36
cidents We would be well advised to give our aircraft a thorough mechanical check STRAIGHT amp LEVEL over when we take them out of winter
by Espie Butch Joyce
As we are moving into February we start thinking about winter being over and flying in the spring Some people like myself who live in the South are fortunate that we are able to fly off and on during the winter as we will have nice weekends followed by cold weekends Of course there are people further south than I who are able to enjoy their aircraft around the year while those people up north such as Minnesota and Wisconsin often need to store their vintage aircraft during the winter except those who venture out to do ski flying This is something I have never experienced but hope to one of these days Im sure it is fun (It is lots of fun-HGF)
I would like to turn our thoughts to this spring and talk about things that we need to be aware of One of the most important items to discuss is the Sun n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland Florida occurring April 5th through the lIth You owe it to yourself to experience this fly -in as these people do a great job with this event It is one of the very first flying activities coming after winter and is very enjoyable I always end up coming home sunburned after the flyshyin Last year the weather was great The state of Florida is loaded with antique airplanes There are a lot of people retired to that area who own antique aircraft You will often see aircraft at the Sun n Fun Fly-In that you will not see at other fly-ins Their flea market is excellent I just cant say enough about how much fun this event is I plan on being at Lakeland for the week and will be in the AntiqueClassic area I will be visiting with people who own antiqueclassic aircraft Hope to see
2 FEBRUARY 1992
you there I attended the Directors meeting of the
AntiqueClassic Chapter 3 several nights ago This was their planning meeting for their fly-in this spring This Chapter covers such a wide area that the Directors do all the planning for this fly-in season The leadership in this Chapter is really outstanding and their fly-ins are very well attended and organized One of the things they talked about was the parking of the Contemporary category aircraft at They were very enthusiastic about greeting this group of people and welcoming them into our organization The Chapter 3 Spring Fly-In will be held in Burlington North Carolina May 1-3 Thats very conshyvenient for me as Burlington is only 25 miles from my Clipwing Cub For those interested in attending this fly-in the conshytacts for information are Pat or Henry Miller at 919548-9293 This fly-in is a grass roots event They do not have any air shows but they will be judging aircraft It is a lot of fun to be able to just lay under the wing at this low-key event and see a lot of friends that you havent seen for a long time
Speaking of the Contemporary class be sure to read Jack Coxs article in the February issue of SPORT AVIATION about the planes and events of the last half of the 1950s It is a nice trip down aviations memory lane
Your AntiqueClassic Board of Direcshytors meeting will be held February 7th This is a planning session for the operation of the AntiqueClassic area at Oshkosh This year we will also be parking our new Contemporary category of aircraft (aircraft manufactured between January 11956 and December 311960) Anyone owning these aircraft needs to start polishshying and waxing We would like to see these aircraft brought up to show quality when they are parked in our area AIC Director Art Morgan who is in charge of parking has put out a lot of effort to make sure everyone is welcomed and that we do have room for you lets not disappoint Art
The AntiqueClassic Division of EAA is trying to keep track of accidents that antiqueclassic aircraft have been inshyvolved in to help advise our membership of things to be careful about with regard to our type of aircraft In looking over reports of this past year there have been some developing patterns Accidents such as engine fires or things of a similar nature that we do not have much control over with the exception of the big radial engines which are subject to have a fire during starting We need to be careful with those It seems aircraft that have been in storage for the winter can have some mechanical problems that cause acshy
storage to make sure everything is workshying properly Look for items such as old gas and things of that nature that would cause you a problem when you first start flying after the winter months Also it is a good idea for pilots to check their flying techniques as well You cant help feering a little rusty after not flying for three or four months Ifyou look at accidents from the standpoint of pilot errors another patshytern appears For pilots who are low time in a particular type ofaircraft or new pilots to a strange aircraft the first 15 to 20 hours in a new airplane appears to be a problem area Even high time pilots do not seem to be exempt from this pattern It would be wise for pilots in this category to be very cautious and conservative when flying tail wheel aircraft in marginal conshyditions Strong crosswinds short runshyways and items of this nature do not leave you any room for error Also you need to understand and appreciate your aircrafts performance abilities and apply your knowledge during your flight planning For example on a go-around will the aircraft perform well enough to clear the trees You should take a few hours in your aircraft work with it and understand it It seems that after the first year of ownership of a new aircraft this pattern of accidents diminishes quite a bit as exshyperience is gained with the airplane Once again I would like to remind you to just be careful especially when you first acshyquire a new aircraft I do not want to see us lose any of our members We all would be saddened to have any of our precious aircraft fleet lost in an avoidable accident In the past I have tried to avoid coming to any type of conclusion since nonnally there is someone out there who has an opinion of their own Of course we welshycome those thoughts and if those opinions will help us preserve our members and preserve our aircraft I am very willing to listen to them Please write me with your views on this subject
I would like to encourage our membershyship to submit articles to our Editor HG Frautschy on the Contemporary class of aircraft We always welcome articles on the classics and antiques too HG will be glad to look at these articles and clean them up if necessary This is your magazine this is your Division lets use it for the memberships enjoyment Also if you have a project please send us a photograph so that we might be able to use it in the magazine Dont forget please do not write on the back of the photo If you have a friend who has an antique classic or contemporary aircraft please enshycourage them to join our Division The more members we have the better we will be able to serve everyone Remember we are better together Let s all pull in the same direction for the good of aviation Join us and you have it all
PUBLISHER Tom Poberezny
VICE-PRESIDENT
PUBLICATION STAFF
MARKETING amp COMMUNICATIONS Dick Malt
EDITOR Henry G Frautschy
MANAGING EDITOR Golda Cox
ART DIRECTOR Mike Drucks
ADVERTISING Mary Jones
ASSOCIATE EDITORS Norman Petersen Dick Cavin
FEATURE WRITERS George A Hardie Jr Dennis Parks
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Isabelle Wiske
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Jim Koepnick Carl Schuppel Donna Bushman Mike Steineke
EAA ANTIQUECLASSIC DIVISION INC
OFFICERS President Vice-President
Esple Butch Joyce Arthur R Morgan 604 Highway St 3744 Nerth 51st Blvd
Madisen NC 27025 Milwaukee WI 53216 919427-0216 414442-3631
Secretary Treasurer steven C Nesse EE Buck Hilbert
2009 Highland Ave PO Bex 424 Albert Lea MN 56007 Unien IL 60 180
EfJ7373-1674 815923-4591
DIRECTORS John Berendt Robert C Bob Brauer
7645 Eche Peint Rd 9345 S Heyne Cannen Falls MN 55009 Chicago IL 60620
EfJ7263-2414 312179-2105
Gene Chase John S Copeland 2159 Carlten Rd PO Box 1035
Oshkesh WI 54904 Westboreugh MAOl581 414231-5CX)2 EfJ8836-1911
Philip Coulson George Daubner 28415 Springbreek Dr 2448 Leugh Lane
Lawten MI 49065 Hartferd WI 53027 616624~90 414673-5885
Charles Harris Stan Gomoll 3933 South Peeria 1042 90th Lane NE PO Box 904038 Minneapelis MN 55434 Tulsa OK 74105 612784-1172 918742-7311
Dale A Gustafson Jeannie Hill 7724 Shady Hill Drive PO Bex 328
Indianapelis IN 46278 HaNard IL 60033 317293-4430 815943-7205
Robert lickteig Robert D Bob Lumley 1708 Bay Oaks Drive 1265 South 124th St
Albert Lea MN 56007 Breekfield WI 53005 EfJ7373-2922 414782-2633
Gene Morris George S York 115C Steve Ceurt RR2 181 Siobeda Ave
Reaneke TX 76262 Mansfield OH 44906 817491-9110 419529-4378
SH Wes Schmid 2359 Lefeber Avenue Wauwatesa WI 53213
414771-1545
DIRECTOR EMERITUS SJ Wittman
7200 SE 85th Lane Ocala FL 32672
904245-7768
ADVISORS Jimmy Rollison
823 Carrien Circle Winters CA 95694-1665
916795-4334
Dean Richardson Geoff Robison 6701 Celeny Drive 1521 E MacGreger Dr Madisen WI 53717 New Haven IN 46774
608833-1291 219493-4724
February 1992 bull Vol 20 No2
Copyright copy 1992 by the EM AntiqueClassic Division Inc All rights reseNed
Contents
2 Straight amp Levelby Espie Butch Joyce
4 Aeromail
4 AIC News
6 Vintage Literaturefby Dennis Parks Page 6
10 A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkoshby William C Phelps
12 Bill Watsons KR-31fby HG Frautschy
16 What Our Members Are Restoring by Norm Petersen
18 Porterfields Threefby Norm Petersen
22 The First Ford Reliability Tourl Page 12
by Jim Haynes
27 Calendar
28 Pass It To Buck
30 Welcome New Members
31 Vintage Trader
34 Mystery Plane
FRONT COVER AII the way ever the mountains frem Califernia Lerey Blums spunky Perterfield CP-65 nicknamed Sweet p Fieldmiddot bull circles ever a Wiscensin ceuntry read during EAA Oshkesh 91 Pheto by Carl Schuppel shet with a Canen EOS-l equipped with an 80-200 lens 125Oth at f56 using Kodachreme 64 Phete plane flewn by Buck Hilbert
BACK COVER The Flye( a pastel werk by artist Pamela Patrick captures the fascination of a yeung bey as he hears a Beechcraft Staggerwing takeoff in the celd sharp air of winter Pamela can be centacted at Pamela Patrick Studie and Gallery 123 East State SI Kennett Square PA 19348 Limited editien prints are available of this artwerk
The words EM ULTRALIGHT FLY WITH THE FIRST TEAM SPORT AVIATION and the logos of EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION INC EAA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION EAAANTIOUEJCLASSIC DIVISION INCINTERNATIONALAEROBATIC CLUB INC WARBIRDS OF AMERICA INC are registered trademarks THE EAA SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION INC and EAA ULTRALIGHT CONVENTION are trademarks of the above associations and heir use by any person other than the above associations is stric1fy prohibited
Editorial Policy Readers are encouraged to submtt stories and photographs Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors Responsibility for aocuracy in reponing rests entirely with the oontributor Material should be sent to Editor The VINTAGE AIRPLANE PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 549Q33086 Phone 4144264800
The VINTAGE AIRPLANE (SSN 0091-6943) is pubiished and owned excfusively by EAA AntiqueClassic Division Inc of the Experimenlal Aircraft Association Inc and is published monthly at EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 549Q33086 Seoond Class Postage paid al Oshkosh WI 54901 and additional mailing officesThe membership rale for EAA AntiqueClassic Division Inc is $2QOQ for currenl EAA members for 12 month period of which $12OQ is for the publication of The VINTAGE AIRPLANE Membership is open 10 all who are interested in aviation
ADVERTISINGmiddot AntiqueClassic Division does not guarantee or endorse any product onered through our advertising We invite oonstructive criticism and welcome any report of interior merohandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken
POSTMASTER Send address cIlanges to EAA AntiqueClassic Division Inc PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 549Q33086
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3
Sirs Ref December 1991 Vintage
Airplane page 13 Harold Armstrongs Pitcairn PA-4 Fleetwing II It is a great sequel to the article in the November Sport Aviation
Describing how Harold scrounged for parts recalls a particular scrounge mission he conducted while we were both stationed at Langley AFB V A in 1963 I kept my Taperwing Waco CTO N845V there and Harold flew it once He was on C-130s and during a trip to Rapid City SD he visited a trade school and discovered an OX-5 engine comshyplete except for the cut away cylinder and a hand crank welded to the shaft to demonstrate it the the students
Discovering that the instructor would sell it as it did not match any modem engine system especially the valve acshytion he asked what he would sell it for for his Waco 10 he was rebuilding How about $150 bucks It was all
Harold could do to keep from falling on the floor He put it in to the cargo hold of the C-130 and hauled it back to Langley before the guy could change his mind To this day he still harbors a guilt
complex but is consoled by his wife Marthas evaluation She thinks he paid too much for it Sam Burgess San Antonio TX (AfC 1369)
OSHKOSH91DATESSET Mark your calendars and start
making plans for EAA Oshkosh 92 This year the Convention will be held July 31 - August 6 1992 This will be the 40th Anniversary of the EAA Conshyvention and several special events are planned to recognize this significant milestone Also a new Youth Forums tent will be on the convention site featuring programs designed to fire up the imaginations of young aviation enshythusiasts One of the first activities to be announced is the planned tribute to the late Al Williams known to many airshow fans in the 30s and 40s as the 4 FEBRUARY 1992
compiled by HG Frautschy
pilot of the famous Gulfhawk series of airplanes he flew in airshow perforshymances all over the United States
To help you plan your visit look for a tentative Forums schedule will be included in your May copy of SPORT A VIATION1t should be noted that this will be a preliminary schedule and could be subject to change by the time the Convention rolls around but should be a great help in planning your trip to EAAs Gateway To Aviation
If you have additional questions or would like to volunteer during Convenshytion week call EAA headquarters at 414426-4800
EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS
During 1992 the EAA Aviation Foundation will again offer an extenshysive scholarship program to students inshyterested in pursuing a career in aviation
The Foundations scholarship has helped more than 100 students pursue aviation related studies allowing aspirshying pilots mechanics engineers and a growing number of other professionals to realize their goals of a career in aviashytion
The goal of the Foundations Scholarship Program is to encourage recognize and support excellence in
pursuit of knowledge in aviation techshynologies and skills explains Chuck Larsen the EAA Foundations Educashytion Director Annual scholarships have provided assistance to deserving individuals who demonstrate a financial need in order to accomplish their aviashytion-related goals
The awards can range from modest grants to a full four-year degree programs They are open to all young people interested in aviation careers Applicants should be well rounded inshydividuals involved in school and comshymunity activities as well as aviation Their academic record should show an ability to successfully complete their chosen academic pursuit For more inshyformation and an application contact the office of the EAA Aviation Foundashytion Education Department EAA A viashytion Center PO Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065 or call 4144888 or 426-4800
Applications must be received by April 1 1992
PIONEER AIRPORT UPDATE Plans are being made for the upcomshy
ing season at Pioneer Airport located behind the EAA Air Adventure Museum in Oshkosh WI Although the ground work for the new runway has now stopped due to the winter weather progress has been made in grading and leveling the runway and it is anticipated that the new runway can be made ready for seeding as soon as the spring weather allows the field to dry out sufficiently to allow heavy earth moving equipment in to finalize the grass strips surface Dont let that deter you from visiting Pioneer Airport early this summer however Fly-bys of vintage airplanes including the Ford Trimotor and newly restored Travel Air 4000 will take place during the entire season even if the planes must be flown off of the adjacent Wittman Field until the grass has grown nice and thick on the new runway at Pioneer The Ford will again be offering you the chance to experience commercial aviashytion in its infancy with a ride in its corrugated cabin Its a chance you would hate to miss The just completed Travel Air 4000 will be used to demonstrate the technique of banner towing Opening weekend is scheduled for May 9th Well have more on scheduled events in later issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE
BUZZS ROBIN Jim Haynes of Bushnell II sent us
note to point out something that we missed during our coverage of Buzz Kaplans Curtiss Robin in the October issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE Jim is the proprietor of the Robins Nest a newsletter devoted to the Curtiss Robin Jim mentioned in his letter that this parshyticular antique airplane has what was a rare feature even when the airplane was new - it has a door on the left side of the cabin Most Robins were delivered with a door on the right side of the airplane As far as Jim has been able to determine this type of change was not done on the Curtiss assembly line Acshycording to Jim this type of door instalshylation was done on special request normally in conjunction with the airplane being equipped for floats Acshycording to Gary Underland Buzzs chief mechanic the J6-5 Robin they restored came with the left door instalshylation Thats quite fortunate since Gary and Buzz are now working on installing the Robin on Edo P-2525 floats A photo of the door is shown here in AIC News Jim also wrote to tell us that the only Robin on floats at this time is N76H originally a C-l with a Challenger engine It is located at the Alaska Aviation Museum on Lake Hood AK As far as he knows that aircraft does not have a left side door Later research by Norm Petersen turned up a photo of Douglas Corrigans Robin which apparently had a left side door
DOROTHY WEICK 1900 -1991 Dorothy Weick wife of Ercoupe
Buzz Kaplans Robin features a very rare left side door How can you spot a left door from the right side look for the step on the opposite side
designer and esteemed aeronautical enshygineer Fred Weick passed away November 17 at the age of 91 Fred and Dorothy have been fixtures at Ercoupe fly-ins throughout the years enjoying the friendships that have been built around the various airplanes that Fred designed Dorothy was an active memshyber of her community and she was also Freds active partner in much of the flying they did in the last half of her life A private pilot she enjoyed flying all over the country with Fred and accomshypanied him on many trips Our conshydolences are extended to Fred and his family as well as the Ercoupe family on the passing of Dorothy Weick
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5
by ()enni~ ()ark~
~ Library Anhive~ ()irect()r
Daniel Guggenheim International Safe Airplane Competition
One of the more interesting apshyproaches to improving the safety of aircraft in the late 1920s was the Intershynational Safe Aircraft Competition promoted by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund This effort led to some important technical innovations which enabled aircraft to land and take off at slower speeds and in shorter distances
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics was formed in January 1926 with deeds of a gift from Mr Daniel Guggenheim totalling $2500000 of which both interest and principle were to be expended The purshy
pose of the fund was to promote aeronautical education throughout the country to assist in the extension of aeronautical science and to further the development of commercial aircraft particularly in its use as a regular means of transportation both of goods and people
The board of trustees included Charshyles A Lindbergh and Orville Wright Probably its most well-known venture was in sponsoring Lindberghs tour of the United States with the Spirit of St Louis after his return from Europe The fund also felt that so little interest was
being shown in passenger flying at the end of 1927 that it funded the purchase of Western Air Express Fokker Trimotors to operate between Los Anshygeles and San Francisco In February 1930 the fund was liquidated its purshyposes having been declared acshycomplished
On April 20 1927 the Guggenheim Fund announced the Safe Aircraft Comshypetition The object of the competition was to achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heavier-than-air craft without sacrific-
The Safe Aircraft Competition Officials (Standing left to right) Prof Alexander Klemin Maj E E Aldrin (Astronaut Buzz Aldrins father) Capt Em~ry S Land William P MacCracken Jr Milbourn Kusterer Dr George W Lewis Edward P Warner Thomas Carroll (Kneeling left to right) Capt Walter Bender KF Rupert FK Teichman Lt Stanley Umstead EW Rounds Prof William G Brown 6 FEBRUARY 1992
S~me of the test equipment used during the testing Lett Short amp Mason Anemometer Right Barr amp Stroud Ltd Suspended Air-Log
ing the good practical qualities of the present-day aircraft
As an incentive to the development and construction of an aircraft having characteristics which would fulfill the conditions laid down by the rules comshymittee the fund offered a First Prize of $100000 and five Safety Prizes of $10000 Applications were invited on and after September 1 1927 up to Ocshytober 31 1929 as a final date
It was expected that aircraft entered in the competition would be presented from time to time during the two year period and it was considered that the object of the competition might be achieved before the final date in which case the fund intended to close the comshypetition Moreover if the entries were presented throughout the period of the competition the officials would be able to conduct tests under favorable weather and field conditions
This did not prove to be the case as the first airplane was not presented until the end of August 1929 and practically all of the competitors presented their entries in the last month of the competishytion October 1929 The tests were carshyried out but weather and field conditions were not favorable and it was not possible to complete all the tests as desired
RECEPTION
The idea of a safety plane competishytion received wide coverage in the aviashytion press with over 30 articles listed in the Brockets Bibliography of Aeronautics The earliest coverage was provided in the May 9 1927 issue of A VIA TION which reported on the dinshy
ner given at the Yale Club in New York City where Harry F Guggenheim anshynounced the competition
Guggenheim said of the purpose of the event The average mans attitude toward air travel today is still very skepshytical He is interested in reading of flying exploits and glad when his countrys airmen set new records and probably regards with mild resentment the reported superior aeronautical progress of other nations But in the back of his mind lurks a deep-seated reluctance to trust that most elusive of the elements - air The fury of torshynadoes ashore or typhoons at sea for some reason holds less terror for him than the paradoxical business of defying gravity with heavier-than-air machines He may send letters by airmail but he prefers to let someone else do the flying
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund has recognized from the outset that any efshyfort to make air traffic an integral part of our national commercial life must first reduce and as nearly as possible entirely overcome the popular skepshyticism of air transportation As a funshydamental step in its educational program the Fund hereby announces a Safe Aircraft Competition by which it hopes not only to demonstrate that airplane travel is basically as safe as railway and steamship travel but to stimulate scientific investigation and practical invention into evolving new devices and principles whereby air travel will convert even the most conshyfirmed skeptics and will take its place in our lives as the fleetest cleanest and safest of the three recognized modes of travel today
The object of the Competition is to
achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heaviershythan-air craft without sacrificing the good practical qualities of present-day aircraft The whole development of aeronautics in the past decade has been greatly influenced by the exigencies of war Safety is a civilian rather than a war-time need and for commerical purshyposes must be made of importance surshypassing that of war requirements which are sometimes bought at the price of danger
POPULAR AVIATION
The December 1927 issue of POPULAR A VIA TION reported For the first time in the history of aviation concerted efforts are now being made by manufacturers and designers to secure the essential elements of safety upon which the future success in aerial transportation depends The solution of this problem which is the goal of the Safe-Aircraft Competition is a matter of international importance The parshyticipation of foreign experts is sigshynificant of an international effort to overcome the supreme obstacle in the path of aerial progress
They went on to say The Guggenshyheim Fund sensed the public demand for safety before it was formulated in protests and the Competition is the result of a careful working out of basic safety principles that will be required by the public in airplanes
FLIGHT
The June 16 1927 editorial of the British publication FLIGHT had the folshylowing comments
One might well describe as the first serious attempt to achieve real progress in safe flying the Daniel Guggenheim Safe-Aircraft Competition which is to be held near New York during the next two years In fact so difficult are the conditions to be fulfilled that cynics have remarked that aircraft built for the competition will certainly be safe since they will not leave the ground
While this is admittedly a considershyable overstatement of the case there is no denying that the aeroplane as we know it to-day will be hard put to comshyply with the regulations and yet be capable of carrying any payload (as disshytinct from the usefulload as specified in the regulations)
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
No aeroplane as we know it today will have much chance in the competishytion To begin with a speed range of 35 to 110 mph will put the designer on his mettle apart from any other considerashytion Add to this the fact that he is restricted in power to carry 5 Ib per hp usefulload in addition to the weight of the machine and one is faced with quite a pretty little problem
Competition closes in 1929 and frankly we doubt whether even by then a machine will be produced that can fulfill the qualifying requirements let alone have any hopes of scoring points by extra performance pound20000 is a very handsome prize but it will cost a firm a good deal more than that to produce a machine that shall have even a small chance of succeeding
Despite the doubts listed above the October 13 1927 issue of FLIGHT anshynounced that five British firms had entered the competition From a British point of view the number of entries already made is particularly gratifying as it is a clear indication that the vital importance of achieving safety in flying has been fully realized in this country
8 FEBRUARY 1992
Weighing the Curtiss Tanager
REQUIREMENTS
The qualifying requirements inshycluded the following as taken from the December 1929 issue of POPULAR AVIATION
Power Plant The engine must be of a type that has been submitted to tests and cannot be hand cranked by directly pulling on the propellers
Structural Strength Must be in acshycordance with the requirements of the U S Department of Commerce Regulashytions
Performance The aircraft must have a maximum speed of 110 mph have a rate of climb of 400 feet per minute
Useful Load The airplane must carry 5 pounds of useful load (pilot observer fuel and oil included) per horsepower
Accomodation For every ten pounds of useful load carried the airplane shall provide at least one cubic foot of cabin or cargo space
DEMONSTRATIONS The tests and demonstrations to
which each aircraft were to be subshy
mitted included Speed Tests With the object of
demonstrating the ability to fly and glide at lower speeds than today posshysible and to reduce the risk involved in forced landings and when landing in confined spaces each aircraft will be required to maintain level and controlshyled flight at a speed not in excess of 35 mph It must be able to glide for a period of 3 minutes with the power off without having an airspeed exceed 38 mph All controls must be operative at the minimum speeds
Landing Tests To demonstrate the ability of the aircraft to land in a small field it must land with power off and come to a rest within a distance of 100 feet from where it first touched the ground Landing must be made in a straight line and braking devices are permitted The aircraft must be able to make a steady glide in over an obstrucshytion 35 feet high and land in a straight line with power off and come to rest within a distance of 300 feet from the base of the obstruction
Takeoff Tests With the object of demonstrating that the airplane can take off from a small field and can climb at
bull
The observation towers set up for the tests at Mitchell Field on Long Island New York The Consolidated PT-3 on the right side of the field was not part of the competition
a steep angle to clear obstructions the aircraft must be able to take off after running not more than 300 feet from a standing start After taking off the aircraft must be able to clear an obstrucshytion 35 feet high at a distance of 500 feet from the starting line
Stability Tests With the object of demonstrating the stability of the aircraft under normal conditions and to show that it will return to normal flight attitude when the controls are left free the aircraft must be able to fly at any air speed from 45 to 100 mph and at any throttle opening with all controls left free for a period of not less than 5 minutes in gusty air
There were also many abnormal conshydition tests among which were
The aircraft will be required to show that if the elevator control is pulled in toward its maximum extent at the moshyment of switching off the power and held there the aircraft will not get into any dangerous maneuvers and that it will descend on a steep glide path at a speed not to exceed 40 mph
The aircraft will be dived with all power switched off until the air speed reaches 20 percent above maxi urn level
flying speed At this speed it must answer all controls and with controls released it must of its own accord return to a steady gliding attitude without serious loss of height
AWARD OF THE PRIZE
Points were to be awarded to the aircraft meeting the contest requireshyments They were awarded as follows
L Speed Tests (a) 2 points for every mph less than
35 mph at which level controlled flight can be maintained
(b) 4 points for every mph less than 38 mph which is not exceeded in a steady controlled glide during a period of three minutes
(c) Any aircraft which obtains a combined total of at least 24 points under tests (a) and (b) will be eligible to receive points for high speed in excess of 110 mph as follows 1 point for every 2 mph in excess of 110 mph at which level flight can be maintained
2 Tests of Landing Run 2 points for every 3 ft less than 100
ft in coming to rest after first touching the ground
3 Landing in a Confined Space 1 point for every 2 f1 less than 300 f1
from the base of an obstruction 35 ft high in coming to rest after gliding in over obstruction
4 Test of Take-Off 1 point for ever 15 f1 less than 300 f1
required to take off from standing start 1 point for every 10 ft less than 500
ft to clear obstruction 35 ft high from a standing start
ENTRIES
A total of 27 entries were received in the competition but only 15 airplanes appeared at Mitchell Field where the tests were conducted Of these 15 three withdrew without tests two sustained damages in preliminary flying which prevented their presentation within the time limit and eight failed to pass all of the qualifying requirements
Only two airplanes one of which failed to pass a minor qualifying reshyquirement exhibited attributes which warranted completion of the safety tests and demonstrations
- Next month the results of the competition ___
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkosh
A veteran pilot and instructor learns youre never too experienced to make an error in judgment
As a born instructor I feel that each of my negative experiences should be used to save someone else from the same mistakes I make even when it may be to my own embarrassment Bear in mind that I have been a flight and ground school instructor since 1951 with eight log books of flight time So youre never so experienced as to not do a dumb thing Here is my story
After a later-than-intended takeoff from Cameron Park California (near Sacramento) we had to make our first layover in Elko Nevada During the night I woke up from a dream that caused me to make the decision to stay there until I discovered what made this particular taildragger so squirrely during each landing roll After all the 10 FEBRUARY 1992
by William C Phelps (NC 11371)
old 1930 WACO advertising boasts that the NFs were the easiest planes to fly and KNFs were specifically sold to be economical training ships for solo stushydents So why is this KNF the most demanding airplane to land of any taildragger I have been qualified in
The next day my AampP (passenger) and I rounded up the things we needed to lift the weight offof the right side oleo strut in order to take it off for an inspecshytion We borrowed the use of the mainshytenance hangars solvent cleaning table and took the strut apart
Out of curiosity the shop owner came over to have a look and almost immediately announced This strut doesnt match that drawing you have there in the airplane manual He
pointed out that the oleo action had been ruined by someone who had drilled out the oil passage restriction orifice at the bottom of the piston from 316th inch to about 58th inch and had further modified it by replacing the one-way oil return cup washer with an 0 ring
Well to anyone with enough schoolshying on the subject of oleos and their functional purpose when they are specifically engineered into the design of an airplane especially a taildragger (or your automobile) knows that when they are not functioning its a no-go item on that planes check list (But who has a check list for a 1930 WACO KNF) I do have that schooling in my background so its a sad commentary on my judgment that I decided to put the
strut back together and to proceed to Oshkosh I thought After all I have been able to control it through many previous landings though with great difficulty That was mistake 1
But then we made the next mistake The cleaning solvent had attacked the rubshyber oleo seal at the top of the strut and though the compression cap was tightened as far as it would go it still leaked oil past the seal So we searched the town to fmd another seal None of the right size in Elko of course but we found an 0 ring of a diameter that could be laid on top of the bad seal to make it more squashable That sealed the leak okay and then to test the flexibility of the strut we alternately lifted and pulled down on the outboard wing N struts It appeared to function like it did before we began tinkering with it which is the best we could hope for
After all that it was a hot windy 300 PM with thunderstorms to the east so we settled on staying in Elko another night
The next morning we were in the air at sunup During the pre-landing check near Wendover Utah I looked over the sides of the cockpit to see the struts The right one had not extended after lift off It was stuck in the same place as when the plane was at rest on the ground with about 2 inches of piston exposed The seal must have swollen more during the night and I didnt retest the action during the preflight The left strut was extended a full 9 inches as it should be but assuming it was modified the same as the right one it has no oleo action Oh oh A rigid right strut and a free springing no shoc k absorption left strut will lead to no good
I let the passenger know that it would pull hard to the right under those cirshycumstances and I mentally reviewed the extra efforts necessary to compensate for the problem keep a little power on
for rudder effectiveness and the benefit of P factor dont hesitate to use left brake as necessary My three years of Air Force T -6 flight instructor exshyperience came back fast
On landing I was able to prevent a ground loop but we still rolled off of the right edge of the runway even with FULL left brake application When the wheels hit the soft dirt it all came to an abrupt stop right there - upside down
We were fastened in good and tight
When the wheels hit the soft dirt
it all came to an abrupt stop right there shy
upside down
and thanks to the Lord who gave me presence of mind to command my passhysenger Dont do NOT unfasten your seat belt Let it out slowly Thereby neither of us got a scratch or even a stiff muscle out of the wreck
The nice thing is that I had bought 18 days of in-flight hull coverage for the trip COST $4020 for $31000 worth The bad thing is I didnt buy $60000 They want to declare your plane a total loss at 70 percent of the face value of your policy Call your A VEMCO agent to increase your coverage NOW There is an estimated $21900 (or more and I have to pay everything over $21500) substantial damage With that name tag the FAANTSB got into the act right away
To retain my tickets I had to take a FAA administered (NOT a designated
examiner) oral exam and check flight By my own choice I took it out of Salt Lake International (unfamiliar to me) in a plane I only fly once every two years for the BFR I did not take time to cram for the oral or to practice in the airplane I had to perform all maneuvers he called for to the standards of the highest certificate I held and since the inspector knew I had taught ATP for 20 years I felt he expected a lot When he made the entries in my log book he added the comment Excellent flight Its hard for anyone to imagine how devastated a pilot feels after a major accident so that certainly gave me an exonerated feeling relative to my flying knowledge and abilities Some satisshyfaction at least in view of the airplane being (probably) a total loss
Nevertheless I get a pilot error on my record basically as a result of not grounding my plane back in Elko when I became aware of the shock strut probshylem It was an easy-to-forget responshysibility especially when I wanted to get to Oshkosh so badly Let this be a lesshyson to everyone who owns a plane Its easier to find fault with and ground a rented plane than your own Also be aware that when you buy any used plane you may well expect that someshyone has made unwise and unapproved alterations
Oh yes youve been waiting for the funny thing Well I had a half gallon plastic milk bottle (for in-flight relief) jammed between the sheet metal of the front seat and the fuselage tubing aft of that After the dust settled I was removshying the bottle from the cockpit (upsideshydown remember) and the cap popped off Yes I had used it enroute a couple of times and yes that stuff does not make good hair conditioner (makes your eyes burn too) and yes I had to wear the same shirt the rest of the day
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
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SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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February 1992 bull Vol 20 No2
Copyright copy 1992 by the EM AntiqueClassic Division Inc All rights reseNed
Contents
2 Straight amp Levelby Espie Butch Joyce
4 Aeromail
4 AIC News
6 Vintage Literaturefby Dennis Parks Page 6
10 A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkoshby William C Phelps
12 Bill Watsons KR-31fby HG Frautschy
16 What Our Members Are Restoring by Norm Petersen
18 Porterfields Threefby Norm Petersen
22 The First Ford Reliability Tourl Page 12
by Jim Haynes
27 Calendar
28 Pass It To Buck
30 Welcome New Members
31 Vintage Trader
34 Mystery Plane
FRONT COVER AII the way ever the mountains frem Califernia Lerey Blums spunky Perterfield CP-65 nicknamed Sweet p Fieldmiddot bull circles ever a Wiscensin ceuntry read during EAA Oshkesh 91 Pheto by Carl Schuppel shet with a Canen EOS-l equipped with an 80-200 lens 125Oth at f56 using Kodachreme 64 Phete plane flewn by Buck Hilbert
