TOM POBEREZNY PRESIDENT

Guest editorial from fAA s president

AirVenture thoughts-something for everyone in aviation

As this issue goes to press EAA AirshyVenture Oshkosh 2007 has just conshycluded As I think back over my 30 years as chairman of Oshkosh it is clear the depth diversity and growth of our conshyvention has exceeded all expectations There is truly something for everyone in the aviation community at AirVenture

Oshkosh is the home of innovation new design technology and craftsmanshyship This was never more evident than on opening day when a multitude of announcements took place It began with the surprise arrival of the Eclipse Single-engine concept jet Then Cessna unveiled its new light-sport aircraft the SkyCatcher Shortly thereafter Cirrus announced its entry into the light-sport aircraft marketplace with its new Cirrus SRS This list continued Epic Aircraft RotorWay Son ex and others The anshynouncements indicate these are some of the best times in general aviation hisshytory Technology and innovation are making a major impact

EAAs own new technology was also evident as more than 125 million people from all over the world particishypated in Oshkosh without leaving their homes by way of AirVentureorg Those virtual attendees viewed EAAs Brightshycove multimedia offerings almost a quarter million times and they visshyited almost 4 million separate EAA web pages These metrics indicate without doubt the value of EAAs new media knowledge and information content an area we are continuously improvshying Keep visiting on the Web as we will continue to publish multimedia stories about the spirit that infuses EAA-from the aircraft our members build or fly to technical forums chapshy

ter activities and treasures from our world-class archives

Thirteen years ago EAA had a vision to grow the ranks of those who enter the world of aviation That vision culmishynated in the sport pilotlight-sport airshycraft regulations During the past three years we have spent significant resources developing and promoting a whole new aviation infrastructure built around these regulations

EAAs vision was validated when Cessna and Cirrus announced their new light-sport aircraft It reinforced our vision for entry-level participation by a whole new group of people while at the same time negating the percepshytion that sport pilot was a certificate only for those who had lost or feared losing their medical

At its height aviation had more than 800000 active pilots The latest figures indicate there are just shy of 600000 US pilots A major reason for the drop is that pilots trained during World War II or on the GI Bill have been leaving aviashytion because of age and related reasons

We need to replace them We need to compete with other recreational activishyties for discretionary time and dollars That is where sport pilot and light-sport aircraft come in Aviation is not going to remain dynamic and strong with 600000 pilots We need a million pilots

Our vision for the future incorposhyrates EAA chapters the National Assoshyciation of Flight Instructors and other EAA resources to encourage people to learn how to fly

At AirVenture we introduced the Learn to Fly Center which received thousands of visitors If EAA can enshycourage thousands of people to build

airplanes-1O5 percent of the GA fleet is experimental aircraft-then we can also encourage hundreds of thousands of people to learn to fly A critical part of learning how to fly is a sense of comshymunity EAAers better than anyone can provide newcomers mentoring and paths to participation

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007 was a milestone Our vision for sport pilot light-sport aircraft was validated Our mission of outreach to young people who might swell the pilot population was reinforced with the introduction of a new student membership

AirVenture was also about advocacy Government representatives heard your concerns on user fees throughout the week In addition seven members of the House Aviation Subcommittee inshycluding chairman Jerry Costello D-Illishynois and Wisconsin Rep Tom Petri the ranking Republican on the panel visited with EAAers for an entire day to discuss user fees and modernization of the air traffic system Meanwhile Sen Jim Inshyhofe R-Oklahoma attended AirVenture for the 29th year camped here with his family and talked to EAAers at Member Village about user fees

These are examples of EAAs imporshytant proactive advocacy We address isshysues by bringing legislators and officials into the field with EAA members and the aviation community This was reshyinforced at the Meet the Administrator session when FAA Administrator Marion Blakey introduced members of her seshynior team many who were in Oshkosh over several days

EAA AirVenture may last only one week but its Significant impact is felt year-round

N E AUGUST VOL 35 NO9 2007

CONTENTS IFe Straight amp Level

AirVenture thoughts-something for everyone in aviation by Tom Poberezny

2 News

6 2007 AirVenture Vintage Awards

8 The Command-Aire SC3 A golden age biplanes German pedigree by Gilles Allard

16 Getting Your AampP Rating Part III Earning the AampP mechanic certificate the DMEs perspective by Robert G Lock

18 Rezichs Travel Airs A family history dates back to the golden age of aviation by Jim Rezich

22 Airline Travel SO-Plus Years Ago First published in the January 1980 issue of Vintage Airplane by Edward D Williams

28 2007 National Waco Club Reunion Wynkoop Airport Mount Vernon Ohio by Andy Hein s

31 Mystery Plane by HG Frautschy

34 The Vintage Instructor Black eye by Doug Stewart

36 Pass It to Buck One of my favorite stops by Buck Hilbert

38 Calendar

39 Classified Ads

COVERS FRONT COVER Giles Allard of Newington Connecticut captured this nice shot of Bob Lock in his recently restored Command-Aire 5C3 N997E Bob spent over a decade restoring the derelict airframe which was originally completed by the Little Rock Arkansas company on October 15 1929 only days before the stock market crash that marked the beginning of the Great Depression See the story beginning on page 6 BACK COVER Aviation artist Kendra Helvey of Poplar Grove Illinois created this pencil sketch of the Rezshyich familys various Travel Air biplanes The [)4000 NC8115 owned by Mike Rezich from 1940-1981 is on the left There are two Travel Air 2000s later converted to D4-D maceIs NC661H (1937-1941) in the center and NC606K (1950-present) is on the right See the note in VAA News concerning a limited run of tee-shirts available with this outstanding artwork

STAFF EAA Publisher Tom Poberezny Director of EAA Publications David Hipschman Executive DirectorEditor HG Frautschy Executive Assistant Jillian Rooker Managing Editor Kathleen Witman News Editor Ric Reynolds Photography Jim Koepnick

Bonnie Kratz Advertising Coordinator Sue Anderson Classified Ad Coordinator Oaphene VanHullum Copy Editor Colleen Walsh Director of Advertising Katrina Bradshaw

Display Advertising Representatives Northeast Allen Murray Phone 8S6-229-7180 FAX 856-229-7258 e-mail allellllllmayrnindsprillgcom Southeast Chester Baumgartner Phone 727-532-4640 FAX 727-532-4630 e-mail coollllllllmillcisprillgcolII Central Gary Worden Phone 800-444-9932 FAX 816-741-6458 e-mail garywordenSpc-lIIagcom

Mountain amp Pacific John Gibson Phone 916-784-9593 e-mail ioilllgibsollSpc-lIIi1gcom Europe Willi Tacke Phone +4989693402 13 FAX +498969340214 e-mail wi1li(1yillg-pagescom

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

EAA AirVenture GAs Headquarters for User-Fee Issue

With critical congressional votes coming soon on the controversial FAA funding question EAA AirVenshyture Oshkosh 2007 became general aviations (GA) headquarters for the fight against user fees Buttons declarshying EAAers United Say No To User Fees were stuck on hats and shirts everywhere Thousands posed for photos which were posted on sevshyeral boards located in EAA Member Villages North Tent The resulting mosaic provided a clear picture of the shared opinion of those with passion for flight

The thousands of signatures colshylected on an anti-user-fee petition will be sent to key congressional lawshymakers to underscore EAAers stand

GA User-Fee Forum AirVentures successful awareness

campaign also included two key usshyer-fee forums Early in the week EAA President Tom Poberezny hosted sevshyeral GA leaders at a user-fee panel discussion urging support of House bill HR 2881 Also serving on that panel were NBAA President Ed Boshylen GAMA President Pete Bunce and AOPA President Phil Boyer

liThe first user fee is just the first step Poberezny emphasized This is serious business and its extremely important that members get involved and stay involved

House Aviation Subcommittee Chimes In Later in the week seven button-wearshy

ing members of the House Aviation Subshycommittee sat on a panel to listen to the GA communitys opinions on user fees Appearing were Jerry Costello subcomshy

continued on page 4

Left Members of the House Aviation Subcommittee stopping by Member

Village to participate in the Say No To User Fees campaign included

(I to r) Leonard Boswell Mazie Hirono Thomas Petri Jerry Costello

Candace Miller and Vern Ehlers

SEPTEMBER 2007

~ NO

GA leaders (I to r) Tom Poberezny Ed Bolen Pete Bunce and Phil Boyer at the AirVenture GA user-fee panel discussion

2

Concerns Over FAAs Field Approvals Policy Dominate Type Club Issues Meeting

Some members of the general aviashy

tion (GA) community and GA aviation

industries are angry over changes in

FAA policy that make it more difficult to

obtain field approvals (FAA Form 337)

for aircraft modifications Because of

the current policy which was instituted

in 2004 some kinds of modifications

that used to be granted as field approvshy

als now require an STC (supplemental

type certificate)

The 337 STC policy was the topic

of a sometimes-heated discussion at

Wednesdays annual Type Club amp Aging

GA Aircraft Issues meeting Held each

year at AirVenture the meeting brings toshy

gether leaders from the agency and the

industry to identify problems and seek

creative solutions

Both field approvals accomplished via

FAA Form 337 and STCs provide agency

approval for changes to an aircraft not

conforming to its original type certifishy

cate or to an existing STC for that airshy

plane Typical field approvals or STCs

might cover aftermarket or non-aviation

replacement parts radios instruments

engines propellers STOl kits or airshy

frame modifications A field approval

applies to a single aircraft As the comshy

plexity of the modification increases

the policy requires an STC rather than

a 337 An STC applies to all aircraft of a

single aircraft type-all Cessna 172Bs

for example A middle ground option-a

one-time STC-applies like a 337 to

only one aircraft The process is more

rigorous than a 337 but simpler than a

full STC local FAA representatives can

grant field approvals Obtaining an STC

or one-time STC is a more complicated

BY DAVID SAKRISON

approval process handled through FAA

regional offices

At Wednesdays meeting aircraft reshy

storers and vintage type-club officers arshy

gued that the 2004 change in FAA policy

has effectively eliminated field approvshy

als by forcing everyone into the STC

process even for items previously reshy

ceiving Form 337 field approvals They

further argued that long delays in grantshy

ing STCs have effectively eliminated the

STC option as well forcing owners of agshy

ing aircraft to forego proper maintenance

or use unapproved parts

FAA officials responded that the polshy

icy change was necessary Some of the

337 field approvals [that were granted

before the policy change] went well beshy

yond what the FAA inspectors should

have done or were qualified to do said

Jim Ballough FAA Flight Standards dishy

rector A lot of people out there do not

understand the 337 STC processes

he added and that led to what the FAA

feels were inappropriate field approvals

If the change in policy and the reshy

sulting increase in STC requests have

caused delays in STC approvals that s

a problem Ballough said We re going

to work it out He added If there are

other issues that need to be resolved

work through EAA communicate your

concern to them and well take a look

at it

A lot of this has to do with educashy

tion said H G Frautschy executive

director of EAAs Vintage Aircraft Assoshy

ciation and editor of Vintage Airplane

magazine Were working with the FAAs

John Colomy on a series of articles that

will appear in Vintage Airplane magazine

this fall explaining the 337 and STC apshy

proval process

After several people at the meeting

complained that the FAAs policy change

was unreasonable and unnecessary

John Hickey FAAs director of aircraft cershy

tification services replied We didnt do

this in a vacuum we held meetings and

listened to people all over the country

including four meetings in Alaska where

the issue was most contentious But

he added the FAA has a responsibility

to uphold aircraft standards and ensure

aircraft safety and some of the existing

337s fell way outside the standards for

field approvals

With tensions apparently rising on

both sides of the issue Kim Smith of

the FAA Small Airplane Directorate apshy

pealed to the group Please she said

while we disagree on some things lets

not lose the energy or the collaborative

spirit we started with here Alluding to

issues that remain contentious and unshy

resolved she told the group that solushy

tions will be found We [FAA and the

industry] can do it separately or we can

do it together You ll be happier if we do

it together

The 337 policy has changed said

Earl lawrence EAA vice president of inshy

dustry and regulatory affairs We are

going to have to do the engineering data

when we make major changes in an airshy

craft Blaming the FAA is not the answer

The agency is really bending over backshy

wards to work with us on this

If this [policy] is the issue lawshy

rence told the industry leaders let s

get together on it get our act together

and then work with the FAA

VINTAGE AIRPLA NE 3

Ed Marquart Edwin E Ed Marquart a promishy

nent figure of the early homebuilt ~

early members

mittee chairman (D-Illinois) Thomas Petri (R-Wisconsin) ranking commitshytee member and representative of the district including Oshkosh Wisconshysin Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) Candace Miller (R-Michigan) Vern Ehlers (RshyMichigan) Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) and Sam Graves (R-Missouri)

Every member here and those who serve on the committee unanimously rejected user fees in the House bill Cosshytello told the audience We think the current structure adequately funds not only the air traffic control system but future technology We will fight very hard for one no user fees and two safeshyguards so that we continue to have the safest aviation system in the world

All the legislators agreed that the most important point the public should take from the forum is to contact the people who represent them in Washingshyton including President Bush to emshyphasize their stance against user fees

They urged people to send letters and e-mails and to make phone calls to let Congress know that user fees are unnecshyessary and would not provide as much needed revenue for the future of aviation as does the current tax-based system

Costello also stressed that there is lot of pressure to get appropriations legislashytion on the floor and that the existing FAA authorization expires September 30 Time is of the essence he said The only way we will win is if you take action and take action immediately

EAA Urges Members to Contact Congress

EAA followed up its AirVenture usshyer-fee campaign with a mass e-mail appeal to members urging them to contact their congressional represenshytatives and voice their support for HR 2881 That bill would largely preserve the current funding model and provide adequate revenues for not just the current system but also the next-generation air traffic control development Learn more about how you can join the campaign at www EAA orguserfees

Back Cover Artwork T-Shirts T-shirts of our back cover artwork

of the Rezich family Travel Airs are available in large and extra-large

SEPTEMBER 2007

sizes Price is $35 with a portion goshying to the Travel Air Restorers Assoshyciation (TARA) Send payment to Jim Rezich PO Box 571 Winnebago IL 61088

and restoration movements and EAA Chapter I died peacefully of natural causes early Wednesday morning July 4 at the age of 85 Ed worked at historic Flabob Airport Rivershyside California from 1955 until two weeks before he passed away Nearly 500 plan sets of his most popular design the MA-5 Charger biplane were sold Ed was EAA member 198 Up until two weeks before his death Marquart had been working on the restoration of his Buhl Air Sedan

EAA Founder and Chairman Paul Poberezny said Ed Marquart was one of the important people who made Flabob such an important location for the homebuilt movement espeshycially in EAAs early years

Like so many of the fellows at the begin ning of our organization Ed liked the idea of forming EAA and what it had to offer and he contributed a lot to the movement he said People are still building his airplanes scratch-built rather than assembly Back in Riverside he and Ray Stits and all those fellows at the airport created a hotbed of homeshybuilding as a result of the EAA

That group contributed a great deal to support my beliefs of putshyting hand and mind to work and being creative They set a standard

for homebuilders for the quality of designs and airplanes

EAA President Tom Poberezny spoke on behalf of the organizashytion stating We are truly sadshydened by the passing of one of our

Tom Poberezny and Kate Meredith stand before the magnificent gift from the Meredith family

AWish-Fulfilling Gift Toward the end of the Memorial

Wall ceremony held on Sunday mornshying EAA Director of Flight Operations Sean Elliott landed on nearby Pioneer Airport in a magnificent 1932 Waco UEC cabin biplane Kate Meredith and her family then donated the restored classic (NC12472) to EAA in honor of her late husband Ted who passed away in 2003

It was always Ted s wish to reshystore the airplane she said After he passed the family was determined to finish the project Ted also inshytended for the airplane to be donated to EAA where it could fly among the other classic antiques at Pioneer Airshyport before being displayed at the EAA AirVenture Museum

We truly appreciate this wondershyful donation said EAA President Tom Poberezny Its a beautiful airplane Ted s love of flight was very strong

Well-known aircraft restorer Troy Westrum led the three-year restoration and the airplane scored a runner-up award in the Silver Age (1928-1936) Antique Classic category this year

4

We joined the AUA family a number of years ago because of

fair rates and their understanding of our needs with our grand

old classics and antique Weve stayed because of excellent

service prompt renewal reminders and quick followup due to

changes in our fleet (of aircraft)

- Peter and Mary Kate Bayer

Peter amp Mary Kate lkIyerNaperville IL

First solo bull Peter1961 bull Mary Kate1995

Current fleet bull Mary Kate has a 1947

Cessna 140 (the putt-putt)

bull Peter has a 1955 Cessna 180 (the SUV)

bull They have a 1939 Fleet 10F (Model T speedster)

AUA is Vintage Aircraft Association approved To become a member of VAA call 800-843-3612

AUA Excluaive EAA Vintage AircraftAssociation Insurance Program Lower ability and hull premiums - Medical payments included - Fleet discounts for multiple aircraft carrying all risk coverages

2007 AIRVENTURE VINTAGE AWARDS ANTIQUE AWARDS (Thru August 1945)

World War II Military TrainerLiaison Aircraft Runner-Up Dean Maupin Davenport IA 1943 Boeing Stearman N556DM

Outstanding Transport Category Joseph Shepherd Fayetteville GA 1936 Lockheed 12A N2072

Outstanding Customized Aircraft Myrt Rose South Barrington IL 1941 Piper J-3 C-65 N35224

Bronze Age (1937-1941)

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Monoplane Vernon Heyrman De Pere WI 1940 Cessna Airmaster NC237E

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Biplane Lloyd Cizek Amery WI 1940 Beech D17S N20779

Bronze Age Runner Up Craig Young Hudson WI 1940 Piper J-3 C-65 NC32562

Silver Age (1928-1936)

Silver Age Outstanding Open Cockpit Biplane Ron Alexander Griffin GA 1928 Stearman Aircraft C3-B N8835

Silver Age Runner Up Edwin Meredith Des Moines IA 1932 Waco UEC NC12472

Bronze Lindy

World War II Military TrainerLiaison Aircraft Champion Frank Iacovelli Arlington Heights IL 1940 Boeing A75 N725FR

Transport Category Champion Harry Woolridge And Ron Waldron Mcalpin FL 1929 Travel Air 10-0 NC418N

Customized Aircraft Champion John Hodgson Zephry Cove NV 1943 Boeing B75N1 N450SH

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Champion Richard Rezabek Canyon Country CA 1937 Stinson SR-9F NC18425

Silver Age (1928-1936) Champion Jeremy Redman Northfield MN 1931 Waco (lCF N11424

Golden Age (1918-1927) Champion Charles Wentworth Paso Robles CA 1927 Stinson SM1-B N7468B

Silver Lindy

Antique Reserve Grand Champion Roy Redman Owatonna MN 1931 Waco (lCF NC11457

Gold Lindy

Old Style Aircraft Company Creve Coeur MO 1931 Waco (lCF N12428

Judges Choice

AI Stix Historic Aviation Museum Glenn Peck restorerpilot Maryland Heights MO 1919 de Havilland DH-4M2A NX3249

CLASSIC AWARDS (September 1945 thru 1955)

Plaques (Small)

Outstanding Beech Roland SchabIe Janesville WI 1954 Beech E35 N3490B

Outstanding Cessna 120140 D Westrum West Des Moines IA 1946 Cessna 120 NC76189

Outstanding Cessna 170180 Donald Lindholm Phoenix AZ 1951 Cessna 170A N1424D

Outstanding Cessna 190195 Jim Karlovich Kingston GA 1953 Cessna 195B N2118C

Outstanding Navion Robert Kosztyo Apalachin NY 1950 Navion A N5168K

Outstanding Stinson Steven Smith Santa Rosa CA 1946 Stinson 108-1 NC97979

Outstanding Swift Stephen Wilson Granbury TX 1948 Temco GC-1B N77753

Outstanding Limited Production Richard Epton Brooks GA 1949 Bucker BU-181 N94245

Preservation Ronald French Anthem AZ 1949 Ryan Navion N4969K

Custom Class A (O-SO hpj Dan Schumaker Glenville MN 1946 Aeronca 7AC NS2975

Custom Class B (S1-150 hpj Duane Oosterhuis Ozark MO 1946 Silvaire Luscombe SA N1071K

SEPTEMBER 2007 6

Custom Class C(151-235 hpj Daniel Cammack Dodge City KS 1946 Temco GC-l B N80791

Custom Class D (236 - up hpj Michael Hickethier Wadsworth OH 1952 Cessna 195B N3064B

Plaques (Large)

Best Custom Runner Up George Willford Waterville OH 1953 Cessna 170B N3098A

Bronze Lindy

Class I (0 - 80 hpj Joel Severinghaus Des Moines IA 1946 Taylorcraft BC12-D NC96130

Class II (81 - 150 hpj David Powell Rodgers AR 1953 Anderson Greenwood AND-51 -A N3904K

Class III (151 - 235 hpj Bob Brandt Schaumburg IL 1954 Cessna 180 N3890C

Class IV (236 - up hpj Jack Pelton Wichita KS 1955 Cessna 195B N2196C

Best Custom Jeffrey Deaton Morehead City NC 1954 Beech E35 N3214C

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Bill Robicheau Montello WI 1947 Stinson 108 N8502

Gold Lindy

Grand Champion Steve Jacobson Fort Worth TX 1950 Cessna 17OA N5752C

CONTEMPORARY AWARDS (1956 - 1970)

Outstanding In Type

Outstanding Beech Single Engine Dionisio Aspiras Dickenson TX 1968 Beech 36 N7513N

Outstanding Beech Multi-Engine Miles Malone Thousand Oaks CA 1963 Beech D95A N8965M

Outstanding Bellanca Jason Shockey Hazlehurst GA 1957 Bellanca 14-19-2 N7682B

Outstanding Cessna 150 Michael Wotherspoon Coldwater ONT CAN 1965 Cessna 150F CFSZD

Outstanding Cessna 170172175 Robert Schaefer Tryon NC 1957 Cessna 172 N8377B

Outstanding Cessna 180182210 Todd Childerhose Aurora ONT CAN 1958 Cessna 182A CFKJW

Outstanding Mooney Raymond Miller Colorado Springs CO 1962 Mooney M20C N6402U

Outstanding Piper PA-18 Super Cub Loren Kopseng Bismarck ND 1960 Piper PA-18-150 N3574Z

Outstanding Piper PA-24 Comanche Dennis Carew Appleton WI 1963 Piper PA-24-250 N250LJ

Outstanding Piper PA-28 Cherokee John Ditchie Glen Ellyn IL 1966 Piper PA-28-140 N7122R

Outstanding Limited Production Marilyn amp Richard OIwin Jemez Springs NM 1969 Navion H N2533T

Most Unique Scott Seibold Grand Junction CO 1967 Fairchild Heli-Porter Pilatus PC6 B2-H2 N354F

Preservation Award James Lynch Lawton OK 1962 Beech 35-B33 N8622M

Preservation Award Dean Richardson Stoughton WI 1965 Cessna 180H N2451F

Bronze Lindy

Class I Single Engine (0 - 160 hpj William Pappas Dallas TX 1959 Champion 7GC N4879E

Class II Single Engine (161 - 230 hpj David Carlson Okemos MI 1959 Mooney M20A Nl091C

Class III Single Engine (231 - up hpj Clayton Whaley Charleston WV 1966 Beech 35-C33 N75KW

Customize SingleMulti Engine Steve Eaton Jenks OK 1957 Piper PA-l8A N7096D

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Stephanie Allen Mukilteo WA 1969 Cessna 172K N78797

Gold Lindy

Grand ChampionpWilliam Rose Barrington IL 1956 de Havilland DHC-1B-2-S5 N56EF

V I N T AG E A I RPLANE 7

A golden age biplanes German pedigree PHOTOS AND ARTICLE BY GILLES ALLARD

he golden age of aviation saw the birth of a multitude of airplane manufacturers going about their business with varying degrees of sucshycess All of them however

had one thing in common The Octoshyber 1929 Wall Street crash endangered their very existence Worse yet a mashyS SEPTEMBER 2007

jority of them did not survive its ripshyples and many brand names vanished forever from the aviation vocabulary

Nevertheless thanks to the efforts of a handful of passionate individushyals some long-gone manufacturers have been brought back from oblivshyion and their products are still gracshying the skies One such phoenix is

Command-Aire SC3 N997E the only flying example of a rather popular airplane type in its time

Command-Aire Inc started life as the Arkansas Aircraft Co Inc in Little Rock Arkansas in 1926 The newly formed manufacturer occupied the former Climber Motor Corp buildshying at 1823 E 17th Street The adshy

jacent piece of land-more than 20 acres-allowed for the creation of two runways The new airfield rapidly beshycame known as Command-Aire Field Nowadays the industria l buildings are still standing while the airfield is only a faded memory

In order to proceed with airplane manufacturing Morton Cronk a young graduate from the Massachushysetts Institute of Technology was hired to design the first company product This phase was completed in the spring of 1927 and an airplane was built according to the defined specifications Regardless of its good looks the craft did not fly satisfactoshyrily A more experienced project engishyneer was needed to improve its flying characteristics In spite of this an apshyplication for an experimental license was filed on December 6 1927

Albert Vollmecke a German citshyizen earned his mechanical engishyneering degree from the Technical University at Braunschweig Fresh out of graduation he took a position with the Ernst Heinkel Aeroplane Factory at Warnemunde He later came to the United States as a representative of Ernst Heinkel in license negotiations for the production of a training airshycraft Impressed with the advanceshy

ment of civil aviation in the United States he decided to stay and began searching for a position He learned of an opening for a chief engineer at the Arkansas Aircraft Co applied for the job and joined the company in September 1927 Relying heavily on European technology he went to work immediately on redesigning the poor-flying model 3C3 substituting a thinner Aeromarine 2A airfoil and installing full-span slotted ailerons With these improvements the plane flew very well and was very stable

An application for approved type certificate (ATC) was submitted to the aeronautics branch of the Departshyment of Commerce and ATC No 53 was granted in July 1928 The first official model 3C3 was rolled out of the plant on January 1928 and was used for ferrying purposes as the ATC had not yet been granted The plane carried the NC6690 license number serial number 515 Power was a war surplus Curtiss OX-5 serial number M-6660 manufactured by the WillysshyMorrow Co of Elmira New York

As the OX-5-powered Model 3C3 began rolling off the assembly line in the spring of 1928 the search was on to purchase and install different types of engines Fitted with a 1l0-hp Warshy

some time later Ireceived aletter from Mr Robert Snowden indicating that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and Bob is checking the integrity of the HamiHon Standard prop during the American

Bamstonners Air Tour 2006 The installation of a Wright R-760-8 engine required a supplemental type certificate that proved quite frustrating to obtain even withliving nearby the help of the original designer of the plane

VINTAGE A IRPLANE 9

J Carroll Cone Director of Sales for Command-Aire with model SC3 serial numshyber W-6S manufactured March 1929 This aircraft was the second SC3 from the assembly line and was flown to California by company Vice President Charles M Taylor Taylor was participating in the Aviation Country Clubs Tour in the spring of 1929 Ruth Nichols famous aviatrix wrote in her book At Dallas we were joined by another member of the Aviation Country Clubs Charles Taylor of Little Rock flying a new Command-Aire

In this factory photograph by RD Wolff a horizontal stabilizer of a model 3C3 is being load tested Holding the sign is none other than designer Albert Vollmecke Albert always designed with a great margin of safety in all his ships

10 SEPTEMBER 2007

ner Scarab radial engine the plane became the model 3C3-A (ATC No 118) When Command-Aire acquired a few Siemens-Halske engines the bashysic 3C3 airframe was modified to acshycommodate it and became the 3C3-B (ATC No 120) ATC No ISO was granted in May 1929 to the Model 3C3-T a training version of the stanshydard 3C3 of which 25 were built

Having experimented with all sorts of engine variations a new model was needed Albert Vollmecke redeshysigned the 3C3 into its next evolushytionary step the 5C3

The model 5C3 (ATC No 184) was a three-place open-cockpit biplane of

Below Albert Vollmecke chief designer (left) and Charles Tayshylor former vice president of Command-Aire with model SC3 NX92SE on November 12 1983 The occasion was Vollmeckes inshyduction into the Arkansas Aviashytion Hall of Fame November 11 1983 in north Little Rock

typical Command-Aire configuration Powered by a six-cylinder 170-hp Curshytiss Challenger engine the fuselage and empennage were the same as the Curtiss OX-5-powered Model 3C3 Wing design was slightly different but retained the Aeromarine 2A airshyfoil Fuselage framework was classic welded chromoly steel tubing lightly faired to shape with fairing strips and fabric-covered The wings were built up of solid spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs the comshypleted framework fabric-covered

A wide choice of engines was also offered for the model 5C3 Powered by a 150-hp US-built Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine the plane became the 5C3-A (ATC No 185) Only one of this type was built and its stability was demonstrated by Ike Vollmeckes flight from San Diego to Los Angeshyles-a distance of more than 100 miles-from outside the cockpit Equipped with a Siemens-Halske the airplane became the 5C3-AT of which four were built under ATC No

209 A 150-hp Axelson engine fitted on a basic 5C3 airframe became the Model 5C3-B (ATC No 214) Last but not least the ultimate ModelS the 5C3-C (ATC No 233) of which five were built was powered by a Wright J-6-5 engine

The relative success of the 5C3 series could not ensure the survival of the company and Command-Aire officers filed for bankruptcy in 1931 It was a far cry from the proud statement of

its president Bob Snowden who said during his presentation of the Little Rocket at the 1930 St Louis show (as reported in Time) Command-Aire is the only production airplane which has never killed somebody never seshyriously hurt anybody

But safety was not enough of an edge over the competition Between 1928 and 1930 The Command-Aire Corp delivered 230 aircraft of various marques making it for a short time

Price at the factory $6325 (reduced to $5950 in 1930)

Engine Wright R-760-8

NC997E Perfonnance (as defined in STC SA4957NM)

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Concerns Over FAAs Field Approvals Policy Dominate Type Club Issues Meeting

Some members of the general aviashy

tion (GA) community and GA aviation

industries are angry over changes in

FAA policy that make it more difficult to

obtain field approvals (FAA Form 337)

for aircraft modifications Because of

the current policy which was instituted

in 2004 some kinds of modifications

that used to be granted as field approvshy

als now require an STC (supplemental

type certificate)

The 337 STC policy was the topic

of a sometimes-heated discussion at

Wednesdays annual Type Club amp Aging

GA Aircraft Issues meeting Held each

year at AirVenture the meeting brings toshy

gether leaders from the agency and the

industry to identify problems and seek

creative solutions

Both field approvals accomplished via

FAA Form 337 and STCs provide agency

approval for changes to an aircraft not

conforming to its original type certifishy

cate or to an existing STC for that airshy

plane Typical field approvals or STCs

might cover aftermarket or non-aviation

replacement parts radios instruments

engines propellers STOl kits or airshy

frame modifications A field approval

applies to a single aircraft As the comshy

plexity of the modification increases

the policy requires an STC rather than

a 337 An STC applies to all aircraft of a

single aircraft type-all Cessna 172Bs

for example A middle ground option-a

one-time STC-applies like a 337 to

only one aircraft The process is more

rigorous than a 337 but simpler than a

full STC local FAA representatives can

grant field approvals Obtaining an STC

or one-time STC is a more complicated

BY DAVID SAKRISON

approval process handled through FAA

regional offices

At Wednesdays meeting aircraft reshy

storers and vintage type-club officers arshy

gued that the 2004 change in FAA policy

has effectively eliminated field approvshy

als by forcing everyone into the STC

process even for items previously reshy

ceiving Form 337 field approvals They

further argued that long delays in grantshy

ing STCs have effectively eliminated the

STC option as well forcing owners of agshy

ing aircraft to forego proper maintenance

or use unapproved parts

FAA officials responded that the polshy

icy change was necessary Some of the

337 field approvals [that were granted

before the policy change] went well beshy

yond what the FAA inspectors should

have done or were qualified to do said

Jim Ballough FAA Flight Standards dishy

rector A lot of people out there do not

understand the 337 STC processes

he added and that led to what the FAA

feels were inappropriate field approvals

If the change in policy and the reshy

sulting increase in STC requests have

caused delays in STC approvals that s

a problem Ballough said We re going

to work it out He added If there are

other issues that need to be resolved

work through EAA communicate your

concern to them and well take a look

at it

A lot of this has to do with educashy

tion said H G Frautschy executive

director of EAAs Vintage Aircraft Assoshy

ciation and editor of Vintage Airplane

magazine Were working with the FAAs

John Colomy on a series of articles that

will appear in Vintage Airplane magazine

this fall explaining the 337 and STC apshy

proval process

After several people at the meeting

complained that the FAAs policy change

was unreasonable and unnecessary

John Hickey FAAs director of aircraft cershy

tification services replied We didnt do

this in a vacuum we held meetings and

listened to people all over the country

including four meetings in Alaska where

the issue was most contentious But

he added the FAA has a responsibility

to uphold aircraft standards and ensure

aircraft safety and some of the existing

337s fell way outside the standards for

field approvals

With tensions apparently rising on

both sides of the issue Kim Smith of

the FAA Small Airplane Directorate apshy

pealed to the group Please she said

while we disagree on some things lets

not lose the energy or the collaborative

spirit we started with here Alluding to

issues that remain contentious and unshy

resolved she told the group that solushy

tions will be found We [FAA and the

industry] can do it separately or we can

do it together You ll be happier if we do

it together

The 337 policy has changed said

Earl lawrence EAA vice president of inshy

dustry and regulatory affairs We are

going to have to do the engineering data

when we make major changes in an airshy

craft Blaming the FAA is not the answer

The agency is really bending over backshy

wards to work with us on this

If this [policy] is the issue lawshy

rence told the industry leaders let s

get together on it get our act together

and then work with the FAA

VINTAGE AIRPLA NE 3

Ed Marquart Edwin E Ed Marquart a promishy

nent figure of the early homebuilt ~

early members

mittee chairman (D-Illinois) Thomas Petri (R-Wisconsin) ranking commitshytee member and representative of the district including Oshkosh Wisconshysin Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) Candace Miller (R-Michigan) Vern Ehlers (RshyMichigan) Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) and Sam Graves (R-Missouri)

Every member here and those who serve on the committee unanimously rejected user fees in the House bill Cosshytello told the audience We think the current structure adequately funds not only the air traffic control system but future technology We will fight very hard for one no user fees and two safeshyguards so that we continue to have the safest aviation system in the world

All the legislators agreed that the most important point the public should take from the forum is to contact the people who represent them in Washingshyton including President Bush to emshyphasize their stance against user fees

They urged people to send letters and e-mails and to make phone calls to let Congress know that user fees are unnecshyessary and would not provide as much needed revenue for the future of aviation as does the current tax-based system

Costello also stressed that there is lot of pressure to get appropriations legislashytion on the floor and that the existing FAA authorization expires September 30 Time is of the essence he said The only way we will win is if you take action and take action immediately

EAA Urges Members to Contact Congress

EAA followed up its AirVenture usshyer-fee campaign with a mass e-mail appeal to members urging them to contact their congressional represenshytatives and voice their support for HR 2881 That bill would largely preserve the current funding model and provide adequate revenues for not just the current system but also the next-generation air traffic control development Learn more about how you can join the campaign at www EAA orguserfees

