Vintage Airplane - Mar 1997

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 1997

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EDITORIAL

STAFF

Publisher

March 1997

Vol.25,No" 3

CONTENTS

Ta m P

obe

r

ezn

y

EdHor,in,Chlef

Ja c k

Cox

EdHor

Henry

G. Frautsc

hy

Managing EdHor

Go

ld a Cox

Art Director

M k e D

rucks

Computer

Graphic

Specialists

O livia L. Phillip Jennifer Larsen

Ma ry

Premeau

Associate Editor

No

rm

Pete r

se

n

Feature Writer

Denn

is Par ks

Staff Photographers

Jim

Ko e

pn i

ck

LeeAn n A b rams

Ke

n U

ch

tenburg

Advertising/Editorial Assistant

I

sabell

e W

s

ke

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION, INC.

OFFICERS

President

VIce-President

Espie "Butch" Joyce

George Doubner

P

.O. Box 35584

2448 Lough

Lone

Greensboro. NC 274

25

Hartford. WI

53027

910/393-0344

414/673-5885

Secretary

Treasurer

Steve Nessa

C h a ~ e s H a r r i s

2009Highland Ave.

7215 East

46th

St

.

Al

be rt Leo, MN

56007

Tulsa.

OK 74145

507/373-1

674

918/622-8400

DIRECTORS

John Berendt Gene Monis

7645 E

cho

Point

Rd.

IISC

Steve Court, R.

R.

2

Connon Falls.

MN

55009

Roanoke,

TX

76262

507/263-24

14

817/491-9110

Phil

Coulson

Robert C.

"Bob"

Brouer

28415 Spri

ngbrook Dr.

9345 S.

Hoyne

Law1on, MI 49065

Chicago. IL

60620

616/624-6490

3121779-2105

Joe Dfckey

John S.

Copefond

55Oakey Av.

28-3 Williamsbur8 Ct.

Lawrencebur

g.

IN

47025

Shrewsbury. MA 1545

812/537-9354

fiJ8/842-7867

6

Dale

A.Gustafson

StonGomoiI

7724

Shady

Hill Dr

.

1042

90th

Lone

,

NE

Indianapolis.

IN 46278

Minneapolis.

MN 55434

317/293-4430

612/784-1172

Robertlk:ktelg

JeannieH iH

1

708 Boy

Oaks

Dr.

P.O. Box

328

Alberf L

eo

. MN

56007

Harvard. IL 60033

507/373-2922

815/943-7205

Dean Richardson Robert

D.

"Bob"

Lumley

6701 Colony Dr.

1265 South 124th st.

Mad

ison. WI 53717

Brookfield. WI

53005

608/833-1291

414/782-2633

S.H_

Wes"

Schmid

GeoII

Robison

2359 Lefeber

Aven

ue

1521 E. MacGregor Dr.

Wauwatosa

.

WI

53213

New Haven

.

IN

46774

414/771-1545

219/493-4724

George

York

181

Sloboda Av.

Mansfield.

OH

44906

419/529-4378

DIRECTOR EMERITUS

E.E."Buck" Hilbert

P.O . Box 424

Union.

IL 60180

815/923-4591

ADVISORS

Steve

Krog Roger

Gom

oll

930 Taro

HL E 3238 Vicoria

St

. N

Hartford. WI

53027

S Paul. MN 55126

414/966-7627

612/484-2303

Page 8

I Straight&Level

Espi

e"Butch"Joyce

2 lCNewsIH.G. Frautschy

3TypeClubNoteslNonnPetersen

lC Volunteers

rr

ris

ha

Dorlac

7MysteryPlanelH.G.Frautschy

8CurtissMuseum!

KirkHouse

11Antique/ClassicHome/

AndyHeins

12

TheGranville

rother

s

NR49VI

D

avi

d

B.

Jacks

on

13

LouiseThaden60thAnniversary

Memorial1996StaggerwingTourl

NormPetersen

17

DougFuss'Laird LC-BCommerciaV

H.G. Frautschy

22 PietenpolHomecomin

g!

AndrewKing

24What Our MembersAreRestoring!

Norm

Pe

tersen

26 Pass

I t

ToBucklE

.E.

"Buck"Hilbert

27 WelcomeNewMembers

28 Calendar

29

VintageTraderlMembership

Information

FRONT

COVER

Doug

Fuss. Mington, TX eyeba lls

the photo

ship through the disc of

his

Hamitlon propeller

being

driven by the Wright J-4

engine

that powers

his

1926 Laird

LC-B

Commercial. Picked as

the Golden

Age

Champion

at

E M

Oshkosh '96, it hod members

"oohing'

and

"ahhing'

all week during the Convention. An historic airplane. it placed

second in the 1927 National Air Derby. in addtion to flying over 70.000 air miles during

~ ~ ~ ? e _ ' : : : on Contract Air Mail Route 9. E M

photo

by Jim Koepnick. shot with on E05-1 n

equipped

with a 70-21Omm le

ns.

1/125 sec.@f

16

on 100 A

SA

slide film.

E M

Cessna 210

photo

plane

flown

by

Bruce Moore.

BACK COVER Italy "The Great War '

is th

e title o f this watercolor

illustration

by

accomplished aviation artist William Marsalko. Fairview Park. OH. For more information

on

this entry in the E M Sport Aviation Art Competition. please tum

to

A/C News

on

page

2.

Copyright © 1997 by the EM Antique/Classic Division Inc. Al l rights reserved.

VINTAGE

AIRPlANE ~ S S N

0091-6943)

is published

and o

wn

ed exclusively by the EM Ant

ique/Classic

D

vision,

Inc.

of the Experi

mental

Aircraft Association and is published monthly at

EM

Aviation Center,

3000

Poberezny

Rd.

,P

O. Box 3086

,Oshkosh,

WISCOnsin

54903-3086.

Periodicals Postage

paid

at Oshkosh, Wisconsin

54901

and at addnional mailing

offICeS

.The membership rate for

EM

Antique/Classic Division,

Inc. is $27.00 for current

EM members

for 12 month period of which $15.00 is for the publication

of

VNT

AGE

AIRP

LANE

. Membership is open

to all who are interested in aviation .

POSTMASTER:

Send

address

changes to EM Antique/Classic

Division,

Inc., P.O. Box 3086,

Oshkosh,

WI

54903-3086

.FOREIGN ANDAPO

ADDRESSES

- Please allow at leasl two

months for delivery

of

VINTAGE

AIRPlANE

to foreign

and

APO addresses via surface mail.

ADVERTISI

NG- Antique/Classic Division does not guarantee

or

endorse any pr

oduct

offered

th

rough the advertising.

We

invite

construc

t

ive

criticism and welcome any report

of

inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that

cooective measures

can

be

taken.

EDITORIAl POUCY: Readers are encouraged to submn stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles

are

solely those

of

the

authors. Responsibilny for accuracy

in

reporting rests entirely

wnh the

contributor.

No

renumeration

is made

.

Material should

be sent to: Ednor, VINTAGE AIRPlANE P.O. Box 3086.

Oshkosh

, W 54903-3086. Phone 414/42 -4800

The

words

EAA,

UL

T

RALIGHT

, FLY W

IT

H THE FIRST

TEAM

, SPORT

AVIATION

and

the

logos of EAA , EAA INTERNATIONAL

C

ONVENTI

ON, EM ANTIQUE/CLASS

IC

DIVl

SfON

, INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB, WARBIRDS

OF

AMERICA are ®registered

trademarks. THE

EM SKY SH

OPPE

and logos of

the

EM

AVIA

TI

ON FOUNDATION

and EAA UL

TRALIG

HT

CONVENTION

are

trademarks

of the

above associations

and their

use by any

person

other than

the

above association is

strictly prohibited

.

Page 13

Page

17



STRAIGHT LEVEL

by Espie Butch

Joyce

What a contrast between the weather

ere on the beach in Florida and the

last

week during

the

ntique

/

Clas

s ic

Board meeting in

shkosh. The weather was not that bad

in Oshkosh, but it was sure different from

high

of

85°F during the day down here

in Florida

Your Board of Directors had a good

eeting, with a number

of

new programs

nd

projects

being discussed. As these

items take shape I will keep you

in

formed on their

progress

.

The

EAA

oard

of

Directors, Foundation Board

of

Directors, Antique/Classic Board of Di

rectors , NAFI Board of Directors, the

Ultralight Committee

,

other various

committees and a number

of

EAA

staff

members were invited to dine together at

the EAA Museum on Friday

eveni

ng .

his is a great way to relax and discuss

different EAA issues with people outside

of

the structure

of

a board room. During

this evening it was my privilege to pre

sent an award to a pair

of

individual s

of

most deserving character.

In my remarks that night, I stated that

being recognize d

before

such a di stin

guished group of leadership

and

volun

teerism would be hard to match anywhere

else I could imagine.

First to be

called

forward was Gene

Chase. Gene was the editor of your mag

azine VINTAGE AIRPLANE for a num

ber

of

years and, before that, he worked

for

EAA performin

g

other duties as

needed. Once Gene retired from EAA in

1988, he became a volunteer for the

An

tique/Classic Division and soon came on

board as an

Antique

/

Classic

Di re

ctor.

He has also served as a volunteer in the

Antique judging corps durin

g EAA

Oshkosh. To honor him for his effort in

furthering the EAA

Antique/Classic

movement , Gene was prese nted with a

plaque

detailing hi s accomplishments

and featuring a photo of Gene in the

cockpit

of

hi s Davis D-l W.

The next individual to be honored was

E. E. "Buck" Hilbert. There is hardly a

person in the old airplane movement who

does

not

know Buck . He's a

ch a

rter

member

of

the Antique/Classic Division,

and

has

been

a

co ntributin

g

editor to

VINTAGE AIRPLANE from the start.

He continues volunteering for the Divi

sion with his "Pass it to Buck" articles,

and has been the Treasurer of your Divi

sion for years. Buck was honored several

years

ago by

being placed in

the An

tique/Classic Hall of Fame. To honor his

service to the

Division

and VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

, Buck again was

given

a

plaque to once again recognize his dedi

cation to the Antique/Classic movement.

These two individuals have chosen to

retire

from the EAA

Antiq ue/Classic

Board of Directors, but still today remain

active within our movement. To replace

Buck as Treasurer, the Board appointed

Charlie Harris to fill Buck's

un

expired

term. To replace Charlie Harris as Direc

tor , the Board appointed Joe Dickey to

fulfill

Charlie's unexpired

t

er

m. I

also

feel honored to be associated with such

great people.

I am sitting here in the sunshine writing

this "Straight & Level" with my lap top.

t

is totally amazing how

f

st technology has

co me

in such a short time. I

mean

, no

sooner had I paid for the Foster R-Nav in

my Beech, when the first aviation Loran

units hit the marketplace. Now , faster

than I can spend money, here is the GPS

receiver.

The

second week of February,

two Long-EZs left the USA for a trip

around the world ; I'm sure you

will

be

hearing more about this in SPORT AVIA

TION.

The

y have a GPS, a SAT Link,

and laptops computers so that they can E

mail anytime that th ey wish Via the

satellite

link, th

ey can access mo

st

any

other item you might think

of

, but it is still

a great challenge

of

man and machine to

complet

e this mission. Can you eve n

imagine what it must to have been like to

have done this by shooting the stars?

I'll

bet many of you are making your

plans to attend the EAA Sun

'n Fun Fly

In. I plan to be there for the entire week,

and look forward to visi ting with individ

ual members

on the grounds. The

An

tique

/

Classic Parking Chairman

is

Ray

Olcott. Should you have any special re

quest contact

Ray

at

P. O.

Box

6750,

Lakeland, FL 33807 or 1-941-644-2431 ,

FAX 1-941-644-9737.

The Antique/Classic Headquarters and

aircraft registration

is

handled by

A/C

Chapter I, and they can be contacted in

the same manner. Some of the site im

provements that

have

been completed

this year include a new

public

entrance

pathway, redesigned outdoor commercial

exhibit area , a

newly designed

camper

registration center,

and the

ultralight

camping area has been relocated and ex

panded. Over 400 commercial exhibits

representing the leading edge

of

aviation

technology

will offer

everything

from

comp lete kits to components. And, for

the

restorer or

builder

looking

for

that

elusive part a vi sit to the Plane Parts Mart

is def i nitel y in order. Check out

their

web site at http: //www.sun-n-fun.com.

By the way,

if

you are one

of

the many

members who have access to E-mail, you

can send me mes

sages

directly at wind

[email protected].

As you can see, being an

Antique/Classic Division member can be

a lot of fun - even more so when you get

to know so

me other

members. We will

in the near

future

be showing you how

you can help us out with your growing

membership and ha ve some fun at the

same time.

Guess what? That sunshine has turned

to raining like crazy. I have got to run

down and cover up some old airplane en

gines on the back

of

my pickup. Let

's

all

pull in the same direction for the good of

aviation. Remember we are better to

gether, join us and have it all

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/http://www.sun-n-fun.com



mailto:[email protected]







A C NEWS

compiled by H.G. Frautschy

SWIFT FINDS A NEW SUPPORTER

The Swift Museum Foundation has entered into a licensing agreement with Aviat, Inc.

in Afton, WY.

Stuart

Horn,

president

of Aviat, said The foremost thought in our

mind, is

the

continued

support

of the approximately 700 Swifts still flying.

By

mid-1997

we will

have worked Swift assemblies into our existing production

facilities and will be producing parts, as requested by the

Swift

Museum Foundation.

The

parts will

be made on

original

tooling which

will

have been

reconditioned

or

updated."

Joining in for

the

announcement, Charles Nelson, Founder and President of

the

Swift

Museum

Foundation said

that they were

pleased

to

have a reliable

source

of

parts

for

the Swift Association members' aircraft.

"

Aviat

's

business is building

aircraft

and

that's

what

we've

needed all

along.

Plans are also

being

made

to

put the Swift

back

into production, hopefully within the

next

two

years. The "Swiftfire project is not included in the agreement - those mod

ifications are owned by a separate company.

Aviat is in

the

business of producing

aircraft

that fill narrow niches in

the

aviation

market. They build the Pitts Special and

the

Husky A-1, as well as the Eagle biplane

kit. We

offer our

congratulations on

their

decision to

support

one of

the

most beauti

ful Classic airplanes ever bu ilt , and salute Charlie Nelson and

the Swift Association

for their

progressive

work towards

keeping

the Swift

in

the

air

ABOUT

OUR

BACK

COVE

R . . . low him is the War Cross. Just slightly be

William Marsa lko, Fa irview Park, OH

low the center of the painting is the portrait

has been creating a series

of

mixed media

il

ofTen.

Ruffo Di Calabria, Italy's finest

ww

lustrations depicting, in montage form, many I ace wi

th

20 victories. To the left of him is

of the key World War I pilots, their planes Ten . Adriano Bacula of the 85a Squadriglia

and decorations. As you can see, each paint

and his Macchi I I

Nieuport Bebe

." Just

ing requires a great deal

of

research. This

below that, above the map

of

the

Ita

l ian

painting is entitled Italy "The Great War,"

Front, is an Ansaldo S.V.A.5

of

the Italian

and it was awarded a Par Excellence ribbon

87a Squadrig

li

a. At the very bottom

is

Capi

during the 1996 EAA Sport

Aviation

Art tano Arturo Bonucci, 91a Squadriglia.

Competition.

A mu lt iple

award winner

in the

Sport

At the top

of

the

painting

is a

Caproni

Aviation Art Competition, William is best

Ca33 of the 3a Squadr

i

glia of

the

1

8th

known for his work focused on WW I avia

Bomber Wing. Just below and to the right

is

tion. He credi

ts Mr .

Neal O'Connor

of

New

a portrait

of

Capitano Federico

Zappe

l York for helping him with his research on

lonione of the Caproni Bomber Force.

his projects, and has many of these paintings

Flanking him are, on the left , The Order of

are on display

in

the Kettering Ha

ll

Ga

ll

ery.