BACK COVER The Flye( a pastel werk by artist Pamela Patrick captures the fascination of a yeung bey as he hears a Beechcraft Staggerwing takeoff in the celd sharp air of winter Pamela can be centacted at Pamela Patrick Studie and Gallery 123 East State SI Kennett Square PA 19348 Limited editien prints are available of this artwerk
The words EM ULTRALIGHT FLY WITH THE FIRST TEAM SPORT AVIATION and the logos of EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION INC EAA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION EAAANTIOUEJCLASSIC DIVISION INCINTERNATIONALAEROBATIC CLUB INC WARBIRDS OF AMERICA INC are registered trademarks THE EAA SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION INC and EAA ULTRALIGHT CONVENTION are trademarks of the above associations and heir use by any person other than the above associations is stric1fy prohibited
Editorial Policy Readers are encouraged to submtt stories and photographs Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors Responsibility for aocuracy in reponing rests entirely with the oontributor Material should be sent to Editor The VINTAGE AIRPLANE PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 549Q33086 Phone 4144264800
The VINTAGE AIRPLANE (SSN 0091-6943) is pubiished and owned excfusively by EAA AntiqueClassic Division Inc of the Experimenlal Aircraft Association Inc and is published monthly at EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 549Q33086 Seoond Class Postage paid al Oshkosh WI 54901 and additional mailing officesThe membership rale for EAA AntiqueClassic Division Inc is $2QOQ for currenl EAA members for 12 month period of which $12OQ is for the publication of The VINTAGE AIRPLANE Membership is open 10 all who are interested in aviation
ADVERTISINGmiddot AntiqueClassic Division does not guarantee or endorse any product onered through our advertising We invite oonstructive criticism and welcome any report of interior merohandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken
POSTMASTER Send address cIlanges to EAA AntiqueClassic Division Inc PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 549Q33086
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3
Sirs Ref December 1991 Vintage
Airplane page 13 Harold Armstrongs Pitcairn PA-4 Fleetwing II It is a great sequel to the article in the November Sport Aviation
Describing how Harold scrounged for parts recalls a particular scrounge mission he conducted while we were both stationed at Langley AFB V A in 1963 I kept my Taperwing Waco CTO N845V there and Harold flew it once He was on C-130s and during a trip to Rapid City SD he visited a trade school and discovered an OX-5 engine comshyplete except for the cut away cylinder and a hand crank welded to the shaft to demonstrate it the the students
Discovering that the instructor would sell it as it did not match any modem engine system especially the valve acshytion he asked what he would sell it for for his Waco 10 he was rebuilding How about $150 bucks It was all
Harold could do to keep from falling on the floor He put it in to the cargo hold of the C-130 and hauled it back to Langley before the guy could change his mind To this day he still harbors a guilt
complex but is consoled by his wife Marthas evaluation She thinks he paid too much for it Sam Burgess San Antonio TX (AfC 1369)
OSHKOSH91DATESSET Mark your calendars and start
making plans for EAA Oshkosh 92 This year the Convention will be held July 31 - August 6 1992 This will be the 40th Anniversary of the EAA Conshyvention and several special events are planned to recognize this significant milestone Also a new Youth Forums tent will be on the convention site featuring programs designed to fire up the imaginations of young aviation enshythusiasts One of the first activities to be announced is the planned tribute to the late Al Williams known to many airshow fans in the 30s and 40s as the 4 FEBRUARY 1992
compiled by HG Frautschy
pilot of the famous Gulfhawk series of airplanes he flew in airshow perforshymances all over the United States
To help you plan your visit look for a tentative Forums schedule will be included in your May copy of SPORT A VIATION1t should be noted that this will be a preliminary schedule and could be subject to change by the time the Convention rolls around but should be a great help in planning your trip to EAAs Gateway To Aviation
If you have additional questions or would like to volunteer during Convenshytion week call EAA headquarters at 414426-4800
EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS
During 1992 the EAA Aviation Foundation will again offer an extenshysive scholarship program to students inshyterested in pursuing a career in aviation
The Foundations scholarship has helped more than 100 students pursue aviation related studies allowing aspirshying pilots mechanics engineers and a growing number of other professionals to realize their goals of a career in aviashytion
The goal of the Foundations Scholarship Program is to encourage recognize and support excellence in
pursuit of knowledge in aviation techshynologies and skills explains Chuck Larsen the EAA Foundations Educashytion Director Annual scholarships have provided assistance to deserving individuals who demonstrate a financial need in order to accomplish their aviashytion-related goals
The awards can range from modest grants to a full four-year degree programs They are open to all young people interested in aviation careers Applicants should be well rounded inshydividuals involved in school and comshymunity activities as well as aviation Their academic record should show an ability to successfully complete their chosen academic pursuit For more inshyformation and an application contact the office of the EAA Aviation Foundashytion Education Department EAA A viashytion Center PO Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065 or call 4144888 or 426-4800
Applications must be received by April 1 1992
PIONEER AIRPORT UPDATE Plans are being made for the upcomshy
ing season at Pioneer Airport located behind the EAA Air Adventure Museum in Oshkosh WI Although the ground work for the new runway has now stopped due to the winter weather progress has been made in grading and leveling the runway and it is anticipated that the new runway can be made ready for seeding as soon as the spring weather allows the field to dry out sufficiently to allow heavy earth moving equipment in to finalize the grass strips surface Dont let that deter you from visiting Pioneer Airport early this summer however Fly-bys of vintage airplanes including the Ford Trimotor and newly restored Travel Air 4000 will take place during the entire season even if the planes must be flown off of the adjacent Wittman Field until the grass has grown nice and thick on the new runway at Pioneer The Ford will again be offering you the chance to experience commercial aviashytion in its infancy with a ride in its corrugated cabin Its a chance you would hate to miss The just completed Travel Air 4000 will be used to demonstrate the technique of banner towing Opening weekend is scheduled for May 9th Well have more on scheduled events in later issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE
BUZZS ROBIN Jim Haynes of Bushnell II sent us
note to point out something that we missed during our coverage of Buzz Kaplans Curtiss Robin in the October issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE Jim is the proprietor of the Robins Nest a newsletter devoted to the Curtiss Robin Jim mentioned in his letter that this parshyticular antique airplane has what was a rare feature even when the airplane was new - it has a door on the left side of the cabin Most Robins were delivered with a door on the right side of the airplane As far as Jim has been able to determine this type of change was not done on the Curtiss assembly line Acshycording to Jim this type of door instalshylation was done on special request normally in conjunction with the airplane being equipped for floats Acshycording to Gary Underland Buzzs chief mechanic the J6-5 Robin they restored came with the left door instalshylation Thats quite fortunate since Gary and Buzz are now working on installing the Robin on Edo P-2525 floats A photo of the door is shown here in AIC News Jim also wrote to tell us that the only Robin on floats at this time is N76H originally a C-l with a Challenger engine It is located at the Alaska Aviation Museum on Lake Hood AK As far as he knows that aircraft does not have a left side door Later research by Norm Petersen turned up a photo of Douglas Corrigans Robin which apparently had a left side door
DOROTHY WEICK 1900 -1991 Dorothy Weick wife of Ercoupe
Buzz Kaplans Robin features a very rare left side door How can you spot a left door from the right side look for the step on the opposite side
designer and esteemed aeronautical enshygineer Fred Weick passed away November 17 at the age of 91 Fred and Dorothy have been fixtures at Ercoupe fly-ins throughout the years enjoying the friendships that have been built around the various airplanes that Fred designed Dorothy was an active memshyber of her community and she was also Freds active partner in much of the flying they did in the last half of her life A private pilot she enjoyed flying all over the country with Fred and accomshypanied him on many trips Our conshydolences are extended to Fred and his family as well as the Ercoupe family on the passing of Dorothy Weick
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5
by ()enni~ ()ark~
~ Library Anhive~ ()irect()r
Daniel Guggenheim International Safe Airplane Competition
One of the more interesting apshyproaches to improving the safety of aircraft in the late 1920s was the Intershynational Safe Aircraft Competition promoted by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund This effort led to some important technical innovations which enabled aircraft to land and take off at slower speeds and in shorter distances
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics was formed in January 1926 with deeds of a gift from Mr Daniel Guggenheim totalling $2500000 of which both interest and principle were to be expended The purshy
pose of the fund was to promote aeronautical education throughout the country to assist in the extension of aeronautical science and to further the development of commercial aircraft particularly in its use as a regular means of transportation both of goods and people
The board of trustees included Charshyles A Lindbergh and Orville Wright Probably its most well-known venture was in sponsoring Lindberghs tour of the United States with the Spirit of St Louis after his return from Europe The fund also felt that so little interest was
being shown in passenger flying at the end of 1927 that it funded the purchase of Western Air Express Fokker Trimotors to operate between Los Anshygeles and San Francisco In February 1930 the fund was liquidated its purshyposes having been declared acshycomplished
On April 20 1927 the Guggenheim Fund announced the Safe Aircraft Comshypetition The object of the competition was to achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heavier-than-air craft without sacrific-
The Safe Aircraft Competition Officials (Standing left to right) Prof Alexander Klemin Maj E E Aldrin (Astronaut Buzz Aldrins father) Capt Em~ry S Land William P MacCracken Jr Milbourn Kusterer Dr George W Lewis Edward P Warner Thomas Carroll (Kneeling left to right) Capt Walter Bender KF Rupert FK Teichman Lt Stanley Umstead EW Rounds Prof William G Brown 6 FEBRUARY 1992
S~me of the test equipment used during the testing Lett Short amp Mason Anemometer Right Barr amp Stroud Ltd Suspended Air-Log
ing the good practical qualities of the present-day aircraft
As an incentive to the development and construction of an aircraft having characteristics which would fulfill the conditions laid down by the rules comshymittee the fund offered a First Prize of $100000 and five Safety Prizes of $10000 Applications were invited on and after September 1 1927 up to Ocshytober 31 1929 as a final date
It was expected that aircraft entered in the competition would be presented from time to time during the two year period and it was considered that the object of the competition might be achieved before the final date in which case the fund intended to close the comshypetition Moreover if the entries were presented throughout the period of the competition the officials would be able to conduct tests under favorable weather and field conditions
This did not prove to be the case as the first airplane was not presented until the end of August 1929 and practically all of the competitors presented their entries in the last month of the competishytion October 1929 The tests were carshyried out but weather and field conditions were not favorable and it was not possible to complete all the tests as desired
RECEPTION
The idea of a safety plane competishytion received wide coverage in the aviashytion press with over 30 articles listed in the Brockets Bibliography of Aeronautics The earliest coverage was provided in the May 9 1927 issue of A VIA TION which reported on the dinshy
ner given at the Yale Club in New York City where Harry F Guggenheim anshynounced the competition
Guggenheim said of the purpose of the event The average mans attitude toward air travel today is still very skepshytical He is interested in reading of flying exploits and glad when his countrys airmen set new records and probably regards with mild resentment the reported superior aeronautical progress of other nations But in the back of his mind lurks a deep-seated reluctance to trust that most elusive of the elements - air The fury of torshynadoes ashore or typhoons at sea for some reason holds less terror for him than the paradoxical business of defying gravity with heavier-than-air machines He may send letters by airmail but he prefers to let someone else do the flying
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund has recognized from the outset that any efshyfort to make air traffic an integral part of our national commercial life must first reduce and as nearly as possible entirely overcome the popular skepshyticism of air transportation As a funshydamental step in its educational program the Fund hereby announces a Safe Aircraft Competition by which it hopes not only to demonstrate that airplane travel is basically as safe as railway and steamship travel but to stimulate scientific investigation and practical invention into evolving new devices and principles whereby air travel will convert even the most conshyfirmed skeptics and will take its place in our lives as the fleetest cleanest and safest of the three recognized modes of travel today
The object of the Competition is to
achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heaviershythan-air craft without sacrificing the good practical qualities of present-day aircraft The whole development of aeronautics in the past decade has been greatly influenced by the exigencies of war Safety is a civilian rather than a war-time need and for commerical purshyposes must be made of importance surshypassing that of war requirements which are sometimes bought at the price of danger
POPULAR AVIATION
The December 1927 issue of POPULAR A VIA TION reported For the first time in the history of aviation concerted efforts are now being made by manufacturers and designers to secure the essential elements of safety upon which the future success in aerial transportation depends The solution of this problem which is the goal of the Safe-Aircraft Competition is a matter of international importance The parshyticipation of foreign experts is sigshynificant of an international effort to overcome the supreme obstacle in the path of aerial progress
They went on to say The Guggenshyheim Fund sensed the public demand for safety before it was formulated in protests and the Competition is the result of a careful working out of basic safety principles that will be required by the public in airplanes
FLIGHT
The June 16 1927 editorial of the British publication FLIGHT had the folshylowing comments
One might well describe as the first serious attempt to achieve real progress in safe flying the Daniel Guggenheim Safe-Aircraft Competition which is to be held near New York during the next two years In fact so difficult are the conditions to be fulfilled that cynics have remarked that aircraft built for the competition will certainly be safe since they will not leave the ground
While this is admittedly a considershyable overstatement of the case there is no denying that the aeroplane as we know it to-day will be hard put to comshyply with the regulations and yet be capable of carrying any payload (as disshytinct from the usefulload as specified in the regulations)
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
No aeroplane as we know it today will have much chance in the competishytion To begin with a speed range of 35 to 110 mph will put the designer on his mettle apart from any other considerashytion Add to this the fact that he is restricted in power to carry 5 Ib per hp usefulload in addition to the weight of the machine and one is faced with quite a pretty little problem
Competition closes in 1929 and frankly we doubt whether even by then a machine will be produced that can fulfill the qualifying requirements let alone have any hopes of scoring points by extra performance pound20000 is a very handsome prize but it will cost a firm a good deal more than that to produce a machine that shall have even a small chance of succeeding
Despite the doubts listed above the October 13 1927 issue of FLIGHT anshynounced that five British firms had entered the competition From a British point of view the number of entries already made is particularly gratifying as it is a clear indication that the vital importance of achieving safety in flying has been fully realized in this country
8 FEBRUARY 1992
Weighing the Curtiss Tanager
REQUIREMENTS
The qualifying requirements inshycluded the following as taken from the December 1929 issue of POPULAR AVIATION
Power Plant The engine must be of a type that has been submitted to tests and cannot be hand cranked by directly pulling on the propellers
Structural Strength Must be in acshycordance with the requirements of the U S Department of Commerce Regulashytions
Performance The aircraft must have a maximum speed of 110 mph have a rate of climb of 400 feet per minute
Useful Load The airplane must carry 5 pounds of useful load (pilot observer fuel and oil included) per horsepower
Accomodation For every ten pounds of useful load carried the airplane shall provide at least one cubic foot of cabin or cargo space
DEMONSTRATIONS The tests and demonstrations to
which each aircraft were to be subshy
mitted included Speed Tests With the object of
demonstrating the ability to fly and glide at lower speeds than today posshysible and to reduce the risk involved in forced landings and when landing in confined spaces each aircraft will be required to maintain level and controlshyled flight at a speed not in excess of 35 mph It must be able to glide for a period of 3 minutes with the power off without having an airspeed exceed 38 mph All controls must be operative at the minimum speeds
Landing Tests To demonstrate the ability of the aircraft to land in a small field it must land with power off and come to a rest within a distance of 100 feet from where it first touched the ground Landing must be made in a straight line and braking devices are permitted The aircraft must be able to make a steady glide in over an obstrucshytion 35 feet high and land in a straight line with power off and come to rest within a distance of 300 feet from the base of the obstruction
Takeoff Tests With the object of demonstrating that the airplane can take off from a small field and can climb at
bull
The observation towers set up for the tests at Mitchell Field on Long Island New York The Consolidated PT-3 on the right side of the field was not part of the competition
a steep angle to clear obstructions the aircraft must be able to take off after running not more than 300 feet from a standing start After taking off the aircraft must be able to clear an obstrucshytion 35 feet high at a distance of 500 feet from the starting line
Stability Tests With the object of demonstrating the stability of the aircraft under normal conditions and to show that it will return to normal flight attitude when the controls are left free the aircraft must be able to fly at any air speed from 45 to 100 mph and at any throttle opening with all controls left free for a period of not less than 5 minutes in gusty air
There were also many abnormal conshydition tests among which were
The aircraft will be required to show that if the elevator control is pulled in toward its maximum extent at the moshyment of switching off the power and held there the aircraft will not get into any dangerous maneuvers and that it will descend on a steep glide path at a speed not to exceed 40 mph
The aircraft will be dived with all power switched off until the air speed reaches 20 percent above maxi urn level
flying speed At this speed it must answer all controls and with controls released it must of its own accord return to a steady gliding attitude without serious loss of height
AWARD OF THE PRIZE
Points were to be awarded to the aircraft meeting the contest requireshyments They were awarded as follows
L Speed Tests (a) 2 points for every mph less than
35 mph at which level controlled flight can be maintained
(b) 4 points for every mph less than 38 mph which is not exceeded in a steady controlled glide during a period of three minutes
(c) Any aircraft which obtains a combined total of at least 24 points under tests (a) and (b) will be eligible to receive points for high speed in excess of 110 mph as follows 1 point for every 2 mph in excess of 110 mph at which level flight can be maintained
2 Tests of Landing Run 2 points for every 3 ft less than 100
ft in coming to rest after first touching the ground
3 Landing in a Confined Space 1 point for every 2 f1 less than 300 f1
from the base of an obstruction 35 ft high in coming to rest after gliding in over obstruction
4 Test of Take-Off 1 point for ever 15 f1 less than 300 f1
required to take off from standing start 1 point for every 10 ft less than 500
ft to clear obstruction 35 ft high from a standing start
ENTRIES
A total of 27 entries were received in the competition but only 15 airplanes appeared at Mitchell Field where the tests were conducted Of these 15 three withdrew without tests two sustained damages in preliminary flying which prevented their presentation within the time limit and eight failed to pass all of the qualifying requirements
Only two airplanes one of which failed to pass a minor qualifying reshyquirement exhibited attributes which warranted completion of the safety tests and demonstrations
- Next month the results of the competition ___
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkosh
A veteran pilot and instructor learns youre never too experienced to make an error in judgment
As a born instructor I feel that each of my negative experiences should be used to save someone else from the same mistakes I make even when it may be to my own embarrassment Bear in mind that I have been a flight and ground school instructor since 1951 with eight log books of flight time So youre never so experienced as to not do a dumb thing Here is my story
After a later-than-intended takeoff from Cameron Park California (near Sacramento) we had to make our first layover in Elko Nevada During the night I woke up from a dream that caused me to make the decision to stay there until I discovered what made this particular taildragger so squirrely during each landing roll After all the 10 FEBRUARY 1992
by William C Phelps (NC 11371)
old 1930 WACO advertising boasts that the NFs were the easiest planes to fly and KNFs were specifically sold to be economical training ships for solo stushydents So why is this KNF the most demanding airplane to land of any taildragger I have been qualified in
The next day my AampP (passenger) and I rounded up the things we needed to lift the weight offof the right side oleo strut in order to take it off for an inspecshytion We borrowed the use of the mainshytenance hangars solvent cleaning table and took the strut apart
Out of curiosity the shop owner came over to have a look and almost immediately announced This strut doesnt match that drawing you have there in the airplane manual He
pointed out that the oleo action had been ruined by someone who had drilled out the oil passage restriction orifice at the bottom of the piston from 316th inch to about 58th inch and had further modified it by replacing the one-way oil return cup washer with an 0 ring
Well to anyone with enough schoolshying on the subject of oleos and their functional purpose when they are specifically engineered into the design of an airplane especially a taildragger (or your automobile) knows that when they are not functioning its a no-go item on that planes check list (But who has a check list for a 1930 WACO KNF) I do have that schooling in my background so its a sad commentary on my judgment that I decided to put the
strut back together and to proceed to Oshkosh I thought After all I have been able to control it through many previous landings though with great difficulty That was mistake 1
But then we made the next mistake The cleaning solvent had attacked the rubshyber oleo seal at the top of the strut and though the compression cap was tightened as far as it would go it still leaked oil past the seal So we searched the town to fmd another seal None of the right size in Elko of course but we found an 0 ring of a diameter that could be laid on top of the bad seal to make it more squashable That sealed the leak okay and then to test the flexibility of the strut we alternately lifted and pulled down on the outboard wing N struts It appeared to function like it did before we began tinkering with it which is the best we could hope for
After all that it was a hot windy 300 PM with thunderstorms to the east so we settled on staying in Elko another night
The next morning we were in the air at sunup During the pre-landing check near Wendover Utah I looked over the sides of the cockpit to see the struts The right one had not extended after lift off It was stuck in the same place as when the plane was at rest on the ground with about 2 inches of piston exposed The seal must have swollen more during the night and I didnt retest the action during the preflight The left strut was extended a full 9 inches as it should be but assuming it was modified the same as the right one it has no oleo action Oh oh A rigid right strut and a free springing no shoc k absorption left strut will lead to no good
I let the passenger know that it would pull hard to the right under those cirshycumstances and I mentally reviewed the extra efforts necessary to compensate for the problem keep a little power on
for rudder effectiveness and the benefit of P factor dont hesitate to use left brake as necessary My three years of Air Force T -6 flight instructor exshyperience came back fast
On landing I was able to prevent a ground loop but we still rolled off of the right edge of the runway even with FULL left brake application When the wheels hit the soft dirt it all came to an abrupt stop right there - upside down
We were fastened in good and tight
When the wheels hit the soft dirt
it all came to an abrupt stop right there shy
upside down
and thanks to the Lord who gave me presence of mind to command my passhysenger Dont do NOT unfasten your seat belt Let it out slowly Thereby neither of us got a scratch or even a stiff muscle out of the wreck
The nice thing is that I had bought 18 days of in-flight hull coverage for the trip COST $4020 for $31000 worth The bad thing is I didnt buy $60000 They want to declare your plane a total loss at 70 percent of the face value of your policy Call your A VEMCO agent to increase your coverage NOW There is an estimated $21900 (or more and I have to pay everything over $21500) substantial damage With that name tag the FAANTSB got into the act right away
To retain my tickets I had to take a FAA administered (NOT a designated
examiner) oral exam and check flight By my own choice I took it out of Salt Lake International (unfamiliar to me) in a plane I only fly once every two years for the BFR I did not take time to cram for the oral or to practice in the airplane I had to perform all maneuvers he called for to the standards of the highest certificate I held and since the inspector knew I had taught ATP for 20 years I felt he expected a lot When he made the entries in my log book he added the comment Excellent flight Its hard for anyone to imagine how devastated a pilot feels after a major accident so that certainly gave me an exonerated feeling relative to my flying knowledge and abilities Some satisshyfaction at least in view of the airplane being (probably) a total loss
Nevertheless I get a pilot error on my record basically as a result of not grounding my plane back in Elko when I became aware of the shock strut probshylem It was an easy-to-forget responshysibility especially when I wanted to get to Oshkosh so badly Let this be a lesshyson to everyone who owns a plane Its easier to find fault with and ground a rented plane than your own Also be aware that when you buy any used plane you may well expect that someshyone has made unwise and unapproved alterations
Oh yes youve been waiting for the funny thing Well I had a half gallon plastic milk bottle (for in-flight relief) jammed between the sheet metal of the front seat and the fuselage tubing aft of that After the dust settled I was removshying the bottle from the cockpit (upsideshydown remember) and the cap popped off Yes I had used it enroute a couple of times and yes that stuff does not make good hair conditioner (makes your eyes burn too) and yes I had to wear the same shirt the rest of the day
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Ingemar Adolfsson Neal Goodfriend David McCaskill West Hill Ontario
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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) EAA AIR ACADEMY An intensive hands-on summer aviation exshyperience at the EM Aviation Center in Oshshykosh
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A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
Sirs Ref December 1991 Vintage
Airplane page 13 Harold Armstrongs Pitcairn PA-4 Fleetwing II It is a great sequel to the article in the November Sport Aviation
Describing how Harold scrounged for parts recalls a particular scrounge mission he conducted while we were both stationed at Langley AFB V A in 1963 I kept my Taperwing Waco CTO N845V there and Harold flew it once He was on C-130s and during a trip to Rapid City SD he visited a trade school and discovered an OX-5 engine comshyplete except for the cut away cylinder and a hand crank welded to the shaft to demonstrate it the the students
Discovering that the instructor would sell it as it did not match any modem engine system especially the valve acshytion he asked what he would sell it for for his Waco 10 he was rebuilding How about $150 bucks It was all
Harold could do to keep from falling on the floor He put it in to the cargo hold of the C-130 and hauled it back to Langley before the guy could change his mind To this day he still harbors a guilt
complex but is consoled by his wife Marthas evaluation She thinks he paid too much for it Sam Burgess San Antonio TX (AfC 1369)
OSHKOSH91DATESSET Mark your calendars and start
making plans for EAA Oshkosh 92 This year the Convention will be held July 31 - August 6 1992 This will be the 40th Anniversary of the EAA Conshyvention and several special events are planned to recognize this significant milestone Also a new Youth Forums tent will be on the convention site featuring programs designed to fire up the imaginations of young aviation enshythusiasts One of the first activities to be announced is the planned tribute to the late Al Williams known to many airshow fans in the 30s and 40s as the 4 FEBRUARY 1992
compiled by HG Frautschy
pilot of the famous Gulfhawk series of airplanes he flew in airshow perforshymances all over the United States
To help you plan your visit look for a tentative Forums schedule will be included in your May copy of SPORT A VIATION1t should be noted that this will be a preliminary schedule and could be subject to change by the time the Convention rolls around but should be a great help in planning your trip to EAAs Gateway To Aviation
If you have additional questions or would like to volunteer during Convenshytion week call EAA headquarters at 414426-4800
EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS
During 1992 the EAA Aviation Foundation will again offer an extenshysive scholarship program to students inshyterested in pursuing a career in aviation
The Foundations scholarship has helped more than 100 students pursue aviation related studies allowing aspirshying pilots mechanics engineers and a growing number of other professionals to realize their goals of a career in aviashytion
The goal of the Foundations Scholarship Program is to encourage recognize and support excellence in
pursuit of knowledge in aviation techshynologies and skills explains Chuck Larsen the EAA Foundations Educashytion Director Annual scholarships have provided assistance to deserving individuals who demonstrate a financial need in order to accomplish their aviashytion-related goals
The awards can range from modest grants to a full four-year degree programs They are open to all young people interested in aviation careers Applicants should be well rounded inshydividuals involved in school and comshymunity activities as well as aviation Their academic record should show an ability to successfully complete their chosen academic pursuit For more inshyformation and an application contact the office of the EAA Aviation Foundashytion Education Department EAA A viashytion Center PO Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065 or call 4144888 or 426-4800
Applications must be received by April 1 1992
PIONEER AIRPORT UPDATE Plans are being made for the upcomshy
ing season at Pioneer Airport located behind the EAA Air Adventure Museum in Oshkosh WI Although the ground work for the new runway has now stopped due to the winter weather progress has been made in grading and leveling the runway and it is anticipated that the new runway can be made ready for seeding as soon as the spring weather allows the field to dry out sufficiently to allow heavy earth moving equipment in to finalize the grass strips surface Dont let that deter you from visiting Pioneer Airport early this summer however Fly-bys of vintage airplanes including the Ford Trimotor and newly restored Travel Air 4000 will take place during the entire season even if the planes must be flown off of the adjacent Wittman Field until the grass has grown nice and thick on the new runway at Pioneer The Ford will again be offering you the chance to experience commercial aviashytion in its infancy with a ride in its corrugated cabin Its a chance you would hate to miss The just completed Travel Air 4000 will be used to demonstrate the technique of banner towing Opening weekend is scheduled for May 9th Well have more on scheduled events in later issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE
BUZZS ROBIN Jim Haynes of Bushnell II sent us
note to point out something that we missed during our coverage of Buzz Kaplans Curtiss Robin in the October issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE Jim is the proprietor of the Robins Nest a newsletter devoted to the Curtiss Robin Jim mentioned in his letter that this parshyticular antique airplane has what was a rare feature even when the airplane was new - it has a door on the left side of the cabin Most Robins were delivered with a door on the right side of the airplane As far as Jim has been able to determine this type of change was not done on the Curtiss assembly line Acshycording to Jim this type of door instalshylation was done on special request normally in conjunction with the airplane being equipped for floats Acshycording to Gary Underland Buzzs chief mechanic the J6-5 Robin they restored came with the left door instalshylation Thats quite fortunate since Gary and Buzz are now working on installing the Robin on Edo P-2525 floats A photo of the door is shown here in AIC News Jim also wrote to tell us that the only Robin on floats at this time is N76H originally a C-l with a Challenger engine It is located at the Alaska Aviation Museum on Lake Hood AK As far as he knows that aircraft does not have a left side door Later research by Norm Petersen turned up a photo of Douglas Corrigans Robin which apparently had a left side door
DOROTHY WEICK 1900 -1991 Dorothy Weick wife of Ercoupe
Buzz Kaplans Robin features a very rare left side door How can you spot a left door from the right side look for the step on the opposite side
designer and esteemed aeronautical enshygineer Fred Weick passed away November 17 at the age of 91 Fred and Dorothy have been fixtures at Ercoupe fly-ins throughout the years enjoying the friendships that have been built around the various airplanes that Fred designed Dorothy was an active memshyber of her community and she was also Freds active partner in much of the flying they did in the last half of her life A private pilot she enjoyed flying all over the country with Fred and accomshypanied him on many trips Our conshydolences are extended to Fred and his family as well as the Ercoupe family on the passing of Dorothy Weick
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5
by ()enni~ ()ark~
~ Library Anhive~ ()irect()r
Daniel Guggenheim International Safe Airplane Competition
One of the more interesting apshyproaches to improving the safety of aircraft in the late 1920s was the Intershynational Safe Aircraft Competition promoted by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund This effort led to some important technical innovations which enabled aircraft to land and take off at slower speeds and in shorter distances
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics was formed in January 1926 with deeds of a gift from Mr Daniel Guggenheim totalling $2500000 of which both interest and principle were to be expended The purshy
pose of the fund was to promote aeronautical education throughout the country to assist in the extension of aeronautical science and to further the development of commercial aircraft particularly in its use as a regular means of transportation both of goods and people
The board of trustees included Charshyles A Lindbergh and Orville Wright Probably its most well-known venture was in sponsoring Lindberghs tour of the United States with the Spirit of St Louis after his return from Europe The fund also felt that so little interest was
being shown in passenger flying at the end of 1927 that it funded the purchase of Western Air Express Fokker Trimotors to operate between Los Anshygeles and San Francisco In February 1930 the fund was liquidated its purshyposes having been declared acshycomplished
On April 20 1927 the Guggenheim Fund announced the Safe Aircraft Comshypetition The object of the competition was to achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heavier-than-air craft without sacrific-
The Safe Aircraft Competition Officials (Standing left to right) Prof Alexander Klemin Maj E E Aldrin (Astronaut Buzz Aldrins father) Capt Em~ry S Land William P MacCracken Jr Milbourn Kusterer Dr George W Lewis Edward P Warner Thomas Carroll (Kneeling left to right) Capt Walter Bender KF Rupert FK Teichman Lt Stanley Umstead EW Rounds Prof William G Brown 6 FEBRUARY 1992
S~me of the test equipment used during the testing Lett Short amp Mason Anemometer Right Barr amp Stroud Ltd Suspended Air-Log
ing the good practical qualities of the present-day aircraft
As an incentive to the development and construction of an aircraft having characteristics which would fulfill the conditions laid down by the rules comshymittee the fund offered a First Prize of $100000 and five Safety Prizes of $10000 Applications were invited on and after September 1 1927 up to Ocshytober 31 1929 as a final date
It was expected that aircraft entered in the competition would be presented from time to time during the two year period and it was considered that the object of the competition might be achieved before the final date in which case the fund intended to close the comshypetition Moreover if the entries were presented throughout the period of the competition the officials would be able to conduct tests under favorable weather and field conditions
