IT's about F'ing time!

[speeddemon]

Re: Thanks So Much!

Remind me to tell you about the story of "Z" smarting off to a cop and getting handcuffed to the fence, while supporting Don Moody, in the Zeuschel-Moody-Fuller days. Moody wished they left him cuffed to the fence by the end of the day.

Is that similar to when Gary put Precious Metal up for sale in Trade-a-Plane and in small print it offered a discout if the buyer took Ralph with the plane?

I'm sure if nothing else, the cop learned a few choice words from Z that afternoon.....

[440_Magnum]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

Check out the photo of Dave Zeuschel here in the white button-down...!

http://gassermadness.com/arteaga/BigJohnCrew-Zeuschel.jpg

...and here...

http://cacklefest.com/images/Picture-544.jpg

It comes from this page that has cool pix of Dave with dragster across USA:

http://cacklefest.com/Barnstormer.shtml

Seeing Dave in the old-school "bowling shirts" is awesome!

I didn't really expect reading AAFO this morning to lead me to an interesting article on one of the great 392-powered dragsters.... but dang, how cool is THAT?!?

Thanks for the link and more on Dave Z. You know for 30 years I've been ashamed that my first car was a Ford Ranchero... but this thread changes everything! Well, not really- mine lacked the benefit of a) a big block, b) a Zeuschel big block, and c) even with a nice smallblock was still a rode-hard-and-put-away-wet heap. Even though I've got a Mopar stable now, I still lust after '69 and '70 Torinos...

[goglidegood]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

This has been fun posting this week, Denise. I hope you know I meant what I said about keeping Dave in our hearts. Remembrance is a celebration of life, always.

Here's where Dave saw a good use for me:

Photography was cemented my staying with the guys: even gruff Joe Kasparoff looked at an 11"x14" photo of his P-51 The Healer that I shot and he said: “That’s a bitchen picture, George!”

When Dave painted his 1972 Ford Ranchero that amazing orange with yellow piping and pinstriping, it was just awesome and I shot photos of it on the Minolta SLR and got them to the 1-hour photo that same day: my first-ever usage of the "new-fangled" 1-hour photo which was just appearing as a fad like frozen yogurt ... ah, the mid-1980s! I gave the photos to Dave and he was pleased.

When Dave asked me to take photos of Stiletto's first flight, I didn’t have to think twice. I even borrowed an autowinder from my cousin and went to town.

More stories soon! One more later today.

Denise and John and Speed -- let's meet for lunch some time...

-George

[goglidegood]

Dave vs. The Fuzz

...Remind me to tell you about the story of "Z" smarting off to a cop and getting handcuffed to the fence...

Do you all remember Dave's running comedy show with his antagonist, VNY Airport cop Officer Lyles...?!!

It was like watching Mayberry or Sherriff Roscoe P. Coltrane in the Valley...

Dave even wanted me to smart off on Lyles...

But there was never any malice or true ill-will. Just funny comments from Dave. And a dead-on impersonation of the good-old-boy drawl.

Officer Lyles!!!

Denise, that's great that your boys have inherited Dave's wit. Isn't it funny how those things can surface in later generations? Progeny...!

-George

[speeddemon]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

Thought you might enjoy this, George.

I'm SURE that Denise has seen it...probably a ton of them lying around the workshop when it was being cleaned out.

Shortly before the accident, I wrote Dave and asked him if he had any of these pictures left. I remembered him selling them to raise money for Jeannie back in the early '80's (that's him in the cockpit...and I believe it is shortly before the "Great Cornfield Incident"...from the font of the "a" in Jeannie, which changed from '79 to '80....but it still has the Miss Candace scoop in it that was destroyed in the landing), but like YOU, I was just a teenager. Money was tight. Good thing friendships were free, you know? So anyhow, I had written Dave and asked if he had any of the old Jeannie pics around that he could sign and send me. He wrote me back and said something about that it was nice that 'nerds like you still remember the old girl'. BUT HE DIDN'T SIGN IT, which doubly bummed-me, because a friend called and told me about the accident only a week or two after I got the photo from him. Still have the letter though. One of the few letters I saved from over the years.

Brad

[goglidegood]

Re: Thanks So Much!

