Page 10 - Aerotech News and Review 5-6-16

High Desert Hangar Stories with Bob Alvis
Special to Aerotech News
Making my way around the Planes
of Fame Air Show last weekend I was
in search of a story that would be up-
lifting and a bit out of the ordinary.
I met up with my friend Joe Yanncy
of Allison V-12 aircraft engines fame
and the story fell right smack dab in
my lap. As I walked into his hanger a
big beautiful Spitfire, looking as sexy
as an airplane ever could, called to my was not a very good student. But his
soul to ask questions.
Bob Deford was the key that un-
locked the box that held the story
of this beautiful bird. Bob, a retired
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10
airline pilot, sat down with me and
shared the story of how he became
the owner of a Spitfire.
Bob shared that his first encounter
with flight and warbirds when at the
age of three in Bakersfield when three
P-38s flew over his house as he played
in the backyard. And with that, the fire
was lit.
Bob struggled in his early life and
love for all things that flew had him at
local airports doing whatever it took to
get dirty and work in some flying time.
After realizing school was not
going to be the answer to fulfill his
dreams of flight, he was off to the
U.S. Air Force where, in the 1950s,
he found himself working on different
aircraft but enjoying the time wrench-
ing on F-86s.
When his four years was up it
was back to doing anything that was
around airplanes and, with some men-
toring, lucky breaks and his growing
self-taught skill with the aid of Uncle
Sam not to mention crop dusting, he
ended up flying right seat for some
small airlines. His career took off,
literally, and in 1997 he retired from
Northwest Airlines as a left seater on
DC-10s!
A successful airline career was
great but there was an itch that needed
to be scratched. That same itch that planes took off from grass covered air- Photographs by Bob Alvis
struck a little boy in a back yard many strips in England — bouncing along
years ago. as they taxied and took off; that’s the carried those dreams his whole life,
plane he wanted. built a full scale Mk IX Spitfire —
Retirement was great, and the mon- with the help of some very talented
ey was there to help scratch that itch But financially it was just out of friends!
until he found out and realized that reach until he came across a French-
war birds don’t come cheap! man named Marcel Jurca. What went into the engineering and
the building of this beautiful plane is a
So, spending time with the Com- It seems this ‘dream maker’ was testimony to the skill of fine American
memorative Air Force in Texas and selling full size plans that fit right into craftsmen and just what can be accom-
around the southwest, he took every Bobs dreams of always making things plished when dreams cross paths with
opportunity to fly P-51s and P-40s. happen! desire and a ‘never say quit’ attitude!
But still, in the back of his mind, he
wanted his own. Not wanting to tell all the details for Looking at the plane up close and in
I don’t think I can get Aerotech to run flight no words are needed.
I wish you could have seen and a “Bob Deford Spitfire special issue,”
heard Bob tell this part of the story for I will just say the young dreamer, who The same goes for Bob for when
his greatest love is the British Spitfire you look at him around his plane, no
of World War II.
See SPITFIRE, Page 11
In later years he would watch the
Battle of Britain movie hundreds of
times, and watched as those beautiful
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Aerotech News and Review May 6, 2016
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