Out of his hearing, some people called Perry Ritchie an Adonis. To his face, he was just Perry. But it didn’t matter. By any name he was the finest physical specimen of youthful manhood, I had the privilege of knowing. He was modestly proud of his lithe, six-foot, muscular build, and kept it honed and tuned by all types of athletic prowess. One of his favorite stunts was to climb up on the balustrade of any bridge he happened to cross and "press a handstand”, and there are plenty of bridges in Dayton, Ohio, his home town! 
 Perry not only was brilliant in physical abilities, but academically as well. His parents brought him up as their only child with much encouragement to be himself and to do his best. If I remember correctly, his father was a superintendent in the Dayton public school system.
 I first met Perry in 1939, when I went to work as an aeronautical engineer at Wright Field (now Wright Aeronautical Research Laboratories at Wright-Paterson Air Force Base). He was a newly graduated engineer from the University of Cincinnati. Even before we met formally, he caught my eye, working at his desk, wearing a black shirt with sleeves tightly rolled up to his armpits, revealing those powerful biceps. When he stood to be introduced, his gushing enthusiasm overflowed like a high pressure fire hose! We became friends immediately, and that friendship lasted to his dying day, which unfortunately was to come all too soon.
 Perry was a fine engineer but soon WW II broke out. Engineering was too slow a pace for him. He wanted action! He volunteered for Officer’s Candidate School and pilot’s training in the US Air Corps. While waiting for his orders, our department Head, Captain Fred Dent, an accomplished test pilot, decided to do a little preliminary hazing. Fred invited Perry to ‘come fly with me’ in open-cockpit trainer biplane. Fred’s secret purpose was to put Perry through all the known rigors of flight, in an effort to make Perry sick, or at least put the “fear of God into him”.
 After the flight, when the two of them returned to our office, there was Fred Dent, walking quick-step with a grim expression of total defeat. Perry followed grinning from ear to ear with a look of triumph. When Fred disappeared down the hall, Perry told us with effusive enthusiasm and laughter about his experience. He said that Fred, for starters, went through a mild dive and pull-out. Perry in the front cockpit, turned around and laughed at Fred. This mildly agitated Fred. In the next dive and pull-out Fred was a little more impressive. Perry again turned around and laughed at Fred. At this point Fred “pulled all the stops”. They went through spins, inside loops, outside loops, fancy aerobatics, and tricks unheard of, but to no avail! After each maneuver, Perry would turn around and laugh at Fred. Finally, Fred said “uncle” and glumly returned for landing, Perry laughing all the way and having an uproariously good time. On the ground Fred would not speak to Perry, but later he relented a bit and admitted to Perry that he had what it takes to be a good Air Corps pilot.
 Perry went through basic training and graduated from flight school with flying colors. Soon he was assigned to a base in California for training in the P-38. Apparently, his abilities were recognized and he was assigned to the school for test pilots in California.
 In spite of the grueling hours of training, Perry used his excess energy to build a racing boat and become a competitive racer. Also he developed the concept of a fighter plane where the pilot laid prone to decrease the frontal drag profile. It was a pusher design powered by a conceptual engine driving counter-rotating propellers. He even made a display model of it!
 For a time Perry now stationed again at Wright-Paterson AFB as a test pilot. He now had the rank of Major. By-coincidence, he was assigned as test pilot for a Martin B-26 (the “flying coffin”) that I had instrumented for testing its vibration characteristics. As a civilian engineer, it was my practice to participate in the test flying in person, although I was not a pilot.  After we put the B-26 through its paces for my recordings of vibration, Perry motioned for me to come forward from my position in the navigator’s seat. He told the co-pilot to move to a jump seat and told me to take his place at the controls. To me, this was a special unauthorized privilege. Perry told me to “take over” and turned in the pilot’s seat to carry on a conversation with the co-pilot behind. I gently got the “feel” of the controls with a few turns and mild climbs and dives. It was surprising how stable and responsive this fearful airplane was. (Of course it was the landing maneuvers with the high wing loading of this airplane that killed so many pilots.) In a while, Perry saw I was getting the “feel”, he said “aw, sling it around a bit, don’t hold back.” So I did a few steeper dives and pullouts, and sharper turns. What a thrill that was! Finally, I returned the controls to Perry, and gave up the co-pilot’s sea with a feeling of pride and exhilaration! I had flown the “Flying Coffin” and lived to tell about it!
 At the end of WW II, North America was developing an improved design for the B-25. Perry was the test pilot. As Perry was making the last of a series of incrementally increased dive and pull-out tests to confirm wing strength, the wings collapsed and Perry’s life ended in a manner that some say, he would have chosen!

