Adventurers Club News May 1987 - The Adventurers` Club of Los

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"OUR ELEVENTH HOUR"
Now is the time
for our most complete all-member function
by At A. Adams
When the CAPTAIN JACK ROUTAC MEMORIAL was created from
the teak of the actual deck of tbe great battleship USS INDIANA I had a definite vision that a day would come in the
annals of The Adventurers' Club of Los Angeles when all our
efforts in amassing funds would carry us through to a new
beginning. lam very proud of the total effort of our members, for today, with our combined thrust, the Memorial
Fund now stands at $64,000.
When, at the early stage of collections, I announced
that we had $24,000, several members chuckled saying that
was a mere pittance. They said "When the time comes that
we need real money to move or build, we will give big dollars. "
I say, "Great", for that time has come. That time is
now! For all members serious about contributions to our
Memorial Fund for the Club's future, the time is here. We
must build the Fund quickly for our time at 706 West Pica
Boulevard is rapidly diminishing. Please help me to enhance the handsome shield with your names and your stars
for our future.
I am now bringing the big plaque up to the minute so
that it will reflect this great symbolic gesture for our
This is the most comfuture, in this OUR ELEVENTH 1(XJR.
plete club function in the history of this organization.
It is time for us to give so we can move on in the style
and the class to which this Club is renowned. Twenty five
dollars ($25.00) engraves your name on a brass plate. Every one hundred dollars ($100.00) places a star on your
engraved name plate.
Make your checks payable to: The Adventurers' Club of
Los Angeles, clearly marked for THE ROULAC MEMORIAL.
THANKS FOR HELPING - THE DRIVE IS ON!
O_ntU
v
rm3
Aa
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE Al
706 WEST RICO BOULEVARD,
Volume 30:5
TURERS CLUB. LOS ANGELES
ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90017
May 1987
Founded 1921
Our hands were ble€ding, our feet hurt,
we were sweating, crying and yes, praying
out loud "God, help us! Please, please,
help us!"
A Real "Lark" Of An Adventure
fl'
How did you begin adventuring?
What was your first 'out of the ordinary' experience? Here is the
II hair-raising adventure of one of our
members, as a young boy, but who is
U.known today as
k31
For me, the year was 1926. I
was a Senior at tbe Antelope Valley Joint Union High School and
lived in the Boy's dorm on campus.
The School district was the
largest in the United States, in
area. Those of us who lived too
far away for bus travel utilized
(1)
the dormitories. Oh yes! They
were strictly segregated in those
days, girls in their building on
their side of campus and boys in
theirs on the other. All very
proper. Hmmn-i! Yes, I have a
story about that too - - ah - but - some other time...
(Continued on page 2)
VENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
May 1987
("LARK", continued)
Well! Away back then the desert was quite pristine. Artesian wells still spouted three
feet above ground north of town
and, - 0 yes, the town was Lancaster, population about 1500.
It's about 50,000 now they say.
by way of road crossings, was a
space large enough for a couple
of bodies, human I mean, that is
if tbe bodies squeezed their legs
Wheel axle
I
r Train wheels
Anyway, there was little to do
for entertainment or maybe "adventure", especially after study
hall every night, except maybe
to watch The Owl and The Lark
go roaring through town at sixty
miles an hour on their nightly
dash to San Francisco. No PSA
flights in those days.
Track
(lop of roadbed ties)
f/(Bottom
of cattIauard pi
jf'iii /#'#lff/
Chet's precarious position as the OWL
and the LARK passed overhead. (Drawis to scale 1/16" = 1 11 )
And when the wind was gusting,
as it often did on those desert
nights, the haunting sounds of
the steam locomotives wh000 wh000ing! across the wide open
spaces or frun a distance as they
approached every road crossing
was a never to be forgotten sound
in the mind's ear.
from the torso down under one
rail and, lying down, placing
their heads at the base of the
opposite rail, which also means
less than a foot from the wheels
of any passing train.
Those road crossings held a
peculiar fascination for three of
us. The entire railroad right
of way was fenced, of course, to
keep the tracks clear of stray
cattle, or antelopes, though I
never saw any or maybe kids with
nothing s?ecial to do in such an
"exciting' environment.
Now don't jump to conclusions.
We thought about it very carefully for several nights, days
too, for that matter. Tightly
closed mouths were absolutely
essential. If our intentions ever got out'dbe "scotched" before we started.
You see, we figured it all out
very carefully, mathematically
and according to the la's of phy-
Beneath the cattle guards that
protected the railroad right of
way from stray animals entering
(2)
PSJ
Flay 1987
Sics (recently learned). At 60
miles per hour the trains traveled 88 feet per second. Each
cattle guard on each side of every road crossing had two eight
irth deep pits thirty inches wide
under it. Thus each pit afforded
room for two, making a possible
total of eight.
-through town at 9PM.
Twenty minutes later the Lark
always came through. During the
interim we would replace tYe cattle guards at the first crossing
and W to the second further north
where the Lark would be traveling faster after slowing for the
passage through town.
Now, at 60 mph any one spot
We became 'experts', or so we
thought!
WE KNEW IT WOULD BE IWGOUS!
So, gradually we initiated a
few other chosen ones, whom we
could trust and were sure would
not panic, in the "Adventure".
of the train traversed the 30"
pit in less than 3/hundredths of
a second. In that space of time
if anything dropped from the train
it would skip right over us doing
no harm. Urrrr11-hrii1Tn!!!
We enjoyed the thrill over a
period of six weeks with no problems. Then suddenly the dark
shadow of catastrophe hovered
threateningly.
So we decided to give it a try.
"We'll lie under d-e tracks while
the train passes over us".
By now there were a dozen of
us, all sworn to secrecy for evermore, in blood!
But to avoid the possibility
of panic we needed a fourth whom
we had to choose carefully. We
knew it could be dangerous and
possibly psychologically risky
too. Two should be in each pit
to provide restraint against a
last minute change of mind.
There is an eight-mile-long
tangent between Palmdale-and Lancaster making the approaching
train visible some eight minutes
before arrival at 'our' crossing.
All went well for awhile. We
would sneak out of study hail,
one at a time to avoid arousing
the coach's suspicion, hop into
the old "Model T" and chug north
of to ] to the first road crossing So we could lift the cattle
guards out, and to one side, in
time to squeeze under the rails
before the "Owl" came roaring
On this particular evening 8
of us had gone to the first road
crossing to lie under the "Owl".
As we spilled out of the 'Model
T' we could see the engine's powerful headlight. We had no time
to lose.
Somehow, when we lifted the
heavy timbered cattle guard from
(3)
May 1987
jIJ
("Lark", from page 4)
over the first pit it was cocked
and as we heaved to lift it above
the rails it jammed and refused
to budge. It might not have been
serious except that the heavy
timbers projected above tkrails
with their blunt ends toward the
onrushing engine and high enough
to be struck by tha"cow catcher".
Not only did we have to fight
to get the cattle guard timbers
loose but we had to fight panic
as well!
It seemed like only seconds before the Owl thundered by.
You'd have thought that would
have been enough. But kids of
that age are not always rational.
Above all, showing any signs of
being "chicken" was 'worse than
death".
So, we proceeded north to the
second overcrossing as usual,
"ANOTHER SURPRISE WAS IN STORE"
knowing that with great care there
was no chance of a repeat performance and we were right. But,
another surprise of unexpected
importance was in store.
We sent two of us down the
tracks toward the oncoming train
in a vain effort to flag it down,
unless we hollered an all clear!
After having successfully performed the necessary preliminaries and ensconsed ourselves in
the cattleguard pits, we confidently waited tha approach of the
Lark.
Minutes passed that seemed
like hours ns the great headlight, swinging fm side to side
grew brighter. Jumping on the
big frame of timbers had no effect, nor did pulling, straining
and jerking. Our hands= bleeding, our feet hurt, were sweating, crying and yes praying out
Please,
"God, help us!
loud
help us!"
