Vintage Airplane - January 1993

mechanics working for him. He opened up an EXXON service station in Mayodan, North Carolina. There was a small airport in Mayodan , and soon he was just bitt e n by the " bug " and became interested in flying. After World War II, he purchased a farm outside Mayodan of about 100 acres and built a home for us. Now that we were out in the country , he developed a runway on this farm , basically for our own personal use. Charles Bailey, who ran a small airport as a si deline , and was very interested in airplanes, also ran a body shop and wanted my father to construct a body shop building on his airport. It also was to be used as a place to teach flying , e tc. during this period of time. Charles eventually ended up with about five or six J-3 Cubs and J-5 Cruisers for people to rent and le a rn to fly in . He also owned a Gullwing Stinson that he used for charter work. Growing up in our home near the airport , naturally I was always ther e around the planes. I developed my love for aircraft in general and this particular era of aircraft during the time I spent on the farm and at the airport. I worked around the old Stearmans , cranking them up when I was 13 years old. I was around airplanes constantly and have never lost my love for them . It has been my experience that people who are associated with a irplanes achieve mor e than the average person . A couple of years after Charles had his body shop going, my father moved his operations from the service station to a larger garage near the airport and our ho me. He also opened up a Studebaker automobile agency in 1949. Later that same year, he took on a Massey Ferguson tractor dealership. Because it was so new, aviation was really hopping in this little town durin g this time. It seemed as though everyone was learning to fly. I have pilot friends now who hav e moved into this area and say that they hav e never been into a small area that had as many pilots or people who have learned to fly and rece ived their licenses. It was the result of Charles Bailey and other people like my father who promoted aviation. Most of these people around town do not fly any longer , but some are still flying and taught others who are now flying and have careers in aviation. I remember my fath e r buying a brand new Piper Cub Coupe, and later, a new Super Cruiser. We had a great time! People would land and then taxi over to our house for a cookout and to enjoy themselves. It was a community of aviation people that I grew to know during that period of time , and I still have long-term friends from that period in my life. The reason the Tri-Pacer article sparked such an interest for me is that once our Super Cruiser was gone , we didn 't have an airplane for about a year. One morning we were eating breakfast and my fath er was looking out the window at the hangar and he said , " I cannot do without an airplane," so he bought a one year-old 135 hp 1953 Tri-Pacer. During the period of time that he owned this Tri-Pacer, I was about the age that I was old enough to start my flying. John Pace , who earlier had been an ag pilot and opened an airport in Martinsville , Virginia would fly down to Madison in a J-3 or a J-5 Cruiser and was teaching my older sister, Frances, and myself to fly. I was 11 years old a t th e time; Frances was 5 years older than l. Basically we used the J-5 Cruiser for the lessons. We got to the point that John started teaching us spins. Frances just didn't like this aspect of flying and stopped taking lessons. I continued on and flew the Tri-Pacer with other people there. of course. Later my Dad traded in the 1953 Pacer and bought a brand new 1956 150 hp Tri-Pacer. As we moved up to the 150 hp Tri-Pacer , it felt like it had 400 hp compared to the 135, just because it was new. This was th e airplane that I eventually got my private license in , as well as my commercial license and other ratings. I personally put almost 1000 hours on this airplane. It is my opinion that these airplanes have been underrated for years. We would haul just about anything you could put in it. Mr. Piper at Pip er Aircraft told my father to cruise this airplane at 2550 rpm. H e sai d h e didn ' t care what mph at that e ngine speed, making it much faster than the 172s of the time . We never had one minute of trouble out of that engine, and when I sold it after my father died , it had approximately 1500 hours on it and had never had anything done to the engine. Of course , at that time we didn ' t know that the 7/16" valves were no good. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose. On Sundays I would sit around the airport after I got my commercial license and hop passengers in the Tri Pacer. It was really not hard at that time to hop passengers and make a $150.00 to $200.00 on a Sunday. At that particular time I was working during the week as a mechanic and bringing home $75.00 per week. People talk about the price of airplanes now compared to the price of airplanes in the past ; when we bought the Tri- Pacer new in 1956, it was about $12,600.00 for the airplane. It was pretty well equipped. Now these d ays that's not very much money, but you must keep in mind that in 1956 you could buy a brand new Studebaker pickup truck for $1 ,200.00 and people were making about $45.00 per week at that time! Possibly, I think people are more able to own aircraft now than ever before , but I think it is simply a mental attitude that makes it hard to relate the prices of today to the prices of yesteryear, especially to people like us who have been around aviation so long. I might mention, also, that when my father bought this Tri-Pacer from Piedmont Aviation in 1956, there was a gentleman at Piedmont , Joe Culler , who was a salesman there. Joe and my father got to be really good friends over the years. Joe was selling, at that point in time of aviation, an average of 30 airplanes per month. We all thought it would last. Two weeks ago, I traveled to Dall as, Texas to meet with the Home Insurance Company who is the und e rwriting insurance company for our Anti que /Class ic insurance program. AU A, Inc. in Greensboro also made the trip ; they are the agency for our program. I want everyone to try to support this program , as Home Insurance and AUA have once again made a commitment to work with the Antique / Classic people and try to keep our flying affordable. I will have further information on this in a future issue . Rem e mber , let's all pull in the same direction for the good of aviation. We are be tter together. Join us and have it all! * VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1 (3~WJ compiled by H.G. Frautschy AVIATION MECHANIC AND REP AIRMAN RULES CHANGES If y ou ar e an A & P me chani c, th e FAA is a bout t o issu e a Noti ce of Pr o pos e d Rul e m a kin g (NPRM) that will dir ectly affect how you can exe rcise the privileges of yo ur certificate. For the past two yea rs, the FAA and the Prof essio nal Aircr af t Maint e na nce Assoc ia ti o n ( PAMA ) ha ve b ee n re vi ewing FAR Part 65 with the int e nt o f up g r a din g th e c e rti fic a ti o n a nd tr aining re quir e me nts of mech a ni cs a nd repairme n. An addition al wo rkin g g roup , mad e up o f indu s tr y re pr ese ntati ves , a nd orga nized by the F AA , was assigned the ta sk of fo ll owin g throu gh o n th e F AA a nd PAMA r ecco m e nd a ti o ns. Thi s gro up, ca ll ed the FAR Pa rt 65 Wo rking Gr o up . includ e d r e pr ese nt a ti o n by EAA. When th e N PRM is is s u e d , it is exp ec ted to s tat e the foll owin g: In a dditi o n to th e c urr e nt re quir e me nt for s ix mo nth s of ac tivity o ut of eve ry 24 mo nth period ( FAR 65.83 ), a minimum o f 16 h o ur s o f a ppr o ve d tr a inin g will b e re quir e d in ord e r to c o ntinu e t o function und e r th e p rov isio ns of a me chani c's ce rtifi c at e. N OT E: th is requirem e nt wo ul d a ppl y only to th ose op erating as m ec hani cs for co mp ensalion. It wo uld no t appl y to th ose wh o wo rk on ly o n (in cl u d in g res to rin g) th eir ow n personal air craft and o th er wi se do n o t mak e th emse l ves avail ab le fo r hir e. A related change will revise the "six mo nth s" of activity to " ] ,000 h o ur s" in eac h 24 month pe ri od. Other changes include: -A v ia ti o n m a inten a n ce in s tructor e x pe ri e n ce could b e u se d to sa tisf y recency r eq uirement s. -M ec h a nic a pplic a nt s would b e r e quir e d to d e mon s tr a t e E n g lish language proficiency. -Appli ca nt s wo uld be re quir e d t o p ass a writt e n test that wo uld exa min e th e m o n all a ppli ca bl e m a int e n a nc e r eg ul ations. -Th e durati o n o f th e Insp ec tion A uth o ri za ti o n wo uld be exte nded from o ne to two yea rs. -Th e re ne wal o ption s a vail a bl e to l As would be expanded . -Th e r eg ul a ti o ns p e rt a inin g t o 2 JANUARY 1993 m e ch a nic s a nd r e p a irm e n would b e removed from FAR Part 65 and placed in a n ew FAR Part 66. Ch a rlie Sc huck , EAA 's W as hington Repr ese ntativ e, is a m e mb e r of th e co mmitt ees that h ave b ee n s tud y in g a ll o f th e pr o p os ed c han ges to th e re pairm e n and mech anics rul es , and has b ee n k ee ping E AA He adqu arte rs up to dat e o n all o f th e propo sa ls. It is e xpe cte d th a t the FAA will iss ue th e N PRM s om e tim e in th e fir st half o f 1993, at which time we will advi se you in both SPORT AVIATION a nd VI NT A G E AfRPLANE. Wh e n th e NPRM is published , we will list th e Dock e t Numb e r and a ddr ess that yo u can m a il your co mme nt s to the FA A . MTBE APPROVED FOR USE IN AUTOGAS STCs At E AA 's r e qu es t , th e FAA h as a ppr oved the use of aut og as co ntaining meth yl-te rti a ry- but y l- e the r (MTBE ) in a ircr af t be ing o pe rat ed in acc ordan ce with the provisio ns of supple mental type certifi ca te s (ST C) iss ued by th e EAA Avia t io n Foundati o n a nd Pe t e r se n Av iati o n. MTB E h ad pr ev io usly b ee n included on a li st of " Oxyge nates" th at could not be used in fu e ls inte nded for a ircr a ft u se. A dvi so r y Cir c ul a r A C 23. 