Back Cover Artwork T-Shirts T-shirts of our back cover artwork

of the Rezich family Travel Airs are available in large and extra-large

SEPTEMBER 2007

sizes Price is $35 with a portion goshying to the Travel Air Restorers Assoshyciation (TARA) Send payment to Jim Rezich PO Box 571 Winnebago IL 61088

and restoration movements and EAA Chapter I died peacefully of natural causes early Wednesday morning July 4 at the age of 85 Ed worked at historic Flabob Airport Rivershyside California from 1955 until two weeks before he passed away Nearly 500 plan sets of his most popular design the MA-5 Charger biplane were sold Ed was EAA member 198 Up until two weeks before his death Marquart had been working on the restoration of his Buhl Air Sedan

EAA Founder and Chairman Paul Poberezny said Ed Marquart was one of the important people who made Flabob such an important location for the homebuilt movement espeshycially in EAAs early years

Like so many of the fellows at the begin ning of our organization Ed liked the idea of forming EAA and what it had to offer and he contributed a lot to the movement he said People are still building his airplanes scratch-built rather than assembly Back in Riverside he and Ray Stits and all those fellows at the airport created a hotbed of homeshybuilding as a result of the EAA

That group contributed a great deal to support my beliefs of putshyting hand and mind to work and being creative They set a standard

for homebuilders for the quality of designs and airplanes

EAA President Tom Poberezny spoke on behalf of the organizashytion stating We are truly sadshydened by the passing of one of our

Tom Poberezny and Kate Meredith stand before the magnificent gift from the Meredith family

AWish-Fulfilling Gift Toward the end of the Memorial

Wall ceremony held on Sunday mornshying EAA Director of Flight Operations Sean Elliott landed on nearby Pioneer Airport in a magnificent 1932 Waco UEC cabin biplane Kate Meredith and her family then donated the restored classic (NC12472) to EAA in honor of her late husband Ted who passed away in 2003

It was always Ted s wish to reshystore the airplane she said After he passed the family was determined to finish the project Ted also inshytended for the airplane to be donated to EAA where it could fly among the other classic antiques at Pioneer Airshyport before being displayed at the EAA AirVenture Museum

We truly appreciate this wondershyful donation said EAA President Tom Poberezny Its a beautiful airplane Ted s love of flight was very strong

Well-known aircraft restorer Troy Westrum led the three-year restoration and the airplane scored a runner-up award in the Silver Age (1928-1936) Antique Classic category this year

4

We joined the AUA family a number of years ago because of

fair rates and their understanding of our needs with our grand

old classics and antique Weve stayed because of excellent

service prompt renewal reminders and quick followup due to

changes in our fleet (of aircraft)

- Peter and Mary Kate Bayer

Peter amp Mary Kate lkIyerNaperville IL

First solo bull Peter1961 bull Mary Kate1995

Current fleet bull Mary Kate has a 1947

Cessna 140 (the putt-putt)

bull Peter has a 1955 Cessna 180 (the SUV)

bull They have a 1939 Fleet 10F (Model T speedster)

AUA is Vintage Aircraft Association approved To become a member of VAA call 800-843-3612

AUA Excluaive EAA Vintage AircraftAssociation Insurance Program Lower ability and hull premiums - Medical payments included - Fleet discounts for multiple aircraft carrying all risk coverages

2007 AIRVENTURE VINTAGE AWARDS ANTIQUE AWARDS (Thru August 1945)

World War II Military TrainerLiaison Aircraft Runner-Up Dean Maupin Davenport IA 1943 Boeing Stearman N556DM

Outstanding Transport Category Joseph Shepherd Fayetteville GA 1936 Lockheed 12A N2072

Outstanding Customized Aircraft Myrt Rose South Barrington IL 1941 Piper J-3 C-65 N35224

Bronze Age (1937-1941)

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Monoplane Vernon Heyrman De Pere WI 1940 Cessna Airmaster NC237E

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Biplane Lloyd Cizek Amery WI 1940 Beech D17S N20779

Bronze Age Runner Up Craig Young Hudson WI 1940 Piper J-3 C-65 NC32562

Silver Age (1928-1936)

Silver Age Outstanding Open Cockpit Biplane Ron Alexander Griffin GA 1928 Stearman Aircraft C3-B N8835

Silver Age Runner Up Edwin Meredith Des Moines IA 1932 Waco UEC NC12472

Bronze Lindy

World War II Military TrainerLiaison Aircraft Champion Frank Iacovelli Arlington Heights IL 1940 Boeing A75 N725FR

Transport Category Champion Harry Woolridge And Ron Waldron Mcalpin FL 1929 Travel Air 10-0 NC418N

Customized Aircraft Champion John Hodgson Zephry Cove NV 1943 Boeing B75N1 N450SH

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Champion Richard Rezabek Canyon Country CA 1937 Stinson SR-9F NC18425

Silver Age (1928-1936) Champion Jeremy Redman Northfield MN 1931 Waco (lCF N11424

Golden Age (1918-1927) Champion Charles Wentworth Paso Robles CA 1927 Stinson SM1-B N7468B

Silver Lindy

Antique Reserve Grand Champion Roy Redman Owatonna MN 1931 Waco (lCF NC11457

Gold Lindy

Old Style Aircraft Company Creve Coeur MO 1931 Waco (lCF N12428

Judges Choice

AI Stix Historic Aviation Museum Glenn Peck restorerpilot Maryland Heights MO 1919 de Havilland DH-4M2A NX3249

CLASSIC AWARDS (September 1945 thru 1955)

Plaques (Small)

Outstanding Beech Roland SchabIe Janesville WI 1954 Beech E35 N3490B

Outstanding Cessna 120140 D Westrum West Des Moines IA 1946 Cessna 120 NC76189

Outstanding Cessna 170180 Donald Lindholm Phoenix AZ 1951 Cessna 170A N1424D

Outstanding Cessna 190195 Jim Karlovich Kingston GA 1953 Cessna 195B N2118C

Outstanding Navion Robert Kosztyo Apalachin NY 1950 Navion A N5168K

Outstanding Stinson Steven Smith Santa Rosa CA 1946 Stinson 108-1 NC97979

Outstanding Swift Stephen Wilson Granbury TX 1948 Temco GC-1B N77753

Outstanding Limited Production Richard Epton Brooks GA 1949 Bucker BU-181 N94245

Preservation Ronald French Anthem AZ 1949 Ryan Navion N4969K

Custom Class A (O-SO hpj Dan Schumaker Glenville MN 1946 Aeronca 7AC NS2975

Custom Class B (S1-150 hpj Duane Oosterhuis Ozark MO 1946 Silvaire Luscombe SA N1071K

SEPTEMBER 2007 6

Custom Class C(151-235 hpj Daniel Cammack Dodge City KS 1946 Temco GC-l B N80791

Custom Class D (236 - up hpj Michael Hickethier Wadsworth OH 1952 Cessna 195B N3064B

Plaques (Large)

Best Custom Runner Up George Willford Waterville OH 1953 Cessna 170B N3098A

Bronze Lindy

Class I (0 - 80 hpj Joel Severinghaus Des Moines IA 1946 Taylorcraft BC12-D NC96130

Class II (81 - 150 hpj David Powell Rodgers AR 1953 Anderson Greenwood AND-51 -A N3904K

Class III (151 - 235 hpj Bob Brandt Schaumburg IL 1954 Cessna 180 N3890C

Class IV (236 - up hpj Jack Pelton Wichita KS 1955 Cessna 195B N2196C

Best Custom Jeffrey Deaton Morehead City NC 1954 Beech E35 N3214C

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Bill Robicheau Montello WI 1947 Stinson 108 N8502

Gold Lindy

Grand Champion Steve Jacobson Fort Worth TX 1950 Cessna 17OA N5752C

CONTEMPORARY AWARDS (1956 - 1970)

Outstanding In Type

Outstanding Beech Single Engine Dionisio Aspiras Dickenson TX 1968 Beech 36 N7513N

Outstanding Beech Multi-Engine Miles Malone Thousand Oaks CA 1963 Beech D95A N8965M

Outstanding Bellanca Jason Shockey Hazlehurst GA 1957 Bellanca 14-19-2 N7682B

Outstanding Cessna 150 Michael Wotherspoon Coldwater ONT CAN 1965 Cessna 150F CFSZD

Outstanding Cessna 170172175 Robert Schaefer Tryon NC 1957 Cessna 172 N8377B

Outstanding Cessna 180182210 Todd Childerhose Aurora ONT CAN 1958 Cessna 182A CFKJW

Outstanding Mooney Raymond Miller Colorado Springs CO 1962 Mooney M20C N6402U

Outstanding Piper PA-18 Super Cub Loren Kopseng Bismarck ND 1960 Piper PA-18-150 N3574Z

Outstanding Piper PA-24 Comanche Dennis Carew Appleton WI 1963 Piper PA-24-250 N250LJ

Outstanding Piper PA-28 Cherokee John Ditchie Glen Ellyn IL 1966 Piper PA-28-140 N7122R

Outstanding Limited Production Marilyn amp Richard OIwin Jemez Springs NM 1969 Navion H N2533T

Most Unique Scott Seibold Grand Junction CO 1967 Fairchild Heli-Porter Pilatus PC6 B2-H2 N354F

Preservation Award James Lynch Lawton OK 1962 Beech 35-B33 N8622M

Preservation Award Dean Richardson Stoughton WI 1965 Cessna 180H N2451F

Bronze Lindy

Class I Single Engine (0 - 160 hpj William Pappas Dallas TX 1959 Champion 7GC N4879E

Class II Single Engine (161 - 230 hpj David Carlson Okemos MI 1959 Mooney M20A Nl091C

Class III Single Engine (231 - up hpj Clayton Whaley Charleston WV 1966 Beech 35-C33 N75KW

Customize SingleMulti Engine Steve Eaton Jenks OK 1957 Piper PA-l8A N7096D

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Stephanie Allen Mukilteo WA 1969 Cessna 172K N78797

Gold Lindy

Grand ChampionpWilliam Rose Barrington IL 1956 de Havilland DHC-1B-2-S5 N56EF

V I N T AG E A I RPLANE 7

A golden age biplanes German pedigree PHOTOS AND ARTICLE BY GILLES ALLARD

he golden age of aviation saw the birth of a multitude of airplane manufacturers going about their business with varying degrees of sucshycess All of them however

had one thing in common The Octoshyber 1929 Wall Street crash endangered their very existence Worse yet a mashyS SEPTEMBER 2007

jority of them did not survive its ripshyples and many brand names vanished forever from the aviation vocabulary

Nevertheless thanks to the efforts of a handful of passionate individushyals some long-gone manufacturers have been brought back from oblivshyion and their products are still gracshying the skies One such phoenix is

Command-Aire SC3 N997E the only flying example of a rather popular airplane type in its time

Command-Aire Inc started life as the Arkansas Aircraft Co Inc in Little Rock Arkansas in 1926 The newly formed manufacturer occupied the former Climber Motor Corp buildshying at 1823 E 17th Street The adshy

jacent piece of land-more than 20 acres-allowed for the creation of two runways The new airfield rapidly beshycame known as Command-Aire Field Nowadays the industria l buildings are still standing while the airfield is only a faded memory

In order to proceed with airplane manufacturing Morton Cronk a young graduate from the Massachushysetts Institute of Technology was hired to design the first company product This phase was completed in the spring of 1927 and an airplane was built according to the defined specifications Regardless of its good looks the craft did not fly satisfactoshyrily A more experienced project engishyneer was needed to improve its flying characteristics In spite of this an apshyplication for an experimental license was filed on December 6 1927

Albert Vollmecke a German citshyizen earned his mechanical engishyneering degree from the Technical University at Braunschweig Fresh out of graduation he took a position with the Ernst Heinkel Aeroplane Factory at Warnemunde He later came to the United States as a representative of Ernst Heinkel in license negotiations for the production of a training airshycraft Impressed with the advanceshy

ment of civil aviation in the United States he decided to stay and began searching for a position He learned of an opening for a chief engineer at the Arkansas Aircraft Co applied for the job and joined the company in September 1927 Relying heavily on European technology he went to work immediately on redesigning the poor-flying model 3C3 substituting a thinner Aeromarine 2A airfoil and installing full-span slotted ailerons With these improvements the plane flew very well and was very stable

An application for approved type certificate (ATC) was submitted to the aeronautics branch of the Departshyment of Commerce and ATC No 53 was granted in July 1928 The first official model 3C3 was rolled out of the plant on January 1928 and was used for ferrying purposes as the ATC had not yet been granted The plane carried the NC6690 license number serial number 515 Power was a war surplus Curtiss OX-5 serial number M-6660 manufactured by the WillysshyMorrow Co of Elmira New York

As the OX-5-powered Model 3C3 began rolling off the assembly line in the spring of 1928 the search was on to purchase and install different types of engines Fitted with a 1l0-hp Warshy

some time later Ireceived aletter from Mr Robert Snowden indicating that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and Bob is checking the integrity of the HamiHon Standard prop during the American

Bamstonners Air Tour 2006 The installation of a Wright R-760-8 engine required a supplemental type certificate that proved quite frustrating to obtain even withliving nearby the help of the original designer of the plane

VINTAGE A IRPLANE 9

J Carroll Cone Director of Sales for Command-Aire with model SC3 serial numshyber W-6S manufactured March 1929 This aircraft was the second SC3 from the assembly line and was flown to California by company Vice President Charles M Taylor Taylor was participating in the Aviation Country Clubs Tour in the spring of 1929 Ruth Nichols famous aviatrix wrote in her book At Dallas we were joined by another member of the Aviation Country Clubs Charles Taylor of Little Rock flying a new Command-Aire

In this factory photograph by RD Wolff a horizontal stabilizer of a model 3C3 is being load tested Holding the sign is none other than designer Albert Vollmecke Albert always designed with a great margin of safety in all his ships

10 SEPTEMBER 2007

ner Scarab radial engine the plane became the model 3C3-A (ATC No 118) When Command-Aire acquired a few Siemens-Halske engines the bashysic 3C3 airframe was modified to acshycommodate it and became the 3C3-B (ATC No 120) ATC No ISO was granted in May 1929 to the Model 3C3-T a training version of the stanshydard 3C3 of which 25 were built

Having experimented with all sorts of engine variations a new model was needed Albert Vollmecke redeshysigned the 3C3 into its next evolushytionary step the 5C3

The model 5C3 (ATC No 184) was a three-place open-cockpit biplane of

Below Albert Vollmecke chief designer (left) and Charles Tayshylor former vice president of Command-Aire with model SC3 NX92SE on November 12 1983 The occasion was Vollmeckes inshyduction into the Arkansas Aviashytion Hall of Fame November 11 1983 in north Little Rock

typical Command-Aire configuration Powered by a six-cylinder 170-hp Curshytiss Challenger engine the fuselage and empennage were the same as the Curtiss OX-5-powered Model 3C3 Wing design was slightly different but retained the Aeromarine 2A airshyfoil Fuselage framework was classic welded chromoly steel tubing lightly faired to shape with fairing strips and fabric-covered The wings were built up of solid spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs the comshypleted framework fabric-covered

A wide choice of engines was also offered for the model 5C3 Powered by a 150-hp US-built Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine the plane became the 5C3-A (ATC No 185) Only one of this type was built and its stability was demonstrated by Ike Vollmeckes flight from San Diego to Los Angeshyles-a distance of more than 100 miles-from outside the cockpit Equipped with a Siemens-Halske the airplane became the 5C3-AT of which four were built under ATC No

209 A 150-hp Axelson engine fitted on a basic 5C3 airframe became the Model 5C3-B (ATC No 214) Last but not least the ultimate ModelS the 5C3-C (ATC No 233) of which five were built was powered by a Wright J-6-5 engine

The relative success of the 5C3 series could not ensure the survival of the company and Command-Aire officers filed for bankruptcy in 1931 It was a far cry from the proud statement of

its president Bob Snowden who said during his presentation of the Little Rocket at the 1930 St Louis show (as reported in Time) Command-Aire is the only production airplane which has never killed somebody never seshyriously hurt anybody

But safety was not enough of an edge over the competition Between 1928 and 1930 The Command-Aire Corp delivered 230 aircraft of various marques making it for a short time

Price at the factory $6325 (reduced to $5950 in 1930)

Engine Wright R-760-8

NC997E Perfonnance (as defined in STC SA4957NM)

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Ed Marquart Edwin E Ed Marquart a promishy

nent figure of the early homebuilt ~

early members

mittee chairman (D-Illinois) Thomas Petri (R-Wisconsin) ranking commitshytee member and representative of the district including Oshkosh Wisconshysin Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) Candace Miller (R-Michigan) Vern Ehlers (RshyMichigan) Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) and Sam Graves (R-Missouri)

Every member here and those who serve on the committee unanimously rejected user fees in the House bill Cosshytello told the audience We think the current structure adequately funds not only the air traffic control system but future technology We will fight very hard for one no user fees and two safeshyguards so that we continue to have the safest aviation system in the world

All the legislators agreed that the most important point the public should take from the forum is to contact the people who represent them in Washingshyton including President Bush to emshyphasize their stance against user fees

They urged people to send letters and e-mails and to make phone calls to let Congress know that user fees are unnecshyessary and would not provide as much needed revenue for the future of aviation as does the current tax-based system

Costello also stressed that there is lot of pressure to get appropriations legislashytion on the floor and that the existing FAA authorization expires September 30 Time is of the essence he said The only way we will win is if you take action and take action immediately

EAA Urges Members to Contact Congress

EAA followed up its AirVenture usshyer-fee campaign with a mass e-mail appeal to members urging them to contact their congressional represenshytatives and voice their support for HR 2881 That bill would largely preserve the current funding model and provide adequate revenues for not just the current system but also the next-generation air traffic control development Learn more about how you can join the campaign at www EAA orguserfees

Back Cover Artwork T-Shirts T-shirts of our back cover artwork

of the Rezich family Travel Airs are available in large and extra-large

SEPTEMBER 2007

sizes Price is $35 with a portion goshying to the Travel Air Restorers Assoshyciation (TARA) Send payment to Jim Rezich PO Box 571 Winnebago IL 61088

and restoration movements and EAA Chapter I died peacefully of natural causes early Wednesday morning July 4 at the age of 85 Ed worked at historic Flabob Airport Rivershyside California from 1955 until two weeks before he passed away Nearly 500 plan sets of his most popular design the MA-5 Charger biplane were sold Ed was EAA member 198 Up until two weeks before his death Marquart had been working on the restoration of his Buhl Air Sedan

EAA Founder and Chairman Paul Poberezny said Ed Marquart was one of the important people who made Flabob such an important location for the homebuilt movement espeshycially in EAAs early years

Like so many of the fellows at the begin ning of our organization Ed liked the idea of forming EAA and what it had to offer and he contributed a lot to the movement he said People are still building his airplanes scratch-built rather than assembly Back in Riverside he and Ray Stits and all those fellows at the airport created a hotbed of homeshybuilding as a result of the EAA

That group contributed a great deal to support my beliefs of putshyting hand and mind to work and being creative They set a standard

for homebuilders for the quality of designs and airplanes

EAA President Tom Poberezny spoke on behalf of the organizashytion stating We are truly sadshydened by the passing of one of our

Tom Poberezny and Kate Meredith stand before the magnificent gift from the Meredith family

AWish-Fulfilling Gift Toward the end of the Memorial

Wall ceremony held on Sunday mornshying EAA Director of Flight Operations Sean Elliott landed on nearby Pioneer Airport in a magnificent 1932 Waco UEC cabin biplane Kate Meredith and her family then donated the restored classic (NC12472) to EAA in honor of her late husband Ted who passed away in 2003

It was always Ted s wish to reshystore the airplane she said After he passed the family was determined to finish the project Ted also inshytended for the airplane to be donated to EAA where it could fly among the other classic antiques at Pioneer Airshyport before being displayed at the EAA AirVenture Museum

We truly appreciate this wondershyful donation said EAA President Tom Poberezny Its a beautiful airplane Ted s love of flight was very strong

Well-known aircraft restorer Troy Westrum led the three-year restoration and the airplane scored a runner-up award in the Silver Age (1928-1936) Antique Classic category this year

4

We joined the AUA family a number of years ago because of

fair rates and their understanding of our needs with our grand

old classics and antique Weve stayed because of excellent

service prompt renewal reminders and quick followup due to

changes in our fleet (of aircraft)

- Peter and Mary Kate Bayer

Peter amp Mary Kate lkIyerNaperville IL

First solo bull Peter1961 bull Mary Kate1995

Current fleet bull Mary Kate has a 1947

Cessna 140 (the putt-putt)

bull Peter has a 1955 Cessna 180 (the SUV)

bull They have a 1939 Fleet 10F (Model T speedster)

AUA is Vintage Aircraft Association approved To become a member of VAA call 800-843-3612

AUA Excluaive EAA Vintage AircraftAssociation Insurance Program Lower ability and hull premiums - Medical payments included - Fleet discounts for multiple aircraft carrying all risk coverages

2007 AIRVENTURE VINTAGE AWARDS ANTIQUE AWARDS (Thru August 1945)

World War II Military TrainerLiaison Aircraft Runner-Up Dean Maupin Davenport IA 1943 Boeing Stearman N556DM

Outstanding Transport Category Joseph Shepherd Fayetteville GA 1936 Lockheed 12A N2072

Outstanding Customized Aircraft Myrt Rose South Barrington IL 1941 Piper J-3 C-65 N35224

Bronze Age (1937-1941)

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Monoplane Vernon Heyrman De Pere WI 1940 Cessna Airmaster NC237E

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Biplane Lloyd Cizek Amery WI 1940 Beech D17S N20779

Bronze Age Runner Up Craig Young Hudson WI 1940 Piper J-3 C-65 NC32562

Silver Age (1928-1936)

Silver Age Outstanding Open Cockpit Biplane Ron Alexander Griffin GA 1928 Stearman Aircraft C3-B N8835

Silver Age Runner Up Edwin Meredith Des Moines IA 1932 Waco UEC NC12472

Bronze Lindy

World War II Military TrainerLiaison Aircraft Champion Frank Iacovelli Arlington Heights IL 1940 Boeing A75 N725FR

Transport Category Champion Harry Woolridge And Ron Waldron Mcalpin FL 1929 Travel Air 10-0 NC418N

Customized Aircraft Champion John Hodgson Zephry Cove NV 1943 Boeing B75N1 N450SH

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Champion Richard Rezabek Canyon Country CA 1937 Stinson SR-9F NC18425

Silver Age (1928-1936) Champion Jeremy Redman Northfield MN 1931 Waco (lCF N11424

Golden Age (1918-1927) Champion Charles Wentworth Paso Robles CA 1927 Stinson SM1-B N7468B

Silver Lindy

Antique Reserve Grand Champion Roy Redman Owatonna MN 1931 Waco (lCF NC11457

Gold Lindy

Old Style Aircraft Company Creve Coeur MO 1931 Waco (lCF N12428

Judges Choice

AI Stix Historic Aviation Museum Glenn Peck restorerpilot Maryland Heights MO 1919 de Havilland DH-4M2A NX3249

CLASSIC AWARDS (September 1945 thru 1955)

Plaques (Small)

Outstanding Beech Roland SchabIe Janesville WI 1954 Beech E35 N3490B

Outstanding Cessna 120140 D Westrum West Des Moines IA 1946 Cessna 120 NC76189

Outstanding Cessna 170180 Donald Lindholm Phoenix AZ 1951 Cessna 170A N1424D

Outstanding Cessna 190195 Jim Karlovich Kingston GA 1953 Cessna 195B N2118C

Outstanding Navion Robert Kosztyo Apalachin NY 1950 Navion A N5168K

Outstanding Stinson Steven Smith Santa Rosa CA 1946 Stinson 108-1 NC97979

Outstanding Swift Stephen Wilson Granbury TX 1948 Temco GC-1B N77753

Outstanding Limited Production Richard Epton Brooks GA 1949 Bucker BU-181 N94245

Preservation Ronald French Anthem AZ 1949 Ryan Navion N4969K

Custom Class A (O-SO hpj Dan Schumaker Glenville MN 1946 Aeronca 7AC NS2975

Custom Class B (S1-150 hpj Duane Oosterhuis Ozark MO 1946 Silvaire Luscombe SA N1071K

SEPTEMBER 2007 6

Custom Class C(151-235 hpj Daniel Cammack Dodge City KS 1946 Temco GC-l B N80791

Custom Class D (236 - up hpj Michael Hickethier Wadsworth OH 1952 Cessna 195B N3064B

Plaques (Large)

Best Custom Runner Up George Willford Waterville OH 1953 Cessna 170B N3098A

Bronze Lindy

Class I (0 - 80 hpj Joel Severinghaus Des Moines IA 1946 Taylorcraft BC12-D NC96130

Class II (81 - 150 hpj David Powell Rodgers AR 1953 Anderson Greenwood AND-51 -A N3904K

Class III (151 - 235 hpj Bob Brandt Schaumburg IL 1954 Cessna 180 N3890C

Class IV (236 - up hpj Jack Pelton Wichita KS 1955 Cessna 195B N2196C

Best Custom Jeffrey Deaton Morehead City NC 1954 Beech E35 N3214C

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Bill Robicheau Montello WI 1947 Stinson 108 N8502

Gold Lindy

Grand Champion Steve Jacobson Fort Worth TX 1950 Cessna 17OA N5752C

CONTEMPORARY AWARDS (1956 - 1970)

Outstanding In Type

Outstanding Beech Single Engine Dionisio Aspiras Dickenson TX 1968 Beech 36 N7513N

Outstanding Beech Multi-Engine Miles Malone Thousand Oaks CA 1963 Beech D95A N8965M

Outstanding Bellanca Jason Shockey Hazlehurst GA 1957 Bellanca 14-19-2 N7682B

Outstanding Cessna 150 Michael Wotherspoon Coldwater ONT CAN 1965 Cessna 150F CFSZD

Outstanding Cessna 170172175 Robert Schaefer Tryon NC 1957 Cessna 172 N8377B

Outstanding Cessna 180182210 Todd Childerhose Aurora ONT CAN 1958 Cessna 182A CFKJW

Outstanding Mooney Raymond Miller Colorado Springs CO 1962 Mooney M20C N6402U

Outstanding Piper PA-18 Super Cub Loren Kopseng Bismarck ND 1960 Piper PA-18-150 N3574Z

Outstanding Piper PA-24 Comanche Dennis Carew Appleton WI 1963 Piper PA-24-250 N250LJ

Outstanding Piper PA-28 Cherokee John Ditchie Glen Ellyn IL 1966 Piper PA-28-140 N7122R

Outstanding Limited Production Marilyn amp Richard OIwin Jemez Springs NM 1969 Navion H N2533T

Most Unique Scott Seibold Grand Junction CO 1967 Fairchild Heli-Porter Pilatus PC6 B2-H2 N354F

Preservation Award James Lynch Lawton OK 1962 Beech 35-B33 N8622M

Preservation Award Dean Richardson Stoughton WI 1965 Cessna 180H N2451F

Bronze Lindy

Class I Single Engine (0 - 160 hpj William Pappas Dallas TX 1959 Champion 7GC N4879E

Class II Single Engine (161 - 230 hpj David Carlson Okemos MI 1959 Mooney M20A Nl091C

Class III Single Engine (231 - up hpj Clayton Whaley Charleston WV 1966 Beech 35-C33 N75KW

Customize SingleMulti Engine Steve Eaton Jenks OK 1957 Piper PA-l8A N7096D

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Stephanie Allen Mukilteo WA 1969 Cessna 172K N78797

Gold Lindy

Grand ChampionpWilliam Rose Barrington IL 1956 de Havilland DHC-1B-2-S5 N56EF

V I N T AG E A I RPLANE 7

A golden age biplanes German pedigree PHOTOS AND ARTICLE BY GILLES ALLARD

he golden age of aviation saw the birth of a multitude of airplane manufacturers going about their business with varying degrees of sucshycess All of them however

had one thing in common The Octoshyber 1929 Wall Street crash endangered their very existence Worse yet a mashyS SEPTEMBER 2007

jority of them did not survive its ripshyples and many brand names vanished forever from the aviation vocabulary

Nevertheless thanks to the efforts of a handful of passionate individushyals some long-gone manufacturers have been brought back from oblivshyion and their products are still gracshying the skies One such phoenix is

Command-Aire SC3 N997E the only flying example of a rather popular airplane type in its time

Command-Aire Inc started life as the Arkansas Aircraft Co Inc in Little Rock Arkansas in 1926 The newly formed manufacturer occupied the former Climber Motor Corp buildshying at 1823 E 17th Street The adshy

jacent piece of land-more than 20 acres-allowed for the creation of two runways The new airfield rapidly beshycame known as Command-Aire Field Nowadays the industria l buildings are still standing while the airfield is only a faded memory

In order to proceed with airplane manufacturing Morton Cronk a young graduate from the Massachushysetts Institute of Technology was hired to design the first company product This phase was completed in the spring of 1927 and an airplane was built according to the defined specifications Regardless of its good looks the craft did not fly satisfactoshyrily A more experienced project engishyneer was needed to improve its flying characteristics In spite of this an apshyplication for an experimental license was filed on December 6 1927

Albert Vollmecke a German citshyizen earned his mechanical engishyneering degree from the Technical University at Braunschweig Fresh out of graduation he took a position with the Ernst Heinkel Aeroplane Factory at Warnemunde He later came to the United States as a representative of Ernst Heinkel in license negotiations for the production of a training airshycraft Impressed with the advanceshy

ment of civil aviation in the United States he decided to stay and began searching for a position He learned of an opening for a chief engineer at the Arkansas Aircraft Co applied for the job and joined the company in September 1927 Relying heavily on European technology he went to work immediately on redesigning the poor-flying model 3C3 substituting a thinner Aeromarine 2A airfoil and installing full-span slotted ailerons With these improvements the plane flew very well and was very stable

An application for approved type certificate (ATC) was submitted to the aeronautics branch of the Departshyment of Commerce and ATC No 53 was granted in July 1928 The first official model 3C3 was rolled out of the plant on January 1928 and was used for ferrying purposes as the ATC had not yet been granted The plane carried the NC6690 license number serial number 515 Power was a war surplus Curtiss OX-5 serial number M-6660 manufactured by the WillysshyMorrow Co of Elmira New York

As the OX-5-powered Model 3C3 began rolling off the assembly line in the spring of 1928 the search was on to purchase and install different types of engines Fitted with a 1l0-hp Warshy

some time later Ireceived aletter from Mr Robert Snowden indicating that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and Bob is checking the integrity of the HamiHon Standard prop during the American

Bamstonners Air Tour 2006 The installation of a Wright R-760-8 engine required a supplemental type certificate that proved quite frustrating to obtain even withliving nearby the help of the original designer of the plane

VINTAGE A IRPLANE 9

J Carroll Cone Director of Sales for Command-Aire with model SC3 serial numshyber W-6S manufactured March 1929 This aircraft was the second SC3 from the assembly line and was flown to California by company Vice President Charles M Taylor Taylor was participating in the Aviation Country Clubs Tour in the spring of 1929 Ruth Nichols famous aviatrix wrote in her book At Dallas we were joined by another member of the Aviation Country Clubs Charles Taylor of Little Rock flying a new Command-Aire

In this factory photograph by RD Wolff a horizontal stabilizer of a model 3C3 is being load tested Holding the sign is none other than designer Albert Vollmecke Albert always designed with a great margin of safety in all his ships

10 SEPTEMBER 2007

ner Scarab radial engine the plane became the model 3C3-A (ATC No 118) When Command-Aire acquired a few Siemens-Halske engines the bashysic 3C3 airframe was modified to acshycommodate it and became the 3C3-B (ATC No 120) ATC No ISO was granted in May 1929 to the Model 3C3-T a training version of the stanshydard 3C3 of which 25 were built

Having experimented with all sorts of engine variations a new model was needed Albert Vollmecke redeshysigned the 3C3 into its next evolushytionary step the 5C3

The model 5C3 (ATC No 184) was a three-place open-cockpit biplane of

Below Albert Vollmecke chief designer (left) and Charles Tayshylor former vice president of Command-Aire with model SC3 NX92SE on November 12 1983 The occasion was Vollmeckes inshyduction into the Arkansas Aviashytion Hall of Fame November 11 1983 in north Little Rock

typical Command-Aire configuration Powered by a six-cylinder 170-hp Curshytiss Challenger engine the fuselage and empennage were the same as the Curtiss OX-5-powered Model 3C3 Wing design was slightly different but retained the Aeromarine 2A airshyfoil Fuselage framework was classic welded chromoly steel tubing lightly faired to shape with fairing strips and fabric-covered The wings were built up of solid spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs the comshypleted framework fabric-covered

A wide choice of engines was also offered for the model 5C3 Powered by a 150-hp US-built Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine the plane became the 5C3-A (ATC No 185) Only one of this type was built and its stability was demonstrated by Ike Vollmeckes flight from San Diego to Los Angeshyles-a distance of more than 100 miles-from outside the cockpit Equipped with a Siemens-Halske the airplane became the 5C3-AT of which four were built under ATC No

209 A 150-hp Axelson engine fitted on a basic 5C3 airframe became the Model 5C3-B (ATC No 214) Last but not least the ultimate ModelS the 5C3-C (ATC No 233) of which five were built was powered by a Wright J-6-5 engine

The relative success of the 5C3 series could not ensure the survival of the company and Command-Aire officers filed for bankruptcy in 1931 It was a far cry from the proud statement of

its president Bob Snowden who said during his presentation of the Little Rocket at the 1930 St Louis show (as reported in Time) Command-Aire is the only production airplane which has never killed somebody never seshyriously hurt anybody

But safety was not enough of an edge over the competition Between 1928 and 1930 The Command-Aire Corp delivered 230 aircraft of various marques making it for a short time

Price at the factory $6325 (reduced to $5950 in 1930)

Engine Wright R-760-8

NC997E Perfonnance (as defined in STC SA4957NM)

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

We joined the AUA family a number of years ago because of

fair rates and their understanding of our needs with our grand

old classics and antique Weve stayed because of excellent

service prompt renewal reminders and quick followup due to

changes in our fleet (of aircraft)

- Peter and Mary Kate Bayer

Peter amp Mary Kate lkIyerNaperville IL

First solo bull Peter1961 bull Mary Kate1995

Current fleet bull Mary Kate has a 1947

Cessna 140 (the putt-putt)

bull Peter has a 1955 Cessna 180 (the SUV)

bull They have a 1939 Fleet 10F (Model T speedster)

AUA is Vintage Aircraft Association approved To become a member of VAA call 800-843-3612

AUA Excluaive EAA Vintage AircraftAssociation Insurance Program Lower ability and hull premiums - Medical payments included - Fleet discounts for multiple aircraft carrying all risk coverages

2007 AIRVENTURE VINTAGE AWARDS ANTIQUE AWARDS (Thru August 1945)

World War II Military TrainerLiaison Aircraft Runner-Up Dean Maupin Davenport IA 1943 Boeing Stearman N556DM

Outstanding Transport Category Joseph Shepherd Fayetteville GA 1936 Lockheed 12A N2072

Outstanding Customized Aircraft Myrt Rose South Barrington IL 1941 Piper J-3 C-65 N35224

Bronze Age (1937-1941)

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Monoplane Vernon Heyrman De Pere WI 1940 Cessna Airmaster NC237E

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Biplane Lloyd Cizek Amery WI 1940 Beech D17S N20779

Bronze Age Runner Up Craig Young Hudson WI 1940 Piper J-3 C-65 NC32562

Silver Age (1928-1936)

Silver Age Outstanding Open Cockpit Biplane Ron Alexander Griffin GA 1928 Stearman Aircraft C3-B N8835

Silver Age Runner Up Edwin Meredith Des Moines IA 1932 Waco UEC NC12472

Bronze Lindy

World War II Military TrainerLiaison Aircraft Champion Frank Iacovelli Arlington Heights IL 1940 Boeing A75 N725FR

