Looks like I did it again. I found a little diamond in the rough.
I wasn't really looking forward to this week all that much. Not that Purtis Creek State Park, my home for most of it was bad or anything. It just wasn't my thing.
Sure the campsites are big, the park is quiet and it's got a really nice lake smack in the middle of it. And a lot of fisherman like it because it has an abundance of fish.
That's just it. I'm not really a fisherman. I mean, I used to love fishing with my dad at Cedar Creek and Lake Dallas, or with him and my uncle Baker in the Gulf, but I never really got the bug. And I'm not that much of a naturalist, either. If I was I might have been more interested in following the prairie life nature trail at the park.
So, I was not really excited about this week. Until, that is, I took a trip to nearby Tyler for a couple of errands. Along the way I passed a little bitty sign by the turnoff to the local airport. The sign said "Air Museum". That peaked my interest, so I marked the spot on my GPS and went about my business.
On the way back I pulled up the location and headed to the museum. It's actually a pretty nice place, built in to a no-longer-used terminal building.
As you walk in, you see hanging from the ceiling a collection of aircraft models representing the history of aviation. Most were built by a retired Navy pilot. Along the walls are showcases with various pieces of aviation memorabilia. And through the windows where years ago people would watch for their loved ones to land and deplane, you see a collection of vintage (mainly WWII and Vietnam) aircraft.
And that's just the free part. Go through the double doors on the left, pay the modest fee, and you get to spend a lot of time exploring parts, pieces, clothing and other detritus of the history of flight. There's stuff from early flight, through both world wars and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. They even have a room dedicated to the dropping of Fat Man and Little Boy. I definitely recommend checking that room out. I learned some things I never knew. That's a story for another time.
This is still an operating airport, so you can't wander out on the tarmac by yourself to check out the big planes. But that's where it got interesting.
One of the docents at the library has to accompany visitors outside, and mine was a really cool retired Air Force pilot by the name of Bob Miller. The guy was a fountain information, not just on technical details, but of stories about the planes and those that flew them.
I could have listened to the guy all day, but what really pinged me was when I mentioned the Van Zandt County Veterans Park. See, I was just there couple of weeks before and remembered they had an F4 like the one the museum had.
Imagine my surprise when he said "I flew that plane." I was gobsmacked. "That very plane, not just an F4?" I asked. "Yep," he said.
Here's where it gets fun. After Bob left the Air Force he got a job flying the same planes he had in combat for a private contractor that provided training for different arms of the military. One of the things they did was fly older aircraft, including F4s, against navy ships, basically making themselves targets for practice.
In one session of this mind-blowing practice, the decided to fly right at the ship at full throttle. They made it really hard on the gunners, and also on the planes. So much so that one of the planes broke a flap.
"Not a problem," says Bob, "the plane would still fly. We just had to come in a little faster than normal on the landing." Yep, fighter pilots are nuts.
Anyway, the plane was placed in mothballs at the airfield they flew out of, and when the contractor gave back the F4s a while later, that one was left behind to rot. "We tried to fix the flap," says Bob, "but since we weren't military, they wouldn't sell us the parts."
You probably see where this is going already. Several years later, when the good folks in Van Zandt county were looking for pieces to display at the park, they reached out to some folks that know where this stuff is hiding. They were told about an old F4 sitting out in the desert, and that they could have it if they went and got it.
Of course they did! And it was a big deal in the area when they brought it back. It even made the local news. And a certain retired pilot just happened to be watching and thought he recognized it. He checked his old flight logs and sure enough, it was the one with the broken flap!
He reached out to the folks and told them the story of the plane, and they asked him to help get the old girl restored.
And that's how an old F4 went from a desert backyard to practically the backyard of the guy that parked it there.
Side note: the flap is still broken, at least according to Bob. I made a special trip back to the park to look, but couldn't tell. Then again, I ain't no aviation genius.
If you're in the Tyler area, I recommend a visit to the Historic Aviation Memorial Museum. And while you're there look for Bob. This is just one of the fun stories he told me. I'll let you experience the rest.
If you're interested in more (and I can guarantee there is). You can check out the museums website at www.tylerhamm.com .
That's it for this week. Another week ahead and it's a weird one. I'm parked at Lake Tawakoni State park for a few days, then it's back to the lap of luxury at another RV resort, this time in Grapevine.
I've got a few plans though, including another small Texas town to explore (shhh... no spoliers.)
Until next week,
Later folks.
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