Winnipesaukee Seaplane history!
 

Many readers of the Forum have enjoyed my book about the seaplane base that operated at the Weirs during the 1920s and 30s. Well, the warehouse that was selling the book online is going out of business, so the last 800 copies that will ever be printed are now stacked in my dining room. At least I sold over 1200! So if you're looking for a shot of Winnipesaukee history to enjoy over the winter, please check your local bookstore or send me a message through the Forum and I can help you out! And of course, if you have any new information or pictures, please share!

Great book on Winnipesaukee history!
 

Not in the book-just found this on eBay a couple days ago. First I've seen of a postcard from an actual passenger of the Weirs seaplane base. To save everyone from having to read the handwriting, the card is addressed to Miss Jack C. Slater, Detroit Harbor, Washington Island, Wisconsin, and the message reads:
"Sunday 7-29
Almost ready to leave
afer a precious visit
Mr. B went up with
Bob in this plane.
He was thrilled-Hicks
went up too.
Heart's love, Sister."

And here is the front of the postcard. 1924 was Bob Fogg's first full summer of flying at the Weirs. The aircraft pictured is a First World War seaplane trainer which Bob purchased as surplus in 1923 and assembled on Paugus Bay near the railroad tracks, but it was already August by the time he got it going. Imagine riding in that open cockpit with a 150 hp engine running full bore right over your head!

Bought it
 

I contacted the author on her email. Sent my check ($19.95 + $3.00 postage) and a couple of days later I had the book in hand. Great service. Even if aviation isn't your favorite pastime, this is a very interesting book and should be a part of your Winnipesaukee collection.

Huh?
 

What? :o...……


..

Maybe, that's a Curtiss Model N from World War I?

Look, up in the sky; it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a floatplane, it must be a www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_Model_N with a Wright-Hiso water cooled V-8, 150-hp engine!

Is that what it is?

Wonder if it had a manual or an automatic transmission for flying up and down all the big hills in the lakes region?

Thrill Ride
 

Brave souls to go up in that!

The aircraft pictured on the postcard is a Curtiss MF flying boat, F for the original model designation and M for Modified, known as a Seagull. When Bob Fogg bought it surplus in 1923 it came with a 100 hp Curtiss OXX-3, and Bob put a 150 hp Hispano-Suiza engine on it since he would be carrying more weight in passengers than when it was a two-place trainer in the military. Performance with the original engine was 72 mph and a ceiling of 4100 feet. Woo hoo!

Here's another postcard with the relevant statistics.

Nice try, but I meant to upload this image, with the info about the airplane. That will teach me to submit without previewing...

And if you had one nowadays...I think there are five left in the world. This one is not the one that flew at the Weirs, but the same make and model.

And you thought flying at the Weirs was only in the summertime! Here we see the "Staggerwing" Beechcraft parked on the ice near the summertime location of the seaplane base. I think winter of 1936-7 or 1937-8 because the Mt. Washington is in the background and it burned just before Christmas 1939, and the ice wouldn't have been safe to land on that early in the season. Plane was acquired in June 1936 from the Beech factory by T.E.P. Rice, who was then president of Winnipesaukee Air Service.

Bob Fogg did indeed fly from Hampton Beach, the beach was the airport because there were none anywhere in NH. He flew from Hampton and other locations around the state starting in 1920 until he started the Weirs base in 1923. I've never seen this image with the big "wings" logo on the side, but considering how many airplanes were in NH at the time, it could be him.

The book "Bob Fogg and New Hampshire's Golden Age of Aviation: Flying Over Winnipesaukee and Beyond," is still available from the author or at local book stores, or Amazon. If you're interested in Winnipesaukee history and haven't read this book, there's a whole big chunk of lake history that you're missing. It's gonna be a long winter, send me a private message and get yourself some good reading-lots of pictures too! How would you like to see a collection of airplanes like this on the Boardwalk? Can you find four in this picture?

I'm bumping this to the top...

If anyone is interested in going for a ride feel free to contact us.

Epic Seaplane Adventures

Seaplane on Lockes Island ?
 

As a kid I remember a person who owned a seaplane and a cottage on Loches island. He use to fly in each weekend. Anyone remember this ?

I've Got Picture of FIVE Floatplanes in Wolfeboro...
 

Find four?

There's the Sikorski S-38, a Travel-Air, and two empennages--one with a number, and one without. And I didn't have open your book! :look: