Category Archives: travel

Biplane Ride Over the Ohio River Valley

Madison, Indiana, is a small town. Resting on the edge of the Ohio River, where Indiana meets Kentucky with just over 11,000 inhabitants, it fits in with many other small towns across the nation. Located in the Ohio River Valley, it is both every small town in America and like no other place. A paradox town. It has a sizable downtown area, with shops and restaurants all within walking distance. It stands between Louisville and Cincinnati. Madison is surrounded by rolling, forest-covered hills and farm fields.

Madison Municipal Airport

Just northwest of the city is the Madison Municipal Airport. Madison Municipal Airport has a single runway and a nice building to wait for your flight. It is home to several businesses, including flight schools, airplane restoration services, and aircraft repair services, among other businesses. At Madison Municipal Airport, Cliff Robinson runs Robinson Aerobatics, where he teaches aerobatics and gives rides in his 1941 Boeing Stearman biplane.

When Boeing Made Biplanes

Cliff’s Boeing Stearman, a military training aircraft that was the steppingstone before pilots moved on to fighters, has been restored and modified. The engine puts out 500 horsepower, roughly double what it originally had. After stepping up the wing, I grabbed the handles on the top wing and lowered myself into the cockpit. Amazingly, all 6’2 of me fit perfectly into the front passenger cockpit. I had wondered about how much space the cockpit would have. People tended to be shorter in 1941, and this plane’s purpose was to train pilots, not fly them across the country in luxury. After getting strapped in and putting on a headset, we were almost ready to go. On the ground, the Boeing Stearman points upward due to its “taildragger” style landing gear layout, meaning that, unlike many contemporary aircraft, it has two wheels in the front and one in the back.

The Ohio River Valley from 2,100 Feet

After taxiing and a pre-flight check, we took flight. The Boeing Stearman did not need a lot of runway to take off, and it climbed effortlessly. Soon, we were 2,100 feet up, and farm fields and woods appeared as a colorful patchwork quilt on the ground. Despite the 500 horsepower, the noise from the front seat was not excessively loud. Cliff remarked that we could see for 50 miles. I could feel the grin on my face. We crossed the Ohio River that separates Indiana and Kentucky. I saw it extend into the horizon as it weaved its way out of sight. We passed by downtown Madison, nestled between the Ohio River and the hill that leads down to it. It appeared as rows and rows of neat brick buildings. After turning back into Indiana, it was my time to take the controls.

I had never flown a plane before, but if I was going to do it for the first time, it might as well be in an 80-year-old, 500 horsepower aerobatic biplane. I took the control stick in my right hand and did my best to keep the plane smooth as I looked towards the horizon and the Stearman made its way through the air. After heading straight for a while, Cliff told me over the radio to make a left. I let the wings drop to the left and looked into the turn. After bringing the plane back to level flight and continuing to fly a bit, it was time to hand the controls back to Cliff. We then made our way back to the airport. After landing and taxiing to a stop, I headed back through the building. The Boeing Stearman undoubtedly made an impression upon landing. A man sitting in the building with a smile on his face who seemed as excited as I was asked how it was. “It was great!”

For More Information

You can check out Cliff Robin’s website here: www.cliffrobinsonaerobatics.com. You can also visit Madison Municipal Airport’s website at www.madisonmunicipalairport.com. For more information on Madison, Indiana you can go to their website at visitmadison.org Know of a place I should go to for my next blog, or if you have ever flown or ridden in a Stearman let me know in the comments!

The Indiana Dunes

1969 Ford Mustang Restomod ‘Manticore’

A look at a 785-horsepower 1969 Ford Mustang restomod.

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The 2022 Pontiac Nationals

An overview of the 2022 Pontiac Nationals

by Joe October 6, 2022October 6, 2022

The 2022 Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational

An account of the 2022 Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

by Joe September 2, 2022

The Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum

My Trip to the 2022 Indianapolis 500

A chronicle of my first Indianapolis 500

by Joe June 21, 2022August 18, 2022

The 2021 PRI Show

A guide to the closed-to-the-general-public 2021 Performance Racing Industry Trade Show.

by Joe February 7, 2022June 21, 2022

The 2021 Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals

A look at the 2021 Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals.

by Joe December 10, 2021February 7, 2022

The National Automotive and Truck Museum

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The National Automotive and Truck Museum, an impressive collection of cars and trucks, is located in Auburn, Indiana. It is an unassuming building neatly tucked away behind the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. It could easily be missed if you were not paying attention. However, not going to The National Automotive and Truck Museum would be doing yourself a major disservice if you are already at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. It is a separate building, although you can get a Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum/National Automotive and Truck Museum combo ticket if you want. It also includes one of the most valuable American vehicles ever made, but more on that later.

