Wally Soplata - The B-25 in the Backyard: My Fathers Historic Airplane Sanctuary

I was eight when I went on my first airplane-hauling trip with my highly unusual father in 1961. That was the beginning of an epic eleven-year run during which we hauled a wide variety of historic aircraft, most of which came perilously close to being destroyed and cut up for scrap metal. All of these airplane-saving efforts were done haphazardly on a shoestring budget with lousy and inadequate equipmentif we were lucky enough to even have that. Sometime in my teen years it hit me hard that I was both a participant and a witness to something extraordinary and in some cases nearly unbelievable. An early sense of obligation told me I had to write this story down. Fortunately, that feeling continued to nag me until I began writing down many notes and stories in the early 1970s while so much of this was fresh on my mind.

In this father-and-son story about my airplane-obsessed dad, my long journey in his shadow sometimes weaves a twisted path down a road of irony and contradiction. Typical aviation stories of those and earlier times tell of old speed and distance records broken and once unthinkable new records set. Other aviation stories vary from disaster avoided to exotic locations traveled to. This story is unlike those or any others. Instead, I will tell it by using a wide variety of airplanes that would never fly while in the eternally clenched hands of my fathers tight grip. Under his watch, his airplanes sat in the same spot in Ohio for so many years; the only travel many of them did was for their landing gear to sink deeper into the soft soil below. Now presenting my own story of irony and contradiction, I will use these same airplanes to take you on an unimaginable journey like none other.

I dont remember who the aviation leader was who said this at one of the many large gatherings Ive attended, but he reminded the audience to never forget that all aviation stories are actually stories about people. I can thank my father for making it easy to remember that. I use the word unconventional a lot in this story. I perhaps risk using it too much, but he often thought so far outside the box, he could almost be unconventional about being unconventional. And while that kind of out-there-somewhere thinking enabled him to accomplish so much, in other ways it was a trait that could imprison him. That said, while there is plenty of material here for aviation enthusiasts to discover and enjoy, I imagine a few case studies in sociology class could also emerge from this. While I also am a self-confessed aviation addict, the constant intrigue as Walters son trying to know, trying to understand, trying to explain, and trying to love this most unusual father of mine has been truly most compelling.

Due to this focus on my father in the telling of our many airplane adventures together, it is beyond the scope of this story to go into extensive detail on the wide variety of airplanes we will encounter. Great aviation historians can, and often do, devote large manuscripts entirely to one aircraft such as the P-47 Thunderbolt. As a result, I have listed many references for readers to more deeply research and explore these historic aircraft. Likewise, these references tell the rich history of the brave pioneers who flew these planes that sometimes helped them make history at events such as the Cleveland National Air Races.

I have the tremendous good fortune to have many truly wonderful people to thank for enabling me to tell this story, beginning with my wife of forty years. Lisa today is the same kind, caring, sweet and generous lady I met early in my year of pilot training at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. She and our two grown children, our son Austin and our daughter Avery, have endlessly poured out their support and encouragement for me in telling this story, which at times is a difficult personal journey.

Throughout the military, airline, and general aviation communities, I have countless people to thank who have taught me, inspired me, and kept me safe in a sometimes-dangerous profession. Among the many special people in this group, those who helped me in a wide variety of ways with this manuscript deserve special thanks. Most are from or have an aviation connection to what I call my Memphis airplane family. Here I wish to thank Bill Austin; Eddie Brewer; Jimmy Burkeen; the Davis brothers, Andy and Duke Davis; Jeff Dula; Ken Eckles; Don Eye; Kevin Gardner; Todd Gibbons; Rick Henry; Wally Knight; Ron Lundquist; Alexis Meaders; Chris Norman; Gilbert Pierce; Mike Tuna Pontoni; the Rice brothers, Jim and Rick Rice; Ron Stout; Scott Thompson; Steve Vihlen; the late John Boudreaux; the late Jack Kalemba; and the late Dwight Smith, who have each played some personal role in helping me and/or inspiring me with this project.

In November 2007, Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine published a section of this book about hauling B-25 Wild Cargo in The Soplata Airplane Sanctuary article I wrote then. I owe a special thanks to author Carl Hoffman and editors Pat Trennor and Caroline Sheen for their enormous help getting that story published.

I also need to thank author Simon Beck, who is an incredible aviation historian and writer with two great McFarland books published. He has likewise been an ever-helpful coach and mentor while continuing his many contributions to preserving aviation history from his home in New Zealand.