I have a funny story that I remember...........Dad was test flying Jeannie at Van Nuys and he had to belly it in at the corn fields at the end of the runway. I heard his response was "What took you a--holes so long to come get me!" He also wanted us to bring bags for all the corn he said he just bought. Later that evening they towed Jeannie back to the air port down the street, we passed a bar and there was a drunk outside that pointed at the plane and said" Ahhh, the airport is that way" as he pointed in every direction. Dad yelled out "Thanks goomba" and off we went.

Denise-

I have told the Jeannie belly-landing story for years. I embellish it just a little to give a touch more Daveness...

The way I say it is that Dave just got the gear up in Jeannie and is on climbout when the engine goes “quit” and he steers toward the fields off the south end of Van Nuys 16R. As you recall, “Apollo 11 Field” is there – the remote control and control line flying aircraft model airpark.

I have Dave sliding up in the world’s fastest most and highly-polished P-51 as these RC guys are holding their multi-channel radios and looking at the boxes in their hands and at this Mustang sliding up to them and back at their controllers.

I have a feeling the story is not that far off the mark...

So that you might have an idea of your dad’s flight history, Denise, I think he learned in Cessna 170s or 172s and then flew T-6s before Mustangs, as I recall him telling me. A logical progression.

Do you guys know the story about when Dave when to get his “unlimited” piston waiver in a P-47?

Okay, I have to add this one in.

Dave would be working away in the hangar, and when the inevitable time to pass gas happened, he would announce it with its name, converting the action from a verb into its identity as noun.

So, when Dave belched one time he said: “-burp!-”

And when he let one rip it was “-fart!-”

I recall him saying it like “fa-aart” but still sounding clipped, much like the body sound he released. And precision-clipped like Stiletto's wings.

-George

[goglidegood]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

Brad-

Thank you very much for sharing that photo. I appreciate it. I remember it well, but I don't recall if I have any.

You are right – I forgot about the fundraising aspect of that photo. Michael O'Leary was selling those in a running ad through Air Classics as the "World's Most Beautiful P-51 Mustang." That is indeed Mr. Z flying as you know.

Jeannie and Stiletto are my personal faves of air-racers. They are Zeuschel all the way.

That’s really cool that you got in touch with Dave then, too. If you think about it, there must have been a lot of us, but I know for myself that I always felt that I was the only kid allowed on the ramp.

-George

[BellCobraIV]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

Brad,
Dwight has always enjoyed ribbing my round motor background by saying that "Slack finally found out that round motors are square", With Zeuschel he used to tell me that "hot water toilets are best", on my Jeannie picture that is what it say "Hot Water Toilets are Best!" Dave Zeuschel. Below that it says "Ditto!" Skip Holm. I love that picture and it is the second best picture ever taken of Jeannie. the best picture is the one Neal Nurmi took at sundown. OH' Neal, cue the shot.

John Slack

[jarrodeu]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

Great picture Brad! Thanks for posting it.

Jarrod

[zeusbear]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

Thank you Brad for that great picture you posted. Yes I had seen that one many,many,many times. In fact my best friend in school told Dad when she was at out house and he brought them home to show us, "Oh, Mr. Zeuschel you look hot!" I looked at my Dad and started laughing. From them on everytime she was at our house he would ask her "Debbie how did I look in that picture?"
If any of you have pictures you have and can share them with my brother and I, we would be happy to pay to have them copied. When Dad died we only got a few of his huge photo collection. So any thing we can get copied is so special to us.
Thanks again, George is right this has been a fun week of memories.
Take Care Denise

[goglidegood]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

Denise and all-

Feel free to write me offline at goglidegood@yahoo.com.

I have it in mind that when I find the boxes and boxes of photos (I shot a lot of B&W and printed it all up myself) I'll get it all to you.

Thanks for sharing your dad with us, Denise and Dave.

-George

[goglidegood]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

Denise-

Luckily lots of us shot photos. Stupidly and like a kid, I shot mostly airplanes. But I do have some photos of the people then ... including a hilarious one I shot of a mustachioed Matt Jackson flying a Cox control line model at Camarillo Airport. I know I have at least one or two of your father.

In my mind's eye, I believe he is sincerely smiling in one.

-George

[wingman]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

John -- I know the shot you're thinking of, but you'll have to settle for this one first, because I found it first.

The other great Zeuschel project:

[wingman]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

From the same sunset

[Race5]

Re: IT's about F'ing time!

That second shot is AMAZING. Thanks Wingman!