Where It All Began

I came across this photo today and it brought back a lot of memories. This photo was taken in 1966 at Buchanan Field in Concord, California. That is a 1939 Stinson 105. My Father restored this airplane from the ground up. It came to our house as a huge aircraft kit. The previous owner had torn it completely apart and it came to us in box after box of parts with no directions on how to reassemble it. My Father rebuilt it in our garage, a task I loved to watch. To give you an idea of how much times have changed, after the engine was hung on the bare fuselage we rolled it out into the street, tied the tail to a telephone pole and started the engine to test it right in front of our house; how do you think that would go over with the neighbors today? Back then nobody cared.

My Father is on the right, his partner Jack Linginger is next to him with me on the left. Jack is a fantastic painter who put the finish on the Stinson. That aircraft went on to win multiple trophies at fly-ins on the West Coast, and is a testament to the craftsmanship that my Father displays in everything he does.