tulare-hot-dog

Let's see: Just Plane Dogs Lands In Tulare?

Nah. How about: Trash Hauler Turned Dog Pound?

Nope: Okay, Weiners Without Wings?

Hm, maybe. We'll get back to you on that but for now know that Mike and Kim Schoenau spent the 4th of July celebrating the grand opening of their new Tulare, Calif. restaurant/ex-airplane called "Aero Dogs" 'cause that's all they offer.

Dogs, that is.

Weiners on a bun, to be exact.

In fact, the Schoenaus call it "the Home of the Famous Flying Weiner" but Aero Dogs is not your typical street-corner hot dog stand. Located at 240 North L Street in downtown Tulare, it's a restaurant with a difference and hard to miss.

Just look for the 79-foot-long fuselage of a Convair T-29A with a white top and polished bare metal bottom. Aero Dogs is located inside a T-29A Flying Classroom, one of 46 manufactured by Convair in 1950-'51 to train USAF navigators.

Schoenau and his partner Don LeBaron acquired the T-29, minus wings, engines and gear, from Mark Thomson's aircraft scrapyard in El Mirage, Calif. in September '01. They trailered it across the Tehachapi Mountains and up Highway 99 to Tulare, then spent nearly two years converting it into a restaurant.

The Transformation

It wasn't the labor that took so long, Schoenau explained, it was the paperwork. Airplane fuselage or not, Aero Dogs had to meet the same health regulations any restaurant meets to get a license to serve food.

"It's unbelievable the hoops you have to jump through," said Schoenau, 46, whose day job is running an aircraft maintenance shop at Tulare Airport named Valley Air Craft. He's also a commercial pilot and owns a Stearman, a C-172 and several Spamcans on leaseback.

"The paperwork to meet the California Title 24 Energy Conservation Standards was unreal," Schoenau exclaimed. "Putting in handrails, inclines, etc. to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act added an extra $10,000 to the start-up cost."

Instead of the stark interior of a flying classroom, the Aero Dogs T-29 sports a cozy, colorful decor befitting an upscale hot dog stand. The headliner is made of aluminum swirled with a wire brush to give it the same look as the cowling on the "Spirit of St. Louis."

LeBaron made the wooden tables and chairs to look like cargo crates. Although the cockpit and instrument panel were stripped when he acquired it, Schoenau tracked down and installed some T-29 seats and control yokes.

He said he plans to install a simulator of some kind so people can sit in the pilot's seat and pretend to fly. Since the plane's roll-back cockpit windows still work, customers can have their picture taken sitting up front.

Located just aft of the T-29 is a corrugated-metal, Quonset-type building Schoenau calls the "hangar." It houses the kitchen, food preparation area and bathrooms.

"It's also where we have our party room, a 15x40-foot area available for parties and meetings," added Schoenau. "We've hosted a couple of car clubs in it so far," he added.

Schoenau and LeBaron came up with the idea of a hot dog stand in an airplane fuselage several years ago. Initially, they wanted it to be on wheels so they could take it on the road to airshows and event.

"But anything big enough to put 15-20 customers in would be too big to drive on the road," said Schoenau. "So we went with a fixed location."

One-Item Menu

"I'm not kidding when I say we're just a hot dog stand," Schoenau declared. "Right now, that's all we sell -- but we're going to add a Polish dog soon."

The one-item-menu concept, he explained, was inspired by California's In-N-Out Burger chain, which sells only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and drinks. The idea was simplicity and efficiency.

Aero Dogs is open 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. The staff of 15 employees works five per shift, with Schoenau's wife Kim, a mom and parttime second grade teacher, pitching in as needed.

Schoenau uses Hormel brand hot dogs and charges $1.25 for the basic "Aero Dog," $2.95 for the premium "Bomber Dog" with all the fixings. He also sells "Frito Boats" -- bowls of corn chips covered with "Tailgunner Chili" made from special secret ingredients.

"Business has been good," said Schoenau. "I have no idea how many customers we serve per day but what I can tell you is that we sell about 1,000 hot dogs a week.

"I expect business will pick up in the fall when it gets a little cooler," Schoenau aded. In the meantime, he seems very upbeat about Aero Dogs' prospects.

"I'm in this for the long haul," he said.

Nah.