4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JANUARY 24, 2018
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History: The Bonanza in fl ight
On the afternoon of Oct.
28,
1947, a brand-new air-
For The Sentinel
plane lined up and took
off from McNary Field in
Salem. It was a gleaming red-and-white beauty,
one of the very fi rst examples of a model that had
just been introduced that year: The Beechcraft
Model 35 Bonanza.
The Bonanza would go on to become possibly
the most successful small airplane in history; a
stretched six-seat variant is still in production to-
day. It was a distinctive-looking aircraft, and its
tail was confi gured in a distinctive V-shape. It was
a fast, light-handling plane, an absolute delight to
fl y.
“When the Bonanza came out in 1947, it was
unlike anything else,” wrote Richard Collins, an
online columnist for Air Facts magazine. “It was
aerodynamically clean and the very fi rst ones
would cruise 175 mph with a 165-horsepower en-
gine.”
Within a couple years of its release, though, the
V-tail Bonanza developed something of a sinister
reputation. Overconfi dent and inexperienced pi-
lots, lulled into carelessness by its seemingly doc-
ile handling, kept crashing them. Their fatal-acci-
dent rate from 1947 to 1952 was 4.9 per 100,000
hours — about two and a half times the average.
There was a particular issue when pilots who
lacked the skills or equipment to fl y by instru-
ments found themselves in clouds — because
the Bonanza was particularly unforgiving when
it came to going into a bank, and an airplane in
a banking turn does not “feel” like it’s turning.
“Left to its own devices, a V-tail would be in a
spiral dive in a heartbeat,” Collins writes. “A VFR
(visual fl ying rules) pilot in clouds was almost au-
todead.”
The other problem was, pilots would get excit-
ed and push the planes past their "never-exceed
speed," which was rather easy to do in such a
clean, streamlined airplane. When this happened,
they would develop a sort of death wobble start-
ing at the tips of the V-shaped tail, and once that
started, a high-speed crash was virtually inevita-
ble.
Within a few years, the Bonanza had a nick-
name: The “fork-tail doctor killer,” a reference to
By Finn JD John
the fact that physicians were frequent buyers of
the planes — which, at $7,345, were expensive
but not out of fi nancial reach for a reasonably suc-
cessful professional — and represented a dispro-
portionate number of Bonanza crash victims.
Fans of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and “The
Big Bopper” may remember that one particular
Bonanza also became, on Feb. 3, 1959, a “fork-
tail musician killer.”
All that was in the future, though, and unknown
to the four men in the little red-and-white airplane
climbing into the sky over south Salem that day.
Veteran pilot Cliff Hogue was at the controls,
and the airplane’s co-owner, state Senate Presi-
dent Marshall Cornett, was with him. Also in the
plane were Oregon Secretary of State Robert Far-
rell, Jr., and Governor Earl Snell.
The four of them were on their way to an
80,000-acre Lake County ranch near Adel, the
home of the other co-owner of the airplane, Os-
car Kittredge. The plan was, they’d land at Cole-
man Lake Landing Area, spend the night at the
Kittredge ranch, spend the next morning hunting
Canada geese, and fl y back to Salem Wednesday
night.
Everything went just fi ne at fi rst. The little air-
plane touched down at the Klamath Falls airport;
the men went to Cornett’s home for dinner, then
piled back into the airplane and took off at about
10 p.m. into an overcast sky.
Two hours later, Oscar Kittredge, waiting by the
landing fi eld and noticing the increasingly grim
weather, concluded that his four visitors must
have decided to stay over in Klamath Falls, so he
drove home and went to bed. The next morning,
he picked up the phone and rang Cornett’s house.
Cornett’s wife answered the phone.
We can only imagine what that conversation
must have been like.
A search was launched immediately, with lo-
cal aviators fl ying grid patterns over the missing
Bonanza’s fl ight path. The Oregon Air National
Guard got involved as well. Everyone hoped that
the airplane had been forced to land or crash-land
somewhere out of radio range.
Then a telephone tip came in from a cowpunch-
er camping in the Dog Lake area, southwest of
Lakeview. The cowhand reported having heard a
small airplane engine, and he said it sounded like
it might have been having some trouble.
So a group of searchers fl ew out of the Lakev-
iew airport to check it out, and late on Wednesday
afternoon they spotted the wreckage on a craggy
pine-covered slope at an altitude of about 6,000
feet.
Drew’s Valley District Ranger Jack Smith
of the U.S. Forest Service quickly organized a
search-and-recovery operation, which set out fi rst
thing the following morning. From the evidence
at the scene, it appeared that pilot Hogue had sim-
ply misjudged his altitude while trying to stay un-
der the cloud ceiling and over the terrain, and fl ew
straight and level into the side of the ridge, shear-
ing off several ponderosa pine trees and crashing
into a small gap between other trees, crunching
up like a wad of tinfoil. The plane was probably
doing at least 150 when it hit.
Everyone was dead, of course.
This posed a unique situation. When the gov-
ernor dies, his job is supposed to go to the sec-
retary of state. If the secretary of state dies, the
succession goes to the president of the Senate. All
three of those offi cials were now dead, their bod-
ies lying in and around that crashed airplane. The
Oregon state government had been, essentially,
decapitated.
The governorship fell to the speaker of the state
House of Representatives, John H. Hall, who was
sworn in later that day. His fi rst act was to pro-
claim the following Monday, Nov. 3, a statewide
day of mourning and a legal holiday.
And there was a lot of mourning being done.
