When the time comes, there is something to be said for going out in style. Richard Zeiler has just the ride for that.
Zeiler, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who flew a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969, spent the better part of a quarter century leading a team of collaborators and craftsmen in the restoration of a 1929 Travel Air D4D Speed Wing, fashioning a diamond from what had been a very rough airplane. The head-turning Sky Siren was finished just in time for EAA AirVenture in 2014, and received quite a reception.
Rebuilt in meticulous detail and painted with an eye-catching art deco scheme designed by Jim Bruni, among many craftsman the retired colonel enlisted along the way, Sky Siren has more recently been prepared for a new mission, fulfilling the wishes of those who want their ashes scattered in a unique and unquestionably classy way.
For the complete story by Jim Moore of AOPA.org, click here.
Photo by Richard Zeiler via AOPA.org