This did not prove to be the case as the first airplane was not presented until the end of August 1929 and practically all of the competitors presented their entries in the last month of the competishytion October 1929 The tests were carshyried out but weather and field conditions were not favorable and it was not possible to complete all the tests as desired
RECEPTION
The idea of a safety plane competishytion received wide coverage in the aviashytion press with over 30 articles listed in the Brockets Bibliography of Aeronautics The earliest coverage was provided in the May 9 1927 issue of A VIA TION which reported on the dinshy
ner given at the Yale Club in New York City where Harry F Guggenheim anshynounced the competition
Guggenheim said of the purpose of the event The average mans attitude toward air travel today is still very skepshytical He is interested in reading of flying exploits and glad when his countrys airmen set new records and probably regards with mild resentment the reported superior aeronautical progress of other nations But in the back of his mind lurks a deep-seated reluctance to trust that most elusive of the elements - air The fury of torshynadoes ashore or typhoons at sea for some reason holds less terror for him than the paradoxical business of defying gravity with heavier-than-air machines He may send letters by airmail but he prefers to let someone else do the flying
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund has recognized from the outset that any efshyfort to make air traffic an integral part of our national commercial life must first reduce and as nearly as possible entirely overcome the popular skepshyticism of air transportation As a funshydamental step in its educational program the Fund hereby announces a Safe Aircraft Competition by which it hopes not only to demonstrate that airplane travel is basically as safe as railway and steamship travel but to stimulate scientific investigation and practical invention into evolving new devices and principles whereby air travel will convert even the most conshyfirmed skeptics and will take its place in our lives as the fleetest cleanest and safest of the three recognized modes of travel today
The object of the Competition is to
achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heaviershythan-air craft without sacrificing the good practical qualities of present-day aircraft The whole development of aeronautics in the past decade has been greatly influenced by the exigencies of war Safety is a civilian rather than a war-time need and for commerical purshyposes must be made of importance surshypassing that of war requirements which are sometimes bought at the price of danger
POPULAR AVIATION
The December 1927 issue of POPULAR A VIA TION reported For the first time in the history of aviation concerted efforts are now being made by manufacturers and designers to secure the essential elements of safety upon which the future success in aerial transportation depends The solution of this problem which is the goal of the Safe-Aircraft Competition is a matter of international importance The parshyticipation of foreign experts is sigshynificant of an international effort to overcome the supreme obstacle in the path of aerial progress
They went on to say The Guggenshyheim Fund sensed the public demand for safety before it was formulated in protests and the Competition is the result of a careful working out of basic safety principles that will be required by the public in airplanes
FLIGHT
The June 16 1927 editorial of the British publication FLIGHT had the folshylowing comments
One might well describe as the first serious attempt to achieve real progress in safe flying the Daniel Guggenheim Safe-Aircraft Competition which is to be held near New York during the next two years In fact so difficult are the conditions to be fulfilled that cynics have remarked that aircraft built for the competition will certainly be safe since they will not leave the ground
While this is admittedly a considershyable overstatement of the case there is no denying that the aeroplane as we know it to-day will be hard put to comshyply with the regulations and yet be capable of carrying any payload (as disshytinct from the usefulload as specified in the regulations)
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
No aeroplane as we know it today will have much chance in the competishytion To begin with a speed range of 35 to 110 mph will put the designer on his mettle apart from any other considerashytion Add to this the fact that he is restricted in power to carry 5 Ib per hp usefulload in addition to the weight of the machine and one is faced with quite a pretty little problem
Competition closes in 1929 and frankly we doubt whether even by then a machine will be produced that can fulfill the qualifying requirements let alone have any hopes of scoring points by extra performance pound20000 is a very handsome prize but it will cost a firm a good deal more than that to produce a machine that shall have even a small chance of succeeding
Despite the doubts listed above the October 13 1927 issue of FLIGHT anshynounced that five British firms had entered the competition From a British point of view the number of entries already made is particularly gratifying as it is a clear indication that the vital importance of achieving safety in flying has been fully realized in this country
8 FEBRUARY 1992
Weighing the Curtiss Tanager
REQUIREMENTS
The qualifying requirements inshycluded the following as taken from the December 1929 issue of POPULAR AVIATION
Power Plant The engine must be of a type that has been submitted to tests and cannot be hand cranked by directly pulling on the propellers
Structural Strength Must be in acshycordance with the requirements of the U S Department of Commerce Regulashytions
Performance The aircraft must have a maximum speed of 110 mph have a rate of climb of 400 feet per minute
Useful Load The airplane must carry 5 pounds of useful load (pilot observer fuel and oil included) per horsepower
Accomodation For every ten pounds of useful load carried the airplane shall provide at least one cubic foot of cabin or cargo space
DEMONSTRATIONS The tests and demonstrations to
which each aircraft were to be subshy
mitted included Speed Tests With the object of
demonstrating the ability to fly and glide at lower speeds than today posshysible and to reduce the risk involved in forced landings and when landing in confined spaces each aircraft will be required to maintain level and controlshyled flight at a speed not in excess of 35 mph It must be able to glide for a period of 3 minutes with the power off without having an airspeed exceed 38 mph All controls must be operative at the minimum speeds
Landing Tests To demonstrate the ability of the aircraft to land in a small field it must land with power off and come to a rest within a distance of 100 feet from where it first touched the ground Landing must be made in a straight line and braking devices are permitted The aircraft must be able to make a steady glide in over an obstrucshytion 35 feet high and land in a straight line with power off and come to rest within a distance of 300 feet from the base of the obstruction
Takeoff Tests With the object of demonstrating that the airplane can take off from a small field and can climb at
bull
The observation towers set up for the tests at Mitchell Field on Long Island New York The Consolidated PT-3 on the right side of the field was not part of the competition
a steep angle to clear obstructions the aircraft must be able to take off after running not more than 300 feet from a standing start After taking off the aircraft must be able to clear an obstrucshytion 35 feet high at a distance of 500 feet from the starting line
Stability Tests With the object of demonstrating the stability of the aircraft under normal conditions and to show that it will return to normal flight attitude when the controls are left free the aircraft must be able to fly at any air speed from 45 to 100 mph and at any throttle opening with all controls left free for a period of not less than 5 minutes in gusty air
There were also many abnormal conshydition tests among which were
The aircraft will be required to show that if the elevator control is pulled in toward its maximum extent at the moshyment of switching off the power and held there the aircraft will not get into any dangerous maneuvers and that it will descend on a steep glide path at a speed not to exceed 40 mph
The aircraft will be dived with all power switched off until the air speed reaches 20 percent above maxi urn level
flying speed At this speed it must answer all controls and with controls released it must of its own accord return to a steady gliding attitude without serious loss of height
AWARD OF THE PRIZE
Points were to be awarded to the aircraft meeting the contest requireshyments They were awarded as follows
L Speed Tests (a) 2 points for every mph less than
35 mph at which level controlled flight can be maintained
(b) 4 points for every mph less than 38 mph which is not exceeded in a steady controlled glide during a period of three minutes
(c) Any aircraft which obtains a combined total of at least 24 points under tests (a) and (b) will be eligible to receive points for high speed in excess of 110 mph as follows 1 point for every 2 mph in excess of 110 mph at which level flight can be maintained
2 Tests of Landing Run 2 points for every 3 ft less than 100
ft in coming to rest after first touching the ground
3 Landing in a Confined Space 1 point for every 2 f1 less than 300 f1
from the base of an obstruction 35 ft high in coming to rest after gliding in over obstruction
4 Test of Take-Off 1 point for ever 15 f1 less than 300 f1
required to take off from standing start 1 point for every 10 ft less than 500
ft to clear obstruction 35 ft high from a standing start
ENTRIES
A total of 27 entries were received in the competition but only 15 airplanes appeared at Mitchell Field where the tests were conducted Of these 15 three withdrew without tests two sustained damages in preliminary flying which prevented their presentation within the time limit and eight failed to pass all of the qualifying requirements
Only two airplanes one of which failed to pass a minor qualifying reshyquirement exhibited attributes which warranted completion of the safety tests and demonstrations
- Next month the results of the competition ___
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkosh
A veteran pilot and instructor learns youre never too experienced to make an error in judgment
As a born instructor I feel that each of my negative experiences should be used to save someone else from the same mistakes I make even when it may be to my own embarrassment Bear in mind that I have been a flight and ground school instructor since 1951 with eight log books of flight time So youre never so experienced as to not do a dumb thing Here is my story
After a later-than-intended takeoff from Cameron Park California (near Sacramento) we had to make our first layover in Elko Nevada During the night I woke up from a dream that caused me to make the decision to stay there until I discovered what made this particular taildragger so squirrely during each landing roll After all the 10 FEBRUARY 1992
by William C Phelps (NC 11371)
old 1930 WACO advertising boasts that the NFs were the easiest planes to fly and KNFs were specifically sold to be economical training ships for solo stushydents So why is this KNF the most demanding airplane to land of any taildragger I have been qualified in
The next day my AampP (passenger) and I rounded up the things we needed to lift the weight offof the right side oleo strut in order to take it off for an inspecshytion We borrowed the use of the mainshytenance hangars solvent cleaning table and took the strut apart
Out of curiosity the shop owner came over to have a look and almost immediately announced This strut doesnt match that drawing you have there in the airplane manual He
pointed out that the oleo action had been ruined by someone who had drilled out the oil passage restriction orifice at the bottom of the piston from 316th inch to about 58th inch and had further modified it by replacing the one-way oil return cup washer with an 0 ring
Well to anyone with enough schoolshying on the subject of oleos and their functional purpose when they are specifically engineered into the design of an airplane especially a taildragger (or your automobile) knows that when they are not functioning its a no-go item on that planes check list (But who has a check list for a 1930 WACO KNF) I do have that schooling in my background so its a sad commentary on my judgment that I decided to put the
strut back together and to proceed to Oshkosh I thought After all I have been able to control it through many previous landings though with great difficulty That was mistake 1
But then we made the next mistake The cleaning solvent had attacked the rubshyber oleo seal at the top of the strut and though the compression cap was tightened as far as it would go it still leaked oil past the seal So we searched the town to fmd another seal None of the right size in Elko of course but we found an 0 ring of a diameter that could be laid on top of the bad seal to make it more squashable That sealed the leak okay and then to test the flexibility of the strut we alternately lifted and pulled down on the outboard wing N struts It appeared to function like it did before we began tinkering with it which is the best we could hope for
After all that it was a hot windy 300 PM with thunderstorms to the east so we settled on staying in Elko another night
The next morning we were in the air at sunup During the pre-landing check near Wendover Utah I looked over the sides of the cockpit to see the struts The right one had not extended after lift off It was stuck in the same place as when the plane was at rest on the ground with about 2 inches of piston exposed The seal must have swollen more during the night and I didnt retest the action during the preflight The left strut was extended a full 9 inches as it should be but assuming it was modified the same as the right one it has no oleo action Oh oh A rigid right strut and a free springing no shoc k absorption left strut will lead to no good
I let the passenger know that it would pull hard to the right under those cirshycumstances and I mentally reviewed the extra efforts necessary to compensate for the problem keep a little power on
for rudder effectiveness and the benefit of P factor dont hesitate to use left brake as necessary My three years of Air Force T -6 flight instructor exshyperience came back fast
On landing I was able to prevent a ground loop but we still rolled off of the right edge of the runway even with FULL left brake application When the wheels hit the soft dirt it all came to an abrupt stop right there - upside down
We were fastened in good and tight
When the wheels hit the soft dirt
it all came to an abrupt stop right there shy
upside down
and thanks to the Lord who gave me presence of mind to command my passhysenger Dont do NOT unfasten your seat belt Let it out slowly Thereby neither of us got a scratch or even a stiff muscle out of the wreck
The nice thing is that I had bought 18 days of in-flight hull coverage for the trip COST $4020 for $31000 worth The bad thing is I didnt buy $60000 They want to declare your plane a total loss at 70 percent of the face value of your policy Call your A VEMCO agent to increase your coverage NOW There is an estimated $21900 (or more and I have to pay everything over $21500) substantial damage With that name tag the FAANTSB got into the act right away
To retain my tickets I had to take a FAA administered (NOT a designated
examiner) oral exam and check flight By my own choice I took it out of Salt Lake International (unfamiliar to me) in a plane I only fly once every two years for the BFR I did not take time to cram for the oral or to practice in the airplane I had to perform all maneuvers he called for to the standards of the highest certificate I held and since the inspector knew I had taught ATP for 20 years I felt he expected a lot When he made the entries in my log book he added the comment Excellent flight Its hard for anyone to imagine how devastated a pilot feels after a major accident so that certainly gave me an exonerated feeling relative to my flying knowledge and abilities Some satisshyfaction at least in view of the airplane being (probably) a total loss
Nevertheless I get a pilot error on my record basically as a result of not grounding my plane back in Elko when I became aware of the shock strut probshylem It was an easy-to-forget responshysibility especially when I wanted to get to Oshkosh so badly Let this be a lesshyson to everyone who owns a plane Its easier to find fault with and ground a rented plane than your own Also be aware that when you buy any used plane you may well expect that someshyone has made unwise and unapproved alterations
Oh yes youve been waiting for the funny thing Well I had a half gallon plastic milk bottle (for in-flight relief) jammed between the sheet metal of the front seat and the fuselage tubing aft of that After the dust settled I was removshying the bottle from the cockpit (upsideshydown remember) and the cap popped off Yes I had used it enroute a couple of times and yes that stuff does not make good hair conditioner (makes your eyes burn too) and yes I had to wear the same shirt the rest of the day
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
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SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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pursuit of knowledge in aviation techshynologies and skills explains Chuck Larsen the EAA Foundations Educashytion Director Annual scholarships have provided assistance to deserving individuals who demonstrate a financial need in order to accomplish their aviashytion-related goals
The awards can range from modest grants to a full four-year degree programs They are open to all young people interested in aviation careers Applicants should be well rounded inshydividuals involved in school and comshymunity activities as well as aviation Their academic record should show an ability to successfully complete their chosen academic pursuit For more inshyformation and an application contact the office of the EAA Aviation Foundashytion Education Department EAA A viashytion Center PO Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065 or call 4144888 or 426-4800
Applications must be received by April 1 1992
PIONEER AIRPORT UPDATE Plans are being made for the upcomshy
ing season at Pioneer Airport located behind the EAA Air Adventure Museum in Oshkosh WI Although the ground work for the new runway has now stopped due to the winter weather progress has been made in grading and leveling the runway and it is anticipated that the new runway can be made ready for seeding as soon as the spring weather allows the field to dry out sufficiently to allow heavy earth moving equipment in to finalize the grass strips surface Dont let that deter you from visiting Pioneer Airport early this summer however Fly-bys of vintage airplanes including the Ford Trimotor and newly restored Travel Air 4000 will take place during the entire season even if the planes must be flown off of the adjacent Wittman Field until the grass has grown nice and thick on the new runway at Pioneer The Ford will again be offering you the chance to experience commercial aviashytion in its infancy with a ride in its corrugated cabin Its a chance you would hate to miss The just completed Travel Air 4000 will be used to demonstrate the technique of banner towing Opening weekend is scheduled for May 9th Well have more on scheduled events in later issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE
BUZZS ROBIN Jim Haynes of Bushnell II sent us
note to point out something that we missed during our coverage of Buzz Kaplans Curtiss Robin in the October issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE Jim is the proprietor of the Robins Nest a newsletter devoted to the Curtiss Robin Jim mentioned in his letter that this parshyticular antique airplane has what was a rare feature even when the airplane was new - it has a door on the left side of the cabin Most Robins were delivered with a door on the right side of the airplane As far as Jim has been able to determine this type of change was not done on the Curtiss assembly line Acshycording to Jim this type of door instalshylation was done on special request normally in conjunction with the airplane being equipped for floats Acshycording to Gary Underland Buzzs chief mechanic the J6-5 Robin they restored came with the left door instalshylation Thats quite fortunate since Gary and Buzz are now working on installing the Robin on Edo P-2525 floats A photo of the door is shown here in AIC News Jim also wrote to tell us that the only Robin on floats at this time is N76H originally a C-l with a Challenger engine It is located at the Alaska Aviation Museum on Lake Hood AK As far as he knows that aircraft does not have a left side door Later research by Norm Petersen turned up a photo of Douglas Corrigans Robin which apparently had a left side door
DOROTHY WEICK 1900 -1991 Dorothy Weick wife of Ercoupe
Buzz Kaplans Robin features a very rare left side door How can you spot a left door from the right side look for the step on the opposite side
designer and esteemed aeronautical enshygineer Fred Weick passed away November 17 at the age of 91 Fred and Dorothy have been fixtures at Ercoupe fly-ins throughout the years enjoying the friendships that have been built around the various airplanes that Fred designed Dorothy was an active memshyber of her community and she was also Freds active partner in much of the flying they did in the last half of her life A private pilot she enjoyed flying all over the country with Fred and accomshypanied him on many trips Our conshydolences are extended to Fred and his family as well as the Ercoupe family on the passing of Dorothy Weick
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5
by ()enni~ ()ark~
~ Library Anhive~ ()irect()r
Daniel Guggenheim International Safe Airplane Competition
One of the more interesting apshyproaches to improving the safety of aircraft in the late 1920s was the Intershynational Safe Aircraft Competition promoted by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund This effort led to some important technical innovations which enabled aircraft to land and take off at slower speeds and in shorter distances
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics was formed in January 1926 with deeds of a gift from Mr Daniel Guggenheim totalling $2500000 of which both interest and principle were to be expended The purshy
pose of the fund was to promote aeronautical education throughout the country to assist in the extension of aeronautical science and to further the development of commercial aircraft particularly in its use as a regular means of transportation both of goods and people
The board of trustees included Charshyles A Lindbergh and Orville Wright Probably its most well-known venture was in sponsoring Lindberghs tour of the United States with the Spirit of St Louis after his return from Europe The fund also felt that so little interest was
being shown in passenger flying at the end of 1927 that it funded the purchase of Western Air Express Fokker Trimotors to operate between Los Anshygeles and San Francisco In February 1930 the fund was liquidated its purshyposes having been declared acshycomplished
On April 20 1927 the Guggenheim Fund announced the Safe Aircraft Comshypetition The object of the competition was to achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heavier-than-air craft without sacrific-
The Safe Aircraft Competition Officials (Standing left to right) Prof Alexander Klemin Maj E E Aldrin (Astronaut Buzz Aldrins father) Capt Em~ry S Land William P MacCracken Jr Milbourn Kusterer Dr George W Lewis Edward P Warner Thomas Carroll (Kneeling left to right) Capt Walter Bender KF Rupert FK Teichman Lt Stanley Umstead EW Rounds Prof William G Brown 6 FEBRUARY 1992
S~me of the test equipment used during the testing Lett Short amp Mason Anemometer Right Barr amp Stroud Ltd Suspended Air-Log
ing the good practical qualities of the present-day aircraft
As an incentive to the development and construction of an aircraft having characteristics which would fulfill the conditions laid down by the rules comshymittee the fund offered a First Prize of $100000 and five Safety Prizes of $10000 Applications were invited on and after September 1 1927 up to Ocshytober 31 1929 as a final date
It was expected that aircraft entered in the competition would be presented from time to time during the two year period and it was considered that the object of the competition might be achieved before the final date in which case the fund intended to close the comshypetition Moreover if the entries were presented throughout the period of the competition the officials would be able to conduct tests under favorable weather and field conditions
This did not prove to be the case as the first airplane was not presented until the end of August 1929 and practically all of the competitors presented their entries in the last month of the competishytion October 1929 The tests were carshyried out but weather and field conditions were not favorable and it was not possible to complete all the tests as desired
RECEPTION
The idea of a safety plane competishytion received wide coverage in the aviashytion press with over 30 articles listed in the Brockets Bibliography of Aeronautics The earliest coverage was provided in the May 9 1927 issue of A VIA TION which reported on the dinshy
ner given at the Yale Club in New York City where Harry F Guggenheim anshynounced the competition
Guggenheim said of the purpose of the event The average mans attitude toward air travel today is still very skepshytical He is interested in reading of flying exploits and glad when his countrys airmen set new records and probably regards with mild resentment the reported superior aeronautical progress of other nations But in the back of his mind lurks a deep-seated reluctance to trust that most elusive of the elements - air The fury of torshynadoes ashore or typhoons at sea for some reason holds less terror for him than the paradoxical business of defying gravity with heavier-than-air machines He may send letters by airmail but he prefers to let someone else do the flying
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund has recognized from the outset that any efshyfort to make air traffic an integral part of our national commercial life must first reduce and as nearly as possible entirely overcome the popular skepshyticism of air transportation As a funshydamental step in its educational program the Fund hereby announces a Safe Aircraft Competition by which it hopes not only to demonstrate that airplane travel is basically as safe as railway and steamship travel but to stimulate scientific investigation and practical invention into evolving new devices and principles whereby air travel will convert even the most conshyfirmed skeptics and will take its place in our lives as the fleetest cleanest and safest of the three recognized modes of travel today
The object of the Competition is to
achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heaviershythan-air craft without sacrificing the good practical qualities of present-day aircraft The whole development of aeronautics in the past decade has been greatly influenced by the exigencies of war Safety is a civilian rather than a war-time need and for commerical purshyposes must be made of importance surshypassing that of war requirements which are sometimes bought at the price of danger
POPULAR AVIATION
The December 1927 issue of POPULAR A VIA TION reported For the first time in the history of aviation concerted efforts are now being made by manufacturers and designers to secure the essential elements of safety upon which the future success in aerial transportation depends The solution of this problem which is the goal of the Safe-Aircraft Competition is a matter of international importance The parshyticipation of foreign experts is sigshynificant of an international effort to overcome the supreme obstacle in the path of aerial progress
They went on to say The Guggenshyheim Fund sensed the public demand for safety before it was formulated in protests and the Competition is the result of a careful working out of basic safety principles that will be required by the public in airplanes
FLIGHT
The June 16 1927 editorial of the British publication FLIGHT had the folshylowing comments
One might well describe as the first serious attempt to achieve real progress in safe flying the Daniel Guggenheim Safe-Aircraft Competition which is to be held near New York during the next two years In fact so difficult are the conditions to be fulfilled that cynics have remarked that aircraft built for the competition will certainly be safe since they will not leave the ground
While this is admittedly a considershyable overstatement of the case there is no denying that the aeroplane as we know it to-day will be hard put to comshyply with the regulations and yet be capable of carrying any payload (as disshytinct from the usefulload as specified in the regulations)
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
No aeroplane as we know it today will have much chance in the competishytion To begin with a speed range of 35 to 110 mph will put the designer on his mettle apart from any other considerashytion Add to this the fact that he is restricted in power to carry 5 Ib per hp usefulload in addition to the weight of the machine and one is faced with quite a pretty little problem
Competition closes in 1929 and frankly we doubt whether even by then a machine will be produced that can fulfill the qualifying requirements let alone have any hopes of scoring points by extra performance pound20000 is a very handsome prize but it will cost a firm a good deal more than that to produce a machine that shall have even a small chance of succeeding
Despite the doubts listed above the October 13 1927 issue of FLIGHT anshynounced that five British firms had entered the competition From a British point of view the number of entries already made is particularly gratifying as it is a clear indication that the vital importance of achieving safety in flying has been fully realized in this country
8 FEBRUARY 1992
Weighing the Curtiss Tanager
REQUIREMENTS
The qualifying requirements inshycluded the following as taken from the December 1929 issue of POPULAR AVIATION
Power Plant The engine must be of a type that has been submitted to tests and cannot be hand cranked by directly pulling on the propellers
Structural Strength Must be in acshycordance with the requirements of the U S Department of Commerce Regulashytions
Performance The aircraft must have a maximum speed of 110 mph have a rate of climb of 400 feet per minute
Useful Load The airplane must carry 5 pounds of useful load (pilot observer fuel and oil included) per horsepower
Accomodation For every ten pounds of useful load carried the airplane shall provide at least one cubic foot of cabin or cargo space
DEMONSTRATIONS The tests and demonstrations to
which each aircraft were to be subshy
mitted included Speed Tests With the object of
demonstrating the ability to fly and glide at lower speeds than today posshysible and to reduce the risk involved in forced landings and when landing in confined spaces each aircraft will be required to maintain level and controlshyled flight at a speed not in excess of 35 mph It must be able to glide for a period of 3 minutes with the power off without having an airspeed exceed 38 mph All controls must be operative at the minimum speeds
Landing Tests To demonstrate the ability of the aircraft to land in a small field it must land with power off and come to a rest within a distance of 100 feet from where it first touched the ground Landing must be made in a straight line and braking devices are permitted The aircraft must be able to make a steady glide in over an obstrucshytion 35 feet high and land in a straight line with power off and come to rest within a distance of 300 feet from the base of the obstruction
Takeoff Tests With the object of demonstrating that the airplane can take off from a small field and can climb at
bull
The observation towers set up for the tests at Mitchell Field on Long Island New York The Consolidated PT-3 on the right side of the field was not part of the competition
a steep angle to clear obstructions the aircraft must be able to take off after running not more than 300 feet from a standing start After taking off the aircraft must be able to clear an obstrucshytion 35 feet high at a distance of 500 feet from the starting line
Stability Tests With the object of demonstrating the stability of the aircraft under normal conditions and to show that it will return to normal flight attitude when the controls are left free the aircraft must be able to fly at any air speed from 45 to 100 mph and at any throttle opening with all controls left free for a period of not less than 5 minutes in gusty air
There were also many abnormal conshydition tests among which were
The aircraft will be required to show that if the elevator control is pulled in toward its maximum extent at the moshyment of switching off the power and held there the aircraft will not get into any dangerous maneuvers and that it will descend on a steep glide path at a speed not to exceed 40 mph
The aircraft will be dived with all power switched off until the air speed reaches 20 percent above maxi urn level
flying speed At this speed it must answer all controls and with controls released it must of its own accord return to a steady gliding attitude without serious loss of height
AWARD OF THE PRIZE
Points were to be awarded to the aircraft meeting the contest requireshyments They were awarded as follows
L Speed Tests (a) 2 points for every mph less than
35 mph at which level controlled flight can be maintained
(b) 4 points for every mph less than 38 mph which is not exceeded in a steady controlled glide during a period of three minutes
(c) Any aircraft which obtains a combined total of at least 24 points under tests (a) and (b) will be eligible to receive points for high speed in excess of 110 mph as follows 1 point for every 2 mph in excess of 110 mph at which level flight can be maintained
2 Tests of Landing Run 2 points for every 3 ft less than 100
ft in coming to rest after first touching the ground
3 Landing in a Confined Space 1 point for every 2 f1 less than 300 f1
from the base of an obstruction 35 ft high in coming to rest after gliding in over obstruction
4 Test of Take-Off 1 point for ever 15 f1 less than 300 f1
required to take off from standing start 1 point for every 10 ft less than 500
ft to clear obstruction 35 ft high from a standing start
ENTRIES
A total of 27 entries were received in the competition but only 15 airplanes appeared at Mitchell Field where the tests were conducted Of these 15 three withdrew without tests two sustained damages in preliminary flying which prevented their presentation within the time limit and eight failed to pass all of the qualifying requirements
Only two airplanes one of which failed to pass a minor qualifying reshyquirement exhibited attributes which warranted completion of the safety tests and demonstrations
- Next month the results of the competition ___
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkosh
A veteran pilot and instructor learns youre never too experienced to make an error in judgment
As a born instructor I feel that each of my negative experiences should be used to save someone else from the same mistakes I make even when it may be to my own embarrassment Bear in mind that I have been a flight and ground school instructor since 1951 with eight log books of flight time So youre never so experienced as to not do a dumb thing Here is my story
After a later-than-intended takeoff from Cameron Park California (near Sacramento) we had to make our first layover in Elko Nevada During the night I woke up from a dream that caused me to make the decision to stay there until I discovered what made this particular taildragger so squirrely during each landing roll After all the 10 FEBRUARY 1992
by William C Phelps (NC 11371)
old 1930 WACO advertising boasts that the NFs were the easiest planes to fly and KNFs were specifically sold to be economical training ships for solo stushydents So why is this KNF the most demanding airplane to land of any taildragger I have been qualified in
The next day my AampP (passenger) and I rounded up the things we needed to lift the weight offof the right side oleo strut in order to take it off for an inspecshytion We borrowed the use of the mainshytenance hangars solvent cleaning table and took the strut apart
Out of curiosity the shop owner came over to have a look and almost immediately announced This strut doesnt match that drawing you have there in the airplane manual He
pointed out that the oleo action had been ruined by someone who had drilled out the oil passage restriction orifice at the bottom of the piston from 316th inch to about 58th inch and had further modified it by replacing the one-way oil return cup washer with an 0 ring
Well to anyone with enough schoolshying on the subject of oleos and their functional purpose when they are specifically engineered into the design of an airplane especially a taildragger (or your automobile) knows that when they are not functioning its a no-go item on that planes check list (But who has a check list for a 1930 WACO KNF) I do have that schooling in my background so its a sad commentary on my judgment that I decided to put the
strut back together and to proceed to Oshkosh I thought After all I have been able to control it through many previous landings though with great difficulty That was mistake 1
But then we made the next mistake The cleaning solvent had attacked the rubshyber oleo seal at the top of the strut and though the compression cap was tightened as far as it would go it still leaked oil past the seal So we searched the town to fmd another seal None of the right size in Elko of course but we found an 0 ring of a diameter that could be laid on top of the bad seal to make it more squashable That sealed the leak okay and then to test the flexibility of the strut we alternately lifted and pulled down on the outboard wing N struts It appeared to function like it did before we began tinkering with it which is the best we could hope for
After all that it was a hot windy 300 PM with thunderstorms to the east so we settled on staying in Elko another night
The next morning we were in the air at sunup During the pre-landing check near Wendover Utah I looked over the sides of the cockpit to see the struts The right one had not extended after lift off It was stuck in the same place as when the plane was at rest on the ground with about 2 inches of piston exposed The seal must have swollen more during the night and I didnt retest the action during the preflight The left strut was extended a full 9 inches as it should be but assuming it was modified the same as the right one it has no oleo action Oh oh A rigid right strut and a free springing no shoc k absorption left strut will lead to no good
I let the passenger know that it would pull hard to the right under those cirshycumstances and I mentally reviewed the extra efforts necessary to compensate for the problem keep a little power on
for rudder effectiveness and the benefit of P factor dont hesitate to use left brake as necessary My three years of Air Force T -6 flight instructor exshyperience came back fast
On landing I was able to prevent a ground loop but we still rolled off of the right edge of the runway even with FULL left brake application When the wheels hit the soft dirt it all came to an abrupt stop right there - upside down
We were fastened in good and tight
When the wheels hit the soft dirt
it all came to an abrupt stop right there shy
upside down
and thanks to the Lord who gave me presence of mind to command my passhysenger Dont do NOT unfasten your seat belt Let it out slowly Thereby neither of us got a scratch or even a stiff muscle out of the wreck
The nice thing is that I had bought 18 days of in-flight hull coverage for the trip COST $4020 for $31000 worth The bad thing is I didnt buy $60000 They want to declare your plane a total loss at 70 percent of the face value of your policy Call your A VEMCO agent to increase your coverage NOW There is an estimated $21900 (or more and I have to pay everything over $21500) substantial damage With that name tag the FAANTSB got into the act right away
To retain my tickets I had to take a FAA administered (NOT a designated