Transport Category Champion Harry Woolridge And Ron Waldron Mcalpin FL 1929 Travel Air 10-0 NC418N

Customized Aircraft Champion John Hodgson Zephry Cove NV 1943 Boeing B75N1 N450SH

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Champion Richard Rezabek Canyon Country CA 1937 Stinson SR-9F NC18425

Silver Age (1928-1936) Champion Jeremy Redman Northfield MN 1931 Waco (lCF N11424

Golden Age (1918-1927) Champion Charles Wentworth Paso Robles CA 1927 Stinson SM1-B N7468B

Silver Lindy

Antique Reserve Grand Champion Roy Redman Owatonna MN 1931 Waco (lCF NC11457

Gold Lindy

Old Style Aircraft Company Creve Coeur MO 1931 Waco (lCF N12428

Judges Choice

AI Stix Historic Aviation Museum Glenn Peck restorerpilot Maryland Heights MO 1919 de Havilland DH-4M2A NX3249

CLASSIC AWARDS (September 1945 thru 1955)

Plaques (Small)

Outstanding Beech Roland SchabIe Janesville WI 1954 Beech E35 N3490B

Outstanding Cessna 120140 D Westrum West Des Moines IA 1946 Cessna 120 NC76189

Outstanding Cessna 170180 Donald Lindholm Phoenix AZ 1951 Cessna 170A N1424D

Outstanding Cessna 190195 Jim Karlovich Kingston GA 1953 Cessna 195B N2118C

Outstanding Navion Robert Kosztyo Apalachin NY 1950 Navion A N5168K

Outstanding Stinson Steven Smith Santa Rosa CA 1946 Stinson 108-1 NC97979

Outstanding Swift Stephen Wilson Granbury TX 1948 Temco GC-1B N77753

Outstanding Limited Production Richard Epton Brooks GA 1949 Bucker BU-181 N94245

Preservation Ronald French Anthem AZ 1949 Ryan Navion N4969K

Custom Class A (O-SO hpj Dan Schumaker Glenville MN 1946 Aeronca 7AC NS2975

Custom Class B (S1-150 hpj Duane Oosterhuis Ozark MO 1946 Silvaire Luscombe SA N1071K

SEPTEMBER 2007 6

Custom Class C(151-235 hpj Daniel Cammack Dodge City KS 1946 Temco GC-l B N80791

Custom Class D (236 - up hpj Michael Hickethier Wadsworth OH 1952 Cessna 195B N3064B

Plaques (Large)

Best Custom Runner Up George Willford Waterville OH 1953 Cessna 170B N3098A

Bronze Lindy

Class I (0 - 80 hpj Joel Severinghaus Des Moines IA 1946 Taylorcraft BC12-D NC96130

Class II (81 - 150 hpj David Powell Rodgers AR 1953 Anderson Greenwood AND-51 -A N3904K

Class III (151 - 235 hpj Bob Brandt Schaumburg IL 1954 Cessna 180 N3890C

Class IV (236 - up hpj Jack Pelton Wichita KS 1955 Cessna 195B N2196C

Best Custom Jeffrey Deaton Morehead City NC 1954 Beech E35 N3214C

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Bill Robicheau Montello WI 1947 Stinson 108 N8502

Gold Lindy

Grand Champion Steve Jacobson Fort Worth TX 1950 Cessna 17OA N5752C

CONTEMPORARY AWARDS (1956 - 1970)

Outstanding In Type

Outstanding Beech Single Engine Dionisio Aspiras Dickenson TX 1968 Beech 36 N7513N

Outstanding Beech Multi-Engine Miles Malone Thousand Oaks CA 1963 Beech D95A N8965M

Outstanding Bellanca Jason Shockey Hazlehurst GA 1957 Bellanca 14-19-2 N7682B

Outstanding Cessna 150 Michael Wotherspoon Coldwater ONT CAN 1965 Cessna 150F CFSZD

Outstanding Cessna 170172175 Robert Schaefer Tryon NC 1957 Cessna 172 N8377B

Outstanding Cessna 180182210 Todd Childerhose Aurora ONT CAN 1958 Cessna 182A CFKJW

Outstanding Mooney Raymond Miller Colorado Springs CO 1962 Mooney M20C N6402U

Outstanding Piper PA-18 Super Cub Loren Kopseng Bismarck ND 1960 Piper PA-18-150 N3574Z

Outstanding Piper PA-24 Comanche Dennis Carew Appleton WI 1963 Piper PA-24-250 N250LJ

Outstanding Piper PA-28 Cherokee John Ditchie Glen Ellyn IL 1966 Piper PA-28-140 N7122R

Outstanding Limited Production Marilyn amp Richard OIwin Jemez Springs NM 1969 Navion H N2533T

Most Unique Scott Seibold Grand Junction CO 1967 Fairchild Heli-Porter Pilatus PC6 B2-H2 N354F

Preservation Award James Lynch Lawton OK 1962 Beech 35-B33 N8622M

Preservation Award Dean Richardson Stoughton WI 1965 Cessna 180H N2451F

Bronze Lindy

Class I Single Engine (0 - 160 hpj William Pappas Dallas TX 1959 Champion 7GC N4879E

Class II Single Engine (161 - 230 hpj David Carlson Okemos MI 1959 Mooney M20A Nl091C

Class III Single Engine (231 - up hpj Clayton Whaley Charleston WV 1966 Beech 35-C33 N75KW

Customize SingleMulti Engine Steve Eaton Jenks OK 1957 Piper PA-l8A N7096D

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Stephanie Allen Mukilteo WA 1969 Cessna 172K N78797

Gold Lindy

Grand ChampionpWilliam Rose Barrington IL 1956 de Havilland DHC-1B-2-S5 N56EF

V I N T AG E A I RPLANE 7

A golden age biplanes German pedigree PHOTOS AND ARTICLE BY GILLES ALLARD

he golden age of aviation saw the birth of a multitude of airplane manufacturers going about their business with varying degrees of sucshycess All of them however

had one thing in common The Octoshyber 1929 Wall Street crash endangered their very existence Worse yet a mashyS SEPTEMBER 2007

jority of them did not survive its ripshyples and many brand names vanished forever from the aviation vocabulary

Nevertheless thanks to the efforts of a handful of passionate individushyals some long-gone manufacturers have been brought back from oblivshyion and their products are still gracshying the skies One such phoenix is

Command-Aire SC3 N997E the only flying example of a rather popular airplane type in its time

Command-Aire Inc started life as the Arkansas Aircraft Co Inc in Little Rock Arkansas in 1926 The newly formed manufacturer occupied the former Climber Motor Corp buildshying at 1823 E 17th Street The adshy

jacent piece of land-more than 20 acres-allowed for the creation of two runways The new airfield rapidly beshycame known as Command-Aire Field Nowadays the industria l buildings are still standing while the airfield is only a faded memory

In order to proceed with airplane manufacturing Morton Cronk a young graduate from the Massachushysetts Institute of Technology was hired to design the first company product This phase was completed in the spring of 1927 and an airplane was built according to the defined specifications Regardless of its good looks the craft did not fly satisfactoshyrily A more experienced project engishyneer was needed to improve its flying characteristics In spite of this an apshyplication for an experimental license was filed on December 6 1927

Albert Vollmecke a German citshyizen earned his mechanical engishyneering degree from the Technical University at Braunschweig Fresh out of graduation he took a position with the Ernst Heinkel Aeroplane Factory at Warnemunde He later came to the United States as a representative of Ernst Heinkel in license negotiations for the production of a training airshycraft Impressed with the advanceshy

ment of civil aviation in the United States he decided to stay and began searching for a position He learned of an opening for a chief engineer at the Arkansas Aircraft Co applied for the job and joined the company in September 1927 Relying heavily on European technology he went to work immediately on redesigning the poor-flying model 3C3 substituting a thinner Aeromarine 2A airfoil and installing full-span slotted ailerons With these improvements the plane flew very well and was very stable

An application for approved type certificate (ATC) was submitted to the aeronautics branch of the Departshyment of Commerce and ATC No 53 was granted in July 1928 The first official model 3C3 was rolled out of the plant on January 1928 and was used for ferrying purposes as the ATC had not yet been granted The plane carried the NC6690 license number serial number 515 Power was a war surplus Curtiss OX-5 serial number M-6660 manufactured by the WillysshyMorrow Co of Elmira New York

As the OX-5-powered Model 3C3 began rolling off the assembly line in the spring of 1928 the search was on to purchase and install different types of engines Fitted with a 1l0-hp Warshy

some time later Ireceived aletter from Mr Robert Snowden indicating that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and Bob is checking the integrity of the HamiHon Standard prop during the American

Bamstonners Air Tour 2006 The installation of a Wright R-760-8 engine required a supplemental type certificate that proved quite frustrating to obtain even withliving nearby the help of the original designer of the plane

VINTAGE A IRPLANE 9

J Carroll Cone Director of Sales for Command-Aire with model SC3 serial numshyber W-6S manufactured March 1929 This aircraft was the second SC3 from the assembly line and was flown to California by company Vice President Charles M Taylor Taylor was participating in the Aviation Country Clubs Tour in the spring of 1929 Ruth Nichols famous aviatrix wrote in her book At Dallas we were joined by another member of the Aviation Country Clubs Charles Taylor of Little Rock flying a new Command-Aire

In this factory photograph by RD Wolff a horizontal stabilizer of a model 3C3 is being load tested Holding the sign is none other than designer Albert Vollmecke Albert always designed with a great margin of safety in all his ships

10 SEPTEMBER 2007

ner Scarab radial engine the plane became the model 3C3-A (ATC No 118) When Command-Aire acquired a few Siemens-Halske engines the bashysic 3C3 airframe was modified to acshycommodate it and became the 3C3-B (ATC No 120) ATC No ISO was granted in May 1929 to the Model 3C3-T a training version of the stanshydard 3C3 of which 25 were built

Having experimented with all sorts of engine variations a new model was needed Albert Vollmecke redeshysigned the 3C3 into its next evolushytionary step the 5C3

The model 5C3 (ATC No 184) was a three-place open-cockpit biplane of

Below Albert Vollmecke chief designer (left) and Charles Tayshylor former vice president of Command-Aire with model SC3 NX92SE on November 12 1983 The occasion was Vollmeckes inshyduction into the Arkansas Aviashytion Hall of Fame November 11 1983 in north Little Rock

typical Command-Aire configuration Powered by a six-cylinder 170-hp Curshytiss Challenger engine the fuselage and empennage were the same as the Curtiss OX-5-powered Model 3C3 Wing design was slightly different but retained the Aeromarine 2A airshyfoil Fuselage framework was classic welded chromoly steel tubing lightly faired to shape with fairing strips and fabric-covered The wings were built up of solid spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs the comshypleted framework fabric-covered

A wide choice of engines was also offered for the model 5C3 Powered by a 150-hp US-built Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine the plane became the 5C3-A (ATC No 185) Only one of this type was built and its stability was demonstrated by Ike Vollmeckes flight from San Diego to Los Angeshyles-a distance of more than 100 miles-from outside the cockpit Equipped with a Siemens-Halske the airplane became the 5C3-AT of which four were built under ATC No

209 A 150-hp Axelson engine fitted on a basic 5C3 airframe became the Model 5C3-B (ATC No 214) Last but not least the ultimate ModelS the 5C3-C (ATC No 233) of which five were built was powered by a Wright J-6-5 engine

The relative success of the 5C3 series could not ensure the survival of the company and Command-Aire officers filed for bankruptcy in 1931 It was a far cry from the proud statement of

its president Bob Snowden who said during his presentation of the Little Rocket at the 1930 St Louis show (as reported in Time) Command-Aire is the only production airplane which has never killed somebody never seshyriously hurt anybody

But safety was not enough of an edge over the competition Between 1928 and 1930 The Command-Aire Corp delivered 230 aircraft of various marques making it for a short time

Price at the factory $6325 (reduced to $5950 in 1930)

Engine Wright R-760-8

NC997E Perfonnance (as defined in STC SA4957NM)

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

2007 AIRVENTURE VINTAGE AWARDS ANTIQUE AWARDS (Thru August 1945)

World War II Military TrainerLiaison Aircraft Runner-Up Dean Maupin Davenport IA 1943 Boeing Stearman N556DM

Outstanding Transport Category Joseph Shepherd Fayetteville GA 1936 Lockheed 12A N2072

Outstanding Customized Aircraft Myrt Rose South Barrington IL 1941 Piper J-3 C-65 N35224

Bronze Age (1937-1941)

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Monoplane Vernon Heyrman De Pere WI 1940 Cessna Airmaster NC237E

Bronze Age Outstanding Closed Cockpit Biplane Lloyd Cizek Amery WI 1940 Beech D17S N20779

Bronze Age Runner Up Craig Young Hudson WI 1940 Piper J-3 C-65 NC32562

Silver Age (1928-1936)

Silver Age Outstanding Open Cockpit Biplane Ron Alexander Griffin GA 1928 Stearman Aircraft C3-B N8835

Silver Age Runner Up Edwin Meredith Des Moines IA 1932 Waco UEC NC12472

Bronze Lindy

World War II Military TrainerLiaison Aircraft Champion Frank Iacovelli Arlington Heights IL 1940 Boeing A75 N725FR

Transport Category Champion Harry Woolridge And Ron Waldron Mcalpin FL 1929 Travel Air 10-0 NC418N

Customized Aircraft Champion John Hodgson Zephry Cove NV 1943 Boeing B75N1 N450SH

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Champion Richard Rezabek Canyon Country CA 1937 Stinson SR-9F NC18425

Silver Age (1928-1936) Champion Jeremy Redman Northfield MN 1931 Waco (lCF N11424

Golden Age (1918-1927) Champion Charles Wentworth Paso Robles CA 1927 Stinson SM1-B N7468B

Silver Lindy

Antique Reserve Grand Champion Roy Redman Owatonna MN 1931 Waco (lCF NC11457

Gold Lindy

Old Style Aircraft Company Creve Coeur MO 1931 Waco (lCF N12428

Judges Choice

AI Stix Historic Aviation Museum Glenn Peck restorerpilot Maryland Heights MO 1919 de Havilland DH-4M2A NX3249

CLASSIC AWARDS (September 1945 thru 1955)

Plaques (Small)

Outstanding Beech Roland SchabIe Janesville WI 1954 Beech E35 N3490B

Outstanding Cessna 120140 D Westrum West Des Moines IA 1946 Cessna 120 NC76189

Outstanding Cessna 170180 Donald Lindholm Phoenix AZ 1951 Cessna 170A N1424D

Outstanding Cessna 190195 Jim Karlovich Kingston GA 1953 Cessna 195B N2118C

Outstanding Navion Robert Kosztyo Apalachin NY 1950 Navion A N5168K

Outstanding Stinson Steven Smith Santa Rosa CA 1946 Stinson 108-1 NC97979

Outstanding Swift Stephen Wilson Granbury TX 1948 Temco GC-1B N77753

Outstanding Limited Production Richard Epton Brooks GA 1949 Bucker BU-181 N94245

Preservation Ronald French Anthem AZ 1949 Ryan Navion N4969K

Custom Class A (O-SO hpj Dan Schumaker Glenville MN 1946 Aeronca 7AC NS2975

Custom Class B (S1-150 hpj Duane Oosterhuis Ozark MO 1946 Silvaire Luscombe SA N1071K

SEPTEMBER 2007 6

Custom Class C(151-235 hpj Daniel Cammack Dodge City KS 1946 Temco GC-l B N80791

Custom Class D (236 - up hpj Michael Hickethier Wadsworth OH 1952 Cessna 195B N3064B

Plaques (Large)

Best Custom Runner Up George Willford Waterville OH 1953 Cessna 170B N3098A

Bronze Lindy

Class I (0 - 80 hpj Joel Severinghaus Des Moines IA 1946 Taylorcraft BC12-D NC96130

Class II (81 - 150 hpj David Powell Rodgers AR 1953 Anderson Greenwood AND-51 -A N3904K

Class III (151 - 235 hpj Bob Brandt Schaumburg IL 1954 Cessna 180 N3890C

Class IV (236 - up hpj Jack Pelton Wichita KS 1955 Cessna 195B N2196C

Best Custom Jeffrey Deaton Morehead City NC 1954 Beech E35 N3214C

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Bill Robicheau Montello WI 1947 Stinson 108 N8502

Gold Lindy

Grand Champion Steve Jacobson Fort Worth TX 1950 Cessna 17OA N5752C

CONTEMPORARY AWARDS (1956 - 1970)

Outstanding In Type

Outstanding Beech Single Engine Dionisio Aspiras Dickenson TX 1968 Beech 36 N7513N

Outstanding Beech Multi-Engine Miles Malone Thousand Oaks CA 1963 Beech D95A N8965M

Outstanding Bellanca Jason Shockey Hazlehurst GA 1957 Bellanca 14-19-2 N7682B

Outstanding Cessna 150 Michael Wotherspoon Coldwater ONT CAN 1965 Cessna 150F CFSZD

Outstanding Cessna 170172175 Robert Schaefer Tryon NC 1957 Cessna 172 N8377B

Outstanding Cessna 180182210 Todd Childerhose Aurora ONT CAN 1958 Cessna 182A CFKJW

Outstanding Mooney Raymond Miller Colorado Springs CO 1962 Mooney M20C N6402U

Outstanding Piper PA-18 Super Cub Loren Kopseng Bismarck ND 1960 Piper PA-18-150 N3574Z

Outstanding Piper PA-24 Comanche Dennis Carew Appleton WI 1963 Piper PA-24-250 N250LJ

Outstanding Piper PA-28 Cherokee John Ditchie Glen Ellyn IL 1966 Piper PA-28-140 N7122R

Outstanding Limited Production Marilyn amp Richard OIwin Jemez Springs NM 1969 Navion H N2533T

Most Unique Scott Seibold Grand Junction CO 1967 Fairchild Heli-Porter Pilatus PC6 B2-H2 N354F

Preservation Award James Lynch Lawton OK 1962 Beech 35-B33 N8622M

Preservation Award Dean Richardson Stoughton WI 1965 Cessna 180H N2451F

Bronze Lindy

Class I Single Engine (0 - 160 hpj William Pappas Dallas TX 1959 Champion 7GC N4879E

Class II Single Engine (161 - 230 hpj David Carlson Okemos MI 1959 Mooney M20A Nl091C

Class III Single Engine (231 - up hpj Clayton Whaley Charleston WV 1966 Beech 35-C33 N75KW

Customize SingleMulti Engine Steve Eaton Jenks OK 1957 Piper PA-l8A N7096D

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Stephanie Allen Mukilteo WA 1969 Cessna 172K N78797

Gold Lindy

Grand ChampionpWilliam Rose Barrington IL 1956 de Havilland DHC-1B-2-S5 N56EF

V I N T AG E A I RPLANE 7

A golden age biplanes German pedigree PHOTOS AND ARTICLE BY GILLES ALLARD

he golden age of aviation saw the birth of a multitude of airplane manufacturers going about their business with varying degrees of sucshycess All of them however

had one thing in common The Octoshyber 1929 Wall Street crash endangered their very existence Worse yet a mashyS SEPTEMBER 2007

jority of them did not survive its ripshyples and many brand names vanished forever from the aviation vocabulary

Nevertheless thanks to the efforts of a handful of passionate individushyals some long-gone manufacturers have been brought back from oblivshyion and their products are still gracshying the skies One such phoenix is

Command-Aire SC3 N997E the only flying example of a rather popular airplane type in its time

Command-Aire Inc started life as the Arkansas Aircraft Co Inc in Little Rock Arkansas in 1926 The newly formed manufacturer occupied the former Climber Motor Corp buildshying at 1823 E 17th Street The adshy

jacent piece of land-more than 20 acres-allowed for the creation of two runways The new airfield rapidly beshycame known as Command-Aire Field Nowadays the industria l buildings are still standing while the airfield is only a faded memory

In order to proceed with airplane manufacturing Morton Cronk a young graduate from the Massachushysetts Institute of Technology was hired to design the first company product This phase was completed in the spring of 1927 and an airplane was built according to the defined specifications Regardless of its good looks the craft did not fly satisfactoshyrily A more experienced project engishyneer was needed to improve its flying characteristics In spite of this an apshyplication for an experimental license was filed on December 6 1927

Albert Vollmecke a German citshyizen earned his mechanical engishyneering degree from the Technical University at Braunschweig Fresh out of graduation he took a position with the Ernst Heinkel Aeroplane Factory at Warnemunde He later came to the United States as a representative of Ernst Heinkel in license negotiations for the production of a training airshycraft Impressed with the advanceshy

ment of civil aviation in the United States he decided to stay and began searching for a position He learned of an opening for a chief engineer at the Arkansas Aircraft Co applied for the job and joined the company in September 1927 Relying heavily on European technology he went to work immediately on redesigning the poor-flying model 3C3 substituting a thinner Aeromarine 2A airfoil and installing full-span slotted ailerons With these improvements the plane flew very well and was very stable

An application for approved type certificate (ATC) was submitted to the aeronautics branch of the Departshyment of Commerce and ATC No 53 was granted in July 1928 The first official model 3C3 was rolled out of the plant on January 1928 and was used for ferrying purposes as the ATC had not yet been granted The plane carried the NC6690 license number serial number 515 Power was a war surplus Curtiss OX-5 serial number M-6660 manufactured by the WillysshyMorrow Co of Elmira New York

As the OX-5-powered Model 3C3 began rolling off the assembly line in the spring of 1928 the search was on to purchase and install different types of engines Fitted with a 1l0-hp Warshy

some time later Ireceived aletter from Mr Robert Snowden indicating that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and Bob is checking the integrity of the HamiHon Standard prop during the American

Bamstonners Air Tour 2006 The installation of a Wright R-760-8 engine required a supplemental type certificate that proved quite frustrating to obtain even withliving nearby the help of the original designer of the plane

VINTAGE A IRPLANE 9

J Carroll Cone Director of Sales for Command-Aire with model SC3 serial numshyber W-6S manufactured March 1929 This aircraft was the second SC3 from the assembly line and was flown to California by company Vice President Charles M Taylor Taylor was participating in the Aviation Country Clubs Tour in the spring of 1929 Ruth Nichols famous aviatrix wrote in her book At Dallas we were joined by another member of the Aviation Country Clubs Charles Taylor of Little Rock flying a new Command-Aire

In this factory photograph by RD Wolff a horizontal stabilizer of a model 3C3 is being load tested Holding the sign is none other than designer Albert Vollmecke Albert always designed with a great margin of safety in all his ships

10 SEPTEMBER 2007

ner Scarab radial engine the plane became the model 3C3-A (ATC No 118) When Command-Aire acquired a few Siemens-Halske engines the bashysic 3C3 airframe was modified to acshycommodate it and became the 3C3-B (ATC No 120) ATC No ISO was granted in May 1929 to the Model 3C3-T a training version of the stanshydard 3C3 of which 25 were built

Having experimented with all sorts of engine variations a new model was needed Albert Vollmecke redeshysigned the 3C3 into its next evolushytionary step the 5C3

The model 5C3 (ATC No 184) was a three-place open-cockpit biplane of

Below Albert Vollmecke chief designer (left) and Charles Tayshylor former vice president of Command-Aire with model SC3 NX92SE on November 12 1983 The occasion was Vollmeckes inshyduction into the Arkansas Aviashytion Hall of Fame November 11 1983 in north Little Rock

typical Command-Aire configuration Powered by a six-cylinder 170-hp Curshytiss Challenger engine the fuselage and empennage were the same as the Curtiss OX-5-powered Model 3C3 Wing design was slightly different but retained the Aeromarine 2A airshyfoil Fuselage framework was classic welded chromoly steel tubing lightly faired to shape with fairing strips and fabric-covered The wings were built up of solid spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs the comshypleted framework fabric-covered

A wide choice of engines was also offered for the model 5C3 Powered by a 150-hp US-built Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine the plane became the 5C3-A (ATC No 185) Only one of this type was built and its stability was demonstrated by Ike Vollmeckes flight from San Diego to Los Angeshyles-a distance of more than 100 miles-from outside the cockpit Equipped with a Siemens-Halske the airplane became the 5C3-AT of which four were built under ATC No

209 A 150-hp Axelson engine fitted on a basic 5C3 airframe became the Model 5C3-B (ATC No 214) Last but not least the ultimate ModelS the 5C3-C (ATC No 233) of which five were built was powered by a Wright J-6-5 engine

The relative success of the 5C3 series could not ensure the survival of the company and Command-Aire officers filed for bankruptcy in 1931 It was a far cry from the proud statement of

its president Bob Snowden who said during his presentation of the Little Rocket at the 1930 St Louis show (as reported in Time) Command-Aire is the only production airplane which has never killed somebody never seshyriously hurt anybody

But safety was not enough of an edge over the competition Between 1928 and 1930 The Command-Aire Corp delivered 230 aircraft of various marques making it for a short time

Price at the factory $6325 (reduced to $5950 in 1930)

Engine Wright R-760-8

NC997E Perfonnance (as defined in STC SA4957NM)

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Custom Class C(151-235 hpj Daniel Cammack Dodge City KS 1946 Temco GC-l B N80791

Custom Class D (236 - up hpj Michael Hickethier Wadsworth OH 1952 Cessna 195B N3064B

Plaques (Large)

Best Custom Runner Up George Willford Waterville OH 1953 Cessna 170B N3098A

Bronze Lindy

Class I (0 - 80 hpj Joel Severinghaus Des Moines IA 1946 Taylorcraft BC12-D NC96130

Class II (81 - 150 hpj David Powell Rodgers AR 1953 Anderson Greenwood AND-51 -A N3904K

Class III (151 - 235 hpj Bob Brandt Schaumburg IL 1954 Cessna 180 N3890C

Class IV (236 - up hpj Jack Pelton Wichita KS 1955 Cessna 195B N2196C

Best Custom Jeffrey Deaton Morehead City NC 1954 Beech E35 N3214C

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Bill Robicheau Montello WI 1947 Stinson 108 N8502

Gold Lindy

Grand Champion Steve Jacobson Fort Worth TX 1950 Cessna 17OA N5752C

CONTEMPORARY AWARDS (1956 - 1970)

Outstanding In Type

Outstanding Beech Single Engine Dionisio Aspiras Dickenson TX 1968 Beech 36 N7513N

Outstanding Beech Multi-Engine Miles Malone Thousand Oaks CA 1963 Beech D95A N8965M

Outstanding Bellanca Jason Shockey Hazlehurst GA 1957 Bellanca 14-19-2 N7682B

Outstanding Cessna 150 Michael Wotherspoon Coldwater ONT CAN 1965 Cessna 150F CFSZD

Outstanding Cessna 170172175 Robert Schaefer Tryon NC 1957 Cessna 172 N8377B

Outstanding Cessna 180182210 Todd Childerhose Aurora ONT CAN 1958 Cessna 182A CFKJW

Outstanding Mooney Raymond Miller Colorado Springs CO 1962 Mooney M20C N6402U

Outstanding Piper PA-18 Super Cub Loren Kopseng Bismarck ND 1960 Piper PA-18-150 N3574Z

Outstanding Piper PA-24 Comanche Dennis Carew Appleton WI 1963 Piper PA-24-250 N250LJ

Outstanding Piper PA-28 Cherokee John Ditchie Glen Ellyn IL 1966 Piper PA-28-140 N7122R

Outstanding Limited Production Marilyn amp Richard OIwin Jemez Springs NM 1969 Navion H N2533T

Most Unique Scott Seibold Grand Junction CO 1967 Fairchild Heli-Porter Pilatus PC6 B2-H2 N354F

Preservation Award James Lynch Lawton OK 1962 Beech 35-B33 N8622M

Preservation Award Dean Richardson Stoughton WI 1965 Cessna 180H N2451F

Bronze Lindy

Class I Single Engine (0 - 160 hpj William Pappas Dallas TX 1959 Champion 7GC N4879E

Class II Single Engine (161 - 230 hpj David Carlson Okemos MI 1959 Mooney M20A Nl091C

Class III Single Engine (231 - up hpj Clayton Whaley Charleston WV 1966 Beech 35-C33 N75KW

Customize SingleMulti Engine Steve Eaton Jenks OK 1957 Piper PA-l8A N7096D

Silver Lindy

Reserve Grand Champion Stephanie Allen Mukilteo WA 1969 Cessna 172K N78797

Gold Lindy

Grand ChampionpWilliam Rose Barrington IL 1956 de Havilland DHC-1B-2-S5 N56EF

V I N T AG E A I RPLANE 7

A golden age biplanes German pedigree PHOTOS AND ARTICLE BY GILLES ALLARD

he golden age of aviation saw the birth of a multitude of airplane manufacturers going about their business with varying degrees of sucshycess All of them however

had one thing in common The Octoshyber 1929 Wall Street crash endangered their very existence Worse yet a mashyS SEPTEMBER 2007

jority of them did not survive its ripshyples and many brand names vanished forever from the aviation vocabulary

Nevertheless thanks to the efforts of a handful of passionate individushyals some long-gone manufacturers have been brought back from oblivshyion and their products are still gracshying the skies One such phoenix is

Command-Aire SC3 N997E the only flying example of a rather popular airplane type in its time

Command-Aire Inc started life as the Arkansas Aircraft Co Inc in Little Rock Arkansas in 1926 The newly formed manufacturer occupied the former Climber Motor Corp buildshying at 1823 E 17th Street The adshy

jacent piece of land-more than 20 acres-allowed for the creation of two runways The new airfield rapidly beshycame known as Command-Aire Field Nowadays the industria l buildings are still standing while the airfield is only a faded memory

In order to proceed with airplane manufacturing Morton Cronk a young graduate from the Massachushysetts Institute of Technology was hired to design the first company product This phase was completed in the spring of 1927 and an airplane was built according to the defined specifications Regardless of its good looks the craft did not fly satisfactoshyrily A more experienced project engishyneer was needed to improve its flying characteristics In spite of this an apshyplication for an experimental license was filed on December 6 1927

Albert Vollmecke a German citshyizen earned his mechanical engishyneering degree from the Technical University at Braunschweig Fresh out of graduation he took a position with the Ernst Heinkel Aeroplane Factory at Warnemunde He later came to the United States as a representative of Ernst Heinkel in license negotiations for the production of a training airshycraft Impressed with the advanceshy

ment of civil aviation in the United States he decided to stay and began searching for a position He learned of an opening for a chief engineer at the Arkansas Aircraft Co applied for the job and joined the company in September 1927 Relying heavily on European technology he went to work immediately on redesigning the poor-flying model 3C3 substituting a thinner Aeromarine 2A airfoil and installing full-span slotted ailerons With these improvements the plane flew very well and was very stable

An application for approved type certificate (ATC) was submitted to the aeronautics branch of the Departshyment of Commerce and ATC No 53 was granted in July 1928 The first official model 3C3 was rolled out of the plant on January 1928 and was used for ferrying purposes as the ATC had not yet been granted The plane carried the NC6690 license number serial number 515 Power was a war surplus Curtiss OX-5 serial number M-6660 manufactured by the WillysshyMorrow Co of Elmira New York

As the OX-5-powered Model 3C3 began rolling off the assembly line in the spring of 1928 the search was on to purchase and install different types of engines Fitted with a 1l0-hp Warshy

some time later Ireceived aletter from Mr Robert Snowden indicating that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and Bob is checking the integrity of the HamiHon Standard prop during the American

Bamstonners Air Tour 2006 The installation of a Wright R-760-8 engine required a supplemental type certificate that proved quite frustrating to obtain even withliving nearby the help of the original designer of the plane

VINTAGE A IRPLANE 9

J Carroll Cone Director of Sales for Command-Aire with model SC3 serial numshyber W-6S manufactured March 1929 This aircraft was the second SC3 from the assembly line and was flown to California by company Vice President Charles M Taylor Taylor was participating in the Aviation Country Clubs Tour in the spring of 1929 Ruth Nichols famous aviatrix wrote in her book At Dallas we were joined by another member of the Aviation Country Clubs Charles Taylor of Little Rock flying a new Command-Aire

In this factory photograph by RD Wolff a horizontal stabilizer of a model 3C3 is being load tested Holding the sign is none other than designer Albert Vollmecke Albert always designed with a great margin of safety in all his ships

10 SEPTEMBER 2007

ner Scarab radial engine the plane became the model 3C3-A (ATC No 118) When Command-Aire acquired a few Siemens-Halske engines the bashysic 3C3 airframe was modified to acshycommodate it and became the 3C3-B (ATC No 120) ATC No ISO was granted in May 1929 to the Model 3C3-T a training version of the stanshydard 3C3 of which 25 were built

Having experimented with all sorts of engine variations a new model was needed Albert Vollmecke redeshysigned the 3C3 into its next evolushytionary step the 5C3

The model 5C3 (ATC No 184) was a three-place open-cockpit biplane of

Below Albert Vollmecke chief designer (left) and Charles Tayshylor former vice president of Command-Aire with model SC3 NX92SE on November 12 1983 The occasion was Vollmeckes inshyduction into the Arkansas Aviashytion Hall of Fame November 11 1983 in north Little Rock

typical Command-Aire configuration Powered by a six-cylinder 170-hp Curshytiss Challenger engine the fuselage and empennage were the same as the Curtiss OX-5-powered Model 3C3 Wing design was slightly different but retained the Aeromarine 2A airshyfoil Fuselage framework was classic welded chromoly steel tubing lightly faired to shape with fairing strips and fabric-covered The wings were built up of solid spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs the comshypleted framework fabric-covered

A wide choice of engines was also offered for the model 5C3 Powered by a 150-hp US-built Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine the plane became the 5C3-A (ATC No 185) Only one of this type was built and its stability was demonstrated by Ike Vollmeckes flight from San Diego to Los Angeshyles-a distance of more than 100 miles-from outside the cockpit Equipped with a Siemens-Halske the airplane became the 5C3-AT of which four were built under ATC No

209 A 150-hp Axelson engine fitted on a basic 5C3 airframe became the Model 5C3-B (ATC No 214) Last but not least the ultimate ModelS the 5C3-C (ATC No 233) of which five were built was powered by a Wright J-6-5 engine

The relative success of the 5C3 series could not ensure the survival of the company and Command-Aire officers filed for bankruptcy in 1931 It was a far cry from the proud statement of

its president Bob Snowden who said during his presentation of the Little Rocket at the 1930 St Louis show (as reported in Time) Command-Aire is the only production airplane which has never killed somebody never seshyriously hurt anybody

But safety was not enough of an edge over the competition Between 1928 and 1930 The Command-Aire Corp delivered 230 aircraft of various marques making it for a short time

Price at the factory $6325 (reduced to $5950 in 1930)

Engine Wright R-760-8

NC997E Perfonnance (as defined in STC SA4957NM)

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

A golden age biplanes German pedigree PHOTOS AND ARTICLE BY GILLES ALLARD

he golden age of aviation saw the birth of a multitude of airplane manufacturers going about their business with varying degrees of sucshycess All of them however

had one thing in common The Octoshyber 1929 Wall Street crash endangered their very existence Worse yet a mashyS SEPTEMBER 2007

jority of them did not survive its ripshyples and many brand names vanished forever from the aviation vocabulary

Nevertheless thanks to the efforts of a handful of passionate individushyals some long-gone manufacturers have been brought back from oblivshyion and their products are still gracshying the skies One such phoenix is

Command-Aire SC3 N997E the only flying example of a rather popular airplane type in its time

Command-Aire Inc started life as the Arkansas Aircraft Co Inc in Little Rock Arkansas in 1926 The newly formed manufacturer occupied the former Climber Motor Corp buildshying at 1823 E 17th Street The adshy

jacent piece of land-more than 20 acres-allowed for the creation of two runways The new airfield rapidly beshycame known as Command-Aire Field Nowadays the industria l buildings are still standing while the airfield is only a faded memory

