Dear Roger, Welcome to the VAC discussion list. Your 1954 22 footer with a "Dutchman's Cap", is probably a 1955 Flying Cloud, made in the Calif plant. The 9 segment rear section was made only in Calif and to my best knowledge, only in 55, 56, and 57. The 54 serial numbers for Flying Clouds started with #7600, so yours is probably a 1955 with # 7722 or maybe even a 1956. As to the WBCCI "Club" number of 179. It was NOT Wally Byam's number. Wally and Stella Byam used the number #1 on the Capetown to Cairo Caravan in 1959, and later. Why would he use any other number? Your local club said if you joined , you couldn't use that number. I ask, why is that number so important? As a matter of sequence, and retirement, the first 100 numbers are reserved for Company Caravans, and other old timers. Some of those numbers have been retired. All other 3 digit numbers are reserved for Regional officers, or have been retired forever. I see that #179 is not presently in use, so maybe it has been retired. If you join the WBCCI, you will be assigned a number, if it is not in use. You can even request a special number, which might be assigned, if it is not in use. Kinda like "Vanity plates in California". Your number is then printed in the annual directory, so other members will know who you are, when they spot you on the road. Your nine segment "Dutchman's Cap", or whale tail, if you prefer, was just another way of building the rear section. It was discontinued in 1958, probably due to the excess labor and rivets that were required. As to the "glassed" surface of your coach. After plasticoting was introduced in 1961 or 1962, many older coaches were sprayed to seal the aluminum and prevent oxidation. The plasticote (clear cote) breaks down from UV rays and streching, after about 5 to 10 years. To remove the old plasticote, use any good paint stripper. If it is fiberglass resin, you have a problem, that I have not heard discussed. I suppose a good heavy stripper , like Bix, or Savagran, will dissolve it. You may have to use something with a little more punch. Use care, and a mask. You might want to talk to some boat builders about it. If you stay on this list, all you ever wanted to know about polishing will be answered. Good Luck. You can still buy all of Wally's old books. Some are available on Amazon, some are available on ebay, and some are available through some of the existing members of this list and the VAC. There is a picture of Wally and Stella, and one of his coaches, #1, with a bunch of pygmies in Uganda, while they were on the C to C caravan in 1959. It's in Burkhart's book. Bill Scott Charter Member and Membership Chairman Washington DC Unit, WBCCI #3221 Our Homepage; http://www.servintfree.net/wbcci-dc/
Hi, My Name is Roger and I live in San Diego. I just bought a 1954 22� Airstream (I am older) with the number �179� and �Wally Byam Caravan� on the front. The previous owner said that the original owner was Wally Byam, the second owner was a friend of Wally�s and he was the third owner (he bought it in 1967). When he said that the first owner was Wally, I thought this was normal since Wally built them. But then he told me that many people told him that "179" was registered to Wally Byam and the number should not be on the trailer. He always told them that it was on it when he bought it and he wasn't going to take it off. I was told there is a book that lists numbers, can someone look this up for me and see who has 179 now. The "club" said that I could not keep this number (if I joined their club) and would not look it up for me. If this number and the trailer belonged to Wally then I would not want to remove it. I will register it next week and I will ask the DMV if they can trace the history. The serial number is 7722. Do you think this was one of Wally's personal trailers? Please lets not get into a discussion on whether or not I should keep this number. If it was Wally�s trailer then I will not take it off. Would you rip out an autograph inside of a book? I know there are two sides to the numbering system. I think it would be more historic, valuable and interesting if numbers would stay with the trailer. But I threw antiques away as junk when I was a kid. Another question: The back panels are different than the 13 front ones, there is one large triangle piece with 4 panels on each side. At first I thought it was a repair job but then I saw a picture of another one like it on page 129 in �Airstream � The History of the Land Yacht� by Bryan Burkhart and David Hunt, right above the caption �along with their owners�. I was told this is a �whale tail�. The previous owner said it was a whale tail, but I thought all old Airstreams were whale tails. Does anyone know why they built whale tails? (I think it must have been a way to use up scrap aluminum). One more question: The previous owner said that one reason he would not remove the number is that the trailer has been �glassed�. I think he meant that fiberglass resin, or something like it, has been put on this trailer. The surface is very ruff, it looks like a badly corroded aluminum screen door that was at the beach. Has anyone heard of sure a thing? He is sure it was not �clear coat�, but it may have been a 1950's clear coat. I want to polish it if I can figure out what�s on it. The last question: Does anyone have one of Wally�s books for sale? It would go good inside of this trailer. Or does anyone have any pictures of �179�? I have seen a picture of "174" in the above book. Thanks (and thanks Robert for telling me about this) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ To unsubscribe or to change to a daily Digest, please go to http://www.airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html If replying back to this message, please delete all the unnecessary original text from your reply.
