"Construction began on a new park across from the NRH Public Library. The Park will include a plaza with seating, sidewalks, landscaping, shade trees, and a unique public art piece that is entitled "Weather." The park will be named Stormy Plaza, which recognizes the historical significance of the old Mangham Airport and its owner Stormy Mangham----             For more information on Stormy Mangham see [Save Our Mangham-Wilson-Allen Streamliner!]

Hey Guys!

 Over the weekend I emailed NRH Park Department a little info about Stormy (See what I wrote at the bottom) and his Triumph endeavors because I didn't know if they were aware. 

 I received this reply today from Vickie Loftice with the city.

Have Fun! 
Paul A. Valentine
Photo Web Site
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Mr. Valentine,

 Thanks for your email regarding Stormy Mangham and his Triumph motorcycle. When selecting a name for the plaza we wanted to recognize the historical significance of Mangham Airport as well as the very interesting backdrop of Stormy’s life.

When completed, the park will have historical signage about the airport including Stormy and the land speed record he set at the Bonneville Salt Flats .

 We’ve been in contact with Stormy’s 78 –year old son who resides in Mineral Wells. He is pleased that we’re naming the plaza after Stormy and has provided fascinating bits of information.  

 Again thank you for the additional information on Stormy.  In case you are interested in attending, the official ribbon cutting will be in early March. I’ll send you an email when the date is finalized.

 Kind regards,
Vickie Loftice
Managing Director of Community Services
City of North Richland Hills, TX   76180
817-427-6620
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To: NRHPARD
Subject: A little more about Stormy Mangham

 Hi Guys,

I am a long time resident of NRH living on Shannon Lane .

In the recently received Winter NRH newsletter I saw the Park Update about the newly started construction in front of the new library. “Stormy Plaza”

A little more about Stormy Mangham that may not be well known to the average person, perhaps not to the Park Dept.

If any Employees of NRH have a Triumph ‘Bonneville’ Motorcycle, they can thank Stormy for the model name of their bike.
About 1956, Stormy and a few other local friends, (Jack Wilson, Johnny Allen, Pete Dalio, Jess Thomas, Rusty Bradley) constructed a streamlined  Triumph powered motorcycle in one of the hangers there at the airport. They took that motorcycle to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in 1956, and set a new world land speed record with that motorcycle.
A couple of years later, the Triumph Motorcycle Company in England named a new 650cc model of their motorcycles the “Bonneville”, as a result of Stormy’s land speed record setting streamliner. That Bonneville model name for a Triumph motorcycle is still used today, 2010, and if not for Stormy, and his friends, it would likely not exist by that name.

If you were not already aware of this, and are interested,  a great deal of info about Stormy and his Triumph Streamliner, the “Texas Cigar” can be found by Google on the internet. Or I and some of my NTNOA friends can point you towards a lot of this information.

A little extra...
His streamlined motorcycle still exists today in a Motorcycle Museum in England . Unfortunately the bike  burned in a tragic museum fire a couple of years ago, but the museum shipped it back home to Texas, where it was restored locally through the efforts of Dennis Tackett, Ed Mabry, Keith Martin and other members of the NTNOA. ( North Texas Norton Owners Assoc) The Restored bike was then returned to the Museum in England where it is once again displayed. This recreation of the original fiberglass  body was completed with the original mold that Stormy used in 1956. (That mold still does exist to this day. Keith Martin at ‘Big D Cycle’ in Dallas has it.)

Paul A. Valentine