Even as 'teens we had become
aware, to some extent of the human ability to adjust to unusual
environments. During the six
weeks we had been 'run over' by
the ti.o speeding passenger trains
we han become so accustomed to
the experience that after the
engine had passed we would raise
our heads slightly in order to
look under tha train of following
cars to get the real view of the
scene shown so often in the movies.
Was this evening different? I
(Continued on next page)
Suddenly, one of us did something different and the timbers
moved slightly. In the dark we
couldn't see what had been effective but with renewed energy we
tried harder - - - and succeeded
in dropping the timbers La--k into
position. We screamed the "all
clear!" to 'the two', got a response and knew they understood.
(4)
May 1987
ADVENrtJRER.S' CLUB
Body that year I felt safe enough
as a leader to suggest that we
had been fortunate thus far. No
one had been hurt though God only knows why, and no damage was
caused. It was time to quit while
we were ahead. The agreement was
immediate.
(l\RK, continued)
have ncvcr been able to decide,
but for some reason as the behemoth thundered toward us we sat
up as long as we dared. The view
of the participants was, to say
the least, spectacular. Being in
the position nearest t1- on rushing train I turned and saw seven
other upper torsos in various
angles of slant toward reaching
the horizontal, flush with the
railroad ties.
However, that did not end it.
There was one unpleasant dreg over which we had absolutely no
control. As was to be expected,
an exhaustive investigation was
launched. We said nothing---because no one asked us!
At the same instant there was
a frantic rapid repetition of
SPARKS FLEW FROM THE WHEELS
Remember! We swore in blood
never to tell the story. Well,
at my age, blood is not of too
C.N.W.
much importance.
whistle blasts, and ringing of
the train's bell. Sparks flew
from the wheels ard rails, apparently caused by brakes, in what
appeared to be a vain effort to
stop. Obviously we had been seen.
One can only guess at the scene
that appeared to the engineer,
brightly illuminated by the sweeping headlight. Eight human torsos ard heads planted upright between the tracks.
The natural reaction was to
apply the brakes at almost the
same instant realizing tFefutilitv of such a vain effort.
Seeing he couldn't stop and
probably realizing we would be
do.-:n before he passed over us the
sparks stopped and the train did
not.
As President of the Student
-
CLASSIC
QirisCraft's... x the In
back East... in the Siiiwr.
(5)
May 1987
ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
AND NOW A WORD
FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Pdnt Dick Kyte teLts why he enjoy the Adve,vtWLe-k5'
C!itb. VLcf you euvt a61a you-%zet6 that quetLon, too??
omeone asked me the other day
why I liked coming to the Adventurers' Club and I spent the
next half an hour answering the
question. I started by telling
him about a typical evening.
S
§ My wife Joyce and I had just
come back from Australia and I
was quite proud of the fact that
we had dug for opals in Coober
Pedy and found enough so that it
will cost us more than the opals
are worth learning how to cut,
polish and mount them. Sitting
attl-E table on this Thursday was
Jim Freelxirn who topped my opal
story with ease.
I
D
I
C
K
all-night victory celebration.
Somehow he managed to collect the
signatures, on an Adventurers'
Club flag, of tte Cup winner Dennic Connors, and the runners-up
Ian Murray of Australia ad Chris
Dixon of New Zealand. Anyway,
the evening went like that.
§ About a dozen people brought
in articles from the L.A. Times
about a diving expedition on the
famous US Navy warship from the
Civil War, the 'iKearsarge'. Our
program was supposed to be on
China but, due to a panic switch
by Program Chairman Alan Siebert
the KEARSARGE expedition leader
was the replacement. The people
who had cut out the article were
truly amazed.
He had spent a year in Australia hunting gold with a metal deLeuLur and, with d smiie an ci K
What do I about the Adflourish, Jim reached into his
§enjoy
Well, besides
venturers' Club?
coat pocket and tilted a poke of
real nuggets on the table that L talking to the members, I espewould have caved in the bar at E ciallylikedie unexpected guests.
At one Ladies Night, Bob Gullthe Malamute Saloon. Hey, can
land brought a fellow who held a
you imagine really finding gold
high-altitude
ballooning record,
I
thought
day
and
age?
in this
planned
to fly nonstop
and
who
that was from a bygone era.
i
around the world in a high pres§ Sitting next to him was Sven I sure balloon. The next Ladies
Wahiroos, who was at the AmenNight Gilliland brought a Brigacas Cup race in Freemantle, and I dier General who was the former
who had barely survived the wild I
(Continued)
(6)
CLUB NBJS
May 1987
(PRESIDENT KYLE, continued)
Anyway as your alleged President, I may not do much of note
vice-corrrnander of SAAC.
§ One week an article appeared W during the year but I will guarin the L.A. TIMES about the dis- H antee that if you bring a fascicovery of a new Inca City. Two Y nating guest down to the Club,
They will have a chance to speak
days later, Bob Silver brought
the discoverer, Reinaldo Qiohfi, D for afew minutes just before the
to the Club. Chohfi showed sli- 0 regular program. Please see me
before hand if you have a guest
des never before seen in public,
recently
brought
the
y
that
you feel should have some
Roy Roush
manufacturer of t1-rernote under- 0 speaking time. I rashly promised
sea vehicle used to photograph U to buy the members of the Board
of Directors a drink if the regthe inside of the TITANIC and at
the same time he brought the pi- L ular program didn't start on
time. I've had to pay off once
lot of the ALVIN. Sometimes the
K already because of the spellbinbest programs are unplanned.
ding stories of the visitors and
§ A couple of weeks ago a guest
I may be bankrupt by the end of
was a *rg enthusiastic LA TIMES T the year if things keep going
photographer who spoke fcra coulike they have been.
ple of minutes about his recent
assignments. He admitted that E
per
Thursday wasn't much of ad' but
he'd photographed Dolly Parton A
the day before and was going to D
the Cannes Film Festival in a V
couple of months. What a tough E SHIPS TO RETRACE
N
life for a handsome bachelor!
AN HISTORICAL VOYAGE
T
§ What do I like about the Ad- U
A fleet of square-rigged sailventurers' Club? It's the only R
ing ships will re-enact the 8place I know where you caitravel E
month voyage that led to the
around the world in one evening R
founding of Australia as part of
without leaving Los Angeles. The SI that country's bicentenary. The
programs are usually outstanding
fleet departs Portsmouth, Engand if they lag occasionally, C
land, to a royal farewell May 13.
there is always the excitement L
The fleet is due to arrive in
of talking to the people around U
B
Sydney,
Australia, Jan. 26, 1988
the dinner table and the unexto
officially
begin Australia's
pected guests.
?
(Courtesy L.A. Times)
bicentenary.
(7)
May 1987
ADVFNIIJRERS' CQT
The KarakorUms have reaped their deadly toll
through the years and continue to claim their
victims as the death toll among climbers
continues to rise.....
K2: The World's Highest Mountain?
by DR. JOHN BOOTH #869
This timely article by Dr. Booth gives
us a last—minute report on the controversy over the heighth of K2 and the terrible toll in human life this monolith has
extracted.
Mount Everest is apparently
not the tallest peak on the face
of the earth. Satellite measurements of scientific precision
have recently disclosed that K2,
aka Mount Godwin Austen, is actually 34 feet higher than Mount
Everest.
This revelation shocks all
mountaineers who have accepted
Everest's 29,028 feet as the earthly summit of our planet. K2,
the Karakorum Giant, was long
considered an "American Mountain", the special preserve of
U.S. climbers in the same sense
that Everest was so long a British mountain and the Germans
emphasized Nanga Parbat and Kanchenjunga. With strange irony,
after several American failures
to reach the top, the dreaded 1K2
was finally scaled by two Italians in 1954.
