PIETENPOL

A DAY WITH PETE N’ PAUL
Air-to-air shoot of two Pietenpols
Serpentine airfield, Western Australia 2014

My long-term aviator friend Werner, suggested that we go down to Serpentine airfield on the weekend and try and do a formation shoot with Pete and Paul. I thought okay, don’t know who they are, but knowing Werner, it’s bound to be fun. For some reason I imagined they were a couple of Canadian aviators, maybe singers as well, so I figured that after the shoot there may be a BBQ and a sing along, that’s the path my mind was going anyway. I should have clarified this with Werner but I figured well it’s going to be fun. All I knew was that Pete and Paul had some link with Bert Filippi, who owned a collection of classic aircraft at Serpentine, part of the SPAC. Again I figured that these guys had an aeroplane that Werner and Bert wanted to fly with. Werner also said that Graham Hewitt would be there as well, so Graham knew Pete and Paul as well?. I knew Graham from a few years ago when I photographed him in his RV6, for my book “Beneath Southern Skies’. But then, Graham was about 70 at the time, so that would make him …… mmm somewhat older. Okay so he’s probably going to watch something.

I arrived at Jandakot to a clear winters day with hardly any cloud, though a front would be coming in that night, so we had to be back at Jandakot by 1700. I would fly down with Bert in his Tiger Moth ‘Lady Caroline’, whilst Werner would go with his partner Gail, in her lovely Cessna 170 for the 20 minute flight south to Serpentine. Where were all these planes coming from I thought? and everytime I was about to clarify who Pete and Paul were, something else cropped up. During the course of the day it seemed there were two Pete and Paul’s involved, so I was now really confused. Bert casually mentioned in hushed tones that Pete and Paul were very rare. Often it seems that if you are confused about something, and it’s not really an issue, there comes a point where it’s just too embarrassing to ask what it’s all about, that’s where I was on the flight down. So I busied myself with my camera settings, changed lenses and took a few shots of Gail and Werner in the Cessna 152.

The flight down was easy, it was very nice to be back in a Tiger again. I knew also that it was not going to be easy to shoot from this lovely old aircraft, unless I was in the back facing aft!

Serpentine came into view and we came in after the 152, and rolled up to Bert’s hangar where we were greeted by Grahams wife Robin seated in chair in the shade. Bert was into action at once, the hangar doors opened up to reveal his collection of exotic machines. A Sopwith Pup, a German and Japanese Bucher Jungmann, a French Nord, and a little red thing that looked like a toy. Overhead something else was busily flying like a bee around the airfield. The tiny blue and red bee came into land, rolled up to the hangar and out stepped 81 year old Graham! It seems that the bee was a homebuilt aircraft, and Graham had just spent the last seven years building her. To me it looked very similar to Bert’s little red one in the hangar

Bert’s red one which was now out of the hangar and was busily being shampooed and cleaned by a small army of people that had suddenly appeared. I casually looked at the little engine of Bert’s one, a Ford Model T! Wow this must be old. Werner said it was built in 1932. A light bulb began to glow somewhere inside me. Mmm, better look for the name plate. Ah yes there on the side. What’s that ‘Pietenpol’? Oh gawd! Penny drops.

The pieces of the puzzle fell into place. So there was to be no sing along at the BBQ with Pete and Paul, minus a Mary. This little red thing was one part of the equation, and Grahams blue and red one was the other. So I guess in a way they were Pete and Paul. So this was the event, an A2A photo shoot of these two little Pietenpol home-builts.

For those like me who had no idea what these aircraft were, here is some background from Google’s Wikipedia.

