Decompressing Part Three

Wednesday was driving day.  Jim and I did a few things around his workshop before I hit the road.  It was a pleasant day, which made driving a lot easier.  I arrived in Pataskala to visit with my parents, but before I did, I was able to grab some dinner at one of my favorite restaurants: Skyline Chili!

 

Giant Cheese Coney!

 

Three way!

 

You gotta love a place that you need a bib to eat your dinner!

The next morning came quite quickly and was very wet.  In fact, it rained almost the entire day.  Nonetheless, I was headed to Dayton, OH to Wright Patterson Air Force Base.  

I was headed there to take part in an Air Force study that was examining the eyes of men who were color blind.  I spent about four hours in one section of the base completing all manner of tests.  Some were familiar, the traditional circle with various colored numbers.  Some were new, like the F-22 cockpit simulator.  

Later, I went to another lab where I performed different tests.  While there, I was told some pretty neat information about my eyes.  I am in fact color blind, but only in one eye and only very slightly.  In fact, they were fascinated by my eyes because usually you either are or are not color blind.  I was very unique.  My brain compensated for the color blind eye and that is why I would test so irregularly when allowed to use both eyes.

The doctors also found that I have an astigmatism.  So some glasses are in my near future.  Most interestingly to me is the fact that, like 25+ years ago, I would have been flagged for my vision.  (I had originally planned to be a helicopter pilot when I joined the Army, but failing the color blind test (three times) put a stop to that dream.)  The doctors said, however, that because of the research I had taken part in, I might have been able to fight the result.  I wish I had asked to take some photos inside the experiments, but I don't think it would have been allowed.  They showed me one of the twenty foot simulators for the F-22 that they have built with help from NASA.  I asked to try it out, but it wasn't quite ready yet.  The scientists gave me this coin and thanked me for my contribution to aerospace medicine.  They might say it to all of their subjects, but for a few moments anyway, I felt like I had made a contribution.  Interestingly, I spent a couple years of my life on Wright Patterson.  My father was in the Air Force and my sister was born on this base.

 A very heavy rainstorm socked the Dayton area and nearly sent me away.  However, knowing I didn't have a lot of free time, I decided to persevere and see as many of the sites in Dayton as I could.  Traveling around the base, I found one of the most beautiful Wright Brothers memorials just outside the gate.  

 Somehow the rain seemed appropriate.  It was pretty cool seeing Orville at the controls, while brother Will watched from close by.  I've seen a lot of memorials to the brothers, but this one is one of my favorites.  I especially liked the woven metal that formed the wing's surfaces.

 My next stop was to visit Wright State University.  They had some fantastic exhibitions of both the Wright's and one of the nearly 'unsung' heroes, Charlie Taylor.  Charlie was the mechanic who built the Wright's first engine. 

 He, as the story goes, put the 'power' in the first powered flight.  He's an intriguing fellow and I'm actually researching him for a possible future project.  They had a beautiful bust of him on display too.

The highlight of the Wright State library is the Flyer that they have hanging in their main area.  I was terribly disappointed however.  The plane was disgusting; covered in dust and full of paper airplanes.  I should have said something to someone, but I didn't.  If I hadn't been completely soaked from the downpour, I may have stayed longer.  Thankfully, my photograph doesn't show the yuckiness.

 

Next, I headed to the Huffman Prairie Interpretive Center.  Again, the rain kept me from visiting the actual prairie, but the center was full of nice displays and resources.

 My next stop was the Dayton Metro Library.  I wanted to make a copy of the Dayton Daily News from the day the article about the C-69 Constellation was published.  

I started on the microfiche machine, but the copier was not working properly, so I ended up working with the bound original of the actual newspaper.  That was pretty cool and it was fun to make a photograph of the actual newspaper. 

There was so much going on in the world, it was interesting to read a few of the 'other' stories that were taking place at the same time. 

My next stop was Carillon Park.  They have created a village of historical buildings of Dayton's past.  One of them is a recreation of the Wright's Cycle Shop and they even have one of the original models of the Flyer.  It was Orville's last big project to restore and install the machine.  The lighting inside the building was very poor; probably in effort to preserve the plane, but it made for terrible pictures.  

I did really like the way they highlighted the early years.  There was a very nice movie in the little theater they had there.  I thought the way they brought in lighting and sound to highlight each of the major innovations was especially cool.

 Some of the photos I took of the reproduction cycle shop where the brothers built the Flyer and revolutionized aerodynamic principles.  I like how they showed the single engine that powered all the tools in the shop.  

 

The wind tunnel they brothers created with the help of Charlie Taylor.

I have seen something like this before, but this struck me as a simple, but very effective reminder of the personalities of the brothers.

One thing I learned about this particular model is that it was painted silver to confuse those who might have gotten a peek at it while the Wright's perfected flight.  Even though the plane was made of wood, it's silver color would make onlookers think it was metal.  That would foil copycats because making it of metal would have added significantly to its weight.

My next stop was the cemetery where the Wright's were buried.  Thankfully it stopped raining at least for a little while.

 While I was downtown, I visited the site of the original Wright Cycle Company and also the site of Orville's final laboratory where he spent his days until the end of his life. 

 Sadly, the original was torn down by the Shell Oil Company when they planned to build a gas station.  This facade looks just like the original building.  A striking sculpture of The Professor of the Propeller stands inside the building.

I headed to Mason to spend the evening with my in-laws.  It had been a terrific trip, but it was time to head home.

 

Decompressing Part Two

We got an early start because we were heading into one of the busiest freeway systems in the country.  We arrived at the National Archives in College Park, MD on schedule.  The whole experience was pretty spectacular.  We began by registering and were then given our official 'researcher' identification. 

 After that, we made our way to the lockers.  In order to protect the records in the archives, you are not allowed to bring in pens, paper, etc.  Anything you might need will be found inside the archives.  I had one piece of paper with the details of the records I needed to access; that had to be officially stamped before we could take it into the rooms.  It seemed a little overkill, but then again, these are some precious items they are preserving.  Pretty soon, we were on the proper floor for historical films.  We received our film 'can' and were directed to a small room where we loaded the film onto a 'flatbed' viewer.





You can see in this image that the film played on a reel to reel system.  What was spectacular about this was that I could stop the film on any single frame.  This allowed me to be able to make still frame images of all those frames I wished.  This was fantastic because I wanted to make some images of those moments that none existed.  The quality was fantastic too.

On the screen you can see Orville and General Frank Carol.  Carol was in charge of all new aircraft for the US Army.  All new planes came to Wilbur Wright Field and each time a new craft was acquired, Carol invited Orville to the field to see them.  On this particular day, Orville not only took the tour, but he also took a flight.  This was to be his final flight.  Not only did he take a flight on this day, he actually took the controls for part of this journey!

Here I am acting corny in my white researcher gloves.  We watched the film about eight times.  The whole film was only about six and a half minutes long, but each time we watched it we learned something new.  You couldn't help but feel a little bit like Indiana Jones as you watched the film, searching for tiny details that might lead to even more insight.  


Here is the actual film.  I took this movie of the film and then did a tiny bit of editing afterward.  I only edited the shape of the film; everything else, sound, scratches etc. is original.



C69 Archival Footage Small from Todd Burleson on Vimeo.

After the archives, it was time to head toward Washington D.C.  It was only about 15 miles and thankfully some of the morning traffic had dissipated by the time we were on our way.  Parking is pretty challenging in D.C., but we lucked out and found a parking garage about three blocks from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  

We spent a couple of hours looking at the aircraft on display.  Then it was time to visit the Wright Flyer.  I especially like how well lit the Flyer is.  I think it helps accent how fragile and yet solid it is.  I couldn't get over how pristine the muslin remains.  They must have some pretty intense cleaning processes that they maintain.  Soon, we were ready to explore more of D.C.  We headed toward the capitol.  

It was a truly gorgeous day; I actually managed to get some sunburn!  We found or way to the capitol visitor's center and learned that we needed passes to get into the galleries.  So, we headed off to the office buildings and got some passes.  Watching both the House and Senate in session was pretty awesome.  No photographs of any kind are allowed so I have nothing to show for it except a few documents that they gave us.  Being late in the afternoon, there was not much happening officially in the chambers, but  nonetheless, it was neat to see.

Soon enough, it was time to head to CNN where my college roommate Don was working on the show called The Situation Room. 

