The SPIRIT of ST. LOUIS by JNE

We just got word that our film "A Dream Takes Flight" has been selected for inclusion in the 2024 Friday Harbor Film Festival this October 😁
The film will be shown during the "In-Theater Festival" from October 25 - 27th ... AND the "On-Demand Festival" from October 28th thru November 3rd on their website: www.fhff.org
Both options of viewing will allow viewers the opportunity to vote for their favorites after viewing each film and the film with the most votes will receive the "Best Feature Film Award".
So be sure to cast your vote after you watch the film lineup😊
DVDs of the film continue to be available for $25 each with free shipping within the USA.

Another Arlington Fly-In SkyFest under our belts 🙂
A great big THANK YOU to:.. our granddaughter Hailee for manning the booth for us all day and stamping the "passports" of all the kids who found us as their last stop in the Scavenger Hunt hosted by one of the sponsors of the 2024 Arlington Fly-In SkyFest.
... our kids and their spouses (Amber, Rob, Zac & Kendra) who spent the entire day in the sun, on the tarmac, answering questions posed by the continuous stream of visitors to the Spirit of St. Louis by JNE. We couldn't have kept up with it all without them and their intimate knowledge of the bird ❤.. our ever faithful pilot, Ron Fowler who happened to be camping at SkyFest this year and walked down to the hangar yesterday morning in order to "taxi" the Spirit to the event, and came back at the end of the day to "taxi" her back to the hangar again... our wonderful "Barn Manager" Sean Edwards who always makes himself available when we need to do ANYTHING with the plane. He is the one who regularly "mans the controls" when we do an engine ground run on the plane to keep her running smoothly.
Because John is dealing with a bum knee at the moment, he could not safely prop the bird to get her started. Neither could he climb into the cockpit to "man the controls".
So our "fire her up" crew saw Sean in the cockpit and Ron pulling the prop through to get her started! Then Sean joined me in wing-walking the plane past the obstacles we encountered from hangar to event and back again at the end of the day!
How did we get so lucky to have such a dedicated group of people who selflessly give of their time and energy to help us "old folks" out when we bring the Spirit out to share with the public?
We love you guys ❤ ❤ ❤
EDIT: After all those THANK YOU's I realized I failed to THANK the Arlington Fly-In SkyFest personnel for choosing to show our documentary "A Dream Takes Flight" on their Big Screen at 4:00 on Saturday

"A Dream Takes Flight"
DVD's will be available at the
Arlington Fly-In SKYFEST today.
Hope to see you there ☺️

It's official.
The Spirit of St. Louis by JNE will be on static display at the "Arlington SkyFest" again on Saturday, August 17th.
We have also learned that there is a good chance that our documentary film "A DREAM TAKES FLIGHT" may be selected to be shown on the Big Screen under the stars that night!
Visit: https://arlingtonskyfest.com to get your tickets.
Hope to see you there!

We learned early last month that our documentary, "A DREAM TAKES FLIGHT" was accepted and would be shown at the Freedom Festival International in Columbia, SC during their festival from Aug. 22nd thru the 25th.
As if that wasn't exciting enough, we learned last week that it has now been upgraded to SEMI FINALIST status in the festival.
We are delighted that this film AND our director's film company "KOOLFLIX" is starting to get some well deserved recognition.
We still have DVDs available for $25, which includes free shipping in the USA. We accept checks by mail or credit card payments through PayPal using "PayPal.Me/jnespirit".

Freedom Festival International The Arts are not just about entertainment and the appreciation of artistic works. It's a celebration of our expression through adversity and the freedom of c...

Remember that notification we received a few weeks back about our film producer's company "KOOLFLIX" being selected as the winner of their 30th Annual Communicator Awards Competition?
Well, look at what arrived on our doorstep today!
What an honor

Our first shipment of DVDs of the documentary film “A DREAM TAKES FLIGHT” has arrived.
They are available for $25 each (which includes free shipping in the USA). Payment can be made at PayPal "paypal.me/jnespirit" (be sure to leave your mailing address in the comments box so I know where to send your DVD) ~ OR, if you prefer, we accept checks and money orders. Just let me know you’d like to send a check and I’ll send you a private message with the address to send your check to ~ and of course, if you are local, we accept Cash ;-)
For those who have already sent payment … you can expect your DVD to arrive in just a few days. I’ll be working on getting them all boxed up and into the mail over the next few days.
Enjoy!

