WW1 Jenny's Still flying

[Jerry O'Neill]

I think the J-1 Standard at Creve Coeur is the same one that was used in The Great Waldo Pepper, It's A Mad, Mad, World, The Rocketier, Ace Eli, and countless TV shows and commercials. I could be wrong on some of this. That J-1 was used for so much film work, I'm not sure if any one person really knows for sure. Albert

Fantasy of Flight has the other ex. Tallman J-1 Standard. I believe they built up two of these for the film "The Spirit of St. Louis" back in the 50's. They were then used in every film that needed an old biplane. Both were used in Waldo Pepper and I'm not sure which one was actually "Waldo's" airplane. I'm sure both owners claim their's is Waldo's!

I was there when they stripped the fabric off and threw it in the dumpster so I do have several pounds of fabric from the Week's J-1. When you sand down the layers of paint carefully, you can almost tell what films it was used in. My fabric even shows that awful orange/pinkish color from the film "Lucky Lady" when the J-1 was mounted on floats. (Awful movie too!!!)

If I had a big old Hisso, I'd build a replica J-1 in a heart beat!
Jerry

[visaliaaviation]

Last I checked, Hisso's were going for 20 k before overhaul. I helped crew Ty Sundstroms Hisso Ryan M-1 and can tell you ground handling of aircraft with tail skids and no brakes was/is not for the faint of heart.
IF I had a Hisso, it would go into a Travel Air painted up in Men With Wings colors or a new build SE-5.

[astixjr]

Somebody once told me that the Canuck is actually more of a copy of the JN4A, whatever that is. The Canuck has four ailerons as opposed to the Jenny's two so maybe we need to find somebody who has flown both types for an answer. No doubt, the Hisso is the way to go. Had the Standard been equipped with a good engine to start with, the Jenny might have taken a back seat after WWI. When you see them side by side, you really notice how much larger (at least taller) the Standard is in comparison to the Jenny. When you park a DH-4 next to the Jenny and the Standard, you really get a chance to see what a beast the DH-4 is or was. On that subject, the DH-4M2 from Creve Coeur is at Poplar Grove IL this morning and might make it into Oshkosh. Glen Peck is flying it up there and to say that it's been an adventure is an understatement. He left Creve Coeur last Sunday evening. My hat is off to him for trying to take it up there. Glen's nuts for trying it and my father is nuts for letting him try it. Still, if it makes it, it will probably be the first DH-4 to show up at Oshkosh and maybe the first Liberty to actually get there under it's own power.

[visaliaaviation]

Good show on the DH-4! Can't wait to see photos.