In order to proceed with airplane manufacturing Morton Cronk a young graduate from the Massachushysetts Institute of Technology was hired to design the first company product This phase was completed in the spring of 1927 and an airplane was built according to the defined specifications Regardless of its good looks the craft did not fly satisfactoshyrily A more experienced project engishyneer was needed to improve its flying characteristics In spite of this an apshyplication for an experimental license was filed on December 6 1927

Albert Vollmecke a German citshyizen earned his mechanical engishyneering degree from the Technical University at Braunschweig Fresh out of graduation he took a position with the Ernst Heinkel Aeroplane Factory at Warnemunde He later came to the United States as a representative of Ernst Heinkel in license negotiations for the production of a training airshycraft Impressed with the advanceshy

ment of civil aviation in the United States he decided to stay and began searching for a position He learned of an opening for a chief engineer at the Arkansas Aircraft Co applied for the job and joined the company in September 1927 Relying heavily on European technology he went to work immediately on redesigning the poor-flying model 3C3 substituting a thinner Aeromarine 2A airfoil and installing full-span slotted ailerons With these improvements the plane flew very well and was very stable

An application for approved type certificate (ATC) was submitted to the aeronautics branch of the Departshyment of Commerce and ATC No 53 was granted in July 1928 The first official model 3C3 was rolled out of the plant on January 1928 and was used for ferrying purposes as the ATC had not yet been granted The plane carried the NC6690 license number serial number 515 Power was a war surplus Curtiss OX-5 serial number M-6660 manufactured by the WillysshyMorrow Co of Elmira New York

As the OX-5-powered Model 3C3 began rolling off the assembly line in the spring of 1928 the search was on to purchase and install different types of engines Fitted with a 1l0-hp Warshy

some time later Ireceived aletter from Mr Robert Snowden indicating that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and Bob is checking the integrity of the HamiHon Standard prop during the American

Bamstonners Air Tour 2006 The installation of a Wright R-760-8 engine required a supplemental type certificate that proved quite frustrating to obtain even withliving nearby the help of the original designer of the plane

VINTAGE A IRPLANE 9

J Carroll Cone Director of Sales for Command-Aire with model SC3 serial numshyber W-6S manufactured March 1929 This aircraft was the second SC3 from the assembly line and was flown to California by company Vice President Charles M Taylor Taylor was participating in the Aviation Country Clubs Tour in the spring of 1929 Ruth Nichols famous aviatrix wrote in her book At Dallas we were joined by another member of the Aviation Country Clubs Charles Taylor of Little Rock flying a new Command-Aire

In this factory photograph by RD Wolff a horizontal stabilizer of a model 3C3 is being load tested Holding the sign is none other than designer Albert Vollmecke Albert always designed with a great margin of safety in all his ships

10 SEPTEMBER 2007

ner Scarab radial engine the plane became the model 3C3-A (ATC No 118) When Command-Aire acquired a few Siemens-Halske engines the bashysic 3C3 airframe was modified to acshycommodate it and became the 3C3-B (ATC No 120) ATC No ISO was granted in May 1929 to the Model 3C3-T a training version of the stanshydard 3C3 of which 25 were built

Having experimented with all sorts of engine variations a new model was needed Albert Vollmecke redeshysigned the 3C3 into its next evolushytionary step the 5C3

The model 5C3 (ATC No 184) was a three-place open-cockpit biplane of

Below Albert Vollmecke chief designer (left) and Charles Tayshylor former vice president of Command-Aire with model SC3 NX92SE on November 12 1983 The occasion was Vollmeckes inshyduction into the Arkansas Aviashytion Hall of Fame November 11 1983 in north Little Rock

typical Command-Aire configuration Powered by a six-cylinder 170-hp Curshytiss Challenger engine the fuselage and empennage were the same as the Curtiss OX-5-powered Model 3C3 Wing design was slightly different but retained the Aeromarine 2A airshyfoil Fuselage framework was classic welded chromoly steel tubing lightly faired to shape with fairing strips and fabric-covered The wings were built up of solid spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs the comshypleted framework fabric-covered

A wide choice of engines was also offered for the model 5C3 Powered by a 150-hp US-built Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine the plane became the 5C3-A (ATC No 185) Only one of this type was built and its stability was demonstrated by Ike Vollmeckes flight from San Diego to Los Angeshyles-a distance of more than 100 miles-from outside the cockpit Equipped with a Siemens-Halske the airplane became the 5C3-AT of which four were built under ATC No

209 A 150-hp Axelson engine fitted on a basic 5C3 airframe became the Model 5C3-B (ATC No 214) Last but not least the ultimate ModelS the 5C3-C (ATC No 233) of which five were built was powered by a Wright J-6-5 engine

The relative success of the 5C3 series could not ensure the survival of the company and Command-Aire officers filed for bankruptcy in 1931 It was a far cry from the proud statement of

its president Bob Snowden who said during his presentation of the Little Rocket at the 1930 St Louis show (as reported in Time) Command-Aire is the only production airplane which has never killed somebody never seshyriously hurt anybody

But safety was not enough of an edge over the competition Between 1928 and 1930 The Command-Aire Corp delivered 230 aircraft of various marques making it for a short time

Price at the factory $6325 (reduced to $5950 in 1930)

Engine Wright R-760-8

NC997E Perfonnance (as defined in STC SA4957NM)

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

jacent piece of land-more than 20 acres-allowed for the creation of two runways The new airfield rapidly beshycame known as Command-Aire Field Nowadays the industria l buildings are still standing while the airfield is only a faded memory

In order to proceed with airplane manufacturing Morton Cronk a young graduate from the Massachushysetts Institute of Technology was hired to design the first company product This phase was completed in the spring of 1927 and an airplane was built according to the defined specifications Regardless of its good looks the craft did not fly satisfactoshyrily A more experienced project engishyneer was needed to improve its flying characteristics In spite of this an apshyplication for an experimental license was filed on December 6 1927

Albert Vollmecke a German citshyizen earned his mechanical engishyneering degree from the Technical University at Braunschweig Fresh out of graduation he took a position with the Ernst Heinkel Aeroplane Factory at Warnemunde He later came to the United States as a representative of Ernst Heinkel in license negotiations for the production of a training airshycraft Impressed with the advanceshy

ment of civil aviation in the United States he decided to stay and began searching for a position He learned of an opening for a chief engineer at the Arkansas Aircraft Co applied for the job and joined the company in September 1927 Relying heavily on European technology he went to work immediately on redesigning the poor-flying model 3C3 substituting a thinner Aeromarine 2A airfoil and installing full-span slotted ailerons With these improvements the plane flew very well and was very stable

An application for approved type certificate (ATC) was submitted to the aeronautics branch of the Departshyment of Commerce and ATC No 53 was granted in July 1928 The first official model 3C3 was rolled out of the plant on January 1928 and was used for ferrying purposes as the ATC had not yet been granted The plane carried the NC6690 license number serial number 515 Power was a war surplus Curtiss OX-5 serial number M-6660 manufactured by the WillysshyMorrow Co of Elmira New York

As the OX-5-powered Model 3C3 began rolling off the assembly line in the spring of 1928 the search was on to purchase and install different types of engines Fitted with a 1l0-hp Warshy

some time later Ireceived aletter from Mr Robert Snowden indicating that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and Bob is checking the integrity of the HamiHon Standard prop during the American

Bamstonners Air Tour 2006 The installation of a Wright R-760-8 engine required a supplemental type certificate that proved quite frustrating to obtain even withliving nearby the help of the original designer of the plane

VINTAGE A IRPLANE 9

J Carroll Cone Director of Sales for Command-Aire with model SC3 serial numshyber W-6S manufactured March 1929 This aircraft was the second SC3 from the assembly line and was flown to California by company Vice President Charles M Taylor Taylor was participating in the Aviation Country Clubs Tour in the spring of 1929 Ruth Nichols famous aviatrix wrote in her book At Dallas we were joined by another member of the Aviation Country Clubs Charles Taylor of Little Rock flying a new Command-Aire

In this factory photograph by RD Wolff a horizontal stabilizer of a model 3C3 is being load tested Holding the sign is none other than designer Albert Vollmecke Albert always designed with a great margin of safety in all his ships

10 SEPTEMBER 2007

ner Scarab radial engine the plane became the model 3C3-A (ATC No 118) When Command-Aire acquired a few Siemens-Halske engines the bashysic 3C3 airframe was modified to acshycommodate it and became the 3C3-B (ATC No 120) ATC No ISO was granted in May 1929 to the Model 3C3-T a training version of the stanshydard 3C3 of which 25 were built

Having experimented with all sorts of engine variations a new model was needed Albert Vollmecke redeshysigned the 3C3 into its next evolushytionary step the 5C3

The model 5C3 (ATC No 184) was a three-place open-cockpit biplane of

Below Albert Vollmecke chief designer (left) and Charles Tayshylor former vice president of Command-Aire with model SC3 NX92SE on November 12 1983 The occasion was Vollmeckes inshyduction into the Arkansas Aviashytion Hall of Fame November 11 1983 in north Little Rock

typical Command-Aire configuration Powered by a six-cylinder 170-hp Curshytiss Challenger engine the fuselage and empennage were the same as the Curtiss OX-5-powered Model 3C3 Wing design was slightly different but retained the Aeromarine 2A airshyfoil Fuselage framework was classic welded chromoly steel tubing lightly faired to shape with fairing strips and fabric-covered The wings were built up of solid spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs the comshypleted framework fabric-covered

A wide choice of engines was also offered for the model 5C3 Powered by a 150-hp US-built Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine the plane became the 5C3-A (ATC No 185) Only one of this type was built and its stability was demonstrated by Ike Vollmeckes flight from San Diego to Los Angeshyles-a distance of more than 100 miles-from outside the cockpit Equipped with a Siemens-Halske the airplane became the 5C3-AT of which four were built under ATC No

209 A 150-hp Axelson engine fitted on a basic 5C3 airframe became the Model 5C3-B (ATC No 214) Last but not least the ultimate ModelS the 5C3-C (ATC No 233) of which five were built was powered by a Wright J-6-5 engine

The relative success of the 5C3 series could not ensure the survival of the company and Command-Aire officers filed for bankruptcy in 1931 It was a far cry from the proud statement of

its president Bob Snowden who said during his presentation of the Little Rocket at the 1930 St Louis show (as reported in Time) Command-Aire is the only production airplane which has never killed somebody never seshyriously hurt anybody

But safety was not enough of an edge over the competition Between 1928 and 1930 The Command-Aire Corp delivered 230 aircraft of various marques making it for a short time

Price at the factory $6325 (reduced to $5950 in 1930)

Engine Wright R-760-8

NC997E Perfonnance (as defined in STC SA4957NM)

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

J Carroll Cone Director of Sales for Command-Aire with model SC3 serial numshyber W-6S manufactured March 1929 This aircraft was the second SC3 from the assembly line and was flown to California by company Vice President Charles M Taylor Taylor was participating in the Aviation Country Clubs Tour in the spring of 1929 Ruth Nichols famous aviatrix wrote in her book At Dallas we were joined by another member of the Aviation Country Clubs Charles Taylor of Little Rock flying a new Command-Aire

In this factory photograph by RD Wolff a horizontal stabilizer of a model 3C3 is being load tested Holding the sign is none other than designer Albert Vollmecke Albert always designed with a great margin of safety in all his ships

10 SEPTEMBER 2007

ner Scarab radial engine the plane became the model 3C3-A (ATC No 118) When Command-Aire acquired a few Siemens-Halske engines the bashysic 3C3 airframe was modified to acshycommodate it and became the 3C3-B (ATC No 120) ATC No ISO was granted in May 1929 to the Model 3C3-T a training version of the stanshydard 3C3 of which 25 were built

Having experimented with all sorts of engine variations a new model was needed Albert Vollmecke redeshysigned the 3C3 into its next evolushytionary step the 5C3

The model 5C3 (ATC No 184) was a three-place open-cockpit biplane of

Below Albert Vollmecke chief designer (left) and Charles Tayshylor former vice president of Command-Aire with model SC3 NX92SE on November 12 1983 The occasion was Vollmeckes inshyduction into the Arkansas Aviashytion Hall of Fame November 11 1983 in north Little Rock

typical Command-Aire configuration Powered by a six-cylinder 170-hp Curshytiss Challenger engine the fuselage and empennage were the same as the Curtiss OX-5-powered Model 3C3 Wing design was slightly different but retained the Aeromarine 2A airshyfoil Fuselage framework was classic welded chromoly steel tubing lightly faired to shape with fairing strips and fabric-covered The wings were built up of solid spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs the comshypleted framework fabric-covered

A wide choice of engines was also offered for the model 5C3 Powered by a 150-hp US-built Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine the plane became the 5C3-A (ATC No 185) Only one of this type was built and its stability was demonstrated by Ike Vollmeckes flight from San Diego to Los Angeshyles-a distance of more than 100 miles-from outside the cockpit Equipped with a Siemens-Halske the airplane became the 5C3-AT of which four were built under ATC No

209 A 150-hp Axelson engine fitted on a basic 5C3 airframe became the Model 5C3-B (ATC No 214) Last but not least the ultimate ModelS the 5C3-C (ATC No 233) of which five were built was powered by a Wright J-6-5 engine

The relative success of the 5C3 series could not ensure the survival of the company and Command-Aire officers filed for bankruptcy in 1931 It was a far cry from the proud statement of

its president Bob Snowden who said during his presentation of the Little Rocket at the 1930 St Louis show (as reported in Time) Command-Aire is the only production airplane which has never killed somebody never seshyriously hurt anybody

But safety was not enough of an edge over the competition Between 1928 and 1930 The Command-Aire Corp delivered 230 aircraft of various marques making it for a short time

Price at the factory $6325 (reduced to $5950 in 1930)

Engine Wright R-760-8

NC997E Perfonnance (as defined in STC SA4957NM)

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

typical Command-Aire configuration Powered by a six-cylinder 170-hp Curshytiss Challenger engine the fuselage and empennage were the same as the Curtiss OX-5-powered Model 3C3 Wing design was slightly different but retained the Aeromarine 2A airshyfoil Fuselage framework was classic welded chromoly steel tubing lightly faired to shape with fairing strips and fabric-covered The wings were built up of solid spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs the comshypleted framework fabric-covered

A wide choice of engines was also offered for the model 5C3 Powered by a 150-hp US-built Hispano-Suiza (Hisso) engine the plane became the 5C3-A (ATC No 185) Only one of this type was built and its stability was demonstrated by Ike Vollmeckes flight from San Diego to Los Angeshyles-a distance of more than 100 miles-from outside the cockpit Equipped with a Siemens-Halske the airplane became the 5C3-AT of which four were built under ATC No

209 A 150-hp Axelson engine fitted on a basic 5C3 airframe became the Model 5C3-B (ATC No 214) Last but not least the ultimate ModelS the 5C3-C (ATC No 233) of which five were built was powered by a Wright J-6-5 engine

The relative success of the 5C3 series could not ensure the survival of the company and Command-Aire officers filed for bankruptcy in 1931 It was a far cry from the proud statement of

its president Bob Snowden who said during his presentation of the Little Rocket at the 1930 St Louis show (as reported in Time) Command-Aire is the only production airplane which has never killed somebody never seshyriously hurt anybody

But safety was not enough of an edge over the competition Between 1928 and 1930 The Command-Aire Corp delivered 230 aircraft of various marques making it for a short time

Price at the factory $6325 (reduced to $5950 in 1930)

Engine Wright R-760-8

NC997E Perfonnance (as defined in STC SA4957NM)

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

The instrument panel of the Command-Aire is classic and the instruments wellshylaid-out The only modem addition is the GPS mount in the center of the panel

Over the years the exhaust collector had oxidized to acquire a pretty impressive array of colors as depicted here

one of the major players in the airshyplane-manufacturing arena Only 14 are still registered of which five are flyable and three are flown regularly

Command-Aire NC997E-the C stands for commercial-(cn W-136) is now the only flyable model 5C3 It was manufactured on October 15 1929 at the Little Rock Arkansas facshytory The aircraft was configured with a pair of 22-gallon tanks in the upshyper wings and a forward fuselage reshymovable cross brace that would allow later conversion to a duster aircraft Sold to the Curtiss Flying Service of 12 SEPTEMBER 2007

Delaware incorporated at 27 W 57th Street in New York it flew as NC997E until early 1931 The plane was later modified for crop dusting by the Curshytiss Flying Service of Houston Texas Licensed as NR997E-R for restrictshyed-it was used in an attempt to eradicate the troublesome boll weevil creating havoc in the cotton fields of the South Curtiss Flying Service had at least 16 5C3s in the duster vershysion in service and treated 200000 acres of cotton in 1929 alone

In June 1931 the Command-Aire was returned to NC status by removal

One special feature of the CommandshyAire is the ground- and air-adjustable tail incidence The big lever seen in this picture allows it to be adjusted

of the dusting hopper and wing tanks and installation of the seat controls and instruments in the fron t cockshypit The work was done by the Curshytiss Flying Service a Command-Aire distributor In May 1932 the aircraft was transferred to Eagle Airplane Co of Rocky Mount North Carolina Reshycords show that this company opshyerated NC997E for only 200 hours between 1932 and December 22 1942 At this date total time was 542 hours The plane was then sold toJR McDaniel of Fort Pierce Florida who registered it in the Restricted category after converting it back to a duster configuration On July 22 1945 a Continental R-670 engine of 220 hp was installed to increase reliability for crop dusting

The last license for N997E was May 6 1952 At this date the plane had a total time of 1625 hours of which

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

202 were logged between May 1951 and May 1952 The plane was acshyquired from Don Williams of Newshyhall California N997E was shipped along with two other 5C3s from Florshyida to California in the early 60s The plane was stored in Hanford and later Reedley California when limited resshy

toration work began Bob Lock a longtime pilot and

airframe and powerplant mechanic found the plane in Newhall Califorshynia near his hometown as he exshyplained in an interview

In 1967 I had the chance to acshyquire the remains of three 1929 Comshymand-Aire 5C3s Just after beginning the restoration process I placed an ad in the EAA Vintage Airplane magshyazine requesting correspondence with everyone associated with Comshymand-Aire during its short producshytion period I received only one letter informing me that the president of the company was still alive and livshying in Memphis Tennessee I wrote and some time later I received a letshyter from Mr Robert Snowden indicatshying that the original designer Albert Vollmecke was still in good health and living nearby I wrote him and received a letter in return This was the beginning of a relationship that made this restoration even more meaningful Mr Vollmecke had kept files from the original company after bankruptcy had been filed in 1931

The restoration became a meshychanics dream of working with the man who designed the airplane Not only the pieces were in poor shape but drawings and data were sparse A search of the Federal Records Storage Facility in Suitland Maryland turned up no drawings

ir=====================--shy

The frame was in remarkably good condition but required several welded repairs to bring it back to airshyworthy condition The duster frame had to be returned to standard The engine mount had been modified to carry a 220-hp Continental W-670 engine Early in the project Bob had

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Left A family pictureshyBob Lock flying loose formation with Rob Lock in the Waldo Wright Flymiddot ing Service new Standard Dmiddot25 on their way to Osmiddot hkosh This was the first time that father and son flew together in those planes The picture was taken from Clay Adams Travel Air 4000 Clay was leading the fleet of 14 airplanes on the last leg of the American Barnmiddot stormers Tour 2006

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

--decided to deviate from the original Wright R-600 Chalshylenger engine to a more reliable Wright R-760 This deshysign change required a supplemental type certificate (STC) an approval that proved to be a long and frustratshying ordeal Another deviation from the original design was the installation of a pressure feed fuel system simishylar to the one found on the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N This change discussed with the designer was deemed necessary because of the proximity of the fuel tank outshylet and carburetor inlet-the outlet line being at the same level as the carburetor

Another big-ticket item was the landing gear lilt took about 120 hours of cutting fitting and gas welding to make a new gear I found that the gear legs were the same dimensions as a Stinson L-5 front-lift strut Stock Stearman axles and Hayes dual servo hydraulic brakes-the same as used on Vultee BT-13-would fit the Bendix 30-by-5 wheels

liThe wings were built new My father helped by buildshying new wing ribs Trial assembly and rigging of the aircraft took place in 1985 The aluminum portions of the plane such as seats baggage compartment fuel and oil tank enshygine cowling and fuselage metal were hand-fabricated

The big day finally came liOn July 11 1989 at 930 am I climbed in and made the first flight I took off from Lakeland Municipal Airport climbed to altitude and stayed near the airport for the next 15 minutes then 1--------------------------shyheaded to a sod strip 6 miles south of Lakeland where I made three very good landings Then it was back to Lakeshyland for a landing on concrete-no problems With the aircraft license in Experimental category I put in 15 hours of flight in the local area

liThe airplane was as stable as advertised The groundshyhandling characteristics are very good even in a 90-degree crosswind-something that a good steerable Scott tailshywheel adds over to the old tail skid Nominal right rudder pressure needs to be applied at full power (1850 rpm) to counteract the engine torque on takeoff The takeoff roll on a hard surface runway is approximately 200 feet Forshyward visibility is quite good in the three-point attitude Cruise at 1750 rpm is 95 mph indicated airspeed (lAS) stall is at 46 mph lAS The rigging is excellent The aircraft will fly hands-off at cruise power for extended periods of time in calm air It is a pure delight to fly but I do not atshytempt aerobatics due to the high drag and shape of the airfoil Final approach speed is 55 mph lAS The rate of sink is pretty low Only three-point landings are advised and no wheel landings should be attempted

As Bobs son Rob grew up he saw the plane slowly resurrected from a pile of broken parts and pitted metal Years later during the 2006 American Barnstormers Tour Rob finally felt ready to tryon the Command-Aire for size It was a very exciting time for the father-son team as Rob became the third person checked out in the airshycraft since 1964 This will ensure that the plane will be flying for many more years to come keeping the memoshyries of the Command-Aire Corp alive

1963 8EECHCRAFT MUSKETEER 23WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

~ ~

~ -~ -~

REARWIN SKYRANGER-- _- ----shy--- ----- s E~middot 1948 LUSCOMBE 88

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration Or is it done and

youre busy flying and showing it off If so wed like to hear from you Send us a 4-by-6-inch print from a commercial source (no home printers please-those prints just dont scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch 30O-dpi digital photo A JPG from your 25-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine You can burn photos to a CD or if youre on a high-speed Internet connection you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane (If your e-mail program asks if youd like to make the photos smaller say no) For more tips on creating photos we can publish visit VAAs website at wwwvintageaircraftorg Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph

For more information you can also e-mail us at vintageaircrafteaaorg or call us at 920-426-4825

tIDCIO us

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

Getting Your AampP Rating Part III

Earning the AampP mechanic certificate the DMEs perspective

The federal government began to license aircraft mechanics in July of 1927 and the process of federal govshyernment certification remains to th is day Initially licenses were granted based on qualifications earned through previous work experien ce and thorough testing by government officials Soon there was a need for training in schools for the mechanic certificate and the government manshydated certain criteria for curriculum that included both classroom and lab (hands-on) instruction The early cershytificates were designated aircraft and engine (AampE) later to be chan ged to airframe and powerplant (AampP) when the FM evolved from the eM

FAA requirements for the airframe and powerplant mechanic certificate are as follows

1 The applicant must be 18 years old

2 The applicant must read write speak and understand the Engshylish language

3 The applicant must have at least 18 months of practical experience with either powshyerplants or airframes or 30 months working on both at the same time

4 In lieu of the experience reshyquiremen t s the applicant may graduate from an FAAshyapproved Maintenance Tech shynician school

5 The applicant m ust take and pass written oral and practical examinations

There are two ways to qualify for the mechanics certificates The first is designated field experience Eighshyteen months of experience is currently 16 SEPT E M BER 2007

BY R OBERT G L OCK

Bob Lock reacts after being presented with the FAAs Charles Taylor award which is earned by AampP mechanics who have continuously held their cershytificate for 50 years or more

required for each of the ratings (airshyframe or powerplant) or 30 months for the combined ratings (See Part 1 of this series published in the July issue of Vintage Airplane) The applishycant presents a list of hisher field exshyperience documented on letterhead to an FAA inspector at the local FAA office Military experience is also acshycepted when the applicant presents DD Form 214 which lists Military Occupational Specialty codes (MOS) When the inspector deems the apshyplicant meets minimum standards for field experience FM Form 8610-2 is completed by the applicant and is signed by the FAA inspector

The second way to qualify is by atshytending an FAA Part 147-approved Aviation Maintenance Technician training program to receive 1900 hours of training in general airframe

and powerplant subjects The curricshyulum is designed to allot 400-hours of instruction in the general subject area 750 hours of instruction in airshyframe and 750-hours in powerplant subject areas The lecture and lab times are normally divided equally with approximately half th e hours taught in classroom lecture and half in the laboratory

The FAA Part 147 curriculum is written in detail to show minimum standards for all subjects

Level 1 standard is bull Know basic facts and principles bull Be able to locate information

and follow directions and writshyten instructions

bull Locate methods procedures inshystructions and reference mateshyrial

bull Interpretation of information is not required

bull No skill demonstration is reshyquired

Level 2 standard is bull Know and understand princi shy

ples theories and concepts bull Be able to find and interpret

maintenance data and informashytion and perform basic opershyations using appropriate data tools and equipment

bull A high level of practical skill is not required

Level 3 standard is bull Know understand and apply

facts principles theories and concepts

bull Understand how they relate to the total operation and mainteshynance of aircraft

bull Be able to make independent

and accurate airworthiness judgments

bull Perform all skill operations to a return-to-service standard usshying appropriate data tools and equipment Inspections are performed in accordance with acceptable or approved data

bull A fairly high skill level is reshyquired

For those seeking the certificate through a school whether private or public the requirements are the same What sets each Part 147 school apart from the other is how the subshyject material is taught and how the hands-on projects are designed The 1900-hour requirement subject arshyeas and teaching levels are the same for all Part 147 schools

FAR Part 147 has been expanded to cover 43 subject areas The written oral and practical examinations reflect the subject areas and the applicant must pass a sampling examination in each of the 43 subject areas Online computer testing at an approved facilshyity covers all the written testing and the results are provided almost imshymediately For most applicants the written test is taken and passed first The applicant has 24 months to pass all written examinations If the writshyten exams are not passed in the 24shymonth period those areas passed will be voided and the applicant must start the process from square one

The same 24-month pass time holds for the oral and practical exshyaminations Students enrolled in an approved Aviation Maintenance Technician training program may be authorized to take the oralpracshytical examinations before written examinations if they show satisfacshytory progress Early oralpractical exshyams normally are given within a few weeks of graduation Upon graduashytion the student receives a graduation certificate awarded by the school

The FAA no longer conducts testshying for the AampP certificate Writshyten knowledge testing is done at computer testing facilities located worldwide Oralpractical testing is conducted by a designated mechanic

examiner (DME) A fee is charged for all phases of testing In the old days all testing was conducted by a CAA or FAA inspector Written examinashytions were given at the local FAA ofshyfice while oralpractical testing was conducted at the applicants place of employment That process was elimishynated many years ago

The new practical examination contains

core competency t Irequlremen s e eshyments that the

applicant must pass Written examinations are described

by some as a gimme In other words memorization of test questions and anshyswers can be completed by the applicant and high pass rates are the result The FAA now considers the oralpractical examination as the discriminator for issuance of the AampP certificate The new practical examination contains core competency requirements In some subject areas there are one or more core elements that the applicant must pass The FAA states on Form FAA-S-8081-27 The practical test is passed if the apshyplicant demonstrates the prescribed proficiency in the assigned elements (core competency and other selected elements) in each subject area to the required standard Upon successful completion of written oral and pracshytical tests the DME will issue a temposhyrary FAA mechanic certificate showing a single rating (airframe or powerplant) or combined ratings (airframe and powshyerplant) but the certificates unique number will not be issued at that time The word pending will be placed on the certificate by the examiner at the time of its issuance

If any part of the testing is failed the applicant must wait at least 30 days before retesting in the failed subject areas unless instruction is reshyceived in the specific failed area by a competent individual and a letter is presented to the examiner indicating additional training was received

After three years of exercising the

privileges of the airframe and powshyerplant mechanic certificate the recipient becomes eligible for the inshyspection authorization (IA) A battery of written examinations must be sucshycessfully completed before the IA is issued The inspection authorization is renewed every two years

Authors Recollections I held the DME for 18 years and

gave approximately 350 oralpractishycal examinations most at the college where I instructed in a Part 147 AMT program I was able to design an oral practical exam to fit each individual applicant Normally I gave a very chalshylenging first project-one that required thinking research and a small amount of inventiveness If the applicant was weak or unsure the examination usushyally went downhill from there If the applicant was able to research and complete the assigned task the examishynation proceeded smoothly and I had a good sense that the person would not go out as a newly licensed mechanic and do something stupid

Some of the time oral questions could be asked as the applicant worked on a practical project however there was a sit-down time when the oral portion of the examination could be completed I recall my oralpractical examinations at Northrop Institute of Technology in 1961 The practical exam was completed in total first and then there was the oral exam which was conshyducted in the office of the examiner All questions were typed on a 3-by-5 card I read the question and then answered it However the Part 147 curriculum was different in those years there was an airframe exam and a powerplant exam and the curriculum mandated 1650 hours of instruction A portion of the airframe exam contained a complete weight-and-balance problem and if the applicant did not get the first question correct then all the rest of the answers would be wrong and the applicant would fail the airframe examination There were no test questions available only study guides I used the then-availshyable Zwing manual which contained 250 questions for each subject area The

continued on page 38 VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

TVaN A family history dates back to the golden age of aviation

71iS months back cover of Vintage Airplane features the fantastic colored pencil drawing by award-winning

aviation artist Kendra Helvey capturshying the Rezich familys long-standing association with Travel Airs Centered around the powerful Wright J-6-7 Whirlwind are the familys Travel Airs in original and restored condition

It was a pleasure to work closely with Kendra to create this image she really was able to put on paper what I could see only in my mind Havshying a love for aviation and history in 18 SEPTEMBER 2007

BY JIM REZICH

general Kendra Helvey has been a professional artist for 2S years and is an artist member of the American Society of Aviation Artists She works on commission each piece is original and unique for the client The work may include the family their home as well as their aircraft Or the work may depict a moment in time the South Pacific during WWII or a bishyplane landing on a count ry airport for instance Her work has appeared in the EAA AirVenture Museum sevshyeral times and on the back covers of Vintage Airplane and Warbirds magashy

zines She also fills her time as curator of the Poplar Grove Vintage Wings amp Wheels Museum Kendra and her husband Bill are both pilots and reshyside at an airport community in Popshylar Grove Illinois

To be able to appreciate this work you need to know a little about our family

The main focus is the three brothshyers Mike the oldest Nick the midshydle brother and my father and Frank the youngest Growing up within a stones throw of the Chicago Municishypal Airport (now Midway airport) the

Left Mike on the left and Nick on the riglrt with a little work on NC661H Taken at the Rezich homestead two blocks south of Muni The Travel Air was in the process of being disasmiddot sembled and sold to the Navy aviation mechanics training school

Rezich boys were destined to become involved in aviation Ill also try and point out some facts and myths about our family along the way

Mike would turn out to be the fishynancier of the family and purchased most of the airplanes owned by the family Myth Reziches have owned only Travel Airs Collectively the Rezshyich family spanning three generations has owned 23 airplanes ranging from the first E-2 Cub to a Cessna 182 and let me tell you everything in between Fact The Rezich family members are the longest continual owners of Travel Airs from 1937 to the present

Nick was the professional pilot of the family flying more than 35000 accident-free hours from 1932 up to his passing in 1981 He was an instrucshytor and an airline transport pilot with type ratings for Douglas DC-3s and Lockheed Lodestars When not flying for a living Nick frequently flew air shows in the Travel Air and he was known as the Voice of EAA for his air show announcing Fact Nick and the Travel Air were the longest conshytinually paired air show performers Myth The Gone Flying door sign was designed by Flying magazine Fact Nicks good friend and artist Joe Scanshylon came up with the Gone Flying sign when Nick had h is famo us airshyracing-themed tavern the Pylon Club to let patrons know that Nick would not be found behind the bar or drums but behind the control wheel of a DC-3 flying non-skeds out of Midway

Frank is the master mech anic of the family He began working a t Howard Aircraft at age 16 along with his brother Nick and still is an active airframe and powerplant mechanic He was awarded the Ch arles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in 1999 He worked for North America n Rock-

The Reziches Pitcairn PA-7 Mailwing NC876M Wright J-6-7 powered with the nifty speed ring cowl before being converted to sport wings Colors were blue and silver

The same Pitcairn post-modification to sport wings and low-pressure air wheels This ship was also used as an instrument trainer at Chicago Municipal by Pierce Scotty OCarrolls Monarch Air Service Note the reduction in the radio mast height New colors are now two-tone green with black pinstripes

This was the Reziches first airplane a 40-hp E-2 Cub that was leased back to the Harlem Airport flight school run by Fred Schumaker Colors were silver and red No brakes or tail wheel

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

well on many projects including the XB-70 and the B-1 with duties rangshying from superintendent of final asshysembly to production engineering supervisor Fact Frank is never seen without his trademark cigar even in the shower Myth Frank has lived in California all his life Fact Frank was born and raised in Chicago and he worked in Fort Worth for Pratt amp Whitney as a field representative on the R-4360 engine on the B-36 bombshyers It wasnt until 19S4 that Frank and his family moved to the Los Anshygeles area

Lets move on to the first Travel Air the family owned NC661H It was a standard model 2000 OX-S powered with no brakes or tail wheel Mike

20 SEPTEMBER 2007

made arrangements to purchase the airplane in 1936 and while the owner was attempting to deliver the airplane to Chicago from Rock Springs Maryshyland the OX-S gave up the ghost and the owner had to make a forced landing in Pennsylvania Repairs took until the spring of 1937 Mike didnt want to take any more chances with his investment so he sent his brother Nick to fly the Travel Air back to Chishycago The trip back was one of the first long cross-countries for Nick who was just 17 at the time By now Nick was an accomplished aviator after soloing a Waco RNF at 14 and quickly earning his certificate

The airplane was silver with red trim The Rezich brothers would use this air-

The Reziches first Travel Air NC661H purchased in 1937 OX-5 powered no brakes or tail wheel colors were silver with red trim Photos taken at Harlem Airport

plane to barnstorm the northern Illinois area The airplane was kept at Harlem Airport just south of Chicago Municshyipal Airport and run by close family friend Fred Shoos Shumaker

Nick would teach younger brother Frank to fly and solo in NC661H at Harshylem Airport Although Mike would take many lessons from Nick and other inshystructors in many airplanes he would never fly solo He was most content ridshying in the spacious front seat Ill share a humorous little story about a Travel Air front seat when I fill in the details on NC606K in a later article

NC661H would share hangar space with the Reziches Pitcairn PA-7 and the newly acquired Travel Air D-4000 NC811S until 1942 After the attack on Pearl Harbor private aviation was extremely limited Nick was able to keep his new Culver Cadet LCA airshyworthy to commute between Howshyard Aircraft headquarters near Chicago Municipal Airport and the Howard assembly plant at DuPage Airport in West Chicago NC661H and the Pitshycairn would be sold to the government and impressed into service at the Navy aviation mechanics training facility at

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Chicagos Navy Pier NC8115 would be disassembled and stored in the Rezich family garage at 6424 South LaPorte St until 1972 when Nick would begin its restoration

The Rezich brothers would serve their country in a variety of ways durshying World War II Mike was a crew chief ground instructor for the Army Air Corps and taught cadets on the

