I was cleaning out our auto shop last week, rooting through the really old stuff at the back of the shelves. In among the carburetor cleaner and the hardened tubes of Permatex I found this old can covered in dust:


I pulled it out to wipe off the dust and grime. Then I turned it over to wipe down the bottom. In case it's hard to see, the writing says "Don Sheldon Please Hold". Apparently it's been over 40 years since the shop had a good clean.

-DP

Worth its weight in gold!!!
DENNU

Very cool!!

For those non Alaskans, Don is an icon up here. The book Wager with the wind details his flying exploits. That is a cool find

That is so cool.

Sheldon was The Man.

I just read Wager With the Wind-- good stuff!

I'm curious if that can of oil has the viscosity marked on it, or was "aviation oil" close enough back in the day?

Zzz wrote:That is so cool.

Sheldon was The Man.

That pic is badass! I want to blow it up and frame it for my hangar.

Nice find DP!

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Crzyivan13 wrote:

That pic is badass! I want to blow it up and frame it for my hangar.

Swap the Cub for a Harley and he kinda looks like an aerial equivalent of Peter Fonda.

I had the pleasure of meeting Don Sheldon. The Elmendorf Aeroclub held monthly "safety" meetings, and often there would be speakers come to visit to talk aviation. He was one of them, either in late 1972 or early 1973. I remember him as a tall, very quiet man. I knew of his exploits in advance, because he had very much become an Alaska legend by then, but he was so unassuming in his demeanor that you'd never guess that he was a pilot of such skill and experience--by no means any kind of braggart.

I bought the book, Wager With The Wind, soon after it was first published in 1982, when I saw it at a bookstore. I remember being surprised when I read in the introduction that Sheldon had died only a couple years after I met him, of cancer in January 1975. For someone who risked his life almost daily to do what he did routinely to die of that awful disease at such a young age (only 53) was such a loss to Alaska, and to aviation. I can recommend the book to anyone who hasn't read it. Non-aviation types might be put off a little by the aviation-speak that the author uses, but pilots will enjoy it immensely--excellent read.

Here's the website for Sheldon Air Service: http://www.sheldonairservice.com/About- ... on-Sheldon

Cary

A few more for Hotrod:

Wow!!!!!!