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In "The Leopard's Prey", Jade flies Sam's biplane - a Jennie (Curtiss JN). I was able to meet with a man who leads a group that restores vintage planes, incuding the Jenny, and see one being restored. Later, I also got to ride in a biplane (Curtiss-Wright Travel Air) and see and hear what Jade might have experienced. Below are some pictures of the Jennie and a short video clip of the TravelAir. |
The Jennie
Ken Hyde is the founder of the Wright Experience. I had the honor of visiting Ken and his dedicated crew at their workshop in Warrenton, Virginia. They are working with the "Discover of Flight Foundation" to rediscover the Wright Brothers' work, reconstruct original Wright Brothers aircraft, and develop a "living classroom".
Ken has also restores Jennies and he was a valuable source of information about the Jennie used in the book. I got to see the innards of a Jennie being restored there and, after a short trip to the Virginia Air Museum, I got to see close-up the Jennie (1917 Curtiss Model JN4-D WW I Military Trainer) that Ken Hyde had restored and flown. Below are a few images of my visit to the workshop and museum.
a Jennie being restored |
a closer look at the plane |
the Jennie military trainer |
the instrument panel and a baseball bat |
Flying in a 1929 Curtiss-Wright Travel Air
Bartlesville, OK was the home to the 2007 Biplane Expo and a fine selection of vintage biplanes. I got to ride in a 1929 Curtiss-Wright Travel Air owned by David Mars of Vintage Air Tours. David was a great pilot and I got see the landscape (of north-central Oklahoma rather than of Africa) in something of the same way that Jade might have seen things in "The Leopard's Prey". A 4 minute video clip of the experience is below (take-off and landing are of other flights of the same plane). The cockpit clips are noisy ... no wonder Jade used hand signals to communicate wth Sam!
rolling out from the hangar, a take-off, |
If you are interested in these planes, you can start with the American Barnstormers Tour.
