http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/20...urance0803.html
It's a long but very entertaining read so I'll just quote a couple of bits ...
QUOTE
Before long, Timm had convinced Bailey to commit $100,000 to the project. His plan was simple. The record-setting flight of a prosaic Cessna 172—with Hacienda Hotel prominently painted on the side—would draw nationwide attention to the hotel. It would surely be prominently featured on national news broadcasts. But one serious roadblock loomed. Would the average law-abiding, church-going citizen be open-minded about a headline-grabbing flight that was being sponsored by a hotel located in Las Vegas, a town known for gambling and even gangster activity? In a flash of inspiration, Doc Bailey announced that the casino’s flight was a fundraiser for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.
To add credibility to the effort, he enlisted Preston Foster, noted commentator and radio personality, to act as ground operations manager for the flight. And any average law-abiding, church-going citizen—or anyone else for that matter—wanting to guess how long the flight would stay aloft could send their guess with a cash contribution to this distinctly humanitarian cause and would automatically be entered to win $10,000 if their guess was closest to the actual time spent aloft. The logic is irrefutable. Two intrepid airmen take to the air to raise money for a humanitarian cause, and America is nudged into the idea that it’s OK to gamble when it backs a worthy cause.
(snip)
Finally, on December 4, 1958, at six seconds past 3:52 p.m. local time, they took off from McCarran Field in Las Vegas. The FAA had granted a waiver that permitted the aeroplane to be operated at weights that exceeded the maximum takeoff weight by 350 to 400 pounds. The aeroplane, with its two inhabitants, was to stay aloft for 64 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes, and five seconds. To prevent any funny business such as clandestine landings, officials raced down a runway at McCarran Field in a convertible Ford Thunderbird and painted white stripes on the tires as Timm flew above the racing car.
A Ford truck, donated by Cashman Auto in Las Vegas, was outfitted with a fuel pump, tank, and other paraphernalia required to support the aircraft in flight. When fuel was required, a rendezvous would be arranged on a stretch of straight road in the desert near Blythe, California. An electric winch lowered a hook, the fuel pump hose was picked up, and Timm or Cook inserted it into the belly tank. It took a little more than three minutes to fill the belly tank.
(snip)
On January 12, 1959, after refueling chores, Timm removed his clothes and stepped out onto the platform for a refreshing sponge bath. He started by brushing his teeth. Just then Cook realized that the aeroplane wasn't going to clear an upcoming ridge if the platform wasn't pulled in. Cook yelled at Timm to pull in the platform and later told of seeing his partner struggling to complete that task—buck naked, and weighing 240 pounds, with a toothbrush sticking out of one side of his mouth and toothpaste streaming out of the other. They cleared the ridge but learned to delay hygienic activities until they were over flatter terrain.
(snip)
"We had lost the generator, tachometer, autopilot, cabin heater, landing and taxi lights, belly tank fuel gauge, electrical fuel pump, and winch," Cook wrote[/quote]
There are a couple more photos here, including one of refueling in progress.
Anyone want to have a go at recreating the flight ?
To add credibility to the effort, he enlisted Preston Foster, noted commentator and radio personality, to act as ground operations manager for the flight. And any average law-abiding, church-going citizen—or anyone else for that matter—wanting to guess how long the flight would stay aloft could send their guess with a cash contribution to this distinctly humanitarian cause and would automatically be entered to win $10,000 if their guess was closest to the actual time spent aloft. The logic is irrefutable. Two intrepid airmen take to the air to raise money for a humanitarian cause, and America is nudged into the idea that it’s OK to gamble when it backs a worthy cause.
(snip)
Finally, on December 4, 1958, at six seconds past 3:52 p.m. local time, they took off from McCarran Field in Las Vegas. The FAA had granted a waiver that permitted the aeroplane to be operated at weights that exceeded the maximum takeoff weight by 350 to 400 pounds. The aeroplane, with its two inhabitants, was to stay aloft for 64 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes, and five seconds. To prevent any funny business such as clandestine landings, officials raced down a runway at McCarran Field in a convertible Ford Thunderbird and painted white stripes on the tires as Timm flew above the racing car.
A Ford truck, donated by Cashman Auto in Las Vegas, was outfitted with a fuel pump, tank, and other paraphernalia required to support the aircraft in flight. When fuel was required, a rendezvous would be arranged on a stretch of straight road in the desert near Blythe, California. An electric winch lowered a hook, the fuel pump hose was picked up, and Timm or Cook inserted it into the belly tank. It took a little more than three minutes to fill the belly tank.
(snip)
On January 12, 1959, after refueling chores, Timm removed his clothes and stepped out onto the platform for a refreshing sponge bath. He started by brushing his teeth. Just then Cook realized that the aeroplane wasn't going to clear an upcoming ridge if the platform wasn't pulled in. Cook yelled at Timm to pull in the platform and later told of seeing his partner struggling to complete that task—buck naked, and weighing 240 pounds, with a toothbrush sticking out of one side of his mouth and toothpaste streaming out of the other. They cleared the ridge but learned to delay hygienic activities until they were over flatter terrain.
(snip)
"We had lost the generator, tachometer, autopilot, cabin heater, landing and taxi lights, belly tank fuel gauge, electrical fuel pump, and winch," Cook wrote[/quote]
There are a couple more photos here, including one of refueling in progress.
Anyone want to have a go at recreating the flight ?
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