Mertens Wing unearthed.......literally

[T2x]

Thanks to Willabee....here are some shots of the fabled Mertens wing....

Ohio numbers....could be a Schoonover hull.

Let the speculating begin...........................

Ya gotta love this place!!!!

T2x

[T2x]

and more........

[T2x]

and more.....................

[T2x]

Voila!................

[Scream And Fly]

Wow, that's pretty cool (and a little sad at the same time). Thanks for posting!

Greg

[Bruce Washburn]

Is this the wing that they currently have???

[mike bryan]

if a kid ran up on that thing in the woods he'd think it was a ufo. cool pics. thanks for posting

[RBT]

Awsome!

[outboard bob]

I beleive that this is the boat that they located behind the radio station, and it does look like a Schoonover boat.
It looks as in realy good condition. Jim Jr if you are reading this ,It's time to start renovating. Bob

[T2x]

Is this the wing that they currently have???


Yes.

T2x

[Bruce Washburn]

If this is the one they currently have it is the boat we pulled out of the back of a Radio Station in the Keys. A guy that worked for the Mertens saw a photo of Jim Sr's wing on the wall of the shop and said I saw a boat just like that in the Keys behind an old Radio station. I happened to be at an OPC race in the Keys at the time and Jimmy gave me a call. I drove down to the Old Radio station and sure enough there was a wing back in the weeds. Jimmy found the guy that owned the station and came down to SST 45 race at Cypress Gardens with Berghaures with a trailer under the trailer for the 45 boat. We unloaded the 45 and trailer off the soon to be wing trailer, hooked it to my van and hauled ass to the Keys. We made a quick stop in Palm Beach to pay the guy that owned the radio station for the boat. I will always remember trying to load that boat on the trailer for the rest of my life. We made it to the old radio station about 5 in the afternoon and started to position the boat to load it on the trailer from the ground. The first thing that happened was a hawk, chasing another bird, hit one of the quide wires to the old tower and landed in pieces about 50 ft from us. After about an hour tugging and lifting we got water out of the boat. By this time I think every mosquito in the Keys heard that there was dinner (us) at the radio station. We took a break to go buy some repelent more rope and water. We finally got the boat loaded and tied down by about 8:30 and headed back to Orlando. We got some wild looks driving down the road with the wing in tow and a lot of interest when we pulled up with the wing to the race the next day.

[Old fiberglass]

TX2 great pics !!! Looks like nothing a little eblow grease can't take care of. Bruce thanks for the interesting story and filling in the blanks. I believe the boat was found back in 1993... is that correct ??

[Bruce Washburn]

I think 93 is correct give or take a year.

[willabee]

Here's my two cents worth of speculation

Schoonover only had one Switzer Wing, the18' "Flying Dutchman" he drove to the 109 mph kilo record. He blew that boat over and it went back to Switzer for repairs. He didn't want it back because he was building a Wing of his own design, the Dutchman. After racing the Dutchman, he bought a dude ranch out West and didn't race anymore. So, I don't think this could be a Schoonover boat.

While I'm speculating...

During this time, Jim Merten is looking for a Switzer Wing. He finds one at Switzers plant. When I first see it in his shop, I notice it has the same paint scheme as the "Flying Dutchman" ( the only two Wings that I recall with that scheme ). It is used, but no major damage. It needs new rigging, minor repair and engines. All of that happens and it becomes "Wet and Wild". Later I notice that I never saw those two boats at the same race. Sure makes me think that they are one and the same, I just never asked.

could be a Schoonover hull.

Let the speculating begin...........................

[Old fiberglass]

All the speculation begs the question what is the originial gel coat color of the Mertens radio station boat ?? Is the hull and the deck the same color ??

I was told that the Schoonover boat got hacked up as a development test bed for his Flying Dutchman project.

[willabee]

I really doubt that anyone would have let that happen. I just spent an hour trying to find the picture someone posted of Schoonover's Wing just after he blew it over. It's sitting on the trailer on the ramp and doesn't appear to be too badly damaged. Do you know where to find it?

I was told that the Schoonover boat got hacked up as a development test bed for his Flying Dutchman project.

[willabee]

Looks like I was wrong about Jan having just one Switzer Wing. On a thread from 2003 called Dutchman Tunnel, there are a couple of pictures of Jan in a red Wing. That boat was before my time with Merc, so I had never seen it. Can't see the OH numbers in the photos, but ....maybe it is a Schoonover boat:o
All the speculation begs the question what is the originial gel coat color of the Mertens radio station boat ?? Is the hull and the deck the same color ??

