VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Directors Bob Lumley and Bob Brauer for taking the lead on that project. I think that you will be surprised when you see the efforts of all these people who work for you. We certainly try to make every person 's visit to the An tique/Cla ss ic area a pleasant one. If there's something you see that could stand improving, we are willing to listen to any constructive suggestion you might have to make it bet ter for you and your fellow members. I have been volunteering at Oshkosh for some 23 years now. The first several years I averaged only 10 hours during the Convention. Doing this small amount of vol unteer work, I found the Convention much more fun - I felt that 1 had become a part of what was happening. What's the difference between volunteering and standing on the sidelines watching? It's like standing on the ramp and watching an airplane takeoff or making the choice to open the cockpit door and go for a ride. Try it, you might like it! In your Antique /C lassic area during the Convention there are around 70 Chairmen and 400 individual volun teers who work many hours to try and make the Oshkosh Convention the best. One thing I can count on during the show is there will be several people who will come by and say Oshkosh has gotten "TOO BIG ." I have never really known how to take this statement. Oshkosh is big! We work hard all year long organizing the Convention to al low more people to get involved each year. I think every one who shows up wants to be part of the show, or they would not have made the trip. We will do everything that we can to make the newcomer as welcome as the old-timer who's been showing up for years. You will see things at Oshkosh that you will not see at by Es pi e "But ch" Jo yce other fly-ins - a couple of examples from past years include Steve Pitcairn, flying his PCA-2 Autogiro , eight Jennies flying together, and other rare aircraft. If you do not make the Convention this year, we look forward to seeing you in 1997. I guess you can tell that I am proud to be a part of this happening and you, as a member, can be too. Moving on to other items of business, the Antique/Clas sic Hall of Fame is once again asking the membership to submit nominations of deserving individuals. Your An tique/Classic Director Charles Harris, 7215 East 46th Street , Tulsa, OK 74145, is the Hall of Fame Chairman and your nomination should be directed to him. I hope everyone has enjoyed Gene Chase's history of the EAA Antique /Classic Division. This month Associate Editor Norm Petersen will give the history of the Division from 1985 to date. The Division has been fortunate to have many wonderful volunteers take up the mantle of re sponsibility over the years, and you've seen many of their names mentioned over the last 25 years. We look forward to working with those who will come to work with us in the future. There are a number of interesting members of the Divi sion; one of those is Sam Burgess, whom you read about in last month 's VINTAGE AIRPLANE. I would like to add that Sam calls from time to time to make suggestions that help all of us. Sam has the most energy of anybody T know, and can complete a project in record time; he is now building a Knight Twister. I can ' t wait to see what he hangs on the front of that airplane. Each of you please be extra careful out there ; we cannot afford to lose any of you. Ask a friend to join the An tique/Classic Division so they, too, can enjoy the benefits of being a member and receive their own monthly publica tion , VINTAGE AIRPLANE. The Antique/Classic Division is 25 years strong this year and we look forward to another great 25 years. Our 50th anniversary will be in the year 2021 - let's all get to gether for that one. Let 's all pull in the same direction for the good of avia tion. Remember we are better together. Join us and have ital!. .. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1 scholarship, $500 is awarded to Corey M. Alexander of Winnemucca , NV , who is attending Dixie College. For a EAA Aviation Achievement scholarship, $500 is awarded to Alex A. Temple of Indianapolis, IN. A/C NEWS compiled by H.G. Frautsc hy ABOUT THE BACK COVER ... Sam Lyons ' painting , " Flying and Flapjacks" depicts an original, restored Globe Swift at a typical summer Satur day morning pancake breakfast fly-in at a local field. For those of us here in the central Wisconsin area, it really is a local airport , for Sam has chosen the Wild Rose Idlewild airport , located just west of Lake Poygan, as the place for his painting. The acrylic on canvas artwork was inspired by the many EAA Chapter sponsored eve nts promoting aviation across the country which the artist has attended. Sam Lyons, 4600 Kings Crossing Dr. , Kennesaw, GA 30144, phone 770/928 8050, has been painting aircraft full time since 1985, when he closed his hobby shop and began to pursue his dream of becoming an internationally respected aviation artist. With artwork gracing the Pentagon, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and many others locations and galleries worldwide, Sam's work in the photo realist style has captured the eye of many aviation enthusiasts. A sailplane pilot working on his power ticket in his recently acquired Stinson 108-3, he keeps close to aviation as his avocation , an inspiration he has carried throughout his lifetime - his fa ther was a B-24 pilot during WW II. AIC DIV I SION ON THE W EB? Sometime in the future it is antici pated that the Antique/Classic Division will have it 's own page within EAA 's web site on the World Wide Web. Be sides the obvious membership informa tion , what types of information would Antique/Classic aviation computer users like to see? One thought is to have the basic judging guidelines pub lished on the Web, but I'm certain there must be other items that are of interest to computer literate members. Feel free to fax your replies with suggestions for the content of the Antique/Classic page to me at 414/426-4828. If you ' d rather e-mail , the address is vintage @eaa.org or th e web site is at http :llwww.eaa.org . EAA FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIEN TS SELECTED The 1996 EAA Aviation Foundation Scholarship recipients have been se lected. They are : For the EAAlTeledyne Continental Aviation Excellence scholarship, in the amount of $500 is presented to Angela M. Psket of Cudahy, WI, who attends Milwaukee General Aviation School. For a EAA Aviation Achievement A NEW POL YFIBER MANUAL Jon Goldenbaum, the president of Poly Fiber, has released an new version of the "How To " manual used by thousands over the years while covering their air planes with the Stits Poly-Fiber system. Jon, with assistance from Norm Douthit and Richard Kunc, has rewritten the manual with a light, easy to read style that is refreshing and makes the covering process fun to learn. Complete with photos and drawings to illustrate the process, you' ll soon get a complete education in this particular STC'd covering system. If you 're undecided as to what you want to do regarding covering your airplane, be sure and obtain a copy of " How To Cover An Aircraft Using the Poly-Fiber System." Cost is five bucks, and you can obtain one from Po ly Fiber Aircraft Coatings, Box 3129, Riverside, CA 92519, phone 1-800/362-3490. If your heart is set on a ni trate/butyrate finish, ask about their Classic Aero finishing system for Ceconite po lyester fabric. The Herbert L. Cox Memorial schol arship in the amount of $500 is awarded to Maria G. Battista of Indianapolis, IN attending Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. The Richard Lee Vernon Aviation $550 scholarship is presented to Marcia G . Fleck of Indianapolis, IN attending St. Cloud State University. Finally, the Spartan School of Aero nautics Pilot Training in the amount of $1,000 went to Eddie D . Carney of Ocean Springs, MS. Congratulations to all of the scholar ship recipients! UNIVAIR O N T HE WORLD WIDE W EB For you computer users out there who enjoy accessing aviation users via the World Wide Web or e-mail, here 's the addresses for Univair: The web site is at www. univair.com and you can e mail at info@univair.com. A FITTING TRIBUTE From the Funk Flyer newsletter, we picked up this short letter from Leroy Seigfreid. We were touched that a big company such a Goodyear Tire and Rubber would take the time to honor an employee from their airship days. See if you don't agree : "Dear R uth, We lost another Funk aviator. My father, Emerson A. Seigfreid, went to be with the Lord on April 3, 1996. He lived his 88 years to the fullest. "My Dad's department at Goodyear had made the blimp cars and control surfaces dating back to the early 1940s, so Goodyear brought out the Goodyear blimp for his funeral. The blimp hov ered over the church until the family came outside. Then it flew to the front of the church , turned 90 ° and did a salute by raising and lowering the front of the blimp . We were all deeply touched by this wonderful gesture. "Before World War II , my father was part owner of Flink No. N24116 . That airplane is now in the EAA mu seum in Oshkosh, WI. It was donated to the museum by Gus Limbach. " In the 1980s my Dad donated the nu mber one Funk motor to the Funk twins. The motor is on display in the Coffeyville, KS museum." Leroy Siegfreid, Willard, OH 2 AUGUST 1996 KIMBALL/EICHER GEE BEE Z As mentioned in last month ' s A IC News , the Gee Bee model Z replica en gineered by Kevin Kimball and built by him and Jeff Eicher has bee flown with high time Gee Bee pilot Delmar Ben jamin at the controls (Delmar now has in excess of 700 hours in his Gee Bee R-I , making him the the man with more hours in a Gee Bee than anyone, EVER). The flights took place on June 24 and 25, and over 15 landings and takeoffs were done by him during the initial flights . It stalls UPCOMING flY-INS As we head into the fall (already?) fly in season, some of the year's nicest flying weather will be coupled with great fly-ins. East coasters may wish to take in the Ha garstown Aviation Heritage Weekend Fly-In, celebrating those aircraf t manu factured in Hagarstown, MD . Taking at 75 mph indicated , a nd shows a maximum speed of 250+ mph , with a cr ui se of 210 mph initially . Kevin 's pretty sure that number will go up as the engine 's induction sys tem is refined. The P& W R-9 85 was not turning up to fu ll static RPM for the first flights , and while we ll within the power requirements for flight, it should be able to turn up a bit quicker for a higher cruise speed. The future plans for the " Z" are still open , and with a requirement for 40 h ours that sti ll need to be flown off of the experime nta l airplane , it wi ll not be at an y airshows soon , but keep your dial tuned to Vintage Airplane and we'll keep you posted. place the weekend of September 718 at Washington Co unt y Airport , the fly-in begins at 7 a. m. One of the lar ger events is the Cop perstate Regional EAA Fly-In, held Oc tober 10-13 at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa , AZ. They ' re a lso celebrating their 25th Anniversary, a nd plan o n a ll manner of fly-in activities including work- Our thanks to Kevin and Jeff for sendi ng us these beautiful photos to share with our readers. (Left) Just a few short years ago, this was the structure of the Gee Bee Z replica at the Kimball shop in Zellwood, FL. An aeronautical engineering stu dent, Kevin and Jeff have created the drawings used on the "Z" using a com puter CAD system. Now you know why the wing root fair ings are so deep - that wing center section carry-through structure that Kevin is point ing out is massive! It has to be, carrying both flight and landing