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Fleet Model 2, Plane/Jane

Serial Number 75, NC8689

Lands at NASMDorothy Cochrane

Curator of General AviationNational Air and Space Museum

[email protected]

Above: 17-year old Chet Machamer becomes the last student pilotto solo in Plane/Jane. Photo: Joyce K. Breiner

Early on the morning of Saturday, June 18, three very

different pilots flew the 1929 Fleet Model 2 Plane/Jane

on its last three flights prior to being donated to the

Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum. At 17years-old, Chet Machamer was the youngest pilot and he

gratefully took the opportunity to be the last person tosolo in Plane/Jane, a veteran of so many student solo

flights, at Bermudian Valley Airpark, near East Berlin,

Pennsylvania. Then Chets father, flight instructor and

airline pilot John Machamer, joined him for the first leg

of a delivery flight that would end at Dulles InternationalAirport, Virginia, specifically at the Museums Become

a Pilot Day. Each year the Museum hosts about 50

aircraft on the tarmac outside the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy

Center where the general public strolls around, and

sometimes gets into, everything from biplanes tomilitary jets.

aircraft on the tarmac outside the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy

Center where the general public strolls around, and

sometimes gets into, everything from biplanes tomilitary jets.

Stopping at Frederick Municipal Airport, Maryland, the

Fleet met its escort planes that would lead it through the

Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) around Washington,

DC. Being a 1929 aircraft, the Fleet lacked not only a

transponder but a radio too. But the most important

addition to the entourage at Frederick was the senior

pilot of the group, 85-year old Eugene Breiner. Breiner

donned his soft leather helmet, goggles, and white silk

scarf and settled himself in the front cockpit; Machamer

hand-propped Plane/Jane and hopped into the back

cockpit; they were off on its last flight.

Stopping at Frederick Municipal Airport, Maryland, the

Fleet met its escort planes that would lead it through the

Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) around Washington,

DC. Being a 1929 aircraft, the Fleet lacked not only a

transponder but a radio too. But the most important

addition to the entourage at Frederick was the senior

pilot of the group, 85-year old Eugene Breiner. Breiner

donned his soft leather helmet, goggles, and white silk

scarf and settled himself in the front cockpit; Machamer

hand-propped Plane/Jane and hopped into the back

cockpit; they were off on its last flight.

The Fleet 2 (and a Kinner cylinder) on short final at DullesInternational Airport, Virginia, June 18, 2011. Each year NASMholds a fly-in for selected aircraft and their pilots who brave theSpecial Flight Rules Area (SFRA) around Washington, DC.

The Fleet 2 (and a Kinner cylinder) on short final at DullesInternational Airport, Virginia, June 18, 2011. Each year NASMholds a fly-in for selected aircraft and their pilots who brave theSpecial Flight Rules Area (SFRA) around Washington, DC.

Photo: Joyce K. BreinerPhoto: Joyce K. Breiner

This Fleet Model 2, serial number 75, was built at theFleet Aircraft Company, of Buffalo, New York (solely

owned by Major Fleet), on May 14, 1929 and became a

basic trainer at the Roosevelt Aviation School, one of the

leading civilian aviation schools in the U.S. in the 1930s.

Between 1929 and 1942, hundreds of student pilotsreceived instruction in this Fleet, now the only surviving

one of ten owned and operated by Roosevelt Field, Inc.,

Long Island, New York. Of the approximately 350 Fleet

2s manufactured, it is one of only six surviving original

Fleet 2s (many were converted into Fleet 7s).

This Fleet Model 2, serial number 75, was built at theFleet Aircraft Company, of Buffalo, New York (solely

owned by Major Fleet), on May 14, 1929 and became a

basic trainer at the Roosevelt Aviation School, one of the

leading civilian aviation schools in the U.S. in the 1930s.

Between 1929 and 1942, hundreds of student pilotsreceived instruction in this Fleet, now the only surviving

one of ten owned and operated by Roosevelt Field, Inc.,

Long Island, New York. Of the approximately 350 Fleet

2s manufactured, it is one of only six surviving original

Fleet 2s (many were converted into Fleet 7s).

Zack Mosley, the creator of the comic strip SmilinJack,

received dual instruction from Downwind Jackson (who

became a character in the comic strip) and Mosley took

his private pilot flight test in it. Former National Air and

Space Museum curator Robert B. Meyer soloed in it at

Roosevelt Field in 1939 and, 48 years later, Meyer flew

it again at the Potomac Antique Aero Squadron Fly In at

Horn Point, Maryland.

Zack Mosley, the creator of the comic strip SmilinJack,

received dual instruction from Downwind Jackson (who

became a character in the comic strip) and Mosley took

his private pilot flight test in it. Former National Air and

Space Museum curator Robert B. Meyer soloed in it at

Roosevelt Field in 1939 and, 48 years later, Meyer flew

it again at the Potomac Antique Aero Squadron Fly In at

Horn Point, Maryland.