The Dodge Tomahawk concept bike. Note the VIper V-10.

Pre-war classics and a unique “barn” find.

Once you get your ticket and leave the gift shop, you’ll come across a room chock-full of die-cast cars representing countless brands and models and a collection of pedal cars. Some of these antique pedal cars are nearly identical to their full-sized counterparts, many of which can be found in the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum across the parking lot. Just pass that room; you will find yourself in a large section filled with early 20th century cars. These cars include a 1935 Cord that goes far beyond what would be considered a typical “barn find.” It was buried for years and only dug up in the 1980s. Despite the effects of about 50 years, pressure, dirt, and water, the body is surprisingly intact, given the circumstances.

A picture of a rare painted DeLorean. — A rare red DeLorean. It was part of a factory test to see how paint would work on the stainless steel body.

The Car Room

Exiting that room, you come upon the main room for the car section. It is filled with an incredible amount of variety, from the massive, iconic GM Futurliner, to the diminutive pre-war Austin 7. There’s the replica of the Essex Wire Shelby Cobra race car. There are also some interesting stories behind some of the cars. The 1981 DeLorean with a red paint job? As per the Museum, it was part of a test to see if the paint would work on the unconventional body. The red stands out as almost every DeLorean is the same unpainted stainless steel. The unassuming 1995 Ford Crown Victoria? It belonged to Hollywood Icon Katherine Hepburn. There’s also the legendary concept bike/quad, the Dodge Tomahawk. It is essentially a four-tire motorcycle powered by a Viper V-10 engine. As of writing, I’ve been to this Museum three times, and they keep the cars in rotation.

A picture of a Futurliner. — The Futurliner, notice the central position of the driver.

The Futurliner

At the far edge of the room sits a 1940 GM Futurliner, one of just a handful made. These trucks, which look like an RV mixed with a semi truck toured the country showcasing new-for-the-time technology. They are roughly the size of a full-size RV or a city bus, and the fact that they don’t have side windows them look even larger. One side of the Futurliner opens to show the display, and lights extend up out of the roof, forming a sort of wordless marque. Interestingly, the driver sits in the middle and very high up. When looking up at the Futurliner from the front, it makes you appreciate just how high up the driver is. The engine sits forward, under the driver. Surprisingly, for a vehicle of that size, it does not have two rear axles common in modern city buses and RVs. Instead, it has eight wheels, two at each corner. The front bumpers follow the round front and back of the Futurliner and blend seamlessly into the sides of it. They also have a display example of the type of straight-6 that powered it. One of these sold at an auction for 4.1 million dollars. For a while, this was the most expensive American vehicle ever sold at an auction. You can learn more about the Futurliner on the website Futurliner.org.

The Truck Room

The basement floor is the truck section, and it takes up almost every bit of space that the ground-floor car level does. It features over 100 years of personal and commercial trucks and even a land-speed record holder semi-truck that did well north of 200 mph. One of the things that immediately catch your attention is the row of fuel-haulers, in ascending order by age, starting with a horse-drawn one. The horse-drawn fuel-hauler is a perfect wordless metaphor for the transitional era of the early 20th century. Walking through the trucks, I was impressed by just how many early 20th century trucks there were, a chain final drive in place of a driveshaft is not an uncommon sight there. A cool thing about the trucks is that some of them come from the area. There is even a bus that was made in Auburn called a McIntyre. The 1911 model they have is far removed from what would constitute a modern bus: Three rows of seats and not a roof or window in sight, but it did what was made to do. Like the car floor above it, the truck section goes way beyond the Big Three, featuring brands like Studebaker and highlighting early examples of familiar truck brands like International.

