Ever land an airplane on a shoebox Ford convertible?

I have heard the stories about my Uncle Clark driving a 49 Ford convertible while his friend landed an airplane on it since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I visited my cousin yesterday( Clark's son) and I asked him about this tale. As a back story, my Uncle was born in 1916 and got his first Model T when he was 12. He was a die hard Ford man all his life and was head mechanic at the Ford garage until 1950 when he opened his own garage, Sohio station, used car lot and wrecker service. He also had his own airplane and a sweet Harley for years.
My cousin Gary (now 81) says he was about 9 when his Dad's buddy, a former Army Air Force flyer in WWII, was telling Clark about his plan to land his airplane on a specially rigged convertible but he couldn't find any one with the stones to drive the car. They discussed it over a bottle of whiskey and uncle said he would drive the car. After a few practice runs they booked county fairs and air shows around Ohio and neighboring states. Gary didn't remember how long they preformed or what ever happened the the Ford or the airplane but he dug up these pictures. Sorry for the crummy quality of the pictures but they are copies of copies.

 

For a clearer image, have a friend scan them for you. Would love to see what's going on there.

 

That’s sooooo coool !!!
Thanks for sharing this bit of family history,

 

I tried that already, still fuzzy

 

Yea, old Uncle Clark was an interesting guy. He kept his garage open until he was well into his 80's. By then it was mostly a hang out for the old farts to come to for BS sessions. I would stop by now and then just for the stories they would tell. Cousin Gary has a bunch of slides with pictures of the cars on the car lot that I have been bugging him to get made into dvd's. I remember a lot of the cars but one that stands out was a baby blue and white 57 Ford convertible with factory dual fours and a standard transmission. Some guy bought it on a Friday afternoon and totaled it that night, what a waste! I hung out at the station every chance I got and some times I would pump gas or wash cars on the car lot. Great memories for a car crazy kid!

 

My old desktop flight simulator has a similar training exercise - "Lucky Larry" landing his biplane on a school bus. It was darned difficult for me to accomplish that task. Your uncle's pilot friend must have been an excellent pilot.