gear loads. And look at the size of the tubing used, even in the aft fuse lage. This airplane is meant to take a lot. shops, airshows and homebuilt kit manu facturer displays. There are reduced fuel prices during the fly-in, and should you desire, camping is permitted on the field. You may wish to inquire about shower fa cilities. For mor e information call 602/827-4700 or yo u can r each them via the computer at: http://www . primenet. '* com-eaa_airzl VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3 fAA Antique/Classic Division 25th Anniversary PART V - The Past Ten Years Th e 15 th Anni ve r sa r y o f th e An tique/Class ic Divisio n, held in conjuctio n with the 1986 E AA Conventio n, was in de e d a f es t ive occas ion with s om e 24 A /C c ha irm e n l ea din g th e vo lunt ee rs throu ghout the wee k. 1986 will be lo ng re me mbe red as the only O s hko sh pe r fo rm a n ce o f th e te n-pl a ne It a li a n J e t Ae r oba tic Tea m ca ll ed "F r ecce Tri co l o ri. " In additio n, th e e ntir e crowd , in cludin g th e jubil a nt Antiqu e/C l ass ic group, was in compl ete awe of the sights a nd so und s o f th e mag nifi ce nt Pitca irn PC A- 2 a ut ogyro - flown by St eve Pit cairn , th e s on o f the m a nufactur e r , H a ro ld Pit ca irn . Fe w a tt e nd ees will ever fo rget the sound of the PCA-2 as it passed b y, the big Wright e ngine growl ing away as the huge rot o r blad es made their so ft beat at 120 rpm. Unde r the admi ni stra ti on of AlC Pres id ent, Robert "Dobbie" Li cktieg, the A n tiqu e/C lass ic Divi s ion had ma de gr ea t strides the past yea r in new members hi ps, ne w act iviti es, new serv ices , a nd eve n a br a nd n ew c up a lo o n th e fa mo us R ed Barn , courtesy of Sta n G omo ll and Jo hn Fogert y. by Norm Petersen A lo ng with th e la r ge c ro wd s ca me ma ny a ir pl a n es , th e Antiqu e/C l ass ic g roup r eg iste rin g 140 antiqu es and 654 cl assics , fo r a total of 794 showplanes. To go a lo ng with the numb ers, the exce ll e nt wea ther for the 1986 gathering was a we l com e tr ea t. Th e 1986 Gr a nd Champi o n Antiqu e Lind y was awa rded to Ri cha rd Packe r of Radn o r, Ohi o, fo r hi s incredi ble restoration of a Boe in g St ea rman PT 17 . Finished up in pr e-'43 tra in er colors with "s ta rs & b a r s," th e PT -17 w as as ni cely resto red ins id e as o utside and the e ntire Packer fa mi ly of fo ur was in vol ve d in the seve n- yea r restoratio n effort. Th e R ese rve Gr a nd C ha mpion An tiqu e Lind y was ta ke n ho m e by Ga r y Rud o lph of Vince nn es , IN , with hi s re mark abl e H ea th LNA-40 Parasol. Pow e red with a Co ntinental A-40 engine, the p re tt y cre am wi th re d trimm e d H ea th was in a cl ass of w orkm a nship by itse lf. (Thi s ve r y H eat h Par aso l, N1 28 14 , is pr esently on display in the E AA Air Ad ventu re Museum .) E li citing kind comme nts fr o m " th ose wh o kn o w," th e 1986 C l ass ic Gr a nd Champio n Lindy was ga rn ere d by Dav id J o r ge n se n o f Ri ve rs id e , C A , wit h hi s b ea ui f ul Stinson 108-2, a ll nice ly finished in an original Stinson Sa nd c olor that set it apart from th e crowd . Ma ny old tim e A /C me mb e rs co uld pl ai nl y re me m ber the o ri gin al Sa nd colo r from bac k in the late fo rties - and D avid Jorgensen's St in son brought t ea rs to their eyes. Th e 1986 R ese rve Gr a nd Ch ampio n Lind y was ca ptur ed by To m a nd Ei l ee n Macario of West Chester, PA , with th eir sharp looking Pipe r J -3 C65 Cub ( in cl ud ing matching ye ll ow T-s hirts o n the two resto rers). Bes id es the pl easure of seeing the only fl ying Pitcairn PCA -2 autogyro, the 1986 ga th e rin g a l so includ e d th e sig ht s a nd sounds of a fl y in g replica of the Menasco powe red Miles & Atwood racer fro m the 193 0's flo wn by Bill Turn er of Ca li fo rn ia. In a ddit io n, a ra re Fl ee twin gs Sea bi rd sta inl ess st ee l a mphib ian was fl own to O shkosh by Channin g Clark of Ca li fo r ni a. All in a ll , it was qui te a ye ar for the A ntique/Classic Di vision. 1987 Antique/Classic Gathering at Oshkosh - H ea t was o ne of th e watc h words in 1987 . T he th er mo me t er bump ed we ll above the 90 degree mark fo r the ope ning weekend , and wa t er was flow in g from the bu b bl e rs in great q u a n tity. St ill , t he O s hk os h Co n ven tion goers were not a b o ut to l et a li tt le thin g lik e weat h er k ee p the m from getting th eir sport avia tion fix for the year. (Above) Steve Pitcairn taxies the PCA-2 Autogyro, Miss Champion, to the line for the 1986 Antique/Classic Fly-By. (Right) A skill seldom seen anymore - oiling the rocker arms on Ken Hyde's OX-5 prior to flight at the 1987 fly-in. 4 AU GUST 1996 1987 was the year of celebration for the successful flight of the Voyager around the world - non-stop. This amaz ing feat by the Rutan brothers, Jeanna Yeager and a host of supporting people was enough to stir even the most sedate aviator. The long and fragile aircraft was trucked across the country with an impor tant stop at EAA Oshksosh '87 where the celebration of victory was held among the throngs of people. It was quite a mo ment in time. Following the convention, the Voyager was taken east to its even tual home in the Smithsonian. The award for the most noise at Oshkosh '87 was taken by a flight of 11 jump-jet Harriers that came in and made a hover landing in front of the crowd. Seldom, if ever, have so many decibles been produced in one spot, just for the crowd . Awesome. Winner of the 1987 Antique Grand Champion Lindy was none other than Ken Hyde, Warrenton, VA, with his beautifully restored 1918 Curtiss IN-4D Jenny which made the most quiet passes down the crowd line that people had ever heard. The slow-turning OX-5 engine and large propeller was a beautiful reve lation to the ears of the gathered crowd. (This was a forerunner to the 1989 gath ering of six Jennies.) The Reserve Grand Champion Lindy was taken home by veteran antiquer, Marion "Curly" Havelaar of Rapid City, SD with his 1931 Waco QCF biplane, the factory prototype that carried an NX11241 registration number. On the Classic side of the ledger, 1987 was the year of Clyde Smith, Jr. , and his Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser that ran off with all the marbles in the Classic competi tion. This Grand Champion Classic Lindy award winner cranked the competition level to new heights in restoration activity. (Clyde Smith, Jr. , has since become a rec ognized authority on Cub restorations throught the land.) The 1987 Reserve Grand Champion Lindy was awarded to Angelo Fraboni of Monona, WI , for his beautiful all-metal Cessna 140A restora tion of NI40AB. 1987 was the year that a converted Piper Pacer taxied into the Antique/ Clas sic area for parking and the pilot ex plained it was a 1956 model with a set of 1955 wings. Wh en the question was re ferred to "Operation Bellringer" for clar ification as to year of manufacture , vet eran Parking Chairman Art Morgan came forth over the radio with the classic reply, "Park the wings and send the fuselage up north! " And that, folks, is " Oshkosh Hu mor" in its purest form. 1988 Antique/ Cl assic Gathering at Os hk osh Perhaps the easiest item to remember about the 1988 gathering was the unre (Above) Return i ng to their parking spot aft er the 1988 Antique/Class ic Fly- By are Ray Johnson in h is A er onca Chief and Fred Cohen in his Aeronca Sedan. (R i ght) The Di vision ' s first logo , which was de signed by Jack Cox , featured the Wr i ght Flyer and the EAA Circle logo. The colors and shap e we re in corporat ed into the current logo. lenting heat that hit 100 degrees on nu merous days. The newly elected A/C President , Espie " Butch" Joyce, com mented on the fact that he saw people wearing shorts for the first time - and saw legs he had never seen before! However, in spite of the heat and dry conditions , the crowds were better than ever and the number of showplanes in the antique/clas sic area totalled 132 antiques and 818 classics, both new records. Retiring A/C President, Robert " Dob bie" Licktieg, was awarded a special plaque and gavel for outstanding service and dedication to the Antique/Classic Di vision during his tenure. 1988 will long be remembered for the continuous arrival of 163 Cessna 120/140/140A airplanes - arriving in trail formation - from Monticello, Iowa . This masterful piece of engineering began as a special " 88 in '88" effort, only to produce nearly twice that number of airplanes for the mass fly-in at Oshkosh '88. It was quite a sight to watch these pretty two placers arrive, one after another , for forty minutes! And all without incident. The fine people of Monticello, lA, will be for ever remembered for their many kind deeds in helping the huge gathering of Cessnas complete their mass fly-in. The Antique/ Grand Champion Lindy was garnered by a superbly restored 1940 Piper J-3C-65 Cub flown to Oshkosh by its restorer, Barbara Fidler, Alva, Florida, and her co-pilot, Marcia Sullivan. These two lovely ladies wore yellow Cub T shirts with the inscription on the back, "Two Fast Women in a Slow Cub." Dur ing the week at Oshkosh, a gentleman from Illinois gave Barbara an offer she couldn't refuse , so the ladies delivered the pretty yellow Cub to Illinois after the convention and took an airliner home carefully cradling the precious Grand Championship trophy in their arms. Close behind the Grand Champion Antique was the Reserve Grand Cham pion Stearman PT-17 which brought the Lindy home for Fred Nelson of Glen El lyn, lL. Running off with the Classic Grand Champion Lindy was an immaculately re stored 1949 Piper PA-16 Clipper that was flown to Oshkosh , with the paint drying on the way, by the father/son team of James (Jim) Stanton, Sr. and Jr. of Stroudsburg , PA. Their excellent work manship and attention to detail really caught the judges' eye on this classic four placer. The Classic Reserve Grand Champion Lindy was taken home by Jack Shahan of Stone Mountain , Georgia, with his beau tiful all-metal Cessna 140A all finished off in the factory optional cream and red paint scheme. Complete with original metal wheel pants , it was indeed a sharp looking airplane. As VINTAGE AIRPLANE editor , Mark Phelps, commented in the maga zine, "The best evidence of this year's Convention is that there was enough good news to compose an entire column without once mentioning the heat!" 1989 Antique/Cla ss ic Convention Few aviation people will ever forget the 1989 Convention due to the sheer size VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5 (Above) This 1989 photo shows heavy traffic and numerous aircraft in front of the famous Red Barn, home of the An tique/Classic Division during the fly-in. (Below) Winner of the 1990 Grand Cham pion Antique award was this immaculate 1943 Boeing Stearman PT-17 being flown by owner, Fred Nelson, of Glen Ellyn, IL. of the Russian AN-124 jet that arrived in Oshkosh with two Sukhoi SU-26 aero batic airplanes in its hold. The sight of this huge airplane taxiing in front of the crowd with an American flag held high from the co-pilot's window was a sure sign the Cold War was over. Perhaps the greatest surprise of all happened when the visiting Russians were taken on a tour of the local K-Mart store and Fleet Farm store. Never in his tory , have you seen such large eyes on grown men! They had no idea such places existed and the expressions on their faces told it all. In the Antique/Classic area, history was made as no less than six Curtiss IN-4 Jennies arrived from all over the country, led by master craftsman, Ken Hyde. These large, gracef ul biplanes made in delible impressions on the minds of the huge