St. Maurice, 5th Class, and on the righ

t

The

Our thanks to

Wi ll

iam for sharing his paint

Order of St. Lazarus, 5th Class. Directly being with us.

2 MARCH 1997

YOU

NG

EAGLES

DAY

JUNE 14, 1997

Mark your calendars and be sure the an

nual on your ae

ri

al chariot is completed in

time for International

Yo

ung Eagles Day,

held this

yea

r on

Jun

e 14.

Wh

ile

you

are

certainly encouraged to fl y a Young Eagle

any

ot

h

er

d

ay of

the

year,

the

wor

l

dw

i

de

event on

June 14 acts

as

a

foca

l

point

to

highlig ht the benefits

of

the

EAA Yo

ung

Eag les program. By giving a new perspec

tive on the world of aviation to youngsters,

we can help ensure the future of sport avia

tion.

If

you need more information on how

to become a Young

Eagles pilot

,

or if

you

j u

st need

to

ask

a few questions , please

contact the

EAA Yo

un g

Eagles

office

at

4 14/426-483 1.

80 OCTANE AIRPORTS

As

me

ntio n

ed

in l

ast month's issue

of

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE, we are compiling

a

li

st

of

airports that se

ll

80 octane aviation

fu

el, which will be published in the June is

sue

of

the magazine, as we ll as

post

it on

our EAA AntiquelClassic Web Site and in

clude it in the

EAA

Fax-On-Demand sys

tem wh

en it becomes

avai lab le.

If

you ' d

li

ke your FBO listed, send a note to us here

at EAA HQ.

The

address is: Vintage Air

plane, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903

3086.

No

phone ca lls please, but you

can

fax your listing to

4 14/426-4828 or

E-mail

it to [email protected].

THE D

EN

TO N FLY

-I

N M OV

ES

If you

're

one

of

the many antiquers who

enjoys

the

Texas Chapter of

the Antique

Airp

lane Association ' s

fly-in

at Denton

Texas, you '

ll

need to change your destina

tion

.

The

"

Dento

n

Fly

-In" is

moving

to

Gainesville

, TX.

It

wi ll

be

held

June

13

15, on the municipal airport there in

Gainesville. Camping is still OK, although

no shower facilities are available. The edi

to r

s

of

the

ir

newsletter suggest booking

your hotel rooms as soon as you can , since

there a re other

events

being he ld in

the

area. Have fun

VINTAGE SAIL

PLANE RALLY

If

you like something different

on

your

fly

in visit, why not consider a trip to the 1997

Southwest Antique and Classic Soaring Rally

(SVCSR), June

15-21 in

Moriarty, New Mex

ico. Open to the first 60 vintage gliders that

are

25

or more years of age that register (ramp

space limits the number of gliders that can be

accomodated), the event brings together those

aviators who enjoy silent flight

in

the gliders

of yes teryear. Who knows, you might get a

good look at a Baby Bowl

us

or perhaps take a

ride in a WW II era training glider. For more

information , please contact the Southwest

Glider Ra

lly P. O.

Box 1812, Moparty, NM

87035 or call

505

/832 0755. ....







Type

Club

by Norm Petersen

As a lot of ten, the cowls will

be delivered spun, leading

ompiled

from various type club

edge ring installed, bumped,

cut and hinged for approxi

publications newsletters

mately $850. Contact Larry

Coupe Capers, the Ercoupe

Club

and Executive Director :

Skip

Alerts - DOT

415-C - Wing Corrosion

spar caps on both wings

.

problem

was discovered while

wings for fabric replacement.

of various types

of

old tape

to

the spar caps hid, and probably

of the corrosion.

of the spar caps had pro

to the point

of

exfoliation and

of the metal. The area of

covered the full length of the spar

in depth to a maximum of

0625 inch. The cause of this defect was

alluded to by the submitter, although it

held water and

in contact with the spar

Part total time - 1,938

hours

.

e Editor s Not e: Ce

rtainly

the

er ofhours on this part

is

important,

most

important ar

e the number of

ars it took

to

accumulate

1,938

hours -

years

of

being exposed to all th e

nvironment has to offer - HGF)

upe Flyer - Newsletter 121 ,

1997

Coolbaugh, editor, Manassas, VA,

: 703-590-2375

PAGE NEWS AND NOTES

has ordered TEN Warner

bump cowls. The maker

minimum of ten to turn the

plug and set up the bumping jigs,

Larry footed the bill for the lot

in

antic

of members

of

the Monocoupe

in

with orders. Larry has

diligently

on

the cowling

nearly had it resolved with Jaap

's KLM connection, but it appears

local source nailed down.

Scalbom for exact details and

figures at 847-564-8643 or

[email protected].

The Air Force wire services ran a lengthy

piece on the services for Charles A .

Anderson, who died last April at the age

of

89 . The

dispatch

reads , "

".

Charles

Anderson was the son of a chauffeur who

taught himself to fly and is best remem

bered for his role as mentor

of

the Army

Air Corps' first black fighter pilots, the

Tuskegee Airmen, and is widely recog

nized as the father of African-American

av iation. The Tuskegee Institute hired

Anderson in 1940 to develop a civilian

pilot training program for blacks.

At the time ,

he

was the only African

American who held a commercial pilot's

license

from

the CAA . A native

of

Bridgeport, PA, Anderson bought his first

airplane, a used Velie Monocoupe, in 1928

with $500

in

savings and $2000

in

loans

from family and friends . Because most

flight instructors would not accept black

students, Anderson learned much about

flying from trial and error. After his first

serious accident, his mother tried to chop

up his Velie with an axe. He found an

instructor - Ernest Buehl, a German immi

grant and WW I aviator - and earned his

commercial pilot's

licen

se in 1932.

Anderson's commercial flying career con

tinued until he was into his eighties

.

."

(Note: Ernie Buehl, by 1928, had flown

with (Roald) Amundsen to the Arctic (in

1923), and was a noted Jun kers/BMW

mechanic and barnstormer. He ran several

FBO's

in the Langhorne , PA, .

area

,

including his "Flying Dutchman Field" at

Somerton, PA, which he operated for 30

years. So, "

Chief'

Anderson did well to

learn his fundamentals from the Flying

Dutchman and the Monocoupe. These he

very ably passed on to a very successful

fighter squadron.)

International Cessna 120/140 Association

Bill Rhoades, newsletter editor and main

tenance advisor, phone: 612-652-2221

IS IT HEAVIER THAN YOU THINK?

by Jeff Burnes, Coupeville, WA

The answer to that question might be sur

prising, even shocking to many 120 40

owners. The truth is , you might just want

to go on not knowing, rather than being

di sappointed. t is a very important factor

in

the operation of your aircraft The origi

nal "typical" aircraft weights given by

Cessna were approximately 780 pounds

for the 120 and 860 pounds for the 140,

and the only way to know what your air-

craft weighs is to have it accurately

weighed as

it is

equipped today. If you

do

go through this exercise, the frrst thing you

are going to ask yourself is, "Is there real

ly more gravity now than

in

1946 or do

old airplanes just get heavier with age

(like some of us)?" One thing is very

clear - the "original" weights were for a

very basic airplane , i.e., wood prop , no

heater, single brakes, 3 coats of dope, no

whee

l

extensions

,

two-ply

tires,

basic

instruments, no radio, no strobes or bea

cons and a sma ll tailwheel. Oh, and of

course, no paint.

Since we haven ' t seen a 1201140

in

this

configuration lately (or ever),

it

helps us

to

cope with this realization that the average

airplane is 950+ Ibs. empty. Now when it

comes to flying, weight

is

everything and

more specifically, weight to horsepower.

The problem is that (as with other weight

gain) the weight

is

not as easy to get rid of

as it is to gain.

At this point I must warn you, if you want

to get into this weight loss/performance

thing, it can become an obsession (it has

with me) . t can be fun and rewarding

such as 120 mph cruise and 1000 fpm

climb on

85 hp!

Many would not care for

the sacrifice in equipment

to

achieve this

performance. The other alternative is to

increase the horsepower to the 100 hp

engine which also works well. After own

ing four previous 140's with the 85 hp

engine and other higher performance air

planes, I wanted to have a little more

envelope with my "new" 120. Yes, I

always wondered what an original 120

flew like when it left the factory.

This set the stage for my ongoing re-con

figuring of N77016 - a Cessna 120.

Starting with a big cardboard box, I pro

ceeded to remove the 100+ pounds that

had been added through the years. This

is

a partial

li

st of the items I removed: metal

prop, complete electrical system including

the lights and wiring, gyro and venturi ,

remote compass, large tailwheel , and some

very heavy interior materials. I did retain

a 720 radio, intercom, a 12

amp battery

and the wheel pants. This made it very

close

to

th

e original data sheet specifica

tions for the

120

, i.e., wood prop, no elec

trical at all , basic instruments, no wheel

Continued on page

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3







VOLUNTEERS AT

OSHKOSH:

MANPOWER

nd DATA

PROCESSING

by

Patricia

"Trish"

Dorlac

ThismonthIhavetheprivilege

of

in

troducingyoutoAnnaOsborn,Chair

man

of

Manpower,andJanetBennett,

Chairman of DataProcessing, in this

ongoing series

about

volunteers

at

Oshkosh.

AnnaOsbornhasbeeninvolvedin

aviationformanyyears. Herpersonal

bicentennialprojecttoearnherpilot' s

licensebeganJanuary I , 1976! Anna

learned

to

fly inChicagowhereshewas

achartermember

of

EAAChapter790

in

Barrington,Illinois. Shewasalsothe

secondfemaletoholdan officeinthe

Stick and

Rudder Flying

Club in

Waukegan

,

Illinois, and

is

the only

woman

to

have

served as

that

club's

president!

theoutstandingeffortsandcraftsman Oshkosh is

matchin

g

volunteers

with

Anna

retired

after

27 years as a

ship

of

StanGomollwhohasgreatlyin

jobs theylove . Therealsatisfaction is

school librarian and moved to Ker

creased

the

comfort of their working

watching

those

volunteers move

be

rville, Texas with

her husband John ,

quarters ,installing shelves

and drop

yondsimplybeingatOshkoshtobeing

their1944Cuband 1978Cessna172.

down

shades

. Sheandher assistants

anactivepart

of

Oshkosh!

If

youhave

She

is

currentlytheEngineeringLibrar

wouldnotmind if nextyearasignwere

notyetmetAnna,dropbythevolunteer

ianforMooneyAircraft. Annaisactive

added

stating,

"SEAPLANE BASE

booththisyear.

If

you

haven't

worked

inbothEAAchapters1088and747and

BUS

THATWAY"! Due

tothe

booth's

lo-

with usbefore, Iknow Anna andher

isalsosecretary

of

theSouthwestRe

g ional Fly-In held every October in

cationatabusyintersection,

itis

oftenmis

staff canfindjust thejob youarelook

takenforaninformationbooth.Nowwe

ingfor!

errville .

Annabeganvolunteeringofficially

knowwhat

the

mostcommonlyaskedques

CloselyconnectedtotheManpower

with

Antique Classic

in 1980on the

tion

isat

the

Manpower

booth!

operationsisDataProcessing,chaired

flight line,workingwithcrowdcontrol

Asked

about

her

favorite part of

byJanetBennettfromRoseville,Cali

andparkingplane

s.

Shecreditsherre

Oshkosh, Annatoldmethatsheloves

fornia . Janet' sworkbeginswellbefore

cruitmenttotheefforts

of

thelateArt

tobeat work early inthemorning to

the

show

startsandends

after

itisall

Morgan,whoshesayswasapleasure

to

watchthefieldcometolife. Shealso

overas she crunchesnumbers,figuring

workwith.

enjoyscampingintheAntiqueClassic

outall kindsof statistics, finallysend

Beforebecomingchairman

of

Man

areaandlivingonthefieldduringthe

ingherfindingsontoseveralof

the

An-

power,Annawasrecruited by former

airshow. Whendiscussingairshows in

tiqueClassicDirector

s.

chairmanGloriaBeecroft. Initiallyshe

thepast,Annacommentedthathermost

Janethasbeenvolunteeringwith

An-

co-chairedwithhusbandJohnandwith

awesomememorywastheyearallthe

tiqueClassicsince

19

88 . Attendingher

BarbaraandFrankMiles. Aschairman

Jennyswereondisplay. " Likemost

of

firstconvention, sheheadedstraightfor

the lastyear,Annahaskeptbusy,

but

us ,

Anna loves being

a

part of the

theRedBarnandsigneduptoworkon

creditsthesmoothrunningoperationto Oshkoshannualfamilyreunionwhere

theflight linewhere she helped with

her

co-chairman John Osborn and to

everyyearpeopleandtheirplanesare

crowdcontrolandparkingaircraft . Al

keyhelpersJanKamps,PatTortorige,

reunited!

though shekeepsbusywithdatapro

andRuthieClaussen. Shealsopraises

Themostexcitingpart

of

her

job

at

cessing, herexpertiseonthecomputer

Anna Osborn, Gloria

eecroft

and John Osborn

demonstrate the attitude

we volun-

teers

have

co

me

to

know as one

of

our young

er

voluntee

rs

Paige)

looks

on.

4 MARCH 1997



Earl Nicholas and Sarah Marcy look bemused as Janet Bennett literally enjoys the

support

of

her

husband Dave the

Division s newest

advisor)

during

a

break

in

the

computing.

found her recruited this year to work in

Operations as

a

beHringer

.

In

1989

she became the unofficial" co-chair

man for Tom Auger. When asked

to

chair

for

1990 , she acce

pt

ed and ha s

so enjoye d her

job

that s he keeps

coming back!

Included

among

her

key

volunteers

are Sue Trovillion

an

d Jason Hartwig

who Janet says we re

both

tremendous

help.

Her

c

hi

ef programmer is her hus

band David who also works in the An

tique/Classic membership and informa

tion booth. Earl Nicholas of Aerogram

fame runs the

nametag port

io n

of this

operation and along with Janet has initi

ated many changes to the nameta

g.

The

name

tags

were

once

ba sica

lly

di spos

abl e

but

now are l

am

inated and more

official looking -

they

now include the

volunteer's nam

e,

job

de

scr

iption,

and

occasionally even a photo!

Some other changes Janet ha s seen

include

the

move

from

a trai ler to the

Aerogram building . In th

eir

new quar

te rs Janet has bee n

ab

le to

st

r

eam lin

e

the data base and thus provide more de

tailed reports. The sampling in the box

below shows what Janet does and illus

trates how fasc inati ng statistics can be.

Hats off to you 1anet Bennett and to

your staff!

Here's

a sampling

of

the sta

tistics put together by Janet and the An-

tique/Classic data processing staff:

1996

CONVENTION

VOLUNTEER STATISTICS

There was a total of 318 volunteers who logged 12,791.90 hours for an

average of 40.23 hours per volunteer.

87 worked less than 10 hours for a total of 382.75 hours averaging 4.4

hours per volunteer.

61

worked more than 70 hours for a total of 7250.0 hours averaging

118.85 hours per volunteer.

There were 157 volunteers who worked last year who returned to work this year.

They logged 9,572.4 hours averaging 60.97 hours per volunteer.

There were

141

volunteers who signed up for the first time this year.

Of

these new volunteers, 110 logged 1,688.25 hours averaging 15.35

hours per new volunteer.

Just from this sample you can get an indication just how important your

volunteer effort

is

- whether it

is

for 1 hour

or

40, it all counts, and

your effort

is certainly appreciated!

L.... _ _..::._ ; _ : _ _ J

*

Type Club Notes

Continued from page 3

exte nsions, no back windows, sing le

brakes and a small tailwheel. Even at that

my e

mpt

y we ight

was

s till

over

850

pound

s.

The paint still has to be removed

(I'm waiting for warmer weather) and the

in terior

finished

. All finished, I am

shooting for an empty weight

of

850

Ibs.

This really results

in

a di fferent airplane

that is nimble and fast.

