The Acquisition of 110 Let's Fly
by Donna Holaway, ICS # 00029     Past Executive Secretary, CFF

Where do I begin to write about a dream that my departed husband, Jack Holaway, ICS # 00029, had so many years ago? Jack was one of the charter members of the Society, and very interested in the organization of Comanche owners. He always remarked "Comanches let the very finest people fly them."

Jack often wondered what had become of Max Conrad's famous airplane, the one that set records which still stand to this day. Time went on, and, when Jack was elected President of the Society, he wrote an article in the May 1981 "Comanche Flyer" in which he said, "Last I heard, Max Conrad's record setting Comanche was sitting at Lock Haven, PA with no engine, prop, etc. I would like ideas of how we might acquire this airplane, restore it, and display it. Let me know on this one. It will surely have to be a joint effort for all of us to get into in terms of time and money".

The challenge had been offered to the members and the story of 110 Let's Fly had begun. Upon researching past issues of the magazine I found that in August of 1975 Max Conrad was guest speaker at the Dayton, Ohio Fly-In. He spoke about his experiences while flying the plane we all loved and at this time our first President and founder of the Society, Andy Speer, ICS # 000 2, presented Max with an honorary membership in the Comanche Society. Max was issued ICS # 0687 and the picture was on the cover of the January 1980 "Comanche Flyer".

At this same meeting he brought along his biography, "Into the Wind", written by Sally Buegeleisen. I cherish my copy of this book which is signed, "To Jack & Donna, "LET'S FLY." This biography can still be purchased through the Comanche Foundation and I certainly recommend all members to purchase and read it, especially since the Comanche Foundation now owns this historic airplane.

From the fall of 1981 until 1984, Jack served as President of the Comanche Flyer Foundation. Because of the interest expressed by the Board of Directors of the Foundation and others in the society, it was agreed that we should try to locate this famous airplane. If this could be done, we hoped the owner would be interested in selling it to the Foundation so it could be preserved for history. Jack was asked to pursue this challenge.

After many attempts to locate the plane, it was finally found and belonged to a Mr. Amos Babb. Mr. Babb was a cousin of Max's and the plane was in Chicago, Illinois. To further complicate the negotiation, Mr. Babb had done a great deal of preliminary work with Howard Gregory of Des Moines Flying Service towards securing a place for N110LF in the Smithsonian Institute. However, the Smithsonian had indicated that N110LF could not be displayed until space was available so Mr. Gregory, Jack and Mr. Babb worked toward another solution.

Jack told of the Comanche Foundation's offer to buy N110LF. Mr. Gregory suggested we contact Piper Aircraft and tell them of our plans. Jack was able to get permission, and Piper sent the files concerning Max Conrad and Piper Aircraft. These priceless documents included publicity photos, letters between Max and Piper, folders for the record setting flights and much more. Jack turned over all of these important papers and information and they now are safely housed with the Foundation papers.

The project to restore N110LF was gaining momentum. An article was printed in the October 1986 Flyer with a brief history and a challenge to the Foundation asking the members of the Society to spearhead the financing of such a project. Challenges included purchasing the plane, making it air worthy, and finding a permanent location to preserve it for history. It was a complicated project. Jack and I were fortunate to have Mr. Babb fly N110LF into Grant, NE while Mr. Babb was retracing Max Conrad's journey by landing in every state in the union. Jack looked at the plane and saw it was indeed in need of Tender Loving Care. He became more determined to make the effort to buy N110LF immediately.

After many months of horse trading between Jack and Mr. Babb, the price was agreed upon. The Comanche Foundation, which is the charitable arm of the International Comanche Society, would purchase the plane and a $5,000.00 down payment was made. This important event was displayed on the cover of the November 1987 Flyer when N110LF was finally sold by Amos Babb. The plane was delivered to the airport at Gibson City, Illinois on September 6, 1987. The great day had finally arrived, but more problems were to follow.

On final approach to the airport, Mr. Babb landed N110 LF -- but unfortunately --wheels up. New negotiations immediately followed and the price of the plane was adjusted considerably because of the damage. Now this historic airplane belonged to the Foundation. Mission accomplished. Even in its sad state of appearance, it was a joyful ending to many years of negotiations.

With Jack's mission accomplished, he put the wounded bird into the capable hands of Dick Schertz, ICS # 02507, for repair, maintenance and restoration. It was a job well done. However, in a sad sequel to this saga, Amos Babb was killed in a rented aircraft while making an ILS approach into Williamsport, PA. just a week later.

Now with the loyal support and financial assistance of the membership of ICS, N110 LF would be restored and would fly again. Dick Schertz was now in charge of the restoration of the plane and he will write Part II of the acquisition story.

PART II

What did it take to convince large numbers of civilians that small, light aircraft were reliable enough to own and use for personal travel and business? It took Max Conrad, Piper Aircraft, and that great neat, "bring-em home again" Piper Comanche N110LF to prove this theory.