crowd as they quietly flew by, their OX-5 engines making a soft purr as they slowly flew past. Many in the audience had never heard the sound of an OX-5 e ngine - say nothing of several in close formation! It was an unforgettable expe rience. With the judging committees working at a feverish pace to handle all the a ir planes, the final result saw Bill Halvorson of Bloomington , MN, take the Antique Grand Champion Lindbergh trophy with his magnificient Beechcraft G 17S Stag gerwing. All finis hed up in a dark red paint sch eme with red leather interior the Staggerwing showed mute ev id enc~ of its 12-year dedicated restoration by Bill and his lovely wife, Fran. The 1989 Antique Reserve Grand Champion Lindy was awarded to Fred Nelson of Glen Ellyn , IL, for his out standing Boeing Stearman PT-17 finished off in pre-1943 Army Air Corps colors with stars and bars. On the Classic side, the Grand Cham pion "Lindy" was garnered by Charles Hoover of St. Paul, MN , with his dedi cated restoration of an 85 hp Globe GC lA Swift. Polished top and bottom , the brilliant shine of the aluminum skin was absolutely stunning in the sunlight and turned heads whenever it flew past. Charles worked hard for a numb er of years to bring the pretty two-plac er to championship caliber and earn the top award at Oshkosh. The Reserve Grand Champion Classic Lindy was earned by Clyde Baryton of Angleton, TX , for his beautifully restored Luscombe llA Sedan - a rare bird in deed. ' Pioneer Age Champion (Prior to 1918) was awarded to Chet Peek of Norman OK , for his 1917 Curtiss IN-4D. The run~ ner-up spot was taken by Wally Olson, Vancouver , WA , with his 1917 Curtiss IN-4D and the Outstanding Award was awarded to Skeeter Carlson, Spokane , WA , with his rare 1917 Curtiss IN-4 Canuck. In addition to the above Jennies , Ray Folsom of California brought his "movie star" IN-4D flown by Bill Turner, Kermit Weeks of Miami, FL, had his IN-4D at Oshkosh, having purchased it from Dan Neuman while it was displayed in the EAA Museum, and lastly, Ken Hyde of Warrenton, VA, flew his 1987 Grand Champion J enny to Oshkosh to partake in the special Convention program enti tled, "From Jennies to Jets. " It was a program like none other and will be long remembered. 1990 Anti~ue/Classic Fly-In at Oshkosll This was the year of the Concorde, the Junkers JU-52 , the Ford Trimotor the Stinson Trimotor , the Lockheed COI;stel lation and the F-l17 A Stealth fighter. In addition, the anniversary of the Battle of Britain was highlighted by Jaguar Motor Cars of England. Featuring some of the finest convention weather in years, the 1990 gathering was easy on both people and airplanes. The crew at the Re d Barn was in tip top shape this year and the pl ace was busy with Antiqu e/Classic people coming and going. The volunteers wer e once again doing a fabulous job at all their many tasks - usually without so much as a thank you - they just plain love their jobs. Through diligence and hard work, Fred Nelson of Glen Ellyn, IL , finally e~rned the Grand Champion Antique LlI1dy trophy with his beautiful Boeing Stearman PT-17 finished in pre-1943 col ors. A previous awa rd winner on several 6 AUGUST 1996 occasions, Fred kept improving his air pl a ne year after year. In 1990, persis te nce finally pai d off with th e big, well earned trophy. The Reserve Grand Champion Antiqu e Lindy was tak en by Bud and Connie Dake of St. Loui s, MO , with their immaculate Monocoupe 90AL. This "t rue blu e" aviation couple has re store d a numb e r of antique a irpl a nes, each one a winner by itself. Running off with the Grand Cham pion Classic Lindbergh trophy was Tom Hull of Hollywood, MD , with hi s mag ni ficient Cessna 195 , a ll done up in o ri ginal colors of off-white and deep red. Featur ing orig inal wheelpants and spi nn er, Tom's big five-place "Businesslin er" was detailed to the nth degree which caught the judges eye. The R eserve Grand Champio n Classic was garn ere d by Sam James and D avid Slovachek of Co lgate, WI , with their b ea utifull y restored Beechcraft C-35 Bonanza. The Budd D avisso n designed and Jim Clevanger built replica Wedell-Williams racer No. 44 gave the crowd a taste of py lon racing from the 1930's as it sped down the flightline, sounding much like ripping ca nvas. There was littl e doubt that the crowds really enjoyed it. Look for more of these in the future. Two weeks after the convention , this author discovered the pilot of the F-117 A Stealth fighter was Capt. Scott Stimpert. Scott grew up two blocks from my home in St. James, MN, and I gave him hi s very first airplane ride when he was te n years o ld . (Small world dept.) 1991 Antique/Classic Gathering at Oshkosh Onc e again, the weather God s smi led on the Antique/Classic crowds during the 1990 fly-in with cool tempe ratur es and a sma ll amount of rain on Sunday. In addi tion to beautiful weat her , the turnout of p eop le and airplanes was excellent with 150 Antiques a nd 705 Classics on th e showplane lin e. A ma jor a ttraction for the 1991 con vention was a Salute to D ese rt Storm, with many of the aircraft that were used in that conflict being displayed. In addi tion, many of the Desert Storm pilots and crew were in attendance , including two POWs who had survived at the ha nds of the Iraqi guards. For the second year in a row, the sinister looki ng F-117A Stealth was in attendance, flown by Wisconsin native , Capt. R ob Don ald so n. A huge B-52 bomber made a low pass down Run way 18 with every thin g hangi ng out - it stirred a lot of air. The busy crew at the R ed Ba rn had pretty airplanes and good peo pl e a ll over the place. A record 855 antique and clas sic aircraft were r egis t ere d thi s yea r , keeping the judges extremely bus y. Whe n all th e sho uting wa s over, the Antique Grand Champion Lindy was awarded to Harold and Bob Armstrong of R awlings, MD, who flew their rare, OX -5 powered, 1927 Pitcairn Fleetwing PA-4 biplane all the way to Oshko s h. No strangers to winning ways, the father/son team of Armstrongs hav e had pr ev iou s Grand Champs and R eserve Grand Champs. Their PC-4 (the sole sur vivor of its kind) bore evidence of maste r workman ship a nd extreme a tte ntion to detail. To say that the OX-5 e ngine ran like a Swiss watch would be an unde rstatement. Their PC-4 was the first airplane in EAA history to score a perfect 100 points in antique ai rcraft judging. The R eserve Grand Cha mpion Antique " Lindy " was ta ke n hom e by Bob Lindley of Zellwood, FL, for his immaculate restora ti on of a 1936 Stinson SR-8E Gullwing. This r are (o ne of four on the register) cabin class Stinson displayed some b ea uti ful restoration craftsmanship on be half of its rebuilder. Moving up the Classic lad der from the previo us year R eserve Champion award was the two so me of D a vid Slovach e k a nd Sam J a m es of Colgate , WI , takin g home the Classic Grand Champion Lindy with their constantly improv e d B eec hcraft C-35 Bon a nza. Thi s tim e, their several years of hard work finally paid off as they took hom e the h eavy hardware in their bright yellow and blue Bon a nza . The Re se rve Grand Cham pion Classic Lindy was awarded to Jack Shahan of Stone Mount asin , GA , for his immaculate Cessna 140A. Jack has con sistently won an awa rd every year with this little two-place jewel of an airplane. In just a short time, a new Contempo rary Class was be a dded to the Antique /Classic Divi sion that includ ed the years of manufactur e - 1956 to 1960. This new class will ma ke the fly-ins eve n more exciting and expand the horizons of Antique/Classic pilots and restorers. 1992 Anti~ue/Classic Fly-In at Oshkosti Veteran EAA convention goers will long remember the 1992 fly-in for its n ear perfect cool , cl ea r weather that alm ost had p eop le del e ri o us. Sure , the big Au ss ie 747 came in with nearly 400 on board a nd sure, tw o audacious flyers from South Africa named "Chalkie" Sto bbart a nd P ete r H e ngst fl ew a Warner powered Fairchild 24 all the way fro m South Africa to Oshkos h, and sure, a spe cial salute to the WW II fig hter pilots was enjoyed by all, however, the supreme joy of cool , clear , perfect weather for the convention was the bes t m ed icin e ever. It was scrumptiou s. The 1992 Antiqu e Grand Champion Running away with the 1991 Antique Grand Champion trophy were Harold and Bob Armstrong of Rawlings, MD, whose 1927 Pitcairn PA-4, powered with an OX-5 engine, scored the first ever 100 points (perfect) in judging at Oshkosh. Lindy was awarded to Jim Porter of Hinsdal e, IL , for his stunning 1943 Beechcraft D17S Staggerwing that was in a class by itse lf. Re s tor ed in the shop of Bern " Doc " Yocke of Sandwich, IL , the b ea utifully finished spee dst er was don e up in an off white paint sche me with the factory trim in a deep red. Right behind the Grand Champion wa s the R ese rve Grand Champion Antique Lindy th a t was garnered by lon g tim e EAA me m ber , Steve Pitcairn of Bryn Athyn, PA , who flew in with his 1930 Pitcairn PA-7 Mailwin g. The big Wright- e ngined bi plane wa s finished in U. S. Mail live ry with yellow wings and tail with a bl ack fuselage. The superb workmanship of Steve and his crew was evident throu g h out the restoration. Over on th e Classic side, the Grand Champion Classic Lindy was taken home by a happy D e nsel Willi ams of Jackson , MI , with his immac ul ate Aeronca llCC Super C hi ef that was r estore d by Densel and a huge bunch of Chapter 304 mem bers in Jackson, MI. The results of their cumlative effor ts were outstanding and th e " tru e gri t " a nd d eter min a tion in vo lve d in the re s torati on is a fantastic s tor y in itse l f. This is wh at winners are made of. The Rese rv e Grand Champion Classic was awarded to D e lt on Perry of Lawr e nceb ur g, TN, for hi s outstanding Pipe r PA-22 Tri-Pacer th at was rest ored to original condition by D elton and Jo e Fleeman. Flown to Oshkosh '92 by J oe VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7 Fleeman , the restoration was primarily a mechanical job by Perry and a covering job by Flee man that resulted in a beauti ful piece of restoration work that ran off with the Reserve Grand Champ marble s. For the very firs t time, Co nte mporary Class airp l anes (1956 to 1960) were parked on the Antique /Classic gro und s and the mechanisms fo r judging them in 1993 were estab li shed. Need less the say, the owners of th ese beautiful airp l anes were quite exci ted to see the new class be ing established a nd they were anx ious to enter competition. 