Vintage Airplane - Sep 1996

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Sep 1996

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Se

pt

ember 1996

Vo

l.24,No 9

CONTENTS

1 Straight& Levell

Espie"Butch"Joyce

2 AlC NewslH.G.Frautschy

3 Ae romail

6 Curt issChallengerEnginesl

Hank

Palmer

8

TheBugatti100

H.G.Frautschy

10

Stearman

Reunion Part

Rich

ar

d

T.

Han

sen

15

65 YearsIs ALong

Time To Wait

/Ear

lRoot

19

The

Wittman Legacyl

H

.G.

Frautschy

22 What Ou rMembersAre

Page

15

RestoringlNorm Petersen

24

PassittoBuckl

E.E."Buck"Hilbert

26

MysteryPlane/H G .Frautschy

27

Cal

endar

27

WelcomeNewMembers

30 Vintage

Tra

d

er

Page 19

PageS

FRONT COVER .. The Wittman Hangar

at

EAA's Pioneer Airport was dedicat

ed May

11, 1996. Steve Wittman 's legacy

will

li

ve on

in a se ries o f disp lays

and

photographs exhibited in the new building, constructed to resemble Ihe hangar

used by Steve's

'W i

ttman Flying Service: the FBO he founded

on

the airport in

Oshkosh, WI. A pictorial essay on

the

new hangar

can be

found starting on

page

EDITORIAL STAFF

Publisher

Tom Poberezny

Ed ltor inChief

Jack Cox

Ed itor

Henry G, Frautschy

Manag ing Ed itor

Golda Cox

Art Direc tor

Mike Drucks

Computer Graphic Specialists

Olivia

L

Phillip Jennifer

Larsen

Mary Premeau

Associate Editor

Norm Petersen

Feature Writer

Dennis Parks

Staff Photographers

Jim Koepnick Mike Steineke

Carl Schuppel

Ken

Uchtenburg

Advertising/ Editorial Assistant

Isabelle

Wiske

EAA

ANTIQUE

/

CLASSIC

DIVISION

,

INC.

OFFICERS

Presidenl Vi

ce

President

Espie "Butch" Joyce George Daubner

P,O, Box 35584 2448 Lough Lane

Greensboro, NC 27425

Hartford,

WI

53027

910/393-0344

414/673-5885

Secretory Treasurer

Sieve Nesse E.E. "Buck

" Hilbert

2009 Highland Ave. P.O. Box 424

Albert Lea, MN 56007 Union, IL60180

E1J7/373 1674

815/923-4591

DIRECTORS

John Berendt

Robert C, "Bob " Brauer

7645 Echo Point Rd. 9345

S. Hoyne

Connon Falls, MN

55009

Chicaw,

IL

60620

E1J7/263 2414

312/

79-2105

Phil Coulson

John S. Copeland

28415 Springbrook Dr.

28-3 Williamsbur8 CI.

Lawton, MI

49065

Shrewsbury, MA 1545

616/624-6490 508/842-7867

Charles Harris

Stan Gomoll

7215 East 461h St,

1042 90th Lone, NE

Tulsa. OK 74145

Minneamlis, MN

55434

918/622-8400

61 /784-

1172

Dole A,Guslolson

Jeannie

Hill

7724

Shady Hill

Dr,

P,O.80x328

Indianapolis,

IN

46278

Harvard,

IL 60033

317/293-4430

815/943-7205

Robert UCkteig Robert D. "Bob " Lumley

1708

Boy Oaks r.

1265

South 1241hSt.

Albert Lea. MN 56007

Brookfield,

WI

53005

E1J7/373 2922

414/782-2633

Dean Richardson

Geoff Robison


3/36

STRAIGHT LEVEL

Once I've returned from the EAA

Oshkosh

Convention,

there

always

seems to

be

a

letdown.

This

year's

"coasting down" period

seemed

all the

more acute because of all of the activi

ties that we had in conjunction with the

Antique/Classic Division's 25th An

niversary

.

We

were so

busy enjoying

everything

that coming home

to

our

regular everyday work was tinged with a

bit of disappointment.

What a great time we had. Overall, it

seemed

to be a very smooth running

event.

We were issued some 940 mugs to

give to people who registered their air

craft for

the

show. On the

next

to

the

last day, we ran out of the mugs and had

to start taking

people's

names so they

could be mailed to them at a later date

Each day we

do

a "head count" of

airplanes

in

our area during

the

air

show; the numbers

showed

we were in

line with the aircraft attendance figures

we 've

had

in

the

past.

t

was a

good

showing, considering the three

or four

days of bad weather surrounding

Oshkosh just prior to the opening of the

Convention. The quality of

aircraft

restorations continues to improve each

year; this keeps the judges on their toes,

weather could go sour in the North At

lantic rapid ly,

and then you might be

stuck for a week

or

more, so they had

best be on their way. One leg that they

flew would take them over some 1500

miles of water, cold water I might add.

Torquil

found

when he arrived

home

that

the award for

Bronze

Age

Out

standing

Closed

Cockpit

Biplane had

been given to his pretty DeHavilland.

In attendance this year was a 1926

Laird Commercial, NCIlO, belonging to

Doug Fuss

of

Arlington,

Texas. This

aircraft was very well done;

everyone

was wondering if Doug used up half of

his

TBO

flying to Oshkosh and would

use the other half returning home

Doug's dedication to the Wright J4 en

gine on the Laird was exemplary - he re

ally kept a close eye on its needs.

The only OX-5 powered aircraft in

our parking area this year was the 1929

Command Aire, NC538E , owned by

Art Knowles of Jacksboro, Texas and

restored

by

Tom

Brown

of

Unity, WI.

He

said

that this

aircraft cruised at

65

mph and stalled at

65

mph. This aircraft

is

also a rare unit; I was wondering how

much of his

TBO

he used up on his trip.

Two

people

who

are

consistent at

tendees are the Blankenburgs, who hail

from Pine Mountain Lake in California .

Kent and Sandy are really into polished

aluminum

airp

l

anes;

for a

number

of

years they would arrive early with their

polished Lockheed 12. Last year, they

came to the show flying their polished

Cessna

195;

this

year

they showed

up

with their polished 1939 Spartan Execu

tive 7W .

It's great seeing

them

each

year and we could all take a lesson from

them on how to re lax at Oshkosh.

Maybe

one

day Sandy will write us an

article on how to keep

a

fleet of

pol

by Espie utch Joyce

port

during the Convention . The

restoration of this Waco

is the

effort of

Mark Grusauski, North Canaan Avia

tion, Canaan, Connecticut. The collec

tive work of Mark, Mayflower Moving

and Storage, and your Antique/Classic

Division

made it

possible

for

this

air

craft to be present for everyone to view.

After talking with Mark, I'd bet we ' ll be

hearing again from this young man.

Joe

and Julia Dickey

report

that we

had some 26

type clubs

at

the An

tique/Classic Type Club Headquarters

(TCHQ) this year and a lot of activity

during the week.

The Antique/Classic area of the

Oshkosh Convention

is run

almost to

tally by volunteers, the exception being

the

year-round

maintaining of the

grounds that is done by the full-time

EAA

maintenance staff, plus some indi

viduals who are your year-round volun

teers - a few who come to Oshkosh al

most every weekend. These people are

working on the buildings, grounds, air

craft projects, or at the Pioneer Airport.

For those

who don't live close

enough to Oshkosh to spend a weekend

or

two, they turn to their local Chapters

to find

out

how

they

might help by do

ing

Chapter

work and

other EAA

re

lated projects . This volunteer work be

ing done

year-round

all over the

country, and internationally, and it's

very

important

to your Antique/Classic

Division. The guys at your local airport

who help a person with their personal

project

also

are

showing

the volunteer

spirit. I have friends who have helped

me with projects; sometimes I felt they

were

putting in more hours than I was,

and they never asked for anything in re

turn. I do not know how you can

put

a

value on these people, except to say


4/36

A C NEWS

compiled

by H.G. Frautschy

EAA

OSHKOSH

'97 DATE

CHANGE

After speaking with many members

and others during the past month,

EAA President Tom Poberezny

has

announced that the dates

for

the

1997

EAA

Convention will be shifted

one

day. Based on the arrival patterns of

our

members, as well as other factors,

next year 's event will start on Wednes

day, July 30. The format of the activi

ties will

remain

the

same over

the

seven day long Fly-In Convention .

The Major Aircraft

Awards and An

nual Meeting of the

EAA

membership

will

occur on

Monday,

August

4.

