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About Jon
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
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The Birth of Flight
2007-03-17 14:48
by Jon Weisman

How the Dodgers conquered the sky is the subject of a pull-up-a-chair feature by Brent Shyer at Walteromalley.com. Here's an excerpt from early in the piece.

... That same year, the Dodgers decided to find a larger airplane and this time a DC-3 was selected. How they acquired that plane may be part legend or the truth, as Holman explains.

"They were looking for something that Branch Rickey could have a bed in," said Holman. "About that time, the airlines were beginning to get rid of their DC-3s and move up to a bigger airplane. Eastern (Air Lines) had 60 DC-3s. My Dad (who was Eastern's representative at Vero Beach) said, 'Let's not buy one. I think I can probably just win one in a crap game.' Down in Miami, he was with (Eastern President) Eddie Rickenbacker. A lot of stuff went on in Miami that I wasn't party to. The word was that they rolled the dice, double or nothing, for a DC-3 down there and my Dad won it. ...

Comments
2007-03-17 15:07:59
1.   DXMachina
That's just... Neat.
2007-03-17 15:36:52
2.   Bob Timmermann
I was wondering why Rickey needed a bed so bad then I remembered he suffered from Meniere's Disease and was prone to unexplained bouts of vertigo.

Probably helped him to lie down. I bet those DC-3s weren't very comfortable.

2007-03-17 15:44:07
3.   joekings
Vin had a breakdown of all the planes the Dodgers owned over the years during the game today.
2007-03-17 15:48:23
4.   Jon Weisman
I've got today's Vindebut on Tivo - hope to have time to watch some of it, though I have basketball and "Longford" to watch too.
2007-03-17 15:57:21
5.   Greg Brock
4 "Longford" is just outstanding. I often wonder why Samantha Morton isn't more well known or more respected.

That gal can act a little bit.

2007-03-17 16:09:29
6.   Bob Timmermann
It took me a while to figure out what Vindebut meant.
2007-03-17 16:13:42
7.   Jon Weisman
5 - I'm an hour in and Andy Serkis, just in the one scene I've seen him in so far, was amazing.
2007-03-17 16:14:06
8.   DXMachina
2-"I bet those DC-3s weren't very comfortable."

Roger Kahn mentions his first flight in the Dodger DC-3 in the opening chapter of "The Boys of Summer."

"I strode onto the plane, monarch of my dream, walking up the steep incline with the suggestion of swagger and dropping casually into seat B2. 'What the hell!' Something had stung me in the buttock. I bounced up. A spring had burst through the green upholstery. The naked end of metal lay exposed. 'What the hell,' I said again.

"'Nothing to worry about,' Fresco Thompson said. 'The people who maintain the springs are not the same people who maintain the engines.' He paused and raised white brows. 'Or so Walter O'Malley tells me.'"

2007-03-17 16:24:23
9.   Gen3Blue
I always quail at the thought that most teams fly together on one plane. I guess its one way to get all your prospects a chance!
Also my scrabble instinct for some reason(perhaps quail) just noticed the versatility of the pair guest and quest.
Or else some post mentioned a guest.
2007-03-17 17:10:06
10.   Greg Brock
Well, now that the movie should be just about over, I can ask Jon:

How great is Longford?
Answer: Pretty Great

2007-03-17 17:14:59
11.   Jon Weisman
10 - It's basketball, then Longford.
2007-03-17 17:28:10
12.   Icaros
For me it's basketball, then Hustle and Flow.
2007-03-17 17:31:03
13.   Gen3Blue
Oh,good. Looks like mostly a prospect game Sunday, as the vets can't be expected to travel. I know we don't pay them enough for that kind of risk.
2007-03-17 17:41:00
14.   Jon Weisman
NPUT

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