I’ve often thought I am the luckiest man alive. I am married to a beautiful girl who loves airplanes and is willing to live in our airplane hangar on a busy airport, I have a beautiful Cessna 195 that resides at the bottom of the stairs from our front door and, I live in a country that I can fly that airplane almost anywhere and anytime I chose. Since I have retired (6 months ago), Charmian and I have flown over a hundred hours around the country exercising the privileges of American life to it’s fullest. Retirement is great, as long as the money lasts but, I’ll worry about that later. I had the good fortune to read this bumper sticker soon after I retired.

Since the 2005 Cessna 195 Fly-in at Saratoga, NY, Charmian and I had been planning an elaborate 195 trip for the following year during the 195 fly-in for 2006. The plans for this trip began to take shape after the phone conference when the 195 Club Board of Directors decided to move the fly-in up a week so some members could integrate the Reno Air Race into their plans. The 195 fly-in was now one week after the air races. That made perfect sense to me and we immediately started planning to attend the races. Several of the Cessna 195 Club members also committed to attend the races and we knew this was going to be a good year.

A month before the flight was to commence I read about the National Aviation Heritage Invitational sponsoring several aircraft to be displayed at the Reno Stead airport during the Air Race. I immediately sent them an e-mail and volunteered our Cessna. They accepted our offer and that meant we would have to fly into Stead early in the week and park in the Heritage area. Since aircraft not flying in the races were not allowed into Stead during the event, this would save us having to park at one of the surrounding airports and finding transportation to and from the race everyday.

We arrived Tuesday evening and were welcomed to the show by several volunteers and parked in a temporary spot close to the fuel pumps. The volunteers helped us sort out the details of our transportation needs and handling instructions for the airplane and soon wanted to move the Cessna to the display area for the following week. I’m a little particular how our airplane is handled because of the polished aluminum that Charmian works so hard on but my concerns were put to rest when I watched each volunteer don new white gloves before they approached our beauty. They moved the old girl up to the line and tied her down while a van full of snacks and beer pulled up to take us to the hotel.

Wednesday morning our ride, provided by the Invitational, delivered us back to Stead and we were treated to breakfast and given our free entry passes for the rest of the week. We spent the morning cleaning 66R and completing the final touches for the display while several more show planes taxied up before the days race events started. It was a wonderful week of airplanes, friends and camaraderie. The days passed displaying our 195, wandering around the flight line and pit area, and partying with our 195 friends in the boxes on the flight line that Coyle Schwab had arranged for the Club. All of this time I kept thinking, This is just the first week of our trip!

Friday afternoon Charmian and I were walking behind the grandstands heading from the airplane to the box seats for a little break from the crowd. About half way to the box seats someone taped me on the shoulder and I heard him say, “Excuse me, is that your Cessna 195 back there at the Heritage show?” I’m not shy about admitting to that and I turned around to meet a wonderful gentleman by the name of Harold Wenzelburger from Paso Robles, California. He was up for the Air Show as he has done every year since Reno started and wanted to talk about the Cessna.

We moved to the side of the path and Harold explained that he was in the Air Force from 1948 to 1952 and had been stationed at Ladd AFB, outside of Fairbanks, Alaska as an aviation mechanic. He had wanted to fly in the Air Force but his eye sight had not met the requirements and chose the next best job he could think of. He was assigned to maintain C-47’s and C-54’s but soon heard about an opening at the air Rescue Unit across the field. He volunteered and was selected to join the unit. That’s where he was introduced to the 3 LC-126’s used in the searches over the Alaskan wilderness.

HAROLD WENZELBERGER

Harold related his experiences to Charmian and me:

For the next six months Harold helped maintain the Cessnas and flew on the search and rescue missions. The Cessnas were based in Fairbanks and Anchorage and there was a base in Adak for refueling and service but no aircraft. The Cessna LC-126’s were mostly used for the local searches and the C-47’s and C-54’s for the long range missions. He said the pilots and mechanics loved the 126 for its reliability and ruggedness. Even the coldest of winter nights would not prevent the Cessna from participating in a search and rescue. When the need arose, Harold said the whole of Alaska Territory (thanks Larry) would rally to find a lost airplane. If it was near the Canadian border the Canadian Air Force would send their de Havilland Beavers to help out.

Typically, the LC-126 was used mostly for searching for downed aircraft or lost personnel, the Air Force learned early on that back country landings on rugged terrain was not the best use of this asset. They would use all of the aircraft available to find a lost party and then send the para-rescue teams in to recover the survivors. The rescue team would load up in the C-47 with their dogs and dog sleds and all would parachute out as close to their target as possible. From there they would load up what they could and proceed to a location where they could be recovered. Sometimes this would be a strip suitable for the C-47 or a helicopter. Once, Harold knew of a para-rescue team that had to cut down enough trees for a helicopter to land for the rescue, at night! It’s hard to believe, but Harold told me that the dogs had to be tied up in the airplane as soon as they boarded because they were so eager to jump out. Now, judging from the way our Doberman, Stormy, acts in our 195 I’m not so sure if they were as eager to go parachuting as they were to just get the heck out of the airplane. Imagine what went through those dogs minds when they finally got to exit the airplane and found themselves hanging from a parachute a thousand feet above the Alaskan wilderness.