Think about the reduced stress. I removed

40 pounds stressi ng the engine mount

itself by removing the starter, 35 amp gen

erator and the metal prop. The 40 pounds

turns into 120 at 3 g's - my personal limit

for the plane. Thi s brings up another fea

ture. Even though we don ' t do aerobatics

in these airplanes, it is amazing the view

you can get of the horizon from every

angle without exceeding 112 to 3 g' s in

this light plane.

Well, all

in

all , I'm having fun with this

real Cessna

120.

It's not the plane for

everyone, being basic and no electrical,

but I sure do like the performance.

Bamboo

Bomber C

lub Newsletter

-

Cessna T-50, AT-17, UC-78

Newsletter editor, Jim Anderson, Marine

on St. Croix, MN, phone: 612-433-3024

21 ST AND 22ND FLYING BOBCATS

FOUND

A model

builder

from

Nebraska

and

Elmer Steier (Whittemore, IA) told me

that Gene Overturf in Columbus, NE,

is

flying his Bobcat and is not on my list

of

flying T-50's.

Yes , indeed, I called Gene and he con

firmed that N47

15

5, Serial Number 5264,

is flying, the 22

nd

known T -50

in

service,

with Bill Cherwin 's the 2 1st.

Gene and his wife, also a pilot, tried to get

to the Jonesboro T-50 reunion, but lost an

engine due to ign ition problems on the

way, and ended back in Kansas City. He

says the plane flew we ll on one engine!

He has had

it

for about fifteen years. The

engines were majored abo ut twenty-five

years ago and he has just installed a new

avion

ic

s system.

Bill Cherw in is a former Air Force pilot

ass igne d to 97's for 3 1 /2 years flying

medevac

in

the South Pacifi c. He

is

just

about ready to retire from

hi

s electrical

motor and control business . He has at

l

eas

t

five

ai rpl anes including a

Staggerwing

Beech under comp lete

restoration, hi s wi

Fe's

Cessna

120

, a

172

and two Wacos, a cabin version flying and

another project.

We had a long conversation and I learned

that he grew up

in

Ottumwa, Iowa, along

side the "Carrier in the Prairie." He's

been an active Ant ique

Airplane

Association member.

*

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/12,791.90








by

H G

Frautschy

This month s Mystery

Plane

should be pretty

easy

especially

for

those

of

you

who

like the

light

air-

planes

built

during

the

early days of aviation. Answers will be published in

the

June issue of Vintage

Airplane. Your reply needs

to

be here at EAA HQ

by

April 25 1997.

The December Mystery Plane had a

number

of

responses, all

of

them cor

rect Here's our first:

"I believe I have a positive identifica

tion for the

'Mystery

Plane' in the De

cember 1996 issue

of

Vintage Airplane.

The airplane depicted is

the

Thomas

Morse S-6, perhaps the so le examp le

built (It was - HGF). I make this identi

fication on the basis

of

a photo and writ

ten description that appeared

in

the jour

nal World War I Aeroplanes (Andrews,

Hal "The Tommy Scout," Issue No. 83,

Feb. 1981). I enclosed copies of a few

pages from this reference.

The

photo

from the article labeled as the S-6 ap

pears to

match

the Mystery Plane, a

l-

though it seems to show the aircraft with

a different paint scheme.

The Thomas Morse S-6 was a post

Thomas-Morse S-6

WW

I

product

of

the

Thomas-Morse

Company

of

Ithaca, New York, produc

ers

of

the wartime S-4 series

of

single

seat training aircraft sometimes referred

to as the "Tommy Scout." The S-6 was

developed with a market for two-place

civilian aircraft in mind.

The S-6

was

a tandem two-seater

and is

said to have

been designed to

make maximum use

of

components from

the

single-seat

S-4C Scout. Thi s in

cluded

using S-4C upper

wing panels

for both the upper and lower wings on

the S-6. Comparison

of

the S-4

dr

aw

ings from the previously mentioned arti

cle shows several

similarit

i

es.

The

wings on the Mystery Plane do indeed

look like the upper planes of the S-4C

Scout. The rear

fuselage and

emp en

The

S-6

was

reported

to

have

had

good flying

characteristics, but

there

were no buyers for a production version.

This is attributed to the fact that surplus

nage also look very much like those

of

the Scout. Power for the S-6 was the 80

hp LeRhone rotary, which was one of

the engines used

in

the S-4c.

6 MARCH 1997



ilitary

aircraft (i .e. Jennies and Stan

ard trainers) met

most

of the needs of

."

Sincerely,

T

Sean

Tavar

es

Andover, MA

Sean ' s on the right track.

I'll

let one

f the masters at aviation history fini sh

ut the run

down on

the S-6. Here ' s part

f what Pete Bowers has to say about the

S-6:

" .

. .

It was essentially a stretched ver

sion

of its

famou

s

single-seat

S-4C

of

1917-1S ,

with

the wings built a little

longer and the fuselage extended forward

o accommodate a second cockpit. There

as no

center section

;

the upper

wing

anels joined over the fuselage centerline

as on the S-4C, and the tail surfaces were

from the

S-4C.

A

major improvement

was to relocate the wheels relative to the

center

of

gravity, to eliminate the notori

ous tail heaviness

of

the S-4C, and the en

gine was the same

SO

hp LeRhone rotary

of

the S-4c.

"Unfortunately for Thomas-Morse, and

other manufacturers who developed early

post-

war sport-trainer models, there was no market

for the S-6. One of

its major shortcomings,

other than competition

from

cheap war-surplus

models, was the difficulty

in

getting into the

front cockpit. Thomas-Morse corrected this

with

the

S-7, which featured side-by-side seat

ing behind the

wing,

and longer

wings

with two

bays of struts. This did not sell either, and

Thomas-Morse

carried on

with

military

models

until

it

was absorbed by Consolidated Aircraft

Co.

of

Buffalo, NY,

in

1929.

"The only S-6 produced survived as a pri

vately-owned airplane with civil registra

tion C9S until it crashed in 1931 ."

Specifications Thomas Morse S 6

Wing Span 29 ft.

Length 28 ft, 8 in.

Wing Area 296

sq . ft .

Gross

Weight

1232 lb.

High Speed

105 mph.

Landing Speed

40 mph.

Climb

in

10

mi n

.

8000

ft.

John Underwood adds:

" . Its first public appearance was at

the New

York Aviation Exposition

in

March

1919,

and

it later raced a time

or

two , as the picture suggests. It was subse

quently licensed C9S.

"In the summer of 1931, Fred Koehn

lein of

Rochester ,

NY swapped

a

TM

Scout S-4C plus some cash for the S-6, so

he could take his girlfriend with him . He

said it was the sweetest ship he ever flew

and it had amazing performance with the

SO hp LeRhone. Be

that

as it may , Fred

let it get away from him and spun in. He

got away with

it ,

but the Tommy

was a

goner. This was in the late fall

of

'

31

."

Other correct answers were sent in by

Richard

Roe

, Fairfax, VA and Frank Str

nad, Northport, NY.

....



Curtiss Museum

hows

How

a m m o n d ~ o r t

Reached for the Skies

by Kirk House,

Mu

um Cu

rator

Glenn Curtiss was born a mile east

of

the

museum that now bear

s his

name

,

and

he

was buried a mile west. This intimate con

n

ec tion

of Curtiss

with

hi s community is

part

of

the appeal at the Curtiss Museum.

In the 52 years between

hi

s birth and his

death, Glenn Curtiss raced across two conti

nents (usually at top speed), using bicycles,

motorcycles, gliders, dirigibles, boats, and,

of

course, airplanes. He agonized through

sumptuous banquets in New York and Paris,

and gracefully turned down royalty cadging

airplane rides. He deve loped three cities in

Florida and built a mansion there, but he al

ways called Hammondsport home.

Curtiss Museum is not just a collection

of aircraft

or

an ode to Curtiss. It

's

an at

tempt to showcase the man in his setting - a

vi lla

ge that

became the

aviation

center of

the world.

Many veterans of the aviation circuit re

call visiting the original museum

in

the old

school

building. Since

1994 th e museum

has hoste d visitors in a 56,000

square

foot

climate-controlled facility on

the

edge of

town. Fifteen aircraft now form the heart of

the collection , along with motorcycles, en

gines, a Curtiss travel trailer, and materials

on Hammondsport during the Curtiss years.

The first case, fittingly, is filled with per

sonal and family memorabilia But the visit

really starts with a 14 minute video on the

man and his work, followed by touring the

Dawn of Aviation gallery. An abstract bi

cycle shop recalls

Curtiss'

first business

venture, with panels and

photographs

dis

playing the pedal powered speed passion of

his youth. But he quickly turned to motor

ized vehicles. A half-dozen Curtiss motor

cycles

are on

display

,

along with

an

even

older Hercules -

the

brand

nam

e Curtiss

used for his very earliest products.

The lightweight, powerful Curtiss engines

led the young man to aviation by way

of Cap

tain

Thoma

s Scott Baldwin.

The aeronaut

used a Curtiss engine on America's first suc

cessful dirigible, then moved his operations to

Hammondsport, where Curtiss assisted in the

creation

of

dirigible SC-I, the first powered

aircraft

in

the U.S military.

Those early engines and motorcycles

helped catapult Curtiss into the public eye.

He used a V8 dirigible engine on a seven

foot motorcycle frame to travel 136 mph in

1907,

becoming

the Fastest

Man

Alive .

His exploits helped inspire the original Tom

Swift books .

8 MARCH 1997

Mo torcycl es and engines

started

Curtiss' career at the

turn-of-the-century.

Many of

his engines and

'cyc

les are displayed at

the

museum.

Spectacular mural, The Flight of the June Bug, commemorates Curtiss ' 1908

f t-

America 's first officially observed

f l ight-one

mile in length.

The Ba ldwin display faces a

45 foot

was

America's

first officially observed

mural taken from

Bob Bradford's

painting,

flight, and it won him the Scientific Ameri

The

Flight of the June Bug. Next to the can trophy. At that time, Curtiss was Direc

mural is June Bug II, created in Hammond

tor

of

Experiments

for

Alexander Graham

sport for the U.S. bicentennial. Curtiss flew

Bell 's

Aerial Experiment Association,

the original June Bug a mile

over

the fields

which made good u

se

of Curtiss' engine

outside the

museum

on July 4, 1908 .

This

know-how,

his personal daring , and his



(Right) The Curtiss Jenny

was a Hammondsport

product.

Restoration on

this JN4D was finished in

1995. The 1918

Jenny is

flanked by

a 1918

Buick

and an OX-5 engine.

Three decades of pi l

ots

depended on

Curt

iss

OX-5 engines which

were

pro

duced

in

thousands

through the end of

WW I.

The museum host

s

th

e OX-5

Club's Aviation Hall of Fame.

busy motorcycle factory. The AEA devel

oped ailerons and

wheeled

landing gear.

June Bug and its predecessor White Wing

were the first American aircraft to use

them. Bell's Boys had earlier used the

slopes across from the museum for glider

experiments.

June Bug

II, a

faithful reproduction,

flew ten miles for its longest

fl

ight before

going on display.

After his

spectacu

l

ar successes

in

Rheims, France, along the Hudson, and in

Los Angeles, Curtiss was able to so lve the

problem of

water

flying, first with float

Work underway on the new Model

E

flying boat; the original

was

produced at

planes and next with flying boats. The first

the Curtiss plant

in

Hammondsport

.

boat to fly took

off

from Keuka Lake near

the Hammondsport waterfront, and Curtiss

quickly marketed such craft to the military.

The U.S. Navy still considers Hammond

sport the birthplace

of

Naval aviation.

He also marketed flyi ng boats to wealthy

sportsmen. A 1913 Model E boat hull (on

loan from NASM) is on disp lay. LA V

originally belonged to Logan A (Jack) Vi

las, who used this

craft

to make the first

crossing

of

Lake Michigan.

Since only the hull survives, some visitors

have trouble visualizing the entire aircraft.

To help them out, museum volunteers are

building a twin sister for LAV This two

place

,

shoulder-yoke, mid-wing aileron

pusher is the first flying boat being built in

Hammondsport for 80 years. After it flies

from Keuka Lake - perhaps in 1998 - it will

go

on display

in

the museum. Guests have a

chance

to

visit the

shop

and hear about

progress directly from the workers.

Visitors don' t have any trouble visualiz

All that remains of the Curtiss house is this cupola , which he called h is

ing the famous Curtiss Jenny. A JN4D was

Thi

nko

rium.

Much of th

e

modern airplane was conceived

in

this room.

VINTAGE AIRPL NE 9



Harvey Mummert s 8-1 Racer was produced by Mercury Aircraft, another local air

craft manufacturer.

one

of

the first aircraft the museum acquired

30 years ago. For decades it was a skeleton.

But the shop crew, before turning its hand

to

the flying boat,

lovingly

restored the

Jenny. Still 80 percent original, it shines in

trainer yellow army livery.

The Great War produced orders

in

thou

sands for Jennies and flying boats, making

Curtiss a millionaire. A Navy Curtiss Fly

ing Boat (NC4) made the first Atlantic

crossing

in 1919; an NC

propeller

is dis

played

in

the lobby.

A 1919 Curtiss

Oriole

was

acquired

along with the Jenny (workers are still seek

ing a pair of Oriole wings), while a Robin

helps bridge the gap between the early days

and the more modern period which began

around 1930. Although the concentration is

obviously on Curtiss, and even on the 1900

to

1920 period, other manufacturers are rep

resented. Mercury Aircraft

of

Hammond

sport made Harvey Mummert s S-I racer,

while the

1949

Ohm-Stoppelbein

Racer

Special was created

in

nearby Rochester.

A Curtiss

Aerocar

helps round out the

collection. Considered the first streamlined

travel trailer, this fifth-wheel vehicle helped

create the travel trailer industry, just as Cur

tiss earlier work had helped create the mo

torcycle and aviation industries.

Still being developed are displays high

lighting

turn-of-the-century

life in

Ham

mondsport. Horse-drawn vehicles, house

hold implements, professional tools, toys ,

and dolls are all exhibited . Special shows

focus on various aspects

of

Curtiss life and

work . 1997

specials

will focus on WW I

and on

Curtiss

motorcycle racing career.

n 1998 the

wine industry

and the flying

boat will be featured . A dirigible

ex

hibit is

planned for 1999.

Curtiss Museum

is

the focus

of

a Museum

Studies Program

for fifth

graders

in

area

schools, and for a more extensive flight tech

nology program used by junior

hi

gh schools.

1 MARCH 1997

Vi

siting groups may request guided tours.

Museum archives include thousands of

photos and documents from

hi

s first 20 years

of heaver-than-air

fli

ght. Curtiss himse

lf

had

Hammondsport photographer H M. Benner

produce some 3,000

shots ,

negatives for

which

are

own

ed by the muse um .

The

se

The Curtiss Robin was a widely used

civil aircraft.

Canadaigua-Middelsex EAAers crafted this half-scale Curtiss pusher, complete with

working control surfaces, for younger visitors.

negatives and other documents also serve as

a splendid resource for local history. This is

fitt

in

g, since Curtiss was a Hammondsport

boy and a Hammondspo rt man. Although

their number is sadly dwindling, the Ham

mondsport area st

ill

has

re

sidents who fondly

remember their town s most famous son.

Curtiss Museum is open 360 days a year.

Admission is charged, with a discount for

seniors, students, AAA members and orga

nized groups. School groups and bus tours

are welcome. Museum members are admit

ted free . The National Soaring Museum and

National Warplane Museum

are

located

nearby

.

More

information is

available

from: Curtiss Museum, 8419 State Route

54,

Hammondsport, NY

14840,607

/569

2160. Contact Kirk House, Curator, for in

formation on traveling photo exhibits con

cerning early aviation.



ANTIQUE CLASSIC HOME

by

Andy

Heins

le 2 529

It's 7:00 a.m. and the bright sunshine

glows through my bedroom window like

a beacon. Another glorious summer Sat

urday has arrived. As I stroll into the

kitchen,

I

glance

out

the window and

there's Harold Johnson's familiar red

pickup pulling up to his hangar. Boy,

he's

here

early

I

think

to

myself.

