Ha ha ha! I was wondering that myself. You would think they could just use another boat for that, like they did to take the picture in the first place. Interesting. Looks like they're up in Canada. There are all sorts of things that go on up there. :lol:
Hey!! Us Canadians would love to take credit for that operation, but this has Americana written all over it. Cool picture. There must be a good story in there somewhere. I've seen safety boats, but never a safety floatplane! Thanks for sharing the pictures Jim. Kevin
Hmmmmmm...you're right Dyna-Kid. I was just looking at the plane's registration (go figure). Didn't even notice the WS boat reg. No matter what the story, that's just cool!! ha ha! :good: :yahoo:
In that brochure it mentions that Tommy Bartlett taught a friend to fly a float plane. So, it looks like he was a flight instructor. I think the plane was probably just part of the show. He often had parts of the show that were not directly related to skiing. His show traveled all over the world, so it could have been in Canada or the plane could have been a visiting friend. jim
That has to be the shortest trios rope on record, that has to be only like 15-20 feet long. Also, there is no quick release on the pylon. They are directly connected to the main ski hook. That's kinda scary in itself.
It looks like they might have an inline release. The observer appears to be holding some kind of a line. jim
I read a little more about Tommy Bartlett. He was a flight instructor in the war training service (WWII). In 1943 he went to work for Northwest airlines as a pilot until the end of the war in 1945. The friend that he taught to fly float planes owned a wilderness camp in Canada. Bartlett often flew to the camp to go fishing. jim
Believe it or not, what Tommy Bartlett was NOT was a waterskiier. I think I read that he never waterskied until very late in life. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. I have traded some E-Mails here and there with the current owner of the Tommy Bartlett Show and I think he told me that, as he know Tommy very well. Cool picture Jim.