1993 Antique/Classic/ Contemporary Fly-In at Oshkosh If th e past conven tions fea tur ed good weather , 1993 wou ld go down in hi story as the year of the big water. For months prior to the big gathering, the rains came - and came - and came! With floods a ll over the midwest, the EAA gro unds be came compl ete ly saturated and with only two wee ks to go before conven tion , con sid eration was given to s upply each camp e r with his ow n water bed! As if some devine providence stepped in , t he rains ceased just in the nick of time and the grou nds dri ed up to where airplanes could st ill be parked. The balance of the co nv ention weather was fi ne except for a s h arp s torm that blew throu g h th e 8 AUGUST 1996 (Above) A happy threesome consist ing of David Siovachek, Brian Slo vachek and Sam James, savor the Grand Champion Classic trophy for 1991, which they were awarded for the beautiful Beechcraft C-35 Bo nanza which they restored. (Left) The EAA Chapter 304 gang who helped Densel Williams (extreme left, back row) restore Densel's 1947 Aeronca 11 CC Super Chief to the point where it absconded with the 1992 Grand Champion Classic trophy. Check out their Aeronca shirts! gro und s o n Tu es day , dama gin g seve ra l airplanes. (Note: Tiedown s are only as strong as their anchors.) On the flying fro nt , the big news fo r '93 was Kermit Weeks ' 4-engined Short Sunderland flying boat that he flew in from Eng land to Oshkosh , la ndin g in Lake Winnebago. The gracef ul fly-bys of the huge flyin g boat each day of the con ve nti on were observed by everyone - the so und of the four P&W 1830 engi n es makin g beautiful music as Kermit brought t h e bi g flyin g boat down the showline. Th e to p award in t he Anti qu e cl ass was tak e n hom e by Jack Steen of Ada, MI, with his immaculate 1931 Driggs Sky lark biplane powered with the original American Cirrus Hi-Drive e ngine. The n ear unbe li evable quality of the restora tion , which was begun years ago by hi s fa th er , Les Steen , was duly noted by the judges and in the fine hairs that are some times the determining facto r, the Dri ggs Skylark came out on top with the Grand Champion Lindy award. T he 1993 R ese rve Grand C ha mpi on Lindy was t aken by a 1933 DeHavilland DH- 83 Fox Moth , brought to Oshkosh by Ro ger Fiennes of London , Eng land . This s up erb restoration was do ne in New Zealand and the a irplane was on its way to London . O f royal lineage, the exqui s ite Fox Moth featured a b ea utiful cabin for three and the most immaculate alu minum whee Ipants that had been hand made by a real craftsman. The Grand Champion Classic Lind bergh Trophy was awarded to Vern Flacksbarth a nd Durb e r Allen of Min n ea polis, MN , for their remark ab le restoration of a single-place Moon ey M 18C Mite - the very first time in hi story such a plane has been so honor ed. The on ly problem being th at both winners cannot fly in the airplane at th e same tim e. The Reserve Grand Champion Classic Lindy was tak e n by George Willford of Wat e rville , OH, with his very a uth ent ic Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser. R estored over a period of time by George and his father, the PA-12 showed super attention to detail and lot s of dedicated e lbow grease. In the new Contemorary Class th e Grand Champion Lindy was garnered by Jerry Ross of W eat herford , OK, with hi s b ea uti ful 1959 Piper PA-24 Commanche pow ere d with a Lycoming 0-360 of 180 hp. T he original paint scheme on this re tractable was a thing to behold and scored we ll with the judge s. The Reserve Grand Champion Contemporary Lind y was tak e n home by Arthur Bastian of New ton, NJ , with his nicely restored 1956 Cessna 310 (straight tail) fi nish ed off in an original paint scheme of white, turq uoise and black trim . Perhaps one more unforgettable it em from 1993 was the appearance of Ra lph Rosanik ' s ma g nificent replica Curtiss Hawk P-6E , which , although it h ad not flown , just the sound of the V-12 Curtiss Conqueror e ngine as it taxied by on its way to the display ramp, was an immense thrill in itself. This 30-year effort by a very determined builder is presently on display in th e EAA's Eagle Han gar for all to see. 1994 Antique/Classic/ Contemporary Fly-In The return of the supersonic Con co rd e marked the 1994 fly-in with the customary lo ud noises as it blasted off on a " local " trip with a cabin fu ll of passe n gers. In addition, 1994 was noted for the "Salute to Appollo" which proved to be a very popular program , the astronauts themselves being very comfortable on the stage amo ng fellow aviation peopl e. If blue is your favorite color, you would have lik ed the choice for the An tique Grand Champion Lindy as Tom Baker , J r. of Effingham , IL ran off with all the m arb les with his blu e and si lver 1941 Taylorcraft BL-65. A brilliant piece of restoration , the Taylorcraft, complete with round contro l wheels and la r ge tachometer, was fin ished down to the last nut and bolt by this young restor e r. In deed, Tom comes by hi s aviation interest honestly as his father, Tom Baker , Sr. is a long time rebuilder and restorer who taught his son well. The Reserve Grand Champion Lindy was taken by Gerald Hanson of Las Ve gas, NV , with his spectacular 1942 Beechcraft G-17S Staggerwing which was finished off in a bright yellow paint scheme with dark blue trim. To say that this cabin class airplane, which used to be flown by Walter Beech, himself, was a real jewel among some really fine air planes would be an understatement. It was outstanding. In the Classic arena, the Grand Cham pion Lindy was well earned by Roy Fox worthy of Columbus, IN, with his magnif icently restored Johnson Rocket 185. This rare airplane , one of only four or fiv e remaining, was totally restored over a period of dedicated effort to where it outscored all Classics at the convention. The amazing history behind this airplane is just as fascinating as the airplane itself. The Reserve Grand Champion Classic Lindy was awarded to John Preiss of Ger mantown, WI, for his outstanding Cessna 195, all polished to the nth degree . The restoration work on this beautiful five place airplane was something to behold. For the second year of the Contempo rary Class, the Grand Champion Lindy was garnered by Lee Maples of Belle , MO, for his outstanding 1960 twin Beechcraft G18S which was flown to Oshkosh on a whim, just to see what wou ld happen! Lee was quite surprised to learn he had won the Grand Champion Lindy. The Reserve Grand Champ i on Co n temporary Lindy was taken h ome by Gary Granfors of Webster, MN, with his remarkably restored 1960 Cessna 172 that is actually owned with several other pi lots. Together , they have done an exce l lent job of bringing the 172 back to or igi nal condition. For the first time in history, a Grand Champion Seaplane Lindy was awarded to Buzz Kaplan of Owatonna, MN, for his superbly restored 1929 Curtiss Robin mounted on a set of Edo 2665 floats. This was the oldest seaplane to ever visit the Brennand/Vette Seaplane base since EAA moved to Oshkosh in 1970. 1995 AntiquelClassicl Contemporary Fly-In at Oshkosh Very few people who were in atten dance at the '95 convention will ever for get the huge " Tribute to Valor" fly-overs of WW II aircraft. On Saturday and Sun day , there were over 200 aircraft in the air at one time with some f1y-bys being conducted at five different levels at one time! Many remarked they had never seen the huge crowd as quiet as they were when the hundreds of aircraft were going by. It was a most impressive two days. Attendance at the Antique/Classic area was higher than ever with some 900 aircraft registered and aficianadoes all over the place. It was the year of the Waco as 44 of the beautiful biplanes lined up, courtesy of a big push by the Ameri can Waco C lub . In addition, the Beech Bonanza folks brought in 132 V-tails and straight tails - all in a continual line from Rockford, I L. For the first time ever, a BUcker Jung meister garnered the Antique Grand Champ ion Lindy award for its owner, E. T. "Woody" Woodward of Franklin , TN. Imm acu lately restored by J oe Fleeman , the winning Jungmeister was the first one off the production line in Switzerland in 1937 and feat ured the or iginal Swiss paint scheme in yellow with red bands, white crosses and black trim . The Reserve Grand Champion An tique was taken home by Alan Buchner of Fresno, CA, w ith his beautiful 1932 Waco QDC cabin biplane. The superb restoration of this ga ll ant veteran of the (Above) A really rare treat at the 1992 Fly-In was this Fairchild 24W that was flown all the way to Oshkosh from South Africa by "Chalkie" Stobbart and Peter Hengst. (Below) Who could ever forget the mag nificient Curtiss Hawk P-6E that was replicated over a thirty year period by Ralph Rosanik of Omaha, NE, and was brought to the 1993 convention. 1930's was extremely well done, right down to the polished cowling. Working their way upw ard from sev eral ear li er awards were Gene and Carol Enge lskirger of Hinckley, OH, whose to tally restored 1954Cessna 170B earned them the Class ic Grand Champio n Lindy at the '95 convention . It was the steady improvement in the overall airpla ne con dition and detailing that ca u ght the judge's eye to score enough points to win the big one. Continued on pa ge 37 VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9 Majoror Memorex® ? by Roy Redman, Ale 6600 Sometimes You Need to Question Your judgement Several years ago a cassette tape company ran a national TV campaign. The focus of these ads was that you couldn 't tell if you were listening to the real thing or to a recorded version. They showed a clip of a concert hall per former and then alluded to the fact that the sound you were hearing was really coming from a Memorex cassette. The caption was "Is it live or is it Memo rex?" The engine overhaul is something that most airplane owners understand , or at least think they understand. When it's time for an overhaul you unbolt the en gine, send it away, send gobs of cash and get back an "overhauled" engine and a bunch of writing in the logbook. Sounds simple enough, but is it really? What do you get for your outlay of $10,000 to $15,000 or more? More to the point, what should you get? Do you get a "Ma jor" or do you get "Memorex?" The mechanical portion of an over haul is certainly a primary consideration and could fill volumes of printed matter. What we are going to investigate here, however, is the paperwork side-the le gality and the words. What is required? What do the words mean? Who is re sponsible? And just what is an overhaul by regulations, and what is not? An examination of what the F ARs say about overhau ls will get us started and serve as a framework for discussion. We find most of the pertinent informa tion in FAR Part 43, entitled Mainte nance, Preventive Maintenance, Re building, and Alteration. There are also Advisory Circulars on the subject, iden tified by the prefix" AC." These are considered acceptable data and are given the same credence by the FAA as regulation if applicable. A prime exam ple is AC 43.13-1A and 2A. Note that the first number following the letters "AC" refer to the subject part of the 10 AUGUST 1996 FAR , hence Advisory Circu l ar AC 43.13 obviously covers maintenance. AC 43-11, entitled Reciprocating En gine Overhaul Terminology and Stan dards, is an important reference. We should note here that this AC comments on some Part 91 references in addition to the maintenance issues. Part 91 is enti tled General Operating and Flight Rules. With regard to maintenance, this part outlines owner/operator responsibilities. Keep in mind as we progress that the re sponsibility for the records entries and record keeping is shared by the owner/operator, as well as the person or agency performing the work. The F ARs go to great pains to define "major" and "minor" repairs. FAR 43, Appendix A covers nearly every repair or alteration you can think of, but does not address the common use of the word "major" in an overhaul. It refers to split ting the case or cra nk shaft of a super charged engine, a geared (other than spur type) engine, or special repairs such as welding, plating or metalizing. In this context, the inclusion of any of these op erations in an overhaul requires a form 337 since they constitute "major" repairs. The common use of the word "major" with the word "overhau l" is addressed only in AC 43-11 paragraph 5b (1) and (2). This paragraph calls the words "ma jor" and "top" an identification of the degree of work done on the engine. The defining paragraphs (1) and (2) say what most of us know-that a "major" identi fies complete disassembly and "top" identifies work outside the crankcase only. The word " major," therefore, has nothing to do with the standards of the work. It only identifies