RogerDetroit

Sorry, there was nothing left behind about any of the historic airplane that flew out of that hangar. After Packard moved from Detroit in June of 1956 the site was eventually owned by the real estate unit of the Ford Motor Co. I am pretty certain Packard cleaned out the building when they left and Ford never used the hangar in the 40 years they owned it. When we moved the hangar about 14 years ago we set it down on a new perimeter foundation and rehung the doors. It was only in April of this year that we saved enough money to pour the concrete floor. We are rather certain it the hangar was a "pre-fab" building as we have never run across any blueprints for it. If anyone knows who made pre-fab hangars, then please let me know.

Hello Dave C: My screen name is RogerDetroit, but my real name is Roger Luksik - I am the source of the material on the "Abandoned Airfield" website. I am the president of the the Packard Motor Car Foundation, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) working on saving the historic Packard Proving Grounds. Thus, my interest in the Mooney. I agree with you that a 4" X 5" photo plate was used back in 1931 - the image is very sharp. You can read the tail number that corresponds to the FAA data sheet. Our group could not save the entire 540 acres PPG site. In fact, we moved the hangar from the infield of the high-speed test track onto the 14 acre site we now own. BTW, in 1928 the test track set a world's closed course speed record at 148+ mph and that speed record stood until the Monza race track opened in the mid 1950s.

Quick update. I have spoken with and e-mailed the Univ. Texas aviation archivist regarding the 2 folders that Dave C posted. As I said earlier, the archivist told me it is a minimum of a 4 week wait. Dave C. You asked about the source of the photo I posted. That is a good question. The Packard historian that I thought sent it to me claims he is not the source. I did some more searching and it seems the (late) Robert Neal had the photo in his collection. Robert was the author of the definitive work, Packard – Master Motor Builder. Robert’s photo may be the original (see attached) as it shows more of the Packard Proving Grounds. I would dare say that the photo I first posted is cropped from that original print. BTW, the Packard Proving Grounds were opened June 14, 1928. So with the PPG fairly new and the DR-980 new, it seems to me that Packard would have arranged a flight of the Mooney A-1 over the PPG for a photo op. This MAY be the only known photo of the A-1 model. Has anybody seen another photo of this airplane? As pilots, you folks may enjoy reading the starting sequence by Walter Lees, Packard Test Pilot: From Jo Cooper's book PIONEER PILOT: “I made the first test in a Stinson, a cabin job, the SM-IDX "Detroiter". The official test flight was to be in the morning, but Captain Woolson and I took the plane up the evening before just to be sure. The engine had only one valve which acted as intake and exhaust. Our first test engine did not even have short exhaust stacks, but exhausted directly out of the cylinder into the open air. It flew all right, but coming in to land, I couldn't throttle under 1500, so took off again. In my next attempt at landing, I lined up the plane on a glide to the field, then cut the fuel off entirely and landed with a dead stick. The next day I made several flights. Capt. Woolson had installed a revolving valve on the intake and exhaust ports. It was hooked to the throttle so that it was open for takeoff and flying, but then closed off the ports and put back suction in the cylinders so the engine would slow down when landing. I made many experimental flights with Capt. Woolson, also with mechanics. Once we made a flight to 19,000 feet without oxygen. We also made several night flights with automobile headlights for landing lights. While flying one day, Capt. Woolson confided to me that he someday wanted to make an engine with one moving part. To start the engine in cold weather, we heated each cylinder with a blow torch, then ran the engine to warm it up. The flying was done inside the Packard Proving grounds, approximately 3/4 mile long and 1/4 mile wide. There was a hangar at one end. To impress the visitors who came out to see the engine run and fly, in winter time Capt. Woolson would call me up from the plant in Detroit, telling me the approximate time he and the visitors would reach the Proving Grounds. We would warm the engine up in the hangar and keep it running until we saw the car with the Capt. and the visitors turn into the grounds. Then we would shut the engine off and when they arrived, push the plane outside and start the engine before they could inspect it and see it was already warm. The first starter was a shot gun. Later, it was replaced by a special electrical starter. We also installed glow plugs in the head of each cylinder, hooked up directly to a large battery. When the push button for the starter was depressed, contact with the glow plugs was made. At no time was gasoline used to start the engine.”

Thanks for the compliments on my first post. I hope we all learn something from this research. I will try and respond to a few comments. Actually the engine was economical and very reliability, but was unpopular due to the unpleasant nature of its diesel exhaust fumes and considerable vibration when running. Packard only made 100 engines. It is noted for setting two, world’s first records. Endurance recordOn 28 May 1931, a Bellanca CH-300 fitted with a DR-980, piloted by Walter Edwin Lees and Frederic Brossy, set a record for staying aloft for 84 hours and 32 minutes without being refueled. This record was not broken until 55 years later by the Rutan Voyager Radiophone Communications RecordOn 3 June 1929 the first two-way, radiophone communication took place over the skies of the Packard Proving Grounds in Utica, (now Shelby Township, Michigan). Heretofore, gasoline powered aircraft caused too much electro-magnetic interference for the weak voice signal to be heard over the static. Only a strong Morse code signal could be heard. As diesel engines neither have spark plugs, nor spark plug wiring the EM static was greatly reduced and allowed voice communication to be used. The two-way ground to plane voice communication was witnessed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. You guys gave me some very good leads and thanks to Dave Colangelo, I will be working with the archivist at University of Texas at Dallas where Albert Mooney’s collection is housed. But, they are so backlogged that they cannot get to my request until July 1. Meanwhile, there must be more on the last owner, Edward Stone, but Google searching brings back and overload of information. Wish he had a more unique name. Hope someone knows more about Edward and what he did with the plane.

I appreciate the responses. MBDiagMan: The Packard photos you saw are from the Packard Plant in downtown Detroit that is now owned by a Spanish - Peruvian business man/developer. Our group is preserving the Packard Proving Grounds in (Utica) Shelby Twp., MI. We are preservationists and he is a developer. Dave: Thanks, I did know about the first bankruptcy, but thought it was 1931, not 1930. I said it was a 1931 because of the FAA cert. From aerofiles.com website it says the A-1 was powered by a Packard diesel - like that confirmation. Seems they talk of only ONE, A-1. Can this be? Keep the info coming. All this helps the history of both Packard and Mooney. --Roger--

First time logging on. I am not a pilot, but rather a student of history of the Packard Motor Car Co. Fact is that I am president of the Packard Motor Car Foundation - a 501c3 group restoring the Packard Proving Grounds in a suburb north of Detroit I am trying to research the following Mooney aircraft to see if it still exists. Back in 1931 it was powered by the world’s first diesel aircraft engine – built by the Packard Motor Car Company and known as the DR-980. This engine won the Collier Award in 1931 for: (1) setting a flight endurance record of 84+ hours without refueling and (2) radio communications – first time a ground radio station spoke to a pilot in flight. So diesels are not new to Mooney. Tail number is/was 476W. I have attached FAA data, but that does not tell me if the plane still exists. I would like to contact the current owner. Attached are items for your review: Photo of 476W over the Packard Proving Grounds in 1931 – note the aircraft hangar in the infield of the test track FAA data sheet Any help in finding out more about this aircraft would be much appreciated. Thanks for any help or advice.