The Experience

One of the great things about The National Automotive and Truck Museum is that you can take as much or as little time as you want. The Museum is divided up into several large rooms, and you don’t have to walk far to see it all, despite the size of the collection. However, time permitting, you may feel like digging deeper, reading the stories of the cars and trucks on their plaques, and checking out more of the extensive Futurliner exhibit. If you find yourself at The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum, the trip across the parking lot to this Museum is a worthwhile one. The Museum truly is a companion to the ACD Museum, as opposed to an afterthought. You can check out the Museum online at natmus.org. Also, you can view my blog about the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum here: https://carsandadventures.wordpress.com/2020/07/10/the-auburn-cord-duesenberg-museum/. I’ll be writing another blog about the final car museum I visited that day: The Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum. Have you been to The National Automotive and Truck Museum? Let me know in the comments! As always, thanks for checking out my blog!

The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum

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I got the chance to go to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in Auburn, Indiana again. It is one of the most impressive car museums I have visited. The Museum represents Duesenberg, Auburn, and Cord, high-end early 20th-century car brands, who eventually came under the ownership of the same company. It is rare to find a car museum that houses so many cars worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions, but here it is the norm.

The first road going Duesenberg ever made. — A 1921 Duesenburg. It features a custom body designed to accommodate it’s 7 foot tall original owner.

Auburn, Indiana, is a small college town (city to be exact) in the northeast corner of Indiana (almost to Ohio.) Its connection to cars is strong; its nickname is “Home of the Classics” due to the number of car brands it produced. It also plays host to a massive collector car auction held at a designated site just outside of town. Auburn also features several car museums besides the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. These museums include the National Automotive & Truck Museum, the Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum, and the International Monster Truck Museum and Hall of Fame.

Auburn car on display at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. — An Auburn convertible.

The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum is housed in the company’s original three-story headquarters, which came complete with an Art Deco style showroom. Just standing in the showroom takes you back to the jazz age. There is even period-correct music playing. The showroom features over twenty Auburns, Cords, and Duesenbergs from different times in the company’s history. Although the company did not last long, thanks in part due to the Great Depression, they created some of the most elegant cars of the period, complete with technological innovations that would take decades to reappear. These included superchargers, hideaway headlights, and front-wheel drive. The Duesenbergs stand out in their variety, for not only color but bodies as well. A Duesenberg was bought from the manufacturer as just a motor, a frame, and not much else. A coach-building company was then hired to complete the car. This lead to some astonishing variety. Duesenberg’s are also known for their impressive even by today’s standards performance. A Duesenberg naturally aspirated straight-8 motor produced 265 horsepower, while the supercharged variant put out well over 300. Their performance is a reflection of their history. The Dusenberg race cars did very well on the track. These cars were well received by celebrities. Famed pilot Amelia Earhart owned a Cord, and actor Gary Cooper owned a Duesenberg.

1948 TASCO car. — The Tasco. Note the t-tops.

Aside from the three brands on display in the showroom, there was an exhibit on cars of that era with a large number of cylinders, V-12s, and V-16s. I was particularly impressed by a beautiful V-16 Cadillac on display. Although the large cylinder era did not last long (the exhibit mentioned the increasing performance of the V-8 and lighter-weight cars made them unnecessary), the American V-12 has an interesting, if obscure, footnote in pop culture. In the original version of the icon rockabilly song “Hot Rod Lincoln,” the titular car is powered by a V-12, and not a V-8 like in later versions.

A 1911 Metallurique. An early sports car. — A 1911 Metallurique. This one was used in the 1965 comedy “The Great Race.”

Just past the main hall is a smaller room that features some interesting, non-A.C.D. cars. These included some iconic 50’s cars, a 1911 Metallurique that was featured in the 1965 movie “The Great Race,” and a 1933 Checker Cab. The second level is accessible from the grand staircase in the showroom. It would not look out of place in a historic mansion. The second level features an automotive-themed art gallery and a foot-tall version of the “Spirit of Ecstasy,” the famous hood ornament found on Rolls-Royces.

A replica of an Auburn on display at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. — A replica of the 1929 Auburn Cabin Speedster. The original was destroyed in the 1929 LA Auto Show fire.