The

Convention will conclude with an air

show on Tuesday afternoon , August 5.

WORLD

WAR

I AIRPLANE

ENTHUSIASTS

One of the best references for World

War I airplane enthusiasts is

Leonard

Opdycke

of

World War I Aeroplane,

Inc.,

15 Crescent Rd

.,

Poughkeepsie,

NY 12601,

phone

914/473-3679 .

Leonard has two magazines that he

publishes, both known to

many

An

tique/Classic members. They're

World

War 1

ero -

The

Journal

of the

Early

Aeroplane

and

Skyways

-

The Journal

of

the Airplane 1920 1940. Both magazines

are excellent references, professional in

appearance and would be of great help

to anyone interested

in

this category of

aircraft. LE O"

is

himself has exten

sive

knowledge

concerning these

air

craft, and

is

an excellent source to net

work with for assistance.

C-85jO-200

CONVERSION

STC

Aircraft

Specialties

Services

has

come up with an interesting STC - Con

vert your Continental

C-85 to an

0-

200" by replacing

the crankshaft

, rods

and pistons

.

The STC comes

with

FAA certification

and

STC paper

work, and parts needed for the change

are available from Aircraft Specialties.

Call 1-800/826-9252 for more informa

tion.

If

anyone does this conversion in

the coming months, please

drop

us a

line here

at

EAA HQ and let us know

how it went. Call 414/426-4800

and

ask

for the Vintage Airplane editor.

THOSE

TRAVEL N DEMPTSERS

Remember Bob and Diane

Demptser, the Piper Super Cub pilots

who have

been making

their

way

around

the world (slowly) in the now

" not quite so new " Cub? Well,

they

headed

off to Australia to

finish their

journey this past June, and did just fine

on

their

journey to Japan ,

right

up to

the time they tried to get permission to

fly to

the Russian

Kamchatka penin

sula. The Russians denied them a per

mit, simply saying

that there

was no

avgas on the peninsula.

No amount of

work on their part would convince the

GEORGE W. LEMAY

Georg

e

LeMay

, a

Classic

air

plane judge at the

EAA

Convent

ion for

over 15

years, passed away at the age of 74 this past June in Calgary, Alberta Canada.

Russians, so

they had to

make a deci

sion. To

their

credit, they decided to

ship

the

Cub

home,

and continued

their tour of Japan. While it's a shame

they didn 't complete

their

circumnavi

gation of the globe, their personal jour

ney, a trip taken just for personal plea

sure

as goodwill ambassdors of the

U.S., and not to set any records

or

gain

publicity, certainly can be labeled a

success. A tip of the

01'

flying helmet

to Bob and Diane

Dempster,

Vashon

Island, W A for their fortitude and per

sistence in pursuing their

dream of an

around

the

world journey

in a light

plane

AIRCRAFT PARTS

IDENTIFICATION

As many of you know, the

FAA

has

been concentrating on combating the

use of un approved parts on certified

aircraft. They have issued an Advi

sory Circular,

AC

20-62D,

E

ligibility,

Quality and Identification

of

Aeronau

tical Replacement Parts. Copies are

available from the

FAA,

AFS-340, 800

Independence

Av., SW, Washington ,

DC

2059l.

For those of us with older airplanes,

obtaining parts

is

a critical issue, espe

cially when the holder of the Type Cer

tificate

no longer exists

or supports

their product.

To

assist in the verification

of

gen

uine

parts obtained from retired air

craft, AC20-62D provides for their use

provided a "paper trail" can be gener

ated. This is accomplished by tagging

the parts, identifying them and the fact

they were removed from a U .S. certi


5/36

VINTAGE

AeroMail

RESTORATION CREDIT

Dear

Mr. Joyce:

My

husband

and I

enjoy reading

"Straight Level" every month in VIN

TAGE AIRPLANE. We are members

of the Antique/Classic Division of

EAA

and enjoy every benefit entitled to

us.

After reading your article in the May

1996 issue, I would like to point out a

few things that were brought to my at

tention. You

noted

that

both the

An

tique Grand Champion and the Reserve

Grand Champion at Sun 'n Fun '96 were

owned by Clay Smith in Athens, Geor

gia.

(Mr.

Smith lives in Athens,

Al

abama.) My

husband,

Robbie Vajdos,

restored both of these aircraft from the

ground up at his business, Vajdos Avia

tion, in Louise, Texas.

The

Interstate L-6 was featured

in

an

article by Norm Petersen in the January

1996 issue of

VINTAGE AIRPLANE.

Robbie finished the Stearman in March

of 1994 and flew it to Oshkosh '94 where

it won WW II Military Trainer/Liaison

Champion. He finished the

Interstate

L-6

in July

of

1995, just

days before

Oshkosh We flew it

there and

won

WW II Military

Trainer/Liaison

Run

ner-Up. Needless to say, we were very

excited! However, to win at Sun 'n Fun

this

year

made

the very long hours of

restoration worth

it

My husband has restored nine Stear

mans and 16

other

various aircraft from

Piper Cubs to Stinsons to Aeroncas. I

am very proud of his accomplishments,

especially since he is only 31 years old.

I

feel that sometimes

the

restorer

who puts many hours into making these

airplanes the best they can be, some

times gets forgotten.

I appreciate your time and look for

ward to your next article!

Sincerely,

Dina M. Vajdos

JOE JUPTNER

Dear

Sir,

What a richly deserved recognition it

is for good 01' Joe Juptner to be en

shrined in EAA's Antique/Classic Hall

of Fame. He's good folks. I first made

his acquaintance by mail back in the late

1960's while

he

was still residing on a

farm in Tennessee. His home

there

burned, and lost in that fire was a lot

of

his collection of old aeronautica. Many

of

us would

have thrown

up

our hands

in despair and disgust, but not Joe Jupt

ner.

He

just pulled up his

socks

and

forged ahead.

Since that

time it

has been

hard to

keep up with this guy. I met him only

once

- at a Waco fly-in at Hamilton,

Ohio. He seemed genuinely delighted

to

see

me

,

and went out of

his way

to

visit my

place

a

day

or

so

later

at

the

rural Kentucky airstrip where I then

lived in a log cottage.

Here came 01' Joe in a tiny little

camper perched on one o f those diminu

tive Japanese pickups - huffing and puff

ing up to my house. After an evening of

jawboning about old time aviation, Joe

insisted on spending

the

night in his

camper parked snugly in my back yard.

The

next morning

I

whipped

up

some

bacon and

eggs

for

us, and the next

thing I knew he was off again to another

fly-in somewhere.

Thanks, Joe, for being what you are.

Your bottomless fund of aviation lore

and

quickness to help

others

with

a


6/36

L O./llKO./ll

'96

Antique/Classic

Awards

ntique

Grand Champion:

Alan ~ u c h n e r

Fresno.

CA

1932

Vaco QD

tiC12438)

Reserve Grand Champion:

Thomas V Vright. Russell. tV

1944 ~ e e c h J t a g g e r \ J i n g D-17 ti40t)

Customized Champion:

Gerrard J Dederich. Vadsworth. IL.

1944 ~ e e c h J t a g g e r \ J i n g DIY (tiCI6GD)

Runner-Up:

Kent and

Jandy

~ I a n k e n b u r g Pine Mountain Lake. CA

1939Jpartan Lxecutive

7V tiCI7667)

Outstanding:

Frank

~ o r m a n

Las Cruces. tiM.

1941 VacoJRt

tiCI2438)

Military Trainer/Liaison Champion:

John

A.

Roethlisberger.

~ e a v e r

PA

1942 ~ o e i n g 75 .crtearman) (tiC60810)

Runner-Up:

Dennis ~ I u n t Rockford. IL.

1943 Fairchild PT-23 (tiC60418)

Transport Champion:

John David Fields. Jr Jan Angelo. TX.

1937

Lockheed

12A

(tiC33RA)

Golden Age Champion:

Doug Fuss. Arlington. TX.

1926 Laird Commercial tiCll0)

Jilver Age (1928-32) Champion:

Outstanding Closed Cockpit P.>iplane:

~ r a d

Larson.Janta Paula.

CA

1939 Cessna C-165 Airmaster (tiCI9498)

VVII E.ra Champion:

Larry

~ e c k

Canby.

OR

946 Fairchild 24V-46 (tiC81369)

Runner-Up:

Layton

i=1umphrey.

Coppell. TX.