15 21 -1 A will be revised to re flect this change. Th e u se o f fue ls co nt a inin g alc o ho l additives is still prohibit ed. Cit ed as d e te rminin g fa ct o rs in th e d ecisio n to a ppr ove th e u se of MTB E were the facts th at . .. -MTBE co ntinu es to b e used b y a lmo st a ll oil co mpani es as a bl e ndin g age nt to incr ease th e o ct a ne ra tin g o f unl ea ded fu els. -Th e FA A's own T e chni ca l Ce nt er has co nduct ed tests with fu e l co ntaining MTB E and fo und n o s af e t y relat e d problem s. M a te rial co mp a tibilit y a nd pe rf o r manc e d a ta s uppli e d by ST C hold e rs Pet e r se n Avi a tion a nd th e E A A Avi a ti o n F o und a ti o n h a ve s ho wn no s af e ty probl e m s rel a te d to th e us e o f MTB E. - FAA se rvice difficult y re port s d o not revea l an y mate ri al comp atibility o r sa fety issues related to the use of MTB E. - T h e m aj o rit y of th e futur e fu e l bl e nd s being de ve lop e d as pa rt of th e Am e ri ca n S oc ie t y F o r T es tin g and Mat e ri als (A S TM) task for ce pro gra ms h a ve in cl uded MTBE as a n a dditiv e. ( A S TM is th e or ga ni z ation that establish es the specifica ti ons for a ll fuel re fined and sold in the U nited States.) E AA comm e nds FAA' s B a rr y C le m e nt s, M a n age r , Sm a ll Ai r pl a n e Dir e ctor a t e, a nd J a ck Sa in , M a n age r, E ngine a nd Prop e ll e r Dir e ctor a te, and th e ir r es p ec tive sta ffs fo r th e ir tim e ly ac ti o n on E AA 's r eq ues t. With the new wint e r r e quir e m e nt fo r th e u se of o x yge n a t e d aut o f uel in mo st m a jor me tropolit a n a r eas aro und th e na tion , a nd with mo st of that fu e l cont a inin g MTBE , a majo r pr o bl e m was loo min g fo r h o ld e rs of a ut o fu e l STC s. F ortun at e ly, th e h a rdship s th a t wo uld have res ul ted h ave b ee n ave rted. MORE TYPE CLUBS A coupl e mo re type cl ubs should be add e d t o th e li st we publi sh annu a lly eve ry No ve mb e r. Th ey a re: Trav e l Air R esto rers A ssociation Je rr y Imp e ll ezze ri , Pr es id ent 4925 Wilm a Way San Jo se, CA 95 124 408/356-3407 Newsle tte r: 4 p e r yea r Du es: $15 per yea r US and Ca nada $20 Fore ign Intern atio nal Li ais on Pilot and Air cra ft A ssociation (ILP A) 16 51 8 Ledgesto ne San Antonio , TX 78232 Bill Str a tton , E ditor 512/490- ILPA (4572) Newsle tter: " Li ais on Spo ken Her e" Du es: $27 per yea r US a nd Canada $3 0 pe r yea r Fo re ign We h ave al so b ee n advise d th at th e a ddr ess and phone numbe r g iv en fo r the "Silve r Wings Fraternity" is incorrect - if yo u are a current member of this fr ate r nit y, pl ease drop us a card or note in the ma il and we will pass it al ong to a member wh o is int e r es te d in joinin g. We have bee n unable to find any new informa ti on that is different than the li sting we had in the last Type Club Listin g. STEARMAN RESTORERS ASSOCIATION CHANGE The St ea rman R es tor e rs As sociation, a n ac tiv e t yp e club d e d ica t e d t o th e fl y in g a nd r es t o r a ti o n o f St ea rm a n > c: ~Q) .0 o 0.. "S 0.. ~__~______________________________ __ ________________~~__~ ~~ '" While visiting the Southwest Regional EAA Fly-In at Kerrville, Texas this past fall , EAA Founder and Chairman of the Board Paul Poberezny snapped these shots of Brian Dalton's praiseworthy 1928 Travel Air 4000. a Wright J-5 engine. a ircraft , has a nnounc ed th e re tir e me nt of pre side nt Tom Lo we . Tom has be en tirelessly h ea d ing up th e acti ve g roup (it has an inte rnation a l me mb e rship of o ve r 1500 me mb e rs) fo r th e past 22 yea rs. Tom wishe s to thank all of hi s f riend s a nd associ a tes who ha ve mad e th e pa st 22 ye ar s so e njoy a bl e, and ho p es that e ver y on e concern e d will le nd th e ir support to the n e w presid e nt , Brian Riggs of Ro c kvill e, MD. Bri a n is a Ste arm a n pilot and res tor e r, and is th e a uthor of many of th e techni ca l a rticles that hav e a ppear ed re cently in the SRA " Outfit " newsle tte r. Our b es t wi shes to T om for his c ontinu ed e njoyme nt of his St e arm a n , and we comm e nd Bri a n Riggs fo r volunt ee rin g to ta ke on th e st e ward s hip of th e SRA. If yo u ar e inte res ted in joinin g th e SRA , yo u can contact th e m St ea rm a n Rest o re rs As so ciation , c/ o Brian Riggs , P . O. Box 10663, Rockville, MD 20850. DO N'T MI SS TH E FE BR UA RY EAA ADULT A IR ACA D EMY Tim e a nd s pac e a re runnin g o ut f or you to participate in the EAA Adult Air Ac ade my, teaching Bas ic Air cr af t Main tena nce, Building a nd Resto ra ti on Skill s. The Adult Air Ac ademy will be offered in two , on e -we ek sess ions with th e fir s t session b eg inning Fe bruar y 14 - 20 and the second session Fe bruar y 2 1 - 27 , 1993. Thes e cl asses a re limit e d t o 25 parti cipants each . Your $700 registra tion fee co vers a ll lod g in g. fo od , l oca l tr a ns porta ti o n, plus a ll cl ass ro om mate ri als. R eg ist e r tod ay! For furth e r in for mation , c ontact th e EAA E ducation Offic e b y callin g 4]4 / 4 26 -4 88 8 or writin g P . O . Box 3 065. O s hk os h , WI 54903-3065. This good looking a nt i que is powered by EAA AIR ACADEMY AT SUN'N FUN '93 Th e E AA Air Academy w ill move to Sun ' n Fun fo r it s fir s t yo uth Air Acad e m y o ffe red a way fr o m O s hko sh . From April 17 thru th e 24th , yo uth aged 15 - 17 w ill have th e o pportunit y to "s hare th e s kill s and lo re of av ia ti o n " in conjun c ti o n with th e E A A S un ' n Fun Fl y-In . Th e $450 reg istra ti o n fee included ho us in g, fo od a nd pr ogra m ex pe nses fo r t he w ee k . Don ' t de l ay, r eg is tr a tion is limit e d a nd will b e con s id e re d in th c o rd e r r ece iv e d. Co nt ac t th e EAA Edu ca ti o n o ffi ce fo r a n inf o rm a ti o n p a ck age a nd r eg is tr a ti o n m a t e ri a ls. Phon e 41 4/426-4888 or writ e E ducati o n Office, EAA Avi a ti o n Fo un da ti o n, P.O . Box 3065. Oshkosh WI 54903-3086. EAA OSHKOSH DATES D o n ' t fo rge t , th e d a t es fo r th e 4 1s t Annu a l E AA Co nv e ntion a t Wi tt ma n Fi eld in O shkosh, WJ. hav e bee n cha nged s li ghtl y to a ll ow mo re me mb e rs to ta ke p ar t in o ne of th e wor ld 's pre mi e r av ia ti o n eve nt s. Thi s yea r 's conve nti o n will start on Thu rs d ay, J ul y 29 , a nd e nd o n We dn esday, A ugust 4. For th e Antiqu e/C lassic e nthusiast, th e co nv e n t io n thi s yea r will m a rk th e b eg innin g of Ju dg in g fo r the ne w Co nt e mp o rar y C l ass a ir c r a ft. Th ose airpla nes a nd r o to rcr a ft (s ur e, go a h ea d a nd brin g yo ur cho pp e r !) ma nuf a ctur ed betw ee n J a nuar y 1. 1956 a nd Dece mb e r 31. 1960 will be e li gibl e fo r a w ar ds at EAA OS HKOSH '93 . Arr a n ge m e nt s a re be in g mad e n ow concernin g the special pro gra ms that will be f ea tur ed as pa rt o f thi s yea r 's EA A Co nve ntio n. and we ' ll be sure to k ee p yo u up to d ate he re in A /C News wh e n th e > c: ~Q) .0 o 0.. "S "'-"-'-____-' 0.. '" d e t a il s b ec om e ava ilabl e . Mak e yo ur pl a ns no w to att e nd EAA OSHKO S H '93. For mor e info rm a ti o n, ca ll 414/426 4800 o r writ e E A A O s hk os h ' 93, E AA A via ti o n C e nt e r , P.O . Box 3086, O shkosh, WI 54903-3086. NOMINATIO NS F OR ANTIQ UE/CLAS SI C DIVISION OFF ICERS AND DIR EC TOR S In acco rd a n ce with th e E AA A n tiqu e/C lassic Divisio n's bylaw s, the terms of six dir e ctor s, th e Vice -Pr eside nt a nd Tr eas ur e r will ex pir e a t th e Div isio n 's a nnu al bu s in ess m ee tin g at O shkosh. WI on Wednesda y, Au gust 4. No min a tion s fo r any e lec tive offi ce (including th e s ix e lective Dir e ctor s, th e Vice- Pr es ide nt a nd Tr eas ur e r ) can onl y be m a de on of fi cia l nomin a tion fo rm s which m a y b e o btain e d from E AA H ea dqu a rt e rs. (Co nt a ct To m Pob e r ez ny's o ffic e.) Eac h nomina ti o n form must conta in a minimum of te n ( 10) si gna tur es of E AA A n tiq u e/C l ass ic Di vi s io n m e mb e rs in goo d s t a ndin g , t oge th e r with th e ir me mbe rship num be r and ex piration date. Th e no minatin g pe tition sha ll cont ain a bri ef resume of th e nomin ee's expe ri ence a nd b ac k g r o und a nd s h a ll b e acco m pa ni ed by a recent phot o . To be e li gible for no mination , a ca ndid ate must be a me mb e r in goo d st a ndin g of both th e EAA and th e Antiqu e/Class ic Divisio n. No minatin g p e titi o n s mu st b e s ubmitt e d to th e Chairm a n o f th e No m in a tin g Co mmitt ee , c/ o EAA H ea dqu arte rs, no la te r than the e nd of th e si xth mo nth prior to th e a nnu al bu s in ess m ee tin g (Febru a ry 28, 1 993). Vo tin g in struc ti o ns and the official ba ll ot will be published in th e Jun e 1993 iss ue of VI NTAGE AIRPLA NE. '* VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3 MAIL Curtiss Jr. photos supplied by Dan Cullman (right), holding his reproduction of an original airspeed indicator. Dear H.G. You know I am an enthusiastic supporter of the "Young Eagles Program". Ch amp and I were making our dent in the Rideless Kid Population long before the program was an nounced. But I suggest there is another group needing at tention - the "pi lot stops". The industry likes to talk about "pi lot starts", but I think the industry is properly embar rassed by the numbers of "pi lot stops". I know too many ex-pilots. Bet you do , too. They are ex-pi l ots for manyad mitted reasons, but the real reason is that flying wasn ' t as much fun as they thought it would be. I think they were do ing it wrong. Champ and I have some converts to our credit to prove my conte ntion . Take a bored ex -pil ot , stick him in a real airp l ane with no radios and gy ros, bounce him into a couple of good grass strips and flying looks much different! As an o r ganization of real pilots in real air planes , the members of the EAA Antique/Classic Division can best reach these ex-pilots. I encourage a ll of us to be aware of the thousands of not-so Young Eagles out there who need our help to dis cover wha t r ea l flying is all about. All the best, Joe Dickey A / C4169 Co lumbu s, IN Joe also wrote an essay about an evening a few years ago, when the last thing on his mind was taking an airport kid for a ride. Published in last month's issue of VINTAGE A IRPLAN E, it's a thought pro voking piece, and you can find it on page 72. - HGF Dear H.G. , The first l etter in "Ae rom ai l" for the November issue of Vintage A irplan e requests information on a Curtiss Jr. , NC 10943. This airplane is owned by DeWitt R oss in Carson City, Nevada. I am helping DeWitt with an orig inal a ir speed vane and a new instrument panel (see photo) J have enclosed pho tos of this airplane a nd the instrument panel of J r. NC671 V, which we a re using for a model. Also en closed is a photo of Jr. NCl1832 owned and being restored by my Dad , Paul C ullm an of Ferndal e, Washington. This (a irplane) will also have the orig inal instrumentation and airspeed vane the two oth ers have. NC 11832 will be Salmson powered. Sincerely , Dan Cullman A/C 814 Kent , WA 4 JANUARY 1993 " Hey, look at this pictur e !" " It 's a W a co , isn ' t it ? " said J oa n , my wife. She 's no t much fo r a irplan es. It 's OK to use a je t to go fr o m one pl ace to an oth e r, but to fall in lo ve with on e, ne ve r! She recognized this on e because I'd flown so man y UPF -7s and pictures of th e m ap p ea r throu gho ut th e old photo album. But this one was in VINTAGE AIRPLANE , Nove mbe r 19 91 , page II. " Yup , it 's a Wac o , but do y ou re co g ni ze it?" " I've ne ve r seen o ne with tho se thing s on the e ngin es. Your W a cos had naked e ngin es . And th e s tr ea mlin e d thin gs on the wh ee ls, those ar e diffe rent ," she said . " You 're right , but look at th e 'N' num be r: 32039. Th at's one of th e ships we fl ew a t Mitche ll Fi e ld in Milwa uke e, and la te r a t Northport , Whit e B ea r L a k e, Min nesota. Re me mber th e pictur e?" "But it looks so diffe re nt. " " Be autiful , is th e wo rd y ou wa nt, " I sa id , for it was. It no longe r look ed like a traine r, wh ich it is, but like somethin g special o rde red di r ec tly from th e f ac t o ry b y a pilot with pl e nty bucks and an eye for th e sublime . M y mind flash ed b a ck t o 1942. W e ' d just fini s he d WTS Primar y in Be midji , Minn es ot a a fe w days be for e Th a nk sgiv ing (VINT A GE A IRPLA NE, A u g us t 19 83, page 16). It was but a sho rt wait be fore th e le tt e r ca m e a ssi g nin g Chuck O ' Me ar a a nd me to Midwest Airw ays, a n FBO in Cuda hy, Wi sconsin . I' d ne ve r h ea rd o f Midw es t Airw ays , but kn e w where C ud a hy wa s. a nd could find th e Medford H o tel whe re we were to s tay in do wntown Milw a uk ee with o ut a co mpa ss . It wa s o nl y a s hort trip from Wilmett e , IL on th e No rth Sh o re e lectri c r ailway, a nd I was in th e ho te l a ft e r din ner th e ne xt day. Th e fo ll owin g day saw me in C ud a h y. A short walk to th e wes t found me at th e eas t side of Mitch e ll Fi eld , wh ere a sh or t se rv ic e r oa d le d t o Midw es t Air wa