what parts were disassembled. And most important, it does not define whether or not the en gine was overhauled . The word we re ally need to understand is "overhaul." The F ARs devote considerable ver biage to the word "overhaul." They also address other terms such as "rebuilt" and "remanufacture," but first we should study just what an "overhaul" is by regu lation. Let's look at the FAR 43.2 words in detail. Paragraph 43.2 Records of overhaul and rebuilding. (a) No person may de scribe in any required maintenance entry or form an aircraft, airframe, aircraft en gine, propeller, appliance, or component part as being overhauled unless (1) Us ing methods, techniques , and practices acceptab le to the Administrator , it has been disassembled, cleaned, inspected, repaired as necessary, and reassembled; and (2) It has been tested in accordance with approved standards and technical data, or in accordance with current stan dards and technical data approved by the Administrator, which have been devel oped and documented by the holder of the type certificate, supplemental type certificate, or a material, part, process, or app li ance approval under paragraph 21.305 of this chapter. (b) No person may describe in any required mainte nance entry or form an aircraft, airframe, aircraft engine, propeller, appliance, or component part as being rebuilt unless it The engine overhaul is something that most airplane owners understand, or at least think they understand. When it's time for an overhaul you unbolt the engine, send it away, send gobs of cash and get back an "overhauled" engine and a bunch of writing in the logbook. Sounds simple enough, but is it really? has been disassembled, cleaned, in spected, repaired as necessary, reassem bled, and tested to the same tolerances and limits as a new item, using either new parts or used parts that either con form to new part tolerances and limits, or to approved oversized or undersized dimensions. (Note: Underlining is ours for emphasis.) What this tells us is that it i sn't an overhaul unless it is tested, and the stan dard for this is the manufacturers' over haul manual (approved standards and technical data) or in accordance with technical data that is "approved by the Administrator." Paragraph (b) goes on to define " rebuilt" as meaning the use of new standards, and again testing is men tioned as a requirement. (It is probably appropriate to mention, since we just read the FAR, that there isn't much dif ference between "overhauled" and "re built." You can see that an overhaul to new limits could be the same as a re build.) While we're n ea r th e subject we should m e ntion something about the term "remanufacture" although it has lit tle or no applicability to our old engines. This term actually has no specific mean ing in the FARs. It is , however, widely used by engine overhaul facilities and also manufacturers to describe an engine that has been "rebuilt" and granted zero time by the manufacturer or an approved agency (Ref. AC 43-11 paragraph 7). Well , OK. So it has to be tested to perfect the overhaul. What does that mean? It means that the engine has to be run. The F ARs address this in a couple of ways. First of all, AC 43.13-1A, Chapter 14, paragraph 679 e, "A pproval for re turnin g Engine to Service" says in (2) "Test run the engine to determine that the engine, propeller, and accessories are functioning properly. " (The lead para graph here, #679, refers to sudden stop page. However, the reassembly and re turn to service would be the same as an overhaul. The only difference would be the application of the overhaul standards in FAR 43 .2.) Further, in addition to dis cussing definitions of "major" and "top," AC 43-11 paragraph 5b (1) states that "A major overhaul consists of the complete disassembly of an engine, inspected and repaired as necessary , reassembled, tested, and approved for return to ser vice ." (Bold type is ours for emphasis .) This brings us to the next step, the re turn to service. FAR 43.5 states: No person may return to service any aircraft, airframe, aircraft engine, prope ll er or ap pliance that has undergone maintenance, preventative maintenance, rebuilding, or alteration unless-(a) The maintenance record entry required by paragraph 43.9 or paragraph 43.11 has been made. Para graphs 43 .9 and 43.11 speak to the con tent, form and disposition of mainte nance records. This means logbooks. So now we have come full circle. We assume that we are entering into a "ma jor " but understand that this term refers to degree of work. And in order to be an "overhaul" a variety of things have to be accomplished, including a test run. Then the required logbook entry has to be made that not only includes the word "o verhaul" but also the familiar words " ... approved for return to service." When all of this is accomplished, the air plane can be returned to service merely with an entry in the airframe log that the engine has qeen installed. When the engine is approved for re turn to service by the overhaul facility, no further entry is necessary in the en gine log. The engine just has to be con nected on paper to the airframe in the airframe logbook. A notation of this in stallation also in the engine log is com mon, but isn't required. Well, you say, I know good 01' so-and so who does engines and he really knows his stuff, but he do es n't have test run facil ities. Now most of the engines we operate on our antiques and classics are getting pretty long of tooth- upwards to 60 years or so. And the parts availability comes from outside the ne twork that many es tablished shops are familiar with . Yes , there are fortunately a number of estab lished engine shops that continue to ser vice the old engines, but a cottage industry of "g ood 01' so-and-so" guys is growing. Great! We need the support, and the availability of engines. But when you pay the price you should hear the fat lady sing in person, and not on Memorex tape. When you pay for an overhaul , that's what you should get-and it should be run and returned to service. And what if it's not? Well, it might work out just fine, and I'm sure the "goo d 01' so-and so" will give you lots of evidence that it will. But just understand th e position you're in . You have a shiny new engine and you've paid the bill, which probably was market price for an overhaul. You have a logbook with an impressive en try-but nowhere do the words "ove r haul" or "a pproved for return to service" appear. There 's a signature under the entry, but all that r ea lly says is that the parts were assembled. You get your engine home, and have an A&P in stall it. Either he has to run it and add the words "approved for return to service," or your IA has to do thi s when he completes the installation or the annual. Now one or both of these guys is certifying the airworthiness, and the crit ical first couple of hours of run-in is on their shoulders. The best of all worlds is that everything goes just fine , and it us u ally does. But if it doesn 't? Hum an na ture steps in with all its vagaries. The en gi ne builder assumes that the installer did some thing wrong, ran it in improp er ly , etc. The installer assumes that somet hin g wasn ' t done right in the as sembly. And you're in the middle. Any they 're probably on the phone a lot try ing to solve the problem. Assuming the best from all concerned, it probably works out in the end. But it could go an other direction. Consider this-we were expecting an engine from a respected engine shop to meet a deadline for a customer. On the promised ship day we got a ca ll. The en gine had flunked the run-in . After two hours of test stand running there was suspicious metal in the oil. The shop owner felt that a teardown was in order. I won 't go into chapter and verse on the problem but will just say that it was something that could happen to the best -a nd it did . People all over the country are flying behind engines from that shop with pride and confidence, and rightly so. The engine arrived two weeks late, but no one minded the delay. The clear l esson is that the first couple of hours belong on the test stand. The good shops won't have it any other way. Before we conclude we need to take another short visit to the FAA data. AC 43-11, paragraph 8 covers overhaul facili ties and the FARs they are required to comply with; FAR 43.13 a. and 43.13 b. (-but don't confuse these with AC 43.13-1A and 2A). In brief, these para graphs require practices, tools and test equipment consistent with industry stan dard as well as those recommended by the manufacturer (found in the overhaul manual). Paragraph b . addresses owner/operator responsibilities as out lined in FAR 91.405 and 91.417. These paragraphs point out among other things, that the owner/operator " Shall ensure that maintenance personnel make appro priate entries .. .indicating the aircraft has been returned to service" and also the responsibility for keeping the aircraft records and detail required therein. So now you're going to have your en gine overhauled-or you want one over hauled for that new restoration. Despite the age of our engines, there are many respected engine shops out there. And there are several "goo d 01' so-and-sos" working in their hangars or home shops who deserve a shot and do great work . Select the situation that feels comfort able to you. Her e's some suggestions. 1. When interviewing your shop or engine builder, ask the critical questions: Will it be test run? And will you sign off ap proval for return to service? Usually if the first is affirmative the second will be as well. 2. Determine if the overhaul will be to service limits or to new stan dards. We didn ' t touch on this in order to not ge t into the mechanical details, but you should know what you will be gett ing for your buck. This can affect the cost, and definitely the longevity of your e ngine . Then after you have se lected yo ur engine shop - 3. Get a copy of AC 43-11 from your FSDO and re view it carefully . It isn't too long and has some good information . (Part 91 has been revised since it was printed and the references should read 91.405, 91.417 and 91.421.) 4. A stroll through FAR Part 43 will help , specifically the para graphs I mentioned and also those refer enced in AC 43-11. (You don 't have to become a regulations freak! There isn't that much , and they specifically address your concerns.) 