The Spirit of Adventure - Michael McCafferty

Most people didn't believe it was not restored. They could not comprehend why
someone would go to the trouble to build a 62-year-old biplane from scratch and then try
to sell it new.
The Waco factory was represented in force here today. Don Kettles, the world's
greatest (albeit only) Waco salesman, with his incredible good energy and patience tried
his best to sell in English to people who spoke something else. Of course, the world's
greatest Waco biplane pilot, Carl Dye, who speaks very little English (because he speaks
very little, period), was here to deal with technical issues. And the new guy on the block,
Mitch, the new owner of the company, came by the display right after arriving from a long
flight from the US. But best of all we had Antoine, our secret French weapon to deal with
the legitimate prospects. Antoine is the son of Bernard Chabbert, our friend in France,
who helped us with our problems with customs. Antoine is the only one among us who
can speak French, so he was very busy. If it were not for him, we would have looked like
four American monkeys (See- Hear- Speak- and Understand-no-French). Here's a photo
of the team, along with an unusually pretty French lady who seemed interested in buying
a Waco (or was it just my imagination?):
Some of the older visitors to our display would stop and smile and quietly
remember good times long past when these were the airplanes of their day. The language
barrier prohibits much talk so there are few long conversations about the planes they flew
in their youth. But it doesn't matter. I have heard these stories before at other shows in
the US. The spirit of flying is the same in any language. The gleam in their eyes says it all.
The Waco is positioned immediately next to a Russian MIG-AT trainer to the right,
and opposite a Romanian Air force MIG-21, upgraded with the latest systems. Nearby,
the very latest "Eurofighter", and all around are a variety of attack and rescue helicopters
and two enormous space rockets, an amphibious kit plane, unmanned drones and a
paramotor (fan and parachute), the Airbus 319, and the entire Dassault line of military and
civilian aircraft. All this was visible in the immediate outdoor area. There are several
HUGE exhibition halls and many, many, many more aircraft on display farther down the
line. There is much more here to see than anyone could cover in a week.
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