ys. Gr a nt ed , th e po stal a ddr es s was C udah y, but it wo uld hav e b ee n ea sie r to find if th e y had sa id it w as o n Mitch e ll Fi e ld. Did an yone eve r acc use th e CAA o f do in g s om e thin g th e easy way? Clas ses didn ' t s ta rt for a d a y o r tw o , a nd by th e n Chu c k h a d m a d e hi s w ay fr o m Cass La ke , M i nn esota. G roun d s chool was he ld a t th e U ni ve r si ty of Wis con s in Mil wauk ee ca m pu s . Mid wes t wa s c urr e ntl y t eac hin g a Navy pr ogram in th eir J-3 C ub s, and WTS Se cond a ry in thr ee W aco U PF -7 s. H a nk Weil, V. G . " Bill " Ca rl s en and Russ Rite r we re the S eco nd a ry ins tru cto rs for we 20 s tud e nt s f rom va ri o us pa rts o f th e co un try . Rit e r wa s a l so th e Chi ef F li g ht In structo r. C huck dr ew H a nk We il , who had b ee n a P e nn sy l va nia Ce ntr a l Airlin e s pil o t. H a nk 's du a l ship w as N C32039, with a large ye ll ow fi eld numb e r e mblazoned o n th e fu se l age sta tin g th a t it was 39 R. Th e le tt e r indic a te d th a t th e s hip was radi o e quipp ed; th e latest techn ology! My in s tructor turned out to b e Bill Ca rl se n, a fo rm e r ba nd le ad e r f rom th e Bi g Ba nd e ra a nd quite we ll- known in the local r eg io n. Perh aps he was bette r kn ow n nation ally as a form e r a rran ge r fo r Wayne Kin g. He was a sle nde r ma n. a rin ge r for Fred As taire. All of us had go ne throu gh Primar y in J-3 Cub s with th eir simple altime ters . Th e fir st trip in th e W aco w as r ea ll y an eye o pe ne r. Firs t. it h ad a se nsiti ve a ltime te r with tw o pointe rs. Th at wasn't hard to fig- VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5 Front end of a Waco UPF-7 mounted on Federal SC-4 skis. Note all-metal Curtiss-Reed prop, winter front on 220 Continental with tape over the openings and a unique system used for maintaini ng attitude of the skis in flight-a spring loaded piston is attached to a vertical member that pulled the ski to level with nose a nd ta il cables. These skis are rated up to 2850 Ibs. (Below) "39 R" rests in the ha ng ar at Mitchell Field, M ilw au kee, WI du ri ng the w inter of 1942. ur e out, but th e Waco climbed like a r ocke t compared to th e J -3. Everyo ne of us climbed to o ur first assigned altitude as co mmunic ated ove r th e gos p ort system, but that altitude arrived b efo re we did. Only thin g to do was to jam th e stick for wa rd to l eve l o ul. As you ca n ima gin e, th a t left us a ll poised in midair. above th e sea t, with a sh ar p crunch jn the g ut from th e seat belt. That was a fast lea rn! But we all e njoyed that old bird. Th e throaty roar of th e Continental radial was sw ee t music. Toe br a kes we re a r ea l plea s ur e . Sh e h ad a ta il wheel l ock , which would minimi ze a ny tend e nc y to g round loo p. Sh e had a battery a nd st arte r so we did not h ave to hand pr o p he r. If th e 6 JANUARY 1993 ship 's batter y di ed , a g round power unit could take over. The cockpits were roomy a nd to top it o ff, s he looked lik e a 19 30s pur suit ship. It was rea l hot stuff! Our practic e a r ea was southw es t of Mitchell Fi e ld. W e' d take off , cl i mb to 500 feet AGL , a nd h ea d west to Highway 4 '1. A le ft turn t o th e so uth t oo k u s to Wi sco ns in byp ass Hi g hwa y 100 , where we'd aga in pro ceed westbound. One thing a bout the Midwest: th e re is a fine grid patt e rn of roads for g round reference man e uv e rs, and th e fields are fl a t , eac h one m a kin g a fin e place for a forced la ndin g. Anywhere south of 100 a nd west of 41 mad e a perf ec t practice a rea. We s tarted with th e s ame man e uve rs we'd u se d in Primar y; r ec tangul a r p a t te rns, S turns across a road, eights on an inte rsect ion , and pylon eights, at 500 fee t. Abov e 1500 feet we did stalls and pr ec i sion spins. Old hat , but much mor e fun in an open biplan e! Ju s t call us Jimm y Do o little. After we ' d flown th e bird e no ug h to feel a t home, it was tim e to start ae ro ba t ics. First was the loop, a r ea l easy one th a t mo st of us had seen in th e J-3 Cub wh e n th e in s tructor go t tired of Primar y ma ne u vers. Easy to do , and it s ha k es th e cob we bs out! Back on the ground , Bill said. "T o mo r row we ' ll do slow rolls." We s tart ed with some high ma ne uv e rs to warm up , th e n over th e gos po rt came th e word. " We ' ll do a slow ro ll to the ri g ht. Fol low me through ." We had talked a bout it on the g round , so I had a n idea of wh a t to expect. The first part was easy; ju st s tart out like yo u w ere go ing to ro ll into a turn. Wh e n s he got on knife edge, it was o bvious I had .to feed in top rudd e r to k ee p th e nose fr o m fallin g through th e horizon . So far, so good. However , wh e n we g ot on our back , my fee t fe ll off th e rudd er pedals a nd got lo s t so m ew he re und e r the in s trum e nt p a ne l. Try as I might , there was no way th ey we re going ba c k where th ey be lo nged until we were again ri ght side up. It worked bett e r the next time aro und; I just pu shed aga in s t the rudd e r pe da ls and my feet staye d where th ey w ere s up posed to. B efo re the co ur se was ove r, we were doin g I mm e lm a n s, snap ro ll s, laz y eights a nd cha nd e ll es. While so lo, we all tried a few improvisations not in the sta n dard sy ll ab us. But m y favorite was th e lazy eight. Start out just like the syllabus sa id, but pu sh it to th e point where yo u were on knife edge a lm ost sta ll ed as she fell throu gh th e hori zo n. Wh e n she came up throu g h th e hori zo n at 180 d eg r ees. s he wa s go in g all out a nd th e wind was sc r ea ming throu gh th e ri ggin g. H a rdl y a lazy eight now; a whifferdill , I'd say. Th en cha nge the pattern eve r so s li g htl y and yo u we r e in a Cuban e ig ht. This w as pretty heady stuff. Our c hand e ll es were like th e WW I escape ma neuv e r, not th e funny loo king thing the FAA as ks for to day. On e could neve r esca pe from a nyone with th at thin g! Ju s t watch closely at Oshkosh during th e ai r show ; th ose boys know how to do it! The front pit of th e Waco was built for two p eop le. Bill could ra ttle a ro und in it like a pea. Stick pr ess ur es durin g aero ba t ics a re s ub sta ntial , a nd Bill had difficulty ge tting e no ugh lever age, particula rl y dur ing th e inverted st uff. Fortun a te ly for him , th e re were tw o diagonal br aces at t he front co rn e rs of the cockpit. They were padd ed a nd l ea th e r cov e re d . H e' d use his lef t ha nd to gra b th e left brace and thi s gave him e nou g h he ft to ha ndle th e pressures. Wi sco ns in winters a r e no to ri o us for frosting yo ur gizza rd . Thou gh we were in a n Arm y program. we did no t hav e the fli ght clothing th e reg ular Arm y boys had. Before fli g ht we 'd put on eve ry thin g we ow ned, a nd we still froze . A coupl e of w eeks into th e pro g ram , WTS found so m e n ew old s t oc k CCC (C ivilia n Co n se rva ti o n Co rp s) gr ee n uni forms a nd mad e th e m ava il a bl e to us. They we re like hor se blank e ts a nd ple nty warm. C huck had a bit of a problem in that as an acco mpli s he d woodsman. he was of a gro up who l oo ked d o wn on th e CCC boys. After a ll , if city b oys a re im ported to the wild e rn ess, th ey are total g r ee nh o rn s. It t akes tim e t o l ea rn th e ways of th e woods. To h ave to wear that uniform rubb ed him th e wrong way; how eve r, th e w ea ther was cold , the uniform s warm a nd in th e e nd . a ppr eciat ed . Early o n, th e snow carne . In tho se da ys, Mitche ll did not pl ow snow; they rolled it! They cons tructed a long roll e r o ut of what a ppear ed to be a piece of co rruga ted st ee l c ulve rt tubin g. It was we ig ht ed , a n ax le was s tu ck in the middle and a tow ba r at tached to eac h end. This thin g was pulled ove r th e runw ays a nd taxiways. The s ur face was quite smooth until sp rin g came a nd lar ge c hunk s of ice started popping up, leav in g huge po th o les. Th a t was whe n Flight instructor Hank Weil , ready for some open cockpit dual i nstruct i on during the winter of 1942. Chuck O' Meara (getting ready to climb into the cockpit) , and Don Toeppen flew NC 32039 during their stint at Midwe st Airways as part of WTS Secondary pi lot training . NC32039 is now owned a nd flown by Jack Roehm of Clinton , IN. The " R" on the si de of the fuselage designa t es that "39R" is radio equipped. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7 ." . -.. -J" -.,~ . ehuck O'Meara , in his green wool eee pants , pauses next to one of the UPF-7's. You can see the ridges in the snow from the corruga t ed st eel t ube used to roll the s now flat. the punishme nt caught up with the crime ! With th e arrival of the snow, all the Midwest airpl a nes were put on skis. This has to b e somewhat like flyin g a float plane. Ground turn s are made by pushing the rudd e r a nd blastin g th e e ngine. Like any taiJdragge r, a ilerons are use d exten sively to steer. When it came to inverted ma neuvers , a new sound had b ee n added . On e e nd of th e ski was he ld in place with a st ee l ca ble; th e other with a s hock cord, which pe rmitted th e to e to remain point ed in an upward dir ec tion so the ship could l and without stubbing the ski. Wh e n the ship was roll ed , th e ski would flop and a loud "clunk" was hea rd. Roll ri ght side up, and th e s ki re turn e d to its prop e r position , with another "clunk" as th e to e again pointed up. It acte d almost lik e a B-747 main gear. Watch one land some time. Wiscon s in h as many day s wh e n the cei lin gs are low. If we were legal, we were se nt to do low work. We soon discovered that ther e was frequently a large opening over Wind L ake in the southwest corner of the practice area. W e' d climb up through th e hol e to do th e hi g h work , then down aga in wh e n it was time to go ba c k to Mitchell. One day when back down , I found I was early , so r s tarted S turn s along a no rth bound ro ad. The pat tern was go in g very nicely and I congratu lated my se lf on how we ll I w as doing. Co min g a ro und a right turn , I looked a h ea d to find 1was about to ta ke out th e radio tow e rs for WTMJ , Milw a ukee ' s prime radio stat ion at the time. Talk about "1 lea rned about fl ying from th at!" On the days wh e n the ceiling was too low for YFR (C FR in the old terminology for Co ntact Flight Rul es), Hank Weil put hi s old a irlin e ba ck g round to goo d use. H e' d tak e a s tud e nt out and fl y fi e ld cir cuits I FR. Thi s was in the d ay when no one talked dir ec tly to ATe. Th e airp la ne would ca ll th e tow e r or radio ra nge and ask for the cleara nce . They in turn phoned ATC which , in thi s case, was loc a ted in th e Nationa l Guard hangar on Ce nt ral Av e nue on th e wes t side of Midway Air port. If one was flying for an airline, the company had assigned radio fre qu e ncies. The plane called th e company radio oper a tor who ma d e th e phone call. It was a very time consuming operation. Thus , H a nk ca ll e d th e tow e r for a tak eo ff and la nding. If th e center advised it was OK , th e tower issued the clearance and a ro und th ey would go. If I FR traffic was inbound , Hank was told to wait. He had to ask each tim e th ey wer e r ea d y to go. But at l eas t his s tudents got to fly! Too soon we had run throu gh th e syl l abus and it wa s time to advanc e to the next course. Yes, I'd had my chance to fly Chuck 's plane, NC32039. As each instruc tor had a fu ll complement of s tud e nt s, if o ne needed a da y off , they