Well, it's a little quiet around here, so I thought I'd throw in the following. Some of you know that I'm working on a book about airplane designer John Monnett of Sonerai, Monex, and Sonex fame. Here's a draft of a caption of one of the book's photos (also attached) that has nothing to do with airplanes per se but demonstrates the other mostly unknown aspects of operating a kit airplane company:
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The original Monnett Experimental Aircraft facility was in an area that was somewhat prone to break-ins, and John decided to get a dog to leave at the place for security. Consultations with various firms which bred and trained security dogs established that their animals were beyond his price range, and furthermore having a mean security dog on hand was not the best way to make a good impression on customers coming to look at the airplanes. Soon thereafter a local pound called John when they heard he was looking for a dog. John visited and brought back a jet-black Newfoundland, who was subsequently named Spot.
It didn't really work out. The first night on the job was not good. John came
in the next morning to find a series of blinds ripped down and a large hole chewed in a leather couch. It went downhill from there. Spot didn't seem to do anything they wanted him to, although he proved to be a saint with children, who would sometimes try to climb on and ride him. Later the company got a female Doberman named Binky and, leaving the dogs alone all night as they did, the inevitable happened: Spot finally found something he could do with reasonable success, and Monnett Experimental Aircraft got a collection of little tiny "Spottermans" which became the company’s latest product. Shortly thereafter Spot was given away to a farmer but was forced to return to the aviation security business just two days later after he killed two geese and severely mauled several pigs.
One time John wasn't having a good day to begin with and somehow Spot did something that made him madder. John grabbed a broom and chased Spot through the facility into the shop area. Spot, of course, was faster, running around obstacles like a champ, and got ahead of John. In frustration, John threw the broom at Spot, but, instead of hitting the offending animal the broom handle went right through the fabric skin of the horizontal stab of a recently completed and ready-for-painting Sonerai. Spot: 1, John: 0
Spot was eventually adopted by two company employees, Emily and Bill Schaben, retired from the aviation security business, and lived out the rest of his days at his new owner’s home in Elgin Illinois.
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TM