In 1978, the first American
team to conquer 1<2 put four men
on top. One climber was Rick
Ridgeway, Adventurers' Club member #964 of Ventura, California.
This world-class climber who has
also stood atop Everest, has described the K2 success in his exciting book The Last Step (Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1980).
He did not realize, when he made
that last step to the top of K2
that he was probably at the top
of the planet.
As though by ESP, Rick has
just phoned me. Some climbers,
he says don't accept the verdict
of satellites on the elevation
Instead, they believe
of K2.
the Pakistanis' careful computations made in the 1970's, revising the height upward 500 feet
to 28,750 feet, is the true figure. That nation's F'-17 military
planes fly past the summit several times weekly. If it is the
highest peak, he stated, their
altimeters would have revealed
the fact before this. I replied
skeptically that since we are
talking about a narrow variation
of only 300 feet, would the altimeters have been precise e(Continued on the next page)
(8)
ADVEJ1JRERS' cUJB NEWS
(K2, continued)
nough to accept? In Ridgeway's
V
t=W
Prcf
c4-- 11
m4r
f1i
monarch of them all.
In 1986, the climbing season
just ended, honorary Adventurers'
Club member, Norman G. Dyhrenfurth, who organized and led the
first American expedition (1963)
NORMAN C. DYHRENFURTH (Hon.)
to scale Everest, returned to
the }Iimalayas with the Herrligkoffer-Karakorum Expedition ained
at topping Broad Peak and K2.
Charged with making a documentary
film of the climb for West German television, this incredible
climber was approaching one of
the world's most difficult and
highest peaks at the age of 68!
Yet, as our Club's Roster points
out he has already made 31 Himalayan first ascents above 19,000
feet including Dhaulagiri (without Oxygen), the sixth highest
of the world's peaks. This time,
for age reasons, the summit it(9)
May 1987
self of K2 could not be a goal
for himself.
The expedition was a semicommercial venture. Each member
had contributed DM12,000 (about
$6,300) toward its cost. Himalayan mountains have a price on
their head to climb. K2 is a
Rs 45,000 peak. When two Swiss
members chose to climb by a different route than the one allowed
by the official permit, an attempt to charge another Rs25,000
was made. No one had this amount
available so the errant Swiss
were threatened with a four-year
ban on personal climbing in the
country thereafter.
This was the leader, Dr. KarlMaria Herrligkoffer's, 22nd Expedition. He observed his 70th
birthday at the time but apparently did very little leading.
After only two weeks with the
expedition at tbe Broad Peak Base
Camp, with matters not properly
attended to and disagreements
with his decisions, ill health
forced him to helicopter out.
Norman reported to John Mahon
and myself, old friends that his
expedition was astonished to
reach the base area of K2 and
Broad Peak to find that the Pakistani governmenthai given permission to other teams from the
USA, Poland and Italy to climb
the same route at the same time!
(Continued on the next page)
May 1987
VERE1S' CWB NEWS
(K2, continued)
The groups all looked at one another in dismay, thinking they
each had been given a clear shot
at the top. Soon they encountered the camps of further climbing groups from Austria, South
Korea and others. All for the
same peak!!
Thus began a summer of tragedy on K2.
§ Greatly simplifying a report
of the expedition's climb on a
mountain with a deadly record
already, five members of the expedition (three Swiss, one Austrian and one German) reached
the summit on June 21st. Four
other members of the expedition,
along with a Balti porter, made
it to the second highest point
(the foresummit) of Broad Peak
in succeeding days. On July 5th
at 4 PM, the two remaining Swiss
members of their expedition joined enroute by six members of the
Italian QUOTA 8000 expedition
(four Italians, one Czechoslovakian and one Frenchman), reached
the top of K2 together.
At last, as Dyhrenfurth writes, does it appear that the
"dream of a Weltseilschaft (world
climbing rope team), striven for
by my own ill-fated International Everest-Southwest Face effort
in 1971 has at last come to fruition? It would seem that strictly national teams in the Hima-
layas or Karakorums have become
the exception rather than standard procedure." Indeed, the
Herrligkoffer expedition was an
international group with representatives from West Germany,
Poland, Austria and Switzerland.
Finally, on July 4th, Jerzy
Kokuczka and Tadeus Piotrowski,
of Poland, two powerful climbers
started up again. On July 7th,
they were last seen disappearing
into die- clouds above Camp 4 (25,
903 feet---about 8200 meters).
Five days later, Kokuczka alone
stumbled back into Base Camp,
hands and feet frostbitten, near
Piotrowski
total exhaustion.
had lost one crampon at 26,263
feet and hurtled through space
to his death thousands of feet
below. Thus ended the Herrligkoffer-Karakorum Expedition 1986
to K2 and Broad Peak.
But death had been stalking
all around them. Alan Pennington of the American expedition
was buried next to Art Gilkey,
victim of an earlier fall from
the heights of K2. Two days later, Liliane and Maurice Barrard
of yet another group, fell 3000
meters off K2 to their death,
landing within an hour's walk
from Base Camp. On July 16th
Renato Casarotto, of the Italian
team, fell 40 meters into a crevasse just an hour's walk from
Base Camp. Five minutes after a
(Concluded on the next page)
(10)
jIJRFRS' CLUB NEWS
May 1987
A Final Word About The ROSTER
from CHEr WH..CZFX 1811
CHET WILCZEK SAYS:
"All but two of our new members have sent photos, biographies, addresses and 'phone numbers for entry in the ROSTER. The two shouldn't
wait any longer.
The printing of the changes of addresses of members, below number
976, in the ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS has been a help except almost none
of them included new 'phone numbers to replace the old ones.
The simplest and surest procedure, to achieve an accurate update,
is for all members to mail their addresses and 'phone numbers to Chet
Wilc.zek at 230 Walnut Avenue, Arcadia, CA91006 IF THE ROSTER IS INCORRECT. "No Phone" should be shown if so desired. Residence and business numbers should be clearly indicated.
Finally, there is no charge for such changes but ANY change in
your picture page requires a $20.00 payment to the Adventurers' Club.
Your check should be sent to Chet with the desired changes.
Remember, to be sure it'll be done, take care of it flow!"
§ § §
(K2, concluded)
rescue team had pulled hm out,
he was deal of internal injuries.
I do not have the complete list
of those who died that season in
Here's one for you history
the area.
buffs.....
"So many good friends are no
WHO WAS THE FfltST PRESIDENT
more-what a terrible summer this
OF OUR COUNTRY?
.?
has been," Norman Dyhrenfurth
[And it wasn't George
writes. "I should add that the
Washington!]
spirit of cooperation and international goodwill among the many
(Answer on page 21)
different expeditions at the base
of 1<2 was absolutely outstanding
and heart-warming, something that
I shall cherish until the end of
my days!"
1987
WE HEAR FROM CHIEF MAX HURLBIJT VIA CHET WILCZEK
Dear Chet
Kodiak, Alaska, March 15, 1987
Good speaking with you again, Old Friend. Hi, Helaine! I, for one
am extremely pleased you have again been drafted for the ROSTER. Your
idea of loose leaves is simple but ingenious. The expense of continually printing an entire bound Roster would be prohibitive.
A thought you may wish to pass on to the board: The old membershi
applications and many facial photos [of those On The Great Adventure
still exist. These may eventually be destroyed (fire, moving to new
quarters etc) and a treasure will be lost forever. Could these--roughly 500--deceased adventurers and comrades of another eta be given pages
in your Roster?
The world is rapidly changing. In a few years the things and travels
we do today will be gone or vastly changed. People will look upon our
times much as we look upon the Wild West of 100 years ago.
One of my favorite old members, for instance, was Major Frederick R.
