Donald Hester
Washington State Licensed Home Inspector #647
WSDA#80050
InterNachi Member #NACHI10022401
509-670-9572
Contact Us
Washington State Licensed Home Inspector #647
WSDA#80050
InterNachi Member #NACHI10022401
509-670-9572
Contact Us
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Wenatchee Home Inspector confronts Aviation tragedy and history.
Submitted by DonHester on Wed, 11/14/2012 - 11:14.Wenatchee Home Inspector confronts Aviation tragedy and history.
Home inspection can always be full of surprises. During a recent inspection of attic of an early 20th century home a piece of history was discovered.
It is very common in older home to find various materials as insulation. Items used as insulation can be horse hair, feathers, rock wool, vermiculite, sawdust, wood shavings and of course newspaper.
In older home I will try to see what insulations are installed (if any). In this particular home we had wood shavings, batt fiberglass and newspaper.
Here was a piece of history that I found lying in the wood shavings. This is an article from 1935 depicting one of the world’s great aviation tragedies, the crash of the Maxim Gorky, also known the ANT-20.
The Maxim Gorky was the Titanic of the skies. On May 18th 1935 the Maxim Gorky and two other older biplanes took to the skies in an aviation demonstration. One plane was for photography and the other was used as a measuring stick to show just how large the plane was. During the stunt the Maxim Gorky collided with one of the other planes. Both planes crashed and 48 people were killed in this accident.
This plane had an all metal frame based on German engineer Hugo Junkers design. The Maxim Gorky was built in 1933/34. It was one of two planes of its kind ever built by the soviets. It had a cruising speed of about 140 miles per hour. The plane weighed in at about 30,000 tons and a wingspan of 207 feet (larger than a 747-100). It had a range of 750 miles powered by eight 900-horse engines.
The ANT-20 (Maxim Gorky) was unique for its time; it had 23 crew members and had spaces dedicated for a printing shop, photo lab, cinema, library, cafeteria and a radio station. It was designed to be disassembled so it could be transported by rail system.
It was part of Stalin’s ambition to transform the Soviet Union in a world aviation power and help industrialize the Soviet aviation production capabilities. With war looming the Soviet wanted to position the country for what was to come.
As a home inspector sometimes the fun is in what you may learn.
Ancora Imparo
NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Oroville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…
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