It's been a long time in the making, but we just got word that our first order of DVDs will be shipped by the end of the week and they should be arriving sometime next week 😊
They will be available for $25 per disc with free shipping within the USA. We accept checks and money orders as well as payments made through PayPal at: PayPal.me/jnespirit
Let me know if you would like to purchase a copy and I will be in touch through private message so there is no personal information posted here in the public forum on Facebook 🙃
Also ~ we WILL ship outside the USA but I cannot quote a price for the extra shipping charges here since that is all dependent upon the country we will be shipping to.

Our heartfelt condolences to Greg, Alan and the entire Anders family as well as the staff at Heritage Flight Museum for their loss with the death of Bill Anders yesterday. He has been a "fixture" in this tri-county area of the Pacific Northwest for years and he will be sorely missed.

We were notified last week that our documentary film producer's company "KOOLFLIX, Inc" was chosen the WINNER in the 30th Annual Communicator Awards competition for our film "A Dream Takes Flight".
What an honor!
We are currently working on getting DVDs of the film pressed to have publicly available this summer. When they are ready for distribution we will announce it here!

On 12 May 1927 … 97 years ago TODAY ... Charles Lindbergh set a new record for the fastest transcontinental flight.
Lindbergh flew the newly built "Spirit of St. Louis" from California to New York in 21 hours and 40 minutes.
He then began preparations to fly from New York to Paris as soon as the weather broke enough to allow him to take off.
The rest ... as they say ... is HISTORY :-)

We’ve had a lot of folks stopping by to see with their own eyes what this “faux” 1932 Ford Roadster is all about!
Some people have had a hard time believing that John is doing this all by hand, starting with flat sheets of metal … they thought he was assembling a “kit” of some kind!
I guess they didn’t realize that John only makes his OWN “kits”! LOL
This Roadster project has given him a wonderful opportunity to reaquaint himself with the English Wheel and brush up on the required techniques for creating the cowlings for the 1929 Travel Air Speedwing project.
Working on his own project in order to perfect the process has proven to be exactly what he needed. Last week he finished turning out the 3-piece Forward Engine Cowl for the bird.

No blueprints?
No drawings?
Just a picture in your head?
No problem!

A great “bird’s eye” view of The SPIRIT of ST. LOUIS by JNE on the tarmac at Lopez Island Airport in June 2022.
Karlena Pickering captured this shot with her drone during the filming of our documentary “A Dream Takes Flight”.
This is such a wonderful photograph showing the top side of the airplane that one cannot see when standing beside it on the ground!
That “white spot” just below the “X” on the wing is the builder of this iconic aircraft, John Norman.
Our heartfelt THANKS to Karlena Pickering for taking and sharing this photograph with us

We still have a few 2024 Calendars available if you haven't gotten yours yet!

We accept Paypal ... send to: paypal.me/jnespirit
We also accept checks ... if you message me I will provide the mailing address for you to send your check to ~
We accept cash if you are local and want to pick your calendar up in person :-D

We have received the following answer from Sundance ...
Now we wait to hear from two more International Film Festivals before we can release the film to the public :-D

"Dear KOOLFLIX,

On behalf of the entire Programming team for the Sundance Film Festival, I’d like to thank you for submitting your film to our 2024 edition. With a record number of projects submitted to us this year (17,435 to be exact) and approximately 150 available slots within our program, we had to make many difficult choices throughout the selection process. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a space for your project at the Festival this year. The quality of the films we receive gets higher each and every year, so this was not an easy decision to say the least.

We are incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to view the latest in independent film from the global artistic community, and we wish you the best of luck with your project going forward. It is our sincere hope that you allow us to consider any work you have to submit in the future.

With best regards,

Eugene Hernandez
Director, Sundance Film Festival
This message was sent by Sundance Film Festival. To stop receiving messages from this event you can unsubscribe.

© FilmFreeway
Submission and Event Management by FilmFreeway"

Answer to the latest 2023 Trivia Question:
The Ryan Company used the "Clark Y" airfoil on the Spirit of St. Louis just as they did with their M-1 and M-2 models built before that.
The "Clark Y" design is flat on the lower side of the wing ... as can be seen in the photo of the wing rib laid out against the Balsa Wood wing tip here.
When it came to building the rounded wing tips for the Spirit of St. Louis, the Ryan Company simply laid a wing rib down (so it was flat on the table surface) and built the width profile curvature of the wing tip to exactly match the height profile curvature of the "Clark Y" airfoil.
This made the SHAPE of the wing tip, from the inboard edge to the outboard edge of the wing tip, EXACTLY the same as the shape of the wing from leading edge to trailing edge over the TOP of the wing!