I

guess you can never be too early to work

on a Waco. You see, Harold is working

on his 1934

Waco

YMF-3, NC14080.

He

almost

has the

fuselage

ready for

cover and he's just finishing up fitting

the cowling. His other 1934 Waco UMF

3, NC14041, is two rows back waiting to

fly another air show this afternoon at a

local EAA fly-in. That's why he's here

early, figuring that he could get a little

work done before the show. Harold also

has two 1940 Waco UPF-7s, NC30122

and NC20979 at his strip at home.

It's now

9:

IS a.m., I've showered and

had breakfast with my wife Michele. As

we're

sitting at the kitchen table drink

ing coffee, I'm contemplating whether

to go work on my 1927 Waco ASO,

NC3782 or take our Stinson 108 Voy

ager out for a spin. The sound

of

a ra

dial engine is heard. Michele and I rush

outside just as the

B. F.

Goodrich owned

1929 Waco CTO, NR13918, Taperwing

flashes by.

It's

Pat and Bob

Wagner

coming

down

to retrieve some tools

from their hangar. As they land and taxi

to the pumps, we walk over to say hello.

The newly restored Joe Mackey/Linco

Flying Aces Taperwing is restored in its

original 1936 colors when it flew in the

famous aerobatic competition in Paris,

France, in which Col. Joe Mackey fin

ished first. Bob has been selected as the

pilot

for B. F.

Goodrich

to fly the air

craft

in

shows this summer. As we stroll

to their hangar talking about the next

fly-in, we pass Jay Newberry S

hangar

where

he's

spraying

color

on his 1940

Waco YPF-7, NC29916. We stop and

talk a while and ask the usual questions

about

dope versus enamel or

polyurethane for the best finish.

As Bob opens his hangar, I see a fa

miliar sight. There's a 1941 Waco UPF

7 NC5528N and his beloved 1935 Waco

YMF-5, NCI4132 sitting side by side

awaiting restoration. As Bob gathers his

tools

and

I

look

at the

projects, there

goes that radial engine

sound again.

This time it's a 220 Continental and it's

Darrell Montgomery flying Harold John-

son's third 1940 Waco UPF-7,

NC29988, and he's just picked up a ban

ner advertising a craft show at the local

arena. Air Ads

of

Dayton is the business

and

they've

been doing it for 30 years.

Darrell stays current in the UPF-7 be

cause his

1941

Waco HPF-7, NC32065

is down for restoration. It's in the back

row of hangars near Paul Harper's 1942

Waco UPF-7, NC39717. Paul 's airplane

is also in storage awaiting restoration

since a mishap several years ago. Bob

closes the hangar and we all walk back

to the Taperwing to say goodbye. Bob

and Pat have to get home because they

have to meet their partner, Jim Beisner,

to work on the newly acquired

1928

Waco GXE, NC5852. They were work

ing on their

1940

Waco UPF-7,

NC29905, but the GXE became avai l

able

and they

just cou

ldn

' t pass

it up.

You

all know how the Waco fever is,

one is not enough. Jim is usually seen

puttering around the sky in

the

OX-5

powered Waco 4 owned by

several

members

of

the Waco Historical Soci

ety, of which Jim is President. Michele

and I wave as the Taperwing soars into

the morning sky and we walk back to

house

for

a

cool lemonade.

All

this

Waco talk has made us thirsty.

As she pours us both a drink, I

hear

the throaty roar of a Wright starting.

Looking out the living room window, I

see that my brother Pete, his wife Kelli

and baby son

Clayton (named

after

Waco President Clayton Bruckner) have

decided to take advantage of

the beauti

ful day and take his one-of-a-kind 1930

Waco CRG, NC600Y out for spin. As

they taxi by, they wave a greeting and

we enthusiastically do the same. Noth

ing can

quite

match the

sound and ex

citement as Pete taxi's out onto the run

way, turns on the smoke, and pushes the

throttle

forward. As the

350 Wright

comes to life, the sound is like music to

my ears. In less than 500 feet they are

off

and

climbing

like a rocket. This is

what the airplane was built to accom

plish in 1930 when Waco built it to win

the

1930

Ford

Air Tour. Flown

by

Johnny Livingston, the airplane finished

a close second behind a Ford Tri-Motor.

As they depart the field, here comes an

other Waco taxiing

by.

This time

it's

Mike Brown, Kelli's father, and his part

ner Alan Hoeweler in their pretty orange

and chocolate 1940 Waco UPF-7,

NC29300. And what's this, they're tow

ing a glider behind them. Normally,

they would be flying their 1929 Waco

ATO, NC719E Taperwing, but it's down

at

Creve Coeur, having

the finishing

touches put on its restoration by John

Halterman's

shop. Until it's finished,

they have to be content with flying the

UPF-7. I bet everyone is sympathizing

with them by now. With the glider in

tow,

they take

off

and climb to 4,000

feet and release. As the glider gracefully

soars above the field, the next thing I see

is the UPF-7 upside down, in the process

of a roll. As it comes level, the nose

dips then rises and now begins a vertical

climb into a loop. Mike is never content

to fly straight and level. I see that Dar

rell is back in the pattern and makes a

low pass to drop the banner. Instead of

returning to land he heads

off

towards

Mike. As I turn to look for Mike, I see

that he

and

my brother Pete are now

playing a game of cat and mouse, loop

ing and rolling as they follow each other.

Darrell joins the fray and

it's

now two

UPF-7s against the CRG. The CRG eas

ily

out climbs them

and is

quite

a bit

faster straight and level. Conceding de

feat, the two UPFs join up on each wing

as Pete throttles back.

Watching closely,

they're

now head

ing straight for Michele and I and our lit

tle house. They pass over, three abreast

and zoom into the sky. One by one, they

each take their respective place in the

pattern and come back around to land in

the grass. They

taxi to the

pumps and

shut down.

Laughing

and joking, they

climb out

of

the cockpits and stand on

the ramp talking. It ' s only noon and all

this has happened in our typical day at

my home.

Where is this magical place you ask?

Well, it's Moraine Airpark located on

the banks of the Great Miami

River

on

the south side of Dayton, Ohio. All you

old-time antiquers would know it as

South Dayton Airport. We welcome any

Waco enthusiast with open arms and

guarantee that you'll have a good time

on our typical Saturday or Sunday sum

mer day.

If

you'd like to take a first hand look,

why not join us for our annual fly-in, held

this year on the 4th

of

May. EAA Chap

ter 48 puts on a fly-in breakfast that will

knock your socks off. Call Jeannie Dyke

*

or more information at 513/878-9832.

VINT GE IRPL NE

11



The Granville

Brothers Aircraft

Sportster

NR49Y

y David

B.

Jackson

Granville Brothers

Aircraft

Model D Sportster ll

043

While paging through the

scrapbooks

and archives of the late Granville brothers,

Robert and Thomas, I was able to deter

mine the origins of the famous scalloped

Gee Bee color scheme.

The striking Gee Bee trademark paint

scheme was NOT patterned after the Coca

Cola logo as has been mis-reported in sev

era l publications, but rather after a dragon.

Please note the vertical stabi lizer marking

on the

photos

you see here,

which

have

never before been published. They show

Granville Brothers Aircraft

NR

49V while

still under construction. Under the

Gee

Bee

logo is the

name

Dragonfly , and

under

that is

F

inished With

The

New

Berryloid Pigm ented Dope System .

George Agnoli, the Springfield, MA sign

painter commissioned by the Granvilles to

paint their airplanes, simply followed the

original Granville Brothers sketch, with his

only deviation being the omission

of

scal

lops on the leading edge

of

the horizontal

stabilizer, matching those on the wings, as

were on the original sketch l also have a

photograph of this original sketch, as well

as the original sketch

of

the Harris Tib ert

Co. logo on the side ofNC 11-44). As is

much of hi story, time distorts the facts.

This picture must have been taken very

shortly prior

to

the listed 6-24-30 manufac

ture date, at which time the name Sport

ster had

been

painted over the original

name. Zantford Granville

is

at the controls

running the

Cirrus engine with

Edward

Granville making adjustments while Mark

and Tim Granville look on. The little Gee

Bee was issued restricted airplane license

49V, SIN I-GBA on 7-90-30, and sported a

four-cylinder inverted inline supercharged

American Cirrus engine of 110 bp, s n

310S, and a steel Hamilton Standard pro

peller. 49V was originally built for compe

tition

in

the All American Air Derby spon

sored by the American Cirrus Engine Co.

in

which it was the first stock certified air

plane

to

finish with Lowell Bayles as pilot.

Bayles and Roscoe Brinton later purchased

49V from the Granvilles on September 19 ,

1930 with the help of Bayles' prize money

2 MARCH 997

Not quite ready to take to the sky, the Gee Bee Dragonfly," later re-named Sport

ster

," is having its engine run- in and adjusted. Note the horizontal stabilizer root

fairings have not yet been installed.

and toured the country as the Brinton and

Bayles Flying Service, Inc . performing air

shows (or sky rodeos) and racing. An in

verted six cylinder Fairchild 6-390

of

120

hp, s n 9, with a Curtiss Reed propeller

(M4042) was later installed

on

10-15-30.

On

September

12, 1931 ,

while

flying an

airshow in Brattleboro, VT, Roscoe Brin

ton bailed out of 49V when the booster

magneto extension cables jammed the con

troI

s

He jumped at 1,000 feet and landed

uninjured,

while the plane smashed into

the nearby woods, and

caught

fire when

an unthinking newsman threw the match

from lighting his cigarette into the fuel

soaked wreckage. The only surviving

piece

of

this

airplane

is

one prop

e

ller

blade from a Hamilton Standard in stalled

at the time of the

crash (Roscoe

Brinton ,

Jr. now has this blade.)



Louise

Thaden

and

her

co pilot

Blanche

Noyes cross the finish line of the 1936 Ben-

dix

Trophy

race

in this painting by John

Amendola. (Top) Louise accepts the Bendix

trophy

during

the 1936 National

Air

Races

from Vincent Bendix himself.

Compiled

by

Norm Petersen

from accounts by

l s

Gasser, Terry von

Thaden

,

Michael

Greenblatt,

Jake Atteberry and

John Parish

As a young boy in the 1930s, Bill Thaden thought flying an air

plane with his mother was akin to hopping in the family car for a

ride to the

comer

market.

Bill s mother

, pioneer aviatrix Louise

McPhetridge Thaden, was a record setting pilot who walked in the

same circles as the other great aviators

of

the day. That is why, in

1936, he didn t pay much attention to hi s mother's participation in

the Bendix Transcontinental Speed Race . For Bill it was

just

an

other occasion

of

his mother going

off

to fly and see some

of

her

friends. When he learned of his mother s win, this seemed only

normal to Bill.

Of

course hi s mom won, she usually did.

Now , so me 60 years later, it was Bill

Thaden s

quest to com-

memorate his mother

s

win

of

the 1936 Bendix, one

of

the turning

points in aviation history, by calling upon friends and family to par

ticipate in a cross country tour to pay heed to a woman who helped

mold aviation into what it is today.

The Bendix races began

in

1931 as the vision

of

Vincent Bendix,

to promote civilian aviation through

an

all-out speed dash across the

country. The rules were simple: take off at any time after midnight

and arrive at the other side of the United States by 6 p.m. Over the

years, this race has been run in both directions across the country.

In 1936, it was run from Floyd Bennett Field, in Long Island, New

York, to Mines Field (what is now LAX)

in

Los Angeles, Califor

nia. Up until 1936, it had been officially a male only race. All

of

this changed in 1936 when it was agreed to open the race to female

contestants. A special consolation prize

of

2500 was offered to the

rust female to cross the finish line, despite her standing in the race.

At

the time, Louise

Thaden

was

working

for the

Federal Air

Marking Program, which consisted

of

traveling across the country

painting navigational aids on prominent landmarks She was sur

prised to learn, when Olive Ann Beec h phoned her to see if she

Louise Thaden

60th

Anniversary

Memorial

1996

Staggerwing

Tour

The beginning of the Staggerwing line. Jim Younkin, whose

skilled hands were most important to its present beauty, poses

by ole number one which is Staggerwing NC499N, SIN 17R-

1

This fabulous airplane has been totally restored and resides

in the Staggerwing Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee.

William V (Bill) Thaden, center, receives a Merit Award from

the Staggerwing Club For Outstanding Contribution to the

Preservation of the Beech Model 17 from Morton Lester on

the right. On the left

is

Bill 's daughter, Terry, who bears a re-

markable

resemblance

to

her famous flying grandmother,

Louise Thaden.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3



(Left)

Flanked by some pretty neat air-

planes, Dave Swanson

pulls

his Lock-

heed

12

up to the parking line

at

Gille-

sp

ie Field in San Diego.

wanted to participate, that the Bendix was

open

to

women. After some careful thought,

Louise decided to enter, and bring her friend

Blanche Noyes along for the ride.

Beech agreed to provide

Louise

with a

stock model Staggerwing C l7R, which had

the rear seats removed to accommodate the

extra fuel tank. There was so little room in

the

craft Louise opted

to

remove the

seat

pack parachutes in favor

of

the quick con

nector type; but she doubted there would be

sufficient room to actually escape from the

airplane had the need arisen. The Stagger

wing

also

had

only

an old style

radio

re

ceiver, no transmitter, and no directional

gyro . Louise borrowed a DG from Teddy

Kenyon at Floyd Bennett Field, which her husband quickly in

stalled. The Staggerwing was a fast commercial airplane, but not

built primarily for racing. This, coupled with last minute repairs

and details to be taken care

of

before the race, added to the stress

and the excitement Louise felt about flying in the Bendix.

The weather in 1936 was not particularly favorable to the racers .

Battling fog, clouds, and stiff headwinds, Louise found herself rely

ing on dead reckoning to navigate her course. Flying her own race,

she chose to cruise at 65% power, deciding that the race is not al

ways won by the fastest plane, but by good common sense and at

tention to equipment. When she made her one fuel stop

at

Beech

Field in Wichita,

Walter

Beech, in his usual

congenial manner

,

asked Louise, "What the heck

to

you think you are in, a potato race?

Open this plane up " Louise agreed to accommodate Walter, noting

to hersel f that once she was in the air, she would fly the latter half

of the race

just

as she had flown the first portion - at 65% power,

recognizing that reliability could be a deciding factor.

When she arrived at Mines Field slightly after 5 p.m., Louise

was sure she had lost the race. Squinting into the setting sun, con

centrating on finding the airport itself and not the race fie ld, she

overshot the finish line and had to cross it from the opposite direc

tion. Trying

to

taxi unnoticed to the sidelines, Louise was flanked

by officials running beside her plane.

Wondering what

she had

done wrong now, she asked what it was they were after. Theyex-

claimed that they thought she had just won the Bendix.

When all was authenticated, and Louise had been declared to be

the official winner

of

the Bendix, the race executives changed the

name of the consolation prize for the first woman to cross the fmish

line to a special award. n addition to the $5,000 purse, Louise was

awarded the special $2,500 prize also. Not only had she proven that

a woman could finish the race, she had proved that

by

flying her

own race, she had beaten the others at their own game. When Wal

ter Beech arrived in Los Angeles the next day, he praised Louise for

following his advice and pushing the throttle all the way forward.

When she told Walter that she had flown the whole race

at 65

power,

Walter

roared with laughter and

revealed

he

had given

Louise an engine (Wright R-975) with 1200 hours on it - a woman

had won the Bendix in a stock aircraft at cruising speed, with an en

gine that was practically a grandfather

(Below) As far as the eye can se

e

are

round

engines

on

the business end of a

row of beautiful Staggerwings. It is a

welcome

sight

to see

80 87

octane fuel

available

for

those fortunate

pilot

s

whose airplanes

that can

use

that grade

of fuel.