5. When you get ready to pay the bill, read the logbook entry carefull y. If you've absorbed the Part 91 references you will know what your re sponsibilities are and what you need to see in the entry. More than likely the answers to your questions will be positive , and your con cerns welcome. Our hobby and our in dustry is full of good folks and skilled craftsmen. I'm sure all will agree that in today's world, you can 't be too careful. ... VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11 lets, and was disappointed to find that Waterbury Brass had gone out of busi ness. The eyelets called out in the blue prints were no longer available, so like everybody else, it's time for a revision to Custom my Chief restoration plans. Chief Pete and Mark Rowe gussie up a old post-war favorite. by H.G. Fr aut s chy If you can tear yourself away from the photos and that American LaFrance Fire Engine Red finish, I'll tell you all about it. Last month I wrote about a very original Aeronca, Buck Hilbert's 15AC Sedan. N ow here's the other end of the spec trum, a custom airplane with plenty of neat features. Pete and Mark Rowe (Pete is the dad, Mark is his son), Midlothian, TX, liked what they had seen in other recent Chief restorations. Densel Williams' Aeronca llCC Super Chief, winner of the Grand Champion Classic trophy at EAA OSHKOSH '92, was mentioned by them as one of the nicest airplanes they had seen, but they wanted to head in a differ ent direction when they started their restoration. From the outset, Pete and Mark weren't looking to go trophy hunt ing, so an original airplane wasn't re quired. They just wanted a super nice looking airplane they could fly. Since they both live in the same fly-in commu nity, Eagle's Nest Estates, it wouldn't be too difficult to split up the project be tween the two houses. In 1992 Mark's wife Dana saw an ad in the Dallas newspaper for a side-by-side airplane. She liked flying during the evening in Mark 's " cheap Champ" and the thought of an airplane in which she could sit next to Mark appealed to her. He charged off to look at the airplane, and decided to buy it. They acquired the non-flying Chief project after it had been covered , but after looking at the work manship, they felt they could do better, so the cover job came off. A close inspec tion of the fuselage frame was made after bead blasting and no tubing replacement was needed. A complete job of priming and painting the tubing was done before the rest of the work was started on the fuselage . The tubing is finished with a 12 AUGUST 1996 new Sherwin-Williams paint, and happens to be a Mac Truck Cream, one of only about a half dozen colors Mac uses. The firewall was still in good shape, and new cowl fasteners were secured in place. Already, changes were being planned . The upper engine cowl piece was held in place on the original airplane with Dzus fasteners. As a retired army pilot, Pete had his fill of the screw head style quick turn fasteners, so he decided to secure the cowling with screws , and create a new oil fill access/inspection hole similar to one you see on a Cessna 150 or 172. The door neatly fits in a recess made with a flange that is flush riveted to the upper cowl, and it locks in place with a Hartwell latch. One of the reasons they wanted to start from scratch restoring the airplane was the way the lower fuselage looked when they brought it home. The plywood fuselage formers had deteriorated so badly that the covering had a baggy look to it, detracting from the lines of the Chief. After the covering was removed, an inspection of all the formers showed that the plywood had been crushed and splintered, particularly in the area where the brass Waterbury eyelets secured each former to the fuselage tabs. A trip to the wood shop saw the creation of the new set of formers and stringers. As is so com mon these days , the new set of formers were secured with bolts and washers. To save a little weight (every little bit helps, since there are 31 bolts used) I have seen a number of Champ and Chief restorers use aluminum bolts, washers and nuts to secure the formers. Waterbury eyelets, Nos. 9889 and 10120, used to be made by the Waterbury Brass Corp. in Waterbury , CT. Eleven years ago, after I moved to Connecticut, I went looking to find a source for the eye- The metal nose bowl wasn't too bad , and it was retained. To add the finishing touch , a spun aluminum spinner blank from Bob Carr was finished off by the Rowes. Using old copies of factory blue prints , Bob has carefully matched the contour of the original spinner for his blank, which the Chief restorer can then finish to suit his installation of a metal or wood prop . You can reach Bob at 506 Heavitree Garth, Servena Park, MD 21146 for more information on his blanks. The project didn't come with wheel pants, and while they could have searched for a pair of metal ones, a set of fiberglass wheel fairings would be more durable, es pecially around young kids . Toughness meant more than originality in this re gard! Still, they maintained an original look by covering the landing gear A-frames with fabric. Many Aeroncas are missing the fairings used at the landing gear/fuse lage juncture, and that's a shame - they do a lot for lessening intersection drag (an area that a Champ or Chief could stand some improvement , particularly at the strut attach points) . Since the project didn't come with the fairings, they made theirs up by making a pattern out of card board and trimming it until they had a shape they liked . Only then did they whittle a new set out of aluminum. Another area they gave detailed atten tion to were the exit points for the control cables - ABS plastic control exits made for large scale radio controlled model air planes were used , resulting in a neat , clean installation. They softened them up with methyl ethyl ketone during the cov ering process, and both restorers were pleased with the level of adhesion the ABS plastic exhibited. Aeronca oleo landing gear struts need attention during their lifetime, and during a restoration it's a good idea to take them completely apart for inspection. While removing the piston from the cylinder re quires the services of a machine shop (a lathe and a torch are some of the tools re quired) the rest of the working parts of the landing gear can be easily inspected. Many years ago an AD was issued to en sure that any phenolic pistons wer e re moved from service, but every now and then one still shows up and must be re placed. Pete and Mark disassembled the gear by removing the oleo from the case frame, driving the pin out of the spring re tainer and inspecting the spring itself and the piston. Peering through the oil fill hole with the piston bottomed out will re veal if the piston is aluminum or the out lawed ph e nolic . A close look rev ea led one strut had bee n re pl aced, s in ce it bore the U ni va ir name and PMA stamp. For t un a te ly th e pisto n sh af ts w ere in goo d sha p e, so a n ew gra phit e imp reg nat e d rope sea l was in sta ll ed and the s trut s re assembled and f ill ed wi th hydraulic o il. On the oth er e nd of the fuselage , they still had an o ri g in al Sco tt st ee r ab le, no n swivel tailwh ee l, comple te with a " Made Fo r A e ro nca by Sco tt " br ass p la te . It needed. a new bushin g, which a f ri end who is a profess ional machinist was able to re place for the Rowes. While the non -s wi vel config ur atio n ca n make ma ne uve ring by hand on the gro und a bit mo re cha ll e n g in g, it is still one o f the li ghtest tailwheels yo u ca n insta ll on the Chi ef . Th a t far aft of the c.G ., every pound counts. The win gs pr esented a complete ly dif fe re nt s itu a ti o n . Man y of th e sta mp ed a luminum rib s ha d b ee n be nt and / or crac ked , but fo rtun a te ly, a ll f our spa rs 14 AUGUST 1996 were fo und to be in goo d sha pe af te r a complete inspectio n. On e w in g at a time was completely disassembled at a time, so that the other could be used fo r reference in co nj uncti o n with th e blu e print s a nd service manual. All of the st ee l a nd alu minum f ittin gs we re checke d for crac ks and co rr osion and then the win gs we re re asse mbl e d. Eac h o f th e m t oo k abo ut 5 months of part time work to finish and be ready fo r coverin g. T he sh ee t metal fo r the forw a rd fu se lage n ee ded to be replaced, a nd they did no t h ave a wind shi e ld fl a n ge re ta in e r strip. Out ca me the meta l working ha m mers and a pine woo d bl ock car ved with a cl ose a pproxim at io n of th e curv e of a n old, beat up retain er they found , and after a fe w tries (s ix , to be exact), they came up with two retainers they were able to use. Th ey even put the ir sh ee t metal ham mering skills to use making up a new set o f h ea t muffs for th e exhaust stacks. Us in g an orig in al set of mu ffs as a mo ld , they built a ha mm eri ng mo ld o ut of pl aster. Surpris in gly, because they made the mold at least two inches thick, the plaster did n' t crac k while they we re po unding away o n the d ea d soft aluminum used for the new mu ffs . In fact, anoth er frie nd is now u si ng the mo ld s to make hi s own heat mu ffs for hi s projec t! Th e Continental A -65 en gi ne itself was in pr e tt y g ood sh ape, with only 11 ho ur s on it sin ce a majo r over haul. All of the accessories we re stri pped off the en gi ne a nd o ve rh a ule d. B eca use it had sat for quite a while, it was reassembled wit h a ll new rubb e r induction tube coupl e rs a nd any oth e r g asket o r hose o n th e o ut side was also re pl aced with new item s. Th e exha ust pip es shin e with th e un mi stakable sh ee n of stai nl ess steel, yet the sta ck s th e m se lv es a re still th e o rigin a l (Above) Mark and Pete Rowe (I-r), father and son restorers, take a spin in their spec tacular Chief. (Right) All of the interior sheet metal was beautifully finished in wood grain by Pete Rowe. The interior was finished in the spirit of the original, but in a way you might have seen if Aeronca offered a "super deluxe" version of the Chief. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15 mild steel. How co uld that be? Cl ever Mark wanted a good looking set of stacks, so he dressed up the origi nal style stacks wit h a pair of stain less stee l tube cuffs that slip over the mi ld steel stacks and are secured with a thro ugh bolt. A set of overhau led Bendix-Scint illa magnetos supply the ignition power through unshielded leads. A metal whip antenna and an lcom hand-he ld radio with a noise blanking circuit seem to work fine with the unshielded ignition, allowing communications over a 50 mile range. The interior work was one area where the Rowes paid close attention to the lit tle things. The headliner was supplied by A l exander Aerop l ane (now Aircraft Spruce East). Neatly pull-tied into place, a light mist of water shrunk the liner in place. A very professional looking job, even the holes for the aileron cables were trimmed in a clever way - so often, they're just run through a slit cut in the headliner. Pete's wife Barbara Jean did it differ ently, and it really looks nice . After fit ting the headliner, she used the button hole stitch on her automatic sewing machine to put in a pair of large button holes on a couple of pieces of leftover scraps for the aileron cables to exit. Sewn in place with some cording used to finish the edges , it's neat, simple , and because of their close proximity to the edge of the headliner, their position was fairly simple to plan out. Another neatness item was the use of blind tacking cording to cover the edges of the windows. Using single edge cord (Above) Here ' s more of the woodgrain work done by Pete Rowe. (left ) Even the stuff you don 't usually see was well taken care of during the restoration. You can also see the beauti f ul pol ished stainless steel heel plates, installed with hook and loop fas teners. ing doesn't l ook as neat, since the sma ll brads used to secure the cording sti ll show after installation. The sma ll diameter double cording is installed by spread ing the cords apart , nailing a tack through the fabric between the cords and then allow ing the cords to fold over the tack, hiding it from view. It makes for a very clean looking installation. While you can have a Chief instrument panel refinished using the original wood graining method , Pete decided on doing the painting. A coat of flat, oil based paint was first painted on the panels (in cluding the rudder cable cover in the cockpit and the top of the baggage cover). He then " flogged" the paint surface be fore the paint dried to give the base coat some texture to it. After waiting a day, a coat of glaze tinted with burnt umber was used as the "grain," which was created us ing a painter's woodgraining tool, along with some small paintbrushes and feath ers. After allowing that to dry for four or five days, 10 coats of automotive clear coat enamel was applied. The pa nel you see now is actually