examiner) oral exam and check flight By my own choice I took it out of Salt Lake International (unfamiliar to me) in a plane I only fly once every two years for the BFR I did not take time to cram for the oral or to practice in the airplane I had to perform all maneuvers he called for to the standards of the highest certificate I held and since the inspector knew I had taught ATP for 20 years I felt he expected a lot When he made the entries in my log book he added the comment Excellent flight Its hard for anyone to imagine how devastated a pilot feels after a major accident so that certainly gave me an exonerated feeling relative to my flying knowledge and abilities Some satisshyfaction at least in view of the airplane being (probably) a total loss
Nevertheless I get a pilot error on my record basically as a result of not grounding my plane back in Elko when I became aware of the shock strut probshylem It was an easy-to-forget responshysibility especially when I wanted to get to Oshkosh so badly Let this be a lesshyson to everyone who owns a plane Its easier to find fault with and ground a rented plane than your own Also be aware that when you buy any used plane you may well expect that someshyone has made unwise and unapproved alterations
Oh yes youve been waiting for the funny thing Well I had a half gallon plastic milk bottle (for in-flight relief) jammed between the sheet metal of the front seat and the fuselage tubing aft of that After the dust settled I was removshying the bottle from the cockpit (upsideshydown remember) and the cap popped off Yes I had used it enroute a couple of times and yes that stuff does not make good hair conditioner (makes your eyes burn too) and yes I had to wear the same shirt the rest of the day
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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Daniel Guggenheim International Safe Airplane Competition
One of the more interesting apshyproaches to improving the safety of aircraft in the late 1920s was the Intershynational Safe Aircraft Competition promoted by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund This effort led to some important technical innovations which enabled aircraft to land and take off at slower speeds and in shorter distances
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics was formed in January 1926 with deeds of a gift from Mr Daniel Guggenheim totalling $2500000 of which both interest and principle were to be expended The purshy
pose of the fund was to promote aeronautical education throughout the country to assist in the extension of aeronautical science and to further the development of commercial aircraft particularly in its use as a regular means of transportation both of goods and people
The board of trustees included Charshyles A Lindbergh and Orville Wright Probably its most well-known venture was in sponsoring Lindberghs tour of the United States with the Spirit of St Louis after his return from Europe The fund also felt that so little interest was
being shown in passenger flying at the end of 1927 that it funded the purchase of Western Air Express Fokker Trimotors to operate between Los Anshygeles and San Francisco In February 1930 the fund was liquidated its purshyposes having been declared acshycomplished
On April 20 1927 the Guggenheim Fund announced the Safe Aircraft Comshypetition The object of the competition was to achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heavier-than-air craft without sacrific-
The Safe Aircraft Competition Officials (Standing left to right) Prof Alexander Klemin Maj E E Aldrin (Astronaut Buzz Aldrins father) Capt Em~ry S Land William P MacCracken Jr Milbourn Kusterer Dr George W Lewis Edward P Warner Thomas Carroll (Kneeling left to right) Capt Walter Bender KF Rupert FK Teichman Lt Stanley Umstead EW Rounds Prof William G Brown 6 FEBRUARY 1992
S~me of the test equipment used during the testing Lett Short amp Mason Anemometer Right Barr amp Stroud Ltd Suspended Air-Log
ing the good practical qualities of the present-day aircraft
As an incentive to the development and construction of an aircraft having characteristics which would fulfill the conditions laid down by the rules comshymittee the fund offered a First Prize of $100000 and five Safety Prizes of $10000 Applications were invited on and after September 1 1927 up to Ocshytober 31 1929 as a final date
It was expected that aircraft entered in the competition would be presented from time to time during the two year period and it was considered that the object of the competition might be achieved before the final date in which case the fund intended to close the comshypetition Moreover if the entries were presented throughout the period of the competition the officials would be able to conduct tests under favorable weather and field conditions
This did not prove to be the case as the first airplane was not presented until the end of August 1929 and practically all of the competitors presented their entries in the last month of the competishytion October 1929 The tests were carshyried out but weather and field conditions were not favorable and it was not possible to complete all the tests as desired
RECEPTION
The idea of a safety plane competishytion received wide coverage in the aviashytion press with over 30 articles listed in the Brockets Bibliography of Aeronautics The earliest coverage was provided in the May 9 1927 issue of A VIA TION which reported on the dinshy
ner given at the Yale Club in New York City where Harry F Guggenheim anshynounced the competition
Guggenheim said of the purpose of the event The average mans attitude toward air travel today is still very skepshytical He is interested in reading of flying exploits and glad when his countrys airmen set new records and probably regards with mild resentment the reported superior aeronautical progress of other nations But in the back of his mind lurks a deep-seated reluctance to trust that most elusive of the elements - air The fury of torshynadoes ashore or typhoons at sea for some reason holds less terror for him than the paradoxical business of defying gravity with heavier-than-air machines He may send letters by airmail but he prefers to let someone else do the flying
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund has recognized from the outset that any efshyfort to make air traffic an integral part of our national commercial life must first reduce and as nearly as possible entirely overcome the popular skepshyticism of air transportation As a funshydamental step in its educational program the Fund hereby announces a Safe Aircraft Competition by which it hopes not only to demonstrate that airplane travel is basically as safe as railway and steamship travel but to stimulate scientific investigation and practical invention into evolving new devices and principles whereby air travel will convert even the most conshyfirmed skeptics and will take its place in our lives as the fleetest cleanest and safest of the three recognized modes of travel today
The object of the Competition is to
achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heaviershythan-air craft without sacrificing the good practical qualities of present-day aircraft The whole development of aeronautics in the past decade has been greatly influenced by the exigencies of war Safety is a civilian rather than a war-time need and for commerical purshyposes must be made of importance surshypassing that of war requirements which are sometimes bought at the price of danger
POPULAR AVIATION
The December 1927 issue of POPULAR A VIA TION reported For the first time in the history of aviation concerted efforts are now being made by manufacturers and designers to secure the essential elements of safety upon which the future success in aerial transportation depends The solution of this problem which is the goal of the Safe-Aircraft Competition is a matter of international importance The parshyticipation of foreign experts is sigshynificant of an international effort to overcome the supreme obstacle in the path of aerial progress
They went on to say The Guggenshyheim Fund sensed the public demand for safety before it was formulated in protests and the Competition is the result of a careful working out of basic safety principles that will be required by the public in airplanes
FLIGHT
The June 16 1927 editorial of the British publication FLIGHT had the folshylowing comments
One might well describe as the first serious attempt to achieve real progress in safe flying the Daniel Guggenheim Safe-Aircraft Competition which is to be held near New York during the next two years In fact so difficult are the conditions to be fulfilled that cynics have remarked that aircraft built for the competition will certainly be safe since they will not leave the ground
While this is admittedly a considershyable overstatement of the case there is no denying that the aeroplane as we know it to-day will be hard put to comshyply with the regulations and yet be capable of carrying any payload (as disshytinct from the usefulload as specified in the regulations)
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
No aeroplane as we know it today will have much chance in the competishytion To begin with a speed range of 35 to 110 mph will put the designer on his mettle apart from any other considerashytion Add to this the fact that he is restricted in power to carry 5 Ib per hp usefulload in addition to the weight of the machine and one is faced with quite a pretty little problem
Competition closes in 1929 and frankly we doubt whether even by then a machine will be produced that can fulfill the qualifying requirements let alone have any hopes of scoring points by extra performance pound20000 is a very handsome prize but it will cost a firm a good deal more than that to produce a machine that shall have even a small chance of succeeding
Despite the doubts listed above the October 13 1927 issue of FLIGHT anshynounced that five British firms had entered the competition From a British point of view the number of entries already made is particularly gratifying as it is a clear indication that the vital importance of achieving safety in flying has been fully realized in this country
8 FEBRUARY 1992
Weighing the Curtiss Tanager
REQUIREMENTS
The qualifying requirements inshycluded the following as taken from the December 1929 issue of POPULAR AVIATION
Power Plant The engine must be of a type that has been submitted to tests and cannot be hand cranked by directly pulling on the propellers
Structural Strength Must be in acshycordance with the requirements of the U S Department of Commerce Regulashytions
Performance The aircraft must have a maximum speed of 110 mph have a rate of climb of 400 feet per minute
Useful Load The airplane must carry 5 pounds of useful load (pilot observer fuel and oil included) per horsepower
Accomodation For every ten pounds of useful load carried the airplane shall provide at least one cubic foot of cabin or cargo space
DEMONSTRATIONS The tests and demonstrations to
which each aircraft were to be subshy
mitted included Speed Tests With the object of
demonstrating the ability to fly and glide at lower speeds than today posshysible and to reduce the risk involved in forced landings and when landing in confined spaces each aircraft will be required to maintain level and controlshyled flight at a speed not in excess of 35 mph It must be able to glide for a period of 3 minutes with the power off without having an airspeed exceed 38 mph All controls must be operative at the minimum speeds
Landing Tests To demonstrate the ability of the aircraft to land in a small field it must land with power off and come to a rest within a distance of 100 feet from where it first touched the ground Landing must be made in a straight line and braking devices are permitted The aircraft must be able to make a steady glide in over an obstrucshytion 35 feet high and land in a straight line with power off and come to rest within a distance of 300 feet from the base of the obstruction
Takeoff Tests With the object of demonstrating that the airplane can take off from a small field and can climb at
bull
The observation towers set up for the tests at Mitchell Field on Long Island New York The Consolidated PT-3 on the right side of the field was not part of the competition
a steep angle to clear obstructions the aircraft must be able to take off after running not more than 300 feet from a standing start After taking off the aircraft must be able to clear an obstrucshytion 35 feet high at a distance of 500 feet from the starting line
Stability Tests With the object of demonstrating the stability of the aircraft under normal conditions and to show that it will return to normal flight attitude when the controls are left free the aircraft must be able to fly at any air speed from 45 to 100 mph and at any throttle opening with all controls left free for a period of not less than 5 minutes in gusty air
There were also many abnormal conshydition tests among which were
The aircraft will be required to show that if the elevator control is pulled in toward its maximum extent at the moshyment of switching off the power and held there the aircraft will not get into any dangerous maneuvers and that it will descend on a steep glide path at a speed not to exceed 40 mph
The aircraft will be dived with all power switched off until the air speed reaches 20 percent above maxi urn level
flying speed At this speed it must answer all controls and with controls released it must of its own accord return to a steady gliding attitude without serious loss of height
AWARD OF THE PRIZE
Points were to be awarded to the aircraft meeting the contest requireshyments They were awarded as follows
L Speed Tests (a) 2 points for every mph less than
35 mph at which level controlled flight can be maintained
(b) 4 points for every mph less than 38 mph which is not exceeded in a steady controlled glide during a period of three minutes
(c) Any aircraft which obtains a combined total of at least 24 points under tests (a) and (b) will be eligible to receive points for high speed in excess of 110 mph as follows 1 point for every 2 mph in excess of 110 mph at which level flight can be maintained
2 Tests of Landing Run 2 points for every 3 ft less than 100
ft in coming to rest after first touching the ground
3 Landing in a Confined Space 1 point for every 2 f1 less than 300 f1
from the base of an obstruction 35 ft high in coming to rest after gliding in over obstruction
4 Test of Take-Off 1 point for ever 15 f1 less than 300 f1
required to take off from standing start 1 point for every 10 ft less than 500
ft to clear obstruction 35 ft high from a standing start
ENTRIES
A total of 27 entries were received in the competition but only 15 airplanes appeared at Mitchell Field where the tests were conducted Of these 15 three withdrew without tests two sustained damages in preliminary flying which prevented their presentation within the time limit and eight failed to pass all of the qualifying requirements
Only two airplanes one of which failed to pass a minor qualifying reshyquirement exhibited attributes which warranted completion of the safety tests and demonstrations
- Next month the results of the competition ___
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkosh
A veteran pilot and instructor learns youre never too experienced to make an error in judgment
As a born instructor I feel that each of my negative experiences should be used to save someone else from the same mistakes I make even when it may be to my own embarrassment Bear in mind that I have been a flight and ground school instructor since 1951 with eight log books of flight time So youre never so experienced as to not do a dumb thing Here is my story
After a later-than-intended takeoff from Cameron Park California (near Sacramento) we had to make our first layover in Elko Nevada During the night I woke up from a dream that caused me to make the decision to stay there until I discovered what made this particular taildragger so squirrely during each landing roll After all the 10 FEBRUARY 1992
by William C Phelps (NC 11371)
old 1930 WACO advertising boasts that the NFs were the easiest planes to fly and KNFs were specifically sold to be economical training ships for solo stushydents So why is this KNF the most demanding airplane to land of any taildragger I have been qualified in
The next day my AampP (passenger) and I rounded up the things we needed to lift the weight offof the right side oleo strut in order to take it off for an inspecshytion We borrowed the use of the mainshytenance hangars solvent cleaning table and took the strut apart
Out of curiosity the shop owner came over to have a look and almost immediately announced This strut doesnt match that drawing you have there in the airplane manual He
pointed out that the oleo action had been ruined by someone who had drilled out the oil passage restriction orifice at the bottom of the piston from 316th inch to about 58th inch and had further modified it by replacing the one-way oil return cup washer with an 0 ring
Well to anyone with enough schoolshying on the subject of oleos and their functional purpose when they are specifically engineered into the design of an airplane especially a taildragger (or your automobile) knows that when they are not functioning its a no-go item on that planes check list (But who has a check list for a 1930 WACO KNF) I do have that schooling in my background so its a sad commentary on my judgment that I decided to put the
strut back together and to proceed to Oshkosh I thought After all I have been able to control it through many previous landings though with great difficulty That was mistake 1
But then we made the next mistake The cleaning solvent had attacked the rubshyber oleo seal at the top of the strut and though the compression cap was tightened as far as it would go it still leaked oil past the seal So we searched the town to fmd another seal None of the right size in Elko of course but we found an 0 ring of a diameter that could be laid on top of the bad seal to make it more squashable That sealed the leak okay and then to test the flexibility of the strut we alternately lifted and pulled down on the outboard wing N struts It appeared to function like it did before we began tinkering with it which is the best we could hope for
After all that it was a hot windy 300 PM with thunderstorms to the east so we settled on staying in Elko another night
The next morning we were in the air at sunup During the pre-landing check near Wendover Utah I looked over the sides of the cockpit to see the struts The right one had not extended after lift off It was stuck in the same place as when the plane was at rest on the ground with about 2 inches of piston exposed The seal must have swollen more during the night and I didnt retest the action during the preflight The left strut was extended a full 9 inches as it should be but assuming it was modified the same as the right one it has no oleo action Oh oh A rigid right strut and a free springing no shoc k absorption left strut will lead to no good
I let the passenger know that it would pull hard to the right under those cirshycumstances and I mentally reviewed the extra efforts necessary to compensate for the problem keep a little power on
for rudder effectiveness and the benefit of P factor dont hesitate to use left brake as necessary My three years of Air Force T -6 flight instructor exshyperience came back fast
On landing I was able to prevent a ground loop but we still rolled off of the right edge of the runway even with FULL left brake application When the wheels hit the soft dirt it all came to an abrupt stop right there - upside down
We were fastened in good and tight
When the wheels hit the soft dirt
it all came to an abrupt stop right there shy
upside down
and thanks to the Lord who gave me presence of mind to command my passhysenger Dont do NOT unfasten your seat belt Let it out slowly Thereby neither of us got a scratch or even a stiff muscle out of the wreck
The nice thing is that I had bought 18 days of in-flight hull coverage for the trip COST $4020 for $31000 worth The bad thing is I didnt buy $60000 They want to declare your plane a total loss at 70 percent of the face value of your policy Call your A VEMCO agent to increase your coverage NOW There is an estimated $21900 (or more and I have to pay everything over $21500) substantial damage With that name tag the FAANTSB got into the act right away
To retain my tickets I had to take a FAA administered (NOT a designated
examiner) oral exam and check flight By my own choice I took it out of Salt Lake International (unfamiliar to me) in a plane I only fly once every two years for the BFR I did not take time to cram for the oral or to practice in the airplane I had to perform all maneuvers he called for to the standards of the highest certificate I held and since the inspector knew I had taught ATP for 20 years I felt he expected a lot When he made the entries in my log book he added the comment Excellent flight Its hard for anyone to imagine how devastated a pilot feels after a major accident so that certainly gave me an exonerated feeling relative to my flying knowledge and abilities Some satisshyfaction at least in view of the airplane being (probably) a total loss
Nevertheless I get a pilot error on my record basically as a result of not grounding my plane back in Elko when I became aware of the shock strut probshylem It was an easy-to-forget responshysibility especially when I wanted to get to Oshkosh so badly Let this be a lesshyson to everyone who owns a plane Its easier to find fault with and ground a rented plane than your own Also be aware that when you buy any used plane you may well expect that someshyone has made unwise and unapproved alterations
Oh yes youve been waiting for the funny thing Well I had a half gallon plastic milk bottle (for in-flight relief) jammed between the sheet metal of the front seat and the fuselage tubing aft of that After the dust settled I was removshying the bottle from the cockpit (upsideshydown remember) and the cap popped off Yes I had used it enroute a couple of times and yes that stuff does not make good hair conditioner (makes your eyes burn too) and yes I had to wear the same shirt the rest of the day
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
S~me of the test equipment used during the testing Lett Short amp Mason Anemometer Right Barr amp Stroud Ltd Suspended Air-Log
ing the good practical qualities of the present-day aircraft
As an incentive to the development and construction of an aircraft having characteristics which would fulfill the conditions laid down by the rules comshymittee the fund offered a First Prize of $100000 and five Safety Prizes of $10000 Applications were invited on and after September 1 1927 up to Ocshytober 31 1929 as a final date
It was expected that aircraft entered in the competition would be presented from time to time during the two year period and it was considered that the object of the competition might be achieved before the final date in which case the fund intended to close the comshypetition Moreover if the entries were presented throughout the period of the competition the officials would be able to conduct tests under favorable weather and field conditions
This did not prove to be the case as the first airplane was not presented until the end of August 1929 and practically all of the competitors presented their entries in the last month of the competishytion October 1929 The tests were carshyried out but weather and field conditions were not favorable and it was not possible to complete all the tests as desired
RECEPTION
The idea of a safety plane competishytion received wide coverage in the aviashytion press with over 30 articles listed in the Brockets Bibliography of Aeronautics The earliest coverage was provided in the May 9 1927 issue of A VIA TION which reported on the dinshy
ner given at the Yale Club in New York City where Harry F Guggenheim anshynounced the competition
Guggenheim said of the purpose of the event The average mans attitude toward air travel today is still very skepshytical He is interested in reading of flying exploits and glad when his countrys airmen set new records and probably regards with mild resentment the reported superior aeronautical progress of other nations But in the back of his mind lurks a deep-seated reluctance to trust that most elusive of the elements - air The fury of torshynadoes ashore or typhoons at sea for some reason holds less terror for him than the paradoxical business of defying gravity with heavier-than-air machines He may send letters by airmail but he prefers to let someone else do the flying
The Daniel Guggenheim Fund has recognized from the outset that any efshyfort to make air traffic an integral part of our national commercial life must first reduce and as nearly as possible entirely overcome the popular skepshyticism of air transportation As a funshydamental step in its educational program the Fund hereby announces a Safe Aircraft Competition by which it hopes not only to demonstrate that airplane travel is basically as safe as railway and steamship travel but to stimulate scientific investigation and practical invention into evolving new devices and principles whereby air travel will convert even the most conshyfirmed skeptics and will take its place in our lives as the fleetest cleanest and safest of the three recognized modes of travel today
The object of the Competition is to
achieve a real advance in the safety of flying through improvement in the aerodynamic characteristics of heaviershythan-air craft without sacrificing the good practical qualities of present-day aircraft The whole development of aeronautics in the past decade has been greatly influenced by the exigencies of war Safety is a civilian rather than a war-time need and for commerical purshyposes must be made of importance surshypassing that of war requirements which are sometimes bought at the price of danger
POPULAR AVIATION
The December 1927 issue of POPULAR A VIA TION reported For the first time in the history of aviation concerted efforts are now being made by manufacturers and designers to secure the essential elements of safety upon which the future success in aerial transportation depends The solution of this problem which is the goal of the Safe-Aircraft Competition is a matter of international importance The parshyticipation of foreign experts is sigshynificant of an international effort to overcome the supreme obstacle in the path of aerial progress
They went on to say The Guggenshyheim Fund sensed the public demand for safety before it was formulated in protests and the Competition is the result of a careful working out of basic safety principles that will be required by the public in airplanes
FLIGHT
The June 16 1927 editorial of the British publication FLIGHT had the folshylowing comments
One might well describe as the first serious attempt to achieve real progress in safe flying the Daniel Guggenheim Safe-Aircraft Competition which is to be held near New York during the next two years In fact so difficult are the conditions to be fulfilled that cynics have remarked that aircraft built for the competition will certainly be safe since they will not leave the ground
While this is admittedly a considershyable overstatement of the case there is no denying that the aeroplane as we know it to-day will be hard put to comshyply with the regulations and yet be capable of carrying any payload (as disshytinct from the usefulload as specified in the regulations)
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
No aeroplane as we know it today will have much chance in the competishytion To begin with a speed range of 35 to 110 mph will put the designer on his mettle apart from any other considerashytion Add to this the fact that he is restricted in power to carry 5 Ib per hp usefulload in addition to the weight of the machine and one is faced with quite a pretty little problem
Competition closes in 1929 and frankly we doubt whether even by then a machine will be produced that can fulfill the qualifying requirements let alone have any hopes of scoring points by extra performance pound20000 is a very handsome prize but it will cost a firm a good deal more than that to produce a machine that shall have even a small chance of succeeding
Despite the doubts listed above the October 13 1927 issue of FLIGHT anshynounced that five British firms had entered the competition From a British point of view the number of entries already made is particularly gratifying as it is a clear indication that the vital importance of achieving safety in flying has been fully realized in this country
8 FEBRUARY 1992
Weighing the Curtiss Tanager
REQUIREMENTS
The qualifying requirements inshycluded the following as taken from the December 1929 issue of POPULAR AVIATION
Power Plant The engine must be of a type that has been submitted to tests and cannot be hand cranked by directly pulling on the propellers
Structural Strength Must be in acshycordance with the requirements of the U S Department of Commerce Regulashytions
Performance The aircraft must have a maximum speed of 110 mph have a rate of climb of 400 feet per minute
Useful Load The airplane must carry 5 pounds of useful load (pilot observer fuel and oil included) per horsepower
Accomodation For every ten pounds of useful load carried the airplane shall provide at least one cubic foot of cabin or cargo space
DEMONSTRATIONS The tests and demonstrations to
which each aircraft were to be subshy
mitted included Speed Tests With the object of
demonstrating the ability to fly and glide at lower speeds than today posshysible and to reduce the risk involved in forced landings and when landing in confined spaces each aircraft will be required to maintain level and controlshyled flight at a speed not in excess of 35 mph It must be able to glide for a period of 3 minutes with the power off without having an airspeed exceed 38 mph All controls must be operative at the minimum speeds
Landing Tests To demonstrate the ability of the aircraft to land in a small field it must land with power off and come to a rest within a distance of 100 feet from where it first touched the ground Landing must be made in a straight line and braking devices are permitted The aircraft must be able to make a steady glide in over an obstrucshytion 35 feet high and land in a straight line with power off and come to rest within a distance of 300 feet from the base of the obstruction
Takeoff Tests With the object of demonstrating that the airplane can take off from a small field and can climb at
bull
The observation towers set up for the tests at Mitchell Field on Long Island New York The Consolidated PT-3 on the right side of the field was not part of the competition
a steep angle to clear obstructions the aircraft must be able to take off after running not more than 300 feet from a standing start After taking off the aircraft must be able to clear an obstrucshytion 35 feet high at a distance of 500 feet from the starting line
Stability Tests With the object of demonstrating the stability of the aircraft under normal conditions and to show that it will return to normal flight attitude when the controls are left free the aircraft must be able to fly at any air speed from 45 to 100 mph and at any throttle opening with all controls left free for a period of not less than 5 minutes in gusty air
There were also many abnormal conshydition tests among which were
The aircraft will be required to show that if the elevator control is pulled in toward its maximum extent at the moshyment of switching off the power and held there the aircraft will not get into any dangerous maneuvers and that it will descend on a steep glide path at a speed not to exceed 40 mph
The aircraft will be dived with all power switched off until the air speed reaches 20 percent above maxi urn level
flying speed At this speed it must answer all controls and with controls released it must of its own accord return to a steady gliding attitude without serious loss of height
AWARD OF THE PRIZE
Points were to be awarded to the aircraft meeting the contest requireshyments They were awarded as follows
L Speed Tests (a) 2 points for every mph less than
35 mph at which level controlled flight can be maintained
(b) 4 points for every mph less than 38 mph which is not exceeded in a steady controlled glide during a period of three minutes
(c) Any aircraft which obtains a combined total of at least 24 points under tests (a) and (b) will be eligible to receive points for high speed in excess of 110 mph as follows 1 point for every 2 mph in excess of 110 mph at which level flight can be maintained
2 Tests of Landing Run 2 points for every 3 ft less than 100
ft in coming to rest after first touching the ground
3 Landing in a Confined Space 1 point for every 2 f1 less than 300 f1
from the base of an obstruction 35 ft high in coming to rest after gliding in over obstruction
4 Test of Take-Off 1 point for ever 15 f1 less than 300 f1
required to take off from standing start 1 point for every 10 ft less than 500
ft to clear obstruction 35 ft high from a standing start
ENTRIES
A total of 27 entries were received in the competition but only 15 airplanes appeared at Mitchell Field where the tests were conducted Of these 15 three withdrew without tests two sustained damages in preliminary flying which prevented their presentation within the time limit and eight failed to pass all of the qualifying requirements
Only two airplanes one of which failed to pass a minor qualifying reshyquirement exhibited attributes which warranted completion of the safety tests and demonstrations
- Next month the results of the competition ___
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkosh
A veteran pilot and instructor learns youre never too experienced to make an error in judgment
As a born instructor I feel that each of my negative experiences should be used to save someone else from the same mistakes I make even when it may be to my own embarrassment Bear in mind that I have been a flight and ground school instructor since 1951 with eight log books of flight time So youre never so experienced as to not do a dumb thing Here is my story
After a later-than-intended takeoff from Cameron Park California (near Sacramento) we had to make our first layover in Elko Nevada During the night I woke up from a dream that caused me to make the decision to stay there until I discovered what made this particular taildragger so squirrely during each landing roll After all the 10 FEBRUARY 1992
by William C Phelps (NC 11371)
old 1930 WACO advertising boasts that the NFs were the easiest planes to fly and KNFs were specifically sold to be economical training ships for solo stushydents So why is this KNF the most demanding airplane to land of any taildragger I have been qualified in
The next day my AampP (passenger) and I rounded up the things we needed to lift the weight offof the right side oleo strut in order to take it off for an inspecshytion We borrowed the use of the mainshytenance hangars solvent cleaning table and took the strut apart
Out of curiosity the shop owner came over to have a look and almost immediately announced This strut doesnt match that drawing you have there in the airplane manual He
pointed out that the oleo action had been ruined by someone who had drilled out the oil passage restriction orifice at the bottom of the piston from 316th inch to about 58th inch and had further modified it by replacing the one-way oil return cup washer with an 0 ring
Well to anyone with enough schoolshying on the subject of oleos and their functional purpose when they are specifically engineered into the design of an airplane especially a taildragger (or your automobile) knows that when they are not functioning its a no-go item on that planes check list (But who has a check list for a 1930 WACO KNF) I do have that schooling in my background so its a sad commentary on my judgment that I decided to put the
strut back together and to proceed to Oshkosh I thought After all I have been able to control it through many previous landings though with great difficulty That was mistake 1
But then we made the next mistake The cleaning solvent had attacked the rubshyber oleo seal at the top of the strut and though the compression cap was tightened as far as it would go it still leaked oil past the seal So we searched the town to fmd another seal None of the right size in Elko of course but we found an 0 ring of a diameter that could be laid on top of the bad seal to make it more squashable That sealed the leak okay and then to test the flexibility of the strut we alternately lifted and pulled down on the outboard wing N struts It appeared to function like it did before we began tinkering with it which is the best we could hope for
After all that it was a hot windy 300 PM with thunderstorms to the east so we settled on staying in Elko another night
The next morning we were in the air at sunup During the pre-landing check near Wendover Utah I looked over the sides of the cockpit to see the struts The right one had not extended after lift off It was stuck in the same place as when the plane was at rest on the ground with about 2 inches of piston exposed The seal must have swollen more during the night and I didnt retest the action during the preflight The left strut was extended a full 9 inches as it should be but assuming it was modified the same as the right one it has no oleo action Oh oh A rigid right strut and a free springing no shoc k absorption left strut will lead to no good
I let the passenger know that it would pull hard to the right under those cirshycumstances and I mentally reviewed the extra efforts necessary to compensate for the problem keep a little power on
for rudder effectiveness and the benefit of P factor dont hesitate to use left brake as necessary My three years of Air Force T -6 flight instructor exshyperience came back fast
On landing I was able to prevent a ground loop but we still rolled off of the right edge of the runway even with FULL left brake application When the wheels hit the soft dirt it all came to an abrupt stop right there - upside down
We were fastened in good and tight
When the wheels hit the soft dirt
it all came to an abrupt stop right there shy
upside down
and thanks to the Lord who gave me presence of mind to command my passhysenger Dont do NOT unfasten your seat belt Let it out slowly Thereby neither of us got a scratch or even a stiff muscle out of the wreck
The nice thing is that I had bought 18 days of in-flight hull coverage for the trip COST $4020 for $31000 worth The bad thing is I didnt buy $60000 They want to declare your plane a total loss at 70 percent of the face value of your policy Call your A VEMCO agent to increase your coverage NOW There is an estimated $21900 (or more and I have to pay everything over $21500) substantial damage With that name tag the FAANTSB got into the act right away
To retain my tickets I had to take a FAA administered (NOT a designated
examiner) oral exam and check flight By my own choice I took it out of Salt Lake International (unfamiliar to me) in a plane I only fly once every two years for the BFR I did not take time to cram for the oral or to practice in the airplane I had to perform all maneuvers he called for to the standards of the highest certificate I held and since the inspector knew I had taught ATP for 20 years I felt he expected a lot When he made the entries in my log book he added the comment Excellent flight Its hard for anyone to imagine how devastated a pilot feels after a major accident so that certainly gave me an exonerated feeling relative to my flying knowledge and abilities Some satisshyfaction at least in view of the airplane being (probably) a total loss
Nevertheless I get a pilot error on my record basically as a result of not grounding my plane back in Elko when I became aware of the shock strut probshylem It was an easy-to-forget responshysibility especially when I wanted to get to Oshkosh so badly Let this be a lesshyson to everyone who owns a plane Its easier to find fault with and ground a rented plane than your own Also be aware that when you buy any used plane you may well expect that someshyone has made unwise and unapproved alterations
Oh yes youve been waiting for the funny thing Well I had a half gallon plastic milk bottle (for in-flight relief) jammed between the sheet metal of the front seat and the fuselage tubing aft of that After the dust settled I was removshying the bottle from the cockpit (upsideshydown remember) and the cap popped off Yes I had used it enroute a couple of times and yes that stuff does not make good hair conditioner (makes your eyes burn too) and yes I had to wear the same shirt the rest of the day
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Ingemar Adolfsson Neal Goodfriend David McCaskill West Hill Ontario
Johanneshov Sweden Bvergel Armin Forst Gennany Bobby Athey Portland Oregon Ronnie BakerWashington Mississippi Cliff Belleau Anchorage Alaska Christine Bergt Fainnont Minnesota William Bixby Hanover Park Illinois R L Black Tyabb Australia George Bowers
Nebraska City Nebraska Leon Boyd Scottsdale Arizona Carl Breckel Hereford Arizona William Browmell