Burnham. He was an Apache Scout, gold miner in Alaska, and was called
by Cecil Rhodes to scout in the First and Second Metebele Wars. He was
I believe, the only survivor of "Wilson's Lost Patrol" and the killer
of the M'Limbo who somewhat mistakenly believed he could turn bullets
to water. Burnham's story, and those of many of our other compatriots
may be lost if we don't act soon. I will contribute the first $200.00
"seed money" to get us started if the idea is approved and someone,
like yourself, can undertake this task.
Fraternally,
P.S. - - We are moving today to a new home on the cliffs overlooking
Mill Bay (no mail deliveries). We have a nice guest room and
you and any other members traveling north are welcome to stay with us.
It's beautiful here in the Summer. Very isolated and somewhat primitive.
P.P.S. - Bob Williams does an outstanding job on the CLUB NEWS. It's
a special occasion when anEw issue appears in the mail pouch.
Those of you in contact with each other in L.A. cannot really appreciate its significance to those of us "far from home".
(12)
May 1987
CLUB NEWS
Thoughts on World Record Flying
by DON TAYLOR #915
1. You are never fully ready to go.
2. You are always tired before take-off.
3. Take-off is always a risk.
4. The aircraft performance is always less than calculated.
5. The flight always takes longer than planned.
6. The flight always costs more than planned.
7. The PR and the media are a minor pain, but always
be nice and cooperate as they are a great
plus overall.
8. The winds and weather are generally as forecasted.
9. Use any airport in an emergency. It may take the
US State Department to keep you out of jail,
but at least you get down safely. Land and
argue later.
10. People are always nicer than usual, except Customs
and Immigration Officials, who can be friendly or hostile.
11. Try not to land on military bases.
12. You are in the 'if and maybe' business. If you
put it all together, maybe it will go.
13. Taxi cabs from the airport to town are the same all
over the world except the British. They are
professional.
14. For quicker service call home collect. Usually
the calls are put through in less time.
15. If itwill not work on paper, do not go!
16. Oh, what the h---, go anyway.
(13)
iii
Aerial Yachting in
Few men can claim ownership
to an antique amphibian that
is constructed out of stainless steel, so join Cl-tANNING
CLARK, member 1897, as he
introduces us to the wonderful world of aerial yachting in a Fleetwing Seabird.
ORGAN HAD the flu. Well,
that did it. I decided that I would
fly alone: the leisurely, unsophisticated type of flying I enjoy. I would
make impromtu landings. I would not
adhere to schedules. I would not brag
about my time from one point to another. I grabbed my drip dries, sleeping bag, credit cards, and my Walter
Mitty cap and set out to do a little
aerial yachting. As a rule. I usually prefer the company of a second person,
especially around the gas pumps and
when trying to get the airplane out of
the hangar.
Following a check on the quantity of
OPEC products on board and ascertaining that the drain plugs are in and the
bilge pump. bailing bucket, and anchor
mooring ropes are in place, I pulled
the propeller through two revolutions.
It is a bit of an art standing on the forward hatch clearing the engine. Deck
shoes are a help at preventing a fivefoot fall to the hangar floor.
After a 4:30 post-meridian take-off,
I pointed the bow towards Santa Maria.
En route. I was careful to bring the
Santa Paula airport into view. That
field is sort of an adult sand pile, you
know. Restorations, modifications, ex-
M
perimentations. replicas, that sort of
thing. So, I had hoped my peer group
would notice that the Clark Ark was
once again in the sky.
It was while threading my way
through the Santa Barbara Mountains
that the eupohoria set in. I adjusted my
cap to a rakish angle and slid my window open and listened to the exhausts
barking out there . . . bang, bang,
bang, bang, and blew my boat horn to
celebrate, not just the fact that I was
flying but that the Fleetwing Seabird
was her regal self and headed for her
natural habitat of air and water.
It's always a show being airborne in
the Seabird. I finally got used to not
seeing an engine out front. I like to
lean back a bit and look through the
overhead windows and study the oil
streaks on th bottom of the engine
housing and watch the carburetor air
box vibrating up there. Sometimes, for
the fun of it. when I'm cruising along.
I will close the throttle just to watch
the bow go up and up and up and up
before it starts down.
Taxiing in at Santa Maria. a small
group gathered around the gas pit. I
started answering the usual questions.
No. I didn't build it myself. It's the
Fleetwing Seabird Serial #1, launched
in 1936, built in Bristol. Pennsylvania.
The first of six machines. It's made of
spot welded stainless steel construction.
It has stainless steel spars and ribs and
300-horsepower Jacobs engine like the
Cessna 195.
Willing hands helped me push it to
the tie-down area. "Just push anywhere
on the floats, fellas. You can steer it
(14)
By Chanr
wherever you wan
on the floats."
Would I like a I
is there a bar an'
field? In that case.
into town. Thank
lightful. DelightfU
no television. Ins
with picture windo
the airport. I sat I
Pie who were on
I soon had a,
one out of my "
May 1987
Fleetwing Seabird
ing Clark
:t to go by pushing
de into town? Well,
restaurant on the
I won't need a ride
you. The bar was debecause there was
tead it was blessed
Ws that look out over
iext to a young COUi flying vacation.
picture of my loved
vallet and was back
explaining it's a Fleetwing Seabird Serial #1. The first stainless steel airplane
is mounted on a pedestal in front of
the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
I'm flying the second. Bob Bradford, a
flight instructor, and his date in an
adjoining booth displayed an amazing
knowledge of my airplane and after
sipping our drinks for a spell, we went
out and looked at the machine. "I never drink within 50 feet of the airplanes," he said.
Of course, much of the fun of flying
is talking about it. The evening meal
was puctuated with numerous flying
stories—"Fog so thick a deep breath
would drown you, and talk about turbulence, we were getting tossed around
like a pork chop at a Jewish wedding."
After good nights and goodbyes, I
walked out onto the airport and patted
my machine in the stillness and the
darkness, observed the revolving beacon
for a bit, climbed in and unrolled my
sponge rubber pad and my sleeping bag
and went to sleep in the rope locker.
It's a four-place airplane—well, it sleeps
one.
I did have to unshilt the anchor. The
stock tends to penetrate my third rib
if I don't. I couldn't believe the chill
in the air when I awoke, but I was snug
in my sleeping bag. I opened my twocup thermos and sipped coffee until I
got my heart started and my eyeballs
uncaed. After breakfast and the papers, I again tried to phone my friend
and former student, Ray Smyer. No
answer.
I borrowed a ladder from the gas
truck and started wiping off a month's
accumulation of dust and bird turds.
It's just too hot in the San Fernando
Valley to clean my airplane but now
the exercise felt real good in the morning chill. There was a solid overcast.
No wonder they say there are four
seasons every day in Santa Maria. More
visitors came around. Everyone on the
field seemed to know of my friend, who
I hoped to visit. They were all saddened by his bad luck that so severe
an accident would happen to such a
competent pilot and so nice a guy. My
new friends drove me across the field
to the dusting outfit where we were permitted to see the helicopter that Ray
had had his accident in. There was
still about 20 feet of telephone wire
around the main rotor hub.
I was just preparing to leave in the
late afternoon when there was Ray and
his wife. Chris. Over cocktails and dinner he told of the drama of his mishap, how he had landed at a ranch for
information and then took off and
started up a draw but failed to see a
single telephone line that spanned the
valley, the poles of which were hidden
in an orchard, "I knew instantly what
After a 5:30 RI take—off
I pointed the bow toward
Santa Maria...
May 1987
ADvFN['URERS'cLUB NFS
had happened," he said. For a minute
and a half, he circled around in an effort to set the machine down.
A youthful and bearded member of
the press interviewed us. You could tell
by the knowledgeable look in his eyes
that he had an understanding of the
relationship between a man and his
I monitored the tower and anticipated
being told to contact the tower down
wind. But on my call-up I was cleared
straight in. just like 727s. So I went
into action.
