In "Plane" Sight

Our friends, Gary and Sherry, suggested that we all go to the Planes of Fame Museum, which was about an hour's drive north of Williams.  The day was overcast and cool, so it was a good day to be inside. 

There are 3 planes outside, but most of them are inside a large hanger in the very teeny, tiny town of Valle that had 832 occupants in 2010.  One thing for sure, there isn't much there, but it is the home of Grand Canyon Valle Airport, the museum, a hotel and a few other businesses.

For the price of $6 each, we got admission plus a free cup of coffee!  Can't beat that for value.

 Gary was checking out one of the planes

while Doris, Sandy and Sherry gazed at another one.  The one below had the nickname of "The Grasshopper" and was first flown in 1945.  They were used for observation and air ambulances.

This odd looking contraption (nicknamed the sweat box) was actually developed in 1934 as a training device.  It taught pilots to fly blind or by instruments only. The instructor sat at the desk who talked to the student through headphones.  The instructor had the ability to induce cross winds, turbulence and make the trainer yaw, pitch and roll, making the student sweat. The student's progress was recorded by the "spider" on the desk, which made a red line on the map.   I thought this was amazing for that time and age.

I had a take a closer look at this plane, since it was covered in heavy canvas and not metal.  It is a British fighter plane used by the Royal Flying Corps during WWI. Anyone in that plane would surely see the action up close.  Those pilots had to be some brave and daring guys.

In addition to the air museum, there was a small group of cars on display at the Grand Canyon Valle Airport.  As the seven of us read about the history of this completely restored 1939 Pontiac Woodie, we realized it belonged at one time to the Walter Douglas Jr. family. It was THE Grand Canyon Airlines Woodie. Walter Douglas had a lot of ties to Flowing Wells, There is a grade school named after him, right across the street from the house I lived in during high school.  His children went to high school with Sherry, Doris, Sandy and me.  None of us ever expected to come across something like this in a relatively obscure location.