1943 ~ e e c h J t a g g e r \ J i n g D17:/

(ti4i=1X)

Outstanding

Open

Cockpit P.>iplane:

K Myers. Ripon. VI.

1943Jtearman (tiC33162)

Outstanding Closed Cockpit P.>iplane:

DonJaunders.Jt. Albert. Alberta Canada.

1943 ~ e e c h J t a g g e r \ J i n g

(CF-GKY)

Outstanding Closed Cockpit Monoplane:

Richard Kanode. Frederick.

MD,

1945 J3 Cub (tiC6932)

Classic

Grand Champion:

Ray and Judy Johnson. Marion. lti.

Aeronca 11 AC Chief tiC3469t)

Reserve Grand Champion:

JamesJayers. tdison.

014

Cessna 195 (ti2197C)

P.>est Class I 0-80 hp):

Ted

Roman. Roswell. GA

Aeronca 7AC ti83460)

P.>est Class II (81-150 hp):
http:///reader/full/DonJaunders.Jthttp:///reader/full/DonJaunders.Jt


7/36

P.>est Custom Class D (226+ hp):

Outstanding Customized:

Ron andJue French.Jan j05e. CA Charles \..J. Culwell. Dallas. TX.

/ Iavion

Model

A (/ I4969K) 1956 Dellavilland E)eaver (/ I5CC)

Class I (0-160 hp):

est In Type

P.>est

Aeronca Champ:

Richard F Charette. \..Jadsworth. IL. 7E)CM

(/ 184005)

P.>est Aeronca Chief:

Robert Ilollenbaugh. Ilarry Pratt and

David

Morgan. Middletown. Oil

(/ 159654)

P.>est P.>eechcraft:

RandJingfriend.Jan

Carlos.

CA t l8 / (/ I929DV)

P.>est

P.>ellanca:

Mark and judy

Ohlinger.

Akron. Oil.

Cruiseair

(/ 186957)

P.>est Cessna 120/140:

J Craig Young. Iludson. \..JI. C140 (/ 189221)

P.>est Cessna 170/180:

Thomas

\..J. 11 11 II. Clarkston.

MI.

170E) (/ I4654C)

P.>est

Cessna

190/195:

Charles t . \..Jebb. Fort \..Jorth. TX. 195

(/ I195C\..J)

est E rcoupe:

Jyd

Cohen. \..Jausau.

\..JI (/ IC94196)

P.>est Luscombe:

Rollin

Ilatfield, Meridian. 1[7 8A (/ 171549)

P.>est / Iavion:

Ron andJue

French.Jan

jose. CA

Model

A (/ I4969K)

P.>est Piper j 3:

Don Curtes. Menominee Falls. \..JI / 187759)

P.>est

Piper (others):

Thomas Lynn \..Jaters. Terrell.

TX.

PA22120

(/ I2544P)

P.>est

Jtinson:

Andrew

Ileins.

Dayton. OIl.Jtinson

108

(/ IC97141)

P.>estJwift:

jon E)reese. Omaha. / It. GC 1E (/ I2554E)

P.>est Taylorcraft:

Tim

Gregory.

Lakeville.

M/ I. E)C12D (/ 195715)

joel Miller.JoIon. IA

1956 Ce55na

172 (/ I6910A)

Class

II

(161-230 hp):

Pat and E ill Doty. \..Jinter Ilaven. FL.

1956 E)eechcraft

G.35

(/ I801D)

Class III (231+ hp):

Mike Callas.Jealy.

TX.

1960 E)eechcraft E)onanza (/ I552T)

Class IV (Multi engine):

Dean

Callan

and

llowardJchenck.Jouthlake.

TX.

1958

Ce55na

510E) (/ I6644E)

Outstanding n

Type

P.>eechJingle engine:

Larry Van Dam. Riverside. CA

1957

E)eech

11

55 E)onanza

(/ I5478D)

P.>eech

Multi engine:

Alton Cianchette.

Palmyra.

ME..

1959 E)eech t l8 /

(/ 1712 0 )

Cessna 170/172 175:

john

Van Lieshout.

Toronto. Ontario

Canada.

1958 Ce55na 172 (C-FDGf)

Cessna 180/182 210:

E)obJnowden.

Irving.

TX.

1958 Ce55na 180 (/ 17505)

Champion:

Cliff Ilarkins. Ilouston. TX .

1957 7FC

Tri-Champ

(/ I7577E)

Piper PA-22:

George Gallaspy. Oklahoma City.

OK.

1956 PA-22 Tri-Pacer (/ I5954P)

Piper PA-24:

Paul

Fulierton.Jt. Ignace.

MI.

1959

PA-24 Comanche

180

(/ I6014P)

Piper PA-23 Apache-Aztec:

Charles Gunderson. Austin. TX.
http:///reader/full/Fulierton.Jthttp:///reader/full/Fulierton.Jt


8/36

The

urtiss

hallenger

Engine

by Hank Palmer Ale 12109

Ale 19619

I have read recently about

one or two

airp

l

anes being

restored with Curtiss Chal

lenger engines. I had some

experience with Challengers

before the war, and again

in

1969 through 1973. I thought

that it might be of interest to

some of the antique buffs.

In 1939, five of us,

me-

chanics

with National Air-

lines, read an ad in Trade-A

Plane

, offering a

Curtiss

Fledgling

for

$250.00. The

ship was in possession of the

airport manager

at

Curtiss

Steinberg Airport

,

East

St.

Louis, Illinois. Apparently it

had been taken over for lack

of payment

of

hangar rent. I

had a friend at

Parks

Air College, so I

wrote him and asked him to take a look

at it. He did,

and wrote

back that it

looked O.K. to him, just needed dusting

off, and

of

course it was out

of

license.

So we wired

the manager and asked

if

he would take $225.00 for it. He wired

back, Come and get it.

So we put Pete Hubert on the train ,

dressed in

white overalls,

with a seat

pack chute, and his pockets full of tools

and

spark

plugs. Pete picked up the

Fledgling, and made it to Memphis be

fore his first forced landing He wired

us

from there that he needed more

money

for piston rings (apparently it

had some rusty cylinders) . But he said

that

the

ship was well

worth the extra

costs as it had

dual

instruments

and

good tires

."

Well,

after

one or

two

more forced landings and shade tree"

repairs, he made it to St. Petersburg.

We rejuvenated the fabric as required

and got it through an annual inspection.

After wearing out more rings, I

took

some used rings from a Wasp Jr. (with

118

inch

la rger bore)

,

filed

the ends

down a bit and fitted them to the Chal

lenger. These lasted longer than any of

the originals. Please understand that I

am

not recommending this solution.

But you understand that we had almost

$300.00

in

this ship

by

now,

and we

were all broke. That ship was NC8698.

During the war it was donated to a me

chanics school. I don ' t recall any prob

lems with

that Challenger

,

except

for

the rusty cylinders.

In 1968 I bought a Fledgling basket

case from Charlie Wilson who had a

strip south

of

Memphis. This ship had

sat outside in the weather for 24 years,

except for the wings which were stored

in a shed. The engine on the ship was

frozen up solid, but it came with a spare

engine; it turned

out

to have a big crack

in the

rear

wall

of

the main case which

had allowed it

to

suck oil into the in

duction section, and thoroughly lubri

cate the cylinders and valves, so that at

least it would turn over. When I bought

this ship, I

thought that the engine


9/36

up some of the

h

ea

ds

that were not

cracked, with barrels

that were

not too

rusty,

and ended up

with

about ten

cylinders that were serviceable except

for varying degrees

of

rust. I sent them

to three different shops that

said

that

they could chrome the barrels and bore

them

back to

standard size. In each

case, they studied them for a month

or

more,

and

decided

that

they could not

do anything with them, so I got

them

back. I selected the best six and assem

bled the engine.

I flew it

for two years, until

I

had

gone through all the spare serviceable

cylinders I had. Then I gave up on the

Challenger and replaced it with a Conti

nental W-670. I used a Stearman mount,

and fabricated fittings to adapt it to the

Curtiss firewall. I

had this part ap-

proved by a

DE R

, and the local

FAA

Inspector issued a one time field ap-

proval on the rest of

it. I flew it

to

Oshkosh

in 1973 ,

and

sold it

to

Cole

Palen in '76. They flew it at Rhinebeck

for 17 years, and retired it in '94 .