wo uld ju ggle th e s chedu le and w e' d fly in th e other in s tructor 's plan e . Thus I flew with Hank W e il in NC32039. But r was to fly her again up at Northport durin g S eco ndar y I ns tructor s sc ho o l. b u t that 's a no t he r story. It wou ld be se .. Don Toeppen , winter 1942. His cold weather flight gear consisted of eee wool pants , long j ohn s, a number of sweaters and his le a ther flight j acket , finished off with a pair of chopp i ng mitts . ne xt WTS assignment came. Chuck we nt back to Cass Lak e a nd I to Wilmette. Un fortunate ly, while C hu c k was sp littin g firewood , a splinte r pe n etra ted hi s eye. It was succ essf ull y removed with no loss of vision , but the Air Force decided the scar was disq ualifying. Thu s, a natural born pi l ot spe nt th e re st of th e war in Air Force g round job s. The res t of us were gra t ef ul to h ave had th e opportunity to fly that gr ea t bird , the UPF-7. And to one of th e eag les who carried on , Mr. Jack Ro e hm of Clinton, Indiana , many th a nks for the wo nd e rful j ob you hav e don e on restoring old 39R. H ow about brin gin g h er to Oshkosh for the EAA Co nvention o ne of th ese s umm e rs? She is sure to win a prize! ... Texas Trimotor Trip by Andrew King (EAA 275985, A IC 1073 9) Th e common facts and eve ryday ex pe ri e nces of life se ldom hav e a ny e f fect on the figurative spin of the ea rth , but each of us with our own pe rspec tiv e ca n often find a significanc e in th e m. Be ing an a ctive history buff brin gs its own sp ecial appr eci a tion of pe opl e, plac es, a nd thing s, and thi s is on e of the be ne fit s of involv e me nt in antiqu e airplan es . [n th e summ e r o f 1940 an 11 yea r old boy had hi s first airplan e ride, from a fi eld ne ar H e rkim e r in up state New York , in a ba rn sto rmin g Ford Trimo tor. 52 years and hundreds o f mil es away his son, m yse lf , was lift e d into cl ea r T exas skies on his first Fo rd Tri motor ride, the beginning of ano th e r o f my airborne od ysseys. It all be g an in Miami on e Mo nd ay a ft e rnoon wh e n my bos s, K e rmit W ee ks , said that he was goin g to pick up the Trimotor that he 'd bought at the Sant a Monic a a uction last fa ll . H e' d fe rri e d it to Midl a nd , Texa s wh er e it s pe nt th e wint e r in the CAF h a n ga r , a nd now he w as go in g to brin g it the rest of the way back and want ed me to go a lon g as m ec ha nic in exch a nge for having my expenses out and back p aid. Th at s ounded like a prett y g ood dea l to me and Frida y morning we set o ut fr om Fl o rid a . W e we re a l so join e d o n th e adve ntur e by tw o other Wee ks Air Mu se um me chanic s, Ru ss La ng a nd Mik e Arm stro n g. At th e a ppoint e d ho ur we b oa rd e d anoth er type of Trim otor (Boein g 72 7) which de posited us a fe w hours later at Dall as -Fort Worth Airp o rt. Th e first ord e r of bu sin ess was to vi sit H a rtl ee Fie ld in De nton to check o ut the goo d i es be in g off e re d th e n e xt d ay in th e aucti o n o f Bill Hill ' s a vi a tion co ll ec tion , th e n we ch eck ed into a hot e l and a ft e r dinn e r se ttl e d d own to g et so me sl ee p . Th e aucti o n turn e d out to be mor e o f a soci a l eve nt fo r m e - whil e K e rmit wa s bu y in g Wri g ht J -5s a nd part s, [ wa s catchin g up with som e o f th e fri e nds and a cqu a intances fr o m aro und the country who showed up . Fin a ll y on Sund ay mo rnin g a no th er s hort e r a irlin e trip t oo k us to Midl a nd wh er e th e bi g whit e Trimotor w as a l r ea dy o utside waiting for us. We set to work loo king he r ove r a nd famili ar iz in g o urse lv es with wh at would become ve ry fa mi li a r ve ry soo n . Low e r spa rk plu gs we re re mo ve d , e ng in es pull e d thr o ugh , fue l tank s ump s drain ed , a nd fin a ll y the thr ee Wri ghts were fired up for a tes t run. With a ll indication s sa t isfact o r y we at e a qui c k lunch , we nt thr o ug h th e C A F mu se um , and th e n b oa rded o ur Tin Goos e tr a nspo rt a nd ta xi ed to the ac ti ve runway. I s at in th e back fo r th e first ta ke off a s Ke rmit advanc e d th e throttl es a nd th e Fo rd l ev itat e d s kywa rd. W e m a d e a p ass for th e CA F g u ys a nd th e n h ea ded ea st , 1 ,6 00 mil es of fl yin g in front of us . An h o ur o r so out we ra n int o a line of sc a tt e re d thund e r storm s a nd discover e d th at ra in out sid e m ea ns a little bit in sid e a s we ll , not e no ugh to both e r us mu ch tho ugh, we we re trimotorin g! Mik e , Ru ss and I t oo k turns in th e right sea t a nd 200 mil es la te r , aft er 3 hour s o f fl ying, Kermit gr ease d on e on at Br e ckinrid ge wh e re o ld fri e nd s fo r him and new fri e nds fo r us we re wa it in g. U n fo rtunat e ly we h a d to ge t to work ri ght away wh en we di s cover ed a brok en s tud on the top cy linder of th e ri ght eng in e. With th e he lp o f Ne l so n Eze ll a nd cr ew we pull e d th e cylinde r, repl aced th e o ff e nding s tud , and h ad everything almo st b ac k tog e th e r wh e n we had to s top at nin e a nd ge t to dinn e r be for e the last restaurant in town cl ose d. Wa ke -up ca ll th e next mo rnin g was at 5: 30 a nd a ft er br ea kfas t we re turn ed to th e a irp o rt a nd fini she d o ur e ngin e work . T he n, a fter a t es t run , we sa id our go od-byes and took -o ff into som e of th e b es t we ath e r T e xas has e v er see n. F or t Worth was vi sibl e from 40 miles away and there was o nl y li ght tur bul e nce in th e air , a lth o ugh we co uld VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9 Kermit and Mike up front somewhere over Texas. have used a tailwind to help with our when it was delivered new to Robert 75 mph cruising speed. Once again we son Airways in St. Louis, his former took turns in the right seat and occa airmail employer. sionally ev e n in the left. Taking hold I had brought my own charts and of that big wooden control wheel and drawn out our course so that when it looking out at those engin es and the was my turn to fly I could put my map corrugated wings stretching out be in my lap. fly pur e pilotage , and ignore yond was a g reat experience for an an the Loran and VOR and other unnec tique airplan e nut such as myself, and essary modern abbreviations. I wanted a real learning experienc e. This was to be as close as was safely possible to added to by knowing that Charles experiencing the 192R I never kne w. Lindber g h had flown thi s airplane After three and a half hours of dron ing along we touched down in Mar shall , Texas , just short of the Louisiana border , where we had a broken exhaust clamp welded, got some lunch, and were photographed and interviewed by the local newspaper. That was our longest leg of the trip , although the Ford carries enough fuel for over 5 hours of flying , 231 gallons burned at 13 per hour per engine. Strangely, the center engine ran hot while the two outboards , one with an oil cooler and one without, ran equally as cool. Interstate 20 was our main naviga tion aid on the next leg across northern Louisiana and into Mississippi. After passing over Tallulah, Louisiana we swung north a little to pick up the big river and spread our shadow on the muddy Mississippi for about 10 miles before pulling up and passing over the famous Civil War town of Vicksburg. and then flying a little further east to a landing at Williams Airport near Jack son , Mississippi. By now the wind had finally shifted around from the north to the northwest and was helping us along a little bit, especially on the next leg when we veered south to make Hatties burg for our overnight stop. Those last 100 miles on Monday went by in just ov e r an hour , and sunset saw the Ford tied down on the ramp at Hattiesburg's Chain Airport. Incide ntally, we had to carry our own tie down ropes that were long enough to reach the wing, two on The crew, left to right: Russ Lang, Kermit Weeks, Mike Armstrong, and Andrew King. 10 JANUARY 1993 ea ch side , be cau se the Ford is kno wn to be s us ceptibl e to th e wind , as a ny on e who know s a ny thin g about wh a t ha p pene d to th e EAA Trimotor b efo re its res tor ation will r ea li ze . It was unusua ll y cold th at ni ght, in the thirties, a nd I'd o nl y brou ght a lo ng o ne li ght jacket , but th e ne xt mornin g wa s s unn y a nd pe r fe ctl y windl ess. I was in the ri ght seat at eng in e start-up, and Ke r mit turned to me and said, " It's all yours, make a left downwind de partur e." 75 R4 is equipp e d with th e o ri g inal Jo hns on Bar brak e syste m, which some p e opl e confu se with th e Wa co o r th e Briti sh brak e sys te m s - tho se in vo lve pulling a leve r (pulling th e throttl e in bo a rd on the Waco or pulling o n a sep a ra te br a ke le ve r in the old British a ir pl anes) and then pushing on the rudd er pe da ls for diffe re nti a l br a kin g. In the Trimotor the rudd e r ped a ls have noth in g to do with th e brakes. In s t ea d, th e r e's a lar ge le ve r that lo o ks lik e a gea rshift lever be tw ee n the sea ts. co n n ec t e d to th e tw o brake c y lind e r s mo unt e d und e r th e floor at 45 d eg r ee a ngle s to th e ce nt e rline. Pullin g the le ve r straight b a ck ge ts both br a ke s, bac k and to th e le ft gets left br a ke. a nd b a ck a nd to th e ri g ht g iv e yo u , o f co ur se , ri g ht br a k e. It do es n ' t t a k e much g ettin g used to a nd eve n th o ugh th e r e's no t a ilwh ee l st ee rin g, o nl y bun gee s holdin g the tailwh ee l s tr a ight. the a irplane taxis quit e easily, waddling Andrew King sitting in the back, note the baggage compartment almost full of spare parts and the rag stuffed in the door to stop the draft. alo ng lik e its nickna mcsa ke. sa ys so me thing abo ut it s sho rt fi e ld ab il Run -up is pr ett y simple , a nd o n take iti es) , the use of a il e ron s fo r directi ona l off o ne of th e bi gges t fac tor s in fl yin g co ntr ol on th e g round , so o n ta ke-off at th e Fo rd be com es a ppar e nt- a d ve r se H atti esb urg, after adv a ncing th e throt ya w. I had be e n to ld a bo ut thi s by fo r tle s and ge ttin g th e ta il up . I exp e ri me r owne r AI C ha ney and was awa re o f m e nt e d a littl e and fo un d th a t it w as the techniques fr o m gr ow in g up aro und quit e p oss ibl e to swin g th e n ose bac k th e br a ke less Wo rld Wa r I a irpl a nes a t a nd fo rth by turnin g th e wh ee l opp os it e th e Old Rhin e b ec k Ae ro drom e ( in ci th e dir ec tio n you wa nted to go. Al says de nt a ll y, this ve ry Trim o tor has la nd ed that on la ndin g thi s is th e be st way to a nd take n off at Old Rhin e beck . whi ch ke e p s tr a ight and with th a t heavy , sl ow Making a pass by Connie Edward's castle south of Big Spring, Texas. VINTAG E AIRPLANE 11 Home at last, parked next to a younger brother on the Museum ramp. rudder I can believe it. Th e oldest flying airliner in the world gets off the ground pretty quickly, although it's no rocket ship on climb-out with the thr ee 235 hp Wright R-760's doing their thing. On our trip we usually cruised at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,000 feet above the ground for a panoramic view of the deep south countryside . In smooth air, as with so many really old airplanes, the ship is a delight to fly, although you can see why they called them "s hips " back then-the big. slow moving craft can make you feel more like an Admiral than an avia tor. In rough air the story is quite dif ferent and I 've gained even more re spect for the fellows who flew these machines every day in all kinds of weather. You