Good news on the local aviation front! Sealed bids for improvement of the Warsaw Municipal airport were opened Tuesday evening. One was recommended for acceptance.

Bids for the necessary work to make a year-round airport ran from $37,000 to $46,000. Mr. R. W. Brown, of Milford, representing Phend & Brown, contractors, made the low bid of $37,000. Brown, who did a great deal of flying along about World War I days, explained the great difference in the figures by saying that he was interested in seeing the community get a fine airport and had shaved his contract to the minimum.

The $37,000 was more money than the board had to work with so Item No. 6 in the proposal was eliminated, saving $8,000. This amount was for graveling the taxi strips.

The board immediately recommended to the federal district airport engineer that the bid of $29,000 be accepted, placed $3,000 in a contingency fund and set aside $2,000 for engineering costs.

The rest is only routine so that these improvements should all be completed by next spring. Work will commence within a few weeks at the airport. Work will commence within a few weeks at the airport.

To be done: the 2,400-foot north and south runway is to be covered with a six-inch compacted gravel base, then a three-inch penetration coat and a seal coat, making a hard surfaced runway 75-feet wide. All runways are to be ditched and drained with gutters and manholes along the edges to carry off surface water.

A system of taxi-strips is to be graded-in but not graveled, which will take taxiing airplanes off the runways, eliminating danger of collision with aircraft taking off and landing.

The taxi-ways also shorten the distance the planes must travel on the ground in getting around the airport.

This program leaves over not quite enough money to start the administration building, so the funds raised by the Aero club for this purpose were set aside and held. This together with what may be saved from the contingency fund, may enable the board to start the administration building with the next year.

Their feeling, however, was that the first consideration was a good, safe, flyable field first--in which think they are absolutely right.

Warsaw, the second city in the state to qualify under the Federal airport program, will probably be the first in the state to have its airport completed.

Tucker Torpedo
Now it's an aviation "hot-seat." Chick Herendeen was in the office yesterday, complete with neck braces and his usual mischievous disposition. Chick tells this one on Dale Tucker, veteran pilot and instructor at Chick's airport near Mentone.

Some of Tucker's "friends" rewired the ignition on his plane so the spark from plugs traveled devious routes to the pilot's seat of the plane. The path of the current was so devised that Tucker got the current in the end!

Tucker settled himself comfortably in the seat, fastened himself down with the safety belt and started the plane and his electric chair at the same time. As the motor slowly ticked over, Tucker was reported to be one of the most active men ever seen in an airplane cockpit. Held firmly in place by the safety belt, he could do nothing but squirm until he discovered his torture could be ended by shutting off the switch. I can see it now!

Florida Quickie
As the snow and cold moved into Indiana, Bert Anderson and Bill Petro boarded Mr. Anderson's new Stinson last Sunday, flew away to Florida. Freddy Strauss Jr., did the flying. Fred arrived back on Smith Field Tuesday evening, completing the round trip to Fort Lauderdale in the light plane in three days.

Warsaw Daily Times, Wed. Dec. 17, 1947