Back to the Challenger engine: the

early ones had

some

magnesium

parts

that

did not hold up well. The magne

sium

nose case

and

thrust plate just

couldn 't take the stress. There was also

a magnesium

carburetor adapter

, and

Shot in the mid-

1930s

by John

Roby,

there Curtiss

Fledg-

lings were at the

Val-

ley

Stream Y air-

port.

none of the four engines I had contained

a serviceable one.

They

were a

ll

badly

corroded and not

repairable.

I

made

one up out of automobile pipe elbows

welding a flange on each end, and a heat

jacket aro und the whole thing. This was

a

two barrel carb

ur

etor. The later

model Cha llengers had a much stronger

nose section and thrust plate

of

another

aluminum alloy.

The Challen

ger

was

reputed

to be

hard to start. In fact, the printed man

ual that I had started the

paragraph

on

How To Start the

Cha

ll

enger En-

gine,

by

saying,

T h

ere

is

consider-

able difference of opinion

among pi

lots, as

to the best

procedure

to be

used.

To

me

,

this

translated that

they just hadn't

figured it

out

yet. I

don't recall any

problems in

starting

the one we had in 1939-40, but I do re

call well that the Challenger I had in

1970 with

the

rusty

cylinders

was

the

easiest thing to

start that

I

ever

owned.

I include lawn mowers, cars,

outboard

motors, and motorcycles. One reason

the Challenger was easy

to

start , as

compared

with a seven

or

nine cylin

der

engine,

is

that

it had

a

two pole

mag, which was geared to run at 1-112

times

crank speed

. Most

seven

and

nine cylinder engines use four pole

mag

s,

which turn at

7/8

crank

speed

for

a

seven

cylinder engi n

e, or

1-118

times for nine.

What

all this means is

that a two pole mag turns twice as fast

as a four pole, so you

are

getting a hot

ter spark at whatever speed

you can

crank

it.

As

a matter

of

fact, I did

not

even

have to crank my Cha

ll

enger, except to

pull it through to prime

it. I

had

a

booster

mag in

the

cockpit,

and

once

primed, a

ll

you had to do was turn the

small crank

on

the

booster

one time,

and the engine was off and running.

It

never failed.

I always considered the Challenger

to be a rugged and reliable engine, ex

cept

for

the above

mentioned

early

magnesium nose section and thrust

plate. It's

only fault, which is

what

I

think

tended to make

it

unpopular

,

was

that

it was a rough

running

ma-

chine. I believe

the

designers

thought

that

by

putting

two

three cylinder

ra

dials back to back

on a

180 degree

crank, they would

somehow balance

each other out,

but

this was not the

case, as anyone who has ever flown

behind one

will confirm . In

the later

models, they tried all kinds of tricks to

smooth them

out

, but as far as I know,

nothing

worked

.


10/36

The

Bugatti 1

Racer

A hot Bugatti intended for the sk i

es

not the road

Obscure? You

bet. Radica l?

On

a

ll

counts, especia lly for its t ime. Wh at is

it? The Bugatti 100, designed and bui lt

in

Fra

nce

just prior

to the o u

tbrea

k of

World War II.

Ettore

Bu

gatti

was the

so

n

of

a fa

mous

It

alia n silversmith and fu

rnitur

e

builder,

Car

lo Bugatti. His so ns inher

i

te

d the ir fa

th

er s a

rt i st

ic

ab i

liti es.

Wh ile R

em b

ra nd t B

uggati was

a

renow

ned

se

l

f-ta

ug

ht sc hulp tor,

E t

tore s

mechanica l skills a lso incl uded a

su

blime eye for bea

uty, and the a uto

mobi les he is most fa mous for sti

ll turn

heads

a t

Concours

shows a

ll over

th e

U.S. and the Cont ine nt. For avia t ion

enthusiasts, his most in tr iguing project

was a futu ristic looking airplane, which

he expected to

fly

very, very fast.

In te ndin

g

to

wi n

the

De u tsc h de la

Muertbe

Cup air race

sched

ul

ed

to

be

he ld

in

Germany

in 1938,

Bugatti

had comm is

sioned we ll

known

French

aeronautical

engineer Louis

D

de

Monge

to

layout the

remarkable aircraft.

Given

the dimen

sions

of

a Bugatti

SO

straight-eight engine,

de Monge

set

out to

put

the

minimum

amount of

airplane

around the

4.7

liter

powerplant. The engine was much

by H.G. Frautschy

d

ee

p into tbe ai rcraft's design and build

ing p rogram, co n

st

ru c

tion

was halt ed

while the airplane was redesigned to ac

cept two of the engines, each

one

canted

to o

pp os

it e s id

es, so th

e

dr i ves

ha ft s

co uld be ru n f

orwar

d

around

th e sides

of the coc kpi t to a t ransmission gea red

to drive a pair of counter-rotating pro

pellers.

The engin

es were

situated on eith er

side

of

the airplan

e s CO .,

wi th the pi

lot in a semi-reclining pos ition we ll for

ward

of

the win

g

Supplying

coo

ling air f

or

the wate r

coo

l

ed

engine r

ad

iat

ors

was solved us

ing a n inge nious meth od

of induct

ing

the

coo

ling

air

into a ple

num

chambe r

in the

af

t fuse lage. T he loca tion of the

int

ake

ducts? T he l

ead

ing edges

of

the

butt

erfly tai l The

coo

ling air was then

route

d a short distance fo rward in the

exp a

nd

e d pl e

num

un t il it p

assed

throu

gh the e ngine radiators, a nd th

en

ex

it ed th e fu

se

l

age

via a pa ir

of

lo u

vered

du

cts

se

t in the trai ling edges

of

the wing root

s

T he t a il a rr a nge me

nt, whi ch was

In

this

series

of shots the

remarkable lay

out of the Bugatti 100 racer is clearly

shown. With

the wings

and tail surfaces

covered and finished in silver dope the

bare

wood

fuselage of

the

Bugatti 100

awaits further restoration. The spinners

for

the counter-rotating propellers are

temporarily

installed

in place as is the

original canopy

. The deep graceful

wing

root

fillets,

complete with the

exit louvers

for the

engine

cooling air

exhaust, are

in

stalled using

a

large

number of screws

attaching the fairings

to

small machined

aluminum

disks

that are set

in

the sur

face of the

fuselage. In

the

head on shot,

you can see

the

intake for

the

cooling

air

in the

leading edges

of the ta i l. The en

gine exhaust fair ings are installed on

each side of the fuselage for the

pair

of

modified

4.7 liter

Bugatti racing

engines.

Only

weeks

away

from its f irst

flight

, t

he

Bugatti

100 never

took

to the

ai r

,

another

victim of

WW II. Just i

magine it flashing

by

,

its

Bugatti

Racing Blue

form

a

blur

as

it roars past the noise from the counter

rotating propellers combining with

the

sort stacks of the pair of straight-eight

Bugatti

engines to set up a

racket

that is

heard for miles around!


11/36

awarded just one of the multiple patents

received during

the design of the 100,

was a butterfly arrangement

(actually

,

it 's technically a

Y

tail) with a sub fin

extending from the

bottom part

of the

fuselage.

The

sub fin had a shock strut

mounted tailwheel installed, along with

a rudder.

Another

concept awarded a patent

was the use

of

automatically activated

was not to be.

The start of

th e Second

World War in the fall of 1939 made it

unlikely that the airplane would ever be

raced, and although

Ettore

had

been

given a

contract to produce

a fighter

version

of

the airplane, designated the

nap,

it would never

mak

e it off of the

drafting table.

The

German

army marched through

central

Europe on their way

to

Paris ,

biles he was building up. Since he really

didn 't care to k

ee

p the airframe, he sold

it to Dr. Peter D. Williamson of Lyme,

NH.

Dr. Williamson turned the air-

plane over to a pair of noted Bugatti au

tomobile restorers

, Les

and

Don Lef-

ferts of Vintage Auto Restorations in

Ridgefield , CT. Les and

Don

worked

on

the project from 1975 until 1979 ,

when work stopped.


12/36

Stearman

Reunion

by

Richard T.

Hansen

Ale 96 9

Part

I

Five

Years

Later

From a mount inside

to

a hanga0

nd then b ck

in the

air

It s

6:30 in the morning on

Septem-

ber 5 1993. I'm driving to the airport in

Selma, which

is

a 20

minute

drive from

my home. I m excited, anticipating the

day and what's to follow. The Stearman

is finished and I will fly it today. I am

by myself this morning, with no

one to

visit with, so [ can let my mind wander.

I think about the events of the past five

years that have led to this day.