Wilmington Deleware Delvin Brown Wellington Colorado Michael Bruce Juniata Nebraska Hank Burgin Perryville Arkansa John Burk Anderson Indiana (Sponsor Jim Wright) Craig Burlette Kenner Louisana Robert Burnette Lakeland Florida William Claxon Gifford Illinois William Collins
Thomasville North Carolina Gregg Cooper Jerseyville Illinois Donald Couch Winnipeg Canada Lambert Damstra
Byron Center Michigan E L Dick Danley Porum Oklahoma Thomas Dickovich
Minnepolis Minnesota Keith Dillaway
Bloomington Minnesota Monte Domingos
Bakersfield California Dennis Dowling
Slisbury Massachusetts P Bayard Du Pont
Kennett Square Pennsylvania Clifford Dufresne
Round Lake Beach Illinois Leroy Earnest Ypsilanti Michigan Arnold Egly Bedford Texas George Fedor Mobile Alabama William Finein
Mount Pleasant Michigan John Finney Seneca Nebraska Vincent Fraitasio
Squantum Massachusetts Hugh Frampton Nepean Canada Jesse Frampton Noxon Montana Jofef Fryba Surrey Canada Gerald Funfsinn Arlington Illinois Richard Gileczek
Bloomington Minnesota Paul Giorgetti Venice Florida (Sponsor John Yurosko) Marchi Giovanni Goffredo Italy Javier Gonzales-Miro Ribadeo Spain
Sacramento California John Gowins North Canton Ohio (Sponsor Paul Hamilton) Fred Gramlin Silver Spring Maryland Terry Greenland Rockford Michigan I Guilor Dorset England D Q Gulewich Stonewall Canada Jeff Haneline Fallbrook California George Hanna Brookfield Conneticut M C Harrell Bainbridge Georgia Thomas Harry Sterling Virginia W Neil Hayden East Liverpool Ohio Peter Heins Ludlow Falls Ohio Richard Hendrickson
Cotati California Joseph Hoey Venice Florida Delbert Hostetler
Cottonwood Minnesota John Houser Middletown Ohio James Huismann
Pewaukee Wisconsin Gene Jackson Kingsport Tennessee P Jackson Tonbridge England Kjell Jahrehorn Svenstavik Sweden Hana Janisova
Kraloue Czechoslovakia John Johnsen
Albuquerque New Mexico Eddie Johnson Marietta Georgia Richard KearneyBrooklyn New York Frank Kenessey Port St Lucie Florida J Scott Kennedy St Ann Missouri John Kennelley Norwalk Iowa Bruce King Hamilton Montana Walter Kissel Crete Illinois Ralph Knechel
Hackettstown New Jersey Jarvis Knight Sandwich Illinois Max Krueger Jr San Antonio Texas William A La Chapelle
Thousand Oaks California William F La Chapelle
Federal Way Washington Gilbert M Lamphear
Deerfield Illinois B Douglas Lau
Brooklyn Park Minnesota D Lee Bideford England Joe Ligon Venice Florida (Sponsor John Yurosko) James Lockwood Park Ridge Illinois Malcolm Long Coolangatta Australia Edwin Lowell Okalla Florida John Malley Glen Head New York Grady Malone Knoxville Tennessee Ronald Manna Branford Florida Jack Marchand
West Lafayette Indiana Craig Martin Alameda California
Patrick McMaffery New Egypt New Jersey
Gordon Meffert Waunakee Wisconsin
Lester Milker N St Paul Minnesota Richard Morley
Ridgefield Conneticut Malcolm Muir Quincy California Chip Myers Daytona Beach Florida Thomas Nelson Jr
Chatham Mississippi John OBrien
West Lake Village California Curtis Olson Grand Rapids Michigan Matthew Onyon New Fane Vennont Peter Owen St Paul Minnesota Raymond Owens
Asheville North Carolina Gary Palinkas Panna Ohio Sherry Patrick Slaughter Louisana William Perkins
Hattiesburg Mississippi David Perrin Bolivar Tennessee Robert Phinney Middleton Canada James Pickrel Pilot Point Texas Colin Powers Independence Oregon Lee Race Memphis Tennessee Steve Reddick Cascade Colorado Frank Reed Wheaton Illinois Leonard Reich Oakland Maine John Remington Austin Texas Brian Rich
Orwigsburg Pennsylvania Gordon Richardson II
College Station Texas Tor Richvoldsen Oslo Norway Stephen Roszel Warrenton Virginia Howard Rowland Rantoul Illinois John Santucci
Morristown New Jersey C Joe Saunders
Longisland North Carolina Don Scheberle Michigan City Indiana Michael Serafin Austin Texas John Seversen Urbana Illinois Crystal Shankle Godley Texas Glenn Short Neillsville Wisconsin Edward Silk Norwalk Conneticut Edward Skroch Fargo North Dakota David Smith Surrey Canada Eugene Spainhour
Hickory North Carolina George Spetz Palos Hills Illinois Simon Springthorpe
Grabouw South Africa Michael Streiter Laurel Maryland Lee Sturgeon Boulder Colorado John Sullivan
Clonskea Dublin Ireland
30 FEBRUARY 1992
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
No aeroplane as we know it today will have much chance in the competishytion To begin with a speed range of 35 to 110 mph will put the designer on his mettle apart from any other considerashytion Add to this the fact that he is restricted in power to carry 5 Ib per hp usefulload in addition to the weight of the machine and one is faced with quite a pretty little problem
Competition closes in 1929 and frankly we doubt whether even by then a machine will be produced that can fulfill the qualifying requirements let alone have any hopes of scoring points by extra performance pound20000 is a very handsome prize but it will cost a firm a good deal more than that to produce a machine that shall have even a small chance of succeeding
Despite the doubts listed above the October 13 1927 issue of FLIGHT anshynounced that five British firms had entered the competition From a British point of view the number of entries already made is particularly gratifying as it is a clear indication that the vital importance of achieving safety in flying has been fully realized in this country
8 FEBRUARY 1992
Weighing the Curtiss Tanager
REQUIREMENTS
The qualifying requirements inshycluded the following as taken from the December 1929 issue of POPULAR AVIATION
Power Plant The engine must be of a type that has been submitted to tests and cannot be hand cranked by directly pulling on the propellers
Structural Strength Must be in acshycordance with the requirements of the U S Department of Commerce Regulashytions
Performance The aircraft must have a maximum speed of 110 mph have a rate of climb of 400 feet per minute
Useful Load The airplane must carry 5 pounds of useful load (pilot observer fuel and oil included) per horsepower
Accomodation For every ten pounds of useful load carried the airplane shall provide at least one cubic foot of cabin or cargo space
DEMONSTRATIONS The tests and demonstrations to
which each aircraft were to be subshy
mitted included Speed Tests With the object of
demonstrating the ability to fly and glide at lower speeds than today posshysible and to reduce the risk involved in forced landings and when landing in confined spaces each aircraft will be required to maintain level and controlshyled flight at a speed not in excess of 35 mph It must be able to glide for a period of 3 minutes with the power off without having an airspeed exceed 38 mph All controls must be operative at the minimum speeds
Landing Tests To demonstrate the ability of the aircraft to land in a small field it must land with power off and come to a rest within a distance of 100 feet from where it first touched the ground Landing must be made in a straight line and braking devices are permitted The aircraft must be able to make a steady glide in over an obstrucshytion 35 feet high and land in a straight line with power off and come to rest within a distance of 300 feet from the base of the obstruction
Takeoff Tests With the object of demonstrating that the airplane can take off from a small field and can climb at
bull
The observation towers set up for the tests at Mitchell Field on Long Island New York The Consolidated PT-3 on the right side of the field was not part of the competition
a steep angle to clear obstructions the aircraft must be able to take off after running not more than 300 feet from a standing start After taking off the aircraft must be able to clear an obstrucshytion 35 feet high at a distance of 500 feet from the starting line
Stability Tests With the object of demonstrating the stability of the aircraft under normal conditions and to show that it will return to normal flight attitude when the controls are left free the aircraft must be able to fly at any air speed from 45 to 100 mph and at any throttle opening with all controls left free for a period of not less than 5 minutes in gusty air
There were also many abnormal conshydition tests among which were
The aircraft will be required to show that if the elevator control is pulled in toward its maximum extent at the moshyment of switching off the power and held there the aircraft will not get into any dangerous maneuvers and that it will descend on a steep glide path at a speed not to exceed 40 mph
The aircraft will be dived with all power switched off until the air speed reaches 20 percent above maxi urn level
flying speed At this speed it must answer all controls and with controls released it must of its own accord return to a steady gliding attitude without serious loss of height
AWARD OF THE PRIZE
Points were to be awarded to the aircraft meeting the contest requireshyments They were awarded as follows
L Speed Tests (a) 2 points for every mph less than
35 mph at which level controlled flight can be maintained
(b) 4 points for every mph less than 38 mph which is not exceeded in a steady controlled glide during a period of three minutes
(c) Any aircraft which obtains a combined total of at least 24 points under tests (a) and (b) will be eligible to receive points for high speed in excess of 110 mph as follows 1 point for every 2 mph in excess of 110 mph at which level flight can be maintained
2 Tests of Landing Run 2 points for every 3 ft less than 100
ft in coming to rest after first touching the ground
3 Landing in a Confined Space 1 point for every 2 f1 less than 300 f1
from the base of an obstruction 35 ft high in coming to rest after gliding in over obstruction
4 Test of Take-Off 1 point for ever 15 f1 less than 300 f1
required to take off from standing start 1 point for every 10 ft less than 500
ft to clear obstruction 35 ft high from a standing start
ENTRIES
A total of 27 entries were received in the competition but only 15 airplanes appeared at Mitchell Field where the tests were conducted Of these 15 three withdrew without tests two sustained damages in preliminary flying which prevented their presentation within the time limit and eight failed to pass all of the qualifying requirements
Only two airplanes one of which failed to pass a minor qualifying reshyquirement exhibited attributes which warranted completion of the safety tests and demonstrations
- Next month the results of the competition ___
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkosh
A veteran pilot and instructor learns youre never too experienced to make an error in judgment
As a born instructor I feel that each of my negative experiences should be used to save someone else from the same mistakes I make even when it may be to my own embarrassment Bear in mind that I have been a flight and ground school instructor since 1951 with eight log books of flight time So youre never so experienced as to not do a dumb thing Here is my story
After a later-than-intended takeoff from Cameron Park California (near Sacramento) we had to make our first layover in Elko Nevada During the night I woke up from a dream that caused me to make the decision to stay there until I discovered what made this particular taildragger so squirrely during each landing roll After all the 10 FEBRUARY 1992
by William C Phelps (NC 11371)
old 1930 WACO advertising boasts that the NFs were the easiest planes to fly and KNFs were specifically sold to be economical training ships for solo stushydents So why is this KNF the most demanding airplane to land of any taildragger I have been qualified in
The next day my AampP (passenger) and I rounded up the things we needed to lift the weight offof the right side oleo strut in order to take it off for an inspecshytion We borrowed the use of the mainshytenance hangars solvent cleaning table and took the strut apart
Out of curiosity the shop owner came over to have a look and almost immediately announced This strut doesnt match that drawing you have there in the airplane manual He
pointed out that the oleo action had been ruined by someone who had drilled out the oil passage restriction orifice at the bottom of the piston from 316th inch to about 58th inch and had further modified it by replacing the one-way oil return cup washer with an 0 ring
Well to anyone with enough schoolshying on the subject of oleos and their functional purpose when they are specifically engineered into the design of an airplane especially a taildragger (or your automobile) knows that when they are not functioning its a no-go item on that planes check list (But who has a check list for a 1930 WACO KNF) I do have that schooling in my background so its a sad commentary on my judgment that I decided to put the
strut back together and to proceed to Oshkosh I thought After all I have been able to control it through many previous landings though with great difficulty That was mistake 1
But then we made the next mistake The cleaning solvent had attacked the rubshyber oleo seal at the top of the strut and though the compression cap was tightened as far as it would go it still leaked oil past the seal So we searched the town to fmd another seal None of the right size in Elko of course but we found an 0 ring of a diameter that could be laid on top of the bad seal to make it more squashable That sealed the leak okay and then to test the flexibility of the strut we alternately lifted and pulled down on the outboard wing N struts It appeared to function like it did before we began tinkering with it which is the best we could hope for
After all that it was a hot windy 300 PM with thunderstorms to the east so we settled on staying in Elko another night
The next morning we were in the air at sunup During the pre-landing check near Wendover Utah I looked over the sides of the cockpit to see the struts The right one had not extended after lift off It was stuck in the same place as when the plane was at rest on the ground with about 2 inches of piston exposed The seal must have swollen more during the night and I didnt retest the action during the preflight The left strut was extended a full 9 inches as it should be but assuming it was modified the same as the right one it has no oleo action Oh oh A rigid right strut and a free springing no shoc k absorption left strut will lead to no good
I let the passenger know that it would pull hard to the right under those cirshycumstances and I mentally reviewed the extra efforts necessary to compensate for the problem keep a little power on
for rudder effectiveness and the benefit of P factor dont hesitate to use left brake as necessary My three years of Air Force T -6 flight instructor exshyperience came back fast
On landing I was able to prevent a ground loop but we still rolled off of the right edge of the runway even with FULL left brake application When the wheels hit the soft dirt it all came to an abrupt stop right there - upside down
We were fastened in good and tight
When the wheels hit the soft dirt
it all came to an abrupt stop right there shy
upside down
and thanks to the Lord who gave me presence of mind to command my passhysenger Dont do NOT unfasten your seat belt Let it out slowly Thereby neither of us got a scratch or even a stiff muscle out of the wreck
The nice thing is that I had bought 18 days of in-flight hull coverage for the trip COST $4020 for $31000 worth The bad thing is I didnt buy $60000 They want to declare your plane a total loss at 70 percent of the face value of your policy Call your A VEMCO agent to increase your coverage NOW There is an estimated $21900 (or more and I have to pay everything over $21500) substantial damage With that name tag the FAANTSB got into the act right away
To retain my tickets I had to take a FAA administered (NOT a designated
examiner) oral exam and check flight By my own choice I took it out of Salt Lake International (unfamiliar to me) in a plane I only fly once every two years for the BFR I did not take time to cram for the oral or to practice in the airplane I had to perform all maneuvers he called for to the standards of the highest certificate I held and since the inspector knew I had taught ATP for 20 years I felt he expected a lot When he made the entries in my log book he added the comment Excellent flight Its hard for anyone to imagine how devastated a pilot feels after a major accident so that certainly gave me an exonerated feeling relative to my flying knowledge and abilities Some satisshyfaction at least in view of the airplane being (probably) a total loss
Nevertheless I get a pilot error on my record basically as a result of not grounding my plane back in Elko when I became aware of the shock strut probshylem It was an easy-to-forget responshysibility especially when I wanted to get to Oshkosh so badly Let this be a lesshyson to everyone who owns a plane Its easier to find fault with and ground a rented plane than your own Also be aware that when you buy any used plane you may well expect that someshyone has made unwise and unapproved alterations
Oh yes youve been waiting for the funny thing Well I had a half gallon plastic milk bottle (for in-flight relief) jammed between the sheet metal of the front seat and the fuselage tubing aft of that After the dust settled I was removshying the bottle from the cockpit (upsideshydown remember) and the cap popped off Yes I had used it enroute a couple of times and yes that stuff does not make good hair conditioner (makes your eyes burn too) and yes I had to wear the same shirt the rest of the day
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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The observation towers set up for the tests at Mitchell Field on Long Island New York The Consolidated PT-3 on the right side of the field was not part of the competition
a steep angle to clear obstructions the aircraft must be able to take off after running not more than 300 feet from a standing start After taking off the aircraft must be able to clear an obstrucshytion 35 feet high at a distance of 500 feet from the starting line
Stability Tests With the object of demonstrating the stability of the aircraft under normal conditions and to show that it will return to normal flight attitude when the controls are left free the aircraft must be able to fly at any air speed from 45 to 100 mph and at any throttle opening with all controls left free for a period of not less than 5 minutes in gusty air
There were also many abnormal conshydition tests among which were
The aircraft will be required to show that if the elevator control is pulled in toward its maximum extent at the moshyment of switching off the power and held there the aircraft will not get into any dangerous maneuvers and that it will descend on a steep glide path at a speed not to exceed 40 mph
The aircraft will be dived with all power switched off until the air speed reaches 20 percent above maxi urn level
flying speed At this speed it must answer all controls and with controls released it must of its own accord return to a steady gliding attitude without serious loss of height
AWARD OF THE PRIZE
Points were to be awarded to the aircraft meeting the contest requireshyments They were awarded as follows
L Speed Tests (a) 2 points for every mph less than
35 mph at which level controlled flight can be maintained
(b) 4 points for every mph less than 38 mph which is not exceeded in a steady controlled glide during a period of three minutes
(c) Any aircraft which obtains a combined total of at least 24 points under tests (a) and (b) will be eligible to receive points for high speed in excess of 110 mph as follows 1 point for every 2 mph in excess of 110 mph at which level flight can be maintained
2 Tests of Landing Run 2 points for every 3 ft less than 100
ft in coming to rest after first touching the ground
3 Landing in a Confined Space 1 point for every 2 f1 less than 300 f1
from the base of an obstruction 35 ft high in coming to rest after gliding in over obstruction
4 Test of Take-Off 1 point for ever 15 f1 less than 300 f1
required to take off from standing start 1 point for every 10 ft less than 500
ft to clear obstruction 35 ft high from a standing start
ENTRIES
A total of 27 entries were received in the competition but only 15 airplanes appeared at Mitchell Field where the tests were conducted Of these 15 three withdrew without tests two sustained damages in preliminary flying which prevented their presentation within the time limit and eight failed to pass all of the qualifying requirements
Only two airplanes one of which failed to pass a minor qualifying reshyquirement exhibited attributes which warranted completion of the safety tests and demonstrations
- Next month the results of the competition ___
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkosh
A veteran pilot and instructor learns youre never too experienced to make an error in judgment
As a born instructor I feel that each of my negative experiences should be used to save someone else from the same mistakes I make even when it may be to my own embarrassment Bear in mind that I have been a flight and ground school instructor since 1951 with eight log books of flight time So youre never so experienced as to not do a dumb thing Here is my story
After a later-than-intended takeoff from Cameron Park California (near Sacramento) we had to make our first layover in Elko Nevada During the night I woke up from a dream that caused me to make the decision to stay there until I discovered what made this particular taildragger so squirrely during each landing roll After all the 10 FEBRUARY 1992
by William C Phelps (NC 11371)
old 1930 WACO advertising boasts that the NFs were the easiest planes to fly and KNFs were specifically sold to be economical training ships for solo stushydents So why is this KNF the most demanding airplane to land of any taildragger I have been qualified in
The next day my AampP (passenger) and I rounded up the things we needed to lift the weight offof the right side oleo strut in order to take it off for an inspecshytion We borrowed the use of the mainshytenance hangars solvent cleaning table and took the strut apart
Out of curiosity the shop owner came over to have a look and almost immediately announced This strut doesnt match that drawing you have there in the airplane manual He
pointed out that the oleo action had been ruined by someone who had drilled out the oil passage restriction orifice at the bottom of the piston from 316th inch to about 58th inch and had further modified it by replacing the one-way oil return cup washer with an 0 ring
Well to anyone with enough schoolshying on the subject of oleos and their functional purpose when they are specifically engineered into the design of an airplane especially a taildragger (or your automobile) knows that when they are not functioning its a no-go item on that planes check list (But who has a check list for a 1930 WACO KNF) I do have that schooling in my background so its a sad commentary on my judgment that I decided to put the
strut back together and to proceed to Oshkosh I thought After all I have been able to control it through many previous landings though with great difficulty That was mistake 1
But then we made the next mistake The cleaning solvent had attacked the rubshyber oleo seal at the top of the strut and though the compression cap was tightened as far as it would go it still leaked oil past the seal So we searched the town to fmd another seal None of the right size in Elko of course but we found an 0 ring of a diameter that could be laid on top of the bad seal to make it more squashable That sealed the leak okay and then to test the flexibility of the strut we alternately lifted and pulled down on the outboard wing N struts It appeared to function like it did before we began tinkering with it which is the best we could hope for
After all that it was a hot windy 300 PM with thunderstorms to the east so we settled on staying in Elko another night
The next morning we were in the air at sunup During the pre-landing check near Wendover Utah I looked over the sides of the cockpit to see the struts The right one had not extended after lift off It was stuck in the same place as when the plane was at rest on the ground with about 2 inches of piston exposed The seal must have swollen more during the night and I didnt retest the action during the preflight The left strut was extended a full 9 inches as it should be but assuming it was modified the same as the right one it has no oleo action Oh oh A rigid right strut and a free springing no shoc k absorption left strut will lead to no good
I let the passenger know that it would pull hard to the right under those cirshycumstances and I mentally reviewed the extra efforts necessary to compensate for the problem keep a little power on
for rudder effectiveness and the benefit of P factor dont hesitate to use left brake as necessary My three years of Air Force T -6 flight instructor exshyperience came back fast
On landing I was able to prevent a ground loop but we still rolled off of the right edge of the runway even with FULL left brake application When the wheels hit the soft dirt it all came to an abrupt stop right there - upside down
We were fastened in good and tight
When the wheels hit the soft dirt
it all came to an abrupt stop right there shy
upside down
and thanks to the Lord who gave me presence of mind to command my passhysenger Dont do NOT unfasten your seat belt Let it out slowly Thereby neither of us got a scratch or even a stiff muscle out of the wreck
The nice thing is that I had bought 18 days of in-flight hull coverage for the trip COST $4020 for $31000 worth The bad thing is I didnt buy $60000 They want to declare your plane a total loss at 70 percent of the face value of your policy Call your A VEMCO agent to increase your coverage NOW There is an estimated $21900 (or more and I have to pay everything over $21500) substantial damage With that name tag the FAANTSB got into the act right away
To retain my tickets I had to take a FAA administered (NOT a designated
examiner) oral exam and check flight By my own choice I took it out of Salt Lake International (unfamiliar to me) in a plane I only fly once every two years for the BFR I did not take time to cram for the oral or to practice in the airplane I had to perform all maneuvers he called for to the standards of the highest certificate I held and since the inspector knew I had taught ATP for 20 years I felt he expected a lot When he made the entries in my log book he added the comment Excellent flight Its hard for anyone to imagine how devastated a pilot feels after a major accident so that certainly gave me an exonerated feeling relative to my flying knowledge and abilities Some satisshyfaction at least in view of the airplane being (probably) a total loss
Nevertheless I get a pilot error on my record basically as a result of not grounding my plane back in Elko when I became aware of the shock strut probshylem It was an easy-to-forget responshysibility especially when I wanted to get to Oshkosh so badly Let this be a lesshyson to everyone who owns a plane Its easier to find fault with and ground a rented plane than your own Also be aware that when you buy any used plane you may well expect that someshyone has made unwise and unapproved alterations
Oh yes youve been waiting for the funny thing Well I had a half gallon plastic milk bottle (for in-flight relief) jammed between the sheet metal of the front seat and the fuselage tubing aft of that After the dust settled I was removshying the bottle from the cockpit (upsideshydown remember) and the cap popped off Yes I had used it enroute a couple of times and yes that stuff does not make good hair conditioner (makes your eyes burn too) and yes I had to wear the same shirt the rest of the day
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Ingemar Adolfsson Neal Goodfriend David McCaskill West Hill Ontario
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Oshkosh
A veteran pilot and instructor learns youre never too experienced to make an error in judgment
As a born instructor I feel that each of my negative experiences should be used to save someone else from the same mistakes I make even when it may be to my own embarrassment Bear in mind that I have been a flight and ground school instructor since 1951 with eight log books of flight time So youre never so experienced as to not do a dumb thing Here is my story
After a later-than-intended takeoff from Cameron Park California (near Sacramento) we had to make our first layover in Elko Nevada During the night I woke up from a dream that caused me to make the decision to stay there until I discovered what made this particular taildragger so squirrely during each landing roll After all the 10 FEBRUARY 1992
by William C Phelps (NC 11371)
old 1930 WACO advertising boasts that the NFs were the easiest planes to fly and KNFs were specifically sold to be economical training ships for solo stushydents So why is this KNF the most demanding airplane to land of any taildragger I have been qualified in
The next day my AampP (passenger) and I rounded up the things we needed to lift the weight offof the right side oleo strut in order to take it off for an inspecshytion We borrowed the use of the mainshytenance hangars solvent cleaning table and took the strut apart
Out of curiosity the shop owner came over to have a look and almost immediately announced This strut doesnt match that drawing you have there in the airplane manual He
pointed out that the oleo action had been ruined by someone who had drilled out the oil passage restriction orifice at the bottom of the piston from 316th inch to about 58th inch and had further modified it by replacing the one-way oil return cup washer with an 0 ring
Well to anyone with enough schoolshying on the subject of oleos and their functional purpose when they are specifically engineered into the design of an airplane especially a taildragger (or your automobile) knows that when they are not functioning its a no-go item on that planes check list (But who has a check list for a 1930 WACO KNF) I do have that schooling in my background so its a sad commentary on my judgment that I decided to put the
strut back together and to proceed to Oshkosh I thought After all I have been able to control it through many previous landings though with great difficulty That was mistake 1
But then we made the next mistake The cleaning solvent had attacked the rubshyber oleo seal at the top of the strut and though the compression cap was tightened as far as it would go it still leaked oil past the seal So we searched the town to fmd another seal None of the right size in Elko of course but we found an 0 ring of a diameter that could be laid on top of the bad seal to make it more squashable That sealed the leak okay and then to test the flexibility of the strut we alternately lifted and pulled down on the outboard wing N struts It appeared to function like it did before we began tinkering with it which is the best we could hope for
After all that it was a hot windy 300 PM with thunderstorms to the east so we settled on staying in Elko another night
The next morning we were in the air at sunup During the pre-landing check near Wendover Utah I looked over the sides of the cockpit to see the struts The right one had not extended after lift off It was stuck in the same place as when the plane was at rest on the ground with about 2 inches of piston exposed The seal must have swollen more during the night and I didnt retest the action during the preflight The left strut was extended a full 9 inches as it should be but assuming it was modified the same as the right one it has no oleo action Oh oh A rigid right strut and a free springing no shoc k absorption left strut will lead to no good
I let the passenger know that it would pull hard to the right under those cirshycumstances and I mentally reviewed the extra efforts necessary to compensate for the problem keep a little power on
for rudder effectiveness and the benefit of P factor dont hesitate to use left brake as necessary My three years of Air Force T -6 flight instructor exshyperience came back fast
On landing I was able to prevent a ground loop but we still rolled off of the right edge of the runway even with FULL left brake application When the wheels hit the soft dirt it all came to an abrupt stop right there - upside down
We were fastened in good and tight
When the wheels hit the soft dirt
it all came to an abrupt stop right there shy
upside down
and thanks to the Lord who gave me presence of mind to command my passhysenger Dont do NOT unfasten your seat belt Let it out slowly Thereby neither of us got a scratch or even a stiff muscle out of the wreck
The nice thing is that I had bought 18 days of in-flight hull coverage for the trip COST $4020 for $31000 worth The bad thing is I didnt buy $60000 They want to declare your plane a total loss at 70 percent of the face value of your policy Call your A VEMCO agent to increase your coverage NOW There is an estimated $21900 (or more and I have to pay everything over $21500) substantial damage With that name tag the FAANTSB got into the act right away
To retain my tickets I had to take a FAA administered (NOT a designated
examiner) oral exam and check flight By my own choice I took it out of Salt Lake International (unfamiliar to me) in a plane I only fly once every two years for the BFR I did not take time to cram for the oral or to practice in the airplane I had to perform all maneuvers he called for to the standards of the highest certificate I held and since the inspector knew I had taught ATP for 20 years I felt he expected a lot When he made the entries in my log book he added the comment Excellent flight Its hard for anyone to imagine how devastated a pilot feels after a major accident so that certainly gave me an exonerated feeling relative to my flying knowledge and abilities Some satisshyfaction at least in view of the airplane being (probably) a total loss
Nevertheless I get a pilot error on my record basically as a result of not grounding my plane back in Elko when I became aware of the shock strut probshylem It was an easy-to-forget responshysibility especially when I wanted to get to Oshkosh so badly Let this be a lesshyson to everyone who owns a plane Its easier to find fault with and ground a rented plane than your own Also be aware that when you buy any used plane you may well expect that someshyone has made unwise and unapproved alterations
Oh yes youve been waiting for the funny thing Well I had a half gallon plastic milk bottle (for in-flight relief) jammed between the sheet metal of the front seat and the fuselage tubing aft of that After the dust settled I was removshying the bottle from the cockpit (upsideshydown remember) and the cap popped off Yes I had used it enroute a couple of times and yes that stuff does not make good hair conditioner (makes your eyes burn too) and yes I had to wear the same shirt the rest of the day
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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strut back together and to proceed to Oshkosh I thought After all I have been able to control it through many previous landings though with great difficulty That was mistake 1
But then we made the next mistake The cleaning solvent had attacked the rubshyber oleo seal at the top of the strut and though the compression cap was tightened as far as it would go it still leaked oil past the seal So we searched the town to fmd another seal None of the right size in Elko of course but we found an 0 ring of a diameter that could be laid on top of the bad seal to make it more squashable That sealed the leak okay and then to test the flexibility of the strut we alternately lifted and pulled down on the outboard wing N struts It appeared to function like it did before we began tinkering with it which is the best we could hope for
After all that it was a hot windy 300 PM with thunderstorms to the east so we settled on staying in Elko another night
The next morning we were in the air at sunup During the pre-landing check near Wendover Utah I looked over the sides of the cockpit to see the struts The right one had not extended after lift off It was stuck in the same place as when the plane was at rest on the ground with about 2 inches of piston exposed The seal must have swollen more during the night and I didnt retest the action during the preflight The left strut was extended a full 9 inches as it should be but assuming it was modified the same as the right one it has no oleo action Oh oh A rigid right strut and a free springing no shoc k absorption left strut will lead to no good
I let the passenger know that it would pull hard to the right under those cirshycumstances and I mentally reviewed the extra efforts necessary to compensate for the problem keep a little power on
for rudder effectiveness and the benefit of P factor dont hesitate to use left brake as necessary My three years of Air Force T -6 flight instructor exshyperience came back fast
On landing I was able to prevent a ground loop but we still rolled off of the right edge of the runway even with FULL left brake application When the wheels hit the soft dirt it all came to an abrupt stop right there - upside down
We were fastened in good and tight
When the wheels hit the soft dirt
it all came to an abrupt stop right there shy
upside down
and thanks to the Lord who gave me presence of mind to command my passhysenger Dont do NOT unfasten your seat belt Let it out slowly Thereby neither of us got a scratch or even a stiff muscle out of the wreck
The nice thing is that I had bought 18 days of in-flight hull coverage for the trip COST $4020 for $31000 worth The bad thing is I didnt buy $60000 They want to declare your plane a total loss at 70 percent of the face value of your policy Call your A VEMCO agent to increase your coverage NOW There is an estimated $21900 (or more and I have to pay everything over $21500) substantial damage With that name tag the FAANTSB got into the act right away
To retain my tickets I had to take a FAA administered (NOT a designated
examiner) oral exam and check flight By my own choice I took it out of Salt Lake International (unfamiliar to me) in a plane I only fly once every two years for the BFR I did not take time to cram for the oral or to practice in the airplane I had to perform all maneuvers he called for to the standards of the highest certificate I held and since the inspector knew I had taught ATP for 20 years I felt he expected a lot When he made the entries in my log book he added the comment Excellent flight Its hard for anyone to imagine how devastated a pilot feels after a major accident so that certainly gave me an exonerated feeling relative to my flying knowledge and abilities Some satisshyfaction at least in view of the airplane being (probably) a total loss
Nevertheless I get a pilot error on my record basically as a result of not grounding my plane back in Elko when I became aware of the shock strut probshylem It was an easy-to-forget responshysibility especially when I wanted to get to Oshkosh so badly Let this be a lesshyson to everyone who owns a plane Its easier to find fault with and ground a rented plane than your own Also be aware that when you buy any used plane you may well expect that someshyone has made unwise and unapproved alterations
Oh yes youve been waiting for the funny thing Well I had a half gallon plastic milk bottle (for in-flight relief) jammed between the sheet metal of the front seat and the fuselage tubing aft of that After the dust settled I was removshying the bottle from the cockpit (upsideshydown remember) and the cap popped off Yes I had used it enroute a couple of times and yes that stuff does not make good hair conditioner (makes your eyes burn too) and yes I had to wear the same shirt the rest of the day
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
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MISCELLANEOUS CURTISS JN4-D MEMORABILIA - You can now own memorabilia from the famous Jenny as seen on TREASURES FROM THE PAST We have posters postcards videos pins airmail cachets etc We also have RIC documentation exclusive to this historic aircraft Sale of these items support operating expense to keep this Jenny flying for the aviation public We appreciate your help Write for your free price list Virginia Aviation Co RDv-8 Box 294 Warrenton VA 22186 (C592)
SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
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ANC-19 Bulletin - Wood Aircraft Inspection and Fabrication 1951 edition now available as reprint Early aircraft Service Notes rigging data other titles available Send SASE for listing and prices John W Grega 355 Grand Blvd Bedford OH 44146 (c-392)
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
Bill Watson of Colshylinsville Oklahoma and his 1928 KreidershyReisner KR-31
by HG Frautschy
