Our second stop today is the Owls Head Transportation Museum, just south of the City of Rockland at the edge of the Knox County Airport. What a display they have.
My favorites were this 1913 Rolls-Royce Touring Car that originally belonged to Alice Longfellow, daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The original cost was $8,500. The owner in the 1930s used it to haul weather observation equipment up Mt. Washington. He donated it to the Museum.
The other very odd looking exhibit was this 1916 F.E.8, a British fighter built by the Royal Aircraft Factory at the beginning of World War I. A rear-mounted engine was used to prevent the bullets from a forward-firing machine gun from hitting the propeller which was a problem until the gun synchronizer was invented. This particular plane was built in California by two men working from original plans. It took 1,000 manhours and when they were done, one of them flew it to the museum, using only a floor mounted compass for navigation and traveling 80 mph. When you stand and look at it and see the propeller where it is, it's a very strange feeling.
One of the claims of this museum is that everything works and is driven and flown occasionally. They have several festivals during the year when other collectors drive and fly their classics to the Museum. John was impressed at how clean everything was. The painted floor looks like you could eat off it. It was a nice stop in our day.
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