Overhead

view of the

entire

gathering at Gillespie Field . In

the foreground

is

the grass parking area

in

f ront

of

Bill

Allen

s hangar, filled

with

antique

airplanes. The red and

white

airplane

in the left

front

doesn

t have a br

oken wing

-

it is a Fairchild

7 with folding

wings.

The exc

i

ted group of Staggerwing driver

s

and friend

s

get

ready

for

a

tou

r

of the

San Diego

Air

and

Space Museum

.

14 MARCH 1997



(Left) Included

in

the

Museum

visit was a tour of the restoration

facilit

i

es in the

basement where, among

other projects

, a Ford

Tri

Motor

is being

carefully restored to original cond i

tion in-

cluding

an engine-turned boot

cowl

and engine

shutte

rs.

Above) Christine St. Onge

of Mexford, PA, taxis up

in

her

Staggerwing

C-17B that

is painted

in

the exact race colors

of

number

62,

Louise Thaden

' s Bendix

winn

i

ng

C-17R

Stagger

wing fr

om

1936.

Such was the scene

of

the Bendix race some 60 years ago.

In

1996, a dedicated group of vintage aviation enthusiasts would gather

with Staggerwing, Lockheed, Twin Beech, Waco, and other aircraft

to pay tribute to

thi

s extraordinary woman and to the race itse

lf.

They

would gather at Youngstown Elser Metro Airport in Ohio, and

fl

y

across the country

to

Gillespie Field

in

EI Cajon, California, stopping

enroute to participate in commemorative ceremonies.

The Commemorative Tour began for some of the early partici

pants at 10:20 a.m., Saturday, August 24, from Sanford Field

in

Maine as the group took off: Bill Thade n (son of Loui se Thaden

and tireless organizer

of

the memorial tour), Dave Swanson, Dick

Jackson, Pat Jac kson, Terry von Thaden, and Les Gasser. Their air

craft was a magn ificent 1939

Lockheed

12 , silver

with

red

and

black

hi

ghlights and British markings on the wings and fuselage.

It

belongs to Dave Swanson,

an

ex-Eastern Airlines pilot.

The flight to Youngstown Elser Metro airport took 3.5 hours in

the elegant Lockheed at altitudes up to 13,000 feet to stay in smooth

air. The last part of the flight was in perfect CA VU weather as they

arrived and made a fly-by before touching down and being met by

Mike Stanko, one of the top Staggerwing restoration experts, and

his crew at Elser Metro. Dick Perry

of

Hampshire, IL, had flown

his red Staggerwing D-17S into Elser and Dub Yarbrough

of

Grand

Rapids, MI, had driven to Elser especially for the weekend. Dub

knew Louise Thaden well, and

is

a longtime family friend of the

Thadens. Before long, four more Staggerwings arrived to spice up

the party along with a Beech 18 , a Waco cabin and Jim Gorman's

Staggerwing.

The entire weekend at Elser ce lebrated the 50th Anniversary

of

the airport and featured Mr. and Mrs. Elser, for whom the airport

was named. The first pilot who soloed at Elser was also on hand for

the lively celebration

(Above) Parked

in front

of

two

beautiful

red Staggerw

i

ngs

is a

restored 1936 Ford v a

convertible

,

complete with rumble seat

for you

younger

folks

, that 's

the open seat

just

ahead

of

the

spare tire).

On

Monday, most

of

the

tour group

was off to Springdale,

Arkansas,

in

spite

of

low ceilings and rain showers along the way.

The hosts for this gathering were Jim and Ada Younkin, who have a

collection of

prize airplanes that

will

make

your

mouth

water.

Among the classic airplanes,

Jim s

replica Mr. Mulligan" of 1936

Bendix fame was indeed a treat for the visitors.

The next morning, the tour group made the short ten-minute

flight to Bentonville, Arkansas, Louise Thaden's home town, to be

greeted by over 100 townspeople including the Mayor and several

re latives of Louise Thaden. A room

in

the main airport building at

Bentonville holds a considerable collection of clippings and photos

of Louise Thaden and her exploits. It is clear the people

of

Ben

tonville appreciate their aviation heritage.

Later in the day , the tour group had fired up their engines and

one by one, took

off

for Bartlesville, Oklahoma, to rendezvous with

a large group

of

Staggerwings and tour people at Frank Phillips

Field. The hosts for this part

of

the tour were Charlie Harris and

crew, who really know how to throw a banquet. The hospitality of

the "Bartlesville Bunch"

is

known far and wide and was a perfect

se

nd

-off for the '96 Staggerwing Tour.

Wednesday morning, a fast tour

of

the Raytheon Aircraft facili

ties (the new corporate name for Beechcraft) at Wichita, Kansas,

was pretty much scrubbed due to poor weather and lousy ceilings,

As

the

sun

slow

ly

sinks

in

the west

,

the

eveni

ng shadows

begin

at ill

Allen

's Ryan STM-2

and continue past the

rows of

mag-

nificent

Staggerwings glistening in the

evening

twilight

.



(Below) Outstanding entertainment was provided

by this group of

five singers,

all fancied up in

1940 s costumes , who

put on

a dandy program

during Bill and Claudia Allen s hangar party.

A fantastic g r

oup

visi t t o Tom Warner 's nearby ranch wa s

highlighted by a c

hance

t o w atc h th e ir

German

shepherd

sh

eep

dog, Tony, do a mas terful job of herding a flock of

sheep. The u

nc

a

nny

a

bility of this highly

t rai

ned

dog left

many

s

hak

ing t

he

ir h

eads

in

wonderment.

so the group took

off

for the long run to Albuquerque, New Mexico,

dodging showers much

of

the way. As the weather improved to the

west, it was possible to look down from the Lockheed

12

and see

pairs

of

Staggerwings pass them up with their higher cruise speeds.

Coming through the pass over the Scandia mountains, the first view

of

Albuquerque was fantastic as the planes landed on the long run

ways and taxied to the ramp. To see such a gathering

of

beautiful

Staggerwings along with assorted classic airplanes was indeed a

treat for all, especially the locals. Several planes were safely down

at airports along the way and would have to make a longer run into

(Left) Some of the really classy automo-

biles that were shown

included

this Lin

coln li

mo

, Bugatti coupe and

Cadilla

c

sedan. The

styli

ng

of these cars

is

righ

t

in

tune

with the

styling

of the

Stagger

wing

- a ll time

classics from the

1930 s.

(Below) The September

meet

i

ng

of t he

Staggerwing Club will now come

to

or

der. Business meetings were held at

Safari

Aviation

s hangar.

San Diego s Gillespie Field the next day.

Thursday afternoon brought

the final arrival for the

group

at

Gillespie Field

and they were

greeted

by Louise

Thaden

(Bi

ll

s

wife) and daughter, Tracy, along with Patricia Thaden Webb, her

son, Fred Frost and his wife, Lisa. John Parish was on hand to di

rect the participants to the tour headquarters at Dick McDowell s

Ye Olde Flying Circus. Bill Allen s hangar, filled with planes and

aviation memorabilia, served as the main soc ial gathering place for

the weekend. Eventually, row upon row

of

Staggerwings covered

the tarmac at Gillespie - what an impressive sig

ht

There

are

approximately

110 Staggerwings still flying and at

least thirty showed up for the weekend activities. In addition, many

hi storic airplanes were on hand including Bill Turner s DH Comet,

Ryans, Spartan Executives and Stearmans. No less than five Travel

Air biplanes were on hand including Louise Thaden

s

1929 D-4000

Women

s

Air Derby winner, now owned by Bill and Claudia Allen.

The late afternoon barbecue, courtesy of the Aliens, saw everyone

enjoying an outdoor party (with all the trimmings) and taking it

easy among the huge collection

of

airplanes.

A tour reception was held Friday evening at the San Diego Air

and Space Museum which allowed the Tour participants to explore

the entire facility including the basement restoration facilities where

a huge Ford Tri Motor restoration is nearly completed.

Saturday many

of

the pilots flew the 14-minute hop to Palomar

Airport to the Cinema Air facility where several

of

the Staggerwings

were used to film a flight along the southern California coast. It was

exc iting, to say the least. Back at Gillespie, the Saturday evening fi

nal banquet was held at Bill Allen s hangar and featured a special

singing group doing numbers from the

40s

and dressed in period

costume. The outstanding food, the camaraderie and the beautiful

surroundings made for a perfect evening. Among the awards pre

sented at the banquet was a very special award to Bob Van Ausdel s

children, Connie, Bob and Tom. The Tour was dedicated to hi s pio

neering effort

in

test flying the Travel Air Mystery Ship.

The accomplishments of one of the greats of the Golden Age of

Aviation, Louise Thaden, were commemorated through this 1996

Tour, with its celebrations, ceremonies, banquets and new friends

quickly becoming old friends. The entire experience

of

the 1996

Commemorative Tour showed us that both the adventure

of

experi

mental flight and the human and aviation ideals

of

the Golden Age

still endure.

16 MARCH 1997



Laird

Commercial

As the Antique airplane movement

has grown over the years , there have

been a few projects that people were itch-

ing to get their hands on. To an

antiquer

,

it s

tough to see a potential project just sit,

with no

one getting

it

ready

to head

back

into the skies.

Off

ers to purchase it would

us

ually

be rebuffed , and the old

airplane

would just look sadder

and sadder

as the

years wore on.

t often fell vic tim to the

"('ll

get to it

one of these days syndrome. For whatever

reason, be it lack of money

or

lack of time,

the

airplane

just never seemed to

get

re-

stored , and before you knew it, the decades

slipped by and the project didn

t

get done .

Keeping the dream

of

restoring it was some-

times what kept a person going, so in that

sense it se rved its

purpose

. Hopefully it

wouldn' t deteriorate too badly as it waite

d.

The airplane

you see on these

page

s is

one

of

those projects. t sat in storage for

over three decades.

It

was known

to

a num-

ber of active restorers, but not one

of them was able

to

woo the air-

plane

away

from its

owner

until he

was

incapable of

restoring

it himself.

t

was

sought after

by antiquers

such as Al

Kelch a

nd

Dave lameson back

in

the 1960

s

but owner August Maross of Steger, IL had

owned

it since 1933, and he

just couldn t

part with it. A retired Col. from the Army

Air Corps, he flew in both WW I and WW

II

during the latter flying cargo and trans-

port airplanes.

Hi

s attachment to the airplane was cer-

tainly understandable

. It had made a fair

amount of

history while flying in the late

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7



'20s,

and when he put it in storage for the

duration during WW II, I'm sure he planned

on flying it again after the war ended. Ac

cording to at least two accounts, it did get

back in the air a few times after the war, but

it generally just sat in the back of the hangar.

By 1926, Emil Matthew Matty Laird

had a company with a reputation for build

ing stout,

thoroughbred airplanes

for the

discerning owner who had a checkbook to

match. These were no bargain basement

airplanes with quick finishes, but most often

were

built

to order, finished in multip le

coats of hand rubbed dope.

By 1926, the Wright Aeronautical Cor

poration's Whirlwind series

of

engines were

well on their way to aviation immortality.

The air-cooled radial was a jewel

of

an en

gine, and those who could afford the Laird

airframe and Wright engine for the princely

sum

of

$9,850 in 1926 dollars got a sharp

looking 3-place biplane that looked great

with its black and gold color scheme, a

Laird trademark.

Based on its speed and load carrying capa

bility (not to mention Matty's reputation),

Charles

Pop

Dickinson chose the Laird

Commercial as the

primary mount

for his

fledgling air mail line between MinneapoliS/St

Paul and Chicago. As the lowest bidder on

Government Contract Air Mail Route 9, Pop

had to keep his costs down as much as possi

ble He'd made good on the family business of

seeds

for

crops, and late in life caught the

fly-

ing bug. He soloed at the age

of

62, ten years

after founding the Aero Club of Illinois in

1910, along with organizing an airport on the

southwest side of Chicago called Cicero Field

18 MARCH 1997

Just

aft

of

the pilot

s cockpit is this bag-

The

front cockp it shares space with the

fuel

tank

, and

for

the passenger s

amusement , they

get an alt imeter for

reference as they peer over the cockpit

coaming

and then later Ashburn Field, the site

of

his air

mail service.

His stewardship

of

an air mail

route

would be short lived, when after a fatal

crash on the inaugural day, continued hard

ships with running the line finally

caused

Dickinson to give notice to the U.S. Gov

ernment

that he

intended

to

abandon

the

gage

compartment

, secured

by

a

pair

of

turn fasteners on the fuselage. As you

can see , much

of

the airplanes

orig

inal

wood

was usable.

route. One

of

the fledgling line's pilots,

Charles Speed Holman, knew that for the

right price

per

pound, the line could make

money with

the

right

airplane. He made

sure that the director of the Chamber of

Commerce of St. Paul knew about this busi

ness opportunity.

After pounding the pavement looking for

backing, Col. L. H. Brittin put together a

new airline named Northwest Airways, Inc.



By the beginning of the

fall

of

1926,

Northwest

held the inn il

contract for Route No.9 between

Chicago and

MinneapolislSt

Paul.

Using Stinson Detroiters, among others,

the line began to operate on a regular basis.

Since Dickinson no longer needed the air

planes for his airmail route, the Laird Com

mercial registered as C240, Serial Number

150, eventually would be sold to Litton J.

Shields,

a Northwest

stockholder who

owned the National Lead Battery Company.

He thought that a speedy, long-legged com

pany airplane would be handy to have, and

he asked Charles "Speed" Holman, North

west's Chief Pilot, to fly it for him. Holman

suggested that it would be great advertising

to

enter the Laird in the upcoming National

Air Derby, with the "National Eagle" name

emblazoned on the sides of the fuselage.

t

sounded good to Shields, so Holman made

plans

to

enter the Derby, taking a leave of

absence from Northwest to fly in the race.

Remember that all

of

this activity took

place amidst the hoopla and hype that sur

rounded the solo flight of a

certain

Min-

nesotan

across the Atlantic earlier

in the

year, so getting people enthused about avia

tion was rapidly becoming easier

The sister ship

to

the National Eagle was

registered

C 0, and

was still owned

by

Pop Dickinson. Ed Ballough, another pilot

who also happened to be

Holman's

flight

instructor,

wanted

to fly in

the

same Air

Derby. He

was

able to use C 0 for

that

purpose, with Pop Dickinson and mechanic

Anthony Makiewicz as

his

passengers.

(Speed Holman

also

had a

mechanic

ride

with him in C240.) A close race ensued be

tween

Holman

and Ballough during the

derby, which started in

New

York on No

vember 20, 1927. The closely matched bi

planes raced towards Spokane, WA

over

the next two days, with Ballough arriving

first at a refueling stop in Butte, MT. With

his tank filled to the brim, he and Dickinson

roared off in the direction of Spokane, only

to be forced into making a landing outside

of

Lime, MT

after encountering

a

snow-

storm that couldn't be penetrated

.

The

landing was a bit rough, and culminated in a

damaged prop. Repairs took time, and be

fore he could get the Laird back in the air,

Holman had passed him. Holman now had

the lead, even though he managed to pull a

tire

off

the rim of one wheel on his hasty de

parture from Butte. The upshot

of

all this

excitement was that Holman beat Ballough

into Spokane, winning the 1927 National

Air Derby by 44 minutes,

12

seconds.

Ballough and C 0 were not done racing

yet. Later, it was modified by the Laird fac

tory into the LC-RJ-200 Speedwing version,

with a Wright J-4B engine and a new set of

wings designed to reduce drag and make the

airplane even

faster.

Other changes

in

cluded a change in the landing

gear

to the

split axle type, and other streamlining re

finements . The Commercial-to-Speedwing

project

really was a

series of evolutions,

with the ideas coming from Matty's mind as

Holman and Ballough worked with him to

get as much from the design as they could.

In 1928, Ballough flew the now modi-

fied Laird to

second

place in the National

Air Derby from

New

York to Los Angeles,

and then

later won

the

civilian AC Spark

Plug free-for-all over a 75 mile long course

with an average speed of 137 mph.

This same

airplane

also

set a

few

time/distance records, including a run from

Miami to Chicago in 9 hours, 59 minutes.

