A short 18-mile drive from the Pacific Ocean, the greater Fallbrook area is well known for its gently rolling hills, lush groves, ancient oak trees, equestrian and walking trails, riparian areas, nature preserves, and Mediterranean climate.
The Waco Airplane
Contributed by the Fallbrook Historical Society
Don Rivers, President
This story came to light one hot August afternoon and being a Thursday the
Fallbrook Historical Museum was open so Francis (Gillie) Gillian came into the
Museum asking if we would like to have a picture he had in his hand. Upon seeing
the picture we became excited about the old picture and the story he related. It
is through pictures and stories of this nature that the Fallbrook Historical
Society is able to document, preserve and convey our very interesting history of
Fallbrook to the public rather than having this information lost in passing of
time
The story behind the picture goes something like this:
In 1951 Bill Thurber, the Fire Chief of the Fallbrook Volunteer Fire Department
ran across the opportunity to purchase from the Navy a war surplus Waco biplane.
Not having the money to purchase it himself, he contacted some of his friends
and associates. Four of them (Jack Eberline, Henry Taylor, Floyd Ahrend and
Francis Gillian) agreed to join with him. They put up one hundred dollars apiece
and took possession of the plane.
The plane was moved to a small airstrip in San Marcos. This location was not
convenient due to the distance and time required to travel back and forth, so a
search was under taken for a location that they could land their plane in
Fallbrook. A location was found and A. H. Anthony consented to their using his
land for an airstrip. Gillie, being a heavy equipment operator by trade knew of
a road grader that he could utilize and he proceeded to grade a 600 feet runway
on the Anthony property.
Upon the completion of the runway the airplane was flown over from San Marcos.
Everything went well; the runway was smooth, the winds were favorable and they
felt they had the landing strip of their dreams. However what they had not taken
into account was with that big "bird" swooping down out of the sky over the
neighbors created a great deal of excitement in the chicken pens etc. and thus
raised the ire of the surrounding land owners. Thus the unapproved airfield was
discontinued and the search for a new landing strip in the Fallbrook area was on
again.
It was decided to try utilizing a ridge overlooking the Santa Margarita River
off of Santa Margarita Drive known as the Chalmers Ranch. However there was not
as much room on this ridge and a landing strip of only 300 feet could be
constructed. It was decided that they could land the Waco aircraft on a 300 feet
strip. Gillie went to work and graded off the strip. This location proved to be
less desirable than the previous one because the unpredictable wind that blew up
the Santa Margarita Canyon every afternoon caused problems with controlling the
plane on takeoff and landings, however they continued to use it.
Floyd Ahrend used the plane to take aerial photographs of ranches for owners
wanting to show off their places and property that Realtors were wanting to
sell. As of this date there are many aerial photograph of the Fallbrook area on
display or tucked away somewhere for posterity.
It is our understanding that Bill Ahrend of The Fallbrook Camera Shop is still
in possession of some the negatives of his dad's old aerial photographs.
We have been told that while Floyd was taking a picture one-day from this Waco
plane and he almost fell out of it. During that moment of excitement he almost
dropped his camera due to the fact he had unfastened his seat belt in order to
stand up to get a better view of the ground.
Bill Thurber being the Fire Chief and Francis Gillian, the Assistant Fire Chief
utilized the plane for fire reconnaissance. Not having a radio in the plane it
was necessary for two to fly the reconnaissance, one to fly the plane the other
would map the fire and give directions as what should be done. When the map was
drawn and instructions written they were slipped into a section of clear plastic
pipe with a cap on each end the capsule containing the information was dropped
to someone waiting on the ground.
One day one of the owners decided to fly the Waco out to the desert to view some
property he owned. While landing, he experienced a problem and made a very hard
landing. Upon their returning to Fallbrook a thorough examination of the
aircraft was made and it was determined that the fuselage had been severally
damaged and the plane was no longer fit to fly. One of the owner's sons was a
certified aircraft mechanic and he volunteered make the necessary repairs. The
plane was move to a suitable location to make the repairs and was disassembled.
However for some unknown reason, work on the plane came to a halt. After an
extended period of time it was decided that the plane should be sold and the
money from its sale donated to the Fallbrook Volunteer Fire Department.
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