I moved the selector valve for the
gear in to the down position, reached
up behind my left ear and pulled the
ring that permitted the left gear to
fall. With my right hand I reached
above the co-pilot's seat and pulled the
ring releasing the uplatch for the right
gear and started pumping the 50-odd
strokes necessary to get the gear down
and locked.
Now that the pressure gauge was
reading 700 pounds, I could see the
left gear was locked. It must be that
the right gear is locked. But I unbuckled my seat belt and put my face to the
co-pilot's window to make sure. I lowered the tail wheel, it's a mechanical
lever and cable set-up, into the down
position.
I turned on the fuel pump, checked
to make sure that the water rudder is
up. I returned the selector valve to
neutral and put the Hap handle in the
down position.
I had plenty of time to pump down
15 degrees of flaps on final. I admit to
some confusion in my wheel house after roll Out as I was getting the flaps
up, When I did find the ground control
frequency, I could hear an airplane
pilot saying, "Has he got a radio?" The
ground controller said, "He hasn't contacted me yet." "Well, maybe his cat's
whisker fell off it's crystal," the airline pilot said.
By ten o'clock, the Seabird
was a stainless steel oven as we taxied
out and took off for South County Airport and a Visit to the "Flying Lady"
Air Museum and Restaurant.
A courtesy car whisked up to the
Flying Lady Restaurant where we dined
in comfort among model airplanes of
The "Seabird" soars
over the mountains.
machine, between a student and his
former instructor and how we were
saving a bit of history. A flying museum.
I went racketing up Highway 101.
When San Jose Field came into sight,
(16)
DVFNIIURERS' CLUB NEWS
May 1987
early-day aviation and the golden age
of flying. Congenial Iry Perch dropped
by the table, inquired of my health and
that of the Seabird. I lost myself for
about three hours in his Wagons to
Wings Museum among the many soulstirring exhibits.
After farewells at San Jose Airport.
I departed for Clear Lake. Suisun Bay
came into view. I couldn't wait any
longer and made my first water landing
in several months. I shut down, opened
the hatch and floated around. It's very
different just climbing around in the
machine now, because it sits level. Although the wind and the current were
moving the machine, in so large a body
of water I could relax and wipe down
the engine house without fear of drifting ashore for some time.
I took my thermos cup and, getting a
secure grip on the cleat, (if I fall in
the water, it is impossible to board
again, that first step is by Your chin) I
stepped down the entrance steps and
dipped a cup of water from the bay and
sipped it to see if it contained any salt.
After all, my Seabird is an endangered
species you know.
So far, I've had the wheels down on
all the land landings. I've had the
wheels up on all the water landings.
I've made as many landings as I've
made take-offs. I have to admit I've
made more landings than I've made
approaches. My machine has no warning lights or horns.
The forward hatch hinges at the rear.
This is because when approaching a
buoy, the co-pilot and his boat hook
are up forward with the engine going
until the last minute. Prior to takeoff,
I make sure the forward hatch and the
top hatch are closed securely.
What would happen if the hatches
opened on takeoff is unthinkable. If
the main gear was down during the
water landing, well—it would only hap-.
The Seabird" sits
level in the water
pen once.
My airplane is so dangerous it's safe.
It's a check list airplane. Drain plugs
in. etc. Nothing had been invented to
advise the pilot he's got his gear down
while attempting a water landing. A
colleague of mine did come up with an
idea of a J tube attached to the landing gear in such a manner that if it
was down during a water landing approach. it would squirt water in the
pilot's face. I think we'll have to thi4
on that. "Water landing"—that's a
strange phrase. It seems to me we've
got a word missing in our language.
"Alighting on the water"—is that better?
I opened a little door in the floor
and peering in with my floating flashlight revealed not a bone-dry bilge but
so little water that at least I knew all
the drain plugs were in. I spent a little
time just listening to the tap, tap, tap
of the little wavelets against the metal
hull. The direction of take-off is obvious. We're weather cocked into the
wind. So. it's master switch on, ignition switched to battery position. wobble up the fuel, prime five times, ener-
(17)
May 1987
ADVENIURERS' CLUB NEWS
gize the starter, the engine starts licking
away. It's a different world on the
water.
Now with the engine started, we are
immediately moving. With the water
rudder down, I make a few figure eights
just to permit the temperatures to warm
up for takeoff. There is no mag check.
Brakes are ineffective, for one thing.
And there is lots of runway, for another.
Head in the wind, full up yoke and
full power, the airplane does not lurch
forward like on a land takeoff but
celerates. If you hurry the takeoff and
wet too much of the aft hull, it decelerates again. So, there's a constant
search for the proper position and that
position changes throughout the run.
It never feels like it's going to fly. If
you wait for the controls to feel as if
it's going to fly, you will run out of
lake. As soon as it reads sixty, just
haul back. When she breaks free from
the water, that's when you feel the
acceleration and get the feeling that the
airplane is really going to go somewhere.
The
"Seabird
seats
four
but
sleeps
only
one
there's a lot of noise without really
going anywhere for a little bit. A bit of
a soaking if you haven't closed the
windows. Then she comes up on the
step and full forward yoke as we go
over the bow wave. Then the porpoising commences. If I can get in one full
check and catch that first porpoise,
from there on it runs smooth.
Air speed builds up, but gradually
compared to a land takeoff. For a
while I just maintain back pressure.
Then there's the hunt for the ideal yoke
position. If you get too far forward
and wet too much of the hull, it de-
Turning off the boost pump on the
climb out, it seems like there must be
something else I should do. Not really.
The main gear is already up and the tail
gear is up, so it's just watch the water
break up and streak along the windshield and run off the floats, and pick
myself a heading up the Napa Valley
towards Clear Lake.
I spotted the lake-front home of my
friends, Ed and Nancy, and landed on
the water in the immediate area and
cruised up towards the docks, killing
the engine long before I got close to
any of those fixed objects. It's plenty
(18)
ADVENIIJRERS' CLUB NEWS
May 1987
frustrating not having a reverse and
brakes. The only brake you have is the
anchor. I threw that out and secured
the line to the bow eye. My rather spectacular arrival and repeated blasts from
my air horn was for naught. Nobody
was home.
So, it was up anchor and off to the
local field where I thought my friend
and former student. Paul, would be
working. Taxiing in, I almost hit a
metal reflector on a steel post with the
starboard float. It was to warn of a
culvert passing under the taxi-way,,
That's the thing about this airplane.
You have to watch the wuig tips and
the floats while you're taxiing. And
while you're doing that, the propeller
might chew up the overhead power
lines going to the gas pumps, if you're
not careful.
The pastoral scene was enhanced
further by the appearance of the gas
person in a bathing suit who climbed
out of a swimming pool to service my
Seabird. I told her how my textbook
says.. 'Streamlined figures offer the
least resistance." But she gave me a
look that said, "Forget it."
A new-made friend ferried us back
to the airplane and he was awarded a
guided tour of the wheelhouse. His interest was rewarding. I am basically
proud of my water landings. I seem to
be able to set up a descent rate with
the plane with an attitude just like
water flying books say. You can tell
minutes before you make contact with
the water that it is going to be a good
landing.
My trouble is that I don't always
make contact with the part of the lake
I intended. On one landing, trying to
get close to the protected water next
to the shore, I sort of hurried the landing by closing the throttle, which permitted the airplane to make a skip. The
resulting thrash was maybe—oh—about
4.6 on the Richter Scale, but outside
of that my landings were fine.
One of the things that concerned me
was all of the little shore birds that
roost on my landing wires. I got an idea
I could remove the bird spots by standing up in the dinghy and sponging
them off. No way, no way. Standing
up in the dinghy with nothing to grab
a hold of except the fabric surface
would surely lead to disaster. Each puff
of wind changed the position of the airplane around the buoy.