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B-17 and later on the B-29 Frank would join the Army Air Corps and fly the Hump in C-46s Nick was drafted in the heavy artillery after the Howard Aircraft contracts ended but he never saw active duty as the fightshying drew to an end

Once discharged Mike made his way back to Chicago and began to search for his airplanes When he arshyrived at Navy Pier and inquired about his Travel Air and Pitcairn he was told they had been taken on a barge to the middle of Lake Michigan and pushed overboard

Capt Nick with the Pitcairn at Chicago Municipal later to be named Midway airport

To say Mike was furious is an unshyderstatement I dont think he ever got over it either I think at times my dad would bring it up just to get Mikes dander up Mike would rant and rave about how the government threw his airplanes away

So NC661H ended up in a watery way Next month Ill fill you in on the second Travel Air NC8815

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Airline Travel SO-Plus Years Ago

First published in the January 1980 issue of Vintage Airplane

Histor ically speaking when it comes to airline travel 1929 was a vintage year

Fifty years ago [Now 78 years agofshyEditor] the airline queens of the skies were the Fokker Boeing and Ford TrishyMotors and airline passengers were passing out of the flying suit and gogshygles age into a new era in which they no longer had to sit on mail pouches in open cockpits But it was still a time when most people in the world had not flown and commercial air travel had to be sold to the public

Today travel agents book clients on 600-mile-an-hour jumbo jets to exotic and faraway places and these

22 SEPTEMBER 2007

by Edward D Williams

bookings are heavy on both schedshyuled and charter flights But in 1929 air travel was new to travel agents and they had to work to get all but the most hardy and adventuresome into an airliner

In 1929 travel agents were given this guidance by an expert

Special clothing for airplane travel is unnecessary when the traveler uses the regular established passenger airlines The airplanes of these lines are of the enclosed cabin type with the interiors similar to those of a railroad parlor car

However should the traveler inshytend to take special chartered airplane trips in which open cockpit planes

may be used the traveler should equip himself with a pair of goggles and a helmet

The advice continues with a style note to the effect thatA special flyshying suit is usually not necessary espeshycially in the summer months and its purchase should be left to the discreshytion of the traveler

This up-to-date information was contained in the article Air Travel-A New Source ofProfit by Fred Burns in the inaugural issue of Travel Trade magazine of July 1929 As service to its readers in Volume I Number I the magaZine also carried a composite listshying of timetables and fares of the existshy

Left The Boeing aOA was introduced in September 1929 and was a huge plane for the day It was designed for largeshycapacity transcontinental passenger service and mail-express operation It was flown by Boeing Air Transport which introduced stewardesses to the industry the following year

ing airlines in the United States that carried passengers This special section consisted of only five pages

Burns admitted to his readers that Air transportation is still in its inshyfancy since many passengers still had to ride in open cockpits But the drama of aviation as covered in the press since Charles Lindberghs hisshy

toric New York to Paris flight two years before could mean financial success to travel specialists The travel bushyreaus and tourist agencies who equip themselves now to handle air travelshyers will not only profit but will be the recipient of beneficial indirect publicshyity Burns wrote prophetically more than half a century ago

Lindberghs feat had caused pubshylic interest to skyrocket and travel would never be the same Burns comshymented With the American public becoming more and more airminded daily the increase in passenger airshylines and frequent daily sight of these planes passing overhead the new comforts and safety factor of todays

airlines the enthusiasm of the pubshylic for the adventure romance and speed of the airplane flight the travel bureaus and tourist agencies are afshyforded a new and additional source of income

And in order that they might be knowledgeable about the subject Burns suggested that It is generally found advisable to have the person in charge of your air travel departshyment take an airplane ride during (his) spare time to acquaint himself with the advantages thrill and timeshysaving element of air travel

This was at a time when most of todays airlines werent even born

For example in the five-page time-

When Stout Air Services flew between Cleveland Detroit and Chicago in 1929 it operated the venerable Ford Tri-Motor which not only was built by the Stout Metal Airplane Co a division of the Ford Motor Co but the airplane traced its lineage to the original Stout tri-motor Stout Air Services in early 1929 was operating the Ford S-AT-B (shown above in the markings of National Air Transport) and later in the year added the S-AT-C The S-AT-B was the ultimate in traveler comfort and reshyceived its approved type certificate in June 1929 It was hurriedly put into service by other airlines such as Maddux TAT Pan Am Colonial and NAT

The Ford S-AT-C which followed closely behind the S-AT-B in 1929 increased passenger capacity to 17 The first plane off the assembly line in Dearborn Michigan went to Maddux Air Lines in California in mid-1929 and by the end of the year a total of 35 S-AT-Cs had been delivered to various airlines Note the mail bags being loaded into the wing storage compartment

VINTAGE A IRPLA NE 23

Passenger chairs in the early models of the Ford TrishyMotor were of wicker construction Later they were furshynished in aluminum covered with leather Large windows arranged to provide passengers with a good view of the landscape were of non-shatterable glass with individual shades Electric cabin lights were provided over each seat The cabin interior was covered in sheet aluminum with a balsa wood core providing a surface for interior decorations and some soundproofing

Cabin shot of a Ford Tri-Motor showing airspeed indicator and altimeter Also notice the aluminum seats that replaced wicker chairs Note the captains heavy leather jacket and the pullshydown shade over the window in the door of the flight deck

Airline travel still had a long way to go in 1929 For the previous year a total of only 52924 airplane passengers had been reported by the Aeronaushytical Chamber of Commerce

table section there were these fa shymiliar names Northwest AirwaysThis averaged out to just slightly more Western Air Express Capitol Airways Pan American Airways Colonial Airthan 1000 passengers a week for all the Transport Clifford Ball Stout Air Sershyvices Maddux Air Lines Boeing Air airlines in the entire United States (In Transport and Pacific Air Transport

But there also were Southwest Air1978 there were about 5000 airline Fast Express Universal Air Lines Inshyterstate Air Lines National Park Airshypassengers for everyone in 1929) ways Mutual Aircraft Corporation

24 S E PT EMBER 2007

With seating for 18 passengers and crew of two the Boeing BOA was an air travshyelers dream in 1929 The main cabin was lined with rows of three seats and was finished with mahogany paneling (of plywood) with a thick core of balsa wood for insulation Soundproofing of the cabin walls pennitted passengers to converse in near nonnal tones Heating and ventilation brought considerable comfort to passhysengers who were protected by shatterproof glass windows There also was a cloakroom overhead racks and a lavatory with hot and cold mnning water

and even a Yellow Cab Airways And they were flying everything

from a new Ford 5-AT-C to the old Eaglerock biplane-flown by Wichita Falls Air Transport

In addition according to the timeshytable section in the magazine other equipment in service were the Boeing 80 and 40B (flown by Boeing Air Trans-

This is the prototype Boeing 80 photographed on July 14 1928 Power is three PampW Wasp engines

port) the Boeing 40C (flown by Pacific Air Transport) the Fokker F-lO tri-moshytor (flown by Pan American Universal and Western) the Fokker Super Univershysal (flown by Universal National Park Southern Air Transport and Standard Air Lines) and the Hamilton Metalshyplane (flown by Northwest)

However an airline passenger could still find himself in an open-cockpit Stearman C-3B of Western Air if he didnt mind the breeze And accordshying to the Travel Trade timetable other airlines boasted of such equipment as Capitols and Embry-Riddle Comshypanys Ryan Brougham Northwests Stinson Detroiter Southerns J-5 and J-6 Travel Airs and Curtiss Robin and Pan Ams Keystone tri-motor six-passhysenger Loening and Fokker F-VII

The timetable showed the travel opportunities existing at that time Route systems ranged from WaterlooshyDes Moines (Midwest) to Kansas CityshyDes Moines-Minneapolis (Yellow Cab Airways) to the extensive route sysshytems of Pan Am and Boeing

However transcontinental air travel had already been available to an airline passenger for almost two years since September 1 1927 but on two different airlines That was when Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport joined up at Chicago makshying New York to Oakland travel by air possible for the first time (See The Vin-

Construction detail shows clearly in this photo of an early Boeing Model 80

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

and accurate airworthiness judgments

bull Perform all skill operations to a return-to-service standard usshying appropriate data tools and equipment Inspections are performed in accordance with acceptable or approved data

bull A fairly high skill level is reshyquired

For those seeking the certificate through a school whether private or public the requirements are the same What sets each Part 147 school apart from the other is how the subshyject material is taught and how the hands-on projects are designed The 1900-hour requirement subject arshyeas and teaching levels are the same for all Part 147 schools

FAR Part 147 has been expanded to cover 43 subject areas The written oral and practical examinations reflect the subject areas and the applicant must pass a sampling examination in each of the 43 subject areas Online computer testing at an approved facilshyity covers all the written testing and the results are provided almost imshymediately For most applicants the written test is taken and passed first The applicant has 24 months to pass all written examinations If the writshyten exams are not passed in the 24shymonth period those areas passed will be voided and the applicant must start the process from square one

The same 24-month pass time holds for the oral and practical exshyaminations Students enrolled in an approved Aviation Maintenance Technician training program may be authorized to take the oralpracshytical examinations before written examinations if they show satisfacshytory progress Early oralpractical exshyams normally are given within a few weeks of graduation Upon graduashytion the student receives a graduation certificate awarded by the school

The FAA no longer conducts testshying for the AampP certificate Writshyten knowledge testing is done at computer testing facilities located worldwide Oralpractical testing is conducted by a designated mechanic

examiner (DME) A fee is charged for all phases of testing In the old days all testing was conducted by a CAA or FAA inspector Written examinashytions were given at the local FAA ofshyfice while oralpractical testing was conducted at the applicants place of employment That process was elimishynated many years ago

The new practical examination contains

core competency t Irequlremen s e eshyments that the

applicant must pass Written examinations are described

by some as a gimme In other words memorization of test questions and anshyswers can be completed by the applicant and high pass rates are the result The FAA now considers the oralpractical examination as the discriminator for issuance of the AampP certificate The new practical examination contains core competency requirements In some subject areas there are one or more core elements that the applicant must pass The FAA states on Form FAA-S-8081-27 The practical test is passed if the apshyplicant demonstrates the prescribed proficiency in the assigned elements (core competency and other selected elements) in each subject area to the required standard Upon successful completion of written oral and pracshytical tests the DME will issue a temposhyrary FAA mechanic certificate showing a single rating (airframe or powerplant) or combined ratings (airframe and powshyerplant) but the certificates unique number will not be issued at that time The word pending will be placed on the certificate by the examiner at the time of its issuance

If any part of the testing is failed the applicant must wait at least 30 days before retesting in the failed subject areas unless instruction is reshyceived in the specific failed area by a competent individual and a letter is presented to the examiner indicating additional training was received

After three years of exercising the

privileges of the airframe and powshyerplant mechanic certificate the recipient becomes eligible for the inshyspection authorization (IA) A battery of written examinations must be sucshycessfully completed before the IA is issued The inspection authorization is renewed every two years

Authors Recollections I held the DME for 18 years and

gave approximately 350 oralpractishycal examinations most at the college where I instructed in a Part 147 AMT program I was able to design an oral practical exam to fit each individual applicant Normally I gave a very chalshylenging first project-one that required thinking research and a small amount of inventiveness If the applicant was weak or unsure the examination usushyally went downhill from there If the applicant was able to research and complete the assigned task the examishynation proceeded smoothly and I had a good sense that the person would not go out as a newly licensed mechanic and do something stupid

Some of the time oral questions could be asked as the applicant worked on a practical project however there was a sit-down time when the oral portion of the examination could be completed I recall my oralpractical examinations at Northrop Institute of Technology in 1961 The practical exam was completed in total first and then there was the oral exam which was conshyducted in the office of the examiner All questions were typed on a 3-by-5 card I read the question and then answered it However the Part 147 curriculum was different in those years there was an airframe exam and a powerplant exam and the curriculum mandated 1650 hours of instruction A portion of the airframe exam contained a complete weight-and-balance problem and if the applicant did not get the first question correct then all the rest of the answers would be wrong and the applicant would fail the airframe examination There were no test questions available only study guides I used the then-availshyable Zwing manual which contained 250 questions for each subject area The

continued on page 38 VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

TVaN A family history dates back to the golden age of aviation

71iS months back cover of Vintage Airplane features the fantastic colored pencil drawing by award-winning

aviation artist Kendra Helvey capturshying the Rezich familys long-standing association with Travel Airs Centered around the powerful Wright J-6-7 Whirlwind are the familys Travel Airs in original and restored condition

It was a pleasure to work closely with Kendra to create this image she really was able to put on paper what I could see only in my mind Havshying a love for aviation and history in 18 SEPTEMBER 2007

BY JIM REZICH

general Kendra Helvey has been a professional artist for 2S years and is an artist member of the American Society of Aviation Artists She works on commission each piece is original and unique for the client The work may include the family their home as well as their aircraft Or the work may depict a moment in time the South Pacific during WWII or a bishyplane landing on a count ry airport for instance Her work has appeared in the EAA AirVenture Museum sevshyeral times and on the back covers of Vintage Airplane and Warbirds magashy

zines She also fills her time as curator of the Poplar Grove Vintage Wings amp Wheels Museum Kendra and her husband Bill are both pilots and reshyside at an airport community in Popshylar Grove Illinois

To be able to appreciate this work you need to know a little about our family

The main focus is the three brothshyers Mike the oldest Nick the midshydle brother and my father and Frank the youngest Growing up within a stones throw of the Chicago Municishypal Airport (now Midway airport) the

Left Mike on the left and Nick on the riglrt with a little work on NC661H Taken at the Rezich homestead two blocks south of Muni The Travel Air was in the process of being disasmiddot sembled and sold to the Navy aviation mechanics training school

Rezich boys were destined to become involved in aviation Ill also try and point out some facts and myths about our family along the way

Mike would turn out to be the fishynancier of the family and purchased most of the airplanes owned by the family Myth Reziches have owned only Travel Airs Collectively the Rezshyich family spanning three generations has owned 23 airplanes ranging from the first E-2 Cub to a Cessna 182 and let me tell you everything in between Fact The Rezich family members are the longest continual owners of Travel Airs from 1937 to the present

Nick was the professional pilot of the family flying more than 35000 accident-free hours from 1932 up to his passing in 1981 He was an instrucshytor and an airline transport pilot with type ratings for Douglas DC-3s and Lockheed Lodestars When not flying for a living Nick frequently flew air shows in the Travel Air and he was known as the Voice of EAA for his air show announcing Fact Nick and the Travel Air were the longest conshytinually paired air show performers Myth The Gone Flying door sign was designed by Flying magazine Fact Nicks good friend and artist Joe Scanshylon came up with the Gone Flying sign when Nick had h is famo us airshyracing-themed tavern the Pylon Club to let patrons know that Nick would not be found behind the bar or drums but behind the control wheel of a DC-3 flying non-skeds out of Midway

Frank is the master mech anic of the family He began working a t Howard Aircraft at age 16 along with his brother Nick and still is an active airframe and powerplant mechanic He was awarded the Ch arles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in 1999 He worked for North America n Rock-

The Reziches Pitcairn PA-7 Mailwing NC876M Wright J-6-7 powered with the nifty speed ring cowl before being converted to sport wings Colors were blue and silver

The same Pitcairn post-modification to sport wings and low-pressure air wheels This ship was also used as an instrument trainer at Chicago Municipal by Pierce Scotty OCarrolls Monarch Air Service Note the reduction in the radio mast height New colors are now two-tone green with black pinstripes

This was the Reziches first airplane a 40-hp E-2 Cub that was leased back to the Harlem Airport flight school run by Fred Schumaker Colors were silver and red No brakes or tail wheel

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

well on many projects including the XB-70 and the B-1 with duties rangshying from superintendent of final asshysembly to production engineering supervisor Fact Frank is never seen without his trademark cigar even in the shower Myth Frank has lived in California all his life Fact Frank was born and raised in Chicago and he worked in Fort Worth for Pratt amp Whitney as a field representative on the R-4360 engine on the B-36 bombshyers It wasnt until 19S4 that Frank and his family moved to the Los Anshygeles area

Lets move on to the first Travel Air the family owned NC661H It was a standard model 2000 OX-S powered with no brakes or tail wheel Mike

20 SEPTEMBER 2007

made arrangements to purchase the airplane in 1936 and while the owner was attempting to deliver the airplane to Chicago from Rock Springs Maryshyland the OX-S gave up the ghost and the owner had to make a forced landing in Pennsylvania Repairs took until the spring of 1937 Mike didnt want to take any more chances with his investment so he sent his brother Nick to fly the Travel Air back to Chishycago The trip back was one of the first long cross-countries for Nick who was just 17 at the time By now Nick was an accomplished aviator after soloing a Waco RNF at 14 and quickly earning his certificate

The airplane was silver with red trim The Rezich brothers would use this air-

The Reziches first Travel Air NC661H purchased in 1937 OX-5 powered no brakes or tail wheel colors were silver with red trim Photos taken at Harlem Airport

plane to barnstorm the northern Illinois area The airplane was kept at Harlem Airport just south of Chicago Municshyipal Airport and run by close family friend Fred Shoos Shumaker

Nick would teach younger brother Frank to fly and solo in NC661H at Harshylem Airport Although Mike would take many lessons from Nick and other inshystructors in many airplanes he would never fly solo He was most content ridshying in the spacious front seat Ill share a humorous little story about a Travel Air front seat when I fill in the details on NC606K in a later article

NC661H would share hangar space with the Reziches Pitcairn PA-7 and the newly acquired Travel Air D-4000 NC811S until 1942 After the attack on Pearl Harbor private aviation was extremely limited Nick was able to keep his new Culver Cadet LCA airshyworthy to commute between Howshyard Aircraft headquarters near Chicago Municipal Airport and the Howard assembly plant at DuPage Airport in West Chicago NC661H and the Pitshycairn would be sold to the government and impressed into service at the Navy aviation mechanics training facility at

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Chicagos Navy Pier NC8115 would be disassembled and stored in the Rezich family garage at 6424 South LaPorte St until 1972 when Nick would begin its restoration

The Rezich brothers would serve their country in a variety of ways durshying World War II Mike was a crew chief ground instructor for the Army Air Corps and taught cadets on the

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B-17 and later on the B-29 Frank would join the Army Air Corps and fly the Hump in C-46s Nick was drafted in the heavy artillery after the Howard Aircraft contracts ended but he never saw active duty as the fightshying drew to an end

Once discharged Mike made his way back to Chicago and began to search for his airplanes When he arshyrived at Navy Pier and inquired about his Travel Air and Pitcairn he was told they had been taken on a barge to the middle of Lake Michigan and pushed overboard

Capt Nick with the Pitcairn at Chicago Municipal later to be named Midway airport

To say Mike was furious is an unshyderstatement I dont think he ever got over it either I think at times my dad would bring it up just to get Mikes dander up Mike would rant and rave about how the government threw his airplanes away

So NC661H ended up in a watery way Next month Ill fill you in on the second Travel Air NC8815

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Airline Travel SO-Plus Years Ago

First published in the January 1980 issue of Vintage Airplane

Histor ically speaking when it comes to airline travel 1929 was a vintage year

Fifty years ago [Now 78 years agofshyEditor] the airline queens of the skies were the Fokker Boeing and Ford TrishyMotors and airline passengers were passing out of the flying suit and gogshygles age into a new era in which they no longer had to sit on mail pouches in open cockpits But it was still a time when most people in the world had not flown and commercial air travel had to be sold to the public

Today travel agents book clients on 600-mile-an-hour jumbo jets to exotic and faraway places and these

22 SEPTEMBER 2007

by Edward D Williams

bookings are heavy on both schedshyuled and charter flights But in 1929 air travel was new to travel agents and they had to work to get all but the most hardy and adventuresome into an airliner

In 1929 travel agents were given this guidance by an expert

Special clothing for airplane travel is unnecessary when the traveler uses the regular established passenger airlines The airplanes of these lines are of the enclosed cabin type with the interiors similar to those of a railroad parlor car

However should the traveler inshytend to take special chartered airplane trips in which open cockpit planes

may be used the traveler should equip himself with a pair of goggles and a helmet

The advice continues with a style note to the effect thatA special flyshying suit is usually not necessary espeshycially in the summer months and its purchase should be left to the discreshytion of the traveler

This up-to-date information was contained in the article Air Travel-A New Source ofProfit by Fred Burns in the inaugural issue of Travel Trade magazine of July 1929 As service to its readers in Volume I Number I the magaZine also carried a composite listshying of timetables and fares of the existshy

Left The Boeing aOA was introduced in September 1929 and was a huge plane for the day It was designed for largeshycapacity transcontinental passenger service and mail-express operation It was flown by Boeing Air Transport which introduced stewardesses to the industry the following year

ing airlines in the United States that carried passengers This special section consisted of only five pages

Burns admitted to his readers that Air transportation is still in its inshyfancy since many passengers still had to ride in open cockpits But the drama of aviation as covered in the press since Charles Lindberghs hisshy

toric New York to Paris flight two years before could mean financial success to travel specialists The travel bushyreaus and tourist agencies who equip themselves now to handle air travelshyers will not only profit but will be the recipient of beneficial indirect publicshyity Burns wrote prophetically more than half a century ago

Lindberghs feat had caused pubshylic interest to skyrocket and travel would never be the same Burns comshymented With the American public becoming more and more airminded daily the increase in passenger airshylines and frequent daily sight of these planes passing overhead the new comforts and safety factor of todays

airlines the enthusiasm of the pubshylic for the adventure romance and speed of the airplane flight the travel bureaus and tourist agencies are afshyforded a new and additional source of income

And in order that they might be knowledgeable about the subject Burns suggested that It is generally found advisable to have the person in charge of your air travel departshyment take an airplane ride during (his) spare time to acquaint himself with the advantages thrill and timeshysaving element of air travel

This was at a time when most of todays airlines werent even born

For example in the five-page time-

When Stout Air Services flew between Cleveland Detroit and Chicago in 1929 it operated the venerable Ford Tri-Motor which not only was built by the Stout Metal Airplane Co a division of the Ford Motor Co but the airplane traced its lineage to the original Stout tri-motor Stout Air Services in early 1929 was operating the Ford S-AT-B (shown above in the markings of National Air Transport) and later in the year added the S-AT-C The S-AT-B was the ultimate in traveler comfort and reshyceived its approved type certificate in June 1929 It was hurriedly put into service by other airlines such as Maddux TAT Pan Am Colonial and NAT

The Ford S-AT-C which followed closely behind the S-AT-B in 1929 increased passenger capacity to 17 The first plane off the assembly line in Dearborn Michigan went to Maddux Air Lines in California in mid-1929 and by the end of the year a total of 35 S-AT-Cs had been delivered to various airlines Note the mail bags being loaded into the wing storage compartment

VINTAGE A IRPLA NE 23

Passenger chairs in the early models of the Ford TrishyMotor were of wicker construction Later they were furshynished in aluminum covered with leather Large windows arranged to provide passengers with a good view of the landscape were of non-shatterable glass with individual shades Electric cabin lights were provided over each seat The cabin interior was covered in sheet aluminum with a balsa wood core providing a surface for interior decorations and some soundproofing

Cabin shot of a Ford Tri-Motor showing airspeed indicator and altimeter Also notice the aluminum seats that replaced wicker chairs Note the captains heavy leather jacket and the pullshydown shade over the window in the door of the flight deck

Airline travel still had a long way to go in 1929 For the previous year a total of only 52924 airplane passengers had been reported by the Aeronaushytical Chamber of Commerce

table section there were these fa shymiliar names Northwest AirwaysThis averaged out to just slightly more Western Air Express Capitol Airways Pan American Airways Colonial Airthan 1000 passengers a week for all the Transport Clifford Ball Stout Air Sershyvices Maddux Air Lines Boeing Air airlines in the entire United States (In Transport and Pacific Air Transport

But there also were Southwest Air1978 there were about 5000 airline Fast Express Universal Air Lines Inshyterstate Air Lines National Park Airshypassengers for everyone in 1929) ways Mutual Aircraft Corporation

24 S E PT EMBER 2007

With seating for 18 passengers and crew of two the Boeing BOA was an air travshyelers dream in 1929 The main cabin was lined with rows of three seats and was finished with mahogany paneling (of plywood) with a thick core of balsa wood for insulation Soundproofing of the cabin walls pennitted passengers to converse in near nonnal tones Heating and ventilation brought considerable comfort to passhysengers who were protected by shatterproof glass windows There also was a cloakroom overhead racks and a lavatory with hot and cold mnning water

and even a Yellow Cab Airways And they were flying everything

from a new Ford 5-AT-C to the old Eaglerock biplane-flown by Wichita Falls Air Transport

In addition according to the timeshytable section in the magazine other equipment in service were the Boeing 80 and 40B (flown by Boeing Air Trans-

This is the prototype Boeing 80 photographed on July 14 1928 Power is three PampW Wasp engines

port) the Boeing 40C (flown by Pacific Air Transport) the Fokker F-lO tri-moshytor (flown by Pan American Universal and Western) the Fokker Super Univershysal (flown by Universal National Park Southern Air Transport and Standard Air Lines) and the Hamilton Metalshyplane (flown by Northwest)

However an airline passenger could still find himself in an open-cockpit Stearman C-3B of Western Air if he didnt mind the breeze And accordshying to the Travel Trade timetable other airlines boasted of such equipment as Capitols and Embry-Riddle Comshypanys Ryan Brougham Northwests Stinson Detroiter Southerns J-5 and J-6 Travel Airs and Curtiss Robin and Pan Ams Keystone tri-motor six-passhysenger Loening and Fokker F-VII

The timetable showed the travel opportunities existing at that time Route systems ranged from WaterlooshyDes Moines (Midwest) to Kansas CityshyDes Moines-Minneapolis (Yellow Cab Airways) to the extensive route sysshytems of Pan Am and Boeing

However transcontinental air travel had already been available to an airline passenger for almost two years since September 1 1927 but on two different airlines That was when Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport joined up at Chicago makshying New York to Oakland travel by air possible for the first time (See The Vin-

Construction detail shows clearly in this photo of an early Boeing Model 80

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

GET THE SKILLS TO GET IT BUILT AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET YOUR HOMEBUILDING PROJECT OFF THE GROUND BY SIGNING UP FOR EAAS SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

TVaN A family history dates back to the golden age of aviation

71iS months back cover of Vintage Airplane features the fantastic colored pencil drawing by award-winning

aviation artist Kendra Helvey capturshying the Rezich familys long-standing association with Travel Airs Centered around the powerful Wright J-6-7 Whirlwind are the familys Travel Airs in original and restored condition

It was a pleasure to work closely with Kendra to create this image she really was able to put on paper what I could see only in my mind Havshying a love for aviation and history in 18 SEPTEMBER 2007

BY JIM REZICH

general Kendra Helvey has been a professional artist for 2S years and is an artist member of the American Society of Aviation Artists She works on commission each piece is original and unique for the client The work may include the family their home as well as their aircraft Or the work may depict a moment in time the South Pacific during WWII or a bishyplane landing on a count ry airport for instance Her work has appeared in the EAA AirVenture Museum sevshyeral times and on the back covers of Vintage Airplane and Warbirds magashy

zines She also fills her time as curator of the Poplar Grove Vintage Wings amp Wheels Museum Kendra and her husband Bill are both pilots and reshyside at an airport community in Popshylar Grove Illinois

To be able to appreciate this work you need to know a little about our family

The main focus is the three brothshyers Mike the oldest Nick the midshydle brother and my father and Frank the youngest Growing up within a stones throw of the Chicago Municishypal Airport (now Midway airport) the

Left Mike on the left and Nick on the riglrt with a little work on NC661H Taken at the Rezich homestead two blocks south of Muni The Travel Air was in the process of being disasmiddot sembled and sold to the Navy aviation mechanics training school

Rezich boys were destined to become involved in aviation Ill also try and point out some facts and myths about our family along the way

Mike would turn out to be the fishynancier of the family and purchased most of the airplanes owned by the family Myth Reziches have owned only Travel Airs Collectively the Rezshyich family spanning three generations has owned 23 airplanes ranging from the first E-2 Cub to a Cessna 182 and let me tell you everything in between Fact The Rezich family members are the longest continual owners of Travel Airs from 1937 to the present

Nick was the professional pilot of the family flying more than 35000 accident-free hours from 1932 up to his passing in 1981 He was an instrucshytor and an airline transport pilot with type ratings for Douglas DC-3s and Lockheed Lodestars When not flying for a living Nick frequently flew air shows in the Travel Air and he was known as the Voice of EAA for his air show announcing Fact Nick and the Travel Air were the longest conshytinually paired air show performers Myth The Gone Flying door sign was designed by Flying magazine Fact Nicks good friend and artist Joe Scanshylon came up with the Gone Flying sign when Nick had h is famo us airshyracing-themed tavern the Pylon Club to let patrons know that Nick would not be found behind the bar or drums but behind the control wheel of a DC-3 flying non-skeds out of Midway

Frank is the master mech anic of the family He began working a t Howard Aircraft at age 16 along with his brother Nick and still is an active airframe and powerplant mechanic He was awarded the Ch arles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in 1999 He worked for North America n Rock-

The Reziches Pitcairn PA-7 Mailwing NC876M Wright J-6-7 powered with the nifty speed ring cowl before being converted to sport wings Colors were blue and silver

The same Pitcairn post-modification to sport wings and low-pressure air wheels This ship was also used as an instrument trainer at Chicago Municipal by Pierce Scotty OCarrolls Monarch Air Service Note the reduction in the radio mast height New colors are now two-tone green with black pinstripes

This was the Reziches first airplane a 40-hp E-2 Cub that was leased back to the Harlem Airport flight school run by Fred Schumaker Colors were silver and red No brakes or tail wheel

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

well on many projects including the XB-70 and the B-1 with duties rangshying from superintendent of final asshysembly to production engineering supervisor Fact Frank is never seen without his trademark cigar even in the shower Myth Frank has lived in California all his life Fact Frank was born and raised in Chicago and he worked in Fort Worth for Pratt amp Whitney as a field representative on the R-4360 engine on the B-36 bombshyers It wasnt until 19S4 that Frank and his family moved to the Los Anshygeles area

Lets move on to the first Travel Air the family owned NC661H It was a standard model 2000 OX-S powered with no brakes or tail wheel Mike

20 SEPTEMBER 2007

made arrangements to purchase the airplane in 1936 and while the owner was attempting to deliver the airplane to Chicago from Rock Springs Maryshyland the OX-S gave up the ghost and the owner had to make a forced landing in Pennsylvania Repairs took until the spring of 1937 Mike didnt want to take any more chances with his investment so he sent his brother Nick to fly the Travel Air back to Chishycago The trip back was one of the first long cross-countries for Nick who was just 17 at the time By now Nick was an accomplished aviator after soloing a Waco RNF at 14 and quickly earning his certificate

The airplane was silver with red trim The Rezich brothers would use this air-

The Reziches first Travel Air NC661H purchased in 1937 OX-5 powered no brakes or tail wheel colors were silver with red trim Photos taken at Harlem Airport

plane to barnstorm the northern Illinois area The airplane was kept at Harlem Airport just south of Chicago Municshyipal Airport and run by close family friend Fred Shoos Shumaker

Nick would teach younger brother Frank to fly and solo in NC661H at Harshylem Airport Although Mike would take many lessons from Nick and other inshystructors in many airplanes he would never fly solo He was most content ridshying in the spacious front seat Ill share a humorous little story about a Travel Air front seat when I fill in the details on NC606K in a later article

NC661H would share hangar space with the Reziches Pitcairn PA-7 and the newly acquired Travel Air D-4000 NC811S until 1942 After the attack on Pearl Harbor private aviation was extremely limited Nick was able to keep his new Culver Cadet LCA airshyworthy to commute between Howshyard Aircraft headquarters near Chicago Municipal Airport and the Howard assembly plant at DuPage Airport in West Chicago NC661H and the Pitshycairn would be sold to the government and impressed into service at the Navy aviation mechanics training facility at

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Chicagos Navy Pier NC8115 would be disassembled and stored in the Rezich family garage at 6424 South LaPorte St until 1972 when Nick would begin its restoration

The Rezich brothers would serve their country in a variety of ways durshying World War II Mike was a crew chief ground instructor for the Army Air Corps and taught cadets on the

~ tVip b-CLClv w~01IeIof

~f1y~~ Cfo-raquo-~V~

forNLdvwhoshyw~jlMit17 ~

~LlAJILe

B-17 and later on the B-29 Frank would join the Army Air Corps and fly the Hump in C-46s Nick was drafted in the heavy artillery after the Howard Aircraft contracts ended but he never saw active duty as the fightshying drew to an end

Once discharged Mike made his way back to Chicago and began to search for his airplanes When he arshyrived at Navy Pier and inquired about his Travel Air and Pitcairn he was told they had been taken on a barge to the middle of Lake Michigan and pushed overboard

Capt Nick with the Pitcairn at Chicago Municipal later to be named Midway airport

To say Mike was furious is an unshyderstatement I dont think he ever got over it either I think at times my dad would bring it up just to get Mikes dander up Mike would rant and rave about how the government threw his airplanes away

So NC661H ended up in a watery way Next month Ill fill you in on the second Travel Air NC8815

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Airline Travel SO-Plus Years Ago

First published in the January 1980 issue of Vintage Airplane

Histor ically speaking when it comes to airline travel 1929 was a vintage year

Fifty years ago [Now 78 years agofshyEditor] the airline queens of the skies were the Fokker Boeing and Ford TrishyMotors and airline passengers were passing out of the flying suit and gogshygles age into a new era in which they no longer had to sit on mail pouches in open cockpits But it was still a time when most people in the world had not flown and commercial air travel had to be sold to the public

Today travel agents book clients on 600-mile-an-hour jumbo jets to exotic and faraway places and these

22 SEPTEMBER 2007

by Edward D Williams

bookings are heavy on both schedshyuled and charter flights But in 1929 air travel was new to travel agents and they had to work to get all but the most hardy and adventuresome into an airliner

In 1929 travel agents were given this guidance by an expert

Special clothing for airplane travel is unnecessary when the traveler uses the regular established passenger airlines The airplanes of these lines are of the enclosed cabin type with the interiors similar to those of a railroad parlor car

However should the traveler inshytend to take special chartered airplane trips in which open cockpit planes

may be used the traveler should equip himself with a pair of goggles and a helmet

The advice continues with a style note to the effect thatA special flyshying suit is usually not necessary espeshycially in the summer months and its purchase should be left to the discreshytion of the traveler

This up-to-date information was contained in the article Air Travel-A New Source ofProfit by Fred Burns in the inaugural issue of Travel Trade magazine of July 1929 As service to its readers in Volume I Number I the magaZine also carried a composite listshying of timetables and fares of the existshy

Left The Boeing aOA was introduced in September 1929 and was a huge plane for the day It was designed for largeshycapacity transcontinental passenger service and mail-express operation It was flown by Boeing Air Transport which introduced stewardesses to the industry the following year

ing airlines in the United States that carried passengers This special section consisted of only five pages

Burns admitted to his readers that Air transportation is still in its inshyfancy since many passengers still had to ride in open cockpits But the drama of aviation as covered in the press since Charles Lindberghs hisshy

toric New York to Paris flight two years before could mean financial success to travel specialists The travel bushyreaus and tourist agencies who equip themselves now to handle air travelshyers will not only profit but will be the recipient of beneficial indirect publicshyity Burns wrote prophetically more than half a century ago

Lindberghs feat had caused pubshylic interest to skyrocket and travel would never be the same Burns comshymented With the American public becoming more and more airminded daily the increase in passenger airshylines and frequent daily sight of these planes passing overhead the new comforts and safety factor of todays

airlines the enthusiasm of the pubshylic for the adventure romance and speed of the airplane flight the travel bureaus and tourist agencies are afshyforded a new and additional source of income