During this time, Laird C

11

0, registered

as X-7086, was owned by Charles Dickin

son and registered to Laird. Dickinson, an

enthusiastic pilot

didn't

sit on the sidelines

- he flew as a passenger as often as possi

ble in the Laird during these record break

ing flights, and

was

often

pictured

with a

wide grin on his face. Later, in 1929 and

1930, the airplane is registered to the Laird

company

. When

his Laird

wouldn't be

ready in time ofr the

'29

races, Holman and

Dickinson came to an agreement allowing

X-7086

to

be flown by Holman, as long as Pop

j

E

'

could ride along. They didn't finish in the cross

country derny that year due

to

a mechanical fail-

ure, but they finished fust

in

a

100

mile closed

course race, only to

be

disqualified for cutting a

pylon. That race marked the end of X

7086

/C II

O's racing

career.

In either 1933

or

1934, August "Augie"

Maross bought

it and

contracted with

the

factory to have Matty ' s brother Harold re

built

the airplane

back

to the Commercial

configuration.

The

standard wings went

back on it, as did the J-4 engine. Starting

in

1935, Maross flew it until the beginning

of

World War II, when he put it in storage in a

hangar in Steger, IL. After the war ended, it

did get back in the air, and recalled by An

tique

/

Classic and

Midwest

Antique Air-

plane Club member Budd Hayes. Budd was

looking at the airplane with a big grin on his

face at EAA Oshkosh '96 when we caught up

Doug Fuss EAA 79446 AlC 9479 the

owner/pilot of Laird Commercial C110.

with him. As a kid, he used to play in

CliO.

"The last time I saw it flying was in '46, and

they were playing tag with a T-6, having a

great time. All the fellows had come home

from the military and they still had some time

(they weren't married yet ). They had a lot of

time to go play with airplanes, and I saw this

plane and the T -6 playing tag right over my

farm," he recalled .

Here

it is - it brings

back a lot of memories."

As mentioned before, although the air

plane was known to many, it never left the

hangar until 1974, when Jonesy Paul

of

Cy

press,

TX was able

to

convince

August

Maross

to

part

with the

airplane. Jonsey

saw an ad in a automobile publication that

advertised a few antique autos and a Laird

airplane . When he went up to look at the

cars and the plane, Augie wouldn't even let

him see it until he had inspected

Jonsey's

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9



logbook. During a second visit, he was al

lowed to look at the airplane. It was sitting

in what used to be the airport's hangar The

field was long since gone, and the completely

assembled Laird sat

in

the back, collecting the

dust kicked up by the municipal trucks and

equipment that now filled its interior.

For

so

me tim e after that

Jonsey

and

Augie dickered bac k and forth . It finally

came to a culmination after an article was

published in a Chica go newspaper. In

cluded in the article was a photo of the air

plane pulled out

in

the sunshine with Matty

Laird himse lf. Matty also tried to buy the

airplane, but Augie wouldn ' t se

ll it

to him

he figured Matty was too old, and wouldn't

be able to completely restore the airplane.

When Jonsey hea rd

about

th e a

rticle,

he

knew that potenti al bu ye rs

wou

ld be all

over Augie. He was headed back to Hous

ton from Chicago, so he turned around and

closed the deal with Augie.

The airplane

lo

oked good enough that he

thought about ferrying the airplane home, but

before he could get back up to Steger to get the

airplane,

it

had been vandalized by hav

in

g the

fabric cut

in

places on the wings and fuselage,

as though someone wanted a better look at

what the structure looked like. So much for

ferrying the Laird back to Texas .

After trucking the Laird to his place on

Dry Creek Airport in Cypress,

TX

, Jonesy

began to farm out various parts of the pro

ject, and a bit later, Bob Guttmann

of

Hous

ton, TX started work

in

g on the project. For

one reason

or

another, the

project

wo uld

end up "on the back shelf for a time, until

Jonsey and Doug Fuss were able to come to

terms on the sale

of

the pro

ject

to Doug in

1991. A successful entrepreneur

in

the auto

parts retailing business, Doug has

14 loca

tions of his Gateway Auto Supply in th e

DallaslFt. Worth area to look after. Fortu

nately, he has the resources to see a project

like this through to completion, and he was

committed to gett ing the project done. He

decided that Bob was the talented man to

finish the job.

In many respects the project was a dream

for an antiquer. It was all there, right down

to having both the original tail skid and tail

wheel. The instruments were all there to be

restored

,

as was

a

J-4

Wright

engi

ne.

Jonesy had already sent it out to Jack Lan

ning in Washington state for an overhaul. It

came back in immaculate condition. That's

no mean feat - the

Wright

J-4 is a very

rare engine, with few spare parts.

In

fact,

Doug is always on the lookout for spares

for the J-4, and is interested in finding a J-5

engine (they're only a little less rare ).

Also with the airplane was a Standard

prop (before they merged with Hami lton)

that had been with the airplane since the

1930s - it even has sequential seria l num

bers on the blades

One

of the neat things abo ut seei ng an

airplane like this at the EAA Convention is

sitt ing down and paging through the photo

20 MARCH 1997

The

pilot's

cockpit of

this beautiful An-

tique

airplane is one of

the restoration's

focal points , and

the

expertly refur-

bished instruments require you to look

outside

the

airplane

to

be

sure it 's not

1933 (All

right,

the

GPS

is

a pretty good

clue

as well )

Philip Krause

of

Vintage

Aero in Westport, NY

did the

instrument

work.

albums of each project. The hows and

whys of each restoration are laid out in de

tail, ready for you to ask each question as

each picture is revealed. One

of

the most

fascinating aspects

of

this restoration is the

fuselage.

The Laird Commercia l s fuselage struc

ture is built up using sections

of

aluminum

tubing

joined

together by steel sockets and

fittings at the juncture of each upright in the

fuselage. There is no se t of four uninter

rupted longerons running the length

of

the

A complete lighting

system is installed

on

the

airplane, with a

pair

of these 100

watt landing l ights mounted

below

the

lower

wings. Doug does

not

fly

the

air-

plane at night, but the entire system

was

restored since i t was

on

the airplane

when

it

was

rebuilt

by the Laird factory

in 1933.

fuselage. Instead, it s built up with lengths

of al uminum tubing . Each of the bays is

held

together by

the bracing

wires

that

criss-cross each bay, and are secured to the

stee l socket fittings at each intersection.

Can you imagine rigging all

of

these wires?

Each section

had to be

trammeled,

turn

buckles

adj usted and then

after

it was all

squared

up,

each

of

the

turnbuckles was

safetied. As many as thirteen turnbuckles

could be present in each bay Since restor

ing the airplane required the complete dis

assembly

of

the fuselage, that, plus the hand

sp

li

cing of all of the galvanized steel ca

bles, made the project very time consum

ing Bob says it took him a good year to get

the fuselage done - just safetying the turn

buckles took him a month - whew

The instruments

went

off

to a fellow

who really knows old instruments, and has

th e

know-how

to

get them done

.

You

mustn t

be

in a

hurr

y,

for the

work

is

painstaking and exacting, but Philip Krause

ofYintage Aero in Westport, NY refur

bished the instruments to their original ap



sleek lines

of the

Laird

ommercial

biplane

flow

back from

the spinner

to

the

rakish tail. The

ommercial

and its successor

Speedwing

were

both

good performers

that

often took the

ir

pilots

to

the top of the list of winners

in

the

late 1920s.

as they are mounted in the beauti

wood dashboard. (Somehow, the term

i

nstrument panel" just

doesn't

seem to fit

this instance.)

The

airplane

had a

lighting system

in

the Laird factory, including a pair

f

underwing landing

li

ghts. Since the J-4

not

have

a generator , the li

ghting

is

by a

batter

y.

Doug

, of

course,

s not fly the airplane at night, but it has

restored in the interest of authen

. The wiring system

is

one of the only

s from originality - it had a set

of

added

to

the modem wiring, in the in

of

safety.

The only other concession to the modem

use

of the

Stits

(now Poly

sys tem to

cover

the airplane. Doug

Bob agonized over the decision, but

at

e

the

covering

deci

sion had to

be

the only cotton cloth available for air

work came from overseas . Unfortu

, it was substa ndard in

quality

, and

deteriorating quicker than normal after

app lied. In the interest

oflongevity,

Stits dacron-polyester system was used,

a

specially mixed go

ld for

the

surfaces.

Bob related that applying the gold was

st difficult part of the cover

/painting process. Each time the go ld

it would reflect li

ght

differ

ly, resulting in apparent color shifts in

Fortunately,

they

managed

to

this restoration beast. Judging from

gets

every

time it is

out

of the

,

I'd

say they managed to hit on the

right technique.

Happily,

all of

wood was there

for the

wings, and they were in fairly decent condi

tion .

They

did need

to be

completely

re

built, but about 80 percent

of

the wood was

reused. Most of the rework was related to

the old glue

joints being sub

par, and the

damage

the wi n

gs

s

ustained while being

moved around. A few ribs were broken and

needed repair,

but

the

spars were

in

good

condition.

The sheet metal was also use

ful

- those

pieces that needed to be replaced were good

for

patterns,

and

the big 30x5 Sauzedde

wheels and

brakes

were cleaned

up

and

reused. A

pair

of new

smooth Coker

tires

were mounted.

The Laird on the rudder presented a chal

lenge for Doug. He searched and searched

for someone who could do a proper looking

logo. The early logo used on CliO was dif

ferent

than the

one

used on later

Lairds.

The newer ones were avai lable, but no the

onld one. Finally, Doug found Len Eack

owski of Veteran Screen Printer

in

Somerset

NJ

. It is

an involved proces

s

of screen

printing on

a

clear lacquer coated paper

base. The logo is then printed from front

to

back on the paper, so that when a light coat

ing of

thinner

is flowed onto the decal , it

can

be

softene

d and laid into a

coating

of

fresh

lacquer

on the

rudder.

The

l

ogo

is

then beautifully transferred to the rudder,

and

it

looks

as though it was painted

in

place. Len had done extensive research on

the original system used to produce the "de

cal" and he did

hi

s best to have the logo for

the

Laird done

ju

st as it

was

in the

Laird

factory. You can reach

him

at

201/828

3925.

It

took 4-1/2 years of work to put the fi

push on

to

complete the Laird, and when

it was done, it was as original as they could

get

it

Doug credits Bob Guttmann with the

completion of the project. "

If

it weren't for

him, I

'd have

never

known

about

the air

plane, and it was

hi

s skill that put it back in

the air," Doug said later.

Flying suc h an origina l airplane means

you get to deal with it as it was originally

flown. Grass airports were sought out and

used, and after calling and consulting with

EAA

Director

of

Flight Operations

,

Joe

Schumacher, a

pre-Conv

ention landing at

EAA's

Pione

e r

airport was made

on

the

grass. Flying an airplane with a Wright J-4

means you get to spe nd time keeping it up

as well.

The

rocker arms are exposed and

are not forced oi l lubricated , so they must be

greased every

three hours

of

flight

time.

Doug

also

checks

the va lve

clearance

s on

the engine every five hours On an antique

engine such as this, it is certainly no "kick

the tires and

light

the fires type

of

pre

flight. With

so

much pre-planning and

preparation that needs to go into flying long

distances, you

can

see that

Doug's

cross

country to EAA Oshkosh from

Texas

was

not a weekend jaunt. But as he pointed out,

the trip to show the airplane

to

so many ap

preciative EAA and Antique/Classic Divi

sion members was something he just had to

do.

We're

all glad

he

did

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

2



PIETENPOL

HOMECOMING

By

ndrew

King

Ale 10739

I

always

tell

people that Ohio

is

the

friendliest place I know and that the rest of

the American Midwest

isn t

far behind

.

Every year when July comes around

, no

matter where I' m living at the time, I beg ,

borrow or buy

an

airp

l

ane

and

head

for

Ohio and then Wisconsin. In 1996 I was

li v ing in Ca li fornia

and was offered

a

Pietenpol

to

fly from Albany, New York to

the

i

etenpol Fly-In at Brodhead, Wiscon

sin. That filled the need, so I

bought

air

line tickets and rode a kerosene burner to

the East Coast to start the adventure.

The airplane, an 0-200 powered Air

Camper, was a familiar one, as I had flown

it to

Wisconsin

two

years

earlier. It

was

owned by a retired doctor, Mike Brusilow,

who was driving out to the fly-in with his

wife. Since I d

last seen the airplane, he

d

named it after hi s grandson and Mr. Sam

was painted on the side of the fuselage.

I met Mike at Saratoga Airport on Mon

day

morning,

the

29th

of

July

,

and

de

parted

in hi s

airplane, destination

Ham

mondsport

in the

Finger

Lakes

region of

western New York state. Thi

s

was the

home of Glenn Curtiss back in the days

of

his competing

with

Orville

and

Wilbur,

and is now the home

of

the wonderful Cur

tiss Museum, which is not to be missed by

any aviation enthusiast who passes through

the area. I stopped at

Norwich

and Penn

Yan on the way, and touched down at the

little grass strip at the sound end of Keuka

Lake at 3:45 p.m. Art Wilder,

one of

the

movers and shakers at the museum, came

and picked me up, and

after

a visit to the

museum

to

see their 1913 Curtiss E Flying

Boat

reproduction project,

I

spent

a de

lightful night courtesy of Art and his wife

at their lake shore home.

The

next day

it

was on

to

Ohio after

spending a couple

of

hours in E

ri

e, Penn

sy lvania watching the thunderstorms rain

down on the Pietenpol. When th e weather

cleared we flew on to Barber Field in Al

liance where my usual cohort in the annual

flying circus was waiting, Frank Pavliga,

with his Pietenpol, the Sky Gypsy. t was

also here that we decided that the 6.00 x 6

tires

on Mr. Sam

were

too small. Fortu

nately, Forrest Barber had a pair of 8.50 x

Air Camper, and the three Pietenpols and strange old lady appeared and explained to

6s and the next

morning Mike s airplane

pi lots

headed

for

Indiana

.

We made our

us

how the

smoke from the factories

in

sat a little

taller and looked

a lot better.

usual stop in the friendly town of Deshler, town would ruin

our

engines. We waited

The

only question was how we would ex

Ohio, and then ran into a big line of thun out the rain for awhile and then flew on to

plain this

to

Mike.

derstorms

near the

Indiana border which

Miller

Airport

in

Bluffton. This was

a

On Wednesday morning we picked up

forced us to angle

off

to the so uth , finally

beautiful place

with two l

arge grass

run

the third member of the troupe, Will Graf

landing

at

Decatur

where a suit of a

rmor

ways and an original CAA airways beacon

of Wadsworth, with his Model A powered

watched

us

from

atop

the

off

i

ce and

a on a

tower next

to the hangar.

The wind

22 MARCH 997

Mr. Sam with one big tire and one small one.

Pietenpols in the rain at Decatur, Indiana. Note the suit of armor over the office.

Miller Airport, Bluffton, Indiana, with the aluminum wind sock and antique air-

ways beacon.



Four Pietenpol Air Campers on Pietenpol Field

tow er also and I was as

to see it starched out as if the

was blowing at 40 mph We were

to di scover

on landing

that the

made

of al

uminum and was eter

; the wind was actually

5 mph.

Our aim

for the

night was

Wabash , a

30 miles distant, but it was to be a

30

miles.

We ran into more rain

and got

separated in the

gather

darkness, and when I landed at

there was

Will, but no

Frank.

was too dark to land, but a call to

wife revealed that he had

made

a

landing

in a

nearby hay

and after awhile he showed up at

airport with

a

sympathetic

neighbor.

decided that we'd had

enough

adven

for the

day and instead

of tents we

to a hotel for the night.

We

refueled

at Prairie-du-Chien, and

enough

get

to Cherry Grove.

Our

turned out to be just right, as

sun was

just disappearing

when the

airstrip came into view. A white

driving along the side of the run

and we flew

past

in formation and

off to land . While the others were

in I flew over the town, a tiny cross

in a big country, but a very big spot in

of

home built airplanes and avia

in

general.