The Pietenpol Air Camper was designed to be built of spruce and plywood. One of Pietenpol’s goals was to create a plane that was affordable and easy to construct for Home builders. Building an Air Camper requires basic woodworking skills and tools. Builders also need to fabricate some metal fittings to attach the wooden parts together. Some welding is required. The plans for the Pietenpol Aircamper were originally published in a four-part serial in the “Flying and Glider” Manual of 1932-33. The original model was flown using an Ace four cylinder water-cooled engine. The Model A Ford engine later became the standard powerplant used. Other engines have also been used including the Ford Model T, Ford V8, Velie, Kinner, Lycoming, Franklin, Continental and Chevrolet Corvair. The Pietenpol Sky Scout (Bert’s single seater) is a parasol wing homebuilt aircraft designed by Bernard H. Pietenpol in 1933. The Sky Scout was a lower cost follow-on to the Pietenpol’s first homebuilt design, the Pietenpol Air Camper (Graham’s two seater). Using a lower cost Ford Model T engine, rather than the more current Ford Model A engine of the time. The aircraft was redesigned for the heavier, lower power engine by reducing it to a single person aircraft. The new pilot location required a section called a “flop” to be installed, essentially a section of the wing that was hinged up to allow the pilot to stand up when getting into and out of the aircraft.
The drawings were published in the 1933 Mechanix Illustrated magazine.

So it appears that Bert’s Sky Scout is a very rare bird indeed, as it is the actual original No2 aircraft built by Bernard Pietenpol all those years ago, and it is still flying. How it ever left the US is incredible and is another story in itself. But this now priceless piece of aviation history is alive and well in old Western Australia.

THE AIR TO AIR SORTIE

I tried crouching in the Tiger facing aft, just to see if I could shoot from it, but with no way to stop me falling out, it was considered a no-go (I would have, you know, just for the shot!). In the end we found that the door could be easily removed from the C170. With me straddling the right hand seat and facing aft, I had a perfect shooting position to get those hard-to-get three quarter head-on shots. The idea was that we would meet upstairs with Bert and Graham and formate on Bert first, then Graham on his own, all the while keeping radio communication. That was the plan anyway. Once upstairs of course, the things that you have not allowed for, even though you have thought about it, do happen. Grahams radio cut out, so that was it, the plan fell to pieces. With no communication, Graham pulled away and decided to land. Bert came alongside and Werner got us very close with some amazing side-slips that I never knew a Cessna could do. The two aircraft did the normal aerial ballet in the slightly turbulent air, with each trying to get into the agreed 4 O’Clock postion. The open door of the Cessna gave a magical view of the world outside, and both Werner and I could pretty much keep an eye on where Peter and Paul were at any one time.

After a good 30 minutes in the air it was time to land, regroup and have a cup of tea, cake and sandwiches, graciously prepared by Robin and Carol. The predicted front looked like it was approaching as the sky was darkening. So we decided to do one more sortie, this time with a repaired radio, plus a ‘dirt dive’ on the ground to work out how we were going to formate in the air. We stood behind the Cessna in its 4 O’clock position at the right distance, and decided that this would be the plan. It worked perfectly, with Bert locking on to our 4 O’clock and pointing his nose directly at us. Graham did the same and the results are exactly what we all wanted. The saving grace with the overcast sky was that when I had the earth as the background rather than the sky, there was only minimal shadows, so very little contrast. This always looks great with a telephoto lens and helped to delineate the aircraft very well. With the front gaining in intensity and the sky darkening, we decided to head for home. As we approached Perth, the sun just managed to find a clear space just on the horizon over Fremantle. The all round view from the 170’s front screen was pretty amazing and I could appreciate why Gail loved her machine.

Looking out from the 170 over to the Tiger, the spectacle was just perfect. The golden sun illuminating the clouds, whilst silhouetting this classic aircraft and reflecting on the River and ocean, really made me appreciate just what a privilege this aerial perspective really is. To me it was a perfect end to a perfect photo shoot. Having fun on the weekend with classic aeroplanes, making new friends, getting introduced to Peter and Paul! and working with some very passionate and talented aviators. Nothing much beats that.

Jon Davison

Grateful thanks to Werner, Bert, Graham, Gail, Carol, Robin and Steve.