And in order that they might be knowledgeable about the subject Burns suggested that It is generally found advisable to have the person in charge of your air travel departshyment take an airplane ride during (his) spare time to acquaint himself with the advantages thrill and timeshysaving element of air travel

This was at a time when most of todays airlines werent even born

For example in the five-page time-

When Stout Air Services flew between Cleveland Detroit and Chicago in 1929 it operated the venerable Ford Tri-Motor which not only was built by the Stout Metal Airplane Co a division of the Ford Motor Co but the airplane traced its lineage to the original Stout tri-motor Stout Air Services in early 1929 was operating the Ford S-AT-B (shown above in the markings of National Air Transport) and later in the year added the S-AT-C The S-AT-B was the ultimate in traveler comfort and reshyceived its approved type certificate in June 1929 It was hurriedly put into service by other airlines such as Maddux TAT Pan Am Colonial and NAT

The Ford S-AT-C which followed closely behind the S-AT-B in 1929 increased passenger capacity to 17 The first plane off the assembly line in Dearborn Michigan went to Maddux Air Lines in California in mid-1929 and by the end of the year a total of 35 S-AT-Cs had been delivered to various airlines Note the mail bags being loaded into the wing storage compartment

VINTAGE A IRPLA NE 23

Passenger chairs in the early models of the Ford TrishyMotor were of wicker construction Later they were furshynished in aluminum covered with leather Large windows arranged to provide passengers with a good view of the landscape were of non-shatterable glass with individual shades Electric cabin lights were provided over each seat The cabin interior was covered in sheet aluminum with a balsa wood core providing a surface for interior decorations and some soundproofing

Cabin shot of a Ford Tri-Motor showing airspeed indicator and altimeter Also notice the aluminum seats that replaced wicker chairs Note the captains heavy leather jacket and the pullshydown shade over the window in the door of the flight deck

Airline travel still had a long way to go in 1929 For the previous year a total of only 52924 airplane passengers had been reported by the Aeronaushytical Chamber of Commerce

table section there were these fa shymiliar names Northwest AirwaysThis averaged out to just slightly more Western Air Express Capitol Airways Pan American Airways Colonial Airthan 1000 passengers a week for all the Transport Clifford Ball Stout Air Sershyvices Maddux Air Lines Boeing Air airlines in the entire United States (In Transport and Pacific Air Transport

But there also were Southwest Air1978 there were about 5000 airline Fast Express Universal Air Lines Inshyterstate Air Lines National Park Airshypassengers for everyone in 1929) ways Mutual Aircraft Corporation

24 S E PT EMBER 2007

With seating for 18 passengers and crew of two the Boeing BOA was an air travshyelers dream in 1929 The main cabin was lined with rows of three seats and was finished with mahogany paneling (of plywood) with a thick core of balsa wood for insulation Soundproofing of the cabin walls pennitted passengers to converse in near nonnal tones Heating and ventilation brought considerable comfort to passhysengers who were protected by shatterproof glass windows There also was a cloakroom overhead racks and a lavatory with hot and cold mnning water

and even a Yellow Cab Airways And they were flying everything

from a new Ford 5-AT-C to the old Eaglerock biplane-flown by Wichita Falls Air Transport

In addition according to the timeshytable section in the magazine other equipment in service were the Boeing 80 and 40B (flown by Boeing Air Trans-

This is the prototype Boeing 80 photographed on July 14 1928 Power is three PampW Wasp engines

port) the Boeing 40C (flown by Pacific Air Transport) the Fokker F-lO tri-moshytor (flown by Pan American Universal and Western) the Fokker Super Univershysal (flown by Universal National Park Southern Air Transport and Standard Air Lines) and the Hamilton Metalshyplane (flown by Northwest)

However an airline passenger could still find himself in an open-cockpit Stearman C-3B of Western Air if he didnt mind the breeze And accordshying to the Travel Trade timetable other airlines boasted of such equipment as Capitols and Embry-Riddle Comshypanys Ryan Brougham Northwests Stinson Detroiter Southerns J-5 and J-6 Travel Airs and Curtiss Robin and Pan Ams Keystone tri-motor six-passhysenger Loening and Fokker F-VII

The timetable showed the travel opportunities existing at that time Route systems ranged from WaterlooshyDes Moines (Midwest) to Kansas CityshyDes Moines-Minneapolis (Yellow Cab Airways) to the extensive route sysshytems of Pan Am and Boeing

However transcontinental air travel had already been available to an airline passenger for almost two years since September 1 1927 but on two different airlines That was when Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport joined up at Chicago makshying New York to Oakland travel by air possible for the first time (See The Vin-

Construction detail shows clearly in this photo of an early Boeing Model 80

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

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SEPT 7-9

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SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Left Mike on the left and Nick on the riglrt with a little work on NC661H Taken at the Rezich homestead two blocks south of Muni The Travel Air was in the process of being disasmiddot sembled and sold to the Navy aviation mechanics training school

Rezich boys were destined to become involved in aviation Ill also try and point out some facts and myths about our family along the way

Mike would turn out to be the fishynancier of the family and purchased most of the airplanes owned by the family Myth Reziches have owned only Travel Airs Collectively the Rezshyich family spanning three generations has owned 23 airplanes ranging from the first E-2 Cub to a Cessna 182 and let me tell you everything in between Fact The Rezich family members are the longest continual owners of Travel Airs from 1937 to the present

Nick was the professional pilot of the family flying more than 35000 accident-free hours from 1932 up to his passing in 1981 He was an instrucshytor and an airline transport pilot with type ratings for Douglas DC-3s and Lockheed Lodestars When not flying for a living Nick frequently flew air shows in the Travel Air and he was known as the Voice of EAA for his air show announcing Fact Nick and the Travel Air were the longest conshytinually paired air show performers Myth The Gone Flying door sign was designed by Flying magazine Fact Nicks good friend and artist Joe Scanshylon came up with the Gone Flying sign when Nick had h is famo us airshyracing-themed tavern the Pylon Club to let patrons know that Nick would not be found behind the bar or drums but behind the control wheel of a DC-3 flying non-skeds out of Midway

Frank is the master mech anic of the family He began working a t Howard Aircraft at age 16 along with his brother Nick and still is an active airframe and powerplant mechanic He was awarded the Ch arles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in 1999 He worked for North America n Rock-

The Reziches Pitcairn PA-7 Mailwing NC876M Wright J-6-7 powered with the nifty speed ring cowl before being converted to sport wings Colors were blue and silver

The same Pitcairn post-modification to sport wings and low-pressure air wheels This ship was also used as an instrument trainer at Chicago Municipal by Pierce Scotty OCarrolls Monarch Air Service Note the reduction in the radio mast height New colors are now two-tone green with black pinstripes

This was the Reziches first airplane a 40-hp E-2 Cub that was leased back to the Harlem Airport flight school run by Fred Schumaker Colors were silver and red No brakes or tail wheel

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

well on many projects including the XB-70 and the B-1 with duties rangshying from superintendent of final asshysembly to production engineering supervisor Fact Frank is never seen without his trademark cigar even in the shower Myth Frank has lived in California all his life Fact Frank was born and raised in Chicago and he worked in Fort Worth for Pratt amp Whitney as a field representative on the R-4360 engine on the B-36 bombshyers It wasnt until 19S4 that Frank and his family moved to the Los Anshygeles area

Lets move on to the first Travel Air the family owned NC661H It was a standard model 2000 OX-S powered with no brakes or tail wheel Mike

20 SEPTEMBER 2007

made arrangements to purchase the airplane in 1936 and while the owner was attempting to deliver the airplane to Chicago from Rock Springs Maryshyland the OX-S gave up the ghost and the owner had to make a forced landing in Pennsylvania Repairs took until the spring of 1937 Mike didnt want to take any more chances with his investment so he sent his brother Nick to fly the Travel Air back to Chishycago The trip back was one of the first long cross-countries for Nick who was just 17 at the time By now Nick was an accomplished aviator after soloing a Waco RNF at 14 and quickly earning his certificate

The airplane was silver with red trim The Rezich brothers would use this air-

The Reziches first Travel Air NC661H purchased in 1937 OX-5 powered no brakes or tail wheel colors were silver with red trim Photos taken at Harlem Airport

plane to barnstorm the northern Illinois area The airplane was kept at Harlem Airport just south of Chicago Municshyipal Airport and run by close family friend Fred Shoos Shumaker

Nick would teach younger brother Frank to fly and solo in NC661H at Harshylem Airport Although Mike would take many lessons from Nick and other inshystructors in many airplanes he would never fly solo He was most content ridshying in the spacious front seat Ill share a humorous little story about a Travel Air front seat when I fill in the details on NC606K in a later article

NC661H would share hangar space with the Reziches Pitcairn PA-7 and the newly acquired Travel Air D-4000 NC811S until 1942 After the attack on Pearl Harbor private aviation was extremely limited Nick was able to keep his new Culver Cadet LCA airshyworthy to commute between Howshyard Aircraft headquarters near Chicago Municipal Airport and the Howard assembly plant at DuPage Airport in West Chicago NC661H and the Pitshycairn would be sold to the government and impressed into service at the Navy aviation mechanics training facility at

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Chicagos Navy Pier NC8115 would be disassembled and stored in the Rezich family garage at 6424 South LaPorte St until 1972 when Nick would begin its restoration

The Rezich brothers would serve their country in a variety of ways durshying World War II Mike was a crew chief ground instructor for the Army Air Corps and taught cadets on the

~ tVip b-CLClv w~01IeIof

~f1y~~ Cfo-raquo-~V~

forNLdvwhoshyw~jlMit17 ~

~LlAJILe

B-17 and later on the B-29 Frank would join the Army Air Corps and fly the Hump in C-46s Nick was drafted in the heavy artillery after the Howard Aircraft contracts ended but he never saw active duty as the fightshying drew to an end

Once discharged Mike made his way back to Chicago and began to search for his airplanes When he arshyrived at Navy Pier and inquired about his Travel Air and Pitcairn he was told they had been taken on a barge to the middle of Lake Michigan and pushed overboard

Capt Nick with the Pitcairn at Chicago Municipal later to be named Midway airport

To say Mike was furious is an unshyderstatement I dont think he ever got over it either I think at times my dad would bring it up just to get Mikes dander up Mike would rant and rave about how the government threw his airplanes away

So NC661H ended up in a watery way Next month Ill fill you in on the second Travel Air NC8815

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Airline Travel SO-Plus Years Ago

First published in the January 1980 issue of Vintage Airplane

Histor ically speaking when it comes to airline travel 1929 was a vintage year

Fifty years ago [Now 78 years agofshyEditor] the airline queens of the skies were the Fokker Boeing and Ford TrishyMotors and airline passengers were passing out of the flying suit and gogshygles age into a new era in which they no longer had to sit on mail pouches in open cockpits But it was still a time when most people in the world had not flown and commercial air travel had to be sold to the public

Today travel agents book clients on 600-mile-an-hour jumbo jets to exotic and faraway places and these

22 SEPTEMBER 2007

by Edward D Williams

bookings are heavy on both schedshyuled and charter flights But in 1929 air travel was new to travel agents and they had to work to get all but the most hardy and adventuresome into an airliner

In 1929 travel agents were given this guidance by an expert

Special clothing for airplane travel is unnecessary when the traveler uses the regular established passenger airlines The airplanes of these lines are of the enclosed cabin type with the interiors similar to those of a railroad parlor car

However should the traveler inshytend to take special chartered airplane trips in which open cockpit planes

may be used the traveler should equip himself with a pair of goggles and a helmet

The advice continues with a style note to the effect thatA special flyshying suit is usually not necessary espeshycially in the summer months and its purchase should be left to the discreshytion of the traveler

This up-to-date information was contained in the article Air Travel-A New Source ofProfit by Fred Burns in the inaugural issue of Travel Trade magazine of July 1929 As service to its readers in Volume I Number I the magaZine also carried a composite listshying of timetables and fares of the existshy

Left The Boeing aOA was introduced in September 1929 and was a huge plane for the day It was designed for largeshycapacity transcontinental passenger service and mail-express operation It was flown by Boeing Air Transport which introduced stewardesses to the industry the following year

ing airlines in the United States that carried passengers This special section consisted of only five pages

Burns admitted to his readers that Air transportation is still in its inshyfancy since many passengers still had to ride in open cockpits But the drama of aviation as covered in the press since Charles Lindberghs hisshy

toric New York to Paris flight two years before could mean financial success to travel specialists The travel bushyreaus and tourist agencies who equip themselves now to handle air travelshyers will not only profit but will be the recipient of beneficial indirect publicshyity Burns wrote prophetically more than half a century ago

Lindberghs feat had caused pubshylic interest to skyrocket and travel would never be the same Burns comshymented With the American public becoming more and more airminded daily the increase in passenger airshylines and frequent daily sight of these planes passing overhead the new comforts and safety factor of todays

airlines the enthusiasm of the pubshylic for the adventure romance and speed of the airplane flight the travel bureaus and tourist agencies are afshyforded a new and additional source of income

And in order that they might be knowledgeable about the subject Burns suggested that It is generally found advisable to have the person in charge of your air travel departshyment take an airplane ride during (his) spare time to acquaint himself with the advantages thrill and timeshysaving element of air travel

This was at a time when most of todays airlines werent even born

For example in the five-page time-

When Stout Air Services flew between Cleveland Detroit and Chicago in 1929 it operated the venerable Ford Tri-Motor which not only was built by the Stout Metal Airplane Co a division of the Ford Motor Co but the airplane traced its lineage to the original Stout tri-motor Stout Air Services in early 1929 was operating the Ford S-AT-B (shown above in the markings of National Air Transport) and later in the year added the S-AT-C The S-AT-B was the ultimate in traveler comfort and reshyceived its approved type certificate in June 1929 It was hurriedly put into service by other airlines such as Maddux TAT Pan Am Colonial and NAT

The Ford S-AT-C which followed closely behind the S-AT-B in 1929 increased passenger capacity to 17 The first plane off the assembly line in Dearborn Michigan went to Maddux Air Lines in California in mid-1929 and by the end of the year a total of 35 S-AT-Cs had been delivered to various airlines Note the mail bags being loaded into the wing storage compartment

VINTAGE A IRPLA NE 23

Passenger chairs in the early models of the Ford TrishyMotor were of wicker construction Later they were furshynished in aluminum covered with leather Large windows arranged to provide passengers with a good view of the landscape were of non-shatterable glass with individual shades Electric cabin lights were provided over each seat The cabin interior was covered in sheet aluminum with a balsa wood core providing a surface for interior decorations and some soundproofing

Cabin shot of a Ford Tri-Motor showing airspeed indicator and altimeter Also notice the aluminum seats that replaced wicker chairs Note the captains heavy leather jacket and the pullshydown shade over the window in the door of the flight deck

Airline travel still had a long way to go in 1929 For the previous year a total of only 52924 airplane passengers had been reported by the Aeronaushytical Chamber of Commerce

table section there were these fa shymiliar names Northwest AirwaysThis averaged out to just slightly more Western Air Express Capitol Airways Pan American Airways Colonial Airthan 1000 passengers a week for all the Transport Clifford Ball Stout Air Sershyvices Maddux Air Lines Boeing Air airlines in the entire United States (In Transport and Pacific Air Transport

But there also were Southwest Air1978 there were about 5000 airline Fast Express Universal Air Lines Inshyterstate Air Lines National Park Airshypassengers for everyone in 1929) ways Mutual Aircraft Corporation

24 S E PT EMBER 2007

With seating for 18 passengers and crew of two the Boeing BOA was an air travshyelers dream in 1929 The main cabin was lined with rows of three seats and was finished with mahogany paneling (of plywood) with a thick core of balsa wood for insulation Soundproofing of the cabin walls pennitted passengers to converse in near nonnal tones Heating and ventilation brought considerable comfort to passhysengers who were protected by shatterproof glass windows There also was a cloakroom overhead racks and a lavatory with hot and cold mnning water

and even a Yellow Cab Airways And they were flying everything

from a new Ford 5-AT-C to the old Eaglerock biplane-flown by Wichita Falls Air Transport

In addition according to the timeshytable section in the magazine other equipment in service were the Boeing 80 and 40B (flown by Boeing Air Trans-

This is the prototype Boeing 80 photographed on July 14 1928 Power is three PampW Wasp engines

port) the Boeing 40C (flown by Pacific Air Transport) the Fokker F-lO tri-moshytor (flown by Pan American Universal and Western) the Fokker Super Univershysal (flown by Universal National Park Southern Air Transport and Standard Air Lines) and the Hamilton Metalshyplane (flown by Northwest)

However an airline passenger could still find himself in an open-cockpit Stearman C-3B of Western Air if he didnt mind the breeze And accordshying to the Travel Trade timetable other airlines boasted of such equipment as Capitols and Embry-Riddle Comshypanys Ryan Brougham Northwests Stinson Detroiter Southerns J-5 and J-6 Travel Airs and Curtiss Robin and Pan Ams Keystone tri-motor six-passhysenger Loening and Fokker F-VII

The timetable showed the travel opportunities existing at that time Route systems ranged from WaterlooshyDes Moines (Midwest) to Kansas CityshyDes Moines-Minneapolis (Yellow Cab Airways) to the extensive route sysshytems of Pan Am and Boeing

However transcontinental air travel had already been available to an airline passenger for almost two years since September 1 1927 but on two different airlines That was when Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport joined up at Chicago makshying New York to Oakland travel by air possible for the first time (See The Vin-

Construction detail shows clearly in this photo of an early Boeing Model 80

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

GET THE SKILLS TO GET IT BUILT AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET YOUR HOMEBUILDING PROJECT OFF THE GROUND BY SIGNING UP FOR EAAS SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

well on many projects including the XB-70 and the B-1 with duties rangshying from superintendent of final asshysembly to production engineering supervisor Fact Frank is never seen without his trademark cigar even in the shower Myth Frank has lived in California all his life Fact Frank was born and raised in Chicago and he worked in Fort Worth for Pratt amp Whitney as a field representative on the R-4360 engine on the B-36 bombshyers It wasnt until 19S4 that Frank and his family moved to the Los Anshygeles area

Lets move on to the first Travel Air the family owned NC661H It was a standard model 2000 OX-S powered with no brakes or tail wheel Mike

20 SEPTEMBER 2007

made arrangements to purchase the airplane in 1936 and while the owner was attempting to deliver the airplane to Chicago from Rock Springs Maryshyland the OX-S gave up the ghost and the owner had to make a forced landing in Pennsylvania Repairs took until the spring of 1937 Mike didnt want to take any more chances with his investment so he sent his brother Nick to fly the Travel Air back to Chishycago The trip back was one of the first long cross-countries for Nick who was just 17 at the time By now Nick was an accomplished aviator after soloing a Waco RNF at 14 and quickly earning his certificate

The airplane was silver with red trim The Rezich brothers would use this air-

The Reziches first Travel Air NC661H purchased in 1937 OX-5 powered no brakes or tail wheel colors were silver with red trim Photos taken at Harlem Airport

plane to barnstorm the northern Illinois area The airplane was kept at Harlem Airport just south of Chicago Municshyipal Airport and run by close family friend Fred Shoos Shumaker

Nick would teach younger brother Frank to fly and solo in NC661H at Harshylem Airport Although Mike would take many lessons from Nick and other inshystructors in many airplanes he would never fly solo He was most content ridshying in the spacious front seat Ill share a humorous little story about a Travel Air front seat when I fill in the details on NC606K in a later article

NC661H would share hangar space with the Reziches Pitcairn PA-7 and the newly acquired Travel Air D-4000 NC811S until 1942 After the attack on Pearl Harbor private aviation was extremely limited Nick was able to keep his new Culver Cadet LCA airshyworthy to commute between Howshyard Aircraft headquarters near Chicago Municipal Airport and the Howard assembly plant at DuPage Airport in West Chicago NC661H and the Pitshycairn would be sold to the government and impressed into service at the Navy aviation mechanics training facility at

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Chicagos Navy Pier NC8115 would be disassembled and stored in the Rezich family garage at 6424 South LaPorte St until 1972 when Nick would begin its restoration

The Rezich brothers would serve their country in a variety of ways durshying World War II Mike was a crew chief ground instructor for the Army Air Corps and taught cadets on the

~ tVip b-CLClv w~01IeIof

~f1y~~ Cfo-raquo-~V~

forNLdvwhoshyw~jlMit17 ~

~LlAJILe

B-17 and later on the B-29 Frank would join the Army Air Corps and fly the Hump in C-46s Nick was drafted in the heavy artillery after the Howard Aircraft contracts ended but he never saw active duty as the fightshying drew to an end

Once discharged Mike made his way back to Chicago and began to search for his airplanes When he arshyrived at Navy Pier and inquired about his Travel Air and Pitcairn he was told they had been taken on a barge to the middle of Lake Michigan and pushed overboard

Capt Nick with the Pitcairn at Chicago Municipal later to be named Midway airport

To say Mike was furious is an unshyderstatement I dont think he ever got over it either I think at times my dad would bring it up just to get Mikes dander up Mike would rant and rave about how the government threw his airplanes away

So NC661H ended up in a watery way Next month Ill fill you in on the second Travel Air NC8815

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Airline Travel SO-Plus Years Ago

First published in the January 1980 issue of Vintage Airplane

Histor ically speaking when it comes to airline travel 1929 was a vintage year

Fifty years ago [Now 78 years agofshyEditor] the airline queens of the skies were the Fokker Boeing and Ford TrishyMotors and airline passengers were passing out of the flying suit and gogshygles age into a new era in which they no longer had to sit on mail pouches in open cockpits But it was still a time when most people in the world had not flown and commercial air travel had to be sold to the public

Today travel agents book clients on 600-mile-an-hour jumbo jets to exotic and faraway places and these

22 SEPTEMBER 2007

by Edward D Williams

bookings are heavy on both schedshyuled and charter flights But in 1929 air travel was new to travel agents and they had to work to get all but the most hardy and adventuresome into an airliner

In 1929 travel agents were given this guidance by an expert

Special clothing for airplane travel is unnecessary when the traveler uses the regular established passenger airlines The airplanes of these lines are of the enclosed cabin type with the interiors similar to those of a railroad parlor car

However should the traveler inshytend to take special chartered airplane trips in which open cockpit planes

may be used the traveler should equip himself with a pair of goggles and a helmet

The advice continues with a style note to the effect thatA special flyshying suit is usually not necessary espeshycially in the summer months and its purchase should be left to the discreshytion of the traveler

This up-to-date information was contained in the article Air Travel-A New Source ofProfit by Fred Burns in the inaugural issue of Travel Trade magazine of July 1929 As service to its readers in Volume I Number I the magaZine also carried a composite listshying of timetables and fares of the existshy

Left The Boeing aOA was introduced in September 1929 and was a huge plane for the day It was designed for largeshycapacity transcontinental passenger service and mail-express operation It was flown by Boeing Air Transport which introduced stewardesses to the industry the following year

ing airlines in the United States that carried passengers This special section consisted of only five pages

Burns admitted to his readers that Air transportation is still in its inshyfancy since many passengers still had to ride in open cockpits But the drama of aviation as covered in the press since Charles Lindberghs hisshy

toric New York to Paris flight two years before could mean financial success to travel specialists The travel bushyreaus and tourist agencies who equip themselves now to handle air travelshyers will not only profit but will be the recipient of beneficial indirect publicshyity Burns wrote prophetically more than half a century ago

Lindberghs feat had caused pubshylic interest to skyrocket and travel would never be the same Burns comshymented With the American public becoming more and more airminded daily the increase in passenger airshylines and frequent daily sight of these planes passing overhead the new comforts and safety factor of todays

airlines the enthusiasm of the pubshylic for the adventure romance and speed of the airplane flight the travel bureaus and tourist agencies are afshyforded a new and additional source of income

And in order that they might be knowledgeable about the subject Burns suggested that It is generally found advisable to have the person in charge of your air travel departshyment take an airplane ride during (his) spare time to acquaint himself with the advantages thrill and timeshysaving element of air travel

This was at a time when most of todays airlines werent even born

For example in the five-page time-

When Stout Air Services flew between Cleveland Detroit and Chicago in 1929 it operated the venerable Ford Tri-Motor which not only was built by the Stout Metal Airplane Co a division of the Ford Motor Co but the airplane traced its lineage to the original Stout tri-motor Stout Air Services in early 1929 was operating the Ford S-AT-B (shown above in the markings of National Air Transport) and later in the year added the S-AT-C The S-AT-B was the ultimate in traveler comfort and reshyceived its approved type certificate in June 1929 It was hurriedly put into service by other airlines such as Maddux TAT Pan Am Colonial and NAT

The Ford S-AT-C which followed closely behind the S-AT-B in 1929 increased passenger capacity to 17 The first plane off the assembly line in Dearborn Michigan went to Maddux Air Lines in California in mid-1929 and by the end of the year a total of 35 S-AT-Cs had been delivered to various airlines Note the mail bags being loaded into the wing storage compartment

VINTAGE A IRPLA NE 23

Passenger chairs in the early models of the Ford TrishyMotor were of wicker construction Later they were furshynished in aluminum covered with leather Large windows arranged to provide passengers with a good view of the landscape were of non-shatterable glass with individual shades Electric cabin lights were provided over each seat The cabin interior was covered in sheet aluminum with a balsa wood core providing a surface for interior decorations and some soundproofing

Cabin shot of a Ford Tri-Motor showing airspeed indicator and altimeter Also notice the aluminum seats that replaced wicker chairs Note the captains heavy leather jacket and the pullshydown shade over the window in the door of the flight deck

Airline travel still had a long way to go in 1929 For the previous year a total of only 52924 airplane passengers had been reported by the Aeronaushytical Chamber of Commerce

table section there were these fa shymiliar names Northwest AirwaysThis averaged out to just slightly more Western Air Express Capitol Airways Pan American Airways Colonial Airthan 1000 passengers a week for all the Transport Clifford Ball Stout Air Sershyvices Maddux Air Lines Boeing Air airlines in the entire United States (In Transport and Pacific Air Transport

But there also were Southwest Air1978 there were about 5000 airline Fast Express Universal Air Lines Inshyterstate Air Lines National Park Airshypassengers for everyone in 1929) ways Mutual Aircraft Corporation

24 S E PT EMBER 2007

With seating for 18 passengers and crew of two the Boeing BOA was an air travshyelers dream in 1929 The main cabin was lined with rows of three seats and was finished with mahogany paneling (of plywood) with a thick core of balsa wood for insulation Soundproofing of the cabin walls pennitted passengers to converse in near nonnal tones Heating and ventilation brought considerable comfort to passhysengers who were protected by shatterproof glass windows There also was a cloakroom overhead racks and a lavatory with hot and cold mnning water

and even a Yellow Cab Airways And they were flying everything

from a new Ford 5-AT-C to the old Eaglerock biplane-flown by Wichita Falls Air Transport

In addition according to the timeshytable section in the magazine other equipment in service were the Boeing 80 and 40B (flown by Boeing Air Trans-

This is the prototype Boeing 80 photographed on July 14 1928 Power is three PampW Wasp engines

port) the Boeing 40C (flown by Pacific Air Transport) the Fokker F-lO tri-moshytor (flown by Pan American Universal and Western) the Fokker Super Univershysal (flown by Universal National Park Southern Air Transport and Standard Air Lines) and the Hamilton Metalshyplane (flown by Northwest)

However an airline passenger could still find himself in an open-cockpit Stearman C-3B of Western Air if he didnt mind the breeze And accordshying to the Travel Trade timetable other airlines boasted of such equipment as Capitols and Embry-Riddle Comshypanys Ryan Brougham Northwests Stinson Detroiter Southerns J-5 and J-6 Travel Airs and Curtiss Robin and Pan Ams Keystone tri-motor six-passhysenger Loening and Fokker F-VII

The timetable showed the travel opportunities existing at that time Route systems ranged from WaterlooshyDes Moines (Midwest) to Kansas CityshyDes Moines-Minneapolis (Yellow Cab Airways) to the extensive route sysshytems of Pan Am and Boeing

However transcontinental air travel had already been available to an airline passenger for almost two years since September 1 1927 but on two different airlines That was when Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport joined up at Chicago makshying New York to Oakland travel by air possible for the first time (See The Vin-

Construction detail shows clearly in this photo of an early Boeing Model 80

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

GET THE SKILLS TO GET IT BUILT AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET YOUR HOMEBUILDING PROJECT OFF THE GROUND BY SIGNING UP FOR EAAS SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Frank Rezich after his first solo in NC661H at Harlem Airport

Chicagos Navy Pier NC8115 would be disassembled and stored in the Rezich family garage at 6424 South LaPorte St until 1972 when Nick would begin its restoration

The Rezich brothers would serve their country in a variety of ways durshying World War II Mike was a crew chief ground instructor for the Army Air Corps and taught cadets on the

~ tVip b-CLClv w~01IeIof

~f1y~~ Cfo-raquo-~V~

forNLdvwhoshyw~jlMit17 ~

~LlAJILe

B-17 and later on the B-29 Frank would join the Army Air Corps and fly the Hump in C-46s Nick was drafted in the heavy artillery after the Howard Aircraft contracts ended but he never saw active duty as the fightshying drew to an end

Once discharged Mike made his way back to Chicago and began to search for his airplanes When he arshyrived at Navy Pier and inquired about his Travel Air and Pitcairn he was told they had been taken on a barge to the middle of Lake Michigan and pushed overboard

Capt Nick with the Pitcairn at Chicago Municipal later to be named Midway airport

To say Mike was furious is an unshyderstatement I dont think he ever got over it either I think at times my dad would bring it up just to get Mikes dander up Mike would rant and rave about how the government threw his airplanes away

So NC661H ended up in a watery way Next month Ill fill you in on the second Travel Air NC8815

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

Airline Travel SO-Plus Years Ago

First published in the January 1980 issue of Vintage Airplane

Histor ically speaking when it comes to airline travel 1929 was a vintage year

Fifty years ago [Now 78 years agofshyEditor] the airline queens of the skies were the Fokker Boeing and Ford TrishyMotors and airline passengers were passing out of the flying suit and gogshygles age into a new era in which they no longer had to sit on mail pouches in open cockpits But it was still a time when most people in the world had not flown and commercial air travel had to be sold to the public

Today travel agents book clients on 600-mile-an-hour jumbo jets to exotic and faraway places and these

22 SEPTEMBER 2007

by Edward D Williams

bookings are heavy on both schedshyuled and charter flights But in 1929 air travel was new to travel agents and they had to work to get all but the most hardy and adventuresome into an airliner

In 1929 travel agents were given this guidance by an expert

Special clothing for airplane travel is unnecessary when the traveler uses the regular established passenger airlines The airplanes of these lines are of the enclosed cabin type with the interiors similar to those of a railroad parlor car

However should the traveler inshytend to take special chartered airplane trips in which open cockpit planes

may be used the traveler should equip himself with a pair of goggles and a helmet

The advice continues with a style note to the effect thatA special flyshying suit is usually not necessary espeshycially in the summer months and its purchase should be left to the discreshytion of the traveler

This up-to-date information was contained in the article Air Travel-A New Source ofProfit by Fred Burns in the inaugural issue of Travel Trade magazine of July 1929 As service to its readers in Volume I Number I the magaZine also carried a composite listshying of timetables and fares of the existshy

Left The Boeing aOA was introduced in September 1929 and was a huge plane for the day It was designed for largeshycapacity transcontinental passenger service and mail-express operation It was flown by Boeing Air Transport which introduced stewardesses to the industry the following year

ing airlines in the United States that carried passengers This special section consisted of only five pages

Burns admitted to his readers that Air transportation is still in its inshyfancy since many passengers still had to ride in open cockpits But the drama of aviation as covered in the press since Charles Lindberghs hisshy

toric New York to Paris flight two years before could mean financial success to travel specialists The travel bushyreaus and tourist agencies who equip themselves now to handle air travelshyers will not only profit but will be the recipient of beneficial indirect publicshyity Burns wrote prophetically more than half a century ago

Lindberghs feat had caused pubshylic interest to skyrocket and travel would never be the same Burns comshymented With the American public becoming more and more airminded daily the increase in passenger airshylines and frequent daily sight of these planes passing overhead the new comforts and safety factor of todays

airlines the enthusiasm of the pubshylic for the adventure romance and speed of the airplane flight the travel bureaus and tourist agencies are afshyforded a new and additional source of income

And in order that they might be knowledgeable about the subject Burns suggested that It is generally found advisable to have the person in charge of your air travel departshyment take an airplane ride during (his) spare time to acquaint himself with the advantages thrill and timeshysaving element of air travel

This was at a time when most of todays airlines werent even born

For example in the five-page time-

When Stout Air Services flew between Cleveland Detroit and Chicago in 1929 it operated the venerable Ford Tri-Motor which not only was built by the Stout Metal Airplane Co a division of the Ford Motor Co but the airplane traced its lineage to the original Stout tri-motor Stout Air Services in early 1929 was operating the Ford S-AT-B (shown above in the markings of National Air Transport) and later in the year added the S-AT-C The S-AT-B was the ultimate in traveler comfort and reshyceived its approved type certificate in June 1929 It was hurriedly put into service by other airlines such as Maddux TAT Pan Am Colonial and NAT

The Ford S-AT-C which followed closely behind the S-AT-B in 1929 increased passenger capacity to 17 The first plane off the assembly line in Dearborn Michigan went to Maddux Air Lines in California in mid-1929 and by the end of the year a total of 35 S-AT-Cs had been delivered to various airlines Note the mail bags being loaded into the wing storage compartment

VINTAGE A IRPLA NE 23

Passenger chairs in the early models of the Ford TrishyMotor were of wicker construction Later they were furshynished in aluminum covered with leather Large windows arranged to provide passengers with a good view of the landscape were of non-shatterable glass with individual shades Electric cabin lights were provided over each seat The cabin interior was covered in sheet aluminum with a balsa wood core providing a surface for interior decorations and some soundproofing

Cabin shot of a Ford Tri-Motor showing airspeed indicator and altimeter Also notice the aluminum seats that replaced wicker chairs Note the captains heavy leather jacket and the pullshydown shade over the window in the door of the flight deck

Airline travel still had a long way to go in 1929 For the previous year a total of only 52924 airplane passengers had been reported by the Aeronaushytical Chamber of Commerce

table section there were these fa shymiliar names Northwest AirwaysThis averaged out to just slightly more Western Air Express Capitol Airways Pan American Airways Colonial Airthan 1000 passengers a week for all the Transport Clifford Ball Stout Air Sershyvices Maddux Air Lines Boeing Air airlines in the entire United States (In Transport and Pacific Air Transport

But there also were Southwest Air1978 there were about 5000 airline Fast Express Universal Air Lines Inshyterstate Air Lines National Park Airshypassengers for everyone in 1929) ways Mutual Aircraft Corporation

24 S E PT EMBER 2007

With seating for 18 passengers and crew of two the Boeing BOA was an air travshyelers dream in 1929 The main cabin was lined with rows of three seats and was finished with mahogany paneling (of plywood) with a thick core of balsa wood for insulation Soundproofing of the cabin walls pennitted passengers to converse in near nonnal tones Heating and ventilation brought considerable comfort to passhysengers who were protected by shatterproof glass windows There also was a cloakroom overhead racks and a lavatory with hot and cold mnning water

and even a Yellow Cab Airways And they were flying everything

from a new Ford 5-AT-C to the old Eaglerock biplane-flown by Wichita Falls Air Transport

In addition according to the timeshytable section in the magazine other equipment in service were the Boeing 80 and 40B (flown by Boeing Air Trans-