Another 2023 trivia question about the Spirit of St. Louis:
How did the Ryan Company come up with the design they used to form the Balsa Wood wing tips on the Spirit of St. Louis?

The answer can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=838644501595799&set=a.398213072305613

We accept Paypal () ... money orders ... personal checks ... and cash!
Let me know how many calendars you want and I'll message you to get a mailing address from you 🙂

On June 15, 2022 Ron Fowler flew The SPIRIT of ST. LOUIS by JNE from Arlington, WA to Lopez Island, WA so that we could capture some flying footage for the film, "A Dream Takes Flight".
We hired a R-22 helicopter, flown by Omar DeLeon from Command Aviation in Bellingham, WA so that our director, Tim Angevine could film the flight with the door removed.
Tim was able to capture about an hour and a half of spectacular footage as Ron took off from Arlington and flew over the rivers and trees with the Cascade mountains backdrop ... over Interstate 5 with automobiles below and their drivers oblivious to his presence above them ... on up to the farmlands of the Skagit Valley ... around Mt. Erie with views of the oil refineries in Anacortes in the distance ... over the straits in Puget Sound with ferries passing below ... and upon arriving over Lopez Island, making 3-passes through Fisherman Bay ... over to South Beach at Cattle Point on San Juan Island ... back up to Upright Channel to catch a shot of the Glory of the Seas with her sails raised ... and finally back to the airport on Lopez Island as he landed.
Here is a link showing the footage of Ron "Getting the Spirit Airborne" in Arlington, WA.

Getting Airborne With The Spirit of St. Louis by JNE Ron Fowler gets the Spirit of St. Louis by JNE airborne at Arlington Municipal Airport in Arlington, WA on his way to Lopez Island on June 15, 2022.There is ...

Our son has designed a Poster / DVD cover for the documentary film we have been working on the past couple of years.
The film has been submitted to Sundance for consideration to premier at their Film Festival in January 2024. They will notify us during the first week of December on what their decision is.
We will post details here on our page when the film is available for public viewing.

We had an opportunity to get some photos of The SPIRIT of ST. LOUIS by JNE in the sunshine before the gates opened at Skyfest last week.

This was a grand sight to see!
3 Beautiful Silver Ladies representing important advancements in aviation history all together at the Arlington Skyfest yesterday.
It was a great day and we want to THANK everyone who took the time to stop by to see The SPIRIT of ST. LOUIS by JNE while we were there!
By the time we packed her up to head back to the hangar we were all pretty hoarse because you had so many wonderful questions about the airplane that we were delighted to answer for you

The SPIRIT of ST. LOUIS by JNE will NOT be making any flights prior to Arlington Skyfest since our pilot is under the weather :-(
However, we WILL be on static display at Skyfest all day Saturday, August 19, 2023.
We can be found directly across the ramp from the "Large Military Aircraft" ... The B-17 "Sentimental Journey" ... the B-25 "Made in the Shade" ... and the rest of what we commonly call the "Warbirds".
Stop by and see us!
As far as whether we take her to Lopez for their "Airport Day" on Sunday ... That remains to be seen.
IF our pilot has recovered and is feeling up to a flight down to Arlington to take the girl around the pattern a few times to see how she's behaving on Sunday morning, we will make our decision at that time.
I'm sorry I can't give you any more information than that. Our pilot's health is far more important to us than any flight of our bird!
Thank You for your understanding

We are planning on taking The SPIRIT of ST. LOUIS by JNE to the Arlington Skyfest on Saturday August 19, 2023 to be on static display if you're in the area and want to come see her.
That is providing our hangar door gets repaired before then so we can roll her out ;-)
That being said ... IF we can get her out during the week, we will do a ground run to make sure the engine is happy after sitting for the past year!
Additionally, if our pilot can make it down to Arlington that day and the ground run is positive, we will be launching her to get a bit of exercise around the pattern a few times to make sure she will be up to a trip back to Lopez on Sunday (8/20/23) for their Airport Day!
I can't give any details yet on which day or what time we will fly because it is ALL dependent upon WHEN our hangar door is operable once again!
I will post if we know in advance that we are going to fly ~ but I cannot promise since sometimes its a matter of everything coming together at the last minute ... and our focus is the airplane first, spectators second!
Thanks for your understanding!