One moment we were in Oshkosh 2024, talking with the nice folks in the Timber Tiger booth, the next instant we glanced behind us and we were in 1932 at the Thompson Trophy races.
Why? Because Thomas Schuttoff had shown up decked out in his white Gee Bee overalls and was peering into Kay’s Speedster. The Speedster is unabashedly retro, from its Verner radial to gigantic teardrop wheel pants, and so is Thomas. Together the man and machine momentarily had us wondering if we’d fallen into Jimmy Doolittle’s pit crew.
We soon learned Thomas is more than stuffed overalls; he’s living the part at his Hildesheim, Germany home under the Aviators Farm banner.
Surrounded by a superb collection of golden era aircraft in an urbane setting, the Aviators Farm is the home of the aviation spirit says Thomas. Gentle and full of subtleties, Thomas believes the past has much to teach the future, especially his favorite barnstorming and pre-war air racing eras. To the future he offers instruction and charter operations at the Aviators Farm, a place we’d love to visit in person although www.aviators-farm.de will get you there electronically (brush up on your German first).
In the meantime, in his perfectly executed ensemble, Thomas made Air Venture just that much more fun and memorable.