My friends as well as myself were
somewhat startled to have Paramount
Pictures phone me to discuss the possibility of using my airplane in a
forthcoming picture, Islands In the
Stream, based on a Hemingway novel.
I elected to return to Los Angeles to
see what I could do towards bringing
this idea to fruition. As it turned out,
there was no question in their minds
that my airplane would be the ideal
one to use; however, getting it to the
location in Hawaii proved too complicated for a scene that was only incidental to the picture. So. I uncorked
Ed's bottle of home-made wine and
well. I decided to become an author.
When at Anguin. I had had both the
port and starboard fuel tanks filled41.7 gallons . . . $30.08 . . . and Morgan had the flu!
[The first half of Channing Clark's
story about the Fleetwing Seabird appeared in the ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
nearly twoyears ago but the remainder
of the story was lost during a change
of editors. We reprint the entire
article here in order that you may
catch the
of the entire episode. Ed.)
(19)
May 1987
ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS
THE "Voyager" HAD PROBLEMS
THAT YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE!
-- Storms, noise, engine
trouble and the possibility
of running out of fuel were
constantly on their minds,
and yet
.....
The cockpit had room for only
one pilot whose head had to be
in the bubble all the time. The
other crewman was compelled to
remain in a prone position. The
extreme noise level from the motor made the cabin a human torture chamber unless acoustic Flmets were worn to subdue the
sound. Of course sleeping, eating and bodily functions obviously became chores.
Problems? Apparently they
were just part of a day's work! A
For example:
R
11 On again/off again departure E
dates. Even the final shakedown P
flights were not without trials o
and tribulations that were most41 Storms were a constant threat
ly resolved. Examples: elecand uncooperative weather requitronic problems with the noise
level between 60 and 100 deci- B red ducking around patches of
bels a constant factor; Jeana's . dangerous storms. Because of the
plane's lightness, the route had
dehydration that caused her to
pass out immediately after lan- B to be carefully planned to avoid
catastrophe however, near the eding; and the loss of a propeller
blade that could have caused B quator a sudden stann caught them
unaware and forced the plane intheir demise except for an exto some awkward attitudes inclutraordinarily skillful landing.
ding bank angles in excess of 90
21 They got off to a very shaky
degrees.
start! While gaining the neces- R
sary speed for takeoff the wing- E 51 Pilot fatigue was a contintips of this fully-loaded flying Y ual problem and at one point the
proper oil level was not mainfuel tank sagged dangerously low
tained causing the rear engine
scraping along the ground and
to over heat.
leaving debris scattered along
its three-mile agonizing and al61 The day before their arrival
most disastrous liftoff.
home the rear engine stopped!
The VOYAGER had experienced a
31 The extremely cramped quardangerous
nighttime engine failters must be seen to be believed,
(Concluded on page 25)
(20)
POEM
The following poem appeared in
the obituary column of a recent issue of the L.A. TIMES:
West of the sunset stands my house.
There. • .and East of the Dawn;
North to the Arctic runs my yard;
South to the Pole, my lawn;
Seven Seas are to sail my ships
to the ends of the earth. .beyond.
Drifters gold is for me to spend
for I am a vagabond.
Fabulous cities are mine to loot.
Kings of the Earth to wed.
Fruits of the World are mine to eat
the Couch of a King my bed;
All that I see is mine to keep;
Foolish, the fancy seems.
But I am rich with the
wealth of sight.
The Coin of the Realm of Dreams.
[Dedicated to the memory of Frances
Mulcahy by her husband, Bryan.
(Answer to the history question
on page lU
Washington was elected in 1787.
From 1774 to 1787 fourteen men
served as President of our Continental Conbress, the first President being Peyton Randolph.
The VOYAGER as it soars high over
the California desert on one of
its many successful test flights.
WE HEAR FROM EMIL BARJAK BY WAY OF AL ADAMS
A you know by now I have been
vJrq in Mexico o'r 'oma time.
(And raLo ray Ad ntwLe'r' C-tub!)
in the ADVENTURERS' CLUB NEWS -o- Feb. 1987 -- you ae getting
up a 4i6hing t-Lp o'r.. the Sea o4
Co'--te -'ta)ttLng on Jane 12-th
San FeLLpe.
-e
I wou-0d -Uze to meet you ain the Mid-R. i'm con1.inq .Ln
my tittZe 'LubbeL
tak-tng
-n KJno Bay and c-o4ng the
o Co'L-tes at Sat Si Puedeo.
you w-te me, whete you a
going to be - what day, what
-and?
Sea
Can
a'e
Ls-
i'mgng to camp on the s£and' and come on1y jO4. beeir. on
boad. And to 5ee att the od
('iLends. l' -Pi be theke 6 o' su.e,
GiteeLLng and aIudo-s,
EMiL
(21)
r
Aj
May 1987
)_hii 3' ;:p Pu ii
ON SAFARI AROUND 706
OUR THURSDAY NIGHT'S PROGRAMS
March 5, 1987
L!.)iJ(eifl
Bob Corey, Reporter
PROGRAM - "DE VOYAGER ORDEAL"
This exceptional program was
a tribute to the crew and Command Control Team and Mission
Operations of the VOYAGER flight
and a sequel to our last "Night
of High Adventure" that featured
the VOYAGER's pilots: Dick Rutan
and Jeana Yeager and the pre-event flights of tkeir revolutionary experimental aircraft designed by Burt Rutan.
or perspective, the program
began with another internationally historic event accomplished
by Americans. This was the 1924
film of the first around-theworld flight that was achieved by
two of the four U.S. Army Signal
Corps bi-planes that commenced
the journey. It should be noted
that all eight of the flyers of
this epic event became Honorary
Members of the Adventurers Club
of L.A., including General Leigh
Wade the remaining member alive.
ght of the VOYAGER through the
eyes of those who actively participated in the Voyager Mission
Control Center. Each person, man
T or woman, voluntarily contributed their time and talent a-dali
H have our utmost respect.
E
V
o
Y
A
C
The dynamic, intelligent and
talented people ubo comprised the
smoothly functioning teams of
Mission Control were in constant
liaison with Dick and Jeana.
Uniquely, to conform to I.C.A.O.
rules, there wasone flight plan:
Edwards AFB to Edwards AFB and
the addressing code for the f Iight plan was almost 9 pages long!
E
The Voyager Mission Control
R Center was the umbrella organization which was divided into
specialized groups such as Operations, Communications, Weather,
o
Performance and Medical.
R
Five members of the AdventurD ers' Club of L.A. contributed
E their expertise to the success of
this renowned aeronautical feat:
A Cal. Don Taylor, Cob Harms, Bob
I. Sechrist, Allan Siebert and Ken
Brock.
World records are generally
measured in miniscule increments
but to achieve a douhlig of the
We had the exceptional privilege of seeing the historic f 11(22)
ADVENjs' cUJB NEWS
May 1987
(VOYAGER, continued)
record is to understand the significance of this accomplishment
of maximum human stress and machine endurance.
Dick's brother Burt, the designer of the plane, was naturally elated when his "Yee-haw"
was emitted upon VOYAGER's touchdown and entry into the history
books but it only echoed t1 sen'timents of their Adventurers'
Club friends and world admiration of individual creativity,
intelligence, courage, stamina,
perserverance, exploration and
adventure at its best!
As an aerodynamic triumph the
VOYAGER will probably become an
aviation prototype for research
and engineering. VOYAGER's trip,
of course, was the first nonstop, non-refueled. aexial circumnavigation in history.
It is now official that the
experimental VOYAGER deservedly
will go to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. to be on permanent
display with the Wright brothers
plane KITFYHAWK and Lindberg's:
SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS!
§ § §
NOTE: You can still see the
VOYAGER on display at its home
in Mojave, before it soon goes
into history at the Smithsonian.
