
 
There is an area on the eastern side of Lake Mead, just to the west of Greg's Basin called The Landing Strip. Drug runners used to land planes there, then use boats to transport the drugs to the marina. If you hike back there, you can still find old gas barrels.
 
Great pic....and I'm no pilot, so asking the pilots that are here on WW.....

couldn't just a a small gust or change in wind direction dip those wheels?

....and would a small dip be enough to have it nose 'dive'? (pun intended)...or is that pretty easy for an experienced pilot?

:unsure:
 
From what I hear the water pushes up on the wheels like skies, assuming they are of sufficient size(tundra tires). Nosing over is harder than it might appear. But does happen. So if a 100k airplane is pocket change to you then you are a good candidate. Similar to taking a new Bronco to Moab!
 
Back to the OP. He mentions the world record water ski pull behind the tour boat (named after JW Powell's boat, I think). I can't remember any details, but we were hanging around Wahweap and got the word they were looking for good skiers for the big pull. Three of us were slalom course skiers and talked about joining them, but no, we wanted to head up lake early that day. OMG, we were sick when we found out they set a world record. A road not taken!
 
tt600,
i wouldn’t say the water pushes up on the wheels. in fact,
any reasonable tire contact w/the water would cause immense
drag, resulting in an immediate pitch over if not anticipated. however,
the calm water conditions would allow a degree of skimming the surface,
barely, w/those correctly named tundra tires. a gutsy move, mav!
but your concept has merit. that close to the water/surface,
the ground effect does provide lift to the acft. and based on the
perceived angle of attack of the wing (low aoa), it appears the cub
is clipping along well, at least at the 40mph mentioned, or faster.
if your neighbor confirms it’s a legit photo, it’s a well timed & executed beaut.
 
Rainbowbridge said:
Great pic....and I'm no pilot, so asking the pilots that are here on WW.....

couldn't just a a small gust or change in wind direction dip those wheels?

....and would a small dip be enough to have it nose 'dive'? (pun intended)...or is that pretty easy for an experienced pilot?

:unsure:
Click to expand...
Every action has an opposite and equal reaction. So the light and steady force of the wheels on the water would likely have some opposing force from the water against them just based on the surface tension of the water.

I don’t remember the specific flight speeds (V speeds) on a Cub from when I flew them in college but I suspect they power off stall (can’t create enough lift to stay airborne) somewhere in the high 30kts range.

Flaps are not down in that photo so he/she was likely traveling at a good clip. Definittelt more than 40kts (maybe 60kts to 70kts) as 40kts would be closer to touch down speed which would require a much greater angle of attack (AOA) (the angle between the chord line of the wing and the relative wind) to stay airborne. Definitely on the front side of the power curve. I would suspect the wheels were rolling across the water, almost as they would in a high speed touch and go. Definitely would want a calm day. With that much airspeed it would take a very slight pull on the stick or just releasing the forward pressure on the stick to separate from the water to a safer distance. Still a risky “show boating (yes, pun intended) maneuver”.

My biggest concern would be a prop strike on the water from a wave or submersing the tires just a little to much.
 
I tried to post a photo of four AT-6's (Harvards) skimming a lake in South Africa. (Could not post by copy and paste.)

Anyway I wouldn't do it in a Supercub or a Harvard (single engine WW-2 warbird).
About 30 or so years ago someone did it at Roosevelt Lake (Arizona) with a cub.
As far as I know it's still sitting on the bottom.

About as dumb as falling asleep spraying a field of baby sugar beats at 4:30am.
Like I did.
 
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