What were you doing at age 16?
Tommy is a master event organizer. He used to put on an annual event for enthusiats of Giant Scale Remote Control Model Aircraft and at the same time, pay tribute to his father. Click here for the page images from a program booklet dated 1992.
As many as 80 entrants would compete. They would come from all over the USA.
For judges, Tommy enlisted qualified persons from Kansas and Colorado, as well as Texas.
On Tuesday, April 23, 2013, I was at Tommy's place and he was showing me the wealth of memorabilia he has... when he came upon a true piece of American history. The year was 1957, the Cold War was at full bore. A show of power was, and still is, a good way to avoid a war; after all, a bully does not pick on another tough guy, he picks on the schoolyard chump!
So the US was flexing it's power by doing something never done, fly around the world... non-stop! Five B-52's departed from California and flew East non-stop (Two developed trouble over Europe and did not finish.) until they landed back at a USAF base in California.
The mission chief was Lt. Colonel Marcus Hill. He brought aboard 10 envelopes to 'comemorate' the flight. In 1966, he and Tommy Meyer met and said that he would give one of these envelopes to Tommy. Lt. Colonel Hill personally addressed and mailed the envelope describing the historic ride it took. Below is the image of that envelope, which hangs on the wall in Tommy's home.
Enjoy the history.
LJ
In 1989, the folks here were called the Lone Star Squadron. They formed a team of Remote Contol model airplane "pilots." Can you spot Tommy Meyer? Click on the photo to find the answer and read the story that was in the Dallas Morning News on September 23, 1989.
A reduced-sized image of a 1960 drawing of George Meyer and "The Original" Little Toot.
The original was done in pencil on 24 inch by 12 inch poster paper.
The drawing is by Burt Johnson done while he was a flying officer for the US Navy at NAS Corpus Christi, TX, flying PBM's, a sea plane.
He and George happened to meet at NAS Corpus Christi and George, ever proud of both military men and women and his Little Toot, offered Burt a chance to fly Little Toot. Burt did. George and Burt became friends and did many recreational activities together.
As a little token of his appreciation of George, Burt drew the caricature and wrote this eight page letter. I hope you enjoy them both.
Tommy Meyer
"Son of Toot"
Click on the image of each page of the letter and read the entire letter of what Burt wrote to George. The pages proceed left to right.
Building My Little Toot
I've been burned by the torch, shot by a rivet gun, bucked and bruised by a bucking bar; cut and scrapped by sheet metal, jabbed by a stitching needle. My hands are rough and cracked from dope and thinners; my clothes are a mess from various resins.
I've had plaster and paint in my eyes, drill bits into my thumbs and shavings in my hair, raked many times by pins, hot welding rods and sharp edges of metal and fiber glass.
I've been frustrated, sad, disgusted mad, blue, upset, worried and many times near financial disaster, but GOD isn't it beautiful?
Jack Routh
Kingman, Kansas
Tommy recently came upon this ode, composed by one of the early Little Toot builders.
Here's a photo circa 1956. That's Tommy, about age 12, and his older brother, George.