You can see its weather-scarred
hide, feel samples of its lightweight skin and see an hour's
film about VOYAGER and all free.
It is open to the public from
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM seven days a
week at
Hanger 77
Voyager Aircraft, Inc.
Mojave Airport, Ca 93501
(805) 824-4645/4646
§ § §
March 12, 1987 - PROGRAM
"'THE SEARCH FOR THE KEARSA'
Paul Cramer, Reporter
Although surprises are not uncommon at the Adventurers' Club,
the program for Mar. 12 probably
takes a prize for being a quick
and effective program shift by
our agile Program Chairman, Alan
Siebert. When the scheduled program on the Yangtse River was
suddenly made unavailable he came
up with a last minute substitute
by a world-class adventurer and
treasure hunter Steve Morgan.
Steve is president of the Van
Nuys Salvage Company that specializes in finding lost treasure wherever it is.
The program was timely since
on that very day the story of
the discovery of the wreck of the
long lost Civil War battle ship
"KEARSARGE" was featured in the
L.A. Times. That March 12th story gives a full account of the
history of the "KEARSARGE" and
(23)
May 1987
(KEARSARGE, continued)
the part it played in the Civil
War. It reads well and is recommended for those who missed
todays program and to supplement
this report.
Steve Morgan gave a glowing
account of his part in locating
and inspecting the site where
KEARSARGE rests and of his
"KEARSARGE"
recovery of pieces of the wreck
for identification purposes. He
also outlined plans for further
salvage work for historical purposes, since there was no treasure left aboard the ship.
The "KEARSARGE" was a coalburning sailing gunboat 207 feet
long, sheathed with Muntz Metal
(brass) and was the pride of the
Union Navy. It distinguished
itself by sinking the Confederate
privateer "ALABAMA" which, until
then, had a record of 66 to 0 against Union shipping. After the
war was over it spent 30 more
years around the world protecting American Interests.
In 1894 it was sent to aid the
Mosquito Indians against Nicarauguan attack but ran aground
and broke up on Roncador (Croaker) Cay, 200 miles east of Nicaraugua.
Mosquito Coast arti explored sites
for treasure left by Bluebeard
and other pirates. There he met
Miguel Dixon, a lobster fisherman who knew the location of what
he thought to be a galleon but
which later turned out to be the
KEARSARGE.
He made a search of Colombian
islands further south but was
hampered by storms and Colombian
air and sea patrols. All he was
able to glean from the first trip
was adventure.
In November of 1985 he headed
a second mission, this time going to Bogota for permits from
the Colombian government to explore Roncador Cay for the wreck.
However, there he was madvertantly trapped between dissident factions and the Guardia
Nacional in a gun battle and narrowly escaped being shot. He
then flew to San Andreas Island
(Colombia) where he spent two
weeks trying to get a boat to
explore for the wreck. This failed but he did get some underwater pictures taken by local divers at the wreck site.
Morgan showed pictures of his
first trip treasure hunting for
Spanish galleons off the coast
of Nicaraugua. He made camp on
an island at Brus Lagoon on the
(24)
Going back to the states he
arranged a third expedition fully equipped, out of Louisiana.
However the engine failed on his
salvage boat which was then deployed on the Isla Mujeres (Yucatan) for repairs. Meanwhile,
suffering from fever and dysen-
VENIIJRERS' cuiB rs
May 1987
March 12, 1987
tary, he returned to the States
LU L'L.UVeL •
I
Bob Zeman #878, Reporting
Starting again they checked
out the site ofthe wreck at Roncador Cay and obtained pictures
and pieces that verified it was
the KEARSARGE.
President Dick Kyle showed an
article that appeared in the IA
TIMES on March 15th on Everett
Ruess brother of Waldo 1617. Everett disappeared about 50 years
ago while exploring the area around what is now Lake Powell.
A book was recently published on
his travels with his burro.
A further trip is being planned to obtain larger parts of
the ship as museum pieces. However much of the wreck has remained in deep water on the sea
side of the reef and currents
there are very strong.
Jim Freehirn #972 introduced
guest Ken Robertson, who helped
build "Dago Red" & P51 that currently holds the world speed record for piston-powered aircraft
at 517 mph. He and his team gathered parts frun seven countries
and 15 states to build the plane.
We are indebted to Steve Morgan for an exceptionally strong
program with good pictures and
we look forward to further reports and/or a program on the
next trip. Just in case some of I
our members' have become exci- i
ted by this program and feel the i
urge to participate in the next
expedition or to try one of their
own, it is not recommended for
PCC
senior citizens.
§
§
Frank ilaigler #825 told the
members of a show at Knott's Berry Farm on "Fabulous Fords." He
said that there aild be hundreds
of Fords there from the early
1900's vintage on.
Roy Roush #864inica:1 guest
§
(VOYAGER, concluded)
ure off the coast of Mexico and
lost 3,000 feet of altitude, how
ever, restart of the engine confirmed that, in the process of
fuel transfer, the fuel had been
starved from the engine when the
nose was pointed downward in descent and it was not a inechanical failure. For afew breathless
moments the Mission Control team
I
I
I
I
j
had the scare of their lives.
t"It took
Cob Harms commented
a set of jumper cables to get a
few hearts restarted!"
It is hard to believe, but
true that, xii landing there was
only four gallons of usable gas
remaining. You can't cut it much
closer!
R.D.C.
(25)
711
MI.'
M., F,
Chris Nicholson who designed the
mini-rover. It is an underwater
motion picture camera powered by
three motors, one vertical and
two lateral. Equipped with two
bright halogen lamps it can take
pictures of shipirecks as deep
as 1,000 feet. It is useful in
the Great Lakes i4iich is littered
with wrecks. It is controlled
from above by two joy sticks and
a cable.
Roy also introduced Will Sellers, pilot on the Alvin, a three
person mini-sub. He piloted the
Alvin while exploring the Titanic. It can go down to two and
one-half miles for 10 hours.
Bob Silver #723 asked for volunteers for the membership committee.
Lou thober #209 was saluted.
He was initiated in 1929.
"AQtAW IN ThE AN'MRCTICA"
with Guest Charles Stovitz
May 1987
Chuck described Antarctica as
the most remote, coldest, dryest,
highest and least populatcd continent. It is as
large as the
United States and Mexico combined. He spent six months at
Amundsen-Scott Station at the
South Pole. The elevation is 9,
301 feet and the average temperature is -56° F. It is too cold
to snow!
The main building there is a
geodesic dome which has a hole
in it to release the smells.
Since all water must be melted,
personnel are limited to two Navy showers per week. The resident population atthe Pole is 33
in summer and 16 in winter.
Because the snow drifts, the
station is gradually beirg buried
and will have to be abandoned in
three to five years. Human waste
will not decompose and, therefore, much is flown back to Port
Hueneme.
Various situations are calling
for a set of laws. French and
Germans are drilling for oil. A
man and a woman want to get married. Where is jurisdiction for
the 1979 plane crash killing many
Australians and New Zealanders.
The 26-year-old treaty comes up
for renewal in four years. People react in various ways to the
isolation.
The ramifications of Chuck's
study could be far-reaching.
Our guest Chuck Stovitz is a
corporate lawyer who specializes
in civil code and justice applications to space exploration and
commerce. He was asked by NASA
to study the social conditions
His
in remote Little America.
objective was to mold a uniform
code of justice as applicable to
men and women working in the void
of space.
(26)
May 1987
VFN1uRERs' CUJB N1WS
March 26, 1987
gold prospecting trips in Central
He Ljc.Q}r,r1 in Rhodesia
and raised in Texas.
I Amr'
I
James Freeburn #972, Reporting
President Dick KyI called the
meeting to order tai minutes late
[see "And Now A Word From Our
President" on page 6 in this issue for Dick's comment on starting meetings late. Ed]. Guests
were introduced by Smoky Storms.