Max proved 3 times that N110LF would not fail even with continuous running of 58½ hours over ocean or land. People understood that N110LF, picked at random off the assembly line at Piper's factory in Lock Haven, PA, was indeed a change from the days of unreliable engines and aircraft. Now you could buy these same airplanes and safely use them like any other mode of transportation.

Finding and restoring N110 LF was indeed a rather intense and difficult procedure. Jack Holaway, one time president of the Comanche Flyer Foundation and an ardent admirer of Max Conrad, insisted that this would be possible and indeed should be done by CFF. Jack located the plane in Chicago, IL. It was owned at that time by Amos Babb, Max's cousin. Amos had not maintained the airplane and it showed.

While landing the airplane at Gibson City, IL, Amos made a nice approach but didn't extend the gear before landing. The airplane floated half way down the runway because without the gear down there is not nearly enough drag (I read that somewhere). The result was the sickening sound of sudden engine stoppage and a gash in the runway as poor N110LF skidded to a stop on its belly.

The CRS Flying Service crew brought a tractor with a loader to pick up the crippled aircraft. Since he weighed the least, grandson Jim Noellsch was selected to climb into the suspended airplane. As instructed, he turned on the master switch and placed the gear selector in the down position.... voila down came the gear minus the gear doors. (We later determined that this was number seven in the gear- up landing history of good old N110LF).

The price of the airplane had been agreed upon earlier, only that was without the stipulation of making gear-ups at delivery. Amos agreed to pay for the damage and was given a down payment. Now things became even more complicated.  When Amos was ferried via Jack May to Beardstown, IL, a week later Amos's death in a rented aircraft threw the whole acquisition deal into one great big legal bucket of worms.

Amos's brother, a lawyer who lived in California, was the executor of his estate.. He hired a lawyer from Chicago to oversee the mess and a nephew was the beneficiary of the airplane. One year later everyone decided that donating the aircraft to the Comanche Flyer Foundation was much less expensive than dealing with Dick Schertz and his charges to repair the airplane if they didn't want to donate it.

Now it was possible to begin work on the airplane in earnest. "In earnest" meant scrounging and making do, travel, phone calls, and trips to the Piper Aircraft Factory in Vero Beach, FL. It became evident what poor maintenance had been done on poor N110LF when, upon removal of the floor boards, we found that some wing attachment bolts were missing entirely and those that were in place were loose. All skin rivet holes were enlarged and had to have doublers used in order to replace rivets. This was the second set of wings for this plane. Without the donation of parts, money and moral support from all over the country, we could never have accomplished the restoration.

Jack's contribution to the society and to the further growth of this project was short when he had to undergo a second heart by-pass surgery and passed away on April 27, 1989. On April 30, 1989 I received a letter from President of ICS, Jim Fox, saying the executive committee had approved a Memorial to the Comanche Foundation in Jack's name.

When Maurice Feltz, Chairman of the Fund raising Committee of the Flyer Foundation was asked why a Jack A. Holaway Memorial Fund? His response was  Jack was not only a good friend, I never knew anyone who didn't like him. He was one of the best- respected Presidents we have had. He was a good President, and he put in his time as ICS member, Mid States Tribe Chief and ICS Vice President. After his term was completed, he still wanted something to do and he became President of the Flyer Foundation from 1981 through 1984 and then was elected Executive Director of the Society."

The original idea for N110LF, Max Conrad's plane, was not Jack's but if it were not for his pushing and his hard work we would not have the airplane today. Although others have worked on this project in the past two years, there would not be a project at all if it were not for Jack. Thus, the Memorial Fund was originated and all money collected would be designated to be used for the completion of the N110LF project. An accounting of this memorial for Jack for N110LF showed totals of $10,029.00 that was earmarked for restoration. Over the years, donations from members, the sale of Australian wine, and donations from Annual Meeting and donations from the tribes have enabled this figure to rise to meet the demands of the final restoration and upkeep of the plane. Project N110LF would see completion.

The July-August 1989 Comanche FLYER magazine featured the first use of color for the magazine and a colored picture of Comanche N110LF adorned the cover. This was one of the ideas that Jack and the staff had for improving our magazine. It took a lot of planning and extra effort and the late John Ekman, editor while Jack was Executive Director, deserved much gratitude for what was a most appropriate beginning for the job of restoring this famous airplane.

PART  III

The story continues when the Canadian Tribe of the Society requested permission for N110LF to be flown to Edmonton, Canada for the 1990 Annual Meeting of the Society. I am quoting from an article written by Mike Keedy, the first President of the Comanche Foundation. The title of the article was "110LF Flies to Edmonton". Since fame is fragile and fleeting, it is not too surprising that the memory of the Flying Grandfather, winner of the Harmon Trophy, had faded fast after Max's death in 1979. At the 1990 ICS convention held in Edmonton, Alberta, any question as to "Who is Max Conrad?"  was dispelled. For there in the midst of 189 similar Comanches sat the original history- making N110LF, proudly bearing her achievements painted on her fuselage (like her big brother war birds),. She stood fully restored in her original colors, stealing the spotlight at Edmonton and adding another first to her already colorful career.