When Sherman Fairchild went shopping for a company to produce airplanes to carry his newly invented aerial camera he bought a controlling interest in the Kreider-Reisner Company of Hagerstown Maryland In April of 1929 the future looked bright for aviashytion and Fairchild was convinced that if he was to have the airplane that would have the performance he needed for his fledgling aerial photography business hed have to make it himself When he bought the company one of the airplanes then in production at that time in the Kreider-Reisner plant was the C-2 Challenger a 3-place biplane powered by the then common Curtiss OX-5 enshygine Kreider-Reisner had been started by A Kreider and Louie Reisner in the mid-20s and was originally a Waco distributorship After building a small racer in 1926 the partners decided to go
12 FEBRUARY 1992
into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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into the production of commercial biplanes and the Challenger C-2 was the result Its Waco heritage is evident in the general outline and structure Some older pilots still refer to the C-2 as the Waco 9-12 since it bore such a strong similarity to the Waco
After Fairchild became involved in the company the aircraft currently in production were redesignated The C-2 became the KR-31 which stood for Kreider-Reisner 3-place 1st model The later KR-21 although produced seemingly out of order followed the KR designations since it was the first 2 place model produced
The C-2 was to become a very popular design although sometimes not in the exact configuration as designed by the engineers at Hagerstown As detailed in the article on Parks Aircraft in the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE the design was basically copied by the Parks Aircraft Company and designated the Parks P-1 The most
noticeable difference between the two is the movement of the OX-5s radiator from just forward of the passengers cockpit on the KR-31 to below the fuselage just forward of the landing gear
The basic design with a series of different engines would later be produced as the Detroit-Parks P-2 and later as the Hammond 100 Neither of these designs were true descendants of the KR-31 but their look-alike designs would give fits to airplane recognition enthusiasts over the years
Fortunately that has not been a probshylem for Bill Watson KR-31 His airplane has been around and looking good for so long that it rarely gets misshytaken for another plane Restored from 1974 to 1978 Bill has enjoyed regularly flying his antique during the summer season In that four year span two airplanes were restored by Bill and his friend Earl Nelson Both aircraft were found in Trade-A-Plane back in the
early 70s owned by an older gentleman in Allentown Pennsylvania Earl and Bill struck a deal loaded them up and headed back to Tulsa where the restoration was done Bill had split the cost of the two airplanes He then traded the cost of the restorations the place the work and so forth as compenshysation for restoring the second plane He and Earl labored on with Bill doing the structural work engine overhauls and landing gears while Earl did the woodwork and helped with the covershying as well as the interior work Surprisshyingly even though the two planes were made in 1927 and28 only one spar out of all the spars needed replacement A lot of the ribs were spliced and other repairs made to the wood but few entire pieces had to be changed
After the four years of pleasurable work was done it was time to show off the results Both airplanes were beauties But Bill was not content to just sit and look at the masterpiece - he
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
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SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh WI Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31
made these to fly Over the years Bills KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably The OX-5 in this KR-31 has its data plate stamped with its manufacture date - 4-29-18
Its a very reliable old engine if its properly taken care of and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs Bill related You have to realize that its 73 years old but I dont have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that Id like to go with it such as Oshshykosh which is a special treat for me Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily beshycause he knows the OX-5 inside and out having overhauled it and mainshy
tained it over the years Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm
(remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horseshypower) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer To extract 90 horseshypower out of an engine that produces so much of its power with strong low end torque a large copper-tipped chuck of
The forward cockpit with room for two passengers sits behind Just like a Jennys gear with a solid axle but with metal struts the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5 14 FEBRUARY 1992
You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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You can plainly see the common features copied from the Waco 9 and 10 when the design for the KR-31 was laid out
laminated and carved lumber is mounted on the crankshaft At cruise power youd almost swear you could count the blades as they go by
As soon as the big antique started showing up at fly-ins it started bringing home the hardware It was awarded the AAA National Grand Champion in 1979 in conjunction with Jim Younkins Travel Air Mystery Ship an honor that Bill feels was tremendous since he is certain the Mystery Ship is a work of art It would repeat as AAA Grand Champion at Bartlesville 1988 Bill says that must have some sort of eye appeal because it seems to attract awards often when it appears at fly-ins all over the Midwest
He has had the green and silver Kreider-Reisner to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh twice in the past few years 1989 and 1991 When he arrived in 1989 he was greeted by the niece of Louie Reisner and her husband who were quite excited about the airplane as they felt they might not ever see one of their uncles old biplanes ever again At both the
1989 and 1991 Fly-Ins Bills KR-31 was awarded Silver Age Runner-Up trophies
The OX-5 apparently is not the only part of the airplane that is identical to the Jenny Bill pointed out that the landing gear is just about an exact copy The gear is exactly like the Jenny gear in its construction except that the Jenny struts were wood and these gear struts are
metal It still has the dual spreader bars and what they cal1 a solid axle gear The axle on this plane is actual1y the axle from a Jenny The wheels and so forth Ive taken a little bit of liberty with but
I tried to stay as close to authentic as possible he explained
Bill Watson is a retired corporate pilot and mechanic whose flying career spanned the Twin Beech to corshyporate jets such as the Learjet Sabershyliner and Falcon 20 His most fondly remembered corporate job was flying and maintaining a DC-3 which he says is probably his favorite plane - he flew and fixed them for almost 11 years
Before getting into corporate flying Bill spent 3 years as a flight enshy
gineer in B-24s during WW II Graduating from Sparshy
tan School of Aeroshynautics in 1949 he found a job right there in Tulsa and went to work as a mechanic and then fmal1y worked into
the cockpit Flying a Saberliner and the KR-31 cershy
tainly are on the opposite ends of the flying spectrum but Bill Watson
sums it up this way An airplanes an airplane and if you love to fly em why 75 miles per hour is not a whole lot different from 400
Now thats a man who enjoys his low and slow flying
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
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SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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WttAT f)Ul2 ~Ij~l2~ Al2~ l2~~Tf)lI~C3 by ~()r-m Veter-sen
Dave Ebys Cessna 140A This beautiful inflight photo of
Cessna 140A NI40PD SIN 15414 was sent in by owner Dave Eby (EAA 78731 AC 16735) of Witch ita Falls TX Finished in a bright red and cream
Wayne Edsalls Waco YKS-6 This photo of a recently completed
restoration of Waco YKS-6 NC 16512 SIN 4504 was sent in by Wayne Edsall (EAA 187214 AC 7085) of Bozeman Montana Wayne reports the first flight of the restored red and while trimmed
16 FEBRUARY 1992
paint scheme with original wheel pants and a Scott 3200 tailwheel the sharp looking two-placer has earned a trophy at the Denton TX AAA Fly-In the Okshylahoma AAA Fly-In the International Cessna 120140 Convention at Daven-
Waco was November 10 1991 and everything went just fine This Waco was built as an air ambulance model (identical to SIN 4524 CF-BBQ Old Bar-B-Que by Buzz Kaplan) and spent its life in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska on floats It was rebuilt and put on
port lA the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In at Kerrville TX and the Fairshyview OK Annual Airshow - all during 1991 Congratulations to Dave Eby on a really nice restoration of a classic Cessna 140A
wheels in 1974 and wrecked again in 1978 Stored until November 12 1989 in Aloha Oregon Wayne purchased the big cabin biplane and commenced the two-year restoration Wayne also flies a beautiful Fleet biplane and a DeshyHavilland DH82 Tiger Moth
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
Dick Wells Piper J-3 Flitfire Pictured in front of Bill Greenwoods
two-place Spitfire at EAA Oshkosh 91 is Piper J -3 Cub Flitfire NC37905 SIN 6691 flown by R E Dick Wells (EAA 382491 AIC 17122) of Pickerington Ohio Owned by Jay Rodgers of Houston Texas the Flitfire was one of 48 identically painted Cubs that flew around the USA in 1941 raising funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund to aid families ofWW I British pilots and crew members killed in action
This particular airplane was built on April 16 1941 as a J3F-65 and has been through seven owners since then accumulating 4131 airframe hours It was converted to a Continental A-65 on July 21 1951 and redesignated a J3Cshy
65 The restoration began on July 20 1988 and was completed by White Aero Columbus Ohio in approximateshyly 1550 hours Fifteen of the original
Flitfire Cubs are still flying 14 in the US and one in Germany This is the first one to be restored in the original 1941 color scheme
Danny Duggans Champion 7GCB One of only six GCB models
remaining on the FAA register this parshyticular Champion 7GCB N9908Y SIN 122 is mounted on a set of PK 1800
floats complete with auxiliary tail fins and a 150hp Lycoming for get up and go Owned by Danny Duggan (EAA 302971) of Palestine Texas the floatshymounted Champ was purchased in Hibshy
bing MN and flown back to Texas on floats Danny reports you have to have a good rapport with the boat marinas along the way so you can refuel with auto gas There are very few seaplane bases between Minnesota and Texas
The Champ has since been going through a complete teardown and recover with Stits along with the instalshylation of a new interior Danny will have the airplane back on floats in April for giving dual instruction on floats at Lake Palestine Texas In addition to the Champion 7GCB Danny and his partner Dave Lockwood have a Lusshycombe on Edo 1320 floats which is available for training and rental They are one of the few if not the only seaplane training facilities in the state of Texas
Dr Carl Nichols Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
This handsome looking man in the coveralls is Dr Carl Nichols (EAA 279990 AIC 11037) of Leland MS standing by his newly restored Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336MSN 12shy2194 Dr Nichols had previously owned eight different aircraft when an automobile accident laid him low for seven years Now fully recovered he located the PA-12 and decided to have it totally restored by Air Repair Inc of Cleveland MS The results are plainly (planely) visible Note the 150 Lycoming in the nose and the Cleveland disc brake conversion We are gently
twisting Dr Nichols arm in hopes that he will write the story on the PA-12
rebuild for an article in VINTAGE AIRPLANE
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
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MISCELLANEOUS CURTISS JN4-D MEMORABILIA - You can now own memorabilia from the famous Jenny as seen on TREASURES FROM THE PAST We have posters postcards videos pins airmail cachets etc We also have RIC documentation exclusive to this historic aircraft Sale of these items support operating expense to keep this Jenny flying for the aviation public We appreciate your help Write for your free price list Virginia Aviation Co RDv-8 Box 294 Warrenton VA 22186 (C592)
SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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Porterfields Three In one of the more interesting hapshy
penings at EAA Oshkosh 91 a trio of Porterfield CP-65 trainers arrived for the big fly-in - two from California and one from Texas Long jaunts such as these would normally test the mettle and stamina of the most experienced pilots however these three hardy souls werent even the least bit flustered All three felt exactly like the ad from Western Airlines years ago The only way to fly
The first of our trio is Porterfield CPshy65 N27291 SIN 772 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by its owner Leroy Blum (EAA 86702 AjC 13907) of Glendora CA For the past 19 years Leroy has
by Norm Petersen
been an FAA Inspector (Airworthiness) for the Los Angeles Regional FAA Ofshyfice a title which he carries with dignity and humbleness as evidenced by the many kind words of praise from the aviation community he serves
01 N27291 came off the Kansas City factory line on September 26 1940 acshycording to the data plate Leroy Blum bought the rather run down airplane in 1956 for $150 - including a runable engine He restored the Porterfield over the next year and sold it in 1957 for $750 when he was drafted into the Army Then in 1975 he again bought 01 27291 as a basket case for middot$800 shy
firewall aft By 1979 he had restored the aircraft to factory new condition and with his older son as a passenger flew the little two-placer to Oshkosh 79 In the process his son who had a student license received 45 hours of dual crossshycountry
Over the past 12 years Leroy has flown the Porterfield over 1100 enjoyshyable hours including a second trip to Oshkosh in 1989 Before making the 91 trip Leroy had to rebuild the 65 Continental engine which had flaked a bearing and put metal in the oil Leroy was careful to retain the stainless steel mufflers and the chic cast aluminum valve covers on the engine Polished
Leroy Blums answer to safe hand propshyping a set of mag switches on the cowl that are reached with ease with the left hand The door is hinged at the rear so the The famous signature of the Porterfield-Turner Aircraft Company a logo well known in prop blast holds it open the 1930s and 1940s
18 FEBRUARY 1992
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
The Continental A-65-8 engine in Leroys Porterfield is not only Interior photo shows the instrument panel in the airplane that a sanitary installation but features the prized cast aluminum Glenn Peck flew in from California Note the nice bin ahead valve covers as used on the early Continental engines of the control stick to hold all the loose cabin stUff
baffling completed the sparkling enshygine compartment
Two changes that Leroy made are the substitution of two 8-12 gal wing tanks employing a Cessna fuel system instead of the 13-12 gal nose tank on aoneshytime STC and the installation of dual mag switches on the right side of the nose cowl hidden by a hinged access door For the usual hand propping Leroy doesnt have to go inside the aircraft to switch the mags on or off He just reaches the cowl switches with his left hand while the right hand pulls the prop through from the back side When combined with an operational towhook on the tail for tiedown Leroy has no sweat when it comes to single person hand starting
The Porterfield is covered with Stits 101 fabric and ten coats of Polydope Leroy is well satisfied with the covering even though it is sixty pounds heavier than HS-90X which Glenn Peck used on his CP-65 (and Glenn can outc1imb him by 50 fpm ) The covering done in original factory colors of red and silver Posing in front of Porterfield NC37869 are the rebuilder Glenn Peck on the left and the has held up very well over the past 12 owner Lane Stuart on the right
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
e B E o lshy gt e
gtlt c
Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Ingemar Adolfsson Neal Goodfriend David McCaskill West Hill Ontario
Johanneshov Sweden Bvergel Armin Forst Gennany Bobby Athey Portland Oregon Ronnie BakerWashington Mississippi Cliff Belleau Anchorage Alaska Christine Bergt Fainnont Minnesota William Bixby Hanover Park Illinois R L Black Tyabb Australia George Bowers
Nebraska City Nebraska Leon Boyd Scottsdale Arizona Carl Breckel Hereford Arizona William Browmell
Wilmington Deleware Delvin Brown Wellington Colorado Michael Bruce Juniata Nebraska Hank Burgin Perryville Arkansa John Burk Anderson Indiana (Sponsor Jim Wright) Craig Burlette Kenner Louisana Robert Burnette Lakeland Florida William Claxon Gifford Illinois William Collins
Thomasville North Carolina Gregg Cooper Jerseyville Illinois Donald Couch Winnipeg Canada Lambert Damstra
Byron Center Michigan E L Dick Danley Porum Oklahoma Thomas Dickovich
Minnepolis Minnesota Keith Dillaway
Bloomington Minnesota Monte Domingos
Bakersfield California Dennis Dowling
Slisbury Massachusetts P Bayard Du Pont
Kennett Square Pennsylvania Clifford Dufresne
Round Lake Beach Illinois Leroy Earnest Ypsilanti Michigan Arnold Egly Bedford Texas George Fedor Mobile Alabama William Finein
Mount Pleasant Michigan John Finney Seneca Nebraska Vincent Fraitasio
Squantum Massachusetts Hugh Frampton Nepean Canada Jesse Frampton Noxon Montana Jofef Fryba Surrey Canada Gerald Funfsinn Arlington Illinois Richard Gileczek
Bloomington Minnesota Paul Giorgetti Venice Florida (Sponsor John Yurosko) Marchi Giovanni Goffredo Italy Javier Gonzales-Miro Ribadeo Spain
Sacramento California John Gowins North Canton Ohio (Sponsor Paul Hamilton) Fred Gramlin Silver Spring Maryland Terry Greenland Rockford Michigan I Guilor Dorset England D Q Gulewich Stonewall Canada Jeff Haneline Fallbrook California George Hanna Brookfield Conneticut M C Harrell Bainbridge Georgia Thomas Harry Sterling Virginia W Neil Hayden East Liverpool Ohio Peter Heins Ludlow Falls Ohio Richard Hendrickson
Cotati California Joseph Hoey Venice Florida Delbert Hostetler
Cottonwood Minnesota John Houser Middletown Ohio James Huismann
Pewaukee Wisconsin Gene Jackson Kingsport Tennessee P Jackson Tonbridge England Kjell Jahrehorn Svenstavik Sweden Hana Janisova
Kraloue Czechoslovakia John Johnsen
Albuquerque New Mexico Eddie Johnson Marietta Georgia Richard KearneyBrooklyn New York Frank Kenessey Port St Lucie Florida J Scott Kennedy St Ann Missouri John Kennelley Norwalk Iowa Bruce King Hamilton Montana Walter Kissel Crete Illinois Ralph Knechel
Hackettstown New Jersey Jarvis Knight Sandwich Illinois Max Krueger Jr San Antonio Texas William A La Chapelle
Thousand Oaks California William F La Chapelle
Federal Way Washington Gilbert M Lamphear
Deerfield Illinois B Douglas Lau
Brooklyn Park Minnesota D Lee Bideford England Joe Ligon Venice Florida (Sponsor John Yurosko) James Lockwood Park Ridge Illinois Malcolm Long Coolangatta Australia Edwin Lowell Okalla Florida John Malley Glen Head New York Grady Malone Knoxville Tennessee Ronald Manna Branford Florida Jack Marchand
West Lafayette Indiana Craig Martin Alameda California
Patrick McMaffery New Egypt New Jersey
Gordon Meffert Waunakee Wisconsin
Lester Milker N St Paul Minnesota Richard Morley
Ridgefield Conneticut Malcolm Muir Quincy California Chip Myers Daytona Beach Florida Thomas Nelson Jr
Chatham Mississippi John OBrien
West Lake Village California Curtis Olson Grand Rapids Michigan Matthew Onyon New Fane Vennont Peter Owen St Paul Minnesota Raymond Owens
Asheville North Carolina Gary Palinkas Panna Ohio Sherry Patrick Slaughter Louisana William Perkins
Hattiesburg Mississippi David Perrin Bolivar Tennessee Robert Phinney Middleton Canada James Pickrel Pilot Point Texas Colin Powers Independence Oregon Lee Race Memphis Tennessee Steve Reddick Cascade Colorado Frank Reed Wheaton Illinois Leonard Reich Oakland Maine John Remington Austin Texas Brian Rich
Orwigsburg Pennsylvania Gordon Richardson II
College Station Texas Tor Richvoldsen Oslo Norway Stephen Roszel Warrenton Virginia Howard Rowland Rantoul Illinois John Santucci
Morristown New Jersey C Joe Saunders
Longisland North Carolina Don Scheberle Michigan City Indiana Michael Serafin Austin Texas John Seversen Urbana Illinois Crystal Shankle Godley Texas Glenn Short Neillsville Wisconsin Edward Silk Norwalk Conneticut Edward Skroch Fargo North Dakota David Smith Surrey Canada Eugene Spainhour
Hickory North Carolina George Spetz Palos Hills Illinois Simon Springthorpe
Grabouw South Africa Michael Streiter Laurel Maryland Lee Sturgeon Boulder Colorado John Sullivan
Clonskea Dublin Ireland
30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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Cabin interior of Leroy Blums CP-65 shows overhead skylight all the way to the rear and very neat seats and sidewalls
years and 1100 hours of flight time A tinted skylight is carried through to the rear spar and a rear view mirror is mounted high in the cabin to spot any Fokkers that might get on his tail
With aileron balance weights inshystalled on the CP-65 the VNE is 139 mph Without these weights the VNE is restricted to 120 mph Leroy also installed 1032 streamlined brace wires (Macwhyte) on the tail instead of the original 832 wires for a little added beef Five water drains are installed in the fuel system one each in the wing tanks two at the low points in the sysshytem and one on the firewall Shielded ignition was installed to aid the Terra TPX 720 hand held radio which uses an outside antenna mounted in the rear baggage compartment for perfect reception and transmission up to 150 miles A nicely built rack holds the radio while Leroy uses a headsetmike with a PTT switch on the stick
Unlike a Cub the Porterfield struts are totally sealed and can be tested by tapping them with your finger They ring like a bell if they are sound All struts were in perfect shape along with the fuselage tubing which is still 100 original All parts were primed and enameled plus dopeproof paint where required for fabric attachment
Posing in the sun with original factory colors of red fuselage and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces is Leroy Blums Porterfield Note slender fuselage (23 inches wide) and aileron counterweights
Small details such as nut plates and secondary fasteners are everywhere Even the rib stitching is the hidden knot variety to help on the speed All fairings are very carefully attached for minimum drag and exhibit extreme patience on the part of the rebuilder (The closer you look the better the airplane appears and the more minute details are spotted by the observers eye)
Leroy soloed an Aeronca 7 AC in 1954 and earned his Private license the same year He then spent much of his time during the next 20 years at El Mirage Glider Port earning a Commershycial license Glider rating Glider Inshystructor and A amp P with AI which led to going to work for FAA 19 years ago His family of two boys and two girls are partly into aviation - the oldest son flies for American Eagle Airlines and at one time he and Leroys oldest daughter took the Porterfield on a fabulous trip
through 28 states In addition the youngest daughter is a student pilot
One of the neatest installations on Leroy Blums Porterfield is the tailwheel which is seldom seen in such a disguise It is a Maule tailwheel with a Scott hubcap One might suspect it would almost develop its own internal shimmy
GLENN PECK and PORTERFIELD CP-6S NC37869 The second Porterfield of our 1991
trio is NC37869 SIN 1016 flown to EAA Oshkosh 91 by Glenn Peck (EAA 95306 AIC 1847) of Santa Maria CA Built originally as an LP-65 by Columshybia Aircraft on September 231941 this Porterfield has been converted to a CPshy65 with a 65hp Continental engine The data plate proclaims a 1200 lb gross weight and 135 gal fuel capacity
Glenn originally bought two basket case Porterfields from a hobby shop
The overall workmanship on Leroy Instrument panel of Leroy Blums CP-65 has compass card below compass and Blums airplane is absolutely first class Terra 720 radio below panel Rate of climb gauge (6000 ft per min) is just a tad
optimisticand obviously comes from the heart
20 FEBRUARY 1992
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
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SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
So typical of Porterfield owners - they alshyways smile when near their airplanes Leroy Blum and his nicely restored CP-65
owner in 1975 After three years he had one restored which was traded away When he finished NC37869 a painful decision was made to trade it to his lawyer Lane Stuart in payment for legal fees on a real estate deal When Lane offered GlelUl the chance to fly the cute little tandem to EAA Oshkosh 91 he jumped - especially to go side-byshyside with Leroy Blum in his Porterfield The duo covered the 3000 miles in about 34 hours of flying time over five days and GlelUl put in the second quart of oil at Oshkosh Average fuel conshysumption was 4-12 gph at 2200 RPM
which yields about 85 to 90 mph cruise
NC37869 is the fourth Porterfield that GlelUl has restored and his shop at Santa Maria called Nothing New Aviation is busy with a Stinson SR-5 a Navy N2-S Stearman a Super Cub and a 220 Continental powered Curtiss Robin (bound for England) Glenn also has two Aeronca Ks of which one has a 65 Lycoming up front (A little Hotrod says Glenn)
The ground up restoration on Portershyfield NC37869 featured Stits HS-90X lightweight fabric with one light coat of Poly Brush one 50 spray coat one cross coat of Polys pray careful sanding with 400 grit sandpaper and a final two coats of Poly tone The end result is a savings of about 60 lbs of weight which allows the Porterfield to climb at 800 fpm at sea level at gross Using the same prop as Leroy Blum Glenn can outclimb him by 50 to 100 fpm - all because of the decrease in weight
The Porterfield which uses Max Munks M-6 airfoil is usually flown from the front seat and features a lockshying collar on the front throttle quadrant for cruise Glenn reports the airplane is a bit nose heavy when flown front seat solo and careful use of the brakes is strongly advised The interior of the airplane is nicely finished off and the 23 inch wide seats are quite comfortable The enlarged baggage compartment holds 40 lbs Glenn always ties the stick forward when parked so any moisture in the elevators can run out the seaplane grommets All grommets on the airplane are the seaplane type which tend to vacuum the area of moisture and
keep the insides of the wing tail feathers and fuselage dry
One clever idea of Glenns is to cover the entire length of the streamlined wing struts with HS-90X fabric and finish with Polydope The fmal finish is alshymost impervious to stone chips and keeps the struts looking like new for many years A small external antenna is mounted on the belly for use with a hand held radio Glenn reports contacts at up to 200 miles distant
Most cross-country hops are two hours in length and fuel stops include auto fuel 80 octane and when nothing else is available 1ooLL The latter leaves a white stain all the way to the tail of the airplane which has to be cleaned off ASAP Navigation is by map and IFR (I follow railroads) with help from from loran (stay low and ran fast)
Glenn pointed out that the Porterfield CP-65 is certified on Edo 60-1320 floats with the following modifications plywood doubler on rear face of rear spar from root to strut doubler modified strut carry through in fuselage change inboard compression struts from 58 X 035 to 049 change wood compression struts from 1516 to 1 inch square inner drag wires to 10 from 8 and finally the installation of landing gear straps to attach cross wires to when the floats are installed Glenn has never seen a Porterfield on floats however he has seen one on wheels that had the float modifications completed
Always looking for a bit more speed Glenn admits to having the paperwork just about done for the installation of an 85 Continental in a Porterfield This should make a mouth-watering twoshyplace airplane We can hardly wait to see this jewel pop out of Glenns productive shop in Santa Maria California We predict a great future for this 36-year-old craftsman with a delightful aviation bent and look forshyward to his return to future Oshkosh Fly-Ins
KEVIN FEAUTO and PORTERFIELD NC25563 SIN 671
Our third member of the Porterfield trio is Kevin Feauto (EAA 379615 AC 16914) of Roanoke Texas and his niceshyly restored Porterfield CP-65 NC25563 SN 671 Although Kevin is not a newcomer to Oshkosh having atshytended the EAA Convention twice preshyviously this was his first attempt at
Our third Porterfield owner is Kevin Frauto of Roanoke Texas and his blue amp silver CP-65 (Continued on page 29) complete with a metal prop
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
The First Ford Reliability Tour
- Moline Stop shy
BACKGROUND Following the end of World War I
and into the first years of the 1920s civil aviation in the United States was in the doldrums Never an established inshydustry before 1916 aviation manufacshyturing was confined mostly to individual entrepreneurs building machines for the sportsman pilot and meeting the few military orders It was a cottage industry The 1920 Manufacshyturers Aircraft Association Yearbook lists 115 permanent airfields and 1000 emergency landing fields in the whole of the United States The European countries were the leaders in civil aircraft manufacturing as well as having already started the transportation of people on regularly scheduled airlines What little effort was made in this country quite often failed for lack of capital and airplanes
By 1924 the idea of an airplane tour comprising civilian commercial aircraft had often been suggested by those in the business The first concrete discussion was made by Colonel Paul Henderson who was in charge of the airmail for the post office at the time Finally by May 1925 a formal proposal was made by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Detroit Michigan It was not long after this meeting and proposal that a meeting of aeronautic engineers and another later meeting in Detroit consisting of several leaders of aeroplane manufacshyturers and engineers that a formal comshymittee was appointed to organize an airplane tour yet in that year After this things moved fast and an important imshypetus was the interest and encourageshyment shown by Henry and Edsel Ford Ford had just bought out the W B Stout Metal Airplane Company and a new factory was completed on the Ford airshyport at Dearborn The company had already started scheduled passenger sershyvice between Chicago Detroit and Cleveland using the Stout plane
Initially the plans called for cash prizes and an on-to-Detroit type of forshymat with the starting points in any region of the country as long as they were more than 175 miles from Detroit It was to have begun on Labor Day 22 FEBRUARY 1992
by Jim Haynes (EAA 285970 Ale 12099)
September 7 Those plans underwent several revisions In August the Detroit A viation Society had taken over the sponsorship and a final booklet of rules was written containing final dates stops on the tour etc It was to be held September 28-0ctober 3 Also inshycluded in the plans was a three day exhibit at the Dearborn Field that feashytured the latest wares that aviation venshydors had to offer a balloon contest and a flying exhibition by U S Air Service pilots Forty-five vendors showed up to display their offerings Edsel Ford donated a three foot high trophy fashioned from sterling silver with a marble base on which would be inshyscribed the names of the planes and pilots that would finish the race Only commercial planes and pilots were pershymitted to enter This was not to be a military show
TOUR SCHEDULE September 25 1925 - The Tour
was waved off at 10 am by Edsel Ford Planes stopped at Ft Wayne Indiana lunch check planes off at 2 pm Arrived in Chicago 4 pm
September 29 - Stop at Moline Ilshylinois for an hour lunch leave Large planes and those with adequate fuel capacity to Omaha Nebraska Those planes with small field capability and limited fuel range land at Des Moines Iowa
September 30 -Leave for St Joseph Missouri lunch and on to Kansas City
October 1- Kansas City to St Louis Lambert Field
October 2- St Louis to Inshydianapolis Due to a three hour delay in departure because of fog the Tour stayed overnight in Indianapolis
October 3 - Indianapolis to Columshybus Due to poor weather the Tour did not leave for Cleveland
October 4 - Departure from Columshybus due to poor weather left 11 30 am late lunch in Cleveland The Tour arshyrived back at Dearborn midst a rainstorm and fog
THE MOLINE STOP Moline Airport
The photo shows Moline Airport as it appeared in 1926 or 1927 At the time of the Tour the NAT hangar had not been built and the Curtiss Flying Sershyvice sign read Campbell Airplane Company otherwise the old Franing Flying Field appeared about the same
The airport was started on this site in 1922 by a few local sportsman pilots and was named for the farmer who owned the property It first consisted of a tract of 30 acres of land and was mere shyly a landing field before it formally became an airport
Due to its fine qualities as a landing field it had been selected as a control point for the first airmail coast to coast flight in 1919 By 1925 the CampbellshydeSchepper Airplane Company boasted 12 planes stationed at the field
The First Ford Reliability Tour gave flying a huge boost in the Moline area what is today known as the Quad-Cities At the time E K Rusty Campbell was the Manger of the airport and one
THE ENTRANTS Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilots)
0 Travel Air A Rusty Campbell 2 Travel Air B6 Chick Bowhan 4 Travel Air B6 Walter Beech 6 Junkers F13L Fred Melchoir 8 Waco 9 Ely Knapp
10 Waco 9 Lloyd Yost 14 Swallow 1925 John Stauffer 16 Swallow 1926 Earl Rowland 20 Fokker 3F7 E P Lott
amp Tony Fokker 22 Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones
Plane Name of No Plane Name of Pilot(s)
24 Martin Cy Caldwell Commercial
26 Martin L B Richardson Commercial
28 Mercury Jr Harvey Mummert 30 FortStout Eddie Hamilton
Monoplane 32 Laird Special Henry Van Etten 34 Laird Swallow E A Gaff 36 Yackey Sport Walter Adams
of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
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SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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of aviations foremost pioneers in the Midwest He established the first comshymercial airport in Iowa May 23 1919 at Waterloo Campbell had flown to Chicago and joined the Tour there and became the pilot of number Zero a Travel Air Much was made in the local news accounts at the time of the reaction of the large throng that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Tour planes At 1032 suddenly a streak of blue low in the horizon shooting down and over the circle in the field like a bolt and up again as a salute was the first arrival It was number O Campbells plane Molines plane A roar went up from the crowd as he glided down to a landshying He had outflown the huge and powerful Ford plane which had thus far taken first place at control points The people had seen the Ford before as it was used as the pathfmder plane that visited all the cities on the Tour a few weeks before in order to drum up publicity and fmalize local arrangements
Cy Caldwell writing for Aviation magazine and flying the Martin entry later described the same arrival thusly The flight to Moline was pleasant and uneventful All planes flew in less than schedule time Rusty Campbell in a Travel Air was allowed by the rest of the group to arrive first which naturally delighted the home folks who conshycluded that he had the fastest plane in the outfit
Caldwell further describes the Moline stop Lunch was served in a hangar This fly business has me guessing I was in Moline just two weeks ago and Ill swear there wasnt a fly on the field and yet when we sat down to lunch a million flies were there ahead of us
Moline employed the most amazshying starting system I have seen yet Instead of being behind the planes the crowd was in front as the starter took his stand and raised the flags the crowd formed a narrow lane surged closer until the wings almost brushed them as the plane gathered speed Then they rushed to form a 50 ft lane in front of the next plane and so on
No2 - Travel Air B6 TIlls was flown by Chief Bowhan a
full blood Osage Indian His wife went along as a passenger The engine was an OX-5 Notice that the planes lined up in front ofthe hangar with the Stanolind A viashytion Gasoline advertisement on the doors The photographer had a difficult time get-
They must ha ve been members ofsome local suicide club
The Planes The snapshots that are shown were
taken by my late father-in-law Ralph Eckley who was a young newspaper reporterpilot from nearby Monmouth Illinois The names of the planes that appear on the photos were his inscripshytions and some of the material used on these pages come from his files and recollections as told to me before his demise a few years ago
The planes appear in the order of their numbering by the Committee It is inshyteresting to note that with the exception of one or two airplanes none of the entries models or designs were in existshyence a year before the Tour took place This was before Approved Type Cershytification In one case the Curtiss Lark didnt make it to the starting line beshycause it could not be readied in time thus the Carrier Pigeon became the entry from Curtiss
Not all of the entries are shown Either his film ran out or he did not have enough time Unfortunately he did not get a photo of Rusty Campbells OX-6 powered Travel Air
ting pictures without people just as those of us at Oshkosh still have Styles of dress are well depicted For a day that got up to 80 degrees those ladies in the coats must have been quite warm
Bowhan had to make two emergency landings in Missouri due to engine problems
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Ingemar Adolfsson Neal Goodfriend David McCaskill West Hill Ontario
Johanneshov Sweden Bvergel Armin Forst Gennany Bobby Athey Portland Oregon Ronnie BakerWashington Mississippi Cliff Belleau Anchorage Alaska Christine Bergt Fainnont Minnesota William Bixby Hanover Park Illinois R L Black Tyabb Australia George Bowers
Nebraska City Nebraska Leon Boyd Scottsdale Arizona Carl Breckel Hereford Arizona William Browmell
Wilmington Deleware Delvin Brown Wellington Colorado Michael Bruce Juniata Nebraska Hank Burgin Perryville Arkansa John Burk Anderson Indiana (Sponsor Jim Wright) Craig Burlette Kenner Louisana Robert Burnette Lakeland Florida William Claxon Gifford Illinois William Collins
Thomasville North Carolina Gregg Cooper Jerseyville Illinois Donald Couch Winnipeg Canada Lambert Damstra
Byron Center Michigan E L Dick Danley Porum Oklahoma Thomas Dickovich
Minnepolis Minnesota Keith Dillaway
Bloomington Minnesota Monte Domingos
Bakersfield California Dennis Dowling
Slisbury Massachusetts P Bayard Du Pont
Kennett Square Pennsylvania Clifford Dufresne
Round Lake Beach Illinois Leroy Earnest Ypsilanti Michigan Arnold Egly Bedford Texas George Fedor Mobile Alabama William Finein
Mount Pleasant Michigan John Finney Seneca Nebraska Vincent Fraitasio
Squantum Massachusetts Hugh Frampton Nepean Canada Jesse Frampton Noxon Montana Jofef Fryba Surrey Canada Gerald Funfsinn Arlington Illinois Richard Gileczek
Bloomington Minnesota Paul Giorgetti Venice Florida (Sponsor John Yurosko) Marchi Giovanni Goffredo Italy Javier Gonzales-Miro Ribadeo Spain
Sacramento California John Gowins North Canton Ohio (Sponsor Paul Hamilton) Fred Gramlin Silver Spring Maryland Terry Greenland Rockford Michigan I Guilor Dorset England D Q Gulewich Stonewall Canada Jeff Haneline Fallbrook California George Hanna Brookfield Conneticut M C Harrell Bainbridge Georgia Thomas Harry Sterling Virginia W Neil Hayden East Liverpool Ohio Peter Heins Ludlow Falls Ohio Richard Hendrickson
Cotati California Joseph Hoey Venice Florida Delbert Hostetler
Cottonwood Minnesota John Houser Middletown Ohio James Huismann
Pewaukee Wisconsin Gene Jackson Kingsport Tennessee P Jackson Tonbridge England Kjell Jahrehorn Svenstavik Sweden Hana Janisova
Kraloue Czechoslovakia John Johnsen
Albuquerque New Mexico Eddie Johnson Marietta Georgia Richard KearneyBrooklyn New York Frank Kenessey Port St Lucie Florida J Scott Kennedy St Ann Missouri John Kennelley Norwalk Iowa Bruce King Hamilton Montana Walter Kissel Crete Illinois Ralph Knechel