I knew when I

brought the

airp lan e

out

of the mountains

that

it

would be

my hope to restore it, and put it back

into the condition it was in when [ first

saw it. In my mind , I can see it sitting

there , ready to fly ;

or

with me in it , fly-

ing

above the

clouds, with my

leather

helmet and goggles, and my white scarf

these decisions. The first step would be

to return once again to the crash site, this

time with a metal

detector to

see if any-

thing had been overlooked previously.

Because the crash occurred in Octo-

ber of 1941, I had been

told

that the

Army, knowing we

were

going to war ,

would be concerned

about

leaving any-

thing sa lvageable behind ; that they had

probably buried the engine and some of

th e larger

parts

nearby. This may also

account for why the

Army

said

that

they

had dynamited the airpla ne and that

there was nothin g left. Skeptical of

what

I

had been

told , I felt that

these

stories should still be investigated .

I

returned

once

again to the

crash

site with the metal

detector

and scoured

Richard Hansen

and

his project went

from this to the

structure

you

see In

the

following pages

in

5 years

of

work and

parts scrounging

Things sometimes have a way of

falling into place,

and

I was very fortu-

nate

to find a project

that someone had

put together , hoping

to

build a Stear-

man.

For whatever

reason,

it

didn

' t

work out and it was

offered

to me at a

very fair price.

This

would

eventually

turn out to be the deciding factor, as this

project would include most of the major

parts which I did not have. When I was

flying

before , I had

owned

a 1946

Aeronca

Chief, and at

that

time,

done

a

two

year restoration. The

knowl

edge

that I had

gained

at that time would be

helpful if I decided to restore the Stear-

man. Woodwork has always been easy

for me, and I felt that

my

trade as a cus-

tom furniture upholsterer would, and


13/36

what was ahead of me the decision was

made to

restore

the

ai rp la ne. T he

restoration

was

started

on

the

twenty-

third of September 1988. The first step

was to strip the fuselage to the bare frame

to i nd o ut how much damage was done

in the crash. There was a fuse lage in the

project that I acquired and it could have

been used but I rea

ll

y wanted to use the

original.

After stripp

ing

the

fuselage

and examini

ng it

th oroughly

I was

de

-

lighted to find it was a good sound fuse-

lage with on ly s light su

rface

rust

and

damage that was easily repaired.

I would

spend

the f irst

year

combin-

ing what cou ld

be

used from both the

Above and below) The

wreck

is trans-

formed into this beautiful structure by

Richard. His skills learned through his

trade

s

custom furniture upholsterer

proved

to

be very useful during the

project The all

wood

wings of

the

Stearman became

an

art

form all by

themselves as they came together in

the shop.


14/36

project and the wreck, always using the

parts from the

original when possible,

even if it meant more work, repairing

and

restoring them

to new

condition.

Every part was st ripped of paint, sanded

and then

painted

with a two

part

epoxy

paint that was near the original

color.

This was a long, monotonous

job,

but it

was a good time to

do

it while

the

ex

citement of getting started was still new.

I

spent

a lot of time the first

year

locat-

ing parts, trading for or making them,

and absorbing all the knowledge I could

from people who would share it.

t

would be almost impossible for me

to have rebuilt an airplane, starting with

so little, without the sharing of knowl-

edge by others.

One of

the

great

things

about

restoring this airplane was some

of the

nice

people

I have

met

along the

way who were willing to share that

knowledge . Norris Norsegian would be

one

of

them . Norris has been working

on, or flying Stearmans,

for

over

50

years. He flew

for Tex

Rankin

, at

Rankin Field during the war

in

the Civil-

ian Pilot Training Corps and has been a

recipient

of

the Charlie

Taylor

award,

an award

given

once

a year for

having

50 years of outstanding aviation mainte-

nance experience. I really got

to know

Norris when we drove to

Reno

to pick

up the

220

Continental

engine that

would

go

on the airplane. We

spent

about

11

hours together in the car that

day. That was a very enjoyable day,

hearing all those wonderful stories,

that

can only

be told by

someone who has

spent a lifetime

in

aviation. I would dis-

assemble the engine, clean and paint all

the parts, then stand back and watch as

Norris put the engine together. I have

gained a

tremendous amount

of knowl-

edge

from

Norris and I

now

consider

him a good friend.

Harold Kindsvater was

another

per

son who was very helpful in

the

begin-

ning. Harold

is well-known

for his in-

terest in restoring German airplanes,

and his knowledge and workmanship is

outstanding. Harold became an impor-

tant part

of

my restoration when he pur-

had been in a tail wheel airplane, and in

order

to

prepare myself for

the

Stear

man ,

that is

what I

needed

to

fly

Com-

ing back from a customer s house one

da y , I was near a small airport and

stopped to see if they had

any

rentals

that would fit my ne eds. I couldn t be-

lieve my luck when they

had

a Bellanca

Champ which they were renting and

giving instruction. I

made

an appoint

ment

for 8:00 the next morning.

I had learned to fly in

an Aeronca

Champ, so this would

be

the perfect air-

plane me-tail wheel, stick and tandem.

A man named Jim Baker would give me

a check ride. He had just

returned

from

Alaska,

where

he flew as a bush pilot, so

a couple

more

gray hairs flying with

me

probably wouldn t make any difference.

I

hadn t

touched the

controls

of

an

airplane in 33

years

and had no idea of

what

to

expect. Jim sat back and let me

go. I really over controlled the airplane

on takeoff and was all over the runway,

but I got it up with no help. As I climbed

out, it all started coming back to me.

My

slow flight and stalls were surprisingly

good, and the thrill was just as strong as

it

ever

had been. My landings were

sloppy and I needed help with some, but

I was flying again after 33 years.

I had mixed emotions that day.

The

excitement

of

flying again was wonder

ful, but one of

the

first things I

noticed

was the haze and the smog. I live

near

the

middle of

the

San Joaquin Valley

with the Coastal Range

on one

side

and

the Sierras on the other. When I flew

before, there was never a time when

you couldn t see both ranges clearly ;

now

you can

hardly see six to eight

Richard and Dana proudly

display

a

well

deserved plague

presented

to

the Stear-

man and

the

restorers

at

one

of the many

California fly Ins.

miles. All

this

brown,

nasty

looking

haze

was a terrible disappointment

to

me . We have

done

a

lot

of wonderful

things in the last 33 years,

but

what we

have done to the environment is not one

of

them.

Jim soloed me in 4.6

hours.

I

think

we all remember the thrill of

our

first

solo, and I would have the thrill

of

two.

I would eventually buy the Champ, and

put over 150 hours on it, preparing

to fly

the Stearman.

The

fuselage was really taking

shape

now. t was on the gear with the engine

on

and was

just

about ready for cover.

t was now time to

start

thinking about

the wings. The wings were undoubtedly

the most extensive part of the restora

tion

and

required

the

most

worl5 and

time. I was able to use probably 70 per-

cent of the wing hardware

from

the

wreck, and

there

was some in the

pro

ject I had bought, so I was off to a pretty

good start. Having seen several Stear

man wings

in

various stages

of

construc-

tion and one in kit form that could

be

put together,

I started toying with the

idea

of

making them myself. t was

at

this time

that

I met Bob Lock.

Bob

was

in the

process of building

the

wings for

his Stearman ; I was fascinated , and

en

couraged by Bob to build my wings. I

thank

him

for sharing

his

knowledge

with me, but I

also thank him for

en


15/36

Flying over the Fresno area Richard s Stearman is hangared and

flown

only a few miles away from

the

base it was used for

train-

ing

pilots during

WW II. The airplane

was stationed at Hammer

Field

when

it

crashed

in October of 1941.

Hammer

Field is

now

called

the

Fresno

Air

Terminal and is

only three miles from

Richard Hansen s

current

home.

couraging

me . I did build my

wings

from scratch. Bob gave

me

some origi

nal Stearman spars for patterns. I took

the spar

material

to a

planing

mill and

had them trued on

one

side.

I made a jig so

the

spars couldn t

move while in

the

saw;

and

using a

smooth cut blade, the spars were cut

out

and the wings were started . Norris gave

me

some original Stearman

ribs

and

wing tip bows for patterns; I used the

same materials

that

were originally used.

The spruce spar material and

domestic

mahogany plywood were obtained from

Aircraft Spruce

Specialty

and

all

of

the materials were of excellent quality. I

used nails in the gussets as per original.

This was very easy for me because

I

could

put

the

nails

in my mouth, and

then use my upholsterers ' magnetic tack

time of

his

crash-landing. This is the

story that unfolded. On the 24th of Oc

tober in 1941, a series

of

events began to

unfold that would eventually lead to the

story of

my

airplane

.

