Flying in the 60's with Pete

Pete Bowers was the kingpin of the homebuilt and antique flying in these parts. We flew out of several fields around the Seattle area but the mecca was Thun Field, south of Seattle and south of Puyallup. It was populated with everything from Pete's 1913 Curtiss pusher to Larry Blumer's P-38 and all sorts of antiques and homebuilts in between. Every summer weekend was an impromptu airshow and we had a ball. There was no FAA to bother anybody, no insurance or law suit problems, and the antics that occurred there were at times hilarious. It was there that my partner and I worked up the one-aileron airshow clown act in 1967 and Fred Ludtke perfected his aerobatic act with his 1941 Moncoupe. We had a Pitts biplane racer that placed at Reno and a restored 1948 helicopter that looked like a blown down TV tower. All kinds of 1930's antiques were available to fly and and of course, the 1930 Pietenpol Air Camper of Pete's. The FAA called it the " Twilight Zone of Aviation" but there was never an accident or incident....that required their presence.
Many of the guys are gone and there will never be anything like it again and I'm glad that I was a part of it.
Switches

 

PICTURES

 

Pictures of those days are sparse, sad to say. When we weren't busy flying we took a few fuzzy 1 1/4 X1 X1/4 things with a Hawk Eye that are now buried in some boxes somewhere in the basement. Shame. Pete took a lot of pictures but they are buried in his estate somewhere. I don't know who has that now since his widow passed away. A wonderful piece of aviation history.
SWitches

 

When I first started to work on a homebuilt plane I bought, I had it hangered at Thun. We are only talking about 6 years ago. Even at that time, there were no security gates or fences, you could drive around and park at either end of the field and watch the planes, or just cruise around to see what unique plane might be tucked away in some of the other hangers. These days when I stop to see what's going on, it looks like a prison with the new gates and warning signs.

 

I now live near the Auburn Airport, which is quite busy with helio's and Spam Cans. I went there ONCE to visit as an old flyer and to make friends. There was nobody with which to be friendly. There were no charts on the wall. There was absolutely NO ONE with which to chat and I was approached by a bland dead-pan individual with a cap on which there were some " N " numbers who asked me , " What do you want?" My reply was ,"nothing" and I left.
It ain't like it used to be and I'm glad that I am not a part of it anymore. I remember being a part of a fraternity of guys who were openly friendly and accepted you until you showed them that you weren't up to the bar, which wasn't that high personally but very high as a pilot. I suppose that I'm treading on some toes here but the comfort level just ain't there anymore. The flyers that I remember looked at you and watched what you were doing and if they figured that you were doing a good enough job, they would say, " Why don't you take my airplane up for a spin".....literally. We talked with each other and compared experience. In the air many times there were impromptu dog fights or formation flights that seemed to be arranged by a sixth sense. There is no joy like that now. I jump up and run out of the house now when I hear a round engine, which is seldom. So that's the way it goes.
Switches

 

In contrast to today's Thun Field, my four boys didn't learn to fly there but they learned how to drive there. While I was flying they , unbeknownst to me, were driving my VW Bus all over the place on the field. When they got tired of that , they would go watch the drag racing at the strip just north of the field. Good days for them there at Thun.
Switches

 

What I like about this place, is that same "mentality" that Switches speaks of in the 60's.
The good ol/boy's that accept ya till ya looks like ya don't know what's going on ..... and will offer a helpin hand to the new guy, or the ol' codger, no matter what the subject.

The ol' codger....