Earl Snell had been an amazing “people-person,”
and nearly everyone he had met over his two-
decade-long political career thought of him as a
personal friend. Snell had cultivated an uncanny
ability to remember people’s names and faces,
even after years. He kept a card fi le on everyone
he met with the names of their spouses and pets,
along with other important information, so that
upon meeting them he could, with a broad and
delighted smile and a jovial pat upon the back,
say something like, “Jay! You’re looking great.
Hardware business still treating you well? How
are Marcia and the kids? Still got those two cute
little miniature schnauzers?”
This style of gladhanding was so successful that
Snell, by the time of his death, had built a virtual
fan club among politicians and business leaders,
which was sometimes called — only half in jest
— the “Snell machine.” And it wasn’t just the
elites that loved him; when elected to his fi rst term
as governor, in 1942, he scooped up a whopping
78 percent of the vote — still a record.
He was originally from the small farming com-
munity of Olex, and grew up in Arlington, where
he later owned an automobile dealership. He got
into politics via the Arlington City Council, and
in 1926 made the jump to the state House of Rep-
resentatives, where, after serving four terms and
making friends with almost everyone, he was
elected in 1932 as secretary of state. Ten years
later, he challenged sitting Republican Governor
Charles Sprague in the primary, and was elected
governor.
It should be noted that Snell’s record was not
unblemished. He was a supporter of the intern-
ment of American citizens of Japanese ancestry
during the WWII, and actually sponsored a 1944
bill that would have forbidden Japanese nation-
als from owning or renting land and prosecuted
American citizens if they let non-citizen Japanese
(even family members) live with them. It passed
easily, but was ruled unconstitutional.
Bob Farrell was widely expected to succeed
Snell when he fi nished his second term as gover-
nor, and surely would have moved on to the U.S.
Senate after that. Cornett was also an up-and-
coming player in Salem.
“Their loss means the way will be opened for
new candidates,” remarked the Portland Orego-
nian, in an editorial headlined “Politics Remade
Over Night” in that Friday’s paper.
Incidentally, another Southern Oregon poli-
tician, William Henry Fluhrer, was killed in an-
other Beechcraft Bonanza crash just ten months
later. Fluhrer, a veteran war pilot and founder of
the bakery empire that fi rst brought sliced bread
to Medford, had just been elected to the state
Senate and had fl own three companions in to his
home by Lake of the Woods to talk strategy. After
takeoff, something happened; witnesses saw the
plane start to waggle and then dive at high speed
into the lake.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
An opinion on Superintendent Parent
Krista Parent has been an outstanding leader in the South Lane
School District and our community . She was a driving force behind
our new High School and our under construction Harrison Grade
School replacement. She is so outstanding that she won two Na-
tional Awards.
Her personal life took some unfortunate turns but what is up-
setting is the cadre of vicious attackers who's only goal was to
bring her down. The politics of personal destruction. The board
did NOT fi re Krista. Krista retired on her own terms.
In my opinion the" bad guys" won. It is unfortunate that this can
happen but in this environment of detractors being judge and jury
will willing assistance of a bias media. What can we expect?
Thank you Krista for your many years of service!!!
David Hemenway
Cottage Grove
A word on the chamber banquet
Over the many years, I have attended many Chamber of Com-
merce Awards Business Banquets. The one held Saturday evening
at the Armory was one of the most enjoyable events I have attended
in many years, and my hat is off to the planners and organizers for
a job well done. All of the award winners were most deserving.
I would like to mention the Jr. Award went to Chelsea Arm-
strong, whereby she is awarded a scholarship. Chelsea is a senior
at CGHS, and is involved in many projects in the community. I
fi rst saw her give a presentation at Rotary over a year ago. For a
17 year old, at that time, she was well poised and well spoken, well
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The annual Crab Feed has been postponed until Feb. 17.
Road construction continues on Gateway. Visit cottagegrove.org for daily updates on traffi c restric-
tions.
Bingo at American Legion will be held on Jan. 26 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. 50 cents per card. All pro-
ceeds will support local veterans' programs.
Latham Elementary will host a bingo night on Jan. 26 from 6 p.m. to 8:30. The event will feature piz-
za, 50 cent games and a silent auction.
Odd Fellows Lodge will be hosting a fl ashback 1980s community dance party on Jan. 27 from 7 p.m.
to 10 p.m. Residents are encouraged to attend in their best '80's outfi ts and enjoy the alcohol-free event
that will feature a snack bar and raffl e for a $20 Jack Sprats gift certifi cation.
The library continues to host the Travelogue series, "A Moveable Feast." The three-month long series
starts Jan. 29 and features guest speakers who have lived and traveled throughout the world.
VFW will have its Friday dinner on Jan. 26. Adults can eat for $9, children under 12 for $3 and under
fi ve are free. Located at 3160 Hillside Dr.
The Elks' community breakfast is Sunday, Jan. 28 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and features all you can eat
eggs, ham, pancakes and hash browns. $6 for adults, $3 for kids under 12.
All Star bowling fundraiser is set for Jan. 28 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cottage Bowl. Proceeds from a
raffl e for the Strikes for Vets ball will go to VA hospitals. Tournament fee is $40.
Production
Ron Annis, Production Supervisor ............................................. Ext.215
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IN BRIEF JAN. 24-JAN.30
C ottage G rove
S entinel
deserving award candidate.
Secondly, the winner of the President’s award, which went to a
long-time CG resident, member of the PP&L staff, past Chamber
executive director, and now manager of Banner Bank, former may-
or Jim Gilroy. What is outstanding, in my mind, in dealings with
Jim over the years—he has the ability to tell it the way it is, but nev-
er looking at the glass half-empty, but half-full. A very enjoyable
positive attitude.
These two are so well deserving of their awards.
Don Williams
Cottage Grove
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