Nineteen

P-40s,

from the 57th pursuit group, left from

March Field in

Riverside

,

California

bound for

McLellan Field

in

Sacra

mento.

Problems began when the

flight

ran

into storm

clouds

over

the

Tehachapis at 15,000 feet.

The

first air

plane to be lost from the group, was the

airplane

of 2nd Lt. J. H. Pease of Boise,

Idaho.

t

developed engine trouble,

forcing him

to

bailout

over the

moun

tains near

Bakersfield. It

was some

where after this that the flight broke up,

with the airplanes scattering; eight land

ing safely at

Smith

Valley, Nevada ,

one

forced down at Visalia ,

and

five reach

other plane and pilot, Richard N. Long,

from Connellsville , Pennsylvania, were

never found.

Occasionally you will

talk

to some

one who

has

searched

for

the airplane

or hear the rumors that follow a

story

like this. Still, 53 years later, the fate of

Lt.

Long

,

and the location of his

air

plane , is still

unknown.

This would not

be the

end

of the tragedy , though . The

remaining group,

after reaching

McHord Field, in Tacoma , Washington,

and participating in maneuvers over the

Pacific

northwest

,

would

lose three

more

planes

and

two

more

pilots on

the

return flight home. Pilots R. E. Steck

man and Thomas L. Traux

were

killed

when their planes crashed on

a

peak

near San Anselmo en route

to

Fresno.

Another plane was lost when Lt. Walter


16/36

I have

been

working

on

the airplane

for

four years now.

The

fuselage sat

idle for the two years that I had worked

on the wings, so it was good to get back

to work on the things that needed to be

finished.

The fuselage was almost com

plete with both cockpits finished . Full

panels in both cockpits were done; all

with yellow dials, genuine leather seats,

oak sticks, and

matching

floorboards.

As for

the

bird cage, I was able to use

most

of the

original formers and top

rails. I put

on

all new stringers which

worked well, because I could line every

thing up properly. I put the lower wings

on the fuselage before putting the wing

walks on, to make sure they fit.

The

tail

surfaces

were

all

complete

now; repaired

where

needed, stripped

and painted, and they, along with all the

cowlings, were then put

onto the

air

plane. With the exception of the center

section

and upper wings,

the

airplane

was now assembled, complete and ready

for cover. t was a great feeling looking

at it and realizing that it all really was

going to happen.

It

was also a good

feeling to know that no

corners had

been

cut, that every sin

gle part, nut and

bolt were either

new,

or just as

good as new.

f

there ever

was a

question, if there

was

a

better

way

,

no matter

how

much

longer

it

took

,

that

is

the

way it was done.

I have tried very hard

during

the

restoration to keep the airplane as orig

inal

as possible. I

did, however

,

get

away from the original when and where

it was necessary to improve the quality

of

the

airplane.

I

put

in a starter, a

complete electrical system, and a radio

panel in the

back seat,

which I

copied

from Don Massey . Don also repaired

my fuel tank, as

that

was beyond my

ability . Now

all

the parts had been

cleaned

and

painted, the

wings

were

I arrive at the airport at 7:00, meet

Bob Lock, as planned, and we jump into

his

Stearman and head for Sequoia

Field. Sequoia Field was a training base

during the war, and has a long, wide

runway with very little traffic. I m in

the back seat, and the plan is to let me

shoot

some

landings,

and

if every

thing

goes

according to plan,

I

will fly my Stearman

later.

Bob has been helping me

with the airplane over the

last month; tying all the

loose ends

together,

do

ing the weight and bal

ance,

rigging

the air

plane, all the paperwork,

and checking

it

thor

oughly , getting it ready

for the

FAA

inspection.

Bob

is another

one who

I

can t thank enough

.

The airplane passed

the FAA inspection

on the 31st

of

Au

gust

with flying

colors .

The

engine

been

run

for

six hours, and taxi tests

had been done

.

Arriv

ing at Sequoia Field, we

made seven landings

and takeoffs, did some

air work, then headed back

to Selma for the big event.

I know there

is some concern

from

my wife, family , and some of my friends

about flying this

airplane

; I guess with

good reason when you see the pictures,

or

think

about

the

pile

of junk that

lay

on the side of the mountain, and realize

that

that

is

the airplane I will fly today.

However,

for me, I know that this air

plane is as close to being new as possi

ble, and for me, there

is

not the slightest

neath, and depressing, with the sky a

dirty

gray.

Sometimes

you are lucky,

though, and it will clear enough to get

on top of the fog. The sun

is

bright and

warm, the sky is a deep

blue,

and you

can see

the snow

covered

Sierras for a

hundred

miles, and your only thoughts

are of the incredible beauty laid out be

fore

you.

That

is a

feeling

that

is

hard to put into words.

So here

I am

sitting

in

this air

plane, wearing my

dad s

goggles, his

wings in my pocket, and Bob in the

front seat. My friends and family

are watching. This is the

moment

I have

waited

for

through the

five year

restoration,

and

maybe, you could say, since I

was 11 years old.

The test

flight was

fun

and

exciting, with

everything work

ing

the

way I had

hoped it would;

the airplane per-

g beautifully .

We were up for 45

minutes,

staying

close

to the field

,

just

in

case. t was a wonder

ful

day,

and a

day I m

sure

I will relive many

times in the years

to

come

.

At the time of

this writing, I have flown

the

Stearman

over

100

hours. Flying it

is

everything I thought

it would be . It s just a great old air

plane, and really fun to

fly

The airplane was stationed at

Ham

mer Field when it crashed

in

October of

1941. The field is now called the Fresno

Air

Terminal ,

and

is only

three

miles

from where I live.

The

reunion for the

Doolittle

Raiders

was

held

there on

April 16 of this year. I was fortunate to

be

asked to display my airplane and be

part

of it.

As

I

touched

down it was a

good feeling knowing, although 53 years

had passed, that the airplane had finally

come home.

The

restoration

was finished

just


17/36

Is

Long

Time

To

Wait

by Earl Root

le 92 5


18/36

ing machines than the money. After ar

riv ing at their home we asked to see the

St in son, b ut first we

had

to sit in

the

lawn swing and have some ice

water

to

get acquainted - southern style After a

couple

of

hours

of

rock'n and talk'n,

Ernie decided that maybe he could trust

us to prope rly care for the Stinson . A

price was later agreed to

and

in

the

fall

of 1987,

the project

was

trucked

to

the

northwest.

What

we had to work with was a

rusty bent fuselage, rotten wings, bent

wing struts and many missing parts to an

airplane that

had

been

out of

produc

tion for nearly 60

years

. Welcome to

the world of antique airplanes

.l l

Early

in 1930,

Stinson

Aircraft

was

f

purchased

by

E.L. Cord. Cord

con

8

trolled

many

ventures, including

With

the wing

s finished, Earl

Root doe

s a

little

varnish t

ouch up on the beautiful wing

Auburn,

Cord,

Duesenberg

automo

r ibs and spars.

bi les, Lycoming motors, American Air

ways, and now Stinson. The SM-8A fol

lowed a line

of

successful models built

by Eddie Stinson. Now with new capi

tal, airplanes could be built on a produc

tion line basis, thus keeping

the

manu

fact uring costs lower.

The

advertised

pr i

ce

in 1930 was $5,775.00. Still a

whopping amount to the average Joe in

1930, it was still a "low" price for those

who

cou

ld afford

to

pay, particularly

since it was perceived as a much more

expensive airp lan e . Some 250 to 300

ships were built at Wayne, MI before

the slightly changed Model S Junior re

placed it

in

1931.

A call to the Aircraft Registration of

fice of the

FAA

in Oklahoma City re

vealed

that

our

airplane had been built

in June of 1930 and was assigned serial

nu

mber M-4107

,

registered

as

NC

934W. A copy of the original sales in

vo ice shows

that

Williams Brothers

Joan Root with

a

trial fit of

all

the parts

pr i

or

to

covering

in 1992.
http:///reader/full/5,775.00http:///reader/full/5,775.00


19/36

EAA

Chief

Phot

ographer

Jim

Koepn

i

ck

j oined up

with the Roots at the Northwest

EAA

Regional Fly-In at Arlington

,

WA

.

Their newly resto

r

ed SM

-S

was

judged

the Cham

pion

Antique at the Fly-In.