The third floor features more collections of cars and Company offices that look as though they did 80 years ago. There are also miniature clay-mockups of some of Cords. There was a special exhibit on this floor relating to infamous Indiana bank robber John Dillinger, which includes one of his Tommy Guns. There was also an exhibit on cars made in Indiana. In the early 20^th century, during the dawn of the car, there were quite a few from Indiana. The 3rd floor also featured one of the most unique one-off cars of the ’40s: the Tasco. What makes this one-off sports car so interesting is not just the aviation-inspired interior and exterior, but its use of a t-top. Roughly 20 years before it appeared on a Corvette.

V-16 Cadillac, part of an exhibit on V-12 and V-16 cars. — A V-16 Cadillac.

This was my third trip to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum, and each time there has been something new. Because of the other car museums nearby, I was able to go to three in one day: The National Automotive and Truck Museum (which is on the property) and the Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum (which is just across town.) I will be covering both of those museums in upcoming posts. This is the first of three articles I will be writing about car museums in Auburn. If you have been to the Museum or have anything to add, please let me know in the comments! You can visit their website at www.automobilemuseum.org.

Elvis Presley’s Graceland

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Earlier this year, on my way back to Louisiana, I got a chance to stop at Graceland, the fabled home of Elvis Presley. Located in Memphis, Tennessee, it has inspired more than one hit song and has been a tourist attraction for around 40 years. The area around it was a lot more remote when it was built in the ’30s. Not only have businesses like restaurants grown up around Graceland, but a neighborhood has as well.

The front of Elvis' Graceland, as viewed from the side. — The front of Graceland, still decorated for Christmas.

After getting my ticket and being handed my iPad and earphones that I would use for the tour across the street, I rode the shuttle through the gates and up the massive, circular driveway. The house itself rests on a hill, adding to its mystic. The front of the house has elegant Roman columns. If you thought the driveway looked like it would make a good go-kart track, you aren’t alone. The iPad (with parts of the tour narrated by John Stamos) told us that Elvis used it as such. The house itself is good-sized, especially for the time period it was built, but the rooms themselves are more average-sized. The decoration of the rooms can only be described as extravagant. I went in January, so the front yard and house were still decorated for Christmas. The entrance was lined on both sides with Christmas trees. One of the rooms in the house had a beautiful white Christmas tree, which was very trendy during the 1970s. The dining room looked as if it was set for a Christmas dinner, the table was adorned with plates, and another Christmas tree sat at the far end. The tree was covered in ornaments and draped in tinsel. It had a stocking that read “Elvis.” The 2^nd floor is off-limits, out of respect for Elvis and his family’s privacy. The first floor is where he received guests. The tour takes you through gorgeous rooms and into the very finished basement complete with three TVs, and eventually through the legendary jungle room. Like its namesake, the Jungle Room features large amounts of green, both on the ground and ceiling, plus plenty of plants. It is even mentioned by name in the hit song “Walking in Memphis.” In the large, hilly backyard horses graze, the same as when Elvis lived there. The last part of the tour is the small cemetery where Elvis and his parents are buried. It was very beautiful and peaceful. It is fitting that a celebrity who was so accessible to his fans, signing countless autographs, would have hundreds of thousands of visitors to his final resting place decades after his passing. After getting on the bus back to the visitor’s center, I felt like I knew Elvis, like he had me over to his house.

Graceland's dining room table, set for a Christmas dinner, complete with a Christmas tree. — The Dining room, set for a Christmas dinner.

The whole Graceland attraction is massive, besides the house itself. There is a huge museum that goes beyond Elvis, a bar, a steakhouse, an ice cream shop and, a concert arena that frequently plays host to big-name acts. There is a lot to see and do just across the street. Many of Elvis’ cars, boats, motorcycles, and planes are on display as well. The cars alone take up multiple rooms. The planes were impressive to walk through, although you need to buy a separate ticket for it. I had never been in an airplane quite like his 1958 Convair 880 jet. It was interesting to be in an airliner-sized plane that was so personalized. There are many other displays about Elvis, including a detailed exhibit about his time in the military. There was a fascinating display about Sun Records, the groundbreaking record company Elvis was signed to early in his career. The Elvis satellite radio channel also broadcasts from Graceland. There was also an exhibit about celebrities who had been inspired by Elvis and features their clothes or costumes. The extensive list included, among others, Johnny Cash, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and the band KISS. There is a lot to see and do, and it is definitely worth checking out, especially for fans of Elvis.

Cars and Adventures

A blog about cars and my travels.