It

turned out that the dri ver of the van

was none other than Don Pietenpol, Bernie 's

son, who had heard we were coming and

had driven down from

another part of

the

state to c"amp with us . Soon so me of the

townspeople showed up, including the

Finkes

, John

and

Bernice.

John's

uncl e

Don had been one of Bernie

's

good friends

and pilots and was often mentioned

in

con

temporary articles, and Bernice's father was

Orrin Hoopman, another part of the Pieten

pol team, who drew up the drawings that so

many used to build their own Air Campers.

In fact, Bernice was named after Bernie

Pietenpol. Not only that, but it turned out

that Don Pietenpol had learned to fly at age

nine in 1939 in the same airplane that Ted

Davis had just landed

in

The women went and rounded up food

for the hungry aviators, and a lively and fas

cinating session

of

hangar flying provided

the

evening's

entertainment. Finally we

settled down for the night in our tents under

a clear moonlit sky.

At dawn we flew some more, gave some

rides, and went into town to see Bernie 's

old house and workshop. At the mercantile

store we ate some breakfast, and who should

walk in but Orrin Hoopman himself, the last

surviving member of the trio who put

Cherry Grove on the aviation history map .

We had stepped back in time, or flown back

anyway, walking those streets and talking to

those people flying over those fields and

The author with

Don

Pietenpol; Don s

signature is on

the

rudder

fanus. Don drove us to the county histori

cal museum where there were

numerous

Pietenpol artifacts, including a single seat

Sky Scout and a windmill electrical genera

tor. On the way back he pointed out a tree

next to the road and told the story

of

how

Jim 's airplane had flown through the top of

it one night in 1940 while dropping eggs on

a

nearby tavern

that the

pilots

had been

thrown out of. Talk about living hi story

Frank had an indelible marker with him,

so I had Don sign and date the rudder

of

Mr.

Sam and write

C

herry Grove." Rumor had

it

that I was just raising the value of the air

plane, but that piece of fabric will make a

great memento some day.

In the afternoon we flew back to Brod

head for the

Pietenpol

Fly-In, but even

though we had a great time that weekend,

everything

was a little anti-climatic after

Cherry Grove. I think that enough people

heard our enthusiastic accounts of the visit

that it will certainly happen again, probably

with more airplanes next time.

And what

of

Mike and the big tires on

Mr

Sam? Well, we all played dumb for awhile

and pretended that they were the same ones

that had been on the airplane when I left New

York, and finally I told him that they had

been a

little

soft

and

we'd put 120 psi in

them. He still wasn't buying it, so eventually

I confessed to changing them, and told them

that they made the airplane look more like a

Pietenpol should. I think he agreed, and as

far as I know they're still on there.

After all of this adventure r had to get Mr

Sam back to New York, then take the airline

back

to

California, and then quit my job, and

drive all the way back to the East Coast with

a Ryan fuselage on top of my car, but that's

another story.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23



IVII T

OUR MEMBERS RE RESTORING

b y N o r ~ P e t e r s e n

Golden Oldi

e

This photo of a Travel Air 4000 duster, N9048,

S N

849, was taken

in

the 1950's by veteran EAAer Leo

Kohn (EAA 4). The sign on the side of the fuselage reads, Rex Williams Airplane Crop Dusters, Phoenix,

Arizona. The photo came from the collection of the late John Van Buren of Mattydale, NY, and was con

tributed by Chuck Burtch (EAA 56205)

of

Phoenix, NY. Noteable items include a 245 Shakey Jake engine

with a huge over-wing exhaust, very flat pitched propeller, minimal cowling between the engine and firewall

and Grimes navigation lights. Eventually, the Travel Air was returned to a life of hauling passengers by Paul

King (EAA 191361,

lC

10180) in Watsonville, CA . About five years ago, the airplane caught fire and was

totaled, however, it is still registered to Paul King.

lmer Steier's

Cessna

UC 78

This photo

of

a totally restored

1943 Cessna T-50 (UC-78), N60453,

S N 5193, was sent in by owner, Elmer

Steier (EAA 308687, IC 14955) of

Whittemore , Iowa. Purchased in De

cember,

1987, from

Otto Stender of

Maysville

, lA , the big twin Cessna

was flown home on May 5, 1988, and

the restoration begun . Assisted by his

highly experienced nephew, Tim Steier

(EAA 109759,

IC 2264) of Blue

Earth, MN, Elmer says

the

rebuild

took seven years and 21 days. The ex

terior is finished exactly like the UC

78 looked when it left the factory on

October 12, 1943. After a summer of

flying the pretty Cessna, the engines

and props have been replaced with

overhauled ones, ready for the

97

sea

son. Plans are to bring the big twin to

Oshkosh

97,

so folks, keep your eye

open for the prettiest Bamboo Bomber

you ever laid eyes upon. There are

154 Cessna T-50 s remaining on the

FAA register.

24 MARCH 997



Eight Yellow Ponca City

Cubs

en

Jackson s

KR-

31 Challenger

This photo of a recently restored 1929

KR-31

Challenger

,

NC327H

,

in by owner and long

EAAer, Ken

Jackson (EAA

95080,

le 6831)

of

Fairport, NY, who spent six

of part time work restoring the OX

powered biplane. Ken reports NC327H

built in Hagerstown, MD, on May 31,

,

and

was sold to

the

DW

Flying

in western New

York.

Ken's

learned to fly in this very air

in the early 1930's and eventually

the KR-31 ,

barnstorming around

area for a few years. His grandfather

away

in

1963 and never knew that

had gone into aviation as an Eastman

corporate pilot

for the

past

22

flying a G-4

Challenger

Of the

Challenger airplanes that he flies,

says the KR-31 wins hands down as

fun to fly . Congratulations Ken,

beautiful restoration.

This photo of eight yellow Piper J-3 Cubs

in

a row

was taken by Bert Blanton EAA 413085, AlC 22572

last September 20th during the first Ponca City Cub

Fly-In at Ponca City, Oklahoma. The fly-in was spon

sored by EAA Chapter 1046 and the Ponca City Avia

tion Booster Club

in

honor of the 50th Anniversary of

the manufacture of Piper Cubs at Ponca City in 1946

and 1947. Enough to make a dyed-in-the-wool Cub

driver go into near hysteria at the sight, the Ponca City

gathering was held the day before the huge Tulsa Fly

In and a grand time was had by all. On Friday, the

entire group flew en masse to Tulsa, landing n single

file - a

stirring sight

that

endeared

the Cub to the

many visitors. The Ponca City group voted to hold

the same gathering next year

in

1997 at Ponca City.

Be there.

Michael Uding

s

Stinson 108-2

This picture of a nicely restored 1947 Stin

son 108-2, N198C, SIN 108-3198, was sent

in

by

Michael Uding (EAA

16170,

A /C

26950) of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. Mike

reports the Stinson had been stored

in

a bam

for 30 years before being carefully

extr

i-

cated and the rebuild begun. t took approx

imately two years for the restoration with

the Stits process being used for covering,

the fina l coats

being

D

ay

tona White and

Portland Green. The flfSt flight was made on

Thanksgiving Day, 1996. The engine is a

Franklin six -

cylinder

of 165 hp .

Note

the

pretty meta l wheelp ants, the metal prop and

the Scott 3200 tailwheel. Special congratula

tions go out to Mike Uding on the return to ac

tive duty of hi s restored Stinson

108 2

.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5



A while back I wrote

about owner

as

sisted annual inspections. Well , here s a

suggestion. It'll cost a couple of

bucks, but

I feel it ' s well worth it.

Browsing through

the

Typ e Club

newsletters is one

of

my most time consum

ing efforts .

I

don t let any

of

them slip by

without really going through them. There is

a lot to be learned from these Newsletters,

and it is all very valuable information for

the owner/operator.

I

came acro ss this gem in the Cub

Newsletter and it really fills the bill when it

comes to the owner doing his oil changes.

Now all my airplanes, with the exception

of

the Aeronca Sedan (which has the ADC

oil filter installed) are A-65s, A-75s and the

Aeronca E-113 engines.

They

don t have

external oil filters. This means that you pull

the screens,

put

them

in a

rag-bag

, s l

osh

them around in solvent and look for trouble.

Very simple and easy, as you can see the re

sults immediately.

Now

in

comes the Pacer with the 0-290

D Lycoming and it has an external filter,

screw-on type, a Champion 48109 or some

thing. t has screens too, but the full flow

oil filter is the "biggie," and that is where

this gadget comes in.

It 's a can opener An oil filter can

opener! About the handiest and most rea

sonably priced one I've run across. Easy to

use , adaptable to just about any

of

the cur

rent manufactured filters and a must to con

duct a proper oil change.

The

money spent on this gadget is

peanuts

compared

to the cost of yo ur en

gine. When you figure the overhaul cost in

today's dollars , preventive ma intenance

comes easy!

I read about this tool in the Cub Newslet

ter, and with the memory fresh in my mind

of

the trouble we went through taking the

used filter over to a friends shop where he

had

a can

opener,

I

decided

to

order

one.

Especially since it was a club member dis

count deal to boot.

I wrote the man a letter, and you should

26 MARCH 997

P SSdh

UCK

by E.E.

Buck Hilbert

EAA 21

NC

#5

Here's what the Filter Wiz™ looks like. This

is

the

Model

1 which will open

all 314 spin-on filters (CH 48108,109,110,111 . You can also buy, either at

the time of purchase or later, a conversion adapter which allows you to do all

production piston engine filters, (CH 48103, 104). It also allows

you

to open

many automotive filters that have 13/16 thread, and 3-5/8 dia. filters such as

the AC/PF-35, etc.The cost

is

$49.00, less a 5 percent discount to EAA mem

bers. A full money back 90 day warranty

is

included Add $2 to cover COD

costs, otherwise pay

by

check or money order. No credit cards or phone or

ders, please (it helps keep my overhead down

so

I can offer this at reason

able price). Order it from: K. Santerre, 8127 Counselor Rd . Manassas, VA

22111.

see what I got back! The opener, rubber

gloves, a steak knife, detailed written in

structions and, to add to the

stuff

I could

read, a video showing the whole operation.

He even

extended

a promise to extend the

discounted price to all EAA members!

Now how can you beat a deal like that?

Take a look at the picture, think about it a

bit, and

if

you need one, order it

He re's more on the Breeze Spa rk Plug

cap dilemma:

Dear Buck,

Just a no te t h

at cou

ld he lp so l

ve

th e

prob lem of breakdow n of the Breeze Cap.

There is a product avai lable through elec

tronic supp ly houses

known

as "corona

dope." This is a high vo ltage, high dielec

tric leak resistant coating that can be brushed

on any clean, dry surface.

t

is brownish red

in color and about the consistency of Par

alketone. I used it back in the '60's when

we rebui lt a lot

of

generators and starters, to

set the fie ld coi ls in the cases and prevent

l

eakage

and grounding. A TV man who

used it to seal and coat the ends of picture

tu

bes

to ld

me about

the

ma

teria l - we a ll

know that there is p lenty

of

voltage to con

tend with in that area.

That was a good article - it 's surp ri sing

how many of the old heads (new ones too)

who have never heard

of

the Breeze system.

t

wasn't

too common in the old days be

cause most radio reception was on low fre

quency and ignition High Frequency didn ' t

present a prob lem. After the war, planes

that came with radios

didn't

have shielded

ignition, including the Stinson I 08's, Cessna

140's, etc.

Back To You,

C. C.

"Ace"

Cannon

Winterset, IA

Dear Ace,

Your letter on the Breeze Cap is most ap

preciated. I'm amazed at how much input

I 've gotten so far on that letter. Marv Hop

penworth had some comments to make by

phone, and a couple other calls came

in

as

well. Everybody agrees that it was a good

set up. Too bad they don t make 'em any

more.

I ve

got boxes

of

C-26s that could

probably be used we had the system.

Over to You



WELCOME

NEW

MEMBERS

-

Cynthia D. Almquist... .... .....Weeping W ater,

NE

Sven H. Andersen ......

..

....... ..........Oslo, Norway

John F. Arnold ......... .. .. .... ... Pompton Plaines,

NJ

Stephen A. Badolato ......................Harrison, NY

Phillip W .

Bass

.......

..

...................Gulfshores, AL

Frederick H .

Be

ck............. ....... ...... ..

Ro

ckford, IL

Brad Beckworth ..... ....... ...... .......Jacksonville, FL

David S. Behne ................ ....... ... Brentwood, CA

William

H. Berrick ............... ............Omaha,

NE

Jim

Borst

...

............... ........ Colorado Springs,

CO

Bruce K. Chester. ..... .. .......... ....... .....Raleigh, NC

Edward R. Clay ................................Fishkill , NY

Mike Clouse ...... ..

..

.................. .... .Olympia,

WA

Eddie Crowder ..... ..... .

...

.......... ......Asheville, NC

Homer L. Dangler .................. .........Addison, MI

Steven De

rk se

n ...... .... ....

Edson,

Alberta, Canada

Bill Dickey .....

..

.... ..... ............ ..... .Redmond, WA

John W. Dolan ............. ..... ......

.. Paso

Robles, CA

John

Dutra ..................... ......

.. ... ..

...Sarato

ga,

CA

George

Fi

eld,

Jr

....... ........ .... ............ . Tempe, AZ

Chooks Fowler .... Cootamundra, NSW, Australia

John H. Garabedian ............ ..Southboroug

h, MA

Arlen Gellings

...

.......... ........... ..

...

Franksville, WI

Arthur Haefliger ................

Nuf

enen, Switzerland

Greg M. Hagen ...... ... ........... ........Muskegon, MI

Hyman E. Harrelson .... ........

..

..... ...... Ogden, UT

Gregory A Harris

. ..

.... .. .. ..

..

.............Jordan, MN

Merle Helt... ...... ...... .

...

...... .......

.. Pon ca

City,

OK

Don E. Herfurth ..... ...... ......

..

....

Grass

Valley, CA

Dudley Hill ...... .... .... .... .... ....... .. ....Lancaster, PA

Brian E. Hoffmann ....... .......... .. ........... . Boise, ID

James

B. Hoover

..

.......... .....

...

......Ridgeland, W I

Daniel

P.

Horton .........................Wetumpka, AL

Ken Humbertson .. ... .. ...... .... .. ..... ..St. Peters, MO

Phi

ll ip M.

Jones

...... .......Richmond Heights , MO

Richard H. Kiser ..... ......................Abingdon, VA

Timothy

Kraus ...

........ ............ .... .... .

..

Seattle, WA

Wi

ll iam

W.

Lon

g,

Jr. .........

.. ..

Campbellsvil l

e, KY

David G. Lybarge r ............................Murray,

NE

Ray mond D. Main ...... ... .... .....West Monroe, NY

Tom McDuffee ...... .... ........... .. .... .Rosamond, CA

Norvin J Meitner ........................

Mi

lwaukee,

WI

Stanislaw Misiewicz ......... ... .............Murray, UT

Josef Mueh lbauer ..... ...... .. North Fort Meyers, FL

Robert Myers ........ ...... ... ..... ....... Calumet City, IL

Richard M . Nelson .......... .. .........

...

Arlington, VA

Daniel R. Peterson ........

..

......... .....

..

.Omaha,

NE

Robert L. Phillips ..... .................. Wilkesboro, NC

Jeff

J

Plantz .............. ......................Madison, W I

Carl Pruiss ...............

..

...... .. ... ...Terrace Par

k,

OH

Kenneth W . Reiman ............. ....... ..Spoka

ne

, WA

Michael Scott Reiman

..

.... ..........

...

...La Jolla, CA

Richard Reiser. ............. .. ...... ...... ..Cupertino, CA

Rick L. Shelor ............ ............ ..

..

........Vinton, VA

Mich

ae

l J. Smith ... .......................Grapevine,

TX

Michael Tabler .......... ......... ............Bellevue,

NE

Dennis Thomas .......

..

..

..

......

..