The control room was brimming with screens.  Being the director of the studio in my school, I figured I had a pretty good idea of how the set up might look.  Well, I was shocked.  There were probably 15 people crammed into this tiny space.  Each of them had very specific jobs.  The thing that shocked me the most was that there was so much laughter and humor happening behind the scenes.  It made me smile to know that, just like our studio at school, these folks were enjoying their jobs.  After meeting Wolf and the staff, my friends Donn and Jim went out to a delicious dinner.  Heading back to Maryland, we were whipped.  We had walked over six miles and seen so much.  Tomorrow I would be heading to Ohio to do even more research and also to be part of someone else's research!

Decompressing Part One

One thousand, nine hundred-eight miles and a week later, I pulled into my garage.  So much to try to put into words.  So many amazing experiences I want to fight to preserve.  I'm trying to be better about 'stuff' and have scanned most of the 'memorabilia' I collected on the trip so that I can integrate it into a 'virtual' scrapbook of the research trip.

Arrived in Maryland late on Saturday.  Woke to a wet rainy/snowy morning.  Wingman, Jim Tingey, had projects for us to do nonetheless.  We started by trying to suck out all the water and moisture in his basement.  Removing the bottom of the staircase to allow the workers to jack hammer the floor ended up causing a huge gusher of water to pour into the basement.  Buckets later, we had managed to stop the flow.  Next, it was time to build some squirrel feeders; of course, not just any squirrel feeder, these were feeders with furniture!

 We finished off the day with a lovely dinner with Jim and Marcie's family.  

The next day was jam packed.  We had interviews with Delmar Davis and Guy Cephas followed by a visit to the Maryland Fire Museum.  The day didn't start out too well; I overslept and Jim woke me ten minutes 'till eight.  I was discombobulated from the get go.  I forgot my wallet as we raced off toward the west side of Baltimore.  That proved to be a problem.  

When we got to Delmar Davis' location, I realized how hosed I was because I needed a driver's license to get into the facility.  Thankfully, I was able to speak with the director of the facility who let us go on up to Delmar's place.  What an amazing man!  He is 98 and sharp as a tack.  He had spent quite a bit of time preparing for our visit and I am so grateful for his time and energy.  He pulled out two thick books filled with original photographs and documents describing his service.

He is incredibly proud of he and Arthur Hardy's legacy.  He shared the proclamations he's received for his participation in the early service of the Baltimore Fire Department.

 He talked a lot about Smokestack and about their early years on the fire department.  One of the most meaningful stories he shared with me was about the True Fit Fire.  In that fire, he and Smokestack had been on the roof of a building with the chief; when Delmar noticed a hot spot, the chief sent them down to get an 1 1/2' line to put it out.  As the men climbed down the ladder, the roof collapsed and seven men lost their lives.  Delmar and Smokestack retrieved the bodies.  Sixty years later, the moment still nearly brought tears to his eyes.  

 

This photo shows Delmar.  Smokestack is absent because he was the photographer.  

 

Delmar in his twenties. 

Too soon it was time to leave. I was honored that this man spent so much time with me.  He helped me put Arthur Hardy into context and reminded of the power of human goodness.  Our next stop was the Smokestack Hardy Folk Museum and a visit with Guy Cephas, Smokestack's nephew.

 

Guy works on the museum every day.  This museum is constantly changing as he swaps out photographs of fires from throughout the years.  The hat Guy is holding above is the original helmet of Arthur P. Hardy.  Originally, the auxiliary men wore the yellow helmets to identify them as auxiliary.  Later, the department realized that the yellow helmets were much easier to identify and switched to yellow helmets.  The auxiliary men then wore black helmets.

 Arthur P. Hardy, age three.  He was three years old when the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 struck.  He remembers standing atop his grandmother's apartment building watching the men fight the devastating fire.  It was then that he fell in love with the idea of becoming a fire fighter. 

Arthur Hardy with his mandolin.  He played mandolin, organ and piano for over 75 years at his Seventh Day Adventist Church.  

 Arthur joined the Army during the war.  Guy shared that Arthur was discharged from the Army when it was discovered that he was black.  Interestingly, the idea of black/white/mixed race came up several times during our interviews.  I don't know Arthur's racial background yet, but Delmar shared with me that his grandmother was white and his grandfather was Native American.  Delmar also shared that he married a white woman and had one daughter

Arthur, in his traditional blue shirt, dark blue tie and khaki pants.  He wore this uniform most of the time.  In fact, Guy told a story about Arthur wearing his uniform as he walked through Baltimore.  He got on buses and trains for free because the drivers thought he was on duty as a regular firefighter.  Jokingly, Guy also said that with his radio slung across his chest and his little mustache, folks took to calling him "Little Hitler" because he visually reminded them of him.  

