Vintage Airplane - Sep 2009

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Sep 2009

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2/44

G OFF RO ISON

PRESIDENT V NTAGE AIRC RAFT ASSOC IATION

AirVenture 2009 proved to be not only an

awesome

event but also

a

wildly

successful one

[

returned

from AirVenture

and

my head is still

spinning

trying to

determine

what dynamics

were

put into place to

make

this

event

so wildly successful. The best I can

come

up with, considering the eco

nomic

challenges

we are all

cur

rently experiencing in one degree

or another,

is

the

leadership team

as well as staff at EAA

and the many

before the convention volun

teers

who

again

put together

such

a wide-ranging schedule

of events

and attractions for this year's event.

The

dedication of so many re

turning volunteers

plus

what

was

planned

and then ultimate ly deliv

ered to our

EAA/VAA

membership

created

an

event

that

many

folks

were simply unwilling to miss.

The one word we heard

through

out the

week of AirVenture

was

simply, "Wow." As I stated

in

last

month's column, all early indica

tors seemed to strongly suggest

the

flight in front of so

many

aviation

minded individuals? Where else in

these United States can you get

up

close to

and

climb aboard

an

Airbus

A380 airliner, or wa lk around and

observe a

demo

flight of a Predator

Boperated by

the

U.S. Customs and

Border Protection? It's a rare day in

The one word we heard

throughout the

week

of

AirVenture was

simply,

"Wow:'

your life if you can see a full-scale

replica de Havilland Comet DH.88

on

display, as well as in flight. But

these aircraft and their pilots were

all a part

of

the

most

exciting avia

tainment

provided by the Doobie

Brothers and by an appearance

of

the

puppet

master/comedian

Jeff

Dunham and

his sidekick Guitar

Guy. Thousands of our guests at Air-

Venture were in

attendance at

these

very special shows . Wow You guys

are all dynamite performers, and

your

efforts

were greatly appreci

ated by all in

attendance.

The Vin

tage parking area experienced an

other

year of wide-ranging aircraft.

The barnstormer's tour brought

in

nine

fine examp les

of

the barn

storming era, not to mention Clay

Pork Chop Adams'

beautifully

restored

motorized

couch, racing

stripe and all. Yeah,

you heard

me

right. You cou ld see Clay

motoring

around the campground

nearly ev

ery night of the convention on this

crazy

contraption,

ridesharing and

having a

ton of

fun. I got my ride

Thanks, Clay,

it

was a hoot. You

guys are awesome.

We

were also


3/44

5

TEM ER

EAA Publisher Tom Poberezny

Directorof

EAA

Publications Mary Jones

ExecutiveDirector/Editor H.G. Frautschy

8 The Vi

ntag

e Mechanic

Breaking

in

a radial engine

Production /SpecialProject

Kath l

ee

n

Witman

by Robert G. Lock

Photography Jim Koepnick

BonnieKratz

3 4

The Vintage Instructor

AdvertisingCoordinator Sue Anderson

Whose Rules

ClassifiedAd Coordinator LesleyPoberezny

by Doug Stewart

Copy

Editor Co

ll

eenWalsh

G

N E

VOL

37 ,

NO.9

2009

O

NT

NTS

I

e Straight

&

Level

AirVenture 2009 proved to be

no t

on

ly

an

awesome event,

but also a wildly successful one!

by Geoff Robison

2

News

4

E

AA

AirVenture 2009 Awards

6 Yah

, Dat

Be

a Swedish Ahrplane

Lars

de Jounge's

Saa

b Safir

by Budd Davisson

2

Lucky Lady

One

Simply Splendid Stearman

Brou

ght to

you by the restorer and the reluctant pilot

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

18

It Does

Matt

er

The mission

is

simple

by Brian Kissinger

3

Light Plane Heritage

The Driggs Dart I

by Jack McRae

6 Fr

iends of the Red Barn Thank

You

STAFF


4/44

E

Receives

Approval From

F

for Vintage

DERs

By David

Sakrison,

EAA

AirVenture Today

EAA's Vintage Aircraft Asso

ciation (VAA)

and

the FAA an

nounced

Wednesday, July 29, that

two years of effort resulted

in

the

approval of a new FAA program

to authorize designated engineer

ing representatives for

vintage

air

craft- vintage

DERs.

