One of the aircraft that Abken acquired was a Cessna UC-78 Bobcat, a twin-engine trainer used for training bomber pilots. And therein lies a tale...
But first, some background. First flown in in 1939, the aircraft was originally known as the Cessna T-50 and was intended as a five-seat commercial transport. The wings and tail were made of wood, and the fuselage a welded steel-tube design covered with fabric. It featured a retractable landing gear and wing trailing-edge flaps, both electrically actuated.
After the outbreak of World War II, Cessna sold these aircraft first to Canada, then to the U.S. Army Air Force [USAAF], and finally to the U.S. Navy. The Canadians dubbed the aircraft the Crane, the USAAF designated it first as AT-8 and later on as AT-17 and finally UC-78 and the Navy called it the JRC-1.
Additionally, these airplanes bore a host of nicknames, among them The Bamboo Bomber, the Useless-78, the Wichita Wobbler and the Double-Breasted Cub.
These aircraft were powered by two 245-hp Jacobs radial piston engines, had a maximum speed of 195 MPH, a cruising speed of 175 MPH, a ceiling of 11,000 feet and a range of 750 miles. In all, approximately 5,400 were built; an estimated 25 are still considered airworthy.
At the end of World War II millions of dollars of surplus war materiel was being sold at ridiculously low prices. Like many others, Abken acquired some surplus aircraft that would be used for flight training of veterans under the G. I. Bill of Rights.
Apparently, my father and Mr. Abernathy learned that a salvage depot located at McKellar Field in Jackson, TN, had a number of Bobcats that were being liquidated at fire-sale prices. They decided to buy one of these surplus Bobcats for the price of $160.00.
Abken recruited Richard McPherson, a legendary pilot who lived across the river in Ironton, OH, to ferry the Bobcat back to the airport, and paid his bus fare to the salvage yard in Tennessee. It was said that Dick McPherson could "fly anything." He was indeed the right man for the job!
McPherson later toured the United States from 1950 to 1952 flying a 1929-vintage Alliance Argo biplane and appearing in airshows with wing-walker Red Grant. He also flew the Argo in a scene from the film A Star Is Born, which was cut from the released version. A chapter was devoted to McPherson in They Call Me Mr. Airshow by Bill Sweet, published in 1972, and his Argo--one of only 20 built--was meticulously restored, granted a certificate of airworthiness in 1973 and now is on display in the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus.
When McPherson arrived on the scene he found a line of Bobcats tied down in a field. At the end of the line was the hundred-sixty dollar Bobcat that Abken had bought. It was in such poor condition that it seemed to McPherson to be barely airworthy. The old wooden propellers were in such bad condition that daylight could be seen through their laminations. But McPherson most likely figured that it was better to fly the Bobcat back to Kentucky than ride the bus back home!
Another problem was the windshield: the plexiglass had become completely opaque. So the mechanic cut a hole in the windshield and bolted a piece of clear plexiglass into place across the opening so the pilot could at least see straight ahead.
After McPherson took off, he got as far as Chattanooga, TN, when night fell. He could not use the radio for landing clearance, because it was still set for military frequency and therefore illegal, so he turned off his navigation lights and followed a DC-3 transport in for landing. After landing, McPherson quickly taxied the Bobcat off the runway to hide at a far corner of the field before anyone could detect his presence. He flew out before daybreak the next morning.
Meanwhile, my father and Mr. Abernathy were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Bobcat back at Worthington. As he approached the airport, flying over the Ohio River, McPherson, who possessed more than a touch of the daredevil, decided to fly under the bridge linking Russell, KY with Ironton. My father and Mr. Abernathy were eyewitnesses to the stunt; some other people in the area remember aircraft flying under the Russell-Ironton Bridge.
McPherson landed the Bobcat successfully at Abken, but as he was taxiing the aircraft up to the hangar, one of the engines quit. Then, a few seconds later, the other engine conked out. McPherson had run out of fuel.
The Bobcat never left the ground again.
I remember that as I child I had seen the fuselage skeleton and wooden wing panels of the Bobcat, rusting and rotting in the high weeds. The Bobcat had been stripped and all the usable parts cannibalized. The two Jacobs engines had been removed and laid to rest under a tree. At a later date a pilot from Florida, thought to be McPherson, bought the two engines for a reported $200.00.
So, even though the Bobcat had an unceremoniously brief career at Abken, it still ended up making a profit for the company.
Revised June 10, 2011
Sources: William E. Martin and Warbird Alley.
Copyright © 2011 Ronald W. Kenyon. Warning: this blog is protected under copyright. Do not plagiarize!
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