This photograph is of some of the auxiliary firefighters on the truck they would ride to the fires.  Arthur is wearing his helmet and has his left arm on the bed of the truck.  

This is a photograph of the Fire Buff club that was formed after the auxiliary was disbanded in 1949.  This club was officially sanctioned by the Fire Department.  They gave the club a 'call board' that allowed the club to track the status of all companies in the department.  Arthur lived next door to the club's location.  Members of the club staffed the 'office' 24 hours a day. When a 'third alarm' was called, the club members went into action supporting the department.  The club members did everything from pulling hoses, setting up ladders and at times, directly fighting fires.

Smokestack, on the far left, wore his traditional black rubber coat to fight fires.  This was one of the few photos that had him in it.  He was an avid photographer and was usually behind the camera instead of in front of it.

 This is the red light that Smokestack put in his front window as he grew too frail to make it to fires.  It was a gift to him from the fire department.  It came from the car of the fire chief.  When Arthur heard the siren from the nearby fire department, he would turn this light on as a signal to let the guys in the truck know that he was with them even if he couldn't make it to the fire.  In return, the men would sound their horn in honor of Smokestack.

Guy with one of the many articles that were done over the years talking about the life of Arthur Hardy and the museum that Guy maintains.  

Guy and I in front of his home that doubles as the Arthur P. Hardy "Smokestack" Hardy Fire Museum.  











A few years after Arthur's death, the fire station in his old neighborhood was named after him.  I had called ahead of time to confirm that it would be okay if we stopped in and took a few photographs. As usual, the firefighters were gracious and welcoming. 

The only real 'official' piece of memorabilia was this plaque.  It was given that in honor of 30 years of service to the citizens of Baltimore.  Interestingly, it names Delmar Davis as the President of the SHC Fire Buff Club; Guy Cephas as the Vice President and Phyllis Purnell as the Executive Director.  I had planned a visit with Mrs. Purnell, but we were unable to make that happen while I was there; so we will speak on the phone soon.

Inside the garage were bright and gleaming 'wagons' as the fire crew called them.  Just as we were taking this photograph, a call came in over the speaker.  Smokestack rode on engine 13 most of his career with the department.   As we were taking some last photos of the front of the building, the door rolled up and out came truck 13 with sirens blaring and lights flashing.  It was almost as if Smokestack were saying 'hello' from somewhere beyond.

Our next stop was the Maryland Fire Museum.  I was excited to make this visit because I had heard so much about the museum.  They are known around the country as one of the top facilities. They must have several million dollars in equipment alone.  We were thrilled to learn that the director was a classmate of my friend Jim Tingey at Northwestern.  In fact, they graduated at the same time.  In addition to getting to speak with the director and the historian, we got a behind the scenes tour of the 'Fire Alarm' exhibit by the electrician who brought the exhibit to life.  He managed to connect the fire alarm equipment from the very first to present day devices.  He had just finished and so was very excited to be able to walk us through it step by step.  An hour later, we walked away stunned at the beauty of the system.  

 This display is a mock up of the 'communication' center that was a part of all the fire houses in Maryland.  It looks strikingly similar to the one in the Fire Buff Club photo above. 

We walked through this gorgeous museum noting the fact that it covered the history of the fire fighting in America from the earliest days to the the present.  This is the oldest piece of fire fighting equipment.  Notice it is painted 'pumpkin.'  Apparently that was the color of the original equipment.  It is a manual pumper engine.  The black handles folded down and then were pumped by hand.

These are some of the leather buckets that were used in early fire fighting.  In small towns, each house had at least one bucket.  When the alarm was sounded, the buckets were tossed out the window to the boys who were sounding the alarms and ringing the bells.  The boys and other volunteers would then run to the wells, creeks, rivers, etc. and fill the buckets.  Finally, the buckets were emptied into the pumper wagon that was used to spray the fire.

A model of one of the early steam engines.  Like the originals, nearly all the metal pieces were brilliantly polished brass.  I could not get over how perfect each of the pieces on display were.  If it was metal, it was buffed to a gorgeous shine.

We finished off this momentous day with a delicious seafood dinner at a local restaurant that was one of Jim's favorites.

That will do it for the first 'big' day of this trip.