The new VDER designation

should help

reduce

the

cost

and

complexity

of obtaining engineer

ing approvals for vintage aircraft.

DERs essentially are engineers

for-hire, recognized by

the

FAA

for their knowledge of a particular

aircraft system-engines, electri

cal, structural. The vintage DER

(VDER) addition to the designated

engineering representative pro

gram covers the following:

• Once

appointed

the

author

ity,

the VDER program

authorizes a

VDER to approve

data

for only the

types of repairs and alterations to

vintage airplanes

and/or

engines

that would be eligible for FAA field

approvals under FAA Order 8900.l.

.The

intent of

this authority

is to allow individuals who don't

meet the conventional

DER ap

pointment

criteria to become

VDERs with limited

approval

au

thori ty

in multiple technical

specialties for repairs and/or altera

•

Note:

Vintage

engines

include

all radial

engines

and

all

other

piston

engines

manufactured

before 1973.

DERs

playa

crucial role

in

keep

ing aircraft flying. When a

vintage

airplane needs a major repair, a

field modification, or a newly fab

ricated part to replace

an

original

part,

the

DER is

the one who

ap

proves

the

engineering data, certi

fying that the

data

are consistent

with or superior to the original.

But vintage aircraft present a

special challenge . A DER is typi

cally

limited

to issuing approvals

on a particular system or structure.

I f

you want to

hang

a

90-horse

engine on a plane that left the

factory with 6S horses, VAA Ex

ecutive Director H.G. Frautschy ex

plained, you might

have

to hire

three

DERs to

get

the engineering

approvals-an airframe DER, an

engine

DER, and a propeller DER,

he said

.

The cost

of

hiring those

DERs

can

be

prohibitive.

Under the

new

program, the

FAA will

begin

designating a new

breed of DERs-vintage

DERs

whose demonstrated expertise cov

ers

an

entire

vintage

airplane. They

will

have holistic

authority

to

approve engineering data

on any

system or structure on a

specific

aircraft.

The VDER's authority will be

limited , however, to one make

of aircraft,

though

a single VDER

could

apply

for and receive sepa

rate

VDER

designations

for

multi

ple aircraft.

This is going to really help peo

ple

with small, older airplanes,

Frautschy said.

The people

who

have the exper

tise

on

these airplanes

are

in

the

type clubs,

and their

expertise is

broader and more comprehensive

than a single system or

structure

.

It makes sense, he added, for the

FAA to tap that expertise to assist

owners and the FAA .

FAA Small

Airplane

Directorate

Manager Kim Smith told Frautschy,

We're

excited [about VDERs] for

two reasons:

The

vintage airplanes

[at AirVenture] are beautiful, and

it's exciting to help

them

to stay

safe

and airworthy.

And this is a

great example

of

the aviation com

munity approaching

us with an

2 9 V Hall of Fame Inductee Steve Pitcairn

The individual

selected

by the VAA

board of directors to be honored with

induction into the

EAA

Vintage Aircraft

Association

Hall

of Fame in 2009 is the

late Steve Pitcairn. The son of aviation


5/44

idea

that

m akes

sense-

t

ha

t

we

hadn't th

ou

ght

of.

' 'It

shows

what

can

happen

when

you work toge

th

er toward a

common

goal.

Dave Swartz,

of

t

he Anchorage

Aircraft

Certification

Office, was

instrumen

tal

in getting the VDER

program approved and has

been

tasked

with

overseeing

VDER im

plementation

. He

and

Smith o

ut

lined

plans

for

impleme

n

ting

t he

program at

the FAA.

Smith told

Frautschy,

Yo

u

can

get

the

word out

to

your members

a lot faster

than

we

can

comm

uni

cate with ours.

If

[applicant

s]

work

with us

thro

ugh

VAA,

that will

he

lp

smooth out

some of t

he

bumps.

Frautschy and

Smit h

agreed

that people

who want to

apply for

VDER

certification

sho

uld

contact

the

Vintage Aircraft Associ

ation

be

fore

submitting their app

li

cations

to

t

he

appropriate aircraft certifica

tion office . In

the

days fo llowing

the announcement, the VAA

re

ceived nearly a dozen

inq

uiri

es.