BOB SILVA’S WEST COAST REPORT: 
   While this 1946 photo may answer some questions on the Perry Ritchie Hi-Ball mystery  (Propeller Dec. 94), it also brings up some unanswered questions of its own. Taken at Oakland, California’s Lake Merritt, the photo shows the start of a 225 Div.1 class heat (later called 266) with boats (bottom to top): the Tommy Hill designed, 15-F, Miss San Francisco, owner/driver unknown; Happy, 11-F, Bobby Fritch of Hollywood, in what appears to be a Ventnor; then our mystery boat 16-F, Hi-Ball, another Tommy Hill hull (Porte Alameda of Stockton, CA, raced 225’s named Hi-Ball, and I’m guessing this was one of his boats); then Robert Stack in Thunderbird, 5-F, an Apel design (Stack later became famous for his character, Elliot Ness, in the TV series Untouchables)); and 1-F, Dudley Valentine in Miss Valentine, which looks like a Ventnor modified into a cabover design.
 In the February ‘94 issue of Propeller, Ed Barko was inquiring about Vagabond, a Hallet 136. I know of a Hallet 4-S from Calif. Which first raced in 1953 as Scatterbrain and in 1955 held the 136 record of 83.3325 mph at Salton Sea. Until Bob Boehm’s Jerky upped the record 17 minutes later by .2492 mph. In 1958 the boat was sold and raced as Highfever. The last time I saw it was in the early 1970’s racing as Zot.  I heard this boat may be stored somewhere in Northern CA. at Clear Lake.  Could this be the boat for which Ed’s looking?
 We’re looking for the following boats: Howard Arnett’s 150 Hallet Invader IV 27-A; California Kid 225/280 Hallet 273-E; Galloping Goose 280 201-E; Gangbusters 280 Hallet 14-E; Aquaholic 266 Wickens 555-F; Queen Bee BRR 60-B; Hale Storm 150 Lauterbach; Honeybear 280 Gasper 116-E; Catskinner 225 Hallet 76-N; Slide Rule BRR 33-B; Genie 225 homemade Jones N-16; Galloping Gale 7L Wickens 20-H.
 If anyone has info on the hulls please contact me at: P.O. Box 1443 Fort Brag, CA 95437 or (707) 964-1711.

BOB MOORE’S EAST COAST REPORT:
 We’ve been busy displaying and racing Vintage Boats! Among the sites we visited and were warmly received were New Martinsville, W. VA and Kent Island, MD. The Vintage boats were a major attraction at both sites and we look forward to a return next year.
 Red Bank was the highlight for this writer of course, with the Vintage boats opening the program both days with their “fly-bys.”  Among those making the show were Ed Thompson with his newly restored racing runabout, Jack Drucker’s Don’t Tell Mom 5Litre, Mario Scopinich’s beautifully done Lloyd 280 hydro and Anthony Carpentier’s Jersey Speed Skiff which served as the flag bearer both days.
 Overall, looking back on our season, I would say that our Vintage division has been successful.

VINTAGE HOT BOAT OF THE MONTH:
Red Top S-1 was owned by Robert Tuttle. Driven by George Cusick of Cambridge, MD. In its career, this record holding Harold Ruark built hull, accumulated many High Point titles and National Championships. Also in the photo is Willard Wilson of Wilmington, DE.

©1995 Tom D'Eath