History

On Final Approach, Inc.

Multi-Media WWII Aviation Sculptures
limited edition and one-of-a-kind
"Dedicated to those who served"

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History of
On Final Approach

Karl at the now-closed
Glenview Naval Air Station

Born and raised on the North Shore area near Chicago, Karl Lau's formative years were during the Lindberg area. Entranced by the miracle of flight, and inspired by the exploits of Charles Lindberg and other famous fliers, Karl designed and built model airplanes and flew them at what was then known as the Curtis-Reynolds airport.

At the age of 13, Karl and his friend Richard built a full-scale glider. Seeking to replicate the exploits of his flying heroes, Karl climbed into the glider and, pulled by a Model A Ford, took off on his first flight. Cutting loose at 50 feet off the ground, for the first time Karl was able to live his dream and soar like one of his model airplanes. Karl was completely hooked by flight.

Karl and his buddy hung out at Curtis-Reynolds airport. As Karl poked around the Jenneys and Fokkers tide down there, he could imagine what it must have been like to push them to their limits, soaring and careening in dogfights over Europe just over two decades earlier.

When World War II broke out, Karl was just in his mid-teens, and chomping at the bit to fly for his country. His "playground" Curtis-Reynolds airport converted over to the very serious business of training Naval aviators as the Glenview Naval Air Station.

As soon as he turned 18 in 1944, he enlisted in the Navy air program, and after his rigorous training, was posted to the Air Group VBF-94 on the USS Lexington CV-16, an aircraft carrier that had seen some very serous action, including being hit in the stern by a torpedo.

As a Naval aviator, Karl flew the Vought F4UF Corsair, a hugely powerful but dangerous to fly fighter-bomber. Called the "whistling death" by the Japanese due to the sound that came from its engine and wing-root air inlets, the Corsair could out climb, outfight and outrun and prop-driven enemy. The long nose and high stall speed necessitated some fairly complicated carrier landing procedures, which meant that landings either were a perfect hook on the cables or a catastrophe.

At the end of the war Karl was transferred to the USS Pine Island, a seaplane tender. On that duty, Karl served as a co-pilot on a PBM. Among other duties, Karl's PBM delivered mail to the solders stationed around the Pacific.

In the last year of the tour of duty, the Pine Island worked its way around the world, finally arriving back in the states at Norfolk, VA.

After his discharge from active duty, Karl returned to Glenview, where he remained in the reserves for seven years.

Karl rescues a vintage engine

As time passed, Karl thought more and more about his time as a Naval aviator, and in particular, those who didn't make it home. In the years after the war, the aircraft they flew so gallantly were ending up as scrap. An idea began to form about how he could rescue some of those memories and create a living memorial to those men and their flying machines.

This idea led to travels across the country, finding and rescuing the airplane components that would ultimately become the limited edition series of sculptures offered today.

Karl's original workshop/studio

Over a period of several years, Karl fabricated the limited series of 20 Multi-Media sculptures that he is beginning to make available now.

In addition, he designed a line of other sculptures and objets d'art that will be made available to collectors in the months to come.

Cockpit sculpture under construction

Shot of the beginning inner workings of multi-media components

Karl puts finishing touches on cockpit sculpture

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