This is the prototype Boeing 80 photographed on July 14 1928 Power is three PampW Wasp engines

port) the Boeing 40C (flown by Pacific Air Transport) the Fokker F-lO tri-moshytor (flown by Pan American Universal and Western) the Fokker Super Univershysal (flown by Universal National Park Southern Air Transport and Standard Air Lines) and the Hamilton Metalshyplane (flown by Northwest)

However an airline passenger could still find himself in an open-cockpit Stearman C-3B of Western Air if he didnt mind the breeze And accordshying to the Travel Trade timetable other airlines boasted of such equipment as Capitols and Embry-Riddle Comshypanys Ryan Brougham Northwests Stinson Detroiter Southerns J-5 and J-6 Travel Airs and Curtiss Robin and Pan Ams Keystone tri-motor six-passhysenger Loening and Fokker F-VII

The timetable showed the travel opportunities existing at that time Route systems ranged from WaterlooshyDes Moines (Midwest) to Kansas CityshyDes Moines-Minneapolis (Yellow Cab Airways) to the extensive route sysshytems of Pan Am and Boeing

However transcontinental air travel had already been available to an airline passenger for almost two years since September 1 1927 but on two different airlines That was when Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport joined up at Chicago makshying New York to Oakland travel by air possible for the first time (See The Vin-

Construction detail shows clearly in this photo of an early Boeing Model 80

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

GET THE SKILLS TO GET IT BUILT AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET YOUR HOMEBUILDING PROJECT OFF THE GROUND BY SIGNING UP FOR EAAS SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Airline Travel SO-Plus Years Ago

First published in the January 1980 issue of Vintage Airplane

Histor ically speaking when it comes to airline travel 1929 was a vintage year

Fifty years ago [Now 78 years agofshyEditor] the airline queens of the skies were the Fokker Boeing and Ford TrishyMotors and airline passengers were passing out of the flying suit and gogshygles age into a new era in which they no longer had to sit on mail pouches in open cockpits But it was still a time when most people in the world had not flown and commercial air travel had to be sold to the public

Today travel agents book clients on 600-mile-an-hour jumbo jets to exotic and faraway places and these

22 SEPTEMBER 2007

by Edward D Williams

bookings are heavy on both schedshyuled and charter flights But in 1929 air travel was new to travel agents and they had to work to get all but the most hardy and adventuresome into an airliner

In 1929 travel agents were given this guidance by an expert

Special clothing for airplane travel is unnecessary when the traveler uses the regular established passenger airlines The airplanes of these lines are of the enclosed cabin type with the interiors similar to those of a railroad parlor car

However should the traveler inshytend to take special chartered airplane trips in which open cockpit planes

may be used the traveler should equip himself with a pair of goggles and a helmet

The advice continues with a style note to the effect thatA special flyshying suit is usually not necessary espeshycially in the summer months and its purchase should be left to the discreshytion of the traveler

This up-to-date information was contained in the article Air Travel-A New Source ofProfit by Fred Burns in the inaugural issue of Travel Trade magazine of July 1929 As service to its readers in Volume I Number I the magaZine also carried a composite listshying of timetables and fares of the existshy

Left The Boeing aOA was introduced in September 1929 and was a huge plane for the day It was designed for largeshycapacity transcontinental passenger service and mail-express operation It was flown by Boeing Air Transport which introduced stewardesses to the industry the following year

ing airlines in the United States that carried passengers This special section consisted of only five pages

Burns admitted to his readers that Air transportation is still in its inshyfancy since many passengers still had to ride in open cockpits But the drama of aviation as covered in the press since Charles Lindberghs hisshy

toric New York to Paris flight two years before could mean financial success to travel specialists The travel bushyreaus and tourist agencies who equip themselves now to handle air travelshyers will not only profit but will be the recipient of beneficial indirect publicshyity Burns wrote prophetically more than half a century ago

Lindberghs feat had caused pubshylic interest to skyrocket and travel would never be the same Burns comshymented With the American public becoming more and more airminded daily the increase in passenger airshylines and frequent daily sight of these planes passing overhead the new comforts and safety factor of todays

airlines the enthusiasm of the pubshylic for the adventure romance and speed of the airplane flight the travel bureaus and tourist agencies are afshyforded a new and additional source of income

And in order that they might be knowledgeable about the subject Burns suggested that It is generally found advisable to have the person in charge of your air travel departshyment take an airplane ride during (his) spare time to acquaint himself with the advantages thrill and timeshysaving element of air travel

This was at a time when most of todays airlines werent even born

For example in the five-page time-

When Stout Air Services flew between Cleveland Detroit and Chicago in 1929 it operated the venerable Ford Tri-Motor which not only was built by the Stout Metal Airplane Co a division of the Ford Motor Co but the airplane traced its lineage to the original Stout tri-motor Stout Air Services in early 1929 was operating the Ford S-AT-B (shown above in the markings of National Air Transport) and later in the year added the S-AT-C The S-AT-B was the ultimate in traveler comfort and reshyceived its approved type certificate in June 1929 It was hurriedly put into service by other airlines such as Maddux TAT Pan Am Colonial and NAT

The Ford S-AT-C which followed closely behind the S-AT-B in 1929 increased passenger capacity to 17 The first plane off the assembly line in Dearborn Michigan went to Maddux Air Lines in California in mid-1929 and by the end of the year a total of 35 S-AT-Cs had been delivered to various airlines Note the mail bags being loaded into the wing storage compartment

VINTAGE A IRPLA NE 23

Passenger chairs in the early models of the Ford TrishyMotor were of wicker construction Later they were furshynished in aluminum covered with leather Large windows arranged to provide passengers with a good view of the landscape were of non-shatterable glass with individual shades Electric cabin lights were provided over each seat The cabin interior was covered in sheet aluminum with a balsa wood core providing a surface for interior decorations and some soundproofing

Cabin shot of a Ford Tri-Motor showing airspeed indicator and altimeter Also notice the aluminum seats that replaced wicker chairs Note the captains heavy leather jacket and the pullshydown shade over the window in the door of the flight deck

Airline travel still had a long way to go in 1929 For the previous year a total of only 52924 airplane passengers had been reported by the Aeronaushytical Chamber of Commerce

table section there were these fa shymiliar names Northwest AirwaysThis averaged out to just slightly more Western Air Express Capitol Airways Pan American Airways Colonial Airthan 1000 passengers a week for all the Transport Clifford Ball Stout Air Sershyvices Maddux Air Lines Boeing Air airlines in the entire United States (In Transport and Pacific Air Transport

But there also were Southwest Air1978 there were about 5000 airline Fast Express Universal Air Lines Inshyterstate Air Lines National Park Airshypassengers for everyone in 1929) ways Mutual Aircraft Corporation

24 S E PT EMBER 2007

With seating for 18 passengers and crew of two the Boeing BOA was an air travshyelers dream in 1929 The main cabin was lined with rows of three seats and was finished with mahogany paneling (of plywood) with a thick core of balsa wood for insulation Soundproofing of the cabin walls pennitted passengers to converse in near nonnal tones Heating and ventilation brought considerable comfort to passhysengers who were protected by shatterproof glass windows There also was a cloakroom overhead racks and a lavatory with hot and cold mnning water

and even a Yellow Cab Airways And they were flying everything

from a new Ford 5-AT-C to the old Eaglerock biplane-flown by Wichita Falls Air Transport

In addition according to the timeshytable section in the magazine other equipment in service were the Boeing 80 and 40B (flown by Boeing Air Trans-

This is the prototype Boeing 80 photographed on July 14 1928 Power is three PampW Wasp engines

port) the Boeing 40C (flown by Pacific Air Transport) the Fokker F-lO tri-moshytor (flown by Pan American Universal and Western) the Fokker Super Univershysal (flown by Universal National Park Southern Air Transport and Standard Air Lines) and the Hamilton Metalshyplane (flown by Northwest)

However an airline passenger could still find himself in an open-cockpit Stearman C-3B of Western Air if he didnt mind the breeze And accordshying to the Travel Trade timetable other airlines boasted of such equipment as Capitols and Embry-Riddle Comshypanys Ryan Brougham Northwests Stinson Detroiter Southerns J-5 and J-6 Travel Airs and Curtiss Robin and Pan Ams Keystone tri-motor six-passhysenger Loening and Fokker F-VII

The timetable showed the travel opportunities existing at that time Route systems ranged from WaterlooshyDes Moines (Midwest) to Kansas CityshyDes Moines-Minneapolis (Yellow Cab Airways) to the extensive route sysshytems of Pan Am and Boeing

However transcontinental air travel had already been available to an airline passenger for almost two years since September 1 1927 but on two different airlines That was when Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport joined up at Chicago makshying New York to Oakland travel by air possible for the first time (See The Vin-

Construction detail shows clearly in this photo of an early Boeing Model 80

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

GET THE SKILLS TO GET IT BUILT AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET YOUR HOMEBUILDING PROJECT OFF THE GROUND BY SIGNING UP FOR EAAS SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Left The Boeing aOA was introduced in September 1929 and was a huge plane for the day It was designed for largeshycapacity transcontinental passenger service and mail-express operation It was flown by Boeing Air Transport which introduced stewardesses to the industry the following year

ing airlines in the United States that carried passengers This special section consisted of only five pages

Burns admitted to his readers that Air transportation is still in its inshyfancy since many passengers still had to ride in open cockpits But the drama of aviation as covered in the press since Charles Lindberghs hisshy

toric New York to Paris flight two years before could mean financial success to travel specialists The travel bushyreaus and tourist agencies who equip themselves now to handle air travelshyers will not only profit but will be the recipient of beneficial indirect publicshyity Burns wrote prophetically more than half a century ago

Lindberghs feat had caused pubshylic interest to skyrocket and travel would never be the same Burns comshymented With the American public becoming more and more airminded daily the increase in passenger airshylines and frequent daily sight of these planes passing overhead the new comforts and safety factor of todays

airlines the enthusiasm of the pubshylic for the adventure romance and speed of the airplane flight the travel bureaus and tourist agencies are afshyforded a new and additional source of income

And in order that they might be knowledgeable about the subject Burns suggested that It is generally found advisable to have the person in charge of your air travel departshyment take an airplane ride during (his) spare time to acquaint himself with the advantages thrill and timeshysaving element of air travel

This was at a time when most of todays airlines werent even born

For example in the five-page time-

When Stout Air Services flew between Cleveland Detroit and Chicago in 1929 it operated the venerable Ford Tri-Motor which not only was built by the Stout Metal Airplane Co a division of the Ford Motor Co but the airplane traced its lineage to the original Stout tri-motor Stout Air Services in early 1929 was operating the Ford S-AT-B (shown above in the markings of National Air Transport) and later in the year added the S-AT-C The S-AT-B was the ultimate in traveler comfort and reshyceived its approved type certificate in June 1929 It was hurriedly put into service by other airlines such as Maddux TAT Pan Am Colonial and NAT

The Ford S-AT-C which followed closely behind the S-AT-B in 1929 increased passenger capacity to 17 The first plane off the assembly line in Dearborn Michigan went to Maddux Air Lines in California in mid-1929 and by the end of the year a total of 35 S-AT-Cs had been delivered to various airlines Note the mail bags being loaded into the wing storage compartment

VINTAGE A IRPLA NE 23

Passenger chairs in the early models of the Ford TrishyMotor were of wicker construction Later they were furshynished in aluminum covered with leather Large windows arranged to provide passengers with a good view of the landscape were of non-shatterable glass with individual shades Electric cabin lights were provided over each seat The cabin interior was covered in sheet aluminum with a balsa wood core providing a surface for interior decorations and some soundproofing

Cabin shot of a Ford Tri-Motor showing airspeed indicator and altimeter Also notice the aluminum seats that replaced wicker chairs Note the captains heavy leather jacket and the pullshydown shade over the window in the door of the flight deck

Airline travel still had a long way to go in 1929 For the previous year a total of only 52924 airplane passengers had been reported by the Aeronaushytical Chamber of Commerce

table section there were these fa shymiliar names Northwest AirwaysThis averaged out to just slightly more Western Air Express Capitol Airways Pan American Airways Colonial Airthan 1000 passengers a week for all the Transport Clifford Ball Stout Air Sershyvices Maddux Air Lines Boeing Air airlines in the entire United States (In Transport and Pacific Air Transport

But there also were Southwest Air1978 there were about 5000 airline Fast Express Universal Air Lines Inshyterstate Air Lines National Park Airshypassengers for everyone in 1929) ways Mutual Aircraft Corporation

24 S E PT EMBER 2007

With seating for 18 passengers and crew of two the Boeing BOA was an air travshyelers dream in 1929 The main cabin was lined with rows of three seats and was finished with mahogany paneling (of plywood) with a thick core of balsa wood for insulation Soundproofing of the cabin walls pennitted passengers to converse in near nonnal tones Heating and ventilation brought considerable comfort to passhysengers who were protected by shatterproof glass windows There also was a cloakroom overhead racks and a lavatory with hot and cold mnning water

and even a Yellow Cab Airways And they were flying everything

from a new Ford 5-AT-C to the old Eaglerock biplane-flown by Wichita Falls Air Transport

In addition according to the timeshytable section in the magazine other equipment in service were the Boeing 80 and 40B (flown by Boeing Air Trans-

This is the prototype Boeing 80 photographed on July 14 1928 Power is three PampW Wasp engines

port) the Boeing 40C (flown by Pacific Air Transport) the Fokker F-lO tri-moshytor (flown by Pan American Universal and Western) the Fokker Super Univershysal (flown by Universal National Park Southern Air Transport and Standard Air Lines) and the Hamilton Metalshyplane (flown by Northwest)

However an airline passenger could still find himself in an open-cockpit Stearman C-3B of Western Air if he didnt mind the breeze And accordshying to the Travel Trade timetable other airlines boasted of such equipment as Capitols and Embry-Riddle Comshypanys Ryan Brougham Northwests Stinson Detroiter Southerns J-5 and J-6 Travel Airs and Curtiss Robin and Pan Ams Keystone tri-motor six-passhysenger Loening and Fokker F-VII

The timetable showed the travel opportunities existing at that time Route systems ranged from WaterlooshyDes Moines (Midwest) to Kansas CityshyDes Moines-Minneapolis (Yellow Cab Airways) to the extensive route sysshytems of Pan Am and Boeing

However transcontinental air travel had already been available to an airline passenger for almost two years since September 1 1927 but on two different airlines That was when Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport joined up at Chicago makshying New York to Oakland travel by air possible for the first time (See The Vin-

Construction detail shows clearly in this photo of an early Boeing Model 80

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

GET THE SKILLS TO GET IT BUILT AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET YOUR HOMEBUILDING PROJECT OFF THE GROUND BY SIGNING UP FOR EAAS SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Passenger chairs in the early models of the Ford TrishyMotor were of wicker construction Later they were furshynished in aluminum covered with leather Large windows arranged to provide passengers with a good view of the landscape were of non-shatterable glass with individual shades Electric cabin lights were provided over each seat The cabin interior was covered in sheet aluminum with a balsa wood core providing a surface for interior decorations and some soundproofing

Cabin shot of a Ford Tri-Motor showing airspeed indicator and altimeter Also notice the aluminum seats that replaced wicker chairs Note the captains heavy leather jacket and the pullshydown shade over the window in the door of the flight deck

Airline travel still had a long way to go in 1929 For the previous year a total of only 52924 airplane passengers had been reported by the Aeronaushytical Chamber of Commerce

table section there were these fa shymiliar names Northwest AirwaysThis averaged out to just slightly more Western Air Express Capitol Airways Pan American Airways Colonial Airthan 1000 passengers a week for all the Transport Clifford Ball Stout Air Sershyvices Maddux Air Lines Boeing Air airlines in the entire United States (In Transport and Pacific Air Transport

But there also were Southwest Air1978 there were about 5000 airline Fast Express Universal Air Lines Inshyterstate Air Lines National Park Airshypassengers for everyone in 1929) ways Mutual Aircraft Corporation

24 S E PT EMBER 2007

With seating for 18 passengers and crew of two the Boeing BOA was an air travshyelers dream in 1929 The main cabin was lined with rows of three seats and was finished with mahogany paneling (of plywood) with a thick core of balsa wood for insulation Soundproofing of the cabin walls pennitted passengers to converse in near nonnal tones Heating and ventilation brought considerable comfort to passhysengers who were protected by shatterproof glass windows There also was a cloakroom overhead racks and a lavatory with hot and cold mnning water

and even a Yellow Cab Airways And they were flying everything

from a new Ford 5-AT-C to the old Eaglerock biplane-flown by Wichita Falls Air Transport

In addition according to the timeshytable section in the magazine other equipment in service were the Boeing 80 and 40B (flown by Boeing Air Trans-

This is the prototype Boeing 80 photographed on July 14 1928 Power is three PampW Wasp engines

port) the Boeing 40C (flown by Pacific Air Transport) the Fokker F-lO tri-moshytor (flown by Pan American Universal and Western) the Fokker Super Univershysal (flown by Universal National Park Southern Air Transport and Standard Air Lines) and the Hamilton Metalshyplane (flown by Northwest)

However an airline passenger could still find himself in an open-cockpit Stearman C-3B of Western Air if he didnt mind the breeze And accordshying to the Travel Trade timetable other airlines boasted of such equipment as Capitols and Embry-Riddle Comshypanys Ryan Brougham Northwests Stinson Detroiter Southerns J-5 and J-6 Travel Airs and Curtiss Robin and Pan Ams Keystone tri-motor six-passhysenger Loening and Fokker F-VII

The timetable showed the travel opportunities existing at that time Route systems ranged from WaterlooshyDes Moines (Midwest) to Kansas CityshyDes Moines-Minneapolis (Yellow Cab Airways) to the extensive route sysshytems of Pan Am and Boeing

However transcontinental air travel had already been available to an airline passenger for almost two years since September 1 1927 but on two different airlines That was when Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport joined up at Chicago makshying New York to Oakland travel by air possible for the first time (See The Vin-

Construction detail shows clearly in this photo of an early Boeing Model 80

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

GET THE SKILLS TO GET IT BUILT AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET YOUR HOMEBUILDING PROJECT OFF THE GROUND BY SIGNING UP FOR EAAS SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

With seating for 18 passengers and crew of two the Boeing BOA was an air travshyelers dream in 1929 The main cabin was lined with rows of three seats and was finished with mahogany paneling (of plywood) with a thick core of balsa wood for insulation Soundproofing of the cabin walls pennitted passengers to converse in near nonnal tones Heating and ventilation brought considerable comfort to passhysengers who were protected by shatterproof glass windows There also was a cloakroom overhead racks and a lavatory with hot and cold mnning water

and even a Yellow Cab Airways And they were flying everything

from a new Ford 5-AT-C to the old Eaglerock biplane-flown by Wichita Falls Air Transport

In addition according to the timeshytable section in the magazine other equipment in service were the Boeing 80 and 40B (flown by Boeing Air Trans-

This is the prototype Boeing 80 photographed on July 14 1928 Power is three PampW Wasp engines

port) the Boeing 40C (flown by Pacific Air Transport) the Fokker F-lO tri-moshytor (flown by Pan American Universal and Western) the Fokker Super Univershysal (flown by Universal National Park Southern Air Transport and Standard Air Lines) and the Hamilton Metalshyplane (flown by Northwest)

However an airline passenger could still find himself in an open-cockpit Stearman C-3B of Western Air if he didnt mind the breeze And accordshying to the Travel Trade timetable other airlines boasted of such equipment as Capitols and Embry-Riddle Comshypanys Ryan Brougham Northwests Stinson Detroiter Southerns J-5 and J-6 Travel Airs and Curtiss Robin and Pan Ams Keystone tri-motor six-passhysenger Loening and Fokker F-VII

The timetable showed the travel opportunities existing at that time Route systems ranged from WaterlooshyDes Moines (Midwest) to Kansas CityshyDes Moines-Minneapolis (Yellow Cab Airways) to the extensive route sysshytems of Pan Am and Boeing

However transcontinental air travel had already been available to an airline passenger for almost two years since September 1 1927 but on two different airlines That was when Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport joined up at Chicago makshying New York to Oakland travel by air possible for the first time (See The Vin-

Construction detail shows clearly in this photo of an early Boeing Model 80

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

GET THE SKILLS TO GET IT BUILT AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET YOUR HOMEBUILDING PROJECT OFF THE GROUND BY SIGNING UP FOR EAAS SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

In-flight shot of a triple-tail Boeing 80A Note the aft extensions on the fenders to protect tered with mud

The Boeing 80 tri-motor was introduced in late 1928 and by the next year had established itself as a leading airliner despite the fact that it was a biplane The single-rudder 80 was superseded later in 1929 by a single-rudder 80A and then a tripleshytail80A

tage Airplane December 1977) The roots of todays airline indusshy

try go back to that time For example Maddux joined with Standard and Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental and Western Inc the original TWA

Stout was merged into National Air Transport which later joined Boeing Air Transport Pacific Air Transport and Varshyney Air Lines to form United Airlines Western Air Express with National Park evolved into Western Air Lines Clifford Ball evolved into Capital Airshylines which eventually merged into United Northwest Airways became Northwest Orient Embry-Riddle Unishyversal Colonial Southern and others formed American Airlines

Fifty years ago saw the beginning of 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

the complex airline family trees but they all shared one belief-that the carshyrying of passengers was here to stay

Travel authority Burns believed in it too His article in the July 1929 Travel Trade said

One decided reason for travelers turning to airplane transportation esshypecially seasoned travelers is the opshyportunity of seeing planes from a new perspective of being above the scenshyery instead of level with it That had been one of the major lures to flight from the first time a man-carrying aircraft was launched and now-in 1929-it was being used to snare poshytential air passengers instead of early balloonists and aircraft pilots

An airplane view cannot be duplishycated by any method of travel other

than via airplanes Burns wrote unshyderscoring the obvious

Todays pampered passengers in the supersonic Concorde might appreshyciate their accommodations more if they took notice of Burns statement that the 1929 air traveler would be able to see more in his allotted vacashytion time since use of airplanes will enable the traveler to cover approxishymately 1000 miles in 10 hours

Passenger convenience and comfort in 1929 was not as complex a matter Boeing Air Transports Wasp-powered Boeing 80 tri-motor was the last word in luxurious air travel when it was first introduced in late 1928 The large cabin carried 12 passengers and provided hot and cold running water forced air venshytilation leather upholstered seats and

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

GET THE SKILLS TO GET IT BUILT AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET YOUR HOMEBUILDING PROJECT OFF THE GROUND BY SIGNING UP FOR EAAS SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

individual reading lamps The Ford S-AT-B was the ultimate

in air travel in early 1929 It was first delivered to Transcontinental Amershyican Southwest Air Fast Express and Stout each got their first S-AT-Bs in December 1928 Colonial Air Transshyport didnt get its first S-AT-B until March 1929 Almost immediately in May 1929 the larger and improved S-AT-C was delivered to Maddux The next month S-AT-Cs went to Northwest Stout and Pan Amerishycan-Grace By the end of 1929 the Ford Tri-Motor had become the backbone of the scheduled air transshyportation industry

Passengers who dared to fly comshymercially were rewarded with a memorable experience In 1929 one passenger a Philadelphia engineer named Walton Forstall wrote

Flying as we did gave a wonshyderful opportunity to see the world go by And what an intershyesting world it was it had not yet grown used to our tremendous three-motored Ford The roar of our propellers brought humans to look up and wave dogs to bark in defishyance made horses and cattle scamshyper wildly and drove chickens to the nearest cover seeking refuge from some gigantic hawk

Being an airline passenger in 1929 could have its drawbacks however Such as the incident reported in a 1929 issue of Western Air Express Dashboard Record It involved a flight in a Fokker F-10 that encountered bad weather and was forced down atop a mountain in Utah in subshyzero weather The pilot hitchhiked to a farmhouse and telephoned Salt Lake City for help A rescue truck was sent but it couldnt get within a quarter mile of the plane The reshysult was that the pilot had to enlist the aid of his passengers in lugging 1000 pounds of mail and their bagshygage to the truck Then they had to push the truck uphill and ride downhill as they headed for the nearest town

But all in all in the history of the airlines 1929 was a year to reshymember

GET THE SKILLS TO GET IT BUILT AT EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

GET YOUR HOMEBUILDING PROJECT OFF THE GROUND BY SIGNING UP FOR EAAS SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 7-9

SEPT 22-23

SEPT2B-30

SEPT2B-30

OCT 6-7

OCT 13-14

OCT 19-21

OCT 20-21

FREDERICK MD bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

COLUMBUS OH bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wiring and Avionics bull Fabric Covering bull Gas Welding bull Basic S~eet Metal

RIVERSIDE CA bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

WPALM BEACH bull Repairman (LSA) Airplane

RIVERSIDE CA bull Vons RV Workshop

PHOENIX AI bull Tentative workshop - watch for details on wwwEAAorg

GRIFFIN GA nG Welding

CHICAGOIL bull Composite Construction bull Electrical Wirin~and Avionics bull Introduction to Aircraft Building bull Basic S eet Metal

VISIT WWWSPORTAIRCOM OR CALL 1middot800middot967middot5746 fOR DETAilS EAA EAA SportAir Sponsors

~WORKSHOPS wwwpolyfltMrcom wwwalrcraftsprucecom---iro--shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

Reunion Wynkoop Airport Mount Vernon Ohio

BY ANDY HEINS NWC PRESIDENT

h 1930 Waco RNF Steve Givens enioys flymg IS

June has traditionally been the month that the Waco airplane has returned to its birthplace Ohio for

the annual gathering of the National Waco Club the oldest continuously operating type club in existence This year was no different as airplanes came home from all around the United States to be part of the 48th Annual National Waco Club Reunion With more than 350 members worldwide the National Waco Club has served Waco owners and enthusiasts since forming in 1958 during the national Antique Airplane Assodation fly-in at Ottumwa Iowa

The first year the club was formed there was no national reunion The

National Waco Club President Andy Heins Dayton Ohlo IS see II Md n a overthe I west In his 1935 Waco YKC-S

second year 1959 the first gathering of what was to become an annual trashydition was held at the South Dayton Airport in Dayton Ohio After sevshyeral years the location was moved to Troy Ohio to the Waco Aircraft Comshypany factory The national reunion was held there until 1964 when the factory was sold and the airport closed From there the reunion reshyturned to South Dayton Airport until offered a new location in 1969 at the Hamilton Ohio airport run by the Hogan family since the late 1920s The national reunion remained at Hamilton until 1988 when the airshy

28 SEPTEMBER 2007

port was sold to the county and beshygan running under the authority of the county commissioners At this time a new location was selected it could provide the attending own ers wwith plenty of usable grass runways and a laid-back country setting This would be Wynkoop Airport owned and managed by Brian Wynkoop in Mount Vernon Ohio This wonderful setting has been the location of the reunion to this day

The dates for the 2007 event were Thursday June 21 through Sun day June 24 This year airplanes began arshyriving on Monday with Doug Parsons club vice president and reunion chairshyman being the first to touch down in his 1934 Waco YKC Early Wednesday June 20 four more Wacos in a loose formation arrived being led by Club

Mike Winblad of li Oh roy 10 dIdnt have to travel far with his VPF-7

President Andy Heins in his 1935 Waco YKC-S By late Wednesday eveshyning we had a total of seven Wacos on the field a first ever On Thursday evening we had 13 Friday was the

biggest day with another nine arrivshying and by Saturday we had 26

One interesting note is that the Nashytional Waco Club Reunion has always

Waco Biplanes Flown to the 2007 National Waco Club Reunion 1929 Waco ASO NC701 Esin 1942 Rich Nurge Gilroy California

1929WacoATO NC719E sin A-97 Mike Brown Miamisb urg Ohio

1930 Waco CTO NC659N sin 3123 John Veneleck Painesville Ohio

1930 Wa co CRG NC600Y sin 3349 Pete Heins Arcanum Oh io

1930 Waco ASO NC662Y sin 3228 Dave Allen Elbert Colorado

1930Waco RNF NC663Y sin 3356 Susan Theodorelos Dayton Ohio

1930 Waco RNF NC129Y sin 3308 Steve Givens Pendleton Indiana

1931 Waco QCF-2 NC11427 sin3488 Lee Parsons Carrol lton Oh io

1932 Waco UEC NC13050 sin 3678 Jack Hill Washington North Carolina

1932 Waco UBA NC13041 sin 3595 Phil Coulson Lawton Mich igan

1934 Waco UKC NC14010 sin 3851 Estan Fuller Polk City Florida

1934 Wa co YKC NC14073 sin 3990 Doug Parsons Carrollton Oh io

1935 Waco YKC-S NC14620 sin 4234 Andy Heins Dayton Ohio

1935 Wa co YOC NC15244 sin 4327 Robert Jaeger Allentown Pennsylvania

1936 Waco YKS -6 NC16246 sin 4465 Dave Stroup Alliance Ohio

1937 Wa co VPF-7 NC17712 sin 4651 Mike Winblad Troy Ohio

1937 Waco YKS-7 NC17474 sin 4613 Mark Harter Belleville Illinois

1937 Waco UKS-7 NC17700 sin 4620 John Bussard Ringoes New Jersey

1938 Waco ZVN-8 NC1937S sin 5107 Ken Kreutzfeld Port Clinton Ohio

1939 Waco AGC-8 NC66206 sin 5073 John Veneleck Pai nesville Ohiol Dick Tric e No rth Ft Meyers Florida

1940 Waco ZPF-7 NC29357 sin 5384 Bud Bushway South Strafford Vermont

1940 Waco UPF-7 NC29328 sin 5355 Ga ry Mitchell Geneseo New York

1940 Waco UPF-7 NC30188 sin 5619 Bill Knight Brodhead Wisconsin

1941 Wac o UPF-7 NC32005 sin 5636 Ed Bu nch Waynesboro Vi rginia

1942 Waco UPF-7 NC39753 sin 5886 Eric Zimmerman Troy Ohio

2005 Waco T-lO N149TW sin49 Bob Patrick McCa ll Id aho

V I NTA G E A I R P LAN E 29

This 1930 Waco CRG is belongs to Pete Heins Arcanum Ohio

the National Waco Club is the oldest continuously operating type club in existence

t fly in a UPF-7 Now theyre a Many a CPT pilot durig World W~u~01wynesboro Virginia can attest sought-after antique biplane as

Susan Theodorelos Dayton Ohio owns and flies this 1930 Waco RNF

30 SEPTEMBER 2007

been known for the number of varishyous models that attend This year was no different in that 20 of the 26 airshycraft that attended were different With great weather for the gathering the sky was constantly filled with Wacos Every morning the town of Mount Vernon was awakened by the sweet sound of radial engines as everyone was eager to take advantage of the cool clear mOIDshying air

Daily activities included mainteshynance forums followed by club spomshysored evening dinners at the airfield Thursday evening has traditionally been hosted by the local pilots group known as the Koop Group Friday night brought our now famous corn boil with more than 100 guests atshytending and an untold number of cases of fresh sweet corn consumed Saturshyday night was reserved for the annual awards banquet held at one of the local Italian restaurants in town This years banquet was attended by more than 100 club members and guests Awards are given to every pilot who attends with an airplane first-time attendees receive special certificates followed by special awards at the five- 10- 15- and 20-year marks Lastly a special certifishycate of merit is presented to those pilots who have flown or maintained a Waco for three or more years flown a Waco 5000 or more miles or maintained a Waco to factory standards The recipishyents for this award this year were Steve Givens of Pendleton Indiana with his RNF and Bill Knight from Brodhead Wisconsin in his UPF-7

The dates for the 49th National Waco Club Reunion will be June 26-29 2008 In 2009 we will celebrate our 50th National Waco Club Reunion and we expect this to be the greatest gathering of Wacos ever Our goal is to have no fewer than 50 Wacos attend and we are extending the length of the gathering in hopes that we will reach this goal Numerous special activities are planned for the members and we hope all Waco owners will make the attempt to join us Visit our website at wwwNationaIWacoClubcom for more information or contact the National Waco Club at 50 La Belle St Dayton OH 45403 or wacoasoaolcom

port was sold to the county and beshygan running under the authority of the county commissioners At this time a new location was selected it could provide the attending own ers wwith plenty of usable grass runways and a laid-back country setting This would be Wynkoop Airport owned and managed by Brian Wynkoop in Mount Vernon Ohio This wonderful setting has been the location of the reunion to this day

The dates for the 2007 event were Thursday June 21 through Sun day June 24 This year airplanes began arshyriving on Monday with Doug Parsons club vice president and reunion chairshyman being the first to touch down in his 1934 Waco YKC Early Wednesday June 20 four more Wacos in a loose formation arrived being led by Club

Mike Winblad of li Oh roy 10 dIdnt have to travel far with his VPF-7

President Andy Heins in his 1935 Waco YKC-S By late Wednesday eveshyning we had a total of seven Wacos on the field a first ever On Thursday evening we had 13 Friday was the

biggest day with another nine arrivshying and by Saturday we had 26

One interesting note is that the Nashytional Waco Club Reunion has always

Waco Biplanes Flown to the 2007 National Waco Club Reunion 1929 Waco ASO NC701 Esin 1942 Rich Nurge Gilroy California

1929WacoATO NC719E sin A-97 Mike Brown Miamisb urg Ohio

1930 Waco CTO NC659N sin 3123 John Veneleck Painesville Ohio

1930 Wa co CRG NC600Y sin 3349 Pete Heins Arcanum Oh io

1930 Waco ASO NC662Y sin 3228 Dave Allen Elbert Colorado

1930Waco RNF NC663Y sin 3356 Susan Theodorelos Dayton Ohio

1930 Waco RNF NC129Y sin 3308 Steve Givens Pendleton Indiana

1931 Waco QCF-2 NC11427 sin3488 Lee Parsons Carrol lton Oh io

1932 Waco UEC NC13050 sin 3678 Jack Hill Washington North Carolina

1932 Waco UBA NC13041 sin 3595 Phil Coulson Lawton Mich igan

1934 Waco UKC NC14010 sin 3851 Estan Fuller Polk City Florida

1934 Wa co YKC NC14073 sin 3990 Doug Parsons Carrollton Oh io

1935 Waco YKC-S NC14620 sin 4234 Andy Heins Dayton Ohio

1935 Wa co YOC NC15244 sin 4327 Robert Jaeger Allentown Pennsylvania

1936 Waco YKS -6 NC16246 sin 4465 Dave Stroup Alliance Ohio

1937 Wa co VPF-7 NC17712 sin 4651 Mike Winblad Troy Ohio

1937 Waco YKS-7 NC17474 sin 4613 Mark Harter Belleville Illinois

1937 Waco UKS-7 NC17700 sin 4620 John Bussard Ringoes New Jersey

1938 Waco ZVN-8 NC1937S sin 5107 Ken Kreutzfeld Port Clinton Ohio

1939 Waco AGC-8 NC66206 sin 5073 John Veneleck Pai nesville Ohiol Dick Tric e No rth Ft Meyers Florida

1940 Waco ZPF-7 NC29357 sin 5384 Bud Bushway South Strafford Vermont

1940 Waco UPF-7 NC29328 sin 5355 Ga ry Mitchell Geneseo New York

1940 Waco UPF-7 NC30188 sin 5619 Bill Knight Brodhead Wisconsin

1941 Wac o UPF-7 NC32005 sin 5636 Ed Bu nch Waynesboro Vi rginia

1942 Waco UPF-7 NC39753 sin 5886 Eric Zimmerman Troy Ohio

2005 Waco T-lO N149TW sin49 Bob Patrick McCa ll Id aho

V I NTA G E A I R P LAN E 29

This 1930 Waco CRG is belongs to Pete Heins Arcanum Ohio

the National Waco Club is the oldest continuously operating type club in existence

t fly in a UPF-7 Now theyre a Many a CPT pilot durig World W~u~01wynesboro Virginia can attest sought-after antique biplane as

