TomCBartlett

Unfortunately, I sold the TD few years later but never lost the affection for the T series. But, I was being lured by the designs of Colin Chapman, so I ended up restoring a Europa, then moving on to Lotus Seven replicas. In 2017 I stumbled upon another TD that needed everything (I have a history of falling in love with cars that are almost too far gone) so naturally I purchased it on the spot. It will not be original, but the spirit of the TD lives on. Here is the partially reassembled body.

I have not flown with Klipsch speakers, but I have flown with Mr. Klipsch. I have posted this story a few years ago, but it can be repeated by an old man (me) that loves reminiscing about the past. On a sunny Saturday in the 1970s at the Hope Airport where Paul kept his Beech Baron, and I was restoring an MG-TD, Paul casually asked me if I would like fly with him up to a glider field in Little Rock, where he was building his glider time. Would I? Are you kidding me? He added that he needed a photographer to document some of his exploits, and so he explained the use of his 35mm SLR. I had never flown with Paul before, and found him to be a meticulous, careful pilot. We landed at a glider field outside Little Rock where Paul met several other glider enthusiasts. As a aviation buff, I was in heaven and spent the afternoon taking shots of Paul and the others taking off and soaring. He was really at home and at ease with the other pilots and enjoyed their good-hearted banter about who could find the best thermals. I will always regret never asking Paul for some copies of the prints. Too soon the evening was over and we flew back to Hope. So, yes, I have flown with Klipsch....sorta.

I just discovered these pictures taken in the 70s when my wife and I lived in Hope, Ar. I was the purchasing manager for a local manufacturer and my wife taught high school art. I rented a space at the airport hangar (where Paul kept his Beech Baron) to restore an MG-TD. He could usually be found there on sunny Saturday mornings, engaged in hangar-flying with the local aero-club (who had a beautifully restored Aeronca Champ). We of course all called him Mr. Klipsch and held him in a little awe. The first picture is taken just outside the airport, and the second one is taken inside, with Mr. Klipsch, myself, and a young architectural student, Tom Tolleson. Tom was attending the Univ. of Ark studying with the famed architect Fay Jones, an acolyte of Frank Lloyd Wright. My wife taught with Valerie Booles before she and Mr. Klipsch got married, so the third picture is at the end-of-school teacher’s cookout. I think they were newly-weds. The last picture is Paul looking pensive, probably calculating a way to reduce distortion even more.