§ There was a short talk by Tim
He has written two
Williams
screen plays. He is girg to Brazil to check out locations for a
new movie.
§ GUESTS: Steve Morgan, last
week's speaker returned. Ken
Robertson, P-Si speed record;
Ralph Cabanillas Jr., Pitcairn
expert; Michael Carr, skydiving
in Hawaii; Syd Strossman, Carl
Friedman and Dr. Nick Tay; Pete
Williams, upcoming Amazon trip;
Mike Cohen, Pre-Colombian artifacts; Ray Anderson, Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team; John
Lathrop, fisherman; Col. Poindexter, Robin Lewis and John
Kingsley.
§ Bob Sandwick No. 909, pitches
his river raft trip on the American River this coming June 13th
and 14th. The charter bus will
leave on Friday evening of the
12th for the Sacramento area.
There will be two days of river
rafting of class three rapids.
The price includes the bus from
Los Angeles and all the food.
More information, contact Bob.
§ There was a short talk by Mike
Carr. He told that in the past
he has done sky diving and rock
climbing. He has been on many
§ Ralph Cabanillas told us about
some of the life on Pitcairn Island. He is a Ham, AIL, and he
calls to his friend onthe island
and gets through usually a couple
of times a week. His friend is
a decendant of Fletcher Christian. There are only about 60
people on the island. It is very
difficult to come and W as there
is absolutely no scheduled transportation of any kind.
§ Manny Dickner, No. 980, told
of his Friendship Course. On
June 23rd the group is going to
Brazil, to the city of Carnpinas,
which has a population of one
million people. They will also
spend one week in Rio. You are
invited to come along. The total
cost is $1,590.00.
§ Sheldon itArthir tells us of
a new magazine ADVENTURE TRAVEL.
He had several copies of the
first issue with him. Sheldon
presented the Club with a one
year's subscription. The magazine articles were great an just
the kind we Club members like to
read about.
'to next page
(27)
May 1987
ADVE]fflJRERS' CLUB NEWS
lowed them with his slides
try to match the words.
Henry Von Seyfried, No. 881,
told us of his trip to the Philippines. He went through their
military airborne school. He was
there during the coup, also.
Roy Rousch, No. 864, gave us
a little talk and showed us some
pictures from the ROV-87 (that's
Remote Underwater Vehicle) Show
which was held at San Diego. His
slides showed some of the new
high tech underwater equipment
now available. Roy also told U5
there was a magazine that deals
with the subject. The name of it
is SEA TEACH.
to
Wayne and his friends took
their kayaks on top of their car
and motored on to other places
on the Baja Peninsula such as
Loreto and Mulee, and explored
those locales in their kayaks.
The Program "11€ ISLAND OF THE CLOUDS"
by Guest Wayne Hack
Alan Siebert #932, our Program Chairman, introduced our
speaker, Wayne Hack. Wayne gave
us a two-part slide program. The
first part was about twenty minutes long and was about kayaking
with a group of friends in Baja,
California. The second part was
a slide show that he titled "Islands of the Clouds". This dealt
with sea kayaking around the
Queen Charlotte Islands. The
slides were of an extremely high
quality in their technical form
as well as being very artistic.
In his second half of the program he spent 49 days paddling a
total of 450 miles around the
Queen Charlotte Islands. It rained 47 of those days. This made
photography extremely difficult.
To get the beautiful pictures
that he did take required him to
disassemble his camera and dry
it each time.
On the west side of the islands the tides are as much as
24 feet but on the eastside they
are a mild and easy 18 feet. And
remember, this is all in a kayak!
Wayne had a lot of time for solitude and reflection on this adventure. Very few people were
encountered. His advice: "Take
lots of cares to have no scares,
and bears, bears, everywheres."
Wayne borrowed excerpts from
John Steinbeck's beaffifully written descriptions of Baja
(28)
So Wayne did have company almost everywhere, of the unwanted
kind. Even though there were many signs that man had been on the
islands before, from completely
deserted mining towns and indian
villages with their artistically
carved totems, the only humans
he encountered was a stray fish-
ADVFNJIJRERS' CLUB NEWS
errnan and two game wardens. At
one area on the east side of the
island, at Hot Springs Baths, he
enjoyed the hot water that had
been piped into buildings that
loggers of yesteryear had built.
You could take your pick of six
different hot springs.
For the most part the totem
poles have just about decomposed
from the tremendous weathering
effects caused by the huge amount
of rain each year. At one abandoned indian village in a secluded protected cove 18 totems remained in fair shape. He gained
the admirationard respect of the
viewers for his courage in facing
the tremendous seas, tides and
currents that he braved alone in
his kayak, to say nothing of the
stares of the bears everywhere.
Cowing next month
RAFTIM THE ALAS RIVER
with Stu Bruce 1678
May 1987
A TIP OF THE HAT
FROM BOB ARANOFF
I've heard of horse trading
and all kinds of ways to pay someone but tonight's program by
guest adventurer Wayne Hack on
his kayaking around the Queen
Charlotte Islands in Canada is a
feather in bob Zeman's cap.
Bob saw Wayne's program and
immediately was so captivated by
it that he inquired i- t it would
take to get Wayne down to the
Club for us members to see it.
Wayne told Bob he gets a couple
hundred dollars to do just that.
Well, Bob thought for a moment. . ."If I offer you my services for free for that equivalent
time that you would have paid
good, cold, hard cash, well.
would you consider coming down
from Santa Barbara tolos Angeles
to show itV'[Bob's a CPA].
So now you know how we got one
program. Cheers, bravo and hats
off to Bob Zeman for his extraordinary efforts to see that we
continue to have top-flight program material week in and week
out. I'm sure that Program chairman Alan Siebert appreciated Bob's
thoughtfulness as much as we all
enjoyed the resultant program.
Right on! Yeah! That's the spirit!
R.L.A.
REMEMBER: Dinner reservations
most be in by Wednesday noon
THE AVVENTURE1S'CLU8 OF LOS ANGELES
706 W2At Pico 8oLeua4d
Los AnQ€Le.6, Cal.Ao'nLa 90015
Entered as Second Class
Postage at the Post Office
at Los Angeles, California
POSTMASTER:
Address Correction Requested
MR. CHARLES ROZAIRE
% LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM
900 W. EXPOSITION BLVD.
LOS ANGELES, CA 90007
IN THIS ISSUE A REAL "LARK" OF AN ADVENTURE
by Chet Wilczek #811..................... Page 1
AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR PRESIDENT
by Dick Kyle #899 ........................ Page 6
K2: THE WORLD'S HIGHEST MOUNTAIN??
by John Booth #869....................... Page 8
A FINAL WORD ABOUT THE ROSTER
by (let Wilczek #811 .................... Page ii
WE IIEAR FROM MAX [-IURLBUT FROIl KODIAK......... Page 12
THOUGHTS ON WORLD RECORD FLYING
by Don Taylor #915...................... Page 13
AERIAL YACHTING IN A FLEEIWING SEABIRD
by Charming Clark #897 .................. Page 14
TIlE "VOYAGER" HAD PROBLEMS YOU WOULDN' 'T
BELIEVE, a Report by Bob Corey #691..... Page 20
WE HEAR FROM EMIL BARJAK FROM MEXICO......... Page 21
POEM, by Bryan Mulcahy. ... .................. Page 21
THE "VOYAGER" ORDEAL
Reported by Bob Corey #691.............. Page 22
THE SEARCH FOR THE "KEARSARGE"
Reported by Paul Cramer #682 ............ Page 23
ASTROLAW IN THE ANTARCTICA
Page 26
with Guest Charles Stovitz..........
TIlE ISLAND OF THE CLOUDS
with Guest Wayne Hack ................... Page 28
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