Member, Rudy Mantel...44 Years Ago...

[GAHorn]

From The Jamaica Gleaner newspaper:

On This Day, 1963:

"An SOS is received from Cayman Brac where a young man is seriously ill, and must be urgently taken to hospital in Grand Cayman by plane.
Jamaican pilot, Rudy Mantel takes off from the Palisadoes in Kingston and, although there are no lights at the Cayman Brac airstrip (Captain Mantel) lands and takes off with the patient using the moonlight to guide him."

[iowa]

cool!

dave

[klebeg]

Rudy, my wonderful father made that landing. The 180 he landed there was his first Cessna and perhaps his favorite of all time, VP-JBT, then after Jamaica's independence in Aug 1962 it was 6Y-JBT. It served him well. 40 year later and back to the U.S. he purchased a 170 for personal use (he may have had others along the way). Dad was a member here but sadly passed 2 years ago. I have the entire article of about his moonlight landing (the first night landing) on Cayman Brac. He penned an essay recounting it as well (along with other reminiscences of learning to fly at Flushing Airport and Miller Field New York, then during college, post college, and his early years in Jamaica.)

[eskflyer]

Very nice. Great to hear of old stories and now from the memories of the son. Sorry about loosing your dad. I miss mine every day.

JP

[GAHorn]

Rudy, my wonderful father made that landing. The 180 he landed there was his first Cessna and perhaps his favorite of all time, VP-JBT, then after Jamaica's independence in Aug 1962 it was 6Y-JBT. It served him well. 40 year later and back to the U.S. he purchased a 170 for personal use (he may have had others along the way). Dad was a member here but sadly passed 2 years ago. I have the entire article of about his moonlight landing (the first night landing) on Cayman Brac. He penned an essay recounting it as well (along with other reminiscences of learning to fly at Flushing Airport and Miller Field New York, then during college, post college, and his early years in Jamaica.)

Rudy was a prolific contributor here at the Forums and I had the pleasure of meeting him In-Person at the Galveston Air Show held in 2003 or 4 (?) (I’ll have to research that date)…. when Jamie and I flew down to Dry Creek and picked up Cleo Bickford and Wendell Wyborny, and the 4 of us departed Dry Creek in the nick-of-time to be the last airplane allowed to land before noon when the airport closed for the air-show. (The take-off with half-fuel and all four of us in N146YS included an “expletive-deleted” from the front seat and a Laugh out of Cleo in the back seat while the wheels rolled-through the tree-branches at the departure-end of the runway.)

We landed exactly at noon!

The Air Show Start was delayed about :30-mins anyway as the local repair-shop located a palletized-dolly to haul N146YS off the runway due to the tailwheel going so flat upon landing with a mesquite-thorn in it that it refused to roll out of the runway-intersection.

The local shop made the repair with a new tube while we all met Rudy and watched the Air Show. I was very surprised that a shop would actually have in-stock the correct-size inner-tube for a Scott tailwheel on a Sunday! It was a great day! (despite the flat tailwheel event)

As we taxi-ed out for departure later that afternoon … we taxi-ed by the open hangar of the repair shop….and observed the “mechanics” standing around examining a cheap Harbor-Freight wooden appliance-dolly with a disassembled-and-missing 4th wheel laying sideways on the hangar-floor.

(here’s where I originally posted about the event…still can’t recall the year tho’…) viewtopic.php?p=132133&hilit=galveston+ ... el#p132133

[klebeg]

Very nice. Great to hear of old stories and now from the memories of the son. Sorry about loosing your dad. I miss mine every day.

JP

Sorry to hear. I understand. And I'm a daughter - but no worries whatsoever!!!

[GAHorn]

Kitty, did you receive the private msg and emails I sent you?