.

[delawarerick]

Thanks T2X if any of the wings are gonna run at anytime please advise me. I will hopefully see one run in this lifetime. I like the classics there seems to be more of a challenge to hit the speeds. Rick

[lilabner]

Is this it? (originally published by someone other than me)

[Old fiberglass]

Seeing that wreck kind of makes your eyes water a little..... ouch !!

Doesn't appear like the hull numbers jive on the black Schoonover wing. One picture of Jan's wing reads something like OH 0850 GC or OH 0850 GO. The Florida radio station wing reads OH 0047 ~ something.

[Old fiberglass]

Radio Station numbers

[Old fiberglass]

A few of Jan's red one.

[Bruce Washburn]

Was the orange boat a 20 ft. wing???

[Old fiberglass]

The red wing two posts above this one is a 18'. The 20 footers have shaper lines as seen in the attached picture.

[willabee]

Yes, that's the one I was looking for, thank you very much.

As I speculated earlier, this boat is not badly damaged. I think it was repaired at Switzer and later became "Wet and Wild". I too had noticed that the OH numbers for this boat and the radio station boat don't match.

I'm wondering if the red 18' pictured above might be the radio station boat, can't see the OH numbers in those photos.

( Old Fiberglass just snuck a photo of a red 20' ahead of this post, so now I'm refering to the 18' pictured above the 20':) )
Is this it? (originally published by someone other than me)

[Old fiberglass]

I'm wondering if the red 18' pictured above might be the radio station boat

It still begs the question - What is the original color of the radio station wing ??

[Old fiberglass]

I was talking a guy who was in the racing circles years back a few days ago and he told me a story. Several young kids showed up at a race in a 18' wing from Ohio and it had 36 on it. Pretty darn close to 326, might be he dropped a number in his memory. Anyway the person who owned it couldn't make the so the younger kids, (non family) took the wing. They were camping out in a tent and someone gave them a case of beer...... ooops. So, they proceeded to get hammered and the driver fell down scraping himself up very badly. I think he got dragged on a motorcycle or something... not sure.

Well come race "morning" his scrapes were so bad he couldn't bend his arms or get the helmet over his head. I guess the sight of his crew trying to slide the helmet on his head and stuff him in the wing was comical. The driver ran a few laps and couldn't race any more because of his condition(s).... hung over and scabby.

Kind of makes you wonder if on some of these ill fated adventures the wing got left some place.... like behind a radio station. Assuming it's the same boat. Going to try to find out more.

[Dave S]

Sounds like my racing DAZE :rolleyes:

[Bruce Washburn]

Old Fiberglass,
The last time I saw the JJ88 boat it had two 150xs'. I went with John Cox to pick that boat up when Iwas in college in Knoxville in the late 70's or early 80's. The boat was in a barn near Portsmounth Ohio. It originally had two 1250 BP's. I got to drive it wth the 150xs's one time. It needed more set work. I think a couple of v-6's like in the picture would be alot of fun. Where did you see the boat or photo with the two v-6's on it??

[Old fiberglass]

I believe the boat was bought in 1978. Yup, it was sitting in a barn. John Cox has since passed away and his son Steve has the boat. I don't think it's seen water since 1993, but Steve is working hard getting it ready to run with the V-6's.

I believe the picture was taken at the Allison reunion this year.

[Bruce Washburn]

I had heard Johny passed away last year. I am also glad to hear that Steve kept the boat. That boat can easily handle the extra HP. I look forward to see it run.

[outboard bob]

I did not see this red 20 footer or any other wings at the 50th for Allison Craft. The only reason that we brought the T119 #3 WING is that Paul Allison reworked the bottom when Kenny Kitson set all the records. We pulled up to Pauls house and he recalled the boat and what he did to it like yesterday. Had us park it right at his resturant.
During the parade we had to go last. when we finished the parade, Paul came up to Kitson and said I have finally got to beat you and that Wing with all my boats now.
Was a exceptonally great time and a once in a lifetime event. Bob

[willabee]

I can see the smile on Kenny's face .......cute story, thanks for sharing.
During the parade we had to go last. when we finished the parade, Paul came up to Kitson and said I have finally got to beat you and that Wing with all my boats now.