Hackettstown New Jersey Jarvis Knight Sandwich Illinois Max Krueger Jr San Antonio Texas William A La Chapelle
Thousand Oaks California William F La Chapelle
Federal Way Washington Gilbert M Lamphear
Deerfield Illinois B Douglas Lau
Brooklyn Park Minnesota D Lee Bideford England Joe Ligon Venice Florida (Sponsor John Yurosko) James Lockwood Park Ridge Illinois Malcolm Long Coolangatta Australia Edwin Lowell Okalla Florida John Malley Glen Head New York Grady Malone Knoxville Tennessee Ronald Manna Branford Florida Jack Marchand
West Lafayette Indiana Craig Martin Alameda California
Patrick McMaffery New Egypt New Jersey
Gordon Meffert Waunakee Wisconsin
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Ridgefield Conneticut Malcolm Muir Quincy California Chip Myers Daytona Beach Florida Thomas Nelson Jr
Chatham Mississippi John OBrien
West Lake Village California Curtis Olson Grand Rapids Michigan Matthew Onyon New Fane Vennont Peter Owen St Paul Minnesota Raymond Owens
Asheville North Carolina Gary Palinkas Panna Ohio Sherry Patrick Slaughter Louisana William Perkins
Hattiesburg Mississippi David Perrin Bolivar Tennessee Robert Phinney Middleton Canada James Pickrel Pilot Point Texas Colin Powers Independence Oregon Lee Race Memphis Tennessee Steve Reddick Cascade Colorado Frank Reed Wheaton Illinois Leonard Reich Oakland Maine John Remington Austin Texas Brian Rich
Orwigsburg Pennsylvania Gordon Richardson II
College Station Texas Tor Richvoldsen Oslo Norway Stephen Roszel Warrenton Virginia Howard Rowland Rantoul Illinois John Santucci
Morristown New Jersey C Joe Saunders
Longisland North Carolina Don Scheberle Michigan City Indiana Michael Serafin Austin Texas John Seversen Urbana Illinois Crystal Shankle Godley Texas Glenn Short Neillsville Wisconsin Edward Silk Norwalk Conneticut Edward Skroch Fargo North Dakota David Smith Surrey Canada Eugene Spainhour
Hickory North Carolina George Spetz Palos Hills Illinois Simon Springthorpe
Grabouw South Africa Michael Streiter Laurel Maryland Lee Sturgeon Boulder Colorado John Sullivan
Clonskea Dublin Ireland
30 FEBRUARY 1992
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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No4 - Travel Air B6 The third entry for Travel Air was this one flown by Walter
Beech It was powered by a Curtiss 6A engine He didnt do too bad as the plane finished with the 4th best time of the Tour beating out the other two
Not seen in this photo are the distinctive elephant ears ailerons that appear on No 2
No6 - Junkers F13L This airplane was flown by Fred Melchoir and was built
by Junkers-Werke of Dassau Germany It was powered by a BMW engine producing 185 hp It carried five passengers and was said to have difficulty on its takeoff and climb appearing very sluggish
No 16 - New Swallow There were three Swallows on the Tour This particular
Swallow was flown by Earl Rowland An interesting feature of the Swallows were the triangular transparent panels being located at important places along the wings and fuselage allowing for quick inspection Rowland completed the Tour in 2278 hours with an average speed of 78 mph
No 20 - Fokker 3F7 In various accounts of the Tour after it was completed this
airplane probably received more publicity than all of the others with the possible exception of the FordStout
The plane was flown by Tony Fokker and E P Lott It was powered by three Wright Whirlwind BJ4 engines and carried eight passengers It returned to Dearborn first although it had the second best time completing the course with an average speed of 985 mph
Tony Fokker looked upon the Tour not only to promote commercial aviation but as an opportunity to advertise the virtues of his airplane In his narrative of the Tour Caldwell notes that when the group was entertained nightly by the local sponsoring committees not only were they usually served chicken but had to listen to the same speech by Fokker He says I have heard Anthony Fokkers speech four times Its fine and quite entertaining as like sitting through four showshyings of the same movie Casey Jones and 1 loved every word of it and wouldnt miss it for anything The thing that tickles us is the way that Fokker has run away with Fords publicity
The photos show a great interest in the tri -motor Most had never seen a multi-engine airplane before
Study the pictures and count the number of times the name appears on the airplane
24 FEBRUARY 1992
No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Ingemar Adolfsson Neal Goodfriend David McCaskill West Hill Ontario
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
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A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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No 22 - Curtiss Carrier Pigeon Casey Jones Manager of the Curtiss Exhibition Comshy
pany was the pilot of this airplane It was powered by the enormous Liberty 12 engine that produced 400 hp Designed especially for the night mail it could carry 1000 pounds
A bizarre event took place at Omaha when upon coming in for the landing the plane ran into a motorcycle left on the field by one of the officials
Damage was confmed to a broken propeller and wing strut Remarkably Jones was able to repair the damage in a makeshift way and after a late start the next day caught up with the others in St Joseph Missouri
No 28 - Mercury Jr This was another airplane designed especially for carrying
the mail Both the Aerial Mercury and Mercury Jr were designed by Harvey C Mummert for many years designer for Curtiss
The Mercury Jr was powered by the Curtiss 6A Although its predecessor had ailerons on both the upper and lower wings this airplane featured them on the upper wings only
The aerial Service Corporation had been in business for over five years and had more than one former Curtiss employee on its payroll It was located in Hammondsport New York
The designer Mummert piloted the Mercury Jr on the Tour but did not finish in the top ten qualifiers Curiously it started after and finished sooner than the Fokker and Ford on many of the legs of the Tour
The gentleman in the hat looking into the cockpit is my uncle
No 24 - Martin Commerical Notice in the photo that this plane did not have wheel
covers All of the advertising literature depict them It could be that they were removed in Dearborn prior to the Tour because the field was so muddy as was Ft Wayne The plane was introduced in August of 1924 and was intended to be a mail plane although provision was made for the rapid instalshylation of passenger seats
It was powered by a Wright Model 64 engine of 200 hp Although difficult to see in the photo the radiator was mounted below the engine and the airflow after passing through the radiator was then vented out through the louvres shown on the side of the cowl
Caldwell the pilot was formerly the chief test pilot for Martin The plane completed the Tour in 21 21 hours with an average speed of 837
I have included this additional photo of a TM Scout that shows John Livingston as pilot
It was converted by Midwest Airways of Monmouth Ilshylinois and according to my father-in-law was Livingstons first racing airplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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No 30 - FordStout Monoplane The airplane shown here is not the one the general reader
is used to seeing with the name Ford on it In reality this is a Stout Monoplane transport built by the Stout Metal Airplane Company The association between Ford and Stout began in 1924 upon the completion of the Stout factory on the Ford airport at Dearborn On July 31 1925 Ford purchased all the
No 36 - Yackey Sport The airplane was a modified Thomas Morse Scout Tony
Yackey operated the airmail field in Chicago He bought military surplus planes and modified them into three place aircraft with OX-5 engines The advertisements following the Tour said they could be bought for $197500 As to who the pilot was there have been conflicting accounts and posshysibly could have been two Tony Yackey and Walter Adams sharing the duties
The plane finished the course in 2097 hours with an average speed of 85 mph
stock and assets of Stout and it became a division of Ford As earlier stated the plane was already in the airline business Eddie Stinson piloted the plane on a pathfinder tour of the cities a few weeks before
The Liberty 12 powered plane had but one passenger on the Tour and flew the course in 1753 hours with an average speed of 1015 mph the best of the Tour
No 32 - Laird Special Henry Van Etten piloted Matty Lairds airplane The
Special was powered by a Curtiss C6 engine this one rated at 167 hp Of all the planes mentioned in the various accounts of the Tour little is said of this aircraft
Notice the location of the radiator on the side of the plane
Waco 9 There were two 9s on the Tour One number 8 was flown
by Ed Knapp the other number 10 was flown by Lloyd Yost I do not know which one is shown in the photo Both had OX-5 engines
Only onefinished the Tour number 10 with a timeof2331 hours and an average speed of 752 mph Ely Knapp along with Ted Abrams as passenger made an unscheduled landing in a Missouri field and damaged the plane extensively This was the only plane to not finish the Tour for that reason
26 FEBRUARY 1992
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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30 FEBRUARY 1992
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AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
Again I am showing an additional photo of a non-Tour related airplane(s) This one was also taken at Monmouth Airport with John Livingston and some Waco 9s that Midwest Airways sold as the Waco Midwest distributor
Conclusion The Moline stop lasted only an hour Pre-Tour publicity was great enough that there were several thousand poeple at the airport to witness the event
Up to this time aviation to the public in the Midwest was confmed to the sportsman pilot the occasional barnstormer selling rides and airmail planes flying over in certain areas Before the Tour most people of the area had never seen such large transport
planes such as the FordStout Fokker tri-motor or Junkers
The photos bear witnesss to the fasshycination that they held
When the last plane departed farmer Franings cow pasture would never be the same in Moline It became the only airport to be included on the Reliability Tours of 1926 and 1927 On May 12 1926 Moline became an airmail stop on the expanding transcontinental mail Also in 1926 Don Luscombe and
Clayton Folkerts began working on the first Monocoupe at a field across the river and the first model was flown by Rusty Campbell in March of 1927 Not long after Willard Velie bought Luscombes Central States Aero Comshypany and a new era in Moline aviation was ushered in that brought such names into prominence as Vern Roberts John Livingston Harold Neumann Florence Klingensmith and Pheobie Omlie flying the various models of the Monocoupe
The following list of coming events is furshynished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorshyship involvement control or direction of any such event If you would like to have your aviation event (fly-in seminars fly market etc) listed please send the information to EAA Att Golda Cox PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 53093-3086 Information should be received four months prior to the event date
April 5-11 Lakeland FL - Annual EAA Sun n Fun Fly-In Make your plans to join us for the warm weather For more information call 813644shy2431
May 1 - 3 Camarillo CA - EAA Chapter 723 and CAF Wing 12th Anshynual Fly-In and aircraft exhibit Homebuilts classics antiques warbirds and more Pancake breakfast on Saturshyday and Sunday Dinner Friday and Saturday with a band seminars and more Contacts Bob Koeblitz 310443shy8056 or Larry Hayes 805496-3750
May 2 - 3 Winchester V A Winchester Regional EAA Spring FlyshyIn Trophies for winning showplanes Pancake breakfast Sunday Concesshysions and exhibitors All welcome Contact Al or Judy Sparks EAA Chapshyter 186 Call 703590-9112
May 23-24 - Decatur AL (DCU) EAA Chapter 941 and Decatur-Athens Aero Services fourth annual Reunion
and Fly-In Homebuilts Classics Antiques Warbirds and all GA aircraft welcome Balloon launch at dawn Camping on field hotel shuttle availshyable Contact Decatur-Athens Aero Service 205355-5770
June 7 - DeKalb IL EAA Chapter 241 28th Annual Breakfast Fly-In at DeshyKalb-Taylor Municipal Airport Conshytact 815895-3888
June 20 - 21 Coldwater MI 8th Annual Fairchild Fly-In Branch Counshyty Memorial Field Contact Mike Kelly 22 Cardinal Dr Coldwater MI 49036 or call 517278-7654
June 27 - 28 Orange MA - New England Regional Fly-In with antique steam and gas engine show flea market food Trophies both days for Homebuilts antiques classics warbirds Chapter 726 Orange Municipal Airport Orange MA 01364
June 25 - 28 Mount Vernon OR 33rd Annual National Waco Reunion
Fly-In Wynkoop Airport Make your reservations at the Curtis Motor Hotel 1-800-828-7847 or (in Ohio) 1-800shy634-6835 For additional information contact the National Waco Club 700 Hill Av Hamilton OH 45015 or call 513868-0084
July 8-12 Arlington W A Northwest EAA Fly-In Info 206-435shy5857
July 10 - 12 Minden NE 14th Anshynual National Fly-In and meeting Pioneer Village Airport Minden NE Ca11303f744-8048 for more information
July 25 -26 New Berlin IL - Flying S Farm Midwest gathering of Taylorcrafts Contact Al and Mary Smith217478-2671
July 31-Aug 6 Oshkosh WI - 40th Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport Aviation Convention Wittman Regional Airport Contact John Burton EAA Aviation Center Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 414426-4800
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
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APPROVED
PASS IT TO--1] An information exchange column with input from readers
by Buck Hilbert (EAA 21 Ale 5) PO Box 424 Union IL 60180
With the advent of the new Contemshyporary Class of the AntiqueClassic Division now might be the time to get into the record book With the National Aeronautic Association the Aero Club of America having a reduced fee schedule for the benefit of those heading towards Sun n Fun and Oshkosh maybe its time to look at the record book and set a NEW City to City record We all would like to see our name in print and especially in the World and United States Aviation and Space records publication Just call Art Greenfield at NAA Headquarters in Arshylington VA 703527-0226 ask him about it and maybe youll have someshything to show your grand-kids when the next issue comes out
If you do accomplish a record your name will be in the next edition of the World and United States Aviation and Space Record book and youll receive your beautifully mounted certificate at
28 FEBRUARY 1992
one of the awards ceremonies held at various museum and aviation facilities held throughout the year Call Art for the sanction forms and the one to one information on how its done
The Swift Association President Charlie Nelson has done it so have several of the homebuilders in their Glasairs and hot rod composite machines Its time we Antique and Classic guys and gals took a shot at it We need the prestige of having NAA and our fellow airman recognizing the fact that our airplanes are competitive too Lets go for it There are many many pairs of cities that have never made the record books Almost every city airport in the States has an open slot from there to Lakeland Florida or OshshykoshWisconsin Your Co-pilot can be included too and youll both be enshrined in the record book along with the BIG boys
Now for a letter
Dear Buck Has anyone had any problems with
Marvel Mystery Oil I have heard of problems with spark plug fouling and lots of carbon on the top of the pistons I would like some answers on fuel addishytives for upper lube
Also what type of sealant compound should I use when overhauling an enshygine I do not like to use RTV or silicone sealant I prefer Aviation Form-a-Gasket 3D Please advise
Edward C Wegner
Hello Eddie Guess Ive reached a pinnacle of sorts
when one of the foremost antique airplane restorers asks my opinion Im flattered Ed and double that happy you asked
Like you I have been operating old engines for many years I have had my share of problems with the more modem fuels (read 100 LL) with the seemingly hard starting plug fouling and build-ups on the valves etc
Problem is the old radial engines we operate turn maybe 2100 rpm for takeoff and cruise 1750 or so are low compression and so just dont develop the head pressures and temperatures to throw off the modem day additives in todays fuels
A Lycoming 0-320 or 0-360 does just fine because its a high compression engine and turns up fast enough to breathe hard and throw off those addishytives
Marvel Mystery Oil as an additive is a moot point that has led to many disshycussions for as many years that it has been marketed I recently ran across a gadget that was built way back in the late 1920s marketed by Marvel that was a forerunner to todays oil injection systems It was hooked into the intake manifold and actually metered an amount determined by the manifold pressure as the engine was running to provide upper lube So you can see Mystery Oil has been around a long long time
No one knows the chemical make-up of the stuff A viation Consumer went public a while back and said it is largely mineral spirits dye and perfume It is a solvent base and it is dyed and it does smell good and it will help sticking rings and float sludge loose so you can drain it at oil changes This is when its added to the oil For the overhead its supshyposed to do all the good things that our old engines need I have never heard
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Ingemar Adolfsson Neal Goodfriend David McCaskill West Hill Ontario
Johanneshov Sweden Bvergel Armin Forst Gennany Bobby Athey Portland Oregon Ronnie BakerWashington Mississippi Cliff Belleau Anchorage Alaska Christine Bergt Fainnont Minnesota William Bixby Hanover Park Illinois R L Black Tyabb Australia George Bowers
Nebraska City Nebraska Leon Boyd Scottsdale Arizona Carl Breckel Hereford Arizona William Browmell
Wilmington Deleware Delvin Brown Wellington Colorado Michael Bruce Juniata Nebraska Hank Burgin Perryville Arkansa John Burk Anderson Indiana (Sponsor Jim Wright) Craig Burlette Kenner Louisana Robert Burnette Lakeland Florida William Claxon Gifford Illinois William Collins
Thomasville North Carolina Gregg Cooper Jerseyville Illinois Donald Couch Winnipeg Canada Lambert Damstra
Byron Center Michigan E L Dick Danley Porum Oklahoma Thomas Dickovich
Minnepolis Minnesota Keith Dillaway
Bloomington Minnesota Monte Domingos
Bakersfield California Dennis Dowling
Slisbury Massachusetts P Bayard Du Pont
Kennett Square Pennsylvania Clifford Dufresne
Round Lake Beach Illinois Leroy Earnest Ypsilanti Michigan Arnold Egly Bedford Texas George Fedor Mobile Alabama William Finein
Mount Pleasant Michigan John Finney Seneca Nebraska Vincent Fraitasio
Squantum Massachusetts Hugh Frampton Nepean Canada Jesse Frampton Noxon Montana Jofef Fryba Surrey Canada Gerald Funfsinn Arlington Illinois Richard Gileczek
Bloomington Minnesota Paul Giorgetti Venice Florida (Sponsor John Yurosko) Marchi Giovanni Goffredo Italy Javier Gonzales-Miro Ribadeo Spain
Sacramento California John Gowins North Canton Ohio (Sponsor Paul Hamilton) Fred Gramlin Silver Spring Maryland Terry Greenland Rockford Michigan I Guilor Dorset England D Q Gulewich Stonewall Canada Jeff Haneline Fallbrook California George Hanna Brookfield Conneticut M C Harrell Bainbridge Georgia Thomas Harry Sterling Virginia W Neil Hayden East Liverpool Ohio Peter Heins Ludlow Falls Ohio Richard Hendrickson
Cotati California Joseph Hoey Venice Florida Delbert Hostetler
Cottonwood Minnesota John Houser Middletown Ohio James Huismann
Pewaukee Wisconsin Gene Jackson Kingsport Tennessee P Jackson Tonbridge England Kjell Jahrehorn Svenstavik Sweden Hana Janisova
Kraloue Czechoslovakia John Johnsen
Albuquerque New Mexico Eddie Johnson Marietta Georgia Richard KearneyBrooklyn New York Frank Kenessey Port St Lucie Florida J Scott Kennedy St Ann Missouri John Kennelley Norwalk Iowa Bruce King Hamilton Montana Walter Kissel Crete Illinois Ralph Knechel
Hackettstown New Jersey Jarvis Knight Sandwich Illinois Max Krueger Jr San Antonio Texas William A La Chapelle
Thousand Oaks California William F La Chapelle
Federal Way Washington Gilbert M Lamphear
Deerfield Illinois B Douglas Lau
Brooklyn Park Minnesota D Lee Bideford England Joe Ligon Venice Florida (Sponsor John Yurosko) James Lockwood Park Ridge Illinois Malcolm Long Coolangatta Australia Edwin Lowell Okalla Florida John Malley Glen Head New York Grady Malone Knoxville Tennessee Ronald Manna Branford Florida Jack Marchand
West Lafayette Indiana Craig Martin Alameda California
Patrick McMaffery New Egypt New Jersey
Gordon Meffert Waunakee Wisconsin
Lester Milker N St Paul Minnesota Richard Morley
Ridgefield Conneticut Malcolm Muir Quincy California Chip Myers Daytona Beach Florida Thomas Nelson Jr
Chatham Mississippi John OBrien
West Lake Village California Curtis Olson Grand Rapids Michigan Matthew Onyon New Fane Vennont Peter Owen St Paul Minnesota Raymond Owens
Asheville North Carolina Gary Palinkas Panna Ohio Sherry Patrick Slaughter Louisana William Perkins
Hattiesburg Mississippi David Perrin Bolivar Tennessee Robert Phinney Middleton Canada James Pickrel Pilot Point Texas Colin Powers Independence Oregon Lee Race Memphis Tennessee Steve Reddick Cascade Colorado Frank Reed Wheaton Illinois Leonard Reich Oakland Maine John Remington Austin Texas Brian Rich
Orwigsburg Pennsylvania Gordon Richardson II
College Station Texas Tor Richvoldsen Oslo Norway Stephen Roszel Warrenton Virginia Howard Rowland Rantoul Illinois John Santucci
Morristown New Jersey C Joe Saunders
Longisland North Carolina Don Scheberle Michigan City Indiana Michael Serafin Austin Texas John Seversen Urbana Illinois Crystal Shankle Godley Texas Glenn Short Neillsville Wisconsin Edward Silk Norwalk Conneticut Edward Skroch Fargo North Dakota David Smith Surrey Canada Eugene Spainhour
Hickory North Carolina George Spetz Palos Hills Illinois Simon Springthorpe
Grabouw South Africa Michael Streiter Laurel Maryland Lee Sturgeon Boulder Colorado John Sullivan
Clonskea Dublin Ireland
30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
Dream Machine - 1937 Waco YKS-7 Totally rebuilt 1980 Stits process 740 SMOH Leather interior Clean and sharp Flyaway - $87K 208683-3105 (3-2)
PA-20 - 135 hp 1470 n 270 SMOH VERY ORIGINAl All paperwork STC auto gas $16000 404885-8625 and 404938-3515 (2-1)
MISCELLANEOUS CURTISS JN4-D MEMORABILIA - You can now own memorabilia from the famous Jenny as seen on TREASURES FROM THE PAST We have posters postcards videos pins airmail cachets etc We also have RIC documentation exclusive to this historic aircraft Sale of these items support operating expense to keep this Jenny flying for the aviation public We appreciate your help Write for your free price list Virginia Aviation Co RDv-8 Box 294 Warrenton VA 22186 (C592)
SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
Parachutes - Toll Free 1-800-526middot2822 New amp Used Parachutes We take trade-ins 5middotyear repair or replacement warranty many styles in stock Parachute Associates Inc 62 Main Street Suite A Vincentown NJ 08088 609859middot3397 (cf792)
ANC-19 Bulletin - Wood Aircraft Inspection and Fabrication 1951 edition now available as reprint Early aircraft Service Notes rigging data other titles available Send SASE for listing and prices John W Grega 355 Grand Blvd Bedford OH 44146 (c-392)
VINTAGE AIRCRAFT AND ENGINES - Out-ofshyprint literature history restoration manuals etc Unique list of 2000+ scarce items $300 JOHN ROBY 3703V Nassau San Diego CA 92115 (Established 1960) (c-l092)
C-26 Champion Spark Plugs - New and recondi shytioned New - $1475 reconditioned - $575 to $975 Eagle Air 2920 Emerald Drive Jonesboro GA 30236 404478-2310 (c-l092)
GEE BEE R-2 MONOCOUPE 110 Spl Hall BULLDOG top scale rated model PLANS used by Replica Builders Plus others by Vern Clements EAA 9297 308 Palo Alto Caldwell 10 83605 Extensive Catalog $300 (3-3)
OX-5 Parts and Service - Free ads to subshyscribers Subscription $1800 yearly PO Box 134 Troy OH 45373 (7middot6)
PLANS Great Lakes Trainer Guru - Harvey Swack will help you buy or sell a Great Lakes Trainer or a Baby Lakes The only source for CORRECTED and UPshyDATED ORIGINAL Great Lakes drawings Welded parts available Write to PO Box 228 Needham MA 02192 or call days 617444middot5480 (c-1092)
WANTED Wanted Complete door latch for PA-17 Vagabond Same as on Aeronca Chief H Ziembo 1086 N Lehman Road Twining MI48766 517867-4617
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
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32 FEBRUARY 1992
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) EAA YOUTH MEMBERSHIP Full EM Member benefits for only $18 annushyally
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EM Air Academy programs o re supported by the AVEMCO Insurance Co
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT
Chuck l arsen Education Director EA~ EM Aviation Foundation PO Box 3065 Oshkosh 1M 54903-3065 Telephone (414) 426-4800 reg ~()OtO()tlo()Jlt
A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
I EAAAlR
OPEN - Monday through Saturday 830 am to 5 pm - Sunday 11 am to 5 pm CONVENIENT LOCATION - Off Hwy 41 at the Hwy 44 ex it Oshkosh WI adjacent to Wittman Regional Airport
EAA AVIATION FOUNDATIONADIlENTURE EM Aviation Center Po Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065MUSEUMTM 41 4-426-4800 (Weekends 414-426-4818) OSHKOSH WI
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
INC Aviation Underwriting Agency
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APPROVED
Ed Wegners beautishyful Spartan C-3 has been h~ pride and joy since he restored it in the early 1960s and then again a few years ago
~ c 8~~~~------~~~------------------------~--------------m E
claims or disclaims that it reduces wear and tear or is really beneficial
I have been using the EAA Auto Fuel STC on my airplanes that are eligible ever since it came out I have all my CAP airplanes STCd too We run the 0-320s on the Vargas and 172s on it without any problems while saving money We have about a six year track record on this and are really satisfied with the performance We dont use it for glider towing though we switch back to 80 when we get it or 100LL
In my real antiques the Aeronca E113 engine and the old LeBlond I use a different procedure because they are dry heads and require manual greasing and oiling I use a 50-50 mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and the new synthetic fifty to one Outboard Motor Oil (I sneak in a little TCP too just like the can says and I add seven ounces of this mix to each ten gallons of fuel)
Since I started using this mixture about three years ago I have not had a stuck valve or a fouled plug Starting is normal and I am not nearly so hyper
about having to grease and oil the valve actions all the time Also the engine is much cleaner running and doesnt splatshyter grease and surplus oil all over
One note of caution Marvel Mystery Oil will dissolve some sloshing compounds off the walls of the fuel tank It will tum the sloshing compound into a thick super goo that will collect in the sumps foul the fuel drains and if it progresses far enough will get into the fmger screens If you remember Bob Friedmans Ryan STM it had a forced landing because this happened I have also heard of other incidents like this I would advise that if you have a sloshed tank test it first before you put your airplane on a steady diet
Ed it was great flying at Pioneer Airshyport with you and Charlie Bell Anyone who sees your beautiful Spartan C-3 fly knows its a winner And if the FormshyA-Gasket enables you to enjoy an enshygine that runs as dry and sweet as the one in your Spartan then you already have the answer to that question
Over to you Ed
Porterfields Three
(Continued from page 21) flying his own aircraft into the big gathering Although he admits to being a bit scared and nervous he brought his blue and silver Porterfield into Wittman Field without any problems - a genuine happy camper
Kevin located the Porterfield in Yuma Arizona where Pitt Wade had the basket case for sale It had been badly damaged in a windstorm with both wings and ailerons crunched wing struts bent and the forward fuselage crushed and the nose bashed in In addition the engine had low compression and was an unshyknown quantity He hauled the entire airplane back to Phoenix AZ where he was living at the time and commenced work on the project in a 10 X 30 storage unit (With full permission of the owner)
Working about 5 hours per day Kevin used about two years before the neat looking two-placer was fully restored Being an A amp P mechanic really helped the situation especially when the paper work had to be brought up to date While all this was going on Kevin had to make two moves in his work activities ending up in Roanoke Texas on the outskirts of Dallas
He had started flying lessons in August of 1990 and was just able to pass his Private license exam three weeks before EAA Oshkosh 91 Kevin was justly proud of his restoration work but his flying ability was also a major acshycomplishment and he admitted to 110 hours in his logbook His cross-country trip to Oshkosh was a most exciting trip for this newly certificated pilot who had come through with flying colors
Porterfield NC25563 was built on June 111940 asan LP-65 model and had been converted to a CP-65 in 1959 acshycording to the logs Kevin had topped the engine before leaving for Oshkosh and only had one oil leak the oil tank gasket which was repaired A metal 72 X 46 prop was put on for the trip instead of a 72 X 42 wood prop The result was a cruise of about 90 mph at 2200 RPM and five gallons per hour fuel bum
For those ofyou who were wondering Kevin Feauto says his name is of French derivation and is pronounced foto One can surely suspect we will hear more from this sharp young A amp P mechanic (and pilot) in the future
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Ingemar Adolfsson Neal Goodfriend David McCaskill West Hill Ontario
Johanneshov Sweden Bvergel Armin Forst Gennany Bobby Athey Portland Oregon Ronnie BakerWashington Mississippi Cliff Belleau Anchorage Alaska Christine Bergt Fainnont Minnesota William Bixby Hanover Park Illinois R L Black Tyabb Australia George Bowers
Nebraska City Nebraska Leon Boyd Scottsdale Arizona Carl Breckel Hereford Arizona William Browmell
Wilmington Deleware Delvin Brown Wellington Colorado Michael Bruce Juniata Nebraska Hank Burgin Perryville Arkansa John Burk Anderson Indiana (Sponsor Jim Wright) Craig Burlette Kenner Louisana Robert Burnette Lakeland Florida William Claxon Gifford Illinois William Collins
Thomasville North Carolina Gregg Cooper Jerseyville Illinois Donald Couch Winnipeg Canada Lambert Damstra
Byron Center Michigan E L Dick Danley Porum Oklahoma Thomas Dickovich
Minnepolis Minnesota Keith Dillaway
Bloomington Minnesota Monte Domingos
Bakersfield California Dennis Dowling
Slisbury Massachusetts P Bayard Du Pont
Kennett Square Pennsylvania Clifford Dufresne
Round Lake Beach Illinois Leroy Earnest Ypsilanti Michigan Arnold Egly Bedford Texas George Fedor Mobile Alabama William Finein
Mount Pleasant Michigan John Finney Seneca Nebraska Vincent Fraitasio
Squantum Massachusetts Hugh Frampton Nepean Canada Jesse Frampton Noxon Montana Jofef Fryba Surrey Canada Gerald Funfsinn Arlington Illinois Richard Gileczek
Bloomington Minnesota Paul Giorgetti Venice Florida (Sponsor John Yurosko) Marchi Giovanni Goffredo Italy Javier Gonzales-Miro Ribadeo Spain
Sacramento California John Gowins North Canton Ohio (Sponsor Paul Hamilton) Fred Gramlin Silver Spring Maryland Terry Greenland Rockford Michigan I Guilor Dorset England D Q Gulewich Stonewall Canada Jeff Haneline Fallbrook California George Hanna Brookfield Conneticut M C Harrell Bainbridge Georgia Thomas Harry Sterling Virginia W Neil Hayden East Liverpool Ohio Peter Heins Ludlow Falls Ohio Richard Hendrickson
Cotati California Joseph Hoey Venice Florida Delbert Hostetler
Cottonwood Minnesota John Houser Middletown Ohio James Huismann
Pewaukee Wisconsin Gene Jackson Kingsport Tennessee P Jackson Tonbridge England Kjell Jahrehorn Svenstavik Sweden Hana Janisova
Kraloue Czechoslovakia John Johnsen
Albuquerque New Mexico Eddie Johnson Marietta Georgia Richard KearneyBrooklyn New York Frank Kenessey Port St Lucie Florida J Scott Kennedy St Ann Missouri John Kennelley Norwalk Iowa Bruce King Hamilton Montana Walter Kissel Crete Illinois Ralph Knechel
Hackettstown New Jersey Jarvis Knight Sandwich Illinois Max Krueger Jr San Antonio Texas William A La Chapelle
Thousand Oaks California William F La Chapelle
Federal Way Washington Gilbert M Lamphear
Deerfield Illinois B Douglas Lau
Brooklyn Park Minnesota D Lee Bideford England Joe Ligon Venice Florida (Sponsor John Yurosko) James Lockwood Park Ridge Illinois Malcolm Long Coolangatta Australia Edwin Lowell Okalla Florida John Malley Glen Head New York Grady Malone Knoxville Tennessee Ronald Manna Branford Florida Jack Marchand
West Lafayette Indiana Craig Martin Alameda California
Patrick McMaffery New Egypt New Jersey
Gordon Meffert Waunakee Wisconsin
Lester Milker N St Paul Minnesota Richard Morley
Ridgefield Conneticut Malcolm Muir Quincy California Chip Myers Daytona Beach Florida Thomas Nelson Jr
Chatham Mississippi John OBrien
West Lake Village California Curtis Olson Grand Rapids Michigan Matthew Onyon New Fane Vennont Peter Owen St Paul Minnesota Raymond Owens
Asheville North Carolina Gary Palinkas Panna Ohio Sherry Patrick Slaughter Louisana William Perkins
Hattiesburg Mississippi David Perrin Bolivar Tennessee Robert Phinney Middleton Canada James Pickrel Pilot Point Texas Colin Powers Independence Oregon Lee Race Memphis Tennessee Steve Reddick Cascade Colorado Frank Reed Wheaton Illinois Leonard Reich Oakland Maine John Remington Austin Texas Brian Rich
Orwigsburg Pennsylvania Gordon Richardson II
College Station Texas Tor Richvoldsen Oslo Norway Stephen Roszel Warrenton Virginia Howard Rowland Rantoul Illinois John Santucci
Morristown New Jersey C Joe Saunders
Longisland North Carolina Don Scheberle Michigan City Indiana Michael Serafin Austin Texas John Seversen Urbana Illinois Crystal Shankle Godley Texas Glenn Short Neillsville Wisconsin Edward Silk Norwalk Conneticut Edward Skroch Fargo North Dakota David Smith Surrey Canada Eugene Spainhour
Hickory North Carolina George Spetz Palos Hills Illinois Simon Springthorpe
Grabouw South Africa Michael Streiter Laurel Maryland Lee Sturgeon Boulder Colorado John Sullivan
Clonskea Dublin Ireland
30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
Dream Machine - 1937 Waco YKS-7 Totally rebuilt 1980 Stits process 740 SMOH Leather interior Clean and sharp Flyaway - $87K 208683-3105 (3-2)
PA-20 - 135 hp 1470 n 270 SMOH VERY ORIGINAl All paperwork STC auto gas $16000 404885-8625 and 404938-3515 (2-1)
MISCELLANEOUS CURTISS JN4-D MEMORABILIA - You can now own memorabilia from the famous Jenny as seen on TREASURES FROM THE PAST We have posters postcards videos pins airmail cachets etc We also have RIC documentation exclusive to this historic aircraft Sale of these items support operating expense to keep this Jenny flying for the aviation public We appreciate your help Write for your free price list Virginia Aviation Co RDv-8 Box 294 Warrenton VA 22186 (C592)
SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
Parachutes - Toll Free 1-800-526middot2822 New amp Used Parachutes We take trade-ins 5middotyear repair or replacement warranty many styles in stock Parachute Associates Inc 62 Main Street Suite A Vincentown NJ 08088 609859middot3397 (cf792)
ANC-19 Bulletin - Wood Aircraft Inspection and Fabrication 1951 edition now available as reprint Early aircraft Service Notes rigging data other titles available Send SASE for listing and prices John W Grega 355 Grand Blvd Bedford OH 44146 (c-392)
VINTAGE AIRCRAFT AND ENGINES - Out-ofshyprint literature history restoration manuals etc Unique list of 2000+ scarce items $300 JOHN ROBY 3703V Nassau San Diego CA 92115 (Established 1960) (c-l092)
C-26 Champion Spark Plugs - New and recondi shytioned New - $1475 reconditioned - $575 to $975 Eagle Air 2920 Emerald Drive Jonesboro GA 30236 404478-2310 (c-l092)
GEE BEE R-2 MONOCOUPE 110 Spl Hall BULLDOG top scale rated model PLANS used by Replica Builders Plus others by Vern Clements EAA 9297 308 Palo Alto Caldwell 10 83605 Extensive Catalog $300 (3-3)
OX-5 Parts and Service - Free ads to subshyscribers Subscription $1800 yearly PO Box 134 Troy OH 45373 (7middot6)
PLANS Great Lakes Trainer Guru - Harvey Swack will help you buy or sell a Great Lakes Trainer or a Baby Lakes The only source for CORRECTED and UPshyDATED ORIGINAL Great Lakes drawings Welded parts available Write to PO Box 228 Needham MA 02192 or call days 617444middot5480 (c-1092)
WANTED Wanted Complete door latch for PA-17 Vagabond Same as on Aeronca Chief H Ziembo 1086 N Lehman Road Twining MI48766 517867-4617
WW1 AERO (1900-1919) and SKYWAYS (1920-1940) For the restorer builder amp serious madeller of early aircraft
bull information on current projects bull historical research bull news of museums and airshows bull workshop notes bull technical drawings and data bull information on paintcolor bull photographs bull aeroplanes engines parts bull scale modelling material for sale bull news of current publicat ions bull your wants and disposals
1 year subscription $25 Overseas $30 Sample issues $4 each
Pu blished by WORLD WAR 1 ~ INC 15 Crescent Road Poughkeepsie NY 12601 USA (914) 473-3679
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
EAA
Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $3500 for one year including 12 issues of Sport Aviation Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $2000 annually Family membership is available for an additional $1000 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership (FAX (414) 426-4873
ANTIQUECLASSICS
EAA Member - $2000 Includes one year membership in EAA Antique-Classic Division 12 monthly issues of The Vintage Airplane and membership card Applicant must be a current EAA member and must give EAA membership number
Non-EAA Member - $3000 Includes one year membership in the EAA AntiqueshyClassic Division 12 monthly issues of The Vintage Airplane one year membership in the EAA and separate membership cards Sport Aviation QQ1 included
lAC
Membership in the International Aerobatic Club Inc is $3000 annually which inshycludes 12 issues of Sport Aerobatics All IA C members are required to be members of EAA
WARBIRDS
Membership in the Warbirds of America Inc is $3000 per year which includes a subscription to Warbirds Warbird memshybers are required to be members of EAA
EAA EXPERIMENTER
EAA membership and EAA EXshyPERIMENTER magazine is available for $2800 per year (Sport Aviation not inshycluded) Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER for $1800 per year
FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS
Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars
Make checks payable to EAA or the division in which membership is desired Address all letters to EAA or the particular division at the following address
EAA A VIA TION CENTER PO_ BOX 3086
OSHKOSH WI 54903-3086 PHONE (414) 426-4800
FAX (414) 426-4828 OFFICE HOURS
815-500 MON-FRI 1-800-322-2412
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
POLY-FIBER COVERING
THE BEST GETS BETTER WITH NEW HIGH STRENGTH LOW ELONGATION FABRIC STYLES
OUTSTANDING QUALITIES Long Life Flexible Coatings and Finishes Developed Espe shycially for Aircraft Fabric Will Not Support Combustion Proven Durability on Thousands of Aircraft World Wide Since 1965 Easy Repairability Lightest Coating System Approved Under an FAA STC and a PMA bull Most Economical Covering Materials Considering Many Years of Trouble Free Service FAA STC Approved for Over 690 Aircraft Models
VIDEO TAPE AVAILABLE FABRIC COVERING WITH RAY STITS EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTIVE TECHNICAL Sponsored by EAA Aviation Foundation See This Tape First and Avoid Expensive Misshytakes VHS or Seta $3995 Prepaid Also Direct from EAA (1-800-843-3612) and Poly-Fiber Distributors
WRITE PHONE OR FAX FOR FREE New Fifth Edit ion PolyshyFiber Manual With Updated Information New Fabric Samples With Test Reports Catalog and Distributor List
STITS POLY-FIBE R AIRCRA FT COATINGS
Po Box 3084-V Riverside CA 92519-3084 ~=ii Phone (714) 684-4280 Fax (714) 684-0518
Fly high with a quality Classic interior Complete interior assemblies for do-it-yourself installation
Custom quality at economical prices
bull Cushion upholstery sets bull Wall panel sets bull Headliners bull Carpet sets bull Baggage compartment sets bull Firewall covers bull Seat slings bull Recover envelopes and dopes
Free catalog of complete product line
Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and styles of materials $300
oirAODUCTS INC WI 259 Lower Morrisville Rd Dept VA Fallsington PA 19054 (215) 295-4115 i ~ 1
TURBO ALTERNATOR TYPE BPE -14
UPGRADE YOUR NON-ELECTRIC PLANE FOR TODA YS AIRSPACE SAFETY NEEDS
Increase safety by installing a BPE-14 Turbo Alternator to power a radio strobe nav lights transponder ect
Fully qualified with STCs for many common classics
Call or write us and well send you the details on the BPE-14 Turbo
L--_________-- Alternator The
hi-tech design wind generator
BASIC AIRCRAYf PRODUCTS INC 4474 Hickory Drive Evans GA 30809
(404) 863-4474
pO box 468 madison north carolina 27025 (919) 427-0216
TANK PAINIINb ANO REPAIRING
SANOtlASTING TANK LINUS ANO COATINGS
PREvENIiVE TANK MAINTENANCE INSPECTION SERVICE lAOOER SAftTy EOUIPMENT
RESERVOIR liNUS ANO ROOFS
OISMANTLlNG ANO MOVING TANKS
NEW USEO AND IECONDITIONED TANKS
32 FEBRUARY 1992
EAA AVIATION OPPORTUNTIES FOR YOUTH
PARTICIPATE IN THESE SPECIAL EM ACTIVITIES DEVELOPED
EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
) EAA YOUTH MEMBERSHIP Full EM Member benefits for only $18 annushyally
) EAA PROJECTS SCHOOlFLIGHT Building real airplanes in schools and youth groups
) EM SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Providing support for those seeking aviation related educations
) EAA AIR ACADEMY An intensive hands-on summer aviation exshyperience at the EM Aviation Center in Oshshykosh
) EAA AIR ADVENTURE DAYS A one-day hands-on aviation workshop for young people presented at ~tes across the notion by EAA Chapters and clubs of Academy of Model Aeronau~cs
EM Air Academy programs o re supported by the AVEMCO Insurance Co
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT
Chuck l arsen Education Director EA~ EM Aviation Foundation PO Box 3065 Oshkosh 1M 54903-3065 Telephone (414) 426-4800 reg ~()OtO()tlo()Jlt
A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
I EAAAlR
OPEN - Monday through Saturday 830 am to 5 pm - Sunday 11 am to 5 pm CONVENIENT LOCATION - Off Hwy 41 at the Hwy 44 ex it Oshkosh WI adjacent to Wittman Regional Airport
EAA AVIATION FOUNDATIONADIlENTURE EM Aviation Center Po Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065MUSEUMTM 41 4-426-4800 (Weekends 414-426-4818) OSHKOSH WI
of service
~~~~~~~~~~ RR
The only system available using 100 pure polyurethane primers and paints
Lowest cost system using the least amount of Finishes ever 50 Labor Savings over any other system SYSTEM II FEATURES bull High Gloss Finish bull Finishes Smooth as Glass bull Non-Burning bull Superior Chemical Resistance bull Easy to Repair bull All Popular Aircraft Colors in Stock bull Long Life Flexibility in All Temperature Extremes
The Superflite Catalog has everything you need for your1personal aircraft project The all new 304 page catalog is
I an outstanding collection of premium quality aircraft building and renovating products
10 Please send me the Superflite Catalog I have enclosed my checkmoney order for $5 which I understand will be1credited to my first purchase of $50 or more
1Name _________________________
1----------------1 Address ______________________Lightweight Aircraft Fabric
Available exclusively from Superflite 1City
SF 95X Aircraft Fabric 1State -----7-------- Only 16 per square yard makes this truly the lightestaircraft fabric you can buy Its strong Over 90 pounds 1Return your completed coupon to tensile strength 71 in width for ease of $695yd Superfliteinstallation bull FAA-STC pending bull 2149 E Pratt Blvd bull Elk Grove Village IL 60007
Zip
bull Great Labor Savings bull Six Coat Application bull Lightweight bull Less Coats bull Positive Adhesion bull Peel and Crack Resistant The Dac-Proofer Finishing System Features DAC-PRDDFER- Afirst coat special adhesive coating of great strength and flexibility SPRA-FILL - Aspecial high solid and plasticized nonshytautening CAB dope Combines the function of clear and aluminum coats
The above coatings specially designed to ensure positive adhesion to fabric at 40degF below zero In use world-wide for over three decades
NEW CANADIAN SERVICE IN CANADA Call 416middot677middot4112 I 11 (r I bull t ) () ) ) I I)l I r 1 1 ~
j ll (
CALL TOLL FREE ORDER LINE 1-800-323-0611
AIRCRAFT SUPPLIE Everything in plane sight
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
INC Aviation Underwriting Agency
Po Box 35289 bull Greensboro NC 27425
BeCOllle A Metnber Of The BAA AntiqueClassic Insurance Progralll
BENEFITS INCLUDE Call Todaybull LDwer lJability amp Hull Premiums bull Fleet Discounts bull No Age Penalty 800-727-3823 bull No Hand Propping Exclusions NotAnEAA bull NO Component Parts Endorsements AntiqueClassic Member bull A+ Company with In-House Claims ~~ =_ 7Jtr~~~ Call To Join
Service -middotll~ - 1-BCJ0322-2412 bull Option to Repair Your Own Aircraft ~~lk~V~ See Us In Booth 166
APPROVED
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Ingemar Adolfsson Neal Goodfriend David McCaskill West Hill Ontario
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Clonskea Dublin Ireland
30 FEBRUARY 1992
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
Dream Machine - 1937 Waco YKS-7 Totally rebuilt 1980 Stits process 740 SMOH Leather interior Clean and sharp Flyaway - $87K 208683-3105 (3-2)
PA-20 - 135 hp 1470 n 270 SMOH VERY ORIGINAl All paperwork STC auto gas $16000 404885-8625 and 404938-3515 (2-1)
MISCELLANEOUS CURTISS JN4-D MEMORABILIA - You can now own memorabilia from the famous Jenny as seen on TREASURES FROM THE PAST We have posters postcards videos pins airmail cachets etc We also have RIC documentation exclusive to this historic aircraft Sale of these items support operating expense to keep this Jenny flying for the aviation public We appreciate your help Write for your free price list Virginia Aviation Co RDv-8 Box 294 Warrenton VA 22186 (C592)
SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
Parachutes - Toll Free 1-800-526middot2822 New amp Used Parachutes We take trade-ins 5middotyear repair or replacement warranty many styles in stock Parachute Associates Inc 62 Main Street Suite A Vincentown NJ 08088 609859middot3397 (cf792)
ANC-19 Bulletin - Wood Aircraft Inspection and Fabrication 1951 edition now available as reprint Early aircraft Service Notes rigging data other titles available Send SASE for listing and prices John W Grega 355 Grand Blvd Bedford OH 44146 (c-392)
VINTAGE AIRCRAFT AND ENGINES - Out-ofshyprint literature history restoration manuals etc Unique list of 2000+ scarce items $300 JOHN ROBY 3703V Nassau San Diego CA 92115 (Established 1960) (c-l092)
C-26 Champion Spark Plugs - New and recondi shytioned New - $1475 reconditioned - $575 to $975 Eagle Air 2920 Emerald Drive Jonesboro GA 30236 404478-2310 (c-l092)
GEE BEE R-2 MONOCOUPE 110 Spl Hall BULLDOG top scale rated model PLANS used by Replica Builders Plus others by Vern Clements EAA 9297 308 Palo Alto Caldwell 10 83605 Extensive Catalog $300 (3-3)
OX-5 Parts and Service - Free ads to subshyscribers Subscription $1800 yearly PO Box 134 Troy OH 45373 (7middot6)
PLANS Great Lakes Trainer Guru - Harvey Swack will help you buy or sell a Great Lakes Trainer or a Baby Lakes The only source for CORRECTED and UPshyDATED ORIGINAL Great Lakes drawings Welded parts available Write to PO Box 228 Needham MA 02192 or call days 617444middot5480 (c-1092)
WANTED Wanted Complete door latch for PA-17 Vagabond Same as on Aeronca Chief H Ziembo 1086 N Lehman Road Twining MI48766 517867-4617
WW1 AERO (1900-1919) and SKYWAYS (1920-1940) For the restorer builder amp serious madeller of early aircraft
bull information on current projects bull historical research bull news of museums and airshows bull workshop notes bull technical drawings and data bull information on paintcolor bull photographs bull aeroplanes engines parts bull scale modelling material for sale bull news of current publicat ions bull your wants and disposals
1 year subscription $25 Overseas $30 Sample issues $4 each
Pu blished by WORLD WAR 1 ~ INC 15 Crescent Road Poughkeepsie NY 12601 USA (914) 473-3679
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
EAA
Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $3500 for one year including 12 issues of Sport Aviation Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $2000 annually Family membership is available for an additional $1000 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership (FAX (414) 426-4873
ANTIQUECLASSICS
EAA Member - $2000 Includes one year membership in EAA Antique-Classic Division 12 monthly issues of The Vintage Airplane and membership card Applicant must be a current EAA member and must give EAA membership number
Non-EAA Member - $3000 Includes one year membership in the EAA AntiqueshyClassic Division 12 monthly issues of The Vintage Airplane one year membership in the EAA and separate membership cards Sport Aviation QQ1 included
lAC
Membership in the International Aerobatic Club Inc is $3000 annually which inshycludes 12 issues of Sport Aerobatics All IA C members are required to be members of EAA
WARBIRDS
Membership in the Warbirds of America Inc is $3000 per year which includes a subscription to Warbirds Warbird memshybers are required to be members of EAA
EAA EXPERIMENTER
EAA membership and EAA EXshyPERIMENTER magazine is available for $2800 per year (Sport Aviation not inshycluded) Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER for $1800 per year
FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS
Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars
Make checks payable to EAA or the division in which membership is desired Address all letters to EAA or the particular division at the following address
EAA A VIA TION CENTER PO_ BOX 3086
OSHKOSH WI 54903-3086 PHONE (414) 426-4800
FAX (414) 426-4828 OFFICE HOURS
815-500 MON-FRI 1-800-322-2412
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
POLY-FIBER COVERING
THE BEST GETS BETTER WITH NEW HIGH STRENGTH LOW ELONGATION FABRIC STYLES
OUTSTANDING QUALITIES Long Life Flexible Coatings and Finishes Developed Espe shycially for Aircraft Fabric Will Not Support Combustion Proven Durability on Thousands of Aircraft World Wide Since 1965 Easy Repairability Lightest Coating System Approved Under an FAA STC and a PMA bull Most Economical Covering Materials Considering Many Years of Trouble Free Service FAA STC Approved for Over 690 Aircraft Models
VIDEO TAPE AVAILABLE FABRIC COVERING WITH RAY STITS EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTIVE TECHNICAL Sponsored by EAA Aviation Foundation See This Tape First and Avoid Expensive Misshytakes VHS or Seta $3995 Prepaid Also Direct from EAA (1-800-843-3612) and Poly-Fiber Distributors
WRITE PHONE OR FAX FOR FREE New Fifth Edit ion PolyshyFiber Manual With Updated Information New Fabric Samples With Test Reports Catalog and Distributor List
STITS POLY-FIBE R AIRCRA FT COATINGS
Po Box 3084-V Riverside CA 92519-3084 ~=ii Phone (714) 684-4280 Fax (714) 684-0518
Fly high with a quality Classic interior Complete interior assemblies for do-it-yourself installation
Custom quality at economical prices
bull Cushion upholstery sets bull Wall panel sets bull Headliners bull Carpet sets bull Baggage compartment sets bull Firewall covers bull Seat slings bull Recover envelopes and dopes
Free catalog of complete product line
Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and styles of materials $300
oirAODUCTS INC WI 259 Lower Morrisville Rd Dept VA Fallsington PA 19054 (215) 295-4115 i ~ 1
TURBO ALTERNATOR TYPE BPE -14
UPGRADE YOUR NON-ELECTRIC PLANE FOR TODA YS AIRSPACE SAFETY NEEDS
Increase safety by installing a BPE-14 Turbo Alternator to power a radio strobe nav lights transponder ect
Fully qualified with STCs for many common classics
Call or write us and well send you the details on the BPE-14 Turbo
L--_________-- Alternator The
hi-tech design wind generator
BASIC AIRCRAYf PRODUCTS INC 4474 Hickory Drive Evans GA 30809
(404) 863-4474
pO box 468 madison north carolina 27025 (919) 427-0216
TANK PAINIINb ANO REPAIRING
SANOtlASTING TANK LINUS ANO COATINGS
PREvENIiVE TANK MAINTENANCE INSPECTION SERVICE lAOOER SAftTy EOUIPMENT
RESERVOIR liNUS ANO ROOFS
OISMANTLlNG ANO MOVING TANKS
NEW USEO AND IECONDITIONED TANKS
32 FEBRUARY 1992
EAA AVIATION OPPORTUNTIES FOR YOUTH
PARTICIPATE IN THESE SPECIAL EM ACTIVITIES DEVELOPED
EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
) EAA YOUTH MEMBERSHIP Full EM Member benefits for only $18 annushyally
) EAA PROJECTS SCHOOlFLIGHT Building real airplanes in schools and youth groups
) EM SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Providing support for those seeking aviation related educations
) EAA AIR ACADEMY An intensive hands-on summer aviation exshyperience at the EM Aviation Center in Oshshykosh
) EAA AIR ADVENTURE DAYS A one-day hands-on aviation workshop for young people presented at ~tes across the notion by EAA Chapters and clubs of Academy of Model Aeronau~cs
EM Air Academy programs o re supported by the AVEMCO Insurance Co
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT
Chuck l arsen Education Director EA~ EM Aviation Foundation PO Box 3065 Oshkosh 1M 54903-3065 Telephone (414) 426-4800 reg ~()OtO()tlo()Jlt
A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
I EAAAlR
OPEN - Monday through Saturday 830 am to 5 pm - Sunday 11 am to 5 pm CONVENIENT LOCATION - Off Hwy 41 at the Hwy 44 ex it Oshkosh WI adjacent to Wittman Regional Airport
EAA AVIATION FOUNDATIONADIlENTURE EM Aviation Center Po Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065MUSEUMTM 41 4-426-4800 (Weekends 414-426-4818) OSHKOSH WI
of service
~~~~~~~~~~ RR
The only system available using 100 pure polyurethane primers and paints
Lowest cost system using the least amount of Finishes ever 50 Labor Savings over any other system SYSTEM II FEATURES bull High Gloss Finish bull Finishes Smooth as Glass bull Non-Burning bull Superior Chemical Resistance bull Easy to Repair bull All Popular Aircraft Colors in Stock bull Long Life Flexibility in All Temperature Extremes
The Superflite Catalog has everything you need for your1personal aircraft project The all new 304 page catalog is
I an outstanding collection of premium quality aircraft building and renovating products
10 Please send me the Superflite Catalog I have enclosed my checkmoney order for $5 which I understand will be1credited to my first purchase of $50 or more
1Name _________________________
1----------------1 Address ______________________Lightweight Aircraft Fabric
Available exclusively from Superflite 1City
SF 95X Aircraft Fabric 1State -----7-------- Only 16 per square yard makes this truly the lightestaircraft fabric you can buy Its strong Over 90 pounds 1Return your completed coupon to tensile strength 71 in width for ease of $695yd Superfliteinstallation bull FAA-STC pending bull 2149 E Pratt Blvd bull Elk Grove Village IL 60007
Zip
bull Great Labor Savings bull Six Coat Application bull Lightweight bull Less Coats bull Positive Adhesion bull Peel and Crack Resistant The Dac-Proofer Finishing System Features DAC-PRDDFER- Afirst coat special adhesive coating of great strength and flexibility SPRA-FILL - Aspecial high solid and plasticized nonshytautening CAB dope Combines the function of clear and aluminum coats
The above coatings specially designed to ensure positive adhesion to fabric at 40degF below zero In use world-wide for over three decades
NEW CANADIAN SERVICE IN CANADA Call 416middot677middot4112 I 11 (r I bull t ) () ) ) I I)l I r 1 1 ~
j ll (
CALL TOLL FREE ORDER LINE 1-800-323-0611
AIRCRAFT SUPPLIE Everything in plane sight
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
INC Aviation Underwriting Agency
Po Box 35289 bull Greensboro NC 27425
BeCOllle A Metnber Of The BAA AntiqueClassic Insurance Progralll
BENEFITS INCLUDE Call Todaybull LDwer lJability amp Hull Premiums bull Fleet Discounts bull No Age Penalty 800-727-3823 bull No Hand Propping Exclusions NotAnEAA bull NO Component Parts Endorsements AntiqueClassic Member bull A+ Company with In-House Claims ~~ =_ 7Jtr~~~ Call To Join
Service -middotll~ - 1-BCJ0322-2412 bull Option to Repair Your Own Aircraft ~~lk~V~ See Us In Booth 166
APPROVED
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet
35e per word $500 minimum charge Send your ad to The Vintage Trader EAA Aviation Center PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-2591
AIRCRAFT 1940 Cessna Airmaster - SIN 563 low-time 165 Warner Curtis Reed Prop dual toe brakes Cleveland wheels new std tee panel in original configuration KX 155 AT50A amp Encoder many extras CR Cash 427 Williamsburg Memphis TN 38117901685-9050 (2-1)
Dream Machine - 1937 Waco YKS-7 Totally rebuilt 1980 Stits process 740 SMOH Leather interior Clean and sharp Flyaway - $87K 208683-3105 (3-2)
PA-20 - 135 hp 1470 n 270 SMOH VERY ORIGINAl All paperwork STC auto gas $16000 404885-8625 and 404938-3515 (2-1)
MISCELLANEOUS CURTISS JN4-D MEMORABILIA - You can now own memorabilia from the famous Jenny as seen on TREASURES FROM THE PAST We have posters postcards videos pins airmail cachets etc We also have RIC documentation exclusive to this historic aircraft Sale of these items support operating expense to keep this Jenny flying for the aviation public We appreciate your help Write for your free price list Virginia Aviation Co RDv-8 Box 294 Warrenton VA 22186 (C592)
SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manufacture STC-PMA-d 4130 chrome-moly tubing throughout also complete fuselage repair ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC (J E Soares Pres) 7093 Dry Creek Rd Belgrade Montana 406middot388middot6069 FAX 406388-0170 Repair station No QK5Rl48N
Parachutes - Toll Free 1-800-526middot2822 New amp Used Parachutes We take trade-ins 5middotyear repair or replacement warranty many styles in stock Parachute Associates Inc 62 Main Street Suite A Vincentown NJ 08088 609859middot3397 (cf792)
ANC-19 Bulletin - Wood Aircraft Inspection and Fabrication 1951 edition now available as reprint Early aircraft Service Notes rigging data other titles available Send SASE for listing and prices John W Grega 355 Grand Blvd Bedford OH 44146 (c-392)
VINTAGE AIRCRAFT AND ENGINES - Out-ofshyprint literature history restoration manuals etc Unique list of 2000+ scarce items $300 JOHN ROBY 3703V Nassau San Diego CA 92115 (Established 1960) (c-l092)
C-26 Champion Spark Plugs - New and recondi shytioned New - $1475 reconditioned - $575 to $975 Eagle Air 2920 Emerald Drive Jonesboro GA 30236 404478-2310 (c-l092)
GEE BEE R-2 MONOCOUPE 110 Spl Hall BULLDOG top scale rated model PLANS used by Replica Builders Plus others by Vern Clements EAA 9297 308 Palo Alto Caldwell 10 83605 Extensive Catalog $300 (3-3)
OX-5 Parts and Service - Free ads to subshyscribers Subscription $1800 yearly PO Box 134 Troy OH 45373 (7middot6)
PLANS Great Lakes Trainer Guru - Harvey Swack will help you buy or sell a Great Lakes Trainer or a Baby Lakes The only source for CORRECTED and UPshyDATED ORIGINAL Great Lakes drawings Welded parts available Write to PO Box 228 Needham MA 02192 or call days 617444middot5480 (c-1092)
WANTED Wanted Complete door latch for PA-17 Vagabond Same as on Aeronca Chief H Ziembo 1086 N Lehman Road Twining MI48766 517867-4617
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EAA
Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc is $3500 for one year including 12 issues of Sport Aviation Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $2000 annually Family membership is available for an additional $1000 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership (FAX (414) 426-4873
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EAA Member - $2000 Includes one year membership in EAA Antique-Classic Division 12 monthly issues of The Vintage Airplane and membership card Applicant must be a current EAA member and must give EAA membership number
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lAC
Membership in the International Aerobatic Club Inc is $3000 annually which inshycludes 12 issues of Sport Aerobatics All IA C members are required to be members of EAA
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Membership in the Warbirds of America Inc is $3000 per year which includes a subscription to Warbirds Warbird memshybers are required to be members of EAA
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Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars
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OSHKOSH WI 54903-3086 PHONE (414) 426-4800
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
POLY-FIBER COVERING
THE BEST GETS BETTER WITH NEW HIGH STRENGTH LOW ELONGATION FABRIC STYLES
OUTSTANDING QUALITIES Long Life Flexible Coatings and Finishes Developed Espe shycially for Aircraft Fabric Will Not Support Combustion Proven Durability on Thousands of Aircraft World Wide Since 1965 Easy Repairability Lightest Coating System Approved Under an FAA STC and a PMA bull Most Economical Covering Materials Considering Many Years of Trouble Free Service FAA STC Approved for Over 690 Aircraft Models
VIDEO TAPE AVAILABLE FABRIC COVERING WITH RAY STITS EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTIVE TECHNICAL Sponsored by EAA Aviation Foundation See This Tape First and Avoid Expensive Misshytakes VHS or Seta $3995 Prepaid Also Direct from EAA (1-800-843-3612) and Poly-Fiber Distributors
WRITE PHONE OR FAX FOR FREE New Fifth Edit ion PolyshyFiber Manual With Updated Information New Fabric Samples With Test Reports Catalog and Distributor List
STITS POLY-FIBE R AIRCRA FT COATINGS
Po Box 3084-V Riverside CA 92519-3084 ~=ii Phone (714) 684-4280 Fax (714) 684-0518
Fly high with a quality Classic interior Complete interior assemblies for do-it-yourself installation
Custom quality at economical prices
bull Cushion upholstery sets bull Wall panel sets bull Headliners bull Carpet sets bull Baggage compartment sets bull Firewall covers bull Seat slings bull Recover envelopes and dopes
Free catalog of complete product line
Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and styles of materials $300
oirAODUCTS INC WI 259 Lower Morrisville Rd Dept VA Fallsington PA 19054 (215) 295-4115 i ~ 1
TURBO ALTERNATOR TYPE BPE -14
UPGRADE YOUR NON-ELECTRIC PLANE FOR TODA YS AIRSPACE SAFETY NEEDS
Increase safety by installing a BPE-14 Turbo Alternator to power a radio strobe nav lights transponder ect
Fully qualified with STCs for many common classics
Call or write us and well send you the details on the BPE-14 Turbo
L--_________-- Alternator The
hi-tech design wind generator
BASIC AIRCRAYf PRODUCTS INC 4474 Hickory Drive Evans GA 30809
(404) 863-4474
pO box 468 madison north carolina 27025 (919) 427-0216
TANK PAINIINb ANO REPAIRING
SANOtlASTING TANK LINUS ANO COATINGS
PREvENIiVE TANK MAINTENANCE INSPECTION SERVICE lAOOER SAftTy EOUIPMENT
RESERVOIR liNUS ANO ROOFS
OISMANTLlNG ANO MOVING TANKS
NEW USEO AND IECONDITIONED TANKS
32 FEBRUARY 1992
EAA AVIATION OPPORTUNTIES FOR YOUTH
PARTICIPATE IN THESE SPECIAL EM ACTIVITIES DEVELOPED
EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
) EAA YOUTH MEMBERSHIP Full EM Member benefits for only $18 annushyally
) EAA PROJECTS SCHOOlFLIGHT Building real airplanes in schools and youth groups
) EM SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Providing support for those seeking aviation related educations
) EAA AIR ACADEMY An intensive hands-on summer aviation exshyperience at the EM Aviation Center in Oshshykosh
) EAA AIR ADVENTURE DAYS A one-day hands-on aviation workshop for young people presented at ~tes across the notion by EAA Chapters and clubs of Academy of Model Aeronau~cs
EM Air Academy programs o re supported by the AVEMCO Insurance Co
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT
Chuck l arsen Education Director EA~ EM Aviation Foundation PO Box 3065 Oshkosh 1M 54903-3065 Telephone (414) 426-4800 reg ~()OtO()tlo()Jlt
A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
I EAAAlR
OPEN - Monday through Saturday 830 am to 5 pm - Sunday 11 am to 5 pm CONVENIENT LOCATION - Off Hwy 41 at the Hwy 44 ex it Oshkosh WI adjacent to Wittman Regional Airport
EAA AVIATION FOUNDATIONADIlENTURE EM Aviation Center Po Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065MUSEUMTM 41 4-426-4800 (Weekends 414-426-4818) OSHKOSH WI
of service
~~~~~~~~~~ RR
The only system available using 100 pure polyurethane primers and paints
Lowest cost system using the least amount of Finishes ever 50 Labor Savings over any other system SYSTEM II FEATURES bull High Gloss Finish bull Finishes Smooth as Glass bull Non-Burning bull Superior Chemical Resistance bull Easy to Repair bull All Popular Aircraft Colors in Stock bull Long Life Flexibility in All Temperature Extremes
The Superflite Catalog has everything you need for your1personal aircraft project The all new 304 page catalog is
I an outstanding collection of premium quality aircraft building and renovating products
10 Please send me the Superflite Catalog I have enclosed my checkmoney order for $5 which I understand will be1credited to my first purchase of $50 or more
1Name _________________________
1----------------1 Address ______________________Lightweight Aircraft Fabric
Available exclusively from Superflite 1City
SF 95X Aircraft Fabric 1State -----7-------- Only 16 per square yard makes this truly the lightestaircraft fabric you can buy Its strong Over 90 pounds 1Return your completed coupon to tensile strength 71 in width for ease of $695yd Superfliteinstallation bull FAA-STC pending bull 2149 E Pratt Blvd bull Elk Grove Village IL 60007
Zip
bull Great Labor Savings bull Six Coat Application bull Lightweight bull Less Coats bull Positive Adhesion bull Peel and Crack Resistant The Dac-Proofer Finishing System Features DAC-PRDDFER- Afirst coat special adhesive coating of great strength and flexibility SPRA-FILL - Aspecial high solid and plasticized nonshytautening CAB dope Combines the function of clear and aluminum coats
The above coatings specially designed to ensure positive adhesion to fabric at 40degF below zero In use world-wide for over three decades
NEW CANADIAN SERVICE IN CANADA Call 416middot677middot4112 I 11 (r I bull t ) () ) ) I I)l I r 1 1 ~
j ll (
CALL TOLL FREE ORDER LINE 1-800-323-0611
AIRCRAFT SUPPLIE Everything in plane sight
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
INC Aviation Underwriting Agency
Po Box 35289 bull Greensboro NC 27425
BeCOllle A Metnber Of The BAA AntiqueClassic Insurance Progralll
BENEFITS INCLUDE Call Todaybull LDwer lJability amp Hull Premiums bull Fleet Discounts bull No Age Penalty 800-727-3823 bull No Hand Propping Exclusions NotAnEAA bull NO Component Parts Endorsements AntiqueClassic Member bull A+ Company with In-House Claims ~~ =_ 7Jtr~~~ Call To Join
Service -middotll~ - 1-BCJ0322-2412 bull Option to Repair Your Own Aircraft ~~lk~V~ See Us In Booth 166
APPROVED
POLY-FIBER COVERING
THE BEST GETS BETTER WITH NEW HIGH STRENGTH LOW ELONGATION FABRIC STYLES
OUTSTANDING QUALITIES Long Life Flexible Coatings and Finishes Developed Espe shycially for Aircraft Fabric Will Not Support Combustion Proven Durability on Thousands of Aircraft World Wide Since 1965 Easy Repairability Lightest Coating System Approved Under an FAA STC and a PMA bull Most Economical Covering Materials Considering Many Years of Trouble Free Service FAA STC Approved for Over 690 Aircraft Models
VIDEO TAPE AVAILABLE FABRIC COVERING WITH RAY STITS EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTIVE TECHNICAL Sponsored by EAA Aviation Foundation See This Tape First and Avoid Expensive Misshytakes VHS or Seta $3995 Prepaid Also Direct from EAA (1-800-843-3612) and Poly-Fiber Distributors
WRITE PHONE OR FAX FOR FREE New Fifth Edit ion PolyshyFiber Manual With Updated Information New Fabric Samples With Test Reports Catalog and Distributor List
STITS POLY-FIBE R AIRCRA FT COATINGS
Po Box 3084-V Riverside CA 92519-3084 ~=ii Phone (714) 684-4280 Fax (714) 684-0518
Fly high with a quality Classic interior Complete interior assemblies for do-it-yourself installation
Custom quality at economical prices
bull Cushion upholstery sets bull Wall panel sets bull Headliners bull Carpet sets bull Baggage compartment sets bull Firewall covers bull Seat slings bull Recover envelopes and dopes
Free catalog of complete product line
Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and styles of materials $300
oirAODUCTS INC WI 259 Lower Morrisville Rd Dept VA Fallsington PA 19054 (215) 295-4115 i ~ 1
TURBO ALTERNATOR TYPE BPE -14
UPGRADE YOUR NON-ELECTRIC PLANE FOR TODA YS AIRSPACE SAFETY NEEDS
Increase safety by installing a BPE-14 Turbo Alternator to power a radio strobe nav lights transponder ect
Fully qualified with STCs for many common classics
Call or write us and well send you the details on the BPE-14 Turbo
L--_________-- Alternator The
hi-tech design wind generator
BASIC AIRCRAYf PRODUCTS INC 4474 Hickory Drive Evans GA 30809
(404) 863-4474
pO box 468 madison north carolina 27025 (919) 427-0216
TANK PAINIINb ANO REPAIRING
SANOtlASTING TANK LINUS ANO COATINGS
PREvENIiVE TANK MAINTENANCE INSPECTION SERVICE lAOOER SAftTy EOUIPMENT
RESERVOIR liNUS ANO ROOFS
OISMANTLlNG ANO MOVING TANKS
NEW USEO AND IECONDITIONED TANKS
32 FEBRUARY 1992
EAA AVIATION OPPORTUNTIES FOR YOUTH
PARTICIPATE IN THESE SPECIAL EM ACTIVITIES DEVELOPED
EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
) EAA YOUTH MEMBERSHIP Full EM Member benefits for only $18 annushyally
) EAA PROJECTS SCHOOlFLIGHT Building real airplanes in schools and youth groups
) EM SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Providing support for those seeking aviation related educations
) EAA AIR ACADEMY An intensive hands-on summer aviation exshyperience at the EM Aviation Center in Oshshykosh
) EAA AIR ADVENTURE DAYS A one-day hands-on aviation workshop for young people presented at ~tes across the notion by EAA Chapters and clubs of Academy of Model Aeronau~cs
EM Air Academy programs o re supported by the AVEMCO Insurance Co
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT
Chuck l arsen Education Director EA~ EM Aviation Foundation PO Box 3065 Oshkosh 1M 54903-3065 Telephone (414) 426-4800 reg ~()OtO()tlo()Jlt
A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
I EAAAlR
OPEN - Monday through Saturday 830 am to 5 pm - Sunday 11 am to 5 pm CONVENIENT LOCATION - Off Hwy 41 at the Hwy 44 ex it Oshkosh WI adjacent to Wittman Regional Airport
EAA AVIATION FOUNDATIONADIlENTURE EM Aviation Center Po Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065MUSEUMTM 41 4-426-4800 (Weekends 414-426-4818) OSHKOSH WI
of service
~~~~~~~~~~ RR
The only system available using 100 pure polyurethane primers and paints
Lowest cost system using the least amount of Finishes ever 50 Labor Savings over any other system SYSTEM II FEATURES bull High Gloss Finish bull Finishes Smooth as Glass bull Non-Burning bull Superior Chemical Resistance bull Easy to Repair bull All Popular Aircraft Colors in Stock bull Long Life Flexibility in All Temperature Extremes
The Superflite Catalog has everything you need for your1personal aircraft project The all new 304 page catalog is
I an outstanding collection of premium quality aircraft building and renovating products
10 Please send me the Superflite Catalog I have enclosed my checkmoney order for $5 which I understand will be1credited to my first purchase of $50 or more
1Name _________________________
1----------------1 Address ______________________Lightweight Aircraft Fabric
Available exclusively from Superflite 1City
SF 95X Aircraft Fabric 1State -----7-------- Only 16 per square yard makes this truly the lightestaircraft fabric you can buy Its strong Over 90 pounds 1Return your completed coupon to tensile strength 71 in width for ease of $695yd Superfliteinstallation bull FAA-STC pending bull 2149 E Pratt Blvd bull Elk Grove Village IL 60007
Zip
bull Great Labor Savings bull Six Coat Application bull Lightweight bull Less Coats bull Positive Adhesion bull Peel and Crack Resistant The Dac-Proofer Finishing System Features DAC-PRDDFER- Afirst coat special adhesive coating of great strength and flexibility SPRA-FILL - Aspecial high solid and plasticized nonshytautening CAB dope Combines the function of clear and aluminum coats
The above coatings specially designed to ensure positive adhesion to fabric at 40degF below zero In use world-wide for over three decades
NEW CANADIAN SERVICE IN CANADA Call 416middot677middot4112 I 11 (r I bull t ) () ) ) I I)l I r 1 1 ~
j ll (
CALL TOLL FREE ORDER LINE 1-800-323-0611
AIRCRAFT SUPPLIE Everything in plane sight
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
INC Aviation Underwriting Agency
Po Box 35289 bull Greensboro NC 27425
BeCOllle A Metnber Of The BAA AntiqueClassic Insurance Progralll
BENEFITS INCLUDE Call Todaybull LDwer lJability amp Hull Premiums bull Fleet Discounts bull No Age Penalty 800-727-3823 bull No Hand Propping Exclusions NotAnEAA bull NO Component Parts Endorsements AntiqueClassic Member bull A+ Company with In-House Claims ~~ =_ 7Jtr~~~ Call To Join
Service -middotll~ - 1-BCJ0322-2412 bull Option to Repair Your Own Aircraft ~~lk~V~ See Us In Booth 166
APPROVED
EAA AVIATION OPPORTUNTIES FOR YOUTH
PARTICIPATE IN THESE SPECIAL EM ACTIVITIES DEVELOPED
EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
) EAA YOUTH MEMBERSHIP Full EM Member benefits for only $18 annushyally
) EAA PROJECTS SCHOOlFLIGHT Building real airplanes in schools and youth groups
) EM SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Providing support for those seeking aviation related educations
) EAA AIR ACADEMY An intensive hands-on summer aviation exshyperience at the EM Aviation Center in Oshshykosh
) EAA AIR ADVENTURE DAYS A one-day hands-on aviation workshop for young people presented at ~tes across the notion by EAA Chapters and clubs of Academy of Model Aeronau~cs
EM Air Academy programs o re supported by the AVEMCO Insurance Co
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT
Chuck l arsen Education Director EA~ EM Aviation Foundation PO Box 3065 Oshkosh 1M 54903-3065 Telephone (414) 426-4800 reg ~()OtO()tlo()Jlt
A 44000 ft museum addition dedicated to the men women and ai rcraft who served our country in World War II See legendary airplanes such as the immortal B-17 Flyshying Fortress prototype XP-51 Mustang P-38 Lightning B-25 Mitchell and others Impressive exhibits and audiovisual presentations both exciting and informational an experience the entire fami ly can enjoy Visit the EAA Air Adventure Museum where the worlds largest private collection of aircraft are on disp lay - antiques warbirds classics homebuilts racers aerobatic and many others - including a fanshytastic exhibit on rou nd-the-world Voyager full scale repl icas of the 1903 Wright Flyer and Lindberghs Spirit of St Louis Plan a visit soon
I EAAAlR
OPEN - Monday through Saturday 830 am to 5 pm - Sunday 11 am to 5 pm CONVENIENT LOCATION - Off Hwy 41 at the Hwy 44 ex it Oshkosh WI adjacent to Wittman Regional Airport
EAA AVIATION FOUNDATIONADIlENTURE EM Aviation Center Po Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065MUSEUMTM 41 4-426-4800 (Weekends 414-426-4818) OSHKOSH WI
of service
~~~~~~~~~~ RR
The only system available using 100 pure polyurethane primers and paints
Lowest cost system using the least amount of Finishes ever 50 Labor Savings over any other system SYSTEM II FEATURES bull High Gloss Finish bull Finishes Smooth as Glass bull Non-Burning bull Superior Chemical Resistance bull Easy to Repair bull All Popular Aircraft Colors in Stock bull Long Life Flexibility in All Temperature Extremes
The Superflite Catalog has everything you need for your1personal aircraft project The all new 304 page catalog is
I an outstanding collection of premium quality aircraft building and renovating products
10 Please send me the Superflite Catalog I have enclosed my checkmoney order for $5 which I understand will be1credited to my first purchase of $50 or more
1Name _________________________
1----------------1 Address ______________________Lightweight Aircraft Fabric
Available exclusively from Superflite 1City
SF 95X Aircraft Fabric 1State -----7-------- Only 16 per square yard makes this truly the lightestaircraft fabric you can buy Its strong Over 90 pounds 1Return your completed coupon to tensile strength 71 in width for ease of $695yd Superfliteinstallation bull FAA-STC pending bull 2149 E Pratt Blvd bull Elk Grove Village IL 60007
Zip
bull Great Labor Savings bull Six Coat Application bull Lightweight bull Less Coats bull Positive Adhesion bull Peel and Crack Resistant The Dac-Proofer Finishing System Features DAC-PRDDFER- Afirst coat special adhesive coating of great strength and flexibility SPRA-FILL - Aspecial high solid and plasticized nonshytautening CAB dope Combines the function of clear and aluminum coats
The above coatings specially designed to ensure positive adhesion to fabric at 40degF below zero In use world-wide for over three decades
NEW CANADIAN SERVICE IN CANADA Call 416middot677middot4112 I 11 (r I bull t ) () ) ) I I)l I r 1 1 ~
j ll (
CALL TOLL FREE ORDER LINE 1-800-323-0611
AIRCRAFT SUPPLIE Everything in plane sight
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33
MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
INC Aviation Underwriting Agency
Po Box 35289 bull Greensboro NC 27425
BeCOllle A Metnber Of The BAA AntiqueClassic Insurance Progralll
BENEFITS INCLUDE Call Todaybull LDwer lJability amp Hull Premiums bull Fleet Discounts bull No Age Penalty 800-727-3823 bull No Hand Propping Exclusions NotAnEAA bull NO Component Parts Endorsements AntiqueClassic Member bull A+ Company with In-House Claims ~~ =_ 7Jtr~~~ Call To Join
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MYSTERY PLANE by George Hardie
Heres another from the Golden Age of Aviation The name on the cowling probably gives you a clue but what is needed are details on the pilot and the event involved The photo part of the Tacoma Public Library Collection was submitted by Jim Wainwright of Gig Harbor Washington Answers will be published in the May 1992 issue of Vintage Airplane Deadline for that issue is March 20th 1992
Lynn Towns of Brooklyn Michigan sent in the leading answer for the November Mystery Plane He writes
The Mystery Plane is the Hansen Baby Bullet No2 This airplane was built in Lansing Michigan by Perry Hansen from a kit he bought from the Heath Aircraft Corporation Chicago Illinois This was his second racer and a third followed - all three were modified Heaths
NR282W was powered by a Conshytinental A-40 engine of 115 cubic inshyches Hansen took the plane to the 1932 National Air Races held in Cleveland where he entered it in the 115 cu in and 200 cu in races The plane was flown in these races by Hansens former flight
instructor Art Davis Davis won first place in both events with speeds of 88963 and 101522 miles per hour respectively
In 1933 Hansen took the plane to the American Air Races in Chicago The landing gear had been modified for the previous year Art Davis again flew the plane in the 115 cu in class and took
first place in the first heat at 10073 miles per hour and second place in the second heat at 11234 miles per hour The Mystery Plane photo was taken at the 1933 American Air Races
Later in 1933 the plane was taken back to Chicago to the International Air Races With a new pilot named Walter Bagnick the plane was entered in three 200 cu in races Bagnick placed third in all three races with speeds of 9787 10320 and 10976 miles per hour
The next year Hansen built his N umshyber 3 Baby Bullet and used the engine from Number 2 This apparently ends the story of this Mystery Plane
Complete details on the Hansen racers can be found in articles by Truman C Pappy Weaver published in Sport Aviation for September 1979 and in EAAs book The Golden Age of Air Racing pages 192-195
Other correct answers were recieved from Charley Hayes Park Forest IL Roy Cagle Prescott AR Truman C Pappy Weaver New Baden II Franshycis Rowe Endicott NY Glenn Bufshyfington EI Dorado AR Francis Taylor Woodward IA Wayne Van Valkenshyburgh Jasper GA Ralph Nortell Spokane W A and Buddy Ahlers Flanders NJ Hansen Baby Bullet No2
34 FEBRUARY 1992
INC Aviation Underwriting Agency
Po Box 35289 bull Greensboro NC 27425
BeCOllle A Metnber Of The BAA AntiqueClassic Insurance Progralll
BENEFITS INCLUDE Call Todaybull LDwer lJability amp Hull Premiums bull Fleet Discounts bull No Age Penalty 800-727-3823 bull No Hand Propping Exclusions NotAnEAA bull NO Component Parts Endorsements AntiqueClassic Member bull A+ Company with In-House Claims ~~ =_ 7Jtr~~~ Call To Join
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INC Aviation Underwriting Agency
Po Box 35289 bull Greensboro NC 27425
BeCOllle A Metnber Of The BAA AntiqueClassic Insurance Progralll
BENEFITS INCLUDE Call Todaybull LDwer lJability amp Hull Premiums bull Fleet Discounts bull No Age Penalty 800-727-3823 bull No Hand Propping Exclusions NotAnEAA bull NO Component Parts Endorsements AntiqueClassic Member bull A+ Company with In-House Claims ~~ =_ 7Jtr~~~ Call To Join
Service -middotll~ - 1-BCJ0322-2412 bull Option to Repair Your Own Aircraft ~~lk~V~ See Us In Booth 166
APPROVED