We

can help

them submit

the

application, and we'

ll

work

wi th

[the

FAA s Smith

and Swartz] to

get

it into

the

right channels,

Frautschy said.

EAA an

d the VAA are willi n g

to

help

VDER

app licants through

the process by reviewing t

heir

ap

plication materia

ls

prior

to

their

submittal

to the FAA . As this issue

of

Vintage Airplane

was be

in

g com

pleted, Randy

Hansen,

EAA's

gov

ernment

rel

ations

director, was

in

the

process

of

finalizing

a

chec

k

The V

AA

will also be keeping a list

of those

mem

bers who are approved

VDERs,

an

d we will be

posting

that

list

on the

VAA

website

as

those ap

provals are made

by

the

FAA.

Vintage rea Popular During

E irVenture 2009

More than 800 showp

l

anes in

the

Vintage judging categori

es

were

parked

as

far sou

th

as Row 153 this

year.

In

fu

ture

iss ues,

we'll

have

plenty of coverage of this year's

fly

-

in in Vintage Airplane and Vintage

Aircraft On line The new

Vintage

Hangar

was

enthu siastically

re

ceived

by

the

type

club

and

work

shop

folks,

and the

first

year of

Vintage Aircraft

in

Review

on the

as-

phalt

pad in

front of

the

VAA

head

quarters area was also mentioned

as

one

of the

h

ighligh

ts

by

many

of

o

ur

visitors

and members. Check

the awards list

start

i

ng on

page

4,

and

l

ook

for

more to

come

on the

event

in

the

next

few mon

ths .

Ted Koston 1923 2009

Famed aviation

photographer

Ted Costopoulos (

aka Kos

ton) of Melrose Park, Illinois, passed away Saturday, August

2, at the

age of 86.Ted loved aviation and managed

to get

involved

in

as

many facets of it

as

he could. Over

the

past

four

decades,

Ted

has blessed

EAA with

his services

as

a vol

unteer

photographer

. Starting in

the

1960s he shot some

of

the

most famous images of

EAA

and

VAA

members and their

aircraft. He continued

to contribute to Vintage Airplane

on a

Ted

Koston in a

amiliar

regular basis, and

our

archive

of

images shot by

Ted

over the

years will always be a valued resource.Ted s photography

has

pose to

many

longtime

EAAers

-

behind

the

been published in

EAA

publications and all over

the

world.

viewfinder of aGraflex For his broad dedication

to the world

of vintage airplanes

and

the people who fly them, he was inducted into the EAA

camer

a.

Vintage Aircraft Association Hall

of

Fame in 2001.

Koston s firs t

flight made in

1937, was

in

a Kin

ner-powered Bird

CK

biplane.

Ted

s lifelong fascina

tion

with

photography blossomed, and he was soon

shooting aircraft on a regular basis.

During

World

War II, he served as a naval aviation photographer

aboard the aircraft carrier

USS

St . Lo (ex-USS Mid

way). His naval service also included a stint per form

i

ng

reconnaissance

photography

in

the

Marshall

Islands and Guam. Returning

to

Chicago after World

War II, he opened his

own photography

studio and

immediately

got busy on a number of civilian avia

tion

fronts. He served as:

.President of the Illinois Air Pilots Association.


6/44

9

ANTIQUE

AWARDS THROUGH AUGUST

1945)

Antique Continuously Maintained Aircraft

Dean Del Bene, Monee, Illinois

1937 Stinson SR-9C, NC18407

World War

II

Military Trainer/Liaison Aircraft Outstanding

Jay Rud

&

Pete Nelson, Sandwich, Illinois

1942 Boeing A75N1 (PT-17l, N59223

Customized Aircraft Outstanding

Jim Head, Galena,

Ohio

1943 Boeing A75, N450BB

Customized

Aircraft

Runner-Up

Paul Fries, Wheeling, Illinois

1943 Boeing B75N1, N347KF

World War

II

Era

(1942-1945)

Runner-Up

Ted Davis, Brodhead, Wisconsin

1941

White

New

Standard D-25A, N7286

Bronze Age

(1937-1947) Outstanding Closed Cockpit Monoplane

James Lange, Brookfield, Wisconsin

1941 Taylorcraft BC12 -65, N33951

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Outstanding Closed-Cockpit Biplane