Museum pieces command attention and are often awe-inspiring, but they seldom reveal the amount of toil, frustration and expense that went into their acquisition and preparation. So it is with N110LF.

It has been a long fourteen years since that small group of dedicated men sat in Oklahoma City at the 1976 ICS convention discussing the possibility of restoring this veteran of aviation which contributed so much to the Comanche Spirit that flows so strong today. Nobody had any idea where the airplane was or whether it still existed. The Flyer Foundation was only formed that year and there was no such thing as funds to buy a Comanche, not even a toy one.

It was not until 1986 that the CFF had matured enough to get serious about N110LF when it was learned that it indeed was still in one piece and flying. A committee headed by the late Jack Holaway, who had been President of both ICS and CFF, was formed and immediately began raising funds and opened negotiations with the owner of the airplane.

The months of haggling and bartering were almost thwarted when N110LF on her delivery flight to Gibson City, IL was landed GEAR UP. After renegotiation the now downed bird was placed so restoration and repairs could get under way.

Dick and Rosemary Schertz, who own CRS Flying Service in Gibsdon City, were in charge of this massive project, with the cost of the restoration borne mainly by the Jack A. Holaway Memorial Fund of CFF, consisting mostly of monies donated by ICS members for this purpose.

The big question now arose, What to do with this valuable piece of aviation history. The original idea was to place her in a museum where both the memories of Max Conrad and this gallant airplane could be preserved and shared by all.

A display stand telling of Max Conrad and N110LF's feats would tell the story.

On N110LF's journey home, Dick and Rosemary Schertz flew to Winona, Minnesota, the birth place and home of Max Conrad. It was there also, while teaching young people to fly; he coined the motto Let's Fly that is boldly displayed on the cowl of N110LF.

In July 1991 the Foundation announced that N110LF would be flown to the Annual Meeting to be held in San Antonio, Texas. Once again Dick Schertz and Rosemary flew the plane down. The cabin gas tanks were all installed except one. The pilot's seat which was also a gas tank was flown down and installed later as Dick did not want to sit on a gas tank of aluminum with just minimal padding as Max had done on his long flights. The reason for the installation of the tanks was because we felt it was more realistic to have the airplane shown and housed in a museum as it was when the records were made. In looking into the cockpit, you could see that Max had removed half of the upholstery and hardware in order to fit the tanks inside of the cabin. He had also removed anything and everything he could to reduce weight. Then he had to build the tanks to the existing dimensions of the completely exposed cabin.

The left control wheel and shaft also had to be removed. At that time there was no way to have the tanks full of fuel and reach the emergency gear release mechanism. With these improvisions made, N110LF was indeed a special addition to the convention.

One final flight was flying N110LF to her new home in the honored place of the Liberal Kansas Air Museum. The journey that had begun years before was now a reality. True Comanche Spirit had once again proved that all things are possible to those who believe.

There are so many people and institutions that need our special thanks.

This was one project that needed Comanche Spirit and so we thank our members, CRS Flying Service, Dick Schertz, John Schertz, Employees of University of Illinois Institute of Aviation Mechanics, who participated in the often tedious effort to track down maintenance records and parts needed to restore the aircraft to prime flying conditions.

We also send our thanks to Piper Aircraft, Des Moines Flying Service, our Comanche Tribes for their contributions, the Australian Tribe for their wine that was auctioned off at the meetings, and those members who donated things that could be auctioned off using all the money to be dedicated to the restoration of the airplane.

If I have forgotten anyone, please know that this project never could have been done without everyone's contributions.

One final note taken from the Southwest Times newspaper, Liberal, KS dated October 6, 1991. A FAMOUS ACQUISITION AIR MUSEUM LANDS RECORD SETTING PIPER COMANCHE. The Liberal Air Museum has landed the world-record setting Piper Comanche N110LF for indefinite display.

The 1957 plane was flown to the museum Saturday. It is owned by the Comanche Flyer Foundation, Inc., the educational, charitable division of the International Comanche Society based in Grant, Nebraska. It's taken three years to get the Comanche to the Liberal Air Museum, according Keith Knos, president of the Liberal Air Museum Foundation.

Based on the number of calls he's already received about the addition of the Comanche to the Air Museum, Knos said There's no doubt it's going to be a big attraction. The Comanche comes with its own story, making it a valuable aircraft.

The new N110LF emblem patch is now available and can be purchased (see flyer for details). This patch is a photo emblem's which reproduces in complete detail a full color aerial shot of N110LF. It has royal blue binding and red lettering, Let's FLY-Max Conrad's N110LF. It also displays the owner, Comanche Flyer Foundation. It is an outstanding and unique emblem and you'll be proud to wear it on your jacket or hat.

There are still expenses that are being incurred such as insurance and a payment to the museum, so your contributions are still welcome. Remember to earmark your donation "Project 110LF". Together we can say, Thanks for a job well done and a challenge completed.