[VAC] 1954 Airstream "whaletail" with Wally Byam club number 179

[Berger Roger <air7722@xxxxxxxxx>]

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)