ride the thermals and watch the tachs. If RPM goes up you pull the nose up a little and vice versa , happy to hold altitude within plus or minus 200 or 300 feet. Elevator control is fairly normal , heavy but not bad and effective enough, but rudder and aileron are as poor as anything I 've ever flown and real turbulence can be more than disconcerting. A wing goes down , you crank in some aileron and nothing happens , so you put in mor e and the wing still doesn't come up but that adverse yaw starts to take effect and the nose starts swinging, so you start pushing rudder which doesn 't help as much as it should, so finally you push the nose down and dive for addi tional speed and eventually get things straightened out. This doesn 't happen often but it would only take once in the wrong spot and you could be in real trouble. The Ford does hav e enough dihedral that you can try using opposite rudder to raise the wing but again this is a slow, slewing process. It 's always been funny to me how stories of flying old airplanes compare with actually doing it. For instance, the 12 JANUARY 1993 Curtiss Jenny is not as bad as you hear , but the Trimotor... You hear people joking that it climbs , cruises , and land s at the same speed, well , this one climbed at 70 , cruised at 75, maybe 80 in smooth air , and glided at 75, although I think we were touching down around 50 mph with Kermit making wheel landings. The landing rolls seemed short enough although he did seem to be working a little to keep us straight, I can see wher e it might be tough if you wanted power and brakes at the same time. You can ' t do both without two right hands or a really good co-pilot. We did land at Winter Haven with the wind from about 30 degrees to the right at 25 knots gusting to 30, but it was the best landing of the whole trip , which we de cided was because Kermit was so "wired" for it, concentrating real hard . We had initially figured on staying overnight at Winter Haven but during the morning the most wonderful tail wind developed and although it was bumpy we made great time through Mississippi and Alabama, past Mobile, and on into Florida to a stop at Talla hassee. There we ate lunch and figured out that if the wind kept up we could make Miami by dark , which was impor tant as the supply of tortilla chips was getting low and my personal reserve of clean underwear was exhausted. We were amazed at our good fortune as far as weather was concerned and figured that we were using up our tailwind quota for the whole year in one day. At times during the trip , while at the controls, we discussed encounter in g "artificial turbulence ", coinciding of course with the occasion of another of the crew retreating to the rear of the cabin to use the on-board facilities (empty oil cans) , but we never actua lly did anything so unkind. After we l eft Tallahassee there was no need to fake it, we flew through some of the rough est air of the whole trip, still taking turns keeping the old lady on a more or less even keel. The Gulf coast followed along on our right for awhile and then we angled in towards the lake country and our stop at Winter Haven , where standing on the wing to pump a hundred and some gal lons of avgas into the tanks became quite a task in the strong wind . After a quick peek in the hangar at Joe Mackey's old Taperwing Waco we were aloft again and following the concrete compass of Route 27 towards home. Past Lake Okeechobee , a fly-by at Clewiston where I tried to rock the wings without much success, then through the Everglades to fami li ar skies. Soon a red-white-and-blue mono plane curved in alongside us as Linda came to meet us in h er CAP 231. She'd been in the Trimotor with Kermit in the fall on the trip from California to Texas and had decided to forego the continuance of the trip with the four of us (can you blame her?). The control tower , no doubt used to this kind of thing by now , authorized the traditional fly-by over the museum hanger , and minutes later we rolled to a stop on the ramp while a small crowd of museum employees and friends waited , as eager to see inside the Ford as we were to be outside for awhile. Eventu ally, ears ringing, our tale-telling slowed down and we drifted off in our separate directions, while the sun set on a new , dignified addition to the collection. (Editor's Note: As you may have seen in the October issue of VINTAGE AIR PLANE , the Ford flown by Kermit and his crew was severely damaged during Hurricane Andrew. Just prior to going to press with this issue, Kermit told us that the Ford is repairable, although it is cer tain to be an extensive task. - HGF) ... a; 0. 0. ::l £: () (/) ~ () by Norm Petersen U nl ess yo u h ave had th e pl eas ur e rebuild e rs ca ll e d th e " LS -l r es tored the Fairchild und e r the " LS-l of m ee tin g the two pilot s in this hair Docum e nt " . Thi s rulin g a llow s th e Docum e nt" , it had to be up g rad ed to a raising adve ntur e, it would be hard to aver age pe rson to restor e a n antiqu e Standard Airworthines s Ce rtificate by c ompr e he nd ju st h o w th ey m a na ge d a irplan e , providin g he d oes at l eas t the So uth Afric a n Dir e ct ora te of Civil t o co mpl e t e s u c h a n o utl a ndi s h 51 % o f th e wo rk , and is l ega l to fl y Aviation (D C A) it 's c a ll e d a ttempt. H ow ever, C harl es " Chalki e" " p a p e rwork " - many p o unds of it - Stobb a rt ( E AA 27 356 8) of Gall o plu s inspection s of all kinds and th e M a n o r , So uth Africa a nd P e t e r adh e re nce to m a ny additional rul e s H e n gs t (EA A 30576 1) of Sa ndt o n , and r eg ula tion s. South A frica are rugged individuals of Although th e origin al plan was to t he most te nacio us va ri e t y. If eve r in sell th e Fairchild in the U. S. following th e hi sto ry of lo ng ra n ge fli g ht s, th e th e long fli g ht , it is now co ntempl a ted m a ke -up o f th ese t wo ex p e ri e n ce d th a t th e F a irchild will b e c o n pilots fits th e re quir ed mo ld fo r such c taine ri zed and s hipp ed back to So uth a n a tt e mpt - e xtr e m e ly int e llig e nt , ~ Afri ca wher e it will re ve rt to th e " LS quick witt e d , th oro ugh, d e te rmin e d , 2 I Do c ument " und e r r eg is tration Z S a nd ab ove a ll e lse, ju st e no ugh o f the ';; VWO , upon re moval o f th e 70-ga ll o n good o ld-f as hi o ne d s tubb o rnn ess to .~ fuel ta nk locat ed in th e r ea r sea t. ~ ov er come a ny a nd a ll ob stacl es . (And c3 It w as back in 1990 wh e n th e ca ll the re we re man y!) w e nt o ut fr o m J o hn B e r e ndt , " Chalkie " Stobbart and Pe ter Hegst . Th e r es t o r a ti o n o f th e 1 94 1 pr es ide nt of th e Fairchild Club , to try Fa ir c hild 24 W t oo k 3- 112 yea r s o f inside th e R e public of So uth Afric a . and loca te a se rviceable " A e rom a ti c" Chalkie S tobb a rt 's spa re time a nd wa s How e ve r , out s id e of th e co untr y , a pr o p e ll e r for th e So uth Afri ca n d o ne und e r a s p ec ia l rulin g that is Sta nd a rd Airw o rthin ess Ce rtifica te is Fairchild in h o p e s of a idin g th e ir gr ant e d to So uth A fri ca n a ntiqu e re quir e d . Th ere fo r e, w he n C ha lki e c r ui se s p ee d o n th e lo n g t rip . The familiar outboard type landing gear of the Fairchild 24W represents the classic design of many years ago. Note the large 70 gallon fuel tank installed in the rear seat and the all-important pilot relief tube extending underneath the airplane. e o Eo l .e;; :.::'" o This very nicely restored instrument panel contains many original instruments and control knobs plus the right hand side panel, which contains the Garmin GPS pinpoint navigation system and the Bendix VHF radios. '" 14 DECEMBER 1993 How eve r, with the extreme sca rcit y of such items and the coll a ps e of a ny "fac tory activit y" in building n e w Aeromatics, non e were to be had . In th e final analysis , a n ew Sensenich wood e n prop e ll e r wa s o rdered from th e factory a nd a ir-shipp ed to South Africa. Flig ht tests r eq uired fo r a Standard Airworthine ss Ce rtifi ca t e includ e d makin g tak eoffs at 20 % over gross we ight. Norm al g ro ss is 2562 Ib s. and successful tak eo ffs were demon strated at 3012 lbs. with the Fairchild n eed in g 85 mph on th e airspeed b efo re the airplane would lift int o th e air' Needless to say, s uch pr ac ti ce run s w e re absolutely esse nti a l for some o f th e wild a nd w oo ly overgross , hi g h d e n sity a ltitud e. takeoffs e n countered on the long trip ! (On th e tak eo ff from Lodwar , Nairobi , the rat e of climb h ove red between 10 and 50 rpm after str u gg lin g to becom e airborne. Th e pair had to circle several tim es to ga in enoug h altitude to cl ea r the hump at the e nd o f the runway! ) There a re numerous it e m s that .c aided in the completion of the flight. First off was the use of GPS for navigation. Both Chalki e and Peter admit this was a Godsend as it gave precise locations at all times. Without GPS , they might not have been able to pull it off. Please bear in mind that a considerable portion of the trip was flown under IFR conditions and the vast experience of the two pilots coupled with the performance of the Fairchild was just enough to make the next destination . A se cond item was Chalkie's unusual ability to rebuild the old Warner Super Scarab 165 to where it performed extremely well for the entire trip under the most severe conditions from hot desert duststorms that nearly clogged the air filter to severe icing that forced them to fly under a solid cloud deck at 200 feet over the ocean (in be tween 300 foot high ic e bergs) with the temperature at one degree above zero , Centigrade! The Warner handled the trip without incident except for an increase in oil consumption during the last five hours of the trip when th e bottom cylinder suffered a sticky oil ring. With 13.5 hours of fuel (122 gallons) on board , the Fairchild had a maximum range of 1100 nautical miles with the normal cruise figured at 85 KTS . Fuel costs averaged about $4.50 per gallon with the lowest price in Luxembourg and the highest price in Greenland - $7.50/ga\. (At 9 gal/hour you can now understand why they needed as many sponsors as possible to finance the trip!) Perhaps the one item that was most exasperating during the trip , yet it was probably handled better by this pair of pilots than anyone else , was the "bureaucracy " - aka - the government officials!! Being able to deal with these " friendly folks " without pulling your hair out by the roots was indeed a challenge. The constant requests for money from nearly every person involved in a service was mind boggling. In Cairo , Egypt, the pair was asked to fly to another airport for fuel and return to Cairo - and pay another huge set of charges! The shouting match that developed caused OJ a. a. :l .c u (j) ~ o Peter Hengst to walk outside before blood was shed! When they finally departed for Imbaba for fuel , the fuel handler had gone home 15 minutes before they arrived and would not stay to help them under any circumstances! (They filled up on auto gas from across the street - strictly illegal - but , so be it.) Denied permission to land at Pescara, Italy , because they lacked " military clearance", they were forced to divert to Bari, Italy instead. It turned out to be a Godsend as the headwinds shortened their range and they just barely made it into Bari (11:45 in the air!). An attempt to reach Pescara could easily have precipitated a forced landing under dangerous conditions. Following a spectacular trip through the Swiss Alps with visibility at 50 miles, the Fairchild was flown through