old picture

[StarKiller]

I found this old picture from the 70s, the guy on the right is my dad. http://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc366329/

[Ron Spiker]

Nice one. Thanks for sharing!

[seneca2e]

I clicked on the picture URL and here is who these men are! "Michael Hynes, president of Brantly-Hynes Co. of Frederick, and test pilot Olvis Jones, right, check out the Brantly-Hynes helicopter." So Starkiller is Olvis Jones daughter! Thanks for posting on the board. Please introduce yourself and tell us more! Did you ever learn to fly or fly much with your Dad? How long did he stay at Brantly?

[StarKiller]

My mom added it up the other day, starting in 1959 in Frederick until he decided Lear wasn't serious about either him training someone on what he knew or on making Brantly a success and he left Kansas, saying he wouldn't be back. The Hynes years, then he quit Hynes and started working on Brantlys and rebuilding them in business for himself, I think in 1980. Plus, after the factory moved to Vernon, he was working part time there. After mom retired and they moved, he'd drive 50 miles to get there. 35 years total on Brantly helicopters, whoever he was working for at the time. After he left Lear, he worked for Brantly at his other businesses until Hynes brought Brantly Helicopter back to town.

Daddy gave me my first ride when I was 4. It wasn't often, mom freaked, which made it all that more attractive to me. I never flew one myself, the closest I got was helping him fly in blades, sitting in the right seat, holding the stick, on the ground.

Daddy had learned to fly in Hillers, the pilots taught the mechanics at Camp Wolters. He got his pilot's license after coming to Frederick. Brantly had promised him he could be a test pilot as soon as they needed another one. I don't know, but I think I might have been his first passenger after getting checked out in the Brantly.

I worked for Hynes for a year starting at the beginning of my last year in high school, Mike had the FBO, too, and I worked at both. Then, more in the machine and blade shop. Then they got this shipment of barrels that had been in storage for years, I was often sent down to the south hangar, where the mechanics worked. I had to reach in a barrel and grab a bag of small parts, many unidentified, find out what it was one way or another and make an index card for it, if there wasn't one already. The card had the part, the inventory and the location. If someone wanted a part, I'd look it up and if we had it, go get it and subtract it from the inventory on the card.

I took lessons in a Cessna, the one fringe benefit there was I could get the plane at cost and one of the guys was an instructor that told everyone he'd give free lessons to anyone who worked there.
I couldn't afford it any more after I got married, I couldn't afford to work for Mike anymore, either. He would have to pay me minimum wage if I worked more than 30 hours a week. Eddie Fry wanted me there full time after I graduated, there was plenty he could have me doing that freed up the guys for other things, but Mike said no. That was a bummer, I had to get a full time job in a wallet factory, that wasn't fun. Even with crappy pay and not enough hours, there was always something different going on with the helicopters.

My son recently started working on getting his commercial license, he just passed his written today. He can afford it, he's a software developer. He told me once that he had the ambition of someday owning a Brantly that had his grandfather's signature in the logbook.
I was visiting my parents Thursday. Daddy is 90 years old, he's not even tinkering in his garage anymore, he quit driving, mom has to go get his senior citizens meals for him. I was telling them what my son had said. Daddy started talking, he said he's seen a lot of logbooks that were messed up. He said there were entries saying things were done that he knew weren't done. Parts on the ships that weren't entered in the logbooks, that kind of thing. He was also naming some of the places he'd been to maintain or repair Brantlys over the years, I don't think he can name them all.

[StarKiller]

I have a picture I was trying to add, but when I tried to upload it, it didn't work.

[Brad Bowles]

Try to email the picture to Ron if you can't upload it. I enjoyed reading the stories of you and your dad working at the Brantly factory.
Thank you for sharing this with us.

[seneca2e]

Wow Starkiller that is a awesome post and it's great your Dad is still with us. Just amazing how a relative handful of dedicated individuals have been able to keep this great machine flying!

[Ron Spiker]

B2A-Jones.jpg (101.02 KiB) Viewed 6049 times

[StarKiller]

Here is what I know now about the above picture. Mother had said they went through some pictures and she wrote down on the back what he said. At that time he said B-2A so that's what she wrote on the back of that one. She didn't know when it was taken or who gave it to him but it wasn't painted, yet, and the picture was in black and white, there were 18 built besides the prototype, etc.

Saturday, my son and I were over there and she had some pictures out we were looking at and daddy said that is a B-2B and pointed out the rectangular hole on the side, which I had wondered about, myself. Not only that, he said it is the one Hynes built, so mid 70s. Why it's in black and white and not in color, I don't know. If that is true, though, it has to be N501BH, the same ship as the first picture.

[StarKiller]

Mother asked me to scan some more photos for her
http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx16 ... 941X03.jpg
That is one he restored and sold while he was working for himself. He said when he got it, it was a fuselage and a bunch of parts.

[Ron Spiker]

Very interesting. Thanks for your contributions.

[Brad Bowles]

That is the best looking straight B2 that I've seen so far beautiful aircraft thanks for posting pictures