Knights Without Parachutes

Ewan grew up skiing with the Eskimo Ski Club, which, along with Winter Park, owes its existence to a Tenth Mountain Division soldier, Frank Bulkley. It was Bulkley who also suggested plans for a ski train to the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. The Ski Train saved skiers from traffic jams in the mountains (and saved the rest of the traffic from those additional cars). Instead, passengers could sit and watch the scenery go by, scenery that couldn't be seen from the highway. The Ski Train engine shown in the design is currently housed at the Colorado Railroad Museum. The engine is an F9...

Mike Gugeler on WWI aircraft maintenance Mike Gugeler is one of the rare people who, like Vintage Aero Flying Museum director Andy Parks, knows not only WWI aviation history, but also how to fly and how to build WWI replica airplanes. He is the sort of person who at a WWI aviation museum fly-in would be the one spreading out blueprints for WWI airplanes on the tables set out for lunch.  Eddie Rickenbacker thought that pilots should be recruited from racecar drivers, since they were already adrenaline junkies (all right, it's not how he phrased it) who understood machines. (The US Army disagreed,...

The Argo Gold Mine and Mill is a familiar sight to anyone heading into the mountains from Denver for hiking or skiing. In fact, this iconic building has been recreated in miniature in Tiny Town, a few valleys over. The Argo is an odd-looking rust-red building that, rather than standing up like a regular multistory building, seems to be leaning back against the hillside enjoying the brilliant high-altitude sunlight. The white “ARGO” painted on the building is visible from the road. For those educated in Greek myths, Jason and the Argonauts come to mind, but warriors on a ship seem...

A Good Day for the Whole Family On 29 April of 100 years ago, Manfred von Richthofen had a very good day when his father came to visit. At the time, Manfred's brother Lothar was flying with him (Lothar was an accomplished ace in his own right, but of course is mainly known for being the Red Baron's brother.) Most fathers would be a bit concerned to have two sons flying around in these crazy contraptions, with other aviators shooting at them, no less. But the Red Baron greeted his father with "Hello Papa, I have just shot down an Englishman." and said his...