Inside Interview                                             Story and photos by Dwight Drum
             © 2004-7 Dwight Drum                                                 Web work by Larsen & Drum

                                                     The History of Speed

More than a decade before Robert White was born, the US Army Air Corps prepared for victory in WWII with good equipment and training. Prior to the war the military specified the need for a new primary pilot trainer that was safe, had interchangeable parts and be built from non-strategic materials like wood and fabric.

The Fairchild company hired talented designer Armand Thiebolt to create a low wing plane with a 200 hp in-line Ranger engine in 1938. The Fairchild PT-19 Cornell had a steel tubing frame, plywood sheathed wing and tail structure was inexpensive to build, maintain and easy to fly. For most WWII pilots, combat training started with flying in the PT-19.

Successful American air power was the result of the quality of American aircraft produced and the superior training of American pilots. By 1945 at the end of the war 8130 PT-19s, PT-23s and PT-26s had been produced and the trainer earned the nickname "Cradle of Heroes".

Temple Terrace, Fla.,resident Robert White, 54, estimates that probably only about 100 PT-19s remain today. He should know. He bought one in dire need of restoration and made it a dedicated garage project.

 Bob White answers questions from reporter Dwight Drum about the acquisition and the restoration of his 1943 PT-19:

"It was a whimsical thing talking with Wayne Boggs (Baseball legend Wade Boggs' brother) out at Tampa International Airport. He had the project up for sale and I just had a case of back side overriding front side."

Are you a pilot?
"No. My son is. "I've restored stuff, boats, and all kinds of stuff for years. It just sounded like a good father/son project. The PT-19 is his name. He flies for Avant Air. He promptly moved out after I bought the airplane. He's coming back to fly the plane though."

What's the best part of restoration?
"There isn't a best part. It's just better than sitting in front of the TV and drinking beer every night. It's something to do. To tell you the truth, if I had known what it was going to take, I probably wouldn't have done it. I started counting hours the first year I worked on it and after the first year I quit that. I saw how far I had gotten and how much time I put in it. I said, I don't even want to know what this is going to take at the end.

"It's the original engine from this plane, restored. Joe Denest, Westchester, Pa., is one of only two guys that still restore this engine. He's been doing these planes like 60 years. He and his son restore them too. They've got a couple of different models of it. It's all he does is just one plane. Joe is the foremost expert and he doesn't need to go and look it up in the manual. Without him I wouldn't have been able to do this. I've been able to call him all along the way. If I had a question about anything, he'd just think for a minute on the telephone and he'd tell me. He knows this plane inside and out; every nut, bolt, and screw that goes in it. He can tell you what every part looks like and where it goes. He's an amazing guy.

"I'm sure I've got 3000 hours in this thing. I'm going to enjoy it for a little while first. When the hanger and expenses get to bear, I'll probably decide to sell it. The market value is somewhere between $65,000 and $85,000.

                                                                          Flight Time

White urged retired Continental Airlines pilot Mike "Mad Dog" Kelly to test fly the plane and give needed instruction to White's son Tim. Kelly has three planes in a Texas hanger where he built an apartment in one corner -- a modern V-tail Bonanza to get around the country, a Cessna 150 for short trips and a historic biplane PT-17 Stearman for fun. White says the apartment with the planes makes Kelly an official hanger rat.

White's comment about his inaugural ride in the newly restored plane:

"That was a hoot. I enjoyed that ride."

Mike "Mad Dog" Kelly holds an A&P (airframe and power plant license) and his father flew B-17 bombers in WWII. Kelly talks about the PT-19:

"It's a hands-off flyer. It tracks straight on the ground. Controllability is good all the way around."

Hands-off plane?

"Speed turns are real nice. It will turn on a dime. Landing the plane is a real joy. Tail-wheel of the airplane is a sometimes tricky. This one is straight forth, wide track gear on it so there is no tendency to really want to ground or go around. "

How do you compare it to more modern single engine planes?

"The ones we use for training, the Cessnas and the Pipers we call them' spam cans.' They're basically tricycle - gear airplanes The tail-wheel like this one is known as a conventional gear. This is what guys learned on back then. Pilots today don't learn on these things. The FAA requires that if they want to get one and go fly it, they actually have to get an instructor that's qualified in tail-wheel airplanes and give them instruction and endorsement in their log book.

"Most airplanes have the nose-wheel in front. The flying on the ground with the nose-wheel airplane, if it has a tendency to want to turn or something, the nose wheel stops it. The tail- wheel doesn't. The center of gravity is after the gear. If you get a good wind gust on the tail it starts moving it around, and if you're not right on it you go around.

"This airplane was built as a primary trainer in World War II. It was built to replicate what the guys would be getting into later on. It's got a big airplane feel to it. It's very stable and maneuverable.

"It's wonderful airplane to fly and well built by Fairchild. They built them to train these guys. It says a lot. You take Bob White with his ability to rebuild it and it really makes for a nice flying ship. This thing will not come apart in the air. It's a solid piece of work. It's beautiful, the carpentry in it is beautiful. They are all made of plastic today and have TV's in the cockpit.

"It's not a bookend in a museum. It's a working airplane."

Tim White (A Captain for Avant Air in St Pete and is currently flying the Piaggio)

"The last log book entry was 1976. That's when they hung the new prop. How long it flew after that is anybody's guess. It could have flown for a couple years after that. There's not a real good recorded amount of time that it has been out of the air and on the ground.

"Dad is not a pilot. He's just the builder. He gets to ride around. It's still his bird though.

About flying the PT-19:

"It brings you back to the roots of aviation. Like 'Mad Dog' said, 'The new ones are computers and TV screens'. There is really not a whole lot of skill involved. This thing will make you sharp."

Bob White:

After 3000 hours of restoration what were the first few minutes of flight like?

"Actually I thought I would be nervous but as soon as we started taxiing and when the flight was at the stick, I was fine. It was rewarding."

Did the flight meet your expectations?

"Absolutely. The first landing in this plane, you didn't know you were on the ground if you could hear the tires squeak. Best single engine landing I've ever been involved in, which makes it extra sweet. You can't have a landing too hard in a plane you just built. "

Was it worth all the time?

"Yeah. It was. I'm happy with the outcome."

Would you recommend restoration projects for others?

"Only if you're insane about having nothing else to do. If you have absolutely anything else to do it's probably not for you. It's daunting and consuming."

Dwight Drum

                           When anyone can touch history and bring it to the present, much has happened.

                                                Bob White recently placed the sparkling PT-19 up for sale.