.....Santa Cruz, CA

Paul

R. Thomas ...... .... .............

..

.... .St. Paul,

MN

Robin L. VanValkenburg ...... .........Elk River, MN

Fred

Voltz .............. ............ .. ......... .

..

Coppell, TX

Bruce Wallis

..

....... ...... ...... .

.. ..

......... .

..

.Porter,

TX

Steven P.

Webre ...... ........... .....

..

.

..

Broussard,

LA

Randy Williams............ ... ..........Tumacacor i, AZ

G I l N ~

The West s Premier E Event

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE

27



REG IONAL FLY IN

SEPTEMBER 6-7 -

MARION

OH - Mid

Eastern

EAA

Fly-In (MERFI). Call Lou

Lindeman,

573/849-9455.

OCTOBER 9-12 - MESA,

AZ

Copperstate

Fly-In. Ca

ll

Bob

Hasson

, 520/228-5480.

OCTOBER

10-12 -

EVERGREEN, AL -

Southeast Regional Fly-In. Call Harold

Bubba Hamiter, 334/765-9709.

OCTO BER 10-12 -

WILMINGTON

, DE -

East

Coast EAA Fly-In. Call

Andrew

Alvarez, 302/738-8883.

OCTO

BER 17-

19 - KERRVILLE, TX -

Southwest Reg ional Fly-In.

Call

Stu

McCurdy,

5 72/388-7399.

MA RCH 22-23 - BORREGO SPRINGS CA -

Third Annual

Borrego

Valley Fly-In.

Camping, food available on field. Fly-In

info,

ca ll

the airport manager at 679/767

7475,

ca ll

th e Chamber of Commerce for

lodging, transporation

679/767-5555.

A

PRIL

6

-1

2 - LAKELAND, FL - 23rd

Annual

Sun 'n Fun

EAA

Fly-In and Convention.

87 3/644-2437.

APRIL 26 - LEVELLAND, TX - EAA Chapter 79

Fly-In breakfast. 8-70 a.m. Info: Call Bob

Stites, 806/794-596 7

or

Lome Sharp,

806/793-3202.

A PRIL

27

- H A LF MOON

BA

Y, CA -

7 th

Annual Pacific Coast Dream Machines, bene

fit for the

Coastside

Adult Day H

ea

lth Center.

70

a.m. -

4 p.m. 70 for adults, 5 for children

under

74

and senior citizens 65 years+ ) Kids

under four free . For info, call 475/726-2328.

APRIL

30 -

M AY 4 - SAN ANTON IO , TX -

Stinson Aerodrome Reunion. A Celebration

of th e history of Stinson Aircraft Co.

An

extensive program is being planned.

Contact Marcia Gietz, 2358 Bolsover

St .,

Houston

, TX 77005-2648 , fax 713/ 522

2458

or

e-mail [email protected]

MA Y 2-4 - ROANOKE RAPID

S NC

-

Annual

Spring Fly-In ,

sponsored by

EAA

Antique/Classic Chapter 3. All welcome.

For

info contact Ray Bottom, jr. 757-722-5056 or

Fax at 757/873-3059.

M AY 4 - DAYTON OH -

34th Annual

EAA

Chapter 48 Fly-In Breakfast at Moraine

Air

Park.

Lots of

Antiques on the field. Contact

jennie Dyke at

573/878-9832.

MA

Y 18 - ROM E

OV

ILLE IL -

EAA Chapter 75

Fly-In breakfast

7- 77

a.m . at Lewis

Romeoville Airport (LOT). Info : Frank

Goebel 875/436-6

75

3.

MAY

18 - WA RW ICK, NY - EAA Chapter 50 7

annual Fly-In at Warwick Aerodrome (N72)

in Warwick, NY. 70 a.m. - 4 p.m. Food, tro

phies, judging closes at 2 p.m..

Unicom

723.

0.

Info: Harry Barker, 201/838-7485.

28 MARCH 1997

The following list

of

coming events is furnished to

our

readers

as a

matter

of

nformation only and does not

cons

titute

approval, s

pon

s

or

s

hip

, involvement, con

trol or

direction

of

any e

ve

nt (

fl

y-in, seminars,

fl

y

market, etc.) listed. Please send the information to

fAA,

Aft: Golda Cox, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI

54903-3086.

Inform

ation should be received four

month

s prior to the event date.

Fly-In Calendar

M A Y

23

-25 - WA TS

ONVILLE

, CA - 33rd

annual

West

Coast Fly-In and Airshow. This

years theme Quest For Speed . Air

Racing Through

Th

e Ages. I

nfo: Call

408/496-9559.

MAY

24 - DECATUR,

AL

-

(KDCU) EAA Chapter

947

9th Annual Fly-In. Food, fun, aircraft

judging.

For

more information contact Dick

Todd, 205/977 -4060 or 205/96

7

-4540 (work).

JUNE 1 -

DEKALB

,

IL

-

DeKalb-Taylor

Municipal Airport. EAA Chapter 24 7 Fly-In

Breakfast.

7

a.m.

-

noon.

Info:

Bernie

Simuuich, 875/758-8434.

J

UN

E 6-7 - BARTLESVILLE,

OK

- Frank Phillips

Field.

77th

Annual National Biplane

Convention

and Exposition. For info

call

Charlie Harris, Chairman, 978/622-8400,

Virgil

Gaede,

Expo Director, 978/336-3976.

JUNE 6-7 - MERCED, CA -

40th Merced West

Coast Ant ique Fly-In. Info: write the Merced

Pilots Assoc., PO Box 23 72 , Merced, CA

95344 or call Virgina Morford, 209/383

4632

or for concessions Bud Holck

209/722-8323.

JUN E 6 -8 - SUG A R GROVE ,

IL

- Aurora

Municipal Airport, EAA Chapter 579 Annual

Fly-In and Open House. lAC Chapter One

Heuer Classic aerobatic competition will be

held at the same time. Antique/Classic aircraft

displays, and EAA B-77

tours

are scheduled.

Lunch available on Friday, breakfast and

lunch on Saturday. For info: Alan Shackleton,

630/466-4793, Bob Rieser, 630/466-7000,

David Monroe, 847/639-6490.

JU NE

14

- ALL OVER THE WORLD -

I

NTER

NA TlONAL YOUNG

EAGLES

DA Y. Fly

a

Young Eag le on th is day, and

join

the thou

sands of other pilots who will be doing the

same to further the awareness of sport avia

tion. For info

call

the EAA Young

Eagles

office at: 474/ 426-4837.

JUNE 14-1

5 -

ANDOVER

,

NJ

-

Aeroflex

Andover Airport (72N). Ol

de

fashined fly-in

sponsored by EAA NC Chapter

7.

Authentic

WW

I birds, good

eats.

Info : 207/786-5682

or 207/367-0875.

JU N E 15 -

ANDERSON

, IN - Anderson

Municipal Airport. EAA Chapter 226 Father s

Day Fly- In

breakfast,

7 a.

m.

-

a.m.

For info

call Larry Rice, 377/649-8690.

JUNE

15 - LACROSSE, WI -

Father

s Day

Fly/Drive-In

Breakfast. 7 am-72 pm.

$4.50, PIC

free. Cakes

by Big jakes, displays by Harley

Davidson, Skipper/iner, aviation

vendors.

NC

fly-bys and static displays. Check NOTAM5.

Info: Steve Schmitz,

608/787

-5277.

J

UNE

19-22 ST.

LOUI

S

M O -

Creve Coeur

Airport. American Waco Club Fly-In.

Contacts: Phil Coulson,

676/624-6490

or

jerry Brown, 377/535-8882

.

JUNE

21

- WALWORTH, WI - Bigfoot Airfield

(WI05) Fly/ Drive-In Breakfast. Young Eagle

rides, airshows at 9 and 77 am. Rain date:

6/22. Info: Bob Kirkpatrick 474/736-4207.

JUNE

22 -

NILES

,

MI

- jerry Tyler

Mem.

Airport. 70th Annual Fly-In Breakfast/Lunch.

6

m -

7pm. Carbon's Malted or Healthy

Gourmet

pan ca kes, real

orange juice.

$3.95, kids under

5 free

. Luch is Chicago

style

Hot Dogs, chip and soft drinks .

Tropies

for

first arrival and 7 categories.

Proceeds

to

benefit

EAA

Chapter

865

hangar project and their safety and young

peoples programs. Info: Ralph

Ballard

,

676/684-0972.

JUNE

26-29 -

MT

. VERNON,

OH

- 38th

Annual

National

Waco

Reunion Fly-In. 573/868-0084.

JULY 3

0-AUGU

ST 5 - OS

HKO

SH,

WI

-

45th

Annual

f

AA Fly- In and Sport Av ia

t i

on

Convention.

NOTf

DAY CHANGf - Now

Wednesd

ay

through Tue sda y.

Wittman

R

eg

ional Airport. Co

nt

a

ct John

Burton,

fAA

P.O.

Bo

x 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086,

414/ 426-4800.

AUGUST

2 - ELLSWORTH, KS - (9K7)

EAA

Chapter

7 727

Fly- In breakfast and Cowtown

Festival. Info:

973/472-4773.

AUGUST 9-

10

-

RICHMOND

HEIGHTS,

OH

-Cuyaho

ga

County

Airport.

Wings

&

Wheels , to benefit the Crawford Auto

Aviation Museum. Info: 276/

727-5722

or

the web site at www.whrs.org

AUGUST 30 - MARION IN - 7th annual Fly

In/Cruise- In Breakfast sponsored by the

Marion High School Band Boosters .

Antiques/Classics/Homebuilts,

as

well

as

Antique/Classic cars welcome. Info:

Ray

johnson,

377/664-2588.

SEPTEMBER 19-20 -

BARTLESVILLE

,

OK

-

Frank

Phillips

Field.

40th Annual Tulsa Regional

Fly

I

n.

For info call Charlie Harris, 978/622-

8400.

SEPTEMBER 19-21 - SELMA, CA -

75th

annual

West Coast Travel Air Fly-In. Old fashioned

fly- in where aviators do what comes natu

rally. Flying events, memorabilia auction,

great food . Info:

jerry

Impellezzeri,

408/356-3407 or Bob Lock 209/638-4235.

SEPTEMBER 20

- SULPHUR SPRINGS,

TX

EAA

Chapter 7094 3rd annual Fall Fly-In.

Coincides with the 28th annual Hopkins

County

Fa

ll Festival and World Champion

Stew Contest.

Info:

908/885-5525

or

903/439-3272.

SEPTEMBER 21 - HINKLEY, IL - EAA Chapter

247

Fall

Fly-In Breakfast. Info: Bernie

Simuuich, 875/758-8434.

OCTOBER 5 - TOMAH, WI - Bloyer Field.

EAA

Chapter

935

70th Annual Fly-In break

fast . Static Displays,

food, craft market,

radio controlled planes, 7 am - 4 pm. Info:

call 608/372-3725.

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/www.whrs.org

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/www.whrs.org



MEMBERSHIP

INFORMATION

Something to buy, sell or trade? An inexpensive d in the Vintage

Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part. .40¢ per

word, 6.00 minimum charge. Send your ad and payment to: Vintage

Trader

fAA

Aviation Center, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh,

WI

54903-3086, or

fax

your ad and your credit card number to

414/426 4828.

Ads must be

received

by

the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second

month following (e.g., October 20th

for

the December issue.)

EAA

the

Experimental Aircraft

Inc. is $35

for

one year

including

12

of SPORT AVIATION.

Family

membership

available

for

an

additional $10 annually. Junior

19 years

of age)

is

available

$20 annually. All

major

credit

cards accepted

ANTIQUE/CLASSIC

EAA

members may join the Antique/

Division and receive

VINTAGE

AIR

magazine

for

an

additional

$27 per

year.

Membership,

VINTAGE

AIRPLANE

mag

and one year membership in

the EAA

Division

is

available for

$37

per

(SPORT AVIATION magazine

not included).

lAC

EAA members may join

the

Intemational

Club,

Inc. Division and receive SPORT

magazine for an additional

$40

year.

Membership, SPORT AEROBATICS maga

in the lAC

is

available for

$50

per year

(SPORT

magazine not

included).

WARBIRDS

EAA members may join the EAA

of America Division and receive WAR

magazine

for

an

additional $35 per year.

Membership, WARBIRDS magazine and

year membership in

the

Warbirds Division

is

for $45 per year (SPORT AVIA

TION

not included).

AIRCRAFT

1946 Aeronca Champ . Original and correct

from prop decal to tailwheel (except shielded

ignition and textured paint on interior panels to

simulate flock). 85 hours since detailed restora

tion and engine overhaul. Cared for like museum

piece. Same owner past 20 years. In

cludes

spare, runout engine, COM radio, documentation

and manuals. (860) 535-1699 after 8:30 p.m.

Inquires welcome. Offers considered.

MISCElLANEOUS

SUPER CUB PA-18 FUSELAGES - New manu

EAA EXPERIMENTER

EAA members may receive EAA

magazine for an additional $20

year.

Membership

and

EAA

EXPERIMENTER

is

available for $30 per year (SPORT

magazine not included).

FOREIGN

MEMBERSHIPS

submit

your remittance with a

check or

drawn on a United

States bank payable

in

. Add

$13

postage for

magazine

and/or $6

postage

any

of

the

other

magazines.

EAA AVIATION CENTER

P.O.

box

3086

Oshkosh, WI

54903-3086

WEB SITE http://www.eaa.org

E-MAIL Vintage @ eaa.org

PHONE

(414) 426-4800

FAX (414) 426-4873

OFFICE HOURS:

8:15-5:00

mon.-fri.

1-800-843-3612

MEMBERSHIP

DUES

TO

EAA

AND

ITS DIVISIONS ARE

NOT TAX

DEDUCTIBLE AS

CHARITABLE

CONTRIBUTIONS.

facture, STC-PMA

-d, 4130 chromoly tubing

throughout,

also

complete fuselage

repair.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC.

(J

. Soares,

Pres.), 7093 Dry Creek Road, Belgrade, Montana

59714, 406 /3

88-6069, FAX

406

/ 388-0170.

Repair station No. QK5R148N. (0274)

• IATIONINSUR NCE·

FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos.

How to, building and restoration tips, historic, fly

ing and entertainment titles. Call

for

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Insure

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build

it!

Ragwing Replicas - Ultralight legal Aircamper,

Thil feathers to

nose

gear

eath, Pitts , Duster , Triplane. Plans 52 .

Brochure 3 . P. O. Box 39 , Townville , SC

29689.

(0400)

we

love

homebuilts!

EAA Aircraft Finance Program. We finance

most types of aircraft including experimentals.

No aircraft age limit. Call 1-800-999-4515, FAX

941 / 646-1671

E-mail [email protected]

US and Canada ca

ll

Homepage

http

://w

ww

.airshow.netleaaloan+

administered by NAFCO. (1626)

Piper J5C Information

Needed

- Will beg, bor

row or purchase any information, articles, pic

tures

etc

.

on

the Piper

J5C

. This is

the

fully

800-276-5207

Notavailable in

Ouebec

-

ow led model with the Lycoming 0235 engine

that

became

the PA12 .Bob

Ruffini

-

Days

800/224-5522

, FAX 81 0 /

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Eve

v i M O

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NSURANCE COMPANY

10/644-9081 .

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29

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ll

ew

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The Cradle

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Explore the life and times of Aviation Pioneer Glenn H. Curtiss. Experience a

rare collection

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early aircraft, motorcycles, bicycles and engines. Relive turn

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other curiosities. Special exhibits and events. Something for the whole family

May

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31

November

1 -

April

30

Monday Saturday 9 -5

Monday

Saturday 10

4

Sunday

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Admission

•

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•

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• Firewall covers

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• Recover envelopes and dopes

Free catalog of complete product line.

Fabric Selection Guide showing actu

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30 MARCH 1997

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T

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VI

NTAG

E AIRPLANE 31



r

R

B ew;tt

Youngstown OH

Bob has

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flying

sin e

1947

Long time EAA

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ill

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