the second time he did the work - the first time , he clear coated the finished panel using a lacquer , and was heartbroken when t he other paint was l ifted and ru ined. Whi le he says the first time was a better job, I can't see how that's possible his work on the second panel is a very pretty custom panel for a Chief, keeping the spirit of the original but adding some thing personal to it. All sorts of little things catch your eye as you look the airplane over. One of the neatly done items in the cockpit is on the floor. A pretty set of stainless steel heel plates were made by bending the edges, filling the corners with silver solder and then polishing them to a high luster. You hate to think of them being touched by a shoe or boot. Maybe it's best flown wear ing a pair of bedroom slippers! The standard Aeronca tail logo didn't meet with Pete's approval either. He wanted something different, and he found it on the cover of the airplane's service manual. On the cover was a stylized logo that looked sharp. Blowing it up to twice its original size, coupled with a little work with a pen and french curve, gave him something he could take to the sign maker's shop. Scanned on a computer , it was then run through a program that drove a cutter, creating a vinyl mask. The mask was then used to spray paint the logo on the fin. Neat! Fuel gauges are always a challenge for Aeronca restorers. The original gauges used a hollow copper ball float soldered on a pivoting arm, moving a sector gear meshing with a pinion gear mounted on a rotating drum. Did you follow all that? As the unbushed pivot points would wear in the cast aluminum , the gears wou ld fail to mesh, and the ga uge would become even more inaccurate. It's always been true that something cheap to build in the first place can be maddeningly diffi cult to rebuild. The gauges used in the Champ and Chief are no excep tion, req u iring extensive machine work to rebui ld them . Fortunately for the Rowes, their aft fuel gauge for the 8 ga llon auxiliary tank was in good condition. Continued on page 27 16 AUGUST 1996 MEMBERS PROJECTS around the world ------------------------------- by Norm Petersen Bucker Jungmeister Bu 133C in Germany This magnificent 1937 Blicker Jung meister Bli 133C, SIN 5, registered D EKRE in Germany (ex. U-58, ex. HB MKF in Switzerland), was restored from a basket case over a period of nine years by Erich Reichart (EAA 153889) of Babenhausen, Germany. Powered with a Siemens & Halske SH-14a en gine of 160 hp using two carburetors and swinging a Hoffman propeller, the Jungemeister is capable of unrestricted aerobatics and is in a class by itself for control feel. Erich , who is a retired Lufthansa 747 Captain, purchased the airp lan e from the late , lege ndary , Al bert Ruesch of Switzerland, an aero batic instructor for fifty years. At pre sent , Erich reports , there is only one remaining overhauler of the SH-14a en gines in Germany and a major overhaul costs about 60 ,000 DM (about $40,000). Erich Reichart is pictured flying the Blicker over the green fields of so uth central Germany. Photo taken from a Blicker Jungman. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17 Macchi M.B. 308 in Argentina This photo of an Italian-built 1948 Mac chi M.B. 308, registered LV-RZF in Ar gent in a, was sent in by owner Gustavo Dan iel Martinez (EAA 394889, A/C 18166) of Merlo, Argentina, South America. Con structed primarily of wood, the two-place, side-by-side M.B. 308 features a full can tilever wing and tail group, tricycle landing gear with a steerable nosewheel and dual swi n g- up doors on the cabin. A single fuel tank above the baggage compartment (and behind the rear wing spar) is either 60 or 80 liters, depending on eng in e. Built in Milan, Ita ly , the M.B. 308 is powered with a Conti nental A-65, C-85 or C-90 engine swinging a wooden propeller. With a C-85, the empty weight is 858 Ibs. , gross is 1364 Ibs. and norm al cruise is 108 mph with a 40 mph landing speed. Slotted flaps use 15 degrees for takeoff, 60 degrees for a normal landing and 75 degrees for a braked land ing. The M.B. 308 was also built as a twin float seaplane with a C-90 , being able to take off from the water in 240 yards. Auster J/1 Autocrat in Denmark From Vamdrup, Denmark, comes this neat photo of a 1946 English-built Auster J/1 Autocrat, registered OY-AUY in Denmark, and owned by Leif Nissen of Kolding, Denmark. (The beautiful scale model in the foreground was built by Tommy Olsen.) Powered with an inverted four-cylinder Blackburn Cirrus Minor ITA of 100 hp, the Auster can carry three people (two in front and one crossways in the aft seat) at a cruise speed of 100 mph. Empty weight is 1052 Ib s. and gross is 1850 Ibs. for a u seful load of about 800 Ibs. Sharp eyed readers will note the Taylorcraft inf lu ence in the design of the landing gear, the wings (NACA 23012 airfoi l), struts and tail surfaces as the Auster firm evo l ved from the license building of American Taylorcrafts. Leif Nissen is a bricklayer by trade, enjoys flying the Auster on weekends, and is an ac itve member of the Danish KZ & Veteran fly Klubb (EAA Chapter 655). 18 AUGUST 1996 Spanish Bucker Jungmann CASA 1.131 in Chandler, Al This photo of a CAS A 1.131 Jungmann , N595BJ , SIN E313-595BJ, was contributed by the engine installer, Joe Kry bus (EAA 140019), of Santa Paula , CA. Seated in the cock pit is ownerlrestorer Mike Christine (EAA 398889, A /C 20372) of Chandler, AZ. Mike, who is a Northwest Airlines 727 Captain , and Joe Krybus complet e ly restored the Jung mann over an eight-month period in 1994 following a col lapsed landing gear accident on the way home from EAA Oshko sh '93. Included in the restoration was th e prototype installation of the Chech-built LOM four-cylinde r in-line en gine of 140 hp in addition to the new cowlings and propeller (Note the le ft-hand turning prop). Mike re port s th e paint scheme is exact ly as the airplane wore while in Spanish Air Force training service. To the full credit of the restorers, the restored Jun gmann has won trophies at EAA Oshkosh ' 95 and Sun ' n Fun '96. Working on a project of your own? Send your photos along with a short story about your airplane to: H.G. Frautschy, EAA, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 Golden Oldie, August 21 1949 - Stinson 108-3 This vintage photo of a 1948 Stinson 108-3 , NC6197M, SIN 108-4197, wa s taken at Bar Har bor Airport , Trenton , Maine , on August 21 , 1949. The pilot, Ralph Mower, is now a retired Delta Captain. The photo was taken by a Ban gor Daily News staff photographer during a breakfast flight gathering. 01' 87M was finally sold to a man in "down east" Maine , then through a series of owners in New England , Missouri, Texas and Florida before being pur chased by Damascus, MD, resident, John Baker (EAA 94082, A /C 14103) and hi s wife in 1986. They flew the Stinson for nearly a decade be fore taking it down for a complete restoration. After replacing over twenty feet of tubing and sandb la sti ng the fuselage, the four-placer is starting to go back together again. John Baker would enjoy he ar ing from other Stinson owners and is especia lly interested in a source for Stin son parts - such as a dash-3 rudder and eleva tors. Call John at 301-253-1071(Home) or 301 253-5105 (Work). John's address is 25904 Reva Drive, Damascus, MD 20872. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19 Stearman Richard Hansen wi t h a recovered boy Reunion hood memory - the fuselage of a Stear by Richa rd T. Hans en Ale 1961 9 And you thought finding one in a barn was tough! O c tob e r 24, 19 41 - Fifty mil es eas t of Fr es no , CA , thr ee P -40s di s app ea r in a storm at ni ght in the central Si erra s. A few days late r, on Oct ober 29, 1941 22 pl a nes we re se nt o n a sea rch mi ss ion for the Curtiss fi ghters. On e of them was a PT- 17 St ea rman piloted by Lt. Jam es E. Mil es, Jr. with Co rp . A . S. T ay lor as ob se rv e r. As a youn gs te r, I'd seen the Li e u tenant and C orpor al fly by at low level as they hea ded up a va ll ey. It had b ee n 47 yea rs s in ce, as a boy of 11 years old, I had been back to the site of wh ere the biplane had crash-landed. On June 9,1 988, while on a fishin g trip on Dinkey Cr ee k above Balch Camp with some fri ends of mine, I took a side trip up th e r a vin e t o wh e re th e a irpl a n e had cr as he d. Th e fi shing trail crosses the lower e nd o f thi s rav in e , but sin ce it is a ve ry steep climb with lots of brush and no tra ils to fo ll ow, a nd h avi ng h ea rd a t th e time that the Army had come in , removed what they could from the airplane and then dy namited wh at was le ft , I never went back. It 's funn y how tim e plays trick s o n yo ur mem o r y, but I sho uld go back 47 yea rs and start at the beginning. Balch Camp sets in the fork of Dink ey C r ee k a nd th e no rth fork o f th e Kin gs River in the foothills of the ce ntr al Si erras about 1200 feet eleva ti on and 50 mil es east of Fr es no , Ca lifo rni a. Th e re is a Pacific G as & El ec tric Co mpany pow e rhouse th e r e, a nd mo st p eo pl e who live th e re work in the powerh o use or in s om e oth er 20 AUGUST 1996 way for Pacific Ga s & Electric Company. I moved there wh en I wa s ten ye ar s old with my broth er and my moth er, a school teache r. Ther e was an elementary school th ere th at consisted of e ight grades. My moth er taught a ll e ight grad es . Th e total enrollment was s ix boys and thr ee girls. It was a gr ea t place for a ten yea r o ld boy to li ve . Summ e rs we re fill e d with fi shin g, swimming and e xplorin g the mountains. Fa ll was for t o uch fo o tball , b as ke tball , hunting and listening to Notre D ame foo t ba ll games on the radio. Winters were for ma kin g mod e l a irplan es, and airpl a n es were an exciting thing to me. I spe nt hundr e ds o f hour s buildin g mo de ls a nd r ea din g e ve ry thin g I could a bout a irplan es, a lso li ste ning to stori es my mother would te ll me about my fath er, Ea rle E . H anse n, who was a we ll -known pi lot. I r ea lly don ' t rem e mb e r much about my fa th e r as I was ve ry y oun g wh e n my parents separate d. I do, however, have hi s s crapbook with clippings and pictur es o f hi s man y exploit s. He was a test pilot, a well-known rac in g pilot , ba rnstorm e r, airline pi l ot a nd a ir plane designer. Th e re is an article in the Dece mb er, 19 39 issue of Popular Aviation that te ll s about a n airplane that he and a fe llow na med C on Ellin gs ton d e signed and built. You may reca ll it was the M ys tery Plane her e in Vintage Airplane a few month s ago . Y o u co ul d te lesco pe seven feet off the win gs whi le the airplane was in man he had seen fly past his home when he was eleven years old. fli ght and with a 90 hp LeBlond air-cooled e ngin e a nd its t op sp ee d was ju st und e r 170 mph. Th en, extending the win gs while in fli ght, it would land at less than 40 mph. On e of th e st o ri es my m o th e r t o ld m e abo ut my fath e r was about wh en he was working on this airplane, my mother would se nd him mon ey to ea t on , but he wo uld put the money into the airplane. He would then steal milk off of door steps to live by. My fa ther was killed in an airplane cras h while in the servic e in 1942. On e day, Octob er 29, 1941 to be exact, th e s tor y o f th e St e arm a n b eg in s. It is amazing to me how cl ea r my memory is of some of the events that foll owed, and just as amazing how I remembe r s om e thin gs differently. Ther e was an article in the pa per at the time stating that the reaso n for the crash w as eng in e trouble. That was Lt. Mi les' stor y. This is the story as I