There’s one kind of phone call I always love to
receive. On the other end of the line is
a good friend with great news. And
although they almost always try to conceal it, the excitement in their voice
can never be fully constrained. Those
are truly special moments. Two days ago
was the latest.
When you watch an aircraft project begin, often it is hard
to imagine the finished product. For
something like a Jenny, the problem always lies with fully grasping how many
man hours will be required. You look at
fragments of wood, bent and broken metal, and think, “an army of talented men
would take 20 years”. But it’s never
really that bad and somewhere around year 19 ½, you get the call, “We flew the
Jenny today”, and you think, “Wow, that was much quicker than I expected”.
Soon after you learn such news, you too begin to get excited. In your mind, far away you see your friends
accomplishing what was most likely a lifetime dream and you can’t help but
smile. There on that patch of grass a
group of people stood marking time, kicking at the unseen objects, pacing in circles,
and making small talk. Everyone was
nervous but none were willing to show it; all of them wanting to help but few
knowing how. It’s not every day you get
to see a vision develop into an experience of the senses. Therefore, it’s not uncommon for spectators
to be more excited than the builders whose minds are far more concerned with
everything going well. Only afterwards when the final cylinder has fired, the first flights have been made, and she’s
sitting there silent on the grass do the owners begin to get giddy. And in your mind, all those miles away, you
can see the smile sweeping across their face.
It’s a great experience and you weren’t even there.
 |
| This Hisso Jenny will be based at Peach State Aerodrome. |
Such is the allure of an old stringbag. Demanding craftsmanship, skill, and the
concerted efforts of many, machines like this Jenny bring people together in ways
they never thought possible and leave them with some forgotten part of
their soul reignited.
Congratulations go out to Brian Karli and Ron
Alexander on the first flight(s) of their “Hisso Jenny”. It’s about time our geographic area of the
country (South of Pennsylvania and East of Texas) got such a plane and to
know this one was built to fly as often as possible makes it that much more
exciting. Thanks for seeing it through.
Below are some videos from the day of the first flight:
*And here is a link to Brian's blog about the restoration. This has been one of the better rebuild blogs I've followed. Check it out.
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