Germany and on to Luxembourg . Chalkie and Peter highly recommend the Airport Hotel in Luxembourg as the service is excellent and the prices reasonable. After the second try, the pair reached VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15 c .8 E o ~ c '>Q) :.:::Q) o St anding proudly on the grass at EAA Oshkosh '92 is the immaculate Fairchild 24W-41, wearing its South African registratio n ZS -VWO and looking none the worse for its nearly 10 ,000 mile journey. This successful tr ip is a triumpha nt accomp li shme nt f or the two plu c ky pilots and an everlast i ng credit to the Fa irchi ld 24 an d it s many devotee s, worldwide. E ngland afte r fo ur hour s of solid IFR and received a huge " Welcom e" from th e locals a t Br e ig hton , a n ea t g rass s trip wh e re th e o nly re quir e me nt to land is a tailwh ee l! Th e foll owing day w as s pent co mpl e tin g a f ift y hour in specti o n, cl ea nin g up th e a irplan e a nd loadin g th e necessa ry life ra ft s, e tc. on board fo r the long ove r wat er fli g ht s. Th e well established gove rnm ental po li cies of jo ll y o lde En gland gave th e pa ir a few mo re joys be fo re l ea vin g. Th ey a tt e m p te d t o go thr o u g h C us tom s a t Sto rn o w ay in th e Out e r He brid es. A T C c ontact ed th e m a nd a d v i se d th ey wo uld arriv e fift ee n minut es af t e r th e age nt h a d go n e ho me fo r the day. Wh en as ked to stay a n e xtra fi ft ee n minut es, th ey we re fla tl y told , " No dea l, I'm going home !" Diverting to In ve rness, Sco tl a nd , they we re ask e d h o w lo ng th ey wo uld be s t ay in g. Wh e n C halki e a nswe r e d , " Ove rni g ht " , th ey sa id , "So rr y, 24 ho ur s a d va n ce n ot i ce re qui re d fo r C u sto ms!" M ea nwhile, som eo ne e lse had o rde r ed a C us toms In spec ti o n at Kirkwall in the O rkn ey Island s. The pa ir fl ew over t h e r e a nd pr o m p tl y clea red Cu sto ms eas il y, and the n t ook off fo r Reykjavik. Ice land. T he bl ack beac h es o f Ice la nd , left o v er from t h e vo lc a n ic d ays, we re qu it e a sigh t and C h a lki e a nd Pe te r e nj oyed their o ne day stay amo ng the bea uti f ul p eop le of Iceland . Ear ly the n ext m o rnin g. a h e lp f ul t a il w ind s t arte d them o n th e ir way t o 16 JANUARY 1993 Na r ssa rs uag , G r ee nl a nd , onl y to di e o ut a ft e r 80 miles. Th e 550 n.m. trip was made at 200 fee t over th e wa te r with th e t e mp e r a tur e ju s t a b o v e fr eez in g. Oh yes, the artificial ho ri zo n tumbl ed hal fw ay th ough the fli ght! C rossing the Gr ee nla nd ice she lf at 10 ,000 f ee t, th e p a ir w as sta rt le d to h ea r th ey we re re qu ested to climb to 13 ,000! In spite of th eir best e ffo rt s, th ey radioed th at th e Fairchild wo ul d cl i mb no hi gher with th e huge l oa d a n d A T C all owe d th e m t o s t ay a t 10 ,0 00. A rri v in g in G oose B ay, L a br a do r, th e p il o ts w ere tr ea te d to quit e a cel e br a ti o n by th e l oca l po pUl a tion as th ey e nj oye d a d ay o ff fro m the ir trave ls. Fl ying a cro ss Ca nada, the Fa irch ild m e rril y c hu gged a lo ng as th e p a ir a pp roac hed no rmal civilizatio n aga in , making s top s at Byke ma and O shawa wh e r e th e l oca l E AA C h a pt e r s e nt e rt a in e d th e two pilot s. F r o m To r o nt o ' s Is la nd Airp o rt , th e Fa irch ild w as fl ow n to Ni aga ra a nd th en to Lake Hu ro n fo r U. S. C u sto ms in sp ec tion. R at he r th a n cr oss La ke Mi c hi ga n , th e t w o e le ct ed t o fl y aro und the so uth end o f the la ke and la n d a t C hi cago H e ig ht s , I L. " W e do n't mind fl yi ng over salt wa te r, bu t we do n' t like to fl y over fres h wa te r! " ex pl a in ed Chalki e with a smile. A rath e r tri cky cross wind la nd in g was made at Chicago 's Miegs Field in or der to take pictures of the Fa irchild wit h t h e C h icago sky lin e i n th e backgro und. Besides, the loca l pe op le tr eated the pair as celebri ties and when you a re th e subj ec t o f a ce le br ati o n, why not part ak e? A short fligh t up the lak ef ront and on to Fond du Lac, WI on Tu esday a llowed th e pr e p arati ons to b eg in fo r the fin al esco rted tri p to Os hko sh o n Wedn esday. With a n es co rt of E d W eg n e r 's br ig ht re d Ran ge r powe red Fa irchild 24 and C harlie B e ll' s bri g ht ye ll o w Warn e r Fairchild 24, th e trio h eaded for O s h kos h a t 9 a. m . in tr a il f orm a ti on. Th e b ea uti f ul blu e sky see m ed t o a lm os t acce nt th e " W e lc o m e" as C h a lki e a nd P e t e r brou g ht ZS - VWO int o th e hu ge g ath e rin g a t O s hk os h with a pe rfect landing o n Run way 18. T he r ece pti on co mmitt ee includ e d To m a nd P a ul Po be rez ny amid a h ost of o th e rs and Chalkie a nd P ete r we re overwhe lm ed . Th e r ece ption , th e wa rmth an d th e f ee lin g o f ca m e r a d e ri e w as m ost humblin g ac cordin g to Chalkie. " Yo u s oon fo r ge t a ll th e h a rd s hip s, even tho ugh yo ur b ac k side ge ts num b! " T he first ite m of business: Send a post card f rom Oshk os h to the D CA in South Af ric a say in g thr ee wo rd s " W E M A D E I T!" Co ngratul atio ns a re in orde r for a p a ir of r ea l EAA people - C h a lk ie St obba rt a nd P e t er H e n gs t - for ma kin g th e fli g ht of a life tim e, 98 14 n a uti ca l m il es fro m G r an d Ce n tra l T e rmin a l, So uth A fri ca to O shkos h, Wi scons in in 125 h o urs of fly in g time. T he n a me o f the fli gh t: EAA Ch apt e r 322 Exp ress. ... (Above) The flying business end of a cabin class executive airplane of 1938 - Jack Goodn ight's Waco ZVN-8. (Right) Jack's wife Betty color coordinated the interior work to match the exterior colors of Daytona Wh i te and Boston Ma roon. position when he enters it and remains so throughout the periods of take-off and landing run. " One other feature set the N model apart from it's Waco brethren . The Waco N was the only Waco cabin model to have flaps on all four wings, added to help make the ai r plane one of the easiest to handle air planes of its time. Serial N u mber 5107 completed the man ufactur ing process at the Waco factory on April 29 , 1938 , and was delivered to Charles Lontz of Richmond, Indiana. The airplane then went to Danville. Virginia , where it was owned by a Dr. Langsley un til his passing in 1959. Fred Simmons of Polkville, North Carolina bought the Waco from the doctor ' s estate , and he started restoring t he airplane. He got as far as cove ring the wings, but then the project was halted. It would wait another 31 years before Jack Goodnight would find out abo ut it. Jack Goodnight had restored a number of airplanes before - his family owns four Cubs, all of them built up by Jack. Two of 18 JANUARY 1993 th e C ub s are owned by Jack, and th e other two are owned by Jack 's son, Douglas, a nd his so n-in-law , Steve Hinson. Each has bee n given th e gift of the Cub, with th e proviso that th e plane cannot be so ld. Each is to pass th e ai rplan e on do wn th e lin e. That should be no problem for Dou gl as' young son, J a mes Jack so n Good ni ght. James is 2-'1/2, and alrea dy is an air plane enthusiast. He doesn 't just lik e a ny airpl a nes thou gh - when it com es to toy airplan es , it needs to hav e a propeller on it - no jets for him ! A smatt e rin g of Vagabonds. a PA - 12 Super Cruis er and oth e r Pip e r projects have come out of th e Goodni ght s hop. Jac k is fortunate th at his shop and 1100 fool airstrip are n ex t to his hom e in Ka n napo li s. NC. An airport "brat " as a kid. Jack went to work for the late Stra it Rin e ha rdt, working on co nv e rtin g Cubs and Stearmans from wartime use. As the post war mar ket slowed down. Strai g ht began to do hea tin g work, and J ac k also began to pick up th e ins an d o ut s of th at tr ade as well. The mon ey was not enough to live on th o ugh, and Jack went to work at Ca n non Mill s to earn a livin g. He continued workin g on heatin g a nd ventilation sys tems on the side, building up that business until he co uld work at it full time. After working as a full time co ntr ac tor, th e busi ness was built up to th e point Jack co uld dabble in airplanes aga in , which he did with a vengeance. The flying and airplane bug had bitten him hard in his youth , and hi s enthusiasm for aviation neve r le ft him. Th e Waco N th a t Fred Simmon s had in Polkvill e wa s eve ntuall y bou g ht by Mik e Steel. Mik e knew that J ack e n joyed reb uilding airpl anes, and he called Jack and told him he should com e l oo k at the project. Jack looked at the tri -gear Waco a nd lik ed what he sa w. It soo n was fillin g th e Goodnight workshop. wh ere Jack a nd his son Do uglas, as well as a number of J ac k's friends would pitch in during the winte r of 1991-1992 to rebuild th e Waco. Jack 's air pl a ne reb uildin g friends included Ba rr y Di s hm an. John Ra id e nh our. Ferre ll James. Arlen Co lb erg, and Bill B ew ley. c E E o.r::: I- Waco ZVN-8 restorer Jack Goodnight (center) is flanked by his son Douglas on the left and his friend Bill Bewley on the right during their visit to EAA OSHKOSH '92, Spending a ll h is avai lab le time. Jack and hi s crew orga nized and restored the Waco ZVN-8 in a relatively short period of time . The time frame is eve n more im press iv e when you see the grea t looking results of their labor. Wi th a goal of br in g in g it to EAA O shkos h ' 92, the fellows kn ew wh at they had to attain. a nd the pro ject was attacked with gust o. Fortun ately, the structure was in e xc e ll e nt shape - the weld ed stee l tubing fuselage needed only one small section replaced, a nd only three areas required replacement of wood. Th e original woode n fairing structure around th e tubular fu se lage was very in teresting to Jack. "All of the streamlining woodwork on the fus elage is ti ed to the fus ela ge by string. None of it is bolted to it ," he explained. Th e fab ric co verin g acts as a tub e to hold th e stringers in place on th e formers , and each s tringer is ti ed to ea ch form er with polyester rib lacing cord. It mak es for a very e ff ect iv e, li ght structure. Instead of boltin g to a welded-on gusse t, th e cord keeps everything in place. a nd he lp s keep the weig ht of the installation down. Covering the airplan e with a li g ht er mod e rn fa bric also mad e it possibl e to have an airplane lighte r th an when it was first de liv e red. Re pl ac in g th e plate glass in VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19 Qj 0. 