Maintenance on the LC-126’s was performed every 25, 50, 75 and 100 hours. Very little would go wrong with the Cessnas between the inspections and that was one of the reasons the Air Force loved the airplane so much. While Harold was stationed at Ladd they did lose one airplane which they were unable to recover in a landing accident in the back country. There was also a ground loop incident at Ladd and they were able to repair that aircraft and return it to service. In May they would put one airplane on floats and a couple of weeks later the second. Of course, in the winter the LC’s would have ski’s installed.

When the aircraft first arrived in Alaska they found the Southwind heaters were not up to the job and there always seemed to be some problem with them. The company sent a representative to Alaska to trouble shoot the unit and they worked for months to get the problem resolved. Most of the trouble seemed to occur in extremely cold weather, they found the heater was just jot up to the task. Eventually the heater was redesigned in the lower 48 and the modifications sent to Alaska. They seemed to work satisfactorily after that. Harold stated that Ladd was used as a testing and proving grounds for new equipment to see how they worked in the extreme conditions.

One day word came down about a new LC-126 in the states waiting to be ferried to Ladd for the unit. The plane was in Oklahoma at Tinker AFB undergoing modifications the Air Force felt was needed for use in the North. One of the mods consisted of replacing the rivets in the bottom the fuselage with larger, stronger rivets. Also, the heater was receiving it’s upgrade and when the plane was ready, orders were issued for Captain Roger C. Hammond and Sgt. Harold A. Wenzelburger to bring the plane to Alaska. Harold has been kind enough to send me the original order he received and they are as follows:

J. The folg named officer & airman, USAF, Flt “D”, 10th Air Rescue Sq, ARS-MATS, Ladd AFB, Alaska, APO 731, US Army WP on TDY to OCAMA, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for aprx fifteen (15) Days o/a 24 Oct 51 for purpose of picking up & ferrying LC-126 #49-1999 to this theater. DPUO. TBMAA. CIPAP. TC will furn trans. Commercial air (unreadable) from port of Aerial debarkation to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as contributing to the more efficient accomplishment of the mission. (Joint Tvl Reg). Baggage not to exceed 65 lbs authd for tvl by mil acft, add 25 lbs authd per individual for tvl by (unreadable). Minimum clothing requirements prescribed by AAC ltr 67-18,26 May 50 will be complied with, Upon compl of TDY will ret to proper sta, TDN, 5723400 271-2300 P458 (.6)-os s65-501. Vou for reimbursement will be compl of tvl; paying office will forward paid copy to Budget & Fiscal Div 29th Depot WG, APO 942, US Army. Auth: AAC ltr 35-22, dtd 20 Mar 51; Msg (unreadable) 3-K-288, dtd 15 Oct 51.

I can just imagine 21 year old Sgt. Wenzelburger’s excitement when he received these orders. Even today flying the Alaska Highway is an adventure few of us lower 48 pilots will ever experience. When Harold talks about this flight you can hear the excitement in his animated voice even after 55 years have passed.

Meanwhile back behind the grandstands at the Reno Air Races Harold, Charmian and I exchanged names, phone numbers , and e-mail addresses. We agreed to get in phone contact to sort out a few more details and it is my honor to relate as much of this story to you as I can. Harold sent to me, along with his orders, an itinerary and of his and Capt. Hammond’s adventure and pictures he had taken at Ladd AFB. Incidentally, Harold’s opinion of this fine aircraft is matched only by his high regard of the pilots who flew them. Needless to say, the conditions which these airmen were required to fly are the most demanding in the world and during Harold’s tenure at Ladd AFB the loss of only one airplane is remarkable. Even better than that however, is not one crew member was lost or seriously injured while operating in this environment in the LC-126 during Harold’s tour.

Here is the itinerary sent to me by Sgt. Wenzelburger:

Indeed it must have been quite a trip for those two and thank you, Harold, for sharing your experience with us and thank you for your service to our country. If anyone can track down this LC-126 SN 49-1999 I think Harold would appreciate learning if it is still out there. As I mentioned above, Harold lives in Paso Robles, CA so if any of you Californians out there are inclined to meet a remarkable gentleman who would share your enthusiasm for our remarkable airplanes, please give Harold a call at 805-227-4047. He might just accept an offer to once again sit at the controls of a good old Cessna 195.

Michael D. Larson.