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Plane/Janeairborne on its last flight. Photo: Mary Ellen Thompson

Designed by Major Reuben Fleet as a smaller version of

the military PT-3 trainer, the compact and relatively

inexpensive Fleet was the first aircraft specifically

designed for the civilian flight training market. The

Fleet Model 2 is a two-seat, dual control, open-cockpit

biplane with a steel tube frame, spruce wing spars,

aluminum ribs, and fabric-covering, and it sports a

Kinner K5 110hp engine. The Taylor E-2, Piper J-2 and

J-3, Aeronca C-3, and Cessna 140 followed in the 1930s

but the Fleet continued to fill the gap between these

smaller civilian trainers and heavier biplanes or

sophisticated military trainers. The Fleet was also apopular sport aircraft; veteran pilot Paul Mantz set a

record of 46 outside loops in one.

When all civilian flight training was prohibited east of

the Susquehanna River in 1942, Howard Ailor, founder

of Aircraft Services Consolidated, bought this and five

other Fleets from Roosevelt Field and moved them to

Bloomsburg Airport, Bloomsburg, PA. Studentscontinued to fly the Fleet as part of the Civilian Pilot

Training Program (CPTP), a government-funded

instruction program created to encourage private flying,

but also to create a pool of potential military pilots priorto and during World War II. The Fleet is the only aircraft

in the Museums collection to have an official history

with the CPTP.

A number of owners operated the Fleet in Central

Pennsylvania after the war but by 1950 the fabric would

not pass inspection and it was stored in a northeastern

Pennsylvania barn. In 1952, Breiner, owner of an

aircraft maintenance shop, first saw the fuselage of

NC8689 at Blue Swan Airport in Sayre, Pennsylvania,and tried to buy it, several times, but the owner would

not sell because he intended to restore it himself.

Finally, after the owner died, Breiner, by then an FAA

Principal Airworthiness inspector, purchased it in 1979.

Though parts were scattered around the area, he

managed to collect about 90 percent of the original

aircraft and began restoring it to its 1939 Roosevelt Field

trainer configuration.

Eugene Breiner s Fleet 2 Plane/Jane at Bermudian ValleyAirpark, Pennsylvania; note its bright blue and yellow trainercolors and Roosevelt Field tail marking. Photo: Joyce K. Breiner

In 1985, Breiner returned his plain Jane aircraft to

flying status; his sign painter recognized the play on

words and christened it Plane/Jane. Breiner spent many

summers performing at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome,

Cole Palens antique aircraft haven in Rhinebeck, New

York, including flying in rings around a 1929 Standardbiplane so those passenger could take pictures of the

Fleet. Thanks to Breiners dedication and craftsmanship,

Plane/Jane became an 18-time medal winner at fly-ins

in the east.

I first saw the Fleet at Horn Point, Maryland in 1987 and

began a 24-year conversation with Gene about theaircraft. He wanted me to understand the importance of

the Fleet in encouraging people to learn to fly and he

took me up in it to show me its gentle flying

characteristics. Last fall, I even got some stick time,

flying with John Machamer over the bucolic farmland ofsouth central Pennsylvania.

Finally, on that beautiful June morning, Breiner and

Machamer taxied up to the north end of the Udvar-Hazy

Center where I was waiting along with the Director of

the National Air and Space Museum, General Jack

Dailey. Upon exiting Plane/Janefor the last time, Gene

got down on his knees to kiss the ground (well, concrete)

and thank the Lord for one last safe landing in the Fleet.

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Above: Pilots John Machamer (in rear seat, just out of picture)and Eugene Breiner taxi into the National Air and SpaceMuseums Become a Pilot Day at the Steven F. Udvar-HazyCenter, June 18, 2011. Below: Plane/Jane reflected at the Udvar-Hazy Center. (Photos: National Air and Space Museum)

A few hours later, Gene and his daughter Joyce donated

Plane/Jane to the Museum, in the presence of the

aircrafts other pilots of the day, John and Chet

Machamer, the rest of the Breiner family, and the

visitors enjoying Become a Pilot Day. A good and

emotional time was had by all.

Above: Joyce and Gene Breiner sign the Fleet 2 over to GeneralJack Dailey, Director of the National Air and Space Museum.Photo: National Air and Space Museum

Above: George Levis, the spritely 101-year old at left, tookinstruction in NC8689 and later, as a Lycoming engine specialist,worked on Wiley Posts Lockheed Vega, Winnie Mae, which isdisplayed at the Udvar-Hazy Center; Gene Breiner is at right.Photo: National Air and Space Museum

Above: Joyce Breiner hands over the registration to DorothyCochrane, Curator of General Aviation, with Gene Breiner.Photo: National Air and Space Museum

A super video by AOPA-Live of Gene Breiner talking about hisFleet can be found here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC15ocgQlQU

Next page:NC8689 in the October, 1939 ad in Aviation magazine forRoosevelt Aviation School. Smilin Jackcartoonist Zack Mosleylearned to fly in this aircraft while record-setter JacquelineCochran also attended the school and trained in another Fleet 2.Joyce K. Breiner

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