0. :J .r:: () UJ ~ o the windows with plexiglass also shaved quite a few pounds (nearly 75!). When first built by Waco in 1938, Jack's Waco weighed 2463 Ibs. Eliminating the mag nesium flare dispenser and the auxiliary power system also took off unneeded weight. After the restoration was com pleted , the airplane tipped the sca les at just over 2200, 250 pounds lighter! Paying careful attention to details also helped keep the weight down - none of the bolts on the airp lane have more than one washer ; each bolt was matched to its location , so that no extra steel was added to the airframe. The wheels were converted to the Cleveland wheels and brakes , and th e electrical system was redesigned to be safer, without always-powered wires run ning a ll over the airframe (sometimes re ferred to as a " hot system " ). Other than the electrical system , Jack is very impressed with the engineering done by Waco during the 1930s. " ... it 's simple, sound aircraft engineering," he said. One characteristic of the W aco J ac k really e njoys is the ease with which the 'N' mod el can be landed. "The airplane flies very stable , and it 's the best landin g airplane I've ever had. The fellas that fly it with me have also said that it's th e best landing airplane they've landed . These are all air lin e t ypes, three of them, and th ey're thrilled with the way th e airpl ane flies." The only problem encountered with the tricycle l anding gear has been some nosewheel shimmy. A pair of 850xlO's are mounted on the main wheels, with a large 750xJO tire on the nose gear. When first designed, the large tires, it was felt, were needed to handle any type of field the ' N' model might encounter. With exce ll ent short fie ld performance, the Waco Cabin models were often called upon to land in relatively short field, and often the terrain was not the smoothest. A large set of wheels and tir es, coup l ed with good shock absorption in the landing gear, allowed the strong cabin model Wa cos to do the job when called upon. Unfortunately, when they flew the air plane over to the nearby airport in Salis bury , NC to load up for the trip to EAA OSHKOSH '92, the no sew heel vibrated so badly that it damaged the no sew heel fairing, and they had to remove it from the airplane. Jack fee ls that the shimmy problem is related to the geo metry of the nose gear structure, but tha t so me of the problem can be solved by ti ghtening up the tolerances in the installation. Ac cording to Jack, Waco ev idently had some difficulty with th e no sewh ee l con figuration, but it was neve r considered a major problem. The interior of the airplane is com pleted in a beautiful cream broadcloth , carefully matched to the outside color scheme of D ay tona White and Boston Maroon by Jack 's wife , Betty . J ac k says he depends on Betty for her guidance and taste when it came to the selection of color and trim for the Waco - th e basic design was Jack 's, but the final details were approved by Betty. The instrume nt panel features a num ber of original instruments, as well as the addition of a few newer gages to help cope with the modern world. A short stack of mod e rn radios also allows the airplane to be flown most anywhere Jack and his compatriots wish to go. Waco was known for the fine details they included in the de signs of their air planes - exce ll e nt cabin ventilation , indi r ec t lightin g for the in s trument panel , and a simple but kind gest ure to the pas senger si tting in the right forward seat - a pair of foldin g rudder pedals , allowing them a few extra inches in legroom. Ah, the luxuryl Aft er seeing hi s gra ndfather fix up the Waco to its pristine show condition, little g rand so n James is very im pressed - he is convinced " My gra ndpa can fix anything!" J ames , not only can your gr andpa fix anything. he does it very n eat ly - you' re ri ght on the mon ey to be so proud. Jack Goodnight has done good! ... 20 JANUARY 1993 WHAT OUR. MEMBERS ARE RESTORING ---------------------------- by Norm Petersen Jim Lefevre's Piper J-3 Cub, N98035 A tr o ph y winn e r a t O s hk os h a nd o th e r fl y-in s o v er t he yea rs, thi s ve ry ni ce C ub , N98035 , SI N 18 182 , m o unt ed o n a se t of ra re J aco bs s ki s, is ow n e d b y Jim L e f ev r e (EAA 22789 1, A IC 9586) o f Gr ee n Bay, WI. Jim h as o wn e d th e Cub fo r n ea rl y twe nt y yea rs with th e l as t re build fin is he d in 1984 . Th e J a cob s s ki s, whi c h we re built in Yip s il a nti , MI , o ri gina ll y h a d w oo d e n b o tt o m s, but Jim r e pl ace d th e m with a luminum bott o m s a nd h as used th e m for yea rs . Thi s phot o w as tak e n a t John H a t z's 1986 skipla ne fl y-in a t G lea so n , WI. Ma rv Vandenheuval's Taylorcraft D CO-65 Pa rked next to the pine trees at Brod head, WI is Taylo rcra ft DCO -65 , N61807 , SI N 5760, mo unt e d o n a se t of Fe de ra l A1500 s ki s a nd fl own by Ma rv Va nd e n he uv a l ( EAA 25842) of Milwa uk ee , WI. Ma rv, who a n swe rs to th e nickn a me " Murph " , is a reg ul ar attendee at the f1y in s a ro und Wi sco nsin on wh ee ls in t he summer and s ki s in the winte r. Th e 1943 ta nd e m T ay lo rcra ft is k ep t in e xce ll e nt co ndition with its ye ll ow and bro wn paint sch e me a lways po li s hed a nd th e en tire airplane displaying lots of TL C. It seems that wh e neve r Murph ste ps o ut of the T Cra ft , he is a lw ays smilin g, w hi ch lets yo u kn o w he re ally e nj o ys fl yin g th e 65 hp tandem, be it wh ee ls or ski s. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21 WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING ----------------------- by Norm Petersen Ted Davi s' J-3 Cub, N30719 The good-looking man in front of the Cub is Ted Davis (EAA 89935, A/C 12403) of Brodhead, WI and the J-3 Cub , N30719 , SIN 5068. is a wood spar model with an 85 hp Continental and a wood prop. Mounted on a set of Federal A 1500 skis , the Cub really comes alive when the throttle is opened. Ted has used the Cub for instruction on wheels and skis. Since this photo was taken , the Cub has been sold to Bernie Hanni gan at Lake Geneva , WI. Ron Harvey's Piper J-4 Cub Coupe, N26700 This very nice Piper J-4 Cub Coupe , N26700 , SI N 4 864, mounted on a set of Federal A 1500 sk is , is the pride and joy of Ron Harvey (EAA 56688) of Hor tonville, WI. Powered with a Continental A 75 engine of 75 hp. the J -4 performs very nicely on wheels and skis. Sharp-eyed readers will spot the welded-on float fittings that Ron installed on the low er longerons before re covering the pretty side-by 'I, side Coupe. WeedenlDavis Pietenpol Aircamper, NX98WD This rather elegant looking Pietenpol Aircamper , NX98WD, SI N WD-l , mounted on a set of Federal SC-J skis, was con structed by Dick Weeden (EAA 30164) and Ted Davis (EAA 89935) of Brodhead, WI. Fin ished in June, 1989, the Pieten pol has accummulated over 270 hours to date. Powered with a 70 hp LeBlond five-cylinder ra dial engine , the tandem home built will handle two large peo ple very nicely, especially in the cold air of winter! .... by Bu ck Hilbert (EM 21, N C 5) P.O. Box 424 Union , IL 60180 D ear Buck , Th e e ncl osed photo is in response to yo ur " Pass it to Bu ck" column in the Jul y ' 92 iss ue of Vintage A irpl a n e. Y es! There a re st i ll people th at "s t ack" air pl a n es to store th e m. Thi s photo w as ta ke n o n July 14 , ]992 at th e Hoffman Flying Service ha nga r at H a rr y Brown e A irport. Sagina w, Ml. Al "B utch" Hoff ma n, J I'. and his father , Al H offma n , Sr. s tored a irpl a ne s in this mann e r a t th e J ames C le me nt s A irport a t Bay City. Michigan during the '40s, '50s a nd '60s. This particular Taylorcraft BC12D , 1946 model was being sto r ed while waiting the arri val of its new own er , Dale Senn of Co coa , Florida. The prop a nd s pinn er were supported by a cradle on the fl oo r. Thank s fo r the memories, John C. Hicks AIC 14423 Pinconnin g, MI eASS IT TO --l JAn information exchange column with input from our readers. D ear Buck, I am se ndin g a co uple of photos that mayor may no t ki ck up a little nosta lgia in yo ur se lf and so m e of o ur r ea d ers. These were tak e n by myse lf at a bout the age of 12 or 13 - a nd it 's not too hard to te ll that photography was no t o ne of my ston g talents at the tim e! Th e year wa s possibly 1935 , a nd th e a irplan e was an o ld " Monopr e p" own ed by my uncle, Lyma n Smith. P owere d by a 5 cylinder Ve li e eng in e. I th o ught this old " Mon oprep" was the ultim a te in s p o rt aircraft at the time. I do n' t know what be cam e of the a ir cra ft nor do I recall too ma ny other d e ta il s on it , other th a n the fac t that it was manuf act ured b y th e Mon oco up e Co. Pe rh a ps so me of th e r ea de rs h ave m o re information on this than I. My uncle , who wound up t eac hing pi lot s during WW II in T ex as , e ventu ally ran a n a irport (Sky-Haven), n ea r Eau Claire, WI for a number of yea rs aft er the war. a nd t eac hin g ex -G. I. 's o n th e G. I. bill. Ho pe this helps shed a little mor e li ght o n thi s no t t oo frequently see n Mono coupe m ode l. Yo urs Truly, Pa ul Spallees Eau Claire, WI AIC 13 843 Hi Paul, Neat Pictur es!' Thank s Jar sharing th em with all of us. Over 10 you} Bu ck Using a no se cradle can help you get a lot of junk , er , stuff besides an airplane in a hanga r. Paul Spallees, Eau Claire, WI , se nt in t hese t wo vie w s of the Monoprep he shot wh en he was 12 or 13 years old. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23 This month 's Myste ry Pl a ne s hould bring many re plies. It is a typica l Gold e n A ge airpl a n e a nd should brin g back me mori es to ma ny re ad e rs. Th e phot o was submitted by Ow en Billman o f May fi e ld , Ne w Yo rk . An swe rs will be pub li shed in th e A pril , 1993 iss ue o f VIN TAGE AIRPLAN E. D ea dlin e for that i ss ue is Fe bru ary 20, 1993. Th e Oct obe r Mys te ry Pl a ne re main s some what o f a mys te ry. Th e ph o to ap peared in the b oo k "Cradle o f Am e rican A viation " by Ke n Be atty , a n acco unt of the his tory of Co ll ege Park a irpo rt , out by George Hardie A PRIL MYST E RY PLA NE SOLV ED Th e Myst e ry Pl a ne from th e April , 1992 issue ha s f in a ll y b ee n revea led. A no th e r vie w o f th e sa me a irpl a ne, was ta ke n by Di ck O sbo rn e, Co lo ra d o S prin gs, CO wh o se nt in th e ph o to re pr o duc e d on th e o ppo site pa ge. H e e x pl a in s: " Th e phot o was made whil e J was in hi gh school in 1928- 1929. It was ta ke n at the Cheyenne, Wyoming Municipal A ir p o rt , e le vati o n 6, 0 96 fe et a b ove sea leve l. Th e ide nti ficatio n numb er o n the rudd e r is e ithe r 565 or 5651. r ded u ce from th e hi gh as p ec t rat io win g th at it was a low-pow ere d d esign, possibly fo r th e high a ltitud e o f th e W es t, a lm os t a low-powe red glider. T his pla ne must be a o ne - of -a -kind , m aybe by o ne of o u r ea rl y homebuilders. I hope this w ill he lp in its eventual identi fica ti o n. " EA A 's ace Libr a ri an , D e nnis P arks . co n tac te d th e Na tion a l A ir a nd Space Mu se um 's D a n H agedo rn , a nd he was able to trace the ea rl y regis tr ation n um sid e of W as hin gto n, D .C. Th e ca ption with the photo credited the design to the co mpan y "w hi c h built th e E rc oup e" , with Don Be rlin e r as designe r. No con firm a tion of thi s cl a im has b ee n found . M ay b e s om eo ne out th e re ca n s h e d more li ght o n thi s puzzle. C ha rl ey H ayes o f Pa rk Fo r es t , IL th oug ht it was th e airpl a ne built by stu de nt s at the Boe in g Schoo l of Ae ro na u tic s, with Rudy Paulic as designe r. Robert Durr of Escond id o, CA thought it w as the one built by students at the Pasade na Ju ni or Coll ege in 1938-39 . W e' re ho pin g th at someo ne ca n cl e ar up th ese co nflict ing cl a im s. This o nl y illustrates the diffi culty of researching these obscure aircra ft. Don Berliner's? be r. D a n writ es HI ch e ck e d th e d a ta b ase we ha ve b ee n c on s tru c tin g o n th e 1927 -1 929 Air T ra ns portati o n regis tra ti ons e ntries a nd s ur e e nou gh, th e issue o f 9 Jun e 19 28 sho ws [ 0 # 5651 reg is tere d as the All e n Bip la ne , powe red by a Wri g ht M o re ho u se e ng in e . It w as o wn e d b y E dmund F. A ll e n of U ta h , whi ch w ou ld p ut it in t he ri g ht pa rt of the co untry at the ri ght tim e. I fee l s ur e that this is ou r airplan e." (J ack Cox and I wonder if this is th e sam e Eddie A llen of Boeing (es t pilot fa m e? - H G F) A t first, a few me mb e rs th o ug ht th e airpl ane mi ght be a Hawker Cygne t, but that was ha rd to confirm. Peter Bo we rs was kind e nou gh to se nd alo ng a photo of a Cygnet th at still exist s. By co mp a r ing it with the two pho tos of Mr. A ll e n's bipla ne, yo u ca n see the diffe re nces be t wee n th e Cyg ne t a nd th e A ll e n m a chin e. You ca n see th at the ta il s ur fa ce shap e s a re diff er e nt on th e C yg ne t, as we ll as the ca ban e s trut s, which are two p a ir of bo x ce ll s trut s on th e Cyg ne t , whil e th e A ll e n bip la ne ha s a p a ir o f " V " s trut s f or th e ca ba ne . Th e A ll e n Not our April mystery plane-the Hawker Cygnet. al so has aile rons o n the lowe r wing o nly, whi le the Cygne t has a il e rons on a ll fo ur wings. It t oo k a bit o f digging, but tha nks to a sha rp- eye d me mb er , a no the r o bsc ur e a ircra ft fro m th e p as t h as b ee n id e nti fi e d . Th a nk s to a ll th e me mb e rs w ho ori g in a ll y se nt in re p li es to th e A p ril Mystery Pl ane, as we ll as Di ck Os born e, P e te r Bo we rs and th e S mithsonian ' s Dan H agedo rn , who br aved a mount ain of re mode ling du st in the upstairs office ar ea o f th e Air and Sp a ce Mu se um to tr ack this o ne down. Th anks to a ll ! ... The April mystery plane has now been unmasked-it is the Allen Biplane, constructed during the late 1920's. The Allen Biplane, as captured on film by a young Dick Osborne in 1928 or 1929. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25 Ul o o 0. Q) c:: (; .D Ul o -'"tl is .c WELCOME NEW MEMBERS MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION EAA Richa rd Al eg re Sant a Pa ula , CA William C. Alle n La M esa, CA John A. An son Albuqu e rqu e , NM Mike J. An spach Shipp e ns bur g, P A C raig Arnold P ea rl a nd , TX J . Sh e rwood A s hton Ont a rio, C anada Al Ball Sant a Pa ula , CA Norman Ba rte ls Jr. Appl e Va ll e y, MN Peggy J . Bat y C olumbia , IL Brad Be a ne r Nobl esv ill e, IN Paul R . Beck Va le nci a, C A Bob L. Bond e Las Vegas, NV Br e nt D . B oo n Loui sville, KY Z ack R. Bowe n Robin sville , NJ E dward L. Br ady Ho no lulu , HI David Br a nd Toront o, Ca nad a Rod J. Bridge Or e m, UT Patrick Br ockway Arc a ta , CA G. E. Bur g ly New Ke ns in gto n, PA Fr ed H. Cla pp Me mphi s, MO John W. Clif fo rd St e rling. VA Ralph Cordl e Jr . Pa lme tt o, GA G e org e W Co ttrill L a du e, MO Clark Crawf o rd Han sville, W A David D a rbyshire Si e rr a Ma dr e, CA Ke n Dixon Mi a mi , FL Gibb y D o mbr os ki e Ce nte rville , OH Jo se A . D o mingu ez Virgini a B eac h, V A John Don a ldson Orilli a ,C anada Walter S. Do ughe rty Ston e Mo unt a in , GA G e or ge T. Dunn Brockp o rt, NY Ste ph e n A E dwards Lon g vi ew, WA Jos e ph Vir g il Elliott Cobin g ton , IN Larry Ern ewe in Inne rKip , Ont a ri o, Ca nada Pa ul H . Fairchild An cho rage, AK J ose ph S. Fi eld Kingma n, AZ La wrenc e Fil e ne r Alb e qu e rque , NM Wa y ne Fo lsom Ch a mp aign , IL Carl Gie rs bach Be thp age, NY John E Gl aze r Le wi s bur g, WV Tony Gr ee n Mo rtdal e, NSW , Au stralia William Gr ess in ge r Sebas ti an, FL Robert E . Griffin Gr ee nw oo d, AR Fr a nk T. H ag ney Nas hu a, NH G ary Ha mm Germ a nt own , OH Mark Ha rrin gto n He witt , NJ Ca rl J. Hartk e B ea ufo rt , SC Donald Ha rvey Mt Ve rn o n, OH Gr an ge r H a ugh Fa llbr oo k, CA Ma rk H e iin ge Aur o ra , OR T ed Herlih y Fa llbr oo k, CA We rn e r H eye C opp e nbru egge, Ge rma ny E dw a rd C. Ho ffman Jr. T a rpon Sprin gs, FL Mic ha e l E . How e ll Hamilt o n, OH Sta nley W . Hubb a rd Wichita, KS C urtis Hu ghes C olorado Sprin gs, C O Juli a n Court e nay Hunt Orange Pa rk , FL Al a n La Brie re Ft. J o nes , C A Re mo La nfr a nc hi Sunn yvale, CA Ro be rt W. L ee Bille rica, MA J a m es W. L oo lo ia n Arvin , C A Pe te r Mahr Westo n, CT D a rryl Mark ows ki Lubbo ck, TX W y li e Mason Anch orage, A K Ro be rt Way ne Mc Coy Co lorado Sprin gs, C O Ro d McLean Kalispe ll , MT G e ne W. McMill e n D a le , OK Al a n P. Mck ee n Live rp oo l, NY Gl e nn O. Mitt e lsta dt Tr yo n, NC J ose ph A. Mo lli ca Pi s cataw ay, NJ J . Le wis Moor e Sandy Sprin g, MD Ma rk W Morri so n Bloomin gd ale, IL F ra nk Thom as Mo rton Jr. Mobil e , AL De nnis L. Murr Hibbin g, MN H . P. Mye rs Smithville , MO Da ll as D . Ne lson E dm o nt o n, Albert a,Ca na da Bruc e 1. Ol s on St Croix Fa ll s, WI Fr a nk M. Pav li ga Root s town , OH J o hn Pe ntick Thund e r B ay,Ca na da J o hn Price Gr apevine , TX P. Ca rte r Rise New Yo rk , NY Les li e Sar ge nt Ewa B eac h, HI Cha rl es M Schlosse r Milto na , MN Ro be rt Schmidl e Sr. Ne wtown , CT Da nn y Si e kie rs ki Philade lphia , PA Mich ae l E . Smith E I Re no, OK J e rr y R. Steph e n so n Zan esvill e , IN J a rl Von Str asse r Wilsonvill e, OR Ro be rt H . Suttie Ka nta, Ont a rio, Ca nad a Do nald B. Swo rd Wo o dst oc k, IL Ca rl R. Tolt z Me df o rd , MA Phillip Ush e r Sy dn ey , N SW , Au s tr a li a W aco 4 Proj ec t, c/o William La uf er Tr oy, OH Victo r Wed e l Washin gto n, IA Fr e de rick P. Wo ll Clifton Pa rk , NY C liffWood Bould er, C O Ge ra rd H Z a np e lt R yse nhout , Ne the rla nd s Mich ae l Zimm e r Om a ha , N E Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is $35 . 00 for one year, including 12 issues of Spor t Aviation. Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20.00 annually. Family membership is available for an additional $10.00 annually. All major credit cards accepted for membership. (FAX (414) 426-4873. ANTIQUE/CLASSICS EAA Member- $20.00. Includes one year membership in EAA Antique!C/assic Division. 12 monthly issues of Vintage Airplane and membership card. Applicant must be a current EAA member and must give EAA membership number. Non-EAA Member- $30.00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique! Classic Division. 12 monthly issues of Vintage Airplane, one year membership in the EAA and separate membership cards. Sport Aviation not included. lAC Membership in the International Aerobatic Club, Inc. is $30.00 annual/y which includes 12 issues of Sport Aerobatics. All lAC members are required to be members of EAA. WARBIRDS Membership in the Warbirds of America, Inc. is $30.00 per year, which includes a subscription to Warbirds. Warbird members are required to be members of EAA . EAA EXPERIMENTER EAA membership and EAA EXPERI MENTER magazine is available for $28.00 per year (Sport Aviation not included). Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER for $18.00 per year. FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dol/ars. address: EAA AVIATION CENTER P.O.BOX 3086 OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086 PHONE (414) 426-4800 FAX (414) 426-4828 OFFICE HOURS: 8:15-5:00 MON.-FRI. 1-800-322-2412 26 JANUARY 1993 The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval, sponsorship, involvement, control or direction of any event (fly-in, seminars , fly market , etc .) listed. Please send the information to EAA, Att : Golda Cox, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh , WI 54903-3086. Information should be received four months prior to the event date. J AN. 10 - SEBRING, FL - South Florida Seaplane Fly- I n. Lak e J ack son (SE corner). 305/421-8917. JAN. 23 - OSHKOSH, WI - EAA Air Adventure Museum Cockpit Climb. 414 /426-4800. J AN. 27 - P AL- WAUK EE, IL Pal-Waukee Airport Pilot s Assn. General Meeting. 3 12 /853-3550. FE B. 7 - OSHKOSH , WI - EAA Air Adventure Museum - C h a rl es Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis , a discussion by Verne Jobst. 414 / 426 4800. FEB. 7 - FT. MYERS, FL - EAA Chapter 66 Pancake Breakfast Fly- In , Page Field. 813 /947-1430. FEB. 12 - PAL-WAUKE E, IL Pal-Waukee Airport Pilot s Assn . Valentine's Day Party. 312 /853-3550. FEB. 13 - LEESBURG, FL - EAA C h apter 534 Fly- In/ Driv e- ln Break fast /Lunch. 904 1360-0293 . FEB. 20 - OSHKOSH , WI - EAA Air Adventure Museum - "C hoo sing a Ho m eb uilt Aircraft Design ". A dis cussion by Ben Owen. 414/426-4800. FEB. 20 - ROCH ES TER, MI 36th Annual Amelia Earhart Lun cheon. 3131781-6488. MARCH 4-6 - ST. LOUIS , MO 4th Annual National Women in Avia tion Confere nce. Sponsored by Pa rks Co ll ege. 618 /337-7575. MARCH 7 - FT. MYERS, FL EAA C hapt er 66 Pancake Br eakfast Fly-In. Page Field. 8131947-1430 . MARCH 9 - OSHKOSH , WI - EAA Air Adv e nture Museum - Aviation Re search Seminar by Dennis Parks, Direc tor of th e EAA Boein g Aeronautica l Library. 414/426-4800. MARCH 19-21- CHANDLER, AZ - 10t h Annual Shamrock Air D er b y Cross Cou n try Speed R ace (AZ 99s). 602 /961-1172. MARCH 20 - OSHKOSH , WI EAA Air Adventure Museum. Women in Aviatio n presented by the 99s. 414/426-4800. MARCH 20 - PUNTA GORDA, FL - EAA Chapter 565 Fly- In Breakfast. Charlotte Co. 8131575- 1471. MARCH 24 - PAL-WAUKEE , IL Pal-Wa uk ee Airport Pilot s Assn. Gen e ra l Mee tin g. 312 /853-3550. MARCH 27 - OSHKOSH, WI EAA Air Adventure Mu se um ' s 6th Annua l Model Airplane Show. 414 /426-4800. APRIL 4 - FT. MYERS , FL - EAA C hapt e r 66 Pancake Br eakfas t Fly- In , Page Field. 8131947-1430. APRIL 17 - OSHKOSH , WI - EAA Air Advent ur e Mus e um - Wyli e Post a nd th e Win chester 2 1 se min ar. 414 /426-4800. APRIL 18 - 24, 1993 - LAKE LAND , FL - " The Gift Of F l ight " . The 19th A nnu a l Sun ' n Fun EAA F ly- In and Int e rnational Aviation Co nv e ntion . Lak e land-Lind er R e gio na l Airport. For inf or mation ca ll 813/644-243 1. ~- ~ .. '-.,... APRIL 24 - GLOBE, AZ - Holy Angels Fly- In . Globe San Carlos (Cutter A irp ort). 602/425-5703 , 425 /5979 . APRIL 25 - SPRINGFIELD, IL 2nd Annual Fly- In Driv e- In Break fast. Capita l A irport. 217 /483-320l. APRIL 30 - MA Y 2 - BURLING TON , NC - Spring EAA Fly-In for Ant ique and Classic aero planes . Tro phies in a ll categories; vintage avia tion fi lm s; goo d EAA fe ll owship. All welcome. Contact: R . Bottom , 103 Powhatan Pkwy , Hampton, V A 23661. APRIL 30-MA Y 2 - CLEVE LAND, OH - 9th Annual Air Racing History Symposium. 2 16 /255-8100. JUNE 26-27 - GREELEY, CO EAA Rock y Mountain Fl y- In. 3031798-6086. JULY 7-11- ARLINGTON, WA Northwest EAA Fly- In . 206 /435 5857. THURSDA Y JULY 29 WEDNESDA Y AUGUST 4,1993 OSHKOSH, WI - 41st Annua l EAA F ly- In and Sport Aviation Conven tion. Wittm a n R eg ion a l Airport. Con tact John Burton, P.O. Box 3086, O s hk osh , WI 54904-3086. Call 414/426-4800 for mor e information. I TS NEVER TOO EARLY TO MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND! VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27 - Leo Opdycke, WWI Aero Magazine "treasure trove of marvelous and beautifully detailed scale drawings." -Kenn Rust, Skyways Magazine by Joshua StoH & William camp, Curators, Long Island Cradle of Aviation Museum Roosevelt Field was the center of the aviation world in the '20s and '30s. When Lindbergh made Paris in 1927, he introduced to the world-the place of his departure-Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York. During aviation's Golden Age, crowds flocked to see Charles Lindbergh, Admiral Byrd, Bert Acosta, Elinor Smith, Jimmie Doolittle, Roscoe Tumer, Bert Balchen, Clarence Chamberlin, Amelia Earhart, Clyde Panghom, Ruth Elder, Ruth Nichols, and AI Williams. Roosevelt Field was more than an attraction or a stage for the dashing aviators; it was the premier showcase for demonstrations of flying skill or innovative design. Curtiss, Beech, Sikorsky, Bu melli , Bellanca, Fokker, Seversky, Grumman, and Waco all displayed their latest products. It was the capital of the air, the world's premier airport. Traced through forty years of uninterrupted aviation history: from Glenn Curtiss' arrival with his pusher biplane in 1909, through the closing of the field at the dawn of the Jet Age in 1951, then takes us through the 1970s when Roosevelt Field's last hangar was