remem b e r it. It differ s f rom Lt. Mile s' sto ry , partly beca use I later bec ame a pil ot and because I kn ow the country so we ll , I could s ee e xactly what h a ppen e d and exac tl y wh y Lt. Miles g ot into trouble. I was o utside whe n the a irplane ca me ov e r Balch C amp . It was ve ry lo w, and here is where my me mor y pl ays tricks on me. I remember it be in g blue and yellow, whi ch it was; but I had it pi c tur ed in my mind as a low win g, s in gle wing airplane. Both the pilot and ob se rver were grin ning and waving to u s. Th ey were hav in g fun , and I think at the time th e las t thing on th e ir mind s was lookin g for d own ed aircraft. We watched as the airplane dis appeared up Dink ey Creek. It was lat e the next d ay that the pilot and his observer found th e ir way down to Balch Camp . They had crash-landed in a ravine. Nei ther the pilot or his observer were hurt in the crash. The area where they crashed is very rugged country, and unless you were fa miliar with the area, it would be very dif ficult to find yo ur way out. There are no roads and the only trails a re d ee r trails. At th at time th e re was a man nam ed Ed Kie ly who lived at Balch Camp. Ed was very familiar with that p ar ticular area, and from Lt. Miles and A. S. Taylor's descrip tion of the area of th e cra sh site , he was able to r et race their footsteps and locate the airplane. It was a simple thing for my broth e r and I to find the airplane as Ed Kiel y, after finding it, had tied white rags on the bushes lea ding to the crash site so that the Army could follow them. The airplane was sitting in a very nar row ravine just below a small cliff and was facing back down the ravine. I reme mber th at day very cl ea rly. To a n 11 year old boy who loved airplanes, this was the best thing that could have happened. Here was this airplane th at you could get close to ; you could stare at it, touch it, crawl all over it, and sit in the cockpit. My broth er and I took the sta r insignia off th e wing and rem ove d th e sea ts (why the seats, I d o n 't know) and carried th e m back to Balch Camp, re turning after dark . We had plans to go back and get the propeller, but we h ear d th e Army was g oin g in to tak e what they co uld from the airplane and that they were looking for th e ones who took the seats. Well , it 's pretty easy to scare an 11 year old and a 13 year old, so we didn ' t go back, probably figuring that we were lucky we weren't in ja il. The Army, accord ing to an a rticle in th e pap er, did take 17 me n, le d by Ed Ki ely, to the crash site to carry out what they could. Because of the ruggedness of the country, and there being no other way at the time , everything taken from the air plane had to be carried out by the men. It was at this time that I h ear d that the air plane had been dynamited and that there was nothing left. Upo n completion of gramm ar school, I left Balch Camp an d moved to Fresno to start hi gh school, but I have never lost my l ove for the mo unt ai ns and hav e been back to that area fishing many times. I'd always been c uri o us as to wh at, if a ny thing, might have been left of the airplane. Still, since it is a long, steep climb from the fishi ng trail and not expecting there to be anyt hing left, I never went back until the fishing trip of the 9th of June. This time I needed, once and for a ll , to satisfy my curiosity abo ut the airpla ne. Dropping our packs on the trail, we started up the ravine. I tried to go back in time and remember t he ravine. Some of it looked familiar and some of it didn' t. I re me mber ed the ravine being very narrow a nd th e a irpl a ne came to r es t und e r a sma ll ro ck cliff, and th at th e re we re two small pine tree s that th e airplane hit as it came down . We came upon a nd passe d two rock cliffs that I knew we ren ' t th e ones th a t we were lookin g for , and I started to doubt my memory as to whether this was the right ravine. How ever, co n tinuin g on, th e ravin e started to n arrow and in the distance I could see a small rock cliff that did look familiar. As I climbed toward th e cliff, the first part of th e air plane I came upon was the center section of the top wing. It had washed down th e ravine and ther e was just a frame laying in the rocks and brus h. There was a feeling of relief. Aft er all that time I had found my way back to the cra sh site. I also had a feeling of di sap pointment, though, because may be what I had h ea rd a bout the airplane having b ee n dynamit ed was true ; but 50 feet further, still u nder the rock cliff, was the airplane. It had not been dynamited as I had been told, but it had been completely disasse m bled, with parts scattered all around. Th e fu selage was intact with very little damage and incr e dibly , after laying out in th e weath er all that time, there was very little ru st. Th e airplane had be e n s tripp e d of most everything that could be carried out, includin g e ngin e, prop , wh ee ls , in s tru me nts, and much more . How ever, a ll th e cowlings , the ta il surfaces, all th e wing hardwar e (most of th e wood had rott e d away) and the landing gear, although dam aged, was still there. It 's lik e I had stepped back in time. With the exce ption of the pine trees that w ere missing, it was exac tl y as I ha d re of room, and faced with the possibility of going straig ht into the mo unt ain , e lected to turn up this ravi n e. There is no qu estion that th e airplane could not climb out of the ravine. Beca us e of the steepness of the te rrain , and with rid ges on both s id es , the cras h was in evitable. The airplane must have sta ll ed ju st above the ground, jud ging by the small amount of dama ge that was done. It ap peared to set down almost flat, rather than going in on its nose. I rememb er that the wooden propeller was unbrok en and that most of th e da ma ge was to one wing and th e bottom of th e fuselage. At th e time that was the only dama ge that I re mem ber. I took some pictur es of th e airpl a ne where it lay . It was almost hidden with poison oak growing up throu gh the fuse lage and parts sca tt ered under the trees. I t h ought that see ing th e airplane again would satisfy my curiosity and that I would be able to wa lk away from it , happ y to have seen it again and happy that it ha dn't been dynamited. But as I walked back down the ravi ne toward Dinkey Creek , I couldn't ge t the airplane out of my mind . See ing it agai n had opened up too many memories and I knew then that this would not be the last time that I would see the airplane. Upon r et urning to Fresno, I contacted Rory Rogers of Rogers Heli copters flies a company Hughes (now McDonnell Dou glas) SOOE , with the fuselage of the Stear man slung below. One more tr i p was made to collect the other majo r airframe parts . membered it - sitting in a small open .-------------------'7'""1 area under the rock cliff with st ee p ridges on both s id es. I could picture the airplane the way it was the day I had first see it: ta il high, with one wing resting on the ground and the other side in a tree. I mu st ex plain my ea rli e r com ment of what I think happ e ned and why Lt . Mil es go t into trouble . Wh e n Lt. Mi l es came over Balch Camp, he was very low, probably no m ore than 200 feet. The Dink ey Creek Canyon is fairly wide at this point , but it sta rt s climbing rapidly from Balch Camp and the canyon n arrows. There is a bend in th e creek about four miles above Balch Camp. You can ' t see aro und the bend, a nd the t er rai n goes from brush and scrub oak below the bend to pine trees above it. There is a r api d ascent in e l evat io n which is evident by the increase in waterfalls and white water in the creek itself. I'm sure that Lt. Miles, especia ll y if he was flying with little a ltitud e, rather than en te r this ar ea tried to turn aro un d in the ca nyo n, ran out VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21 Rogers Helicopters to find out if it would be possible to get the airplane out. Find ing out that it was possible mea nt another long wa lk back to the crash si te to pull everyt hing o ut in the open a nd bundle it up to where it could be airlifted out. I also talked to Harold Kindsvater who restores German airplanes, and he was interested in my story and the photographs that I showed him. At this point I was still sure that this was a single wing, low wing air plane , but Harold was able to determine from the pictures that it was a PT-17 Stear man. Now when I search my memory I do remember taking the star insignia off the top wing , but I had, all those years, re membered that part wrong. I was aware that a number of people had been looking for the ai rpl ane for the l ast two years . It gets very h ot in the canyon in the summer. There are a lot of rattlesnakes and the country is thick with poison oak. This, along with the unlikely The rugged Stearman airframe helped Lt. Miles and Corp. Taylor survive what must have been an exciting slide down the side of the hill and through these rocks. As seen here, some of the parts had been repositioned by the Army salvage crew sent in to remove what could be packed out, and to destroy the rest. Fortunately, they didn't really dynamite the airframe, allowing for its eventual recovery. spot th e airp lane was in and the rugged ness of the te rr ain , probably prevented its discovery. I don't know just when I made the deci sion to ge t th e airp la ne . Maybe it was when I realized that others were looking for it an d so me how it just didn't seem right th at anyone else should have it. It just seemed right that thi s a irpl ane was more special to me because I had sat in it as a boy and dr ea m ed of someday flying an airplane like that. Then all of a sudden I realized that just maybe this ai rpl ane could be put back together and fly again and I could fulfill that dr eam I had when I was 11 years old. On th e 3rd of July , Don Huston , a frie nd, Phil Raymer, my son-in-law and I returned to th e cras h site to see a ll that was th ere and to see just how much dam age was done in the crash. We spent about three hours clearing a ll the brush and poi son oak away from the fuselage, gathering all the parts we co uld find , and moving everything out into the ope n so that it could be ai rlifted out. It was di shea rt en ing because there was a lo t of damage done by the Army when they h ad disas semb l ed the airp l ane , a l ong with more damage in th e crash than I had remem bered . I star t ed to have doubts as to whether a ll of this was really worth it. Re turning home to Fresno, I found out some of the people who had been l ooking for the airpla ne had gotten very close to the Here's what Richard found when he hiked back to the site of a crashed Stearman he had visited as a lad, shortly after the air plane went down with Lt. James E. Miles, Jr., and Corporal A.S. Taylor as observer. Both survived the accident and walked out of the valley to the town of Balch Camp in the foothills of the central Sierra mountains in California. The elevator and stabilizer lie next to a boulder, while the stripped fuselage is overgrown with brush and trees in the background . cras h site, so a decision had to be made and I decided to get the airplane. Again I contacted Rogers Helicopters and talked to Rory Ro gers and we made plans to re trieve the airplane. There is a helicopter pad at Balch Camp which , by helicopter , is only about four or five miles from the crash site. On the morning of July 14, Don Huston and I drove there with a 21 foot flatbed trailer. Rory, flying a Hughes SOOE helicopter , and with my son-in-law, Phil Raymer as a passenger, met us there at