Susan Theodorelos Dayton Ohio owns and flies this 1930 Waco RNF

30 SEPTEMBER 2007

been known for the number of varishyous models that attend This year was no different in that 20 of the 26 airshycraft that attended were different With great weather for the gathering the sky was constantly filled with Wacos Every morning the town of Mount Vernon was awakened by the sweet sound of radial engines as everyone was eager to take advantage of the cool clear mOIDshying air

Daily activities included mainteshynance forums followed by club spomshysored evening dinners at the airfield Thursday evening has traditionally been hosted by the local pilots group known as the Koop Group Friday night brought our now famous corn boil with more than 100 guests atshytending and an untold number of cases of fresh sweet corn consumed Saturshyday night was reserved for the annual awards banquet held at one of the local Italian restaurants in town This years banquet was attended by more than 100 club members and guests Awards are given to every pilot who attends with an airplane first-time attendees receive special certificates followed by special awards at the five- 10- 15- and 20-year marks Lastly a special certifishycate of merit is presented to those pilots who have flown or maintained a Waco for three or more years flown a Waco 5000 or more miles or maintained a Waco to factory standards The recipishyents for this award this year were Steve Givens of Pendleton Indiana with his RNF and Bill Knight from Brodhead Wisconsin in his UPF-7

The dates for the 49th National Waco Club Reunion will be June 26-29 2008 In 2009 we will celebrate our 50th National Waco Club Reunion and we expect this to be the greatest gathering of Wacos ever Our goal is to have no fewer than 50 Wacos attend and we are extending the length of the gathering in hopes that we will reach this goal Numerous special activities are planned for the members and we hope all Waco owners will make the attempt to join us Visit our website at wwwNationaIWacoClubcom for more information or contact the National Waco Club at 50 La Belle St Dayton OH 45403 or wacoasoaolcom

This 1930 Waco CRG is belongs to Pete Heins Arcanum Ohio

the National Waco Club is the oldest continuously operating type club in existence

t fly in a UPF-7 Now theyre a Many a CPT pilot durig World W~u~01wynesboro Virginia can attest sought-after antique biplane as

Susan Theodorelos Dayton Ohio owns and flies this 1930 Waco RNF

30 SEPTEMBER 2007

been known for the number of varishyous models that attend This year was no different in that 20 of the 26 airshycraft that attended were different With great weather for the gathering the sky was constantly filled with Wacos Every morning the town of Mount Vernon was awakened by the sweet sound of radial engines as everyone was eager to take advantage of the cool clear mOIDshying air

Daily activities included mainteshynance forums followed by club spomshysored evening dinners at the airfield Thursday evening has traditionally been hosted by the local pilots group known as the Koop Group Friday night brought our now famous corn boil with more than 100 guests atshytending and an untold number of cases of fresh sweet corn consumed Saturshyday night was reserved for the annual awards banquet held at one of the local Italian restaurants in town This years banquet was attended by more than 100 club members and guests Awards are given to every pilot who attends with an airplane first-time attendees receive special certificates followed by special awards at the five- 10- 15- and 20-year marks Lastly a special certifishycate of merit is presented to those pilots who have flown or maintained a Waco for three or more years flown a Waco 5000 or more miles or maintained a Waco to factory standards The recipishyents for this award this year were Steve Givens of Pendleton Indiana with his RNF and Bill Knight from Brodhead Wisconsin in his UPF-7

The dates for the 49th National Waco Club Reunion will be June 26-29 2008 In 2009 we will celebrate our 50th National Waco Club Reunion and we expect this to be the greatest gathering of Wacos ever Our goal is to have no fewer than 50 Wacos attend and we are extending the length of the gathering in hopes that we will reach this goal Numerous special activities are planned for the members and we hope all Waco owners will make the attempt to join us Visit our website at wwwNationaIWacoClubcom for more information or contact the National Waco Club at 50 La Belle St Dayton OH 45403 or wacoasoaolcom

BY HG FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM THE COLLECTION OF PHOTOS TED BUSINGER OF SALEM ARKANSAS SHARED WITH US THANKS TED

Send your answer to EAA Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Your answer needs to be in no later than October 10 for inclusion in the December 2007 issue of Vintage Airplane

You can also send your response via e-mail Send your answer to mysteryplaneeaaorg Be sure to include your name city and state in the body of your note and put (Month) Mystery Plane in the subject line

JUNES MYSTERY ANSWER

Here is our first answer for the June Mystery Plane from Wayne Forshey of Woodsfield Ohio

Good one The June Mystery Plane is the Commonwealth Trimmer amshyphibian The prototype was the only one built and it never went into proshyduction The Trimmer appears on one of the Commonwealth Skyranger sales brochures though

When Rae Rearwin sold Rearwin Airshycraft to Empire Ordinance Company (doshying business as Commonwealth Aircraft) they got the rights to produce the Cloudshyster and the Skyranger Commonwealth didnt build any Cloudsters but did proshyduce the Skyranger 185 with a Continenshytal C-85 Commonwealth went belly up in about 1948 I can find virtually no information on Commonwealth Aircraft

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31

and only 1945 Comshymonwealth Model C-170 Trimmer registration number NX41853 The Commonwealth Trimmer designed by Gilbert Trimshymer was a development of a 1938 design by Mr Trimmer called the Trimshycraft The Trimcraft was a two-place single-engine parasol wing woodenshyhull amphibian powered by a 50-hp Salmson AD-9 radial engine

The Trimmer was built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation alshythough the plane may have been started by Gilshybert Trimmer beforehand Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation was a reorshyganization of Rearwin

of Valley Stream Long Island New York and would love to correspond with anyshyone who could fill in the blanks

One last point of interest is that the last surviving member of the Lafayette Escadrille (the original 38 not the Lafayshyette Flying Corps) Carl Dolan was the president ofCommonwealth Aircraft

And another note this one from Lynn Towns of Holt Michigan

The June Mystery Plane is the one 32 SEPTEMBER 2007

Aircraft amp Engines Inc located at Fairfax Airshyport in Kansas City Kanshy

sas The company remained in Kansas City during World War II building troop gliders but shortly after the war the company relocated to New York Comshymonwealth bought the former Columshybia Aircraft Company factory on the site of the former Curtiss Field in Valley Stream Long Island New York [The adjacent airport Roosevelt Field was the departure point for Lindberghs solo trans-Atlantic flight-EditoL]

The Trimmer was probably built in New York since Gilbert Trimmer was from New York City but Im not positive

The Commonshywealth Trimmer was built near the end of Commonwealth Airshycraft Corporations exshyistence In October and November of 1946 a labor strike forced Commonwealth Airshycraft to close its doors forever The bankshynlptcy was final someshytime in 1947

The Commonwealth Trimmer was a twin-engine three-place amphibian It had dual controls a built-in galshyley and the seats could be converted to sleep two people in bunks The hull was stepped it had fixed sponson floats tashypered cantilevered wings with flaps a strut-braced horizontal tail and conshyventional gear with the main gear reshytractable into fairings on the side of the fuselage The Trimmer was supposed to be the first twin-engine plane of less than 1000 hp that could maintain altishytude on one engine

Specifications that I found in various places (with some slight discrepancies) are as follows

Wingspan 36 feet Length 24 feet 9 or 10 inches Height (on gear) 8 feet 7 inches Gross Weight 2420 pounds Empty Weight 1550 pounds Engines (two) Continental C-85 85 hp Fuel Bum 9 gph total Range 500 miles Top Speed 135 mph Cruise Speed 115 mph Landing Speed 48 mph (flaps)

57 mph (clean) Rate ofClimb 850 fpm at sea level Service Ceiling 14000 feet Projected Price $5985 The Commonwealth Trimmer was

later converted to the Biemond Teal CB 1 The Commonwealth Trimmer airplane and tooling were acquired by Mr C Bishyemond of Green Valley Arizona The registration number of the airplane was

changed to N41999 with serial number 1001 I cant determine if that is the seshyrial number used on the original Comshymonwealth Trimmer or not

According to FAA records Mr Bishyemond holds Type Certificate No A15WE for the Biemond Teal CB1 seshyrial 1001 The Teal CB1 is presumably modified somewhat from the original Commonwealth Trimmer but a 1971 photo appears like the original Trimmer to me The Type Certificate Data Sheet says the airplane is in the restricted catshyegory and that no other aircraft may be produced under the type certificate The Type Certificate Data Sheet also says the airplane was approved in the restricted category under CAR 8 on Ocshytober 11 1950 and Type Certificate No A15WE was issued on November 14 1967

N41999 the Teal CB1 is currently registered to Eric Engler of Cass City Michigan

References eAn original photo wwwAerofiles

comcommtrijpg eThe February 1946 issue of Flyshy

ing magazine featured an in-flight photo of the Commonwealth Trimmer on the cover

eThe October 1946 issue of Aviashy

tion magazine has a photo of a Comshymonwealth Trimmer in a Pittsburgh Paint advertisement on page 124 It lists some of the specifications that were included above

eThere was an article in the Decemshyber 1946 issue ofFlying magazine that reviewed the 1946 Cleveland National Aircraft Show that was held from Noshyvember 15 to November 24

eThe Commonwealth Trimmer was displayed at the show (as well as a Comshymonwealth Skyranger) and many of the specifications came from that article (page 75)

eThe book Those Fabulous Amphibshyians by Don C Wigton has an in-flight photo and small write-up on the Comshymonwealth Trimmer (pages 44 and 45)

eHere is a 1971 photo ofthe Biemond Teal CB1 N41999 serial number 1001 http1000AircraftPhotoscomGenshyeraIAvBiemondTeaICB-lhtm

eGeneral Aviation News recently carried an advertisement placed by the current type certificate holder Biemond Engineering Company which would like to sell the TC and associated drawshyings etc Biemond acquired the rights to the aircraft in the mid-1960s

eAn Internet search shows that the TC and its associated materials have

been available from the TC holder for over 10 years If youre really serious contact Cornelius Biemond at 520-648shy5708 Biemond and his engineering firm did extensive work to get their version of the Trimmer type certificated (including the installation of 150-hp Lycoming enshygines) something that Commonwealth never accomplished

Another correct answers was reshyceived from Jack Erickson State Colshylege Pennsylvania Jack informed us in his note that the hull of the Trimshymer was built using plastic-bonded plywood and that the airplane was designed by Gilbert Trimmer and built initially by Allied Aviation Corporation of Cockeysville Maryshyland [Reference Janes All the Worlds Aircraft for 1945-1946]

Additional correct answers went sent in by Logan Boles Tiburon California John McDonald Alshyhambra Illinois Wayne Muxlow Minneapolis Minnesota Thomas Lymburn Princeton Minnesota Clarence Hesser St Augustine Florshyida Joe Tarafas Bethlehem Pennshysylvania Wayne VanValkenburgh Jasper Georgia Charles Cary East Windsor Connecticut and Ken Hecht Caro Michigan

TAiLWlGGLf

fi--shy

li~iG FAST ~ ~OiSY

() - -shy

wwwl1lilwheelscom Copyright 2007 Dave Brown

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33

changed to N41999 with serial number 1001 I cant determine if that is the seshyrial number used on the original Comshymonwealth Trimmer or not

According to FAA records Mr Bishyemond holds Type Certificate No A15WE for the Biemond Teal CB1 seshyrial 1001 The Teal CB1 is presumably modified somewhat from the original Commonwealth Trimmer but a 1971 photo appears like the original Trimmer to me The Type Certificate Data Sheet says the airplane is in the restricted catshyegory and that no other aircraft may be produced under the type certificate The Type Certificate Data Sheet also says the airplane was approved in the restricted category under CAR 8 on Ocshytober 11 1950 and Type Certificate No A15WE was issued on November 14 1967

N41999 the Teal CB1 is currently registered to Eric Engler of Cass City Michigan

References eAn original photo wwwAerofiles

comcommtrijpg eThe February 1946 issue of Flyshy

ing magazine featured an in-flight photo of the Commonwealth Trimmer on the cover

eThe October 1946 issue of Aviashy

tion magazine has a photo of a Comshymonwealth Trimmer in a Pittsburgh Paint advertisement on page 124 It lists some of the specifications that were included above

eThere was an article in the Decemshyber 1946 issue ofFlying magazine that reviewed the 1946 Cleveland National Aircraft Show that was held from Noshyvember 15 to November 24

eThe Commonwealth Trimmer was displayed at the show (as well as a Comshymonwealth Skyranger) and many of the specifications came from that article (page 75)

eThe book Those Fabulous Amphibshyians by Don C Wigton has an in-flight photo and small write-up on the Comshymonwealth Trimmer (pages 44 and 45)

eHere is a 1971 photo ofthe Biemond Teal CB1 N41999 serial number 1001 http1000AircraftPhotoscomGenshyeraIAvBiemondTeaICB-lhtm

eGeneral Aviation News recently carried an advertisement placed by the current type certificate holder Biemond Engineering Company which would like to sell the TC and associated drawshyings etc Biemond acquired the rights to the aircraft in the mid-1960s

eAn Internet search shows that the TC and its associated materials have

been available from the TC holder for over 10 years If youre really serious contact Cornelius Biemond at 520-648shy5708 Biemond and his engineering firm did extensive work to get their version of the Trimmer type certificated (including the installation of 150-hp Lycoming enshygines) something that Commonwealth never accomplished

Another correct answers was reshyceived from Jack Erickson State Colshylege Pennsylvania Jack informed us in his note that the hull of the Trimshymer was built using plastic-bonded plywood and that the airplane was designed by Gilbert Trimmer and built initially by Allied Aviation Corporation of Cockeysville Maryshyland [Reference Janes All the Worlds Aircraft for 1945-1946]

Additional correct answers went sent in by Logan Boles Tiburon California John McDonald Alshyhambra Illinois Wayne Muxlow Minneapolis Minnesota Thomas Lymburn Princeton Minnesota Clarence Hesser St Augustine Florshyida Joe Tarafas Bethlehem Pennshysylvania Wayne VanValkenburgh Jasper Georgia Charles Cary East Windsor Connecticut and Ken Hecht Caro Michigan

TAiLWlGGLf

fi--shy

li~iG FAST ~ ~OiSY

() - -shy

wwwl1lilwheelscom Copyright 2007 Dave Brown

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33

BY DOU G STEWART

Black eye c

I woke myself up a few mornings ago rubbing my right the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts Witnesses to eye quite vigorously It was itching rather intensely Checkshy the crash said there had been a loud bang sounding like ing my eye out in the mirror I found it was swollen to alshy thunder and shortly thereafter the airplane came diving most twice the size of my left eye By midday that swollen out of the clouds eye had turned into one heck of a shiner Throughout the The local newspaper report was almost comically igshyrest of the day and for several days thereafter I was alshy norant of the basic facts of aeronautics and aviation It ways embarrassed when having to respond to the question was filled with conjecture predicated on witness accounts How did you get that black eye with the answer that I from people who knew nothing about aviation But the had done it to myself fallacies and inaccuracies that filled

As I reflected on this situation I reshy the report were most surely accepted I cant think ofalized that I wasnt the only pilot to by the readers of that publication as give himself a black eye As regrettable gospel And to add fuel to the fire (acshyas it might be it seems that pilots are any excuse other tually there was no post-crash fire beshydoing it almost on a weekly basis and cause the wings containing whatever the black eye that they inflict is sufshy than for a couple of fuel was still on board had separated fered not only individually but also by from the airplane long before it hit the the entire Part 91 pilot population Alshy emergency scenarios ground a fact left out of the newspashythough it is only a very small handful per report) the paper included a sideshyof pilots that generates negative media for violating a TFR bar article detailing all the airplane attention we all tend to be guilty by accidents in the county dating all the association in the public mind especially one such way back to the 70s

Because of our love affair with all If I knew nothing of aviation that things relating to aviation we as pishy as this that had article might have inspired me to lots tend to forget that the vast mashy call my local congressman demandshyjority of the world does not share our gained perhaps even ing that he do something to limit the passion for flight Every time a pilot amount of aircraft that flew over the does something questionable the meshy international exposure county If that article hadnt provoked dia will jump all over it The negative a call yesterdays article would have image the media creates is absorbed as it reported the initial findings of by those who get their information from the daily papers the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) prelimishyradio and television creating an atmosphere of fear and nary report which had just been released aversion to everything in the sky with an engine attached The paper quoted the NTSB report fairly accurately but to it This mentality gets passed on to elected officials and that report hardly presented pilots as a group of safetyshythe next thing you know there is a hue and cry to limit conscious folks The NTSB report was rather extensive general aviation in one way or another Let me discuss for a preliminary report stating that the accident was several examples evidently an act of pilot error The pilot had been noshy

Just a little over a week ago a Cherokee Six en route tified by air traffic control (ATC) of severe weather off from Maine to my home base airport of 1B1 came out your right side heading your way at 30 knots but he did of the clouds in pieces with the vast majority of the airshy nothing to alter course and avoid the cell Thirteen minshycraft crashing not far from a home in a pristine part of utes after ATC advised the pilot of the weather the pilot 34 SEPTEMBER 2007

and his passenger were dead Perhaps when the final report is issued well know more

but for now as I walk down the main street of my local town in a light drizzle I see the look of fear in some folks as they stare up toward a sky obscured with clouds while the sound of an airplane passes overhead Im surprised no one has asked me How did you get that black eye

I said before that I would discuss several examples so hereS another one Most folks in America regardless of where they live were aware that the president of Russia was coming to meet with our president Their meeting was to be held at the senior Bushs Maine seaside resishydence You didnt have to be a pilot to know this as it was headline news everywhere

Pilots learned early through numerous sources that a temporary flight restriction (TFR) would be established over Kennebunkport during this presidential conclave One didnt need any kind of special equipment to unshyderstand the limits of the TFR as the New York sectional chart depicts the entire area of the TFR in white It reshyquires no intelligence whatsoever to understand that if one wanders into the boundaries of this area so clearly delineated on the chart while the TFR is active one will be intercepted and face disciplinary action

Despite the problems that the flight service station was undergoing at the time every briefer I spoke to over a five-day period made sure that I was aware of the TFR Evshyery time I checked my e-mail there was an announcement from one organization or another of the TFR How could anyone miss this one Yet there are now six pilots who have had their pilot certificates suspended for a mandashytory 90 days because they violated the TFR

I must admit that I really dont feel sorry for them but I do feel sorry for all the rest of us who now face furshyther scrutiny from overzealous politicians because of that handful of inattentive pilots I cant think of any excuse other than for a couple of emergency scenarios for violatshying a TFR especially one such as this that had gained pershyhaps even international exposure I know I am not alone as I rub my sore eye

The last example Id like to discuss did receive national exposure Sometimes Darwin Award winners gain that kind of notoriety I am sure that many of you have heard of the pilot who upon witnessing Matt Younkin fly his routine in the Beech 18 at Sun n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland Florida decided he could do the same thing in his Baron He even tried it flying home from the event but was stopped by a passenger sitting in the right seat But that did not keep him from continuing to try and about two weeks after Sun n Fun he found out the hard way that he really couldnt roll his Baron He won the Darwin Award for his efforts but the really sad thing is that his four passengers didnt merely end up with the black eyes all the rest of us suffered they were all removed from the gene pool along with the pilot

And he wasnt the only pilot since that April gathershying to do such a foolhardy thing Toward the end of June about 40 miles south of lBl another pilot got the award

this time for attempting a loop from 250 feet above ground level and stalling and spinning out of the top of it As in the previous aCCident this pilot took his passenger with him on his journey west

It is a sad sad fact that we are our own worst enemies when it comes to presenting a good positive safe vision of aviation to the vast non-flying public Even though it is only a tiny handful of pilots that gives aviation its black eye we must all share in the responsibility If we witness pilots who are acting in a reckless or cavalier manner it is our responsibility to speak up Say something to the pilot Say something to the authorities if necessary It is not only our insurance premiums that escalate every time a dumb pilot does something stupid the hue and cry of those who would limit our flying freedoms soars as well

Although my aging body might be susceptible to an ocshycasional self-inflicted black eye I sure dont want to give one of the things I love the most aviation a black eye Nor do I want anyone else inflicting that black eye I want to be sure that no one is trying to stop any of us from flyshying when there are blue skies and tail winds

Doug Stewart is the 2004 National CFI of the Year a NAFI Master Instructor and a des ignated pilot examiner He opershyates DSFI Inc (wwwDSFlightcom) based at the Columbia County Airport (1B1)

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Not only do these tires set your vintage plane apart from the rest but also look exceptional on all General Aviation aircraft Deep 832nd tread depth offe rs above average tread life and UV treated rubber resists aging

First impressions last a life time so put these bring back the good times New General Aviation Sizes Available

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VIN T AGE A I R P LA NE 35

and his passenger were dead Perhaps when the final report is issued well know more

but for now as I walk down the main street of my local town in a light drizzle I see the look of fear in some folks as they stare up toward a sky obscured with clouds while the sound of an airplane passes overhead Im surprised no one has asked me How did you get that black eye

I said before that I would discuss several examples so hereS another one Most folks in America regardless of where they live were aware that the president of Russia was coming to meet with our president Their meeting was to be held at the senior Bushs Maine seaside resishydence You didnt have to be a pilot to know this as it was headline news everywhere

Pilots learned early through numerous sources that a temporary flight restriction (TFR) would be established over Kennebunkport during this presidential conclave One didnt need any kind of special equipment to unshyderstand the limits of the TFR as the New York sectional chart depicts the entire area of the TFR in white It reshyquires no intelligence whatsoever to understand that if one wanders into the boundaries of this area so clearly delineated on the chart while the TFR is active one will be intercepted and face disciplinary action

Despite the problems that the flight service station was undergoing at the time every briefer I spoke to over a five-day period made sure that I was aware of the TFR Evshyery time I checked my e-mail there was an announcement from one organization or another of the TFR How could anyone miss this one Yet there are now six pilots who have had their pilot certificates suspended for a mandashytory 90 days because they violated the TFR

I must admit that I really dont feel sorry for them but I do feel sorry for all the rest of us who now face furshyther scrutiny from overzealous politicians because of that handful of inattentive pilots I cant think of any excuse other than for a couple of emergency scenarios for violatshying a TFR especially one such as this that had gained pershyhaps even international exposure I know I am not alone as I rub my sore eye

The last example Id like to discuss did receive national exposure Sometimes Darwin Award winners gain that kind of notoriety I am sure that many of you have heard of the pilot who upon witnessing Matt Younkin fly his routine in the Beech 18 at Sun n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland Florida decided he could do the same thing in his Baron He even tried it flying home from the event but was stopped by a passenger sitting in the right seat But that did not keep him from continuing to try and about two weeks after Sun n Fun he found out the hard way that he really couldnt roll his Baron He won the Darwin Award for his efforts but the really sad thing is that his four passengers didnt merely end up with the black eyes all the rest of us suffered they were all removed from the gene pool along with the pilot

And he wasnt the only pilot since that April gathershying to do such a foolhardy thing Toward the end of June about 40 miles south of lBl another pilot got the award

this time for attempting a loop from 250 feet above ground level and stalling and spinning out of the top of it As in the previous aCCident this pilot took his passenger with him on his journey west

It is a sad sad fact that we are our own worst enemies when it comes to presenting a good positive safe vision of aviation to the vast non-flying public Even though it is only a tiny handful of pilots that gives aviation its black eye we must all share in the responsibility If we witness pilots who are acting in a reckless or cavalier manner it is our responsibility to speak up Say something to the pilot Say something to the authorities if necessary It is not only our insurance premiums that escalate every time a dumb pilot does something stupid the hue and cry of those who would limit our flying freedoms soars as well

Although my aging body might be susceptible to an ocshycasional self-inflicted black eye I sure dont want to give one of the things I love the most aviation a black eye Nor do I want anyone else inflicting that black eye I want to be sure that no one is trying to stop any of us from flyshying when there are blue skies and tail winds

Doug Stewart is the 2004 National CFI of the Year a NAFI Master Instructor and a des ignated pilot examiner He opershyates DSFI Inc (wwwDSFlightcom) based at the Columbia County Airport (1B1)

AERO CLASSIC COLLECTOR SERIES

Vintage Tires New USA Production

Show off your pride and joy with a fresh set of Vintage Rubber These newly minted tires are FAA-TSO d and speed rated to 120 MPH Some things are better left the way they

were and in the 40s and 50s these tires were perfectly in tune to the exciting times in aviation

Not only do these tires set your vintage plane apart from the rest but also look exceptional on all General Aviation aircraft Deep 832nd tread depth offe rs above average tread life and UV treated rubber resists aging

First impressions last a life time so put these bring back the good times New General Aviation Sizes Available

500 x 5 600 x 6 700 x 8

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VIN T AGE A I R P LA NE 35

BY BUCK HILBERT

One of my favorite stops

Youve heard me mention this place before but if youve been readshying my column for a few years Ill bet you can tell its one of my favorshyite spots to stop On the way to Sun n Fun a slight deviation brought us to the US Army Aviation Museum (wwwArmyAvnMuseumorg) at Fort Rucker Alabama What a preservashytion of military aviation history

Located in the southwestern corner of Alabama near the cities of Daleville (where the front gate is located) Ozark and Enterprise the collection begins with a Ken Hyde--built replica of the 1911 Wright brothers Model B and continues up through the latshyest examples of combat and transport helicopters used by the Army today

Entry to Fort Rucker is a bit intimishydating due to the security aftermath of September 11 However producing acceptable ID got us a pass and direcshytions to the facility

Museum admission is free For a facility as significant as this that s a real bonus Just inside the entry are six life-size bronze figures dressed in

36 SEPTEMBER 2007

flight clothing of the eras they represhysent From 1911 to the present

First things first the restrooms are very near the entrance That chore accomplished my wingman Jim Dier and I looked up Steve Maxham the executive director Steve recognized our names right away and we got the royal treatment

Jim and I had arranged for the doshynation of a World War I Vickers mashychine gun that Jims neighbor had found in his attic This man in his 70s worried that the Bureau of Alcoshyhol Tobacco and Firearms was going to come down on him for posseSSion of a machine gun and he called Jim for advice on how to dispose of the vintage weapon

Jim called me and after seeing its almost pristine condition and realshyizing it was a World War I airborne gun we decided to donate it to the US Army Aviation Museum

Steve directed us to where its disshyplayed in the World War I Exhibit Hall in a special case complete with a historical description as well as sights

and extra belted ammunition both of which were added from the mushyseums collection We were pleased to see its prominent display

The museum is arranged to portray the progreSSion of Army aviation from the Civil War to the action of today along the way highlighting World War I the Tex-Mex (Poncho Villa) acshytion the first artillery and liaison airshycraft before and during World War II Korea Vietnam and the development of the helicopter

The museum is currently updating its unmanned aerial vehicle display to illustrate how effective these eyes in the sky are Those of you interested in radioshycontrol models would turn green with envy at their level of sophistication

The main hall is cavernous There are several full-size dioramas depicting World War II uses of the ilL planes helicopter operations cutaway airshyplanes and helicopters and virtually one of every type of liaison airplane hanging from the rafters (L-2 L-3 L-4 L-16 L-17 and L-20) along with an Otter and helicopters of all sizes and

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description The stories are there One needs

only several hours of concentrated reading to find the h istory behind the development of these specialshypurpose military aircraft The frustra shytion of the Army in trying to get the Air Force to realize the Armys speshycial needs and provide the support it so sorely needed The eventual reshyalization that allowed the Army to

develop and procure its own specialshypurpose aircraft and the resulting opshyerating efficiency proved the point

Commanders used them to great advantage Th ese aircraft served as aerial jeeps transporting comshymanders and delivering intelligence information They were u sed for photo work spotted for the artillery were the eyes for the armored corps and were used for medical evacuashy

tion And in recorded cases they supshyplied encircled and trapped troops with food water blankets ammunishytion and fuel

The museum also has a Hall of Fame with many names of individshyuals who flew these missions Most impressive Many of them were lost in action others survived and went on to become well-known All deshyserve recognition and acclaim They proved it could be done

Jim and I were fortunate to be there at a time whe n graduation ceremonies were taking place We saw more than 100 career officers all captains receiving their wings Most were regular Army and were going off to new assignments as roshytary-wing pilots Some were returnshying to their original assignments All were eager an d full of confidence We wish them well

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V I NTAG E AIRPLANE 37

Getting Your AampP Rating continued from page 17 manual provided no answers

When the FAA had to disclose all written test questions complete with answer choices they tried to stanshydardize designated mechanic examinshyers This required each DME to attend an FAA 24-hour initial standardization clinic followed by 16-hour clinics every two years The time requirements were reduced and now are eight-hour clinics every two years The FAA inspectors in charge of the initial clinics said that the oralpractical examinations were now the discriminator for issuance of the mechanic certificate and that the failure rate should be around 10 percent Hearshying this from the FAA was a shock and I returned my DME to the FAA in 1987 I never believed in quotas

The inspection authorization examishynation was the most difficult FAA exam I have ever taken I was in the FAA office for 6-12 hours My test came before mishycrofiche so I had to hand-carryall the hard copies of the necessary regulations and publications into the office It took two trips because the boxes were heavy

I have been involved in aircraft maintenance for more than 50 years and hold the Charles Taylor Master Meshychanic Award I have also been flying for more than 50 years starting both as a mechanic and student pilot in 1956 The career is rewarding but I will have to say the pay is not commensurate with the responsibility carried by the mechanic I remember attending classes at Northrop Institute for 35 hours per week and working 30 to 40 hours per week I worked on sheet metal aircraft repairs primarily repairing wingtips and engine speed rings for mil itary C-47 ships For this I was paid $150 per hour and I worked after class every day from 4 to 10 pm and on Saturdays The owner told me he would give me a substantial raise when I received my AampP He did give me a raise from $150 per hour to $160 per hour

My career shifted to Reedley Community College in Reedley California where I taught general and airframe subjects for 31 years It was a good career

38 SEPTEMBER 2007

The folowing list ofcoming events is furnished to our readers as a matshyter of information only and does not constitute approval sponsorship inshyvolvement control or direction ofany event (fly-in seminars fly market

etc) listed To submit an event send the information via mail to Vintage Airplane PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Or e-mail the information to vintageaircrafteaa org Information should be received four months prior to the event date

SEPTEMBER 13-16-Benton Harbor MIshyInternational Cessna 120140 Annual Flyin at Southwest Michigan Regional Airport BEH hosted by Victor Grahn Email zenyamaeronetzerocom

SEPTEMBER I S-Jacksonville IL-(UK) 23rd Midwest Stenson Reunion Flyout lunch to Zelmer Info 630-904-6964

SEPTEMBER 15-16--Teterboro NJshyTeterboro Airport Wings and Whee ls Expo sponsored by the NJ Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum featuring WW II B-17 C-54 Skymaster WW II C-47 vintage cars and more 9 am to 5 pm $10adults $512 and under FREE5 and under Ca ll (201) 288-6344 for more information

SEPTEMBER 16--Tunkhannock PAshySkyhaven Airport 76N Skyhaven All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfast and Craft Show 730 am-l pm $600 adults $300 children Vintage airplane displays

SEPTEMBER I -Marion IN-Marion Municipal Airport (MZZ) 17th Annual Fly-In Cruise-In 700am until 200pm This annual event features antique classic homebuilt ultralight and warbird aircraft as well as vintage cars trucks motorcycles and tractors An all-you-canshyeat Pancake Breakfast is served with all proceeds going to the local Marion High School Marching Band WWW

FlylnCruiselncom Info Ray Johnson (765) 664-2588 or rjohnsonindyrrcom

SEPTEMBER I -Zanesvi lle OH-Riverside Airport (OH36) EM Chapter 425 Pancake Breakfast 800 AM till 200 PM All you can eat pancakes sausage and drink $500 for adults $250 for children under six Lunch items served after 1100PM Contact Chuck Bruckelmeyer Phone (740) 454-7487

SEPTEMBER 2-Mondovi WI-21st Annual Log Cabin Airport Ay-In Doug Ward Owner Operator 715-287-4205 Lunch noon

SEPTEMBER 8-Newark Ohio-NewarkshyHeath Airport (VTA) Annual Fly-InDrive-In Breakfast Pancakes and More Young Eagles Flights Vintage Airplanes Classic Cars Tom McFadden 740-587shy2312 email EAA402adelphianet

SEPTEMBER 9-Mt Morris IL-Ogle County

Airport (C55) EM Chapter 682 Ay-In Breakfast 7am-12pm For information call Dr Glen Orr 815-735-7268

SEPTEMBER 21-22-Bartlesville OK-Frank Phillips Field (BVO) 51st Annual Tulsa Regional Fly-In Antiques Classics Light Sport Warbirds Forum Type Clubs Info Charlie Harris 918-622shy8400 wwwtulsaflyincom

SEPTEMBER 22-23- Winchester VA-Winchester Regional Airport (KOKV) EM 186 Fall Fly-in Pancake breakfast 8 AM to 11 AM both days Aircraft judging displays more wwweaa186org Richard Largent snookflyerverizonnetor540-868-2698

OCTOBER 5-7-Camden SC-Kershaw County Airport (KCDN) VM Chapter 3 Fall Fly-In All classes welcome BBQ on field Fri Evening EM judging all classes Sat Banquet Sat Nite Info Jim Wilson 843shy753-7138 or eiwilsonhomexpressway net

OCTOBER 5-7-St Louis MO-Creve Coeur Airport (lHO) The Monocoupe Club Fly-In amp Reunion wwwmonocoupecom

OCTOBER 10-14--Tullahoma TN-Beech Birthday Party 2007 Staggerwing Twin Beech 18 Bonanza Baron Beech ownersamp enthusiasts Info 931-455-1974

-

2007MAJOR FLy-INS

For details on EAA Chapter flymiddotins and other local avimiddot ation events visit wwweaaorgjevents

EAA Southeast Regional Ry-In

Middleton Field Airport (GZH) Evergreen AL

October 12-14 2007

wwwSERFIorg

Copperstate Regional EAA Ry-In

Casa Grande (Arizona) Municipal Airport (CGZ)

October 25-28 2007

wwwcopperstateorg

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Aeronca Control Wheel Badges - New reproductions made exactly like the originals $225 per pair Orders must be placed by October 15th Info Schief11CCmaccom or Send a SASE to VintagePilot Media PO Box 3954 OshkoshW154903-3954

CLASSIC AIR RACE FILMS 1929-1949 National Air Race films on DVD Visit wwwNationalAirRacesnet or call 1-888-NAR-8886

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 39

VINTAGE AIRCRAFT

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Membershi~ Services Directory ENJOY THE MANY BENEFITS OF EAA AND ~ EAAs VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOC IATION

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Web Sites wwwvintageaircraftorg wwwairventlreorg wwweaaorgmemberbenefits E-Mail vintageaircrafteaaorg

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Membership in the Experimental Ai rcraft Associa tion Inc is $40 for one year includshying 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION Family membership is an additional $10 annually Junior Membership (under 19 yea rs of age) is ava ilable at $23 annually All major credit cards accepted for membership (Add $16 for Foreign Postage )

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SPORT PILOT magazine for an addition a l $20 per year

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lAC Current EAA members m ay jo in the

Internationa l Aeroba tic Club Inc Divishysio n and rece ive SPOR T AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $45 p er year

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Copyright copy2007 by the EAA lntage Aircrafi Association All rights reserved VINTAGE AIRPlANE (USPS 062-750 ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EAA lntage Aircrafi Associalion of the Experimental Aircrafi Association and is published monthly at EAA Aviashy

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40 S E PTEM B E R 2007

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