[4dFord/SC]

I remember my father telling about his one experience flying a flathead powered a/c around 1941. He was then in training at the Boeing School of Aeronautics (operated by United Airlines) in Oakland, CA. In order to build hours, he would hang around the Oakland airport looking for hops. One day, a man who had just purchased a Ford-powered plane, but didn't know how to fly it, asked Dad to take him up. They took off across the Bay and skimmed the wave tops headed for San Francisco. Dad said it was so underpowered he wasn't sure they would ever gain enough altitude to clear the the buildings on the SF side. He finally got high enough to turn around and head back to Oakland to land. Once was enough for him. He went on to fly for United and then Northwest before retiring in 1974. He never had an accident and liked to say he didn't take those trips.