Stinson dealership in Tulsa became the

first owner. Records also show that two

months later,

n

August, it was involved

in a

hangar

fire

at

the dealership. This

damage resulted in the removal of the

aircraft's registration

with

the CAA.

The remains were then sold as salvage.

The original N

number

had

been

re

assigned to a modern

aircraft,

and be

cause the owner did not want to change

his registration and repaint his airplane,

NC-934M was reserved as the new num

ber.

To our

surprise, title to the aircraft

was still with the long

defunct

Stinson

dealership in Tulsa. With a

little

re -

search and a lot of luck , I was able

to

talk to a nephew of the Williams broth

ers.

In

fact,

as a young boy , he had

swept

hangar

floors for his

uncles

at

their business. He very graciously pro


20/36

vided me with

an

affidavit

stating

that

his relatives

had

sold

their dea

l

ership,

and as the surviving relative he was se

Il

ing the airplane to me. This gave me le

gal ownership and I was ready to press

on with the project.

In what turned out to be a seven year

restoration, an amazing thing happened.

Some very ta lented fr iends offered to

help with various phases of the project.

Wings

were built,

fuse l

age tubing

was

welded, missing parts located, and spe

cial

too

ls

and

a paint

room were

bor

rowed. The necessary networking for

SM-SA

information and parts led

to

new friends a ll over the country. Parts

were found

from

Alaska

to

Florida .

The ta i l gear was found in the Aero-

Below

- Heres a

fitt

i

ng

that

does

t r iple

duty

on

many

antiques - f i rst , it s a fuel

gauge , with a

cork on

a

wire floating above, and an

indicator disk attached

to

the other

end

of

the wire

Second

, it

serves

as a

fuel

sump

, catching water and

other contaminants, and

fi -

nally , it has a drain at the

bottom

to

get

rid

of

the

junk

that settles to the

bottom

of

the

tube

Mart at the

EAA Convention

in

Oshkos

h. A tip from a fellow

antiquer

that "a large monoplane is sitting on a

farm in eastern

Oregon"

led to the dis

covery of a wrecked SM-SA that had

come

down

on

the farm in 1943.

The

pla ne's

owner

had

abandoned

it and

there it

sat

for 50 years . Many usable

parts were on the wreck .

He lp also

came

from the EAA staff

at

Pioneer Airport

with a suggestion to

take the toe-in of the main wheels com

pletely

out

for better ground handling.

(Bauke n Noack, EAA's ace shipwright

and a ll around mechanical genius, pre

cisely rebuilt the EAA Aviation Foun

dation s SM-SA [NC-1026] landing gear,

and in doing so made a pussycat out of

what

h

ad

been an ornery critter ) .

f

any owners are not flying their Stinson

J unior becau

se of "darty" ground

han

dling, I would strongly suggest the re

work of the main gear so that in a three

point atti tude the wheels have no toe-in

or toe-out You wi ll no longer be apt to

see your ta

il

trying to trade places with

eare often

in

the presence of


21/36

The

ittman

Legacy

A Visit to

The

ew

Wittman Hangar

at fAA's Pioneer Airport

by H.C. Frautschy

W

great men, and there are even

times in our lives when we are

aware of

their

greatness even while

they

are

sti

ll

with u

s

Steve

Wittman

was one of those

great

men. The ac-

knowledgement of his stature in avia-

tion was firm ly cemented when his 90th

birthday celebration was held

in

1994.

After

that celebration

, a group of

local Oshkosh area residents con-

ceived the

Friends

of Steve" commit-

tee . Their

intent

was

to

preserve the

great legacy

of Steve Wittman,

by

building

a

hangar that

could house a

collection

of

aircraft and memorabilia,

a

display

that

could serve

as

a

re -

minder of Winnebagoland's rich avi-

ation history, while inspiring

others to

continue his tradition.

Text continued on Page 2


22/36

This

plaque,

donated by the EAA

An

tique/Classic

Division, celebrates

the life

and achievements

of

Steve Wittman. Cre-

ated

by

Oshkosh

Trophy

and

coordinated

by

AlC Director Jeannie Hill, it shows

many

of

the aircraft

that

figured so prom -

nantly in Steve's aviation

accomplish

ments.

During

the

dedication

of

the hangar on May 11, 1996, EAA Founder and Chairman

of

the

Board

Paul

Poberezny reminisces about Steve's

first

attendance at

a

very early

EAA

meeting in Milwaukee. Steve flew down and said he could stay for just a little while be-

fore he had

to

get back

to

Oshkosh. He

wound

up staying

for

the entire evening, enjoy-

ing

the

fellowship of aviation enthusiasts, Paul recalled of the visit

by

a man

who

be-

come a lifelong friend to Paul and EAA. Looking on as Paul speaks are (left to right) EAA

Foundation President Tom Poberezny, Heidi Brey, Steve's stepdaughter, and Larry An-

derson, Steve's nephew. The charming little lady in front is Heidi's daughter, Madeline.

(Left) After you enter the Wittman Hangar

and

turn

the corner,

you'll

first

see

this

replica

of

Steve and

Dorothy's

office,

fur

nished with the original desks and other

memorabilia from the days of the Wittman

Aviation Service.

Dorothy's desk is set

up

as

though she

were busy

with the books and the

flight

schedule, while Steve must have just been

sitting down to pencil in a few lines on his

latest drawing.

ontinued from page 19


23/36

fter

Fundraising By The #Friends

OF

The

hangar

itself was co nce ived by

Steve committee. he Wittman Hangar

the

l

ate Tom Meik

l

ejo

hn, a l

on g

ti

me

friend

of

Steve s. R etired Oshkos h

Was

Formally Donated o

The

f

businessman

Henry

Kimberly

chaired

the committee s

fu n

draising efforts,

Aviation Foundation

On May

11 1996.

enerating over

130,000

to

build

and

maintain the hangar, which

was

de -

signed to resemble some of the lines of

the

cement block building on 20th

Street that housed Wittman Flying Ser

vice for many years.

The

new hangar

was designed and

constructed

by Wick

Building Systems of

Mazomanie,

WI.

The

project manager for the job , Jeff

Wick, had a special

attachment

for

the

Wittman Hangar

-

his grandfather

' s

farm once occupied the site where

EAA ' s Pioneer Airport now

stands,

and where the new Wittman

Hangar

was built.

After construction, the Friends

of

Steve committee

donated

the hangar to

the

EAA Air Adventure

Museum

in

ceremonies held May , 1996. Present

0

were Larry Anderson , Steve 's nephew,

I

Heidi Brey, the daughter

of

Steve's wife

Paula, and many

others who had their

hand in creating the displays. These in

clude several longtime friends of Steve

from

the Oshkosh area, convened

by

Museum Director Tom

Barrett

, to pro

vide input to Pat Packard, and the EAA

staff who

created

and arranged the dis

plays within the hangar.

The next time you visit the EAA Air

Adventure

Museum in Oshkosh , be

sure and

take

the

tram over

to

Pioneer

Airport - in addition to seeing so many

historic aircraft, you can get a g limpse

of

a

remarkab

le

man s

life in aviat ion ,

Steve Wittman. ....

(Right) Steve's

workbench from

his hangar at his home on Wittman

Field is centered on the back wall of the

hangar along

with a col-

lection of props

Steve

had hung on

the

wall of

his

hangar.

Each

prop had a story to tell and all

you had

to do was point to one and

ask

What

's that

one

from?

Steve would

just smile

and

then tell

(Above) In the far ri

ght

corner of the hangar is a display of some

of

the various engines

used by Steve in the many airplanes he designed and flew in his lifetime, including a Cur-

t iss Conqueror and Cirrus Hermes.

Just

vis ible in the center

left of

this picture is a dis-

play detailing the

work

done by Wittman Flying Service in

the

Civilian Pilot Training Pro-

gram during WW . Also included in this area is a chronology

of

Steve's life, as well as a

wall size plaque honoring the Friends

of

Steve committee and its donors.


24/36

WH T

OUR MEMBERS RE RESTORING

y Norm Petersen

Robert Carr's Aeronca Chief

These photos

of

Aeronca

Chief, NC85844, S N

llAC

251, were sent in by ownerlrestorer

Robert

Carr (EAA

287070

A C 21203) of Severna

Park

,

MD,

who spent five

years restoring the pretty two-placer . A close examina

tion of

the photos

reveals

extreme attention to

detail in

cluding an

original

Aeronca/Sensenich wooden pro

peIler

, a newly spun

prop

spinner

and backplate (from

original Aeronca drawings), a

McDoweIl

starter , and

wheelpants. Besides

dual

ash

trays

and

dual glove

boxes , the Chief features an auxiliary fuel tank in the

rear

fuselage

and

a fancy new

interior

in the

cabin.

