Vern
Well Known Member
Frank English was also a founding member of Chapter 38 in Macon, GA. He encouraged me in aviation since I was about 3 years old.
Frank originally was an automobile dealer in Arkansas. He told the story of his first encounter with a torque wrench while running the auto shop. He said a travelling tool salesman showed up one day trying to sell them a torque wrench. His mechanics all poked fun of the strange tool until a challenge proved them wrong. The saleman had the senior mechanic hand-torque a head on a car engine. Then he applied the torque wrench torque to the head. The old mechanics grudgingly accepted the new-fangled tool and they bought one for the shop after seeing how far off each bolt was from the next when hand torqued. His favorite saying was 'if you ever drop a spark plug once, drop it twice-into the trash!'
Before the USA entered WWII, Frank joined the American Volunteer Group and went to England as a volunteer Spitfire mechanic. Later when the US entered the war, Frank transferred into the US Army Air Corps.
After the war, Frank worked at the USAF Recip engine shops at Warner Robins AFB, GA. I think he eventually was chief of Recip overhaul for the AF. He greatly disliked those stovepipe jet engines!
Frank bought an Ercoupe the month and year I was born-Oct 1950. I grew up helping care for the silver and red trimmed beauty at Herbert Smart airport-now Macon Downtown. Mr English would spend every Saturday at the airport. He would bring bones from the butcher shop for the airport dogs and cookies his wife would bake for the airport bums and kids. He would tinker on the Ercoupe and if it was warm weather,we would wash it and then fly a circle around town to 'dry it.' I remember helping pound out large measuring spoons into small fairings we riveted onto the cowl when he added shielded plugs to the Ercoupe. When I helped him install a new Mark 12 radio, he gave me his old coffee grinder VHT-3.
Later, as a new 2 Lt in the USAF, I rebuilt my 1939 Luscombe in the Tee hanger behind him.He stuck his extension cord thru a hole in the wall so I would have power. The rent on thoses hangers was truly outrageous-$25/month! My new bride also became friends with the English's and we enjoyed our visits with them.
As his health diminished, Mr. English would write his name on the cover of his favorite books, WWII manuals, and reference books and then give me several each time we visited. One day he gave me some personal treasures from his WWII days. One item was a fine English china Spitfire ashtray sold to raise funds for orphans of the RAF. I also got a metal RAF Spitfire matchbook cover. The treasure was a small 6" Spitfire model he carved out of a piece of shot-down German bomber.The plane is aluminum and the stand and prop arc were from a downed Geman plane's plexiglass. Mr. English said that in a typical military fashion, he had to stand in lines for each meal and kept a small file and sandpaper in his pocket so he could work on this model as he stood in line. He had to hide it sometimes because the war effort had continuous metal drives seeking scrap to build new planes from.
The most emotionally-attached item he gave me was a 1.5 " sharp chuck of shrapnel from a buzz bomb that crashed near a pub he and his buds were entering. It killed several of them.
Frank English was a true gentleman and was loved by all who knew him.
Frank originally was an automobile dealer in Arkansas. He told the story of his first encounter with a torque wrench while running the auto shop. He said a travelling tool salesman showed up one day trying to sell them a torque wrench. His mechanics all poked fun of the strange tool until a challenge proved them wrong. The saleman had the senior mechanic hand-torque a head on a car engine. Then he applied the torque wrench torque to the head. The old mechanics grudgingly accepted the new-fangled tool and they bought one for the shop after seeing how far off each bolt was from the next when hand torqued. His favorite saying was 'if you ever drop a spark plug once, drop it twice-into the trash!'
Before the USA entered WWII, Frank joined the American Volunteer Group and went to England as a volunteer Spitfire mechanic. Later when the US entered the war, Frank transferred into the US Army Air Corps.
After the war, Frank worked at the USAF Recip engine shops at Warner Robins AFB, GA. I think he eventually was chief of Recip overhaul for the AF. He greatly disliked those stovepipe jet engines!
Frank bought an Ercoupe the month and year I was born-Oct 1950. I grew up helping care for the silver and red trimmed beauty at Herbert Smart airport-now Macon Downtown. Mr English would spend every Saturday at the airport. He would bring bones from the butcher shop for the airport dogs and cookies his wife would bake for the airport bums and kids. He would tinker on the Ercoupe and if it was warm weather,we would wash it and then fly a circle around town to 'dry it.' I remember helping pound out large measuring spoons into small fairings we riveted onto the cowl when he added shielded plugs to the Ercoupe. When I helped him install a new Mark 12 radio, he gave me his old coffee grinder VHT-3.
Later, as a new 2 Lt in the USAF, I rebuilt my 1939 Luscombe in the Tee hanger behind him.He stuck his extension cord thru a hole in the wall so I would have power. The rent on thoses hangers was truly outrageous-$25/month! My new bride also became friends with the English's and we enjoyed our visits with them.
As his health diminished, Mr. English would write his name on the cover of his favorite books, WWII manuals, and reference books and then give me several each time we visited. One day he gave me some personal treasures from his WWII days. One item was a fine English china Spitfire ashtray sold to raise funds for orphans of the RAF. I also got a metal RAF Spitfire matchbook cover. The treasure was a small 6" Spitfire model he carved out of a piece of shot-down German bomber.The plane is aluminum and the stand and prop arc were from a downed Geman plane's plexiglass. Mr. English said that in a typical military fashion, he had to stand in lines for each meal and kept a small file and sandpaper in his pocket so he could work on this model as he stood in line. He had to hide it sometimes because the war effort had continuous metal drives seeking scrap to build new planes from.
The most emotionally-attached item he gave me was a 1.5 " sharp chuck of shrapnel from a buzz bomb that crashed near a pub he and his buds were entering. It killed several of them.
Frank English was a true gentleman and was loved by all who knew him.
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