ANY OLD AEROPLANES?

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 71, 20 September 1930, Page 25

ANY OLD AEROPLANES?

'A new type of junkman has appeared fapon the horizon. Ho is a. mau who (salvages material from wrecked aeroplanes. Tho first'aeroplane wrecking plant to be established is owned and operated by Arrigo Balboni, in Los [Angeles. Many of his friends jokingly refer to him as "the junkman of the »ky." Since 1926 he has been making money out of other people's misfortunes —aeroplane "crashes." He has certainly identified himself as a pioneer in a new field.

Mr. Balboni himself is an experienced aviator, having "barnstormed" all over the country. He was forced hy necessity into the aeroplane junk business, when Ms sole possession, a lacing "plane, crashed into a mountainside en rout> from San Francisco to the air race's at San^a Monica in 1926. Uninjured in the smash-up, Mr. Balboni made his way to Bakersfield, the nearest town. Broke, he told his troubles to the chief of police, who proved to he of real assistance 1-for ho furnished the flyer with a ear found on a vacant lot. That car, and the "well-wishers" who lent him tools and furnished him with money for gasoline, proved to be "life-savers" to Mr. Balboni. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to have returned to the scene of •the crash, and to have towed his wrecked 'plane to a Los Angeles airport.

He next visited all the local airports offering to sell his "wreck." No one wanted the whole 'plane. But one flyer offered to buy the motor, another the tail assembly, a third the instrument board. And so, in a few days Mr. Balboni received 930 dollars for a portion of a smashed-up aeroplane—one that he hafl originally offered to sell for 300 dollars. But now he had 930 dollars, and still had parts left over. That showed him the possibilities of the aeroplane junking business.

A NEW JUNKMAN HAS ARISEN

Mr. Balboni founded his business by "squatting" on some yacant lots, with a police dog obtained from the city | pound acting as watchman behind an improvised fence cut from dead trees. With his original profit almost exhausted by living expense," and tho repayment of loans, he was able to offer only 3 dollars to the first "poor unfortunate" who was reported to him as having crashed his 'plane. This 'plane netted him a profit of SO dollars. His business has since'grown until he now occupies a number of lots on a heavily travelled boulevard, where he has erected a building for the storago of tools and such parts that should not be exposed to the weather. Such details as these only give further evidence of how hard work, belief in an idea, and a willing smile ana a host of friends has developed an unusual business.

Who buys the salvaged material? The buyers come from all classes. Motors and propellers are wanted for sea and snow sledges. Builders of experimental 'planes want parts. ■ Owners of 'planes with obsolete motors often call or write for replacement parts. Wing structures are wanted by those who have become afflicted with tho "glider craze." Universities and colleges buy parts of wrecked 'planes to note the effect of crashes, and, if possible, to locate structural weaknesses. ' Air schools buy motors and other parts for purposes, of demonstration in ground work. Inventors want material for experimental work. Souvenir hunters aro also worthy of mention as-a class, who buy extensively of what Balboni has to offer. Another source of income is fron. the moving picture studios, where their technicians have found that it is cheaper to uso a wrecked 'plane and -trick photography thau to destroy a new one.