Robert

has

made

up

additional

Aeronca

Chief spinner

and backplate blanks and

is

definitely the man to caIl if

you are in need of a set. His

phone number

is 301-987

4310 in Maryland.

Robert Ohls

on

's Cessna 170A


25/36

The photo

of

this sharp looking Cessna 170A, N3857V,

SIN

18744, was

sent

in by

ownerlrestorer, Robert

Bob"

Ohlson

(EAA 39673,

A /C

789) of Edison , NJ. He reports the 1949

model was purchased in 1965 by

Bob

and his father and has

been

in

the

family ever since. In

the late

1980's,

the

170A

was upgraded with a new T. W. Smith

chromed Continental

0-300

engine

,

new

35

amp

alternator

and

a

new

exhaust.

New tires, new glass

and

new avionics

(Loran,

960 radio and

transponder) helped the old girl along. Finally, the 170A was

repainted

in

off-white and maroon with black trim to bring it

up to its present state. Bob says it

is

nice to still own the same

airplane you learned to fly in over thirty years ago

Dave Cheek's Cessna 140

Pictured

in

the

early

morning

sun is a 1947 Cessna

140, N2581N, SIN 12841, that is the

pride and

joy of

David L.

Cheek

(EAA 343691, A C 14351) of Smith

field, VA. Dave and his wife, Dianne, have owned the

140 for over four years and have obviously done a fine

job

of

upgrading

the bird. The Continental

C 85 12

engine has 150 hours since major and runs clean as a

whistle.

Dave

installed an EI Reno Spin-On oil filter

which really

does

a fine

job of keeping the

oil c1ean

and off the belly. Almost every weekend is spent fly

ing

the neat

two-placer to every fly-in within range ac

cording to Dave - and that's about as good as it gets

Jim

Inn

es

a

nd hi

s Aeron

ca Ch

a

mp

From Quebec, Canada, we have received these two photos

of

an

Aeronca

Champion on wheels and skis registered CF

JKW,

in Canada ,

and the proud possession of Jim Innes

(EAA

611087)

of

Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Jim reports

he first saw the Champ being restored

in

a garage

in

1986. In

1988, he was

offered

a

chance

to

buy

the restored Champ

from the man who built it up , Richard

Turcotte,

a mechanic

with Air Canada. With only 160 hours in

nosewheel aircraft,

he located a friend named Elmer Andrews, who checked him

out

in

the Champ

in

4.5 hours of dual. Jim has since flown the


26/36

PASSdh

UCK

by E.E. Buck Hilbert

EAA#21 A/C#5

P.O. ox 424, Union, IL 60180

Hats Off To The Type

Cl

ubs at

Oshkosh

I had

the opportunity to escort

the

FAA

's

Assistant

Administrator, Barry

Valentine, the Deputy Associate Admin

istrator, Peggy Gilligan, and

Assistant

Adminstrator Brad Mims, along with the

FAA Public Regulations people, through

the Antique/Classic Area. We spent con

siderable time at the Type Club tent.

Barry and

his

associates were

as

tounded The Type

Club

people

were

hospitable, informative,

courteous, and

made a great impression on the

FAA

people. I had already briefed them, the

FAA, on some of the problems facing the

Antiques

and Classics in

getting paper

work through the

"system,"

and

when

they asked several

of

the Type

Club

gu

rus abo ut

their

problem areas, they got

an education

Our next stop was the flight line. The

past Champions and the line up of beau

tifully

restored airplanes

in

the

show

plane camping

area

certainly impressed

them.

As usual, schedule priorities short

ened the visit and we were somewhat

rushed

before they

cou ld talk to every

one , but guess what?

Barry took

it

upon

himself to come back

after

his "

commit

ments

"

and

nose

aro

u

nd on his

own,

ta lk to

peop

le a nd

just e njoy

our

area.

Here is a man, (an

EAA

member, by the

way) who is in a posi

tion

to

get the

ball

ro ll ing

and

m

aybe

s

li

m down the admin

istrative process to a

manageable level. I'm keeping my fin

gers crossed , hoping this guy will

be

ap

pointed permanently after the elections.

And now the

"Rest of

the

Story ."

I

was also given the opportunity to squire

Donald Spruston around our area.

He

's

the Director General of Canadian Civil

Aviation. You may have read in Tom

Poberezny's Sport Aviation column last

month what great things this man is doing

for Canadian airplane people . Donald

was

also

very impressed with the Type

Club

Tent

and the people, and the line up

of great

l

ooking

airplanes. I found this

man a real breath of fresh air. I've had to

re-examine my list of prejudices about

Canadians after meeting this guy. I hope

he gets thro ugh to

our FAA

with his ac

tions

on

behalf of recreational type fly

ing.

All in all, our Twenty-fifth year was a

great one. I

can't

begin to express

my

ap

prec

i

atio

n and thank all

of

those m

em

bers who have made the Antique/Classic

Division what it is today. Not

without

getting a ll choked up

and emotional

ab o ut it so I'll close wit h an "

Over

to

You" - all of yo u, the cur rent, past and

with great hopes for the future

Ove r to You , t ~ t c k .

eroMail

ence being a

distributor

which replaces

one of the mags. There are other differ

They

learned from the old heads. They

flew until


27/36

Continued from page 3

le TIDBITS

RED

FL G

Dear

Mr. Frautschy,

With

all

of

these

great "A/C Tid

bits" from Brad Hindall, there are two

that

raise a red flag.

Both

are near

the

bottom

of pag

e 25

of the April VIN

T

AGE

AIRPLANE.

First

is

the "bad boy" that states "

to drill a clock

spring

. . . and

melt

the

hole

through with head and

friction."

In some very limited area this might be

a usable concept. If it involves anything

remotely connected to the structure, the

user had

better

be

prepared

for a metal

failure, as the area abuse this way has

been annealed. As the metal flexes, it

will crack through this hole.

f

anyone

ha s

already

used

this approach, then

have it h

eat

treated back up to spec.

The other one concerns drilling stain

less steel. The

coolant

method

is

OK ,

but fails to mention that the residue Ep

som salts must be completely flushed off

or

the salt will attack the metal, and ac

celerated corrosion will follow.

Without going into a lengthy expla

nation, small plane designers and me

chanics usually only have

to concern

themselves with 300 and 400 series stain

less. 300 is non-magnetic,

and pretty

difficult to work with. 400

is

magnetic

and is only slightly more difficult to

work than mild steel.

The

toughness

of

stainless is derived from the content of

nickel and chromium, plus

other

trace

metals/compounds.

f

a cutting tool

is

allowed to "idle"

the metal

will "

work

harden" into a real mess.

So

have

good

properly sharpened

tools, preferably with a

constant

feed

device

driving the

cutter

(not

"Arm

strong").

In 300

series Stainless,

it is

recom

mended to use cobalt or Carbide cutters

(prefer the latter) and always keep the

chip formation

constant.

A

good

flow

of coolant will

reduce the metal temper

ature

at the point

of cutting and is

al

ences as well.) Some Seabees have been

converted to the Lycoming GO-4S0

group of engines ranging in horsepower

from 270 to 350. There are two multiple

STC's, the most popular is by Simuflight

of Seattle, W A. The Lycoming mod has

higher hp, slower prop RPM (larger prop,

more

thrust,

less

noise) but there are

CG.

considerations, the engine

can't

be

started in reverse (constant speed prop,

oil pressure) and high cost of the conver

sion. Plus, parts are now becoming diffi

cult to find

(but not

as

hard

as

the

Franklin ). Some of the most difficult

parts for the Franklin are the cylinder

sleeves which are no longer available.

This leads me to my quest. t is rumored

that someone may be working on match

ing Lycoming cylinders to the Franklin

engine case. This is believed to be hap

pening in Canada near Edmonton.

I find this match most interesting and

have

thought about the

e ngineering

possibility

from time to time. I don't

know if this is workable,

but

I would

like to

know

if

anyone

is

indeed

work

ing to that end. Could any

of our

fellow

EAA

members shed some light on this?

I'm trying to build up a spare engine

for my Seabee and I

do

have many extra

Franklin engi

ne

parts, but no

cylinder

sleeves. Is

there

anyone

out there

who

will h

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Vintage Airplane - Sep 1996

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