{"id":3069,"date":"2014-10-25T07:54:13","date_gmt":"2014-10-25T14:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=3069"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:56","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:56","slug":"116-run-rajneeshpuram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/116-run-rajneeshpuram\/","title":{"rendered":"#116 Run-in at Rajneeshpuram"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This little story was originally presented in the form of a narrated tale in my CD, \u201cNuts from a Blind Squirrel\u201d.\u00a0 I think it really leant itself to that format.\u00a0 But in looking at it now, I thought I\u2019d put it on the site for those of you who haven\u2019t bought \u201cNuts\u201d (it\u2019s still available on the Tailwheeler\u2019s Mercantile!)<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"Cub<\/a>
The “Quacker Smacker”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019d left Spokane earlier that morning and were heading for Bend.\u00a0 It was back in the eighties and I was flying my 100 horsepower J3, the \u201cQuacker Smacker\u201d.\u00a0 The Duckmobile was driving overland with its cargo of dogs and ducks.\u00a0 Accompanying me was my \u201croadie\u201d, Billy.\u00a0 It was back in the days when I made a living as an airshow comedy pilot.\u00a0 When we\u2019d taken off it was chilly and I\u2019d turned the cabin heat on.\u00a0 Now it was warming up and I pushed the knob in to turn off the heat.\u00a0 Nothing happened.\u00a0 I could feel that the cable was no longer connected to the flapper\u00a0 valve on the other side of the firewall.\u00a0 The old Cub was pretty drafty, and at first it didn\u2019t bother me very much.\u00a0 But eventually, my feet were starting to get a little ouchy since they were situated right up front next to the heat outlet.\u00a0 This was starting to get a little hard to take!\u00a0 I started to look for a place to land.\u00a0 I knew that all I had to do was open up the cowling and flip the valve closed.\u00a0 Maybe I could even make the control work.\u00a0 But right now, all I wanted to do was cool my burning feet.\u00a0 I spotted an airstrip up ahead.\u00a0 A check of the chart revealed that it was Rashneeshpurum.\u00a0 Those who are either too young to remember or perhaps aren\u2019t\u2019 familiar with this weird footnote in Oregon history may not be familiar with that name.\u00a0 A cult formed by an Indian guru named Bagwan Shree Rajneesh had roosted near the little Oregon town of Antelope, population 75.\u00a0 Not content to simply move there and get along, they had bought up a nearby ranch and developed it as a commune. They called it \u201cRajneeshpuram\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0They had then taken over the town and re-named it \u201cRashneesh\u201d\u00a0 The Oregon Attorney General was hot on their trail and there was evidence that the Rajneeshees were stockpiling vast numbers of arms and ammunition at their commune.\u00a0 We referred to Baghwan as \u201cBags\u201d.\u00a0 In fact, one day we\u2019d been on our way to an airshow and had stopped for traffic near Antelope.\u00a0 Here came a veritable motorcade of Rolls Royces.\u00a0 \u201cBags\u201d loved Rolls Royces.\u00a0 In fact, that day he was driving the lead rolls and I cracked up over the sight of the diminutive little white-bearded guru peering through the steering wheel as he motored on past the stopped \u201cDuckmobile\u201d.\u00a0\"Bags<\/a><\/p>\n

So I knew that the X on the runway at Rajneeshpuram meant that the denizens didn\u2019t want just any riffraff like overheated Quacker Smacker drivers swooping in to their airport uninvited.\u00a0 I really didn\u2019t care.\u00a0 I simply wanted to turn that damned heat off.<\/p>\n

Right: “Bags” drives by in his Rolls while hundreds of admirers greet him at Rajneeshpuram<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Relieved to find a place to land,\u00a0Billy and I swooped into Rajneeshpuram and rolled to a halt.\u00a0 As the engine clicked to a stop, we hopped out and I opened up the cowl.\u00a0 Sure enough, the control cable had come off and the heater valve was in the full hot position.\u00a0 I flipped it closed.\u00a0 I was thinking about re-fastening the control wire and doing a proper job of it when I heard Billy say, \u201cHmm, those guys look like they want to see us.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked up from my work to see a pickup truck racing down the runway toward us.\u00a0 Loaded into the back were several guys all dressed in varying shades of flowing red and pink robes.\u00a0 All Rajneeshees wore reddish colors and vaguely Indian attire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t look good,\u201d I observed.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s get out of here.\u00a0 Hop in, Bill\u201d.\u00a0 As Billy got in the back of the Cub, I latched the cowl, reached in and turned the mags on.\u00a0 Then I reached forward to flip the prop and start the engine.\u00a0 That O-235 always started on the first flip.\u00a0 It had very low compression and was just one of the easiest engines to hand prop.\u00a0 BUT, if it got just a little flooded, it would suddenly turn into the most recalcitrant engine there was, requiring you to flip and flip and flip until the mixture got just right and it roared to life.\u00a0 As the Rajneeshees neared, that damned Lycoming decided to become difficult.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t start.\u00a0 The truck was getting closer.\u00a0 I was getting a little concerned.\u00a0 I knew about the stories of violence.\u00a0 Ma Sheela, \u201cBags\u2019\u201d chief of staff had been accused of poisoning 170 people at a buffet in The Dalles.\u00a0 Skullduggery was their M.O.\u00a0 And so I flipped harder.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how many blades I pulled through as fast as I could, but my right arm was sore as could be by the time that truck started to come up to us and suddenly the Lycoming realized the seriosity of the event and caught.\u00a0 I hopped in the front seat and suddenly the truck pulled right in front of me.\u00a0 Blocked in and imagining a long drawn out encounter with a bunch of armed religious zealots with a history of violence, I wasn\u2019t about to stay at Rajneeshpuram.\u00a0 So I leaned out the side of the Cub, smiled at the driver and gestured for him to drive around to the side of the airplane so we could talk.\u00a0 The guy thought that was a good idea and drove around the side of my plane.\u00a0 I opened the throttle and the Cub lumbered out toward the runway, gaining speed.\u00a0 The Rajneeshees, realizing they\u2019d been hornswoggled, fell in behind us in hot pursuit.\u00a0 With doors and windows un-fastened and seatbelts flapping, the Cub gradually picked up speed.\u00a0 I zigzagged a bit to keep the boys in flapping red outfits from pulling around me.\u00a0 Then we were airborne.\u00a0 So far, no shots had been fired. Billy and I took a little time to fasten our seatbelts and shoulder harnesses.\u00a0 Then, relieved to have gotten away, I pulled up in a cropduster turn and blasted back down the runway.\u00a0 The Rajneeshees shook their fists at us and we waggled a middle finger at them.\u00a0 It was true communication.<\/p>\n

So, as a true Oregonian, I have firsthand experience with that little bit of Oregon history.\u00a0 \u201cBags\u201d is dead. Ma Sheela went to prison. \u00a0The cult is gone.\u00a0 I understand the ranch is now owned by a Christian cult.\u00a0 Still a cult, but at least not armed and larcenous.\u00a0 The folks of Antelope have their town back and all is once more peaceful.\u00a0 This summer, my friend Jeannine, and I landed there in her plane.\u00a0 It was the first time I\u2019d been back since the mad chase.\u00a0 People on the ground stared at us as we did a touch and go. \u00a0They didn\u2019t look happy. \u00a0I guess they still don\u2019t like me there, no matter which cult runs the place.<\/p>\n

Happy Swooping!<\/p>\n

Brian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

” The Rajneeshees shook their fists at us and we waggled a middle finger at them. It was true communication.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35,100,139,173],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}