In a Biplane Over the Salt Marsh

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The early days of aviation have always had a special place in my heart. Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart are all names that evoke images of adventure and glamour in my mind. They and other aviation pioneers pushed the bounds of what was considered possible and, with the help of their amazing flying machines, ushered in a new age. The planes of the era were simple machines that defied all of the rules that had kept humanity on the ground. I have always loved the graceful lines and the throaty rumble of the early planes and I have always wanted to soar through the sky in an open cockpit plane.



It was my love of the old planes and our insatiable sense of adventure that forced us off of the bike path. We leaned our rented bicycles against a tree and we walked up to the fence that separated us from the gleaming blue and yellow beauty that sat on the other side. A sign leaning against the fence said, “Biplane Rides.” A lady sitting in the shade of a pop-up tent on the other side of the fence told us about the flights and the costs and we quickly signed up. It was a beautiful day on Jekyll Island. The sun was bright and warm and we were going flying.



We sat in the shade beside the tarmac waiting for our plane to arrive. We heard the rumble well before we saw it. Looking past the end of the runway, we watched as a beautiful biplane materialized beyond the trees and approached. It was flying low and fast and it was clear that it wasn’t quite ready to land. It buzzed the runway less than one hundred feet above the surface and then climbed sharply, banking over a stand of live oaks and out over the salt marshes. A few moments later the pilot was lined up again. The lovely red and yellow biplane landed and taxied past us, stopping beside the beautiful blue and yellow biplane that had prompted us to stop. Once the propeller had stopped spinning the lady in the tent waved us over.



They gave us a quick introduction to the plane and our route and then told us what to do and what not to do while we were airborne. We climbed up a small stepladder and grabbed a handle that was built into the upper wing and we lowered ourselves into the front, two-person cockpit. They got us buckled in and then they pointed out a few things around us. There were the two pedals on the floor that controlled the rudder – We were told that bad things could happen if we accidentally hit them. There was also the fuel valve and a bundle of control cables that could be damaged if I hit them too hard with my knee. They pointed out the gauges and explained the one-way radio system. We donned our old-fashion aviator helmets and goggles and then we got settled in for our ride back in time. While they got the plane ready to fly I took in how the plane had been built. The fuselage was a tubular steel frame that was covered with thick, durable cloth that was smoothed out with a thick coat of paint – I knew that the early planes were made that way to lessen the weight, but I had never seen it up close. The lower of the two wings was mounted directly to the fuselage and the upper wing, which covered most of our cockpit, was attached to the lower one with several struts and cables. The single radial engine was mounted directly in front of us beneath a thick aluminum cowling. The plane was beautiful!



The pilot climbed into the rear cockpit and did a com-check and then he told us to sit back and enjoy the ride. The mirror-polished propeller started spinning slowly accompanied by the whine of the starter. The seven-cylinder, 220 horsepower radial engine came to life with a throaty rumble and the propeller disappeared in a blur. Our pilot taxied the 1941 Waco biplane to the end of the runway, lined up on the center line, and throttled up. The idling rumble disappeared as the engine roared to life and the plane shot down the runway. We felt the tail of the plane come up first and then the runway fell away. We were airborne!



Once the pilot got us to our cruise altitude of around seven hundred feet he slowed the engine back down to a rumble as he directed us south along the riverside coast of the island. We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves. The windshield blocked most of the wind, but it still made its way into the cockpit and pleasantly buffeted us. The huge radial engine shook the plane and filled the air around us with the slightly sweet exhaust fumes that often accompanied aviation fuel. At times it was overwhelming, but it added to the experience. Our flight path took us south past the Jekyll Island Club hotel and all of the historic cottages from the island’s aristocratic past. From there we continued along the coast until we reached the channel that separated us from Cumberland Island to the south and then the pilot banked hard and started following the Atlantic coast north. We were flying over the ocean just off of the beach. We took in the wonderful views of the island while we scanned the surf for interesting things. At times we could see our shadow in the waves giving us an amazing perspective. We passed over the Villas by the Sea, our usual residence on Jekyll Island and then we flew above the amazing Driftwood Beach and its skeletal forest. A moment later we left Jekyll behind us and crossed over the Saint Simons Sound to Saint Simons Island. We flew high above the magnificent St. Simons lighthouse and then the King and Prince Hotel, where we had stayed a few months before. We continued flying north until the beach ended and then the pilot took us up and stalled us over the shallow surf at the north end of St. Simons’ beaches – I had done a lot of walking there, so it was amazing to see the extent of the sandbars from the air.



We turned south and flew back down the coast. We spent some time marveling at our sweeping view of the salt marshes on the north end of Jekyll Island. We admired the contrast between the tidal creek that snaked its way through the marsh with big, sweeping bends and the bike path that ran straight as an arrow along one edge – It was one of our favorite places to ride on Jekyll. The pilot lined us up with the runway and then we came in low and fast and did our own exciting flyby. It had seemed like we were barely moving when we were at our cruising altitude, but when we were close to the ground it felt shockingly fast! We reached the end of the runway and pulled up hard and banked over the live oaks and flew out over the salt marsh one last time. The pilot lined us up a second time and we gently touched down on the short little runway at the edge of the marsh, ending our journey through aviation history.





Feeling the wind on my face and the rumble of the huge radial engine of an old biplane had always been a dream of mine. And it was clear that the flight had channeled Maria’s inner Earhart, an aviator that she admired. Our flight lasted twenty minutes, but it seemed so much longer. We were not sure what it would be like flying in an open cockpit plane. Maria had actually taken a flying lesson years before, but she hadn’t like the claustrophobic feel of the tiny, enclosed cabin of the Cessna she had flown. She didn’t feel any of that closed in feeling in the Waco. There was something amazing about having nothing but sky above our heads as we flew high above the marshes – For me it was a feeling of absolute freedom, much like the feeling of driving a convertible with the top down. We thanked our pilot and we took a few pictures of the two planes and then we went and sat in the shade and watched as the beautiful seventy-one year old Waco biplane took its next passenger on her whirlwind journey back to the glamorous age of aviation’s golden years. We said farewell to the lovely red and yellow Waco as the pilot did one more high-speed flyby and then we got back on our blue bicycles and continued down the path beneath the live oaks and Spanish moss with dreams of piloting our own biplane flying through our heads.

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Comments

[Dancing Dave]

Sunset
Brilliant sunset

[Dancing Dave]

The aviators
No wonder you are smiling from ear to ear...a 1941 Waco biplane...open cockpit...painted like a celebration...wind in your faces if you dare...brilliant!