Ron & Mark Morrison,

Bloomingdale

, Illinois

1938 Beech F17D, NC18781

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Runner-Up

Jack Carol Vautin, Thousand Oaks, California

1939 Piper J-3C -65, NC23266

Transport Category

Champion Bronze

Lindy

Robert Penny, Versailles, Missouri

1944 Cessna T-50, N30F

Customized Aircraft

Champion Bronze

Lindy

Jerry & Vivian May, Kearney, Nebraska

1936 Rearwin Sportste r, N16473

World War

II

Era (7942-1945)

Champion Bronze

Lindy

Kurt

Bromschwig,

Bloomington

, Minnesota

1945 Beech D17S, N51121

Bronze Age 7931-1941)

Champion Bronze

Lindy

Mark McGowan & Ken Kreutzfeld, Plymouth Michigan

1940 Taylorcraft BC-65, NC24371

Silver Age (1928-1936)

Champion Bronze

Lindy

Larry Howard, Green Acres,

Washington

1930 Laird

LC

-1 B-300,

NC1

0402

Antique Reserve Grand Champion Silver Lindy

Jack Tiffany & Jim

Hammond

Spring Valley,

Ohio

1932 Pitcairn Autogiro PA-18, NC1267B

Antique Grand

Champion Gold

Lindy

Joseph Kaminskas, Biglervil le, Pennsylvan ia

1930Waco

RNF,

NC859V

CLASSIC

AWARDS SEPTEMBER

1945

THROUGH 195

5)

Outstanding Aeronca Champ Small Plaque

Steve Krueger, Merrill, Wisconsin

1946 Aeronca 7

AC

, N83355


7/44

Outstanding

Cessna 190/195 Smal/

Plaque

Arnold Peckar, Boulder, Colorado

1947 Cessna 195, N4331N

Outstanding

Navion Smal/

Plaque

Alan Sickinger, New Philadelphia, Ohio

1947 North Amer ican Navion A, N285TC

Outstanding Piper J 3 Smal/ Plaque

Clarence Easley, Pleasanton, Kansas

1946 Piper J-3C-65, N92446

Outstanding Piper Other Small Plaque

Steven Johnson, Bo ise Idaho

1954 Piper

PA

-18-135, N9967Q

Outstanding

Stinson Small

Plaque

Shawn Haring, Lincoln, Kansas

1948 Stinson 108-3, NC6010M

Outstanding Swift Small Plaque

John Renwick,

Minneap >

lis, Minnesota

'1950Temco

GC-1

B,N2431 B

Outstanding Limited Production Small Plaque

David Smith, Milaca, Minnesota

1954 Meyers MAC-145, N551

Preservation-Smal l Plaque

Ronald Busch, Cedarburg, Wisconsin

1947 Aeronca 11 BC N3923E

Custom

Class

B

87

- 7

5

hpj Smail

Plaque

Joseph Leslie, Abbotsford, British Columbia

1946 Fleet Canuck, CF -EAU

Custom Class C (151-235 hpj Smail Plaque

Marvin Homsley, Maumee, Ohio

1946 Globe GC-1 B,

N61

PK

Custom Class 0 (236+ hpj Smail Plaque

Mike Barron, Per ry, Missouri

1944 Beech C-45H, N241

t>

Best

Custom Runner-Up-Large Plaque

Peter Kerwin, Naperville, Illinois

1946 Piper PA-12, NC2755M

Reserve Grand

Champion Silver

Lindy

Donal Halloran, Dodgeville, Wisconsin

1948 Piper

PA

-15, N4469H

Grand

Champion Gold

Lindy

Charles Rober t Parish, Tullahoma, Tennessee

1952 Beech D18S, N4477

CONTEMPORARY

AWARDS

(1956- 1970)

Outstanding Beech Single

Engine Outstanding In

Type

Kevin O'Halloran, Cordell, Oklahoma

1960 Beech 35-B33, N638V

Outstanding

Bellanca Outstanding

In

Type

Gail Steve Jones, Wadsworth Illinois

1965 Bellanca 14-19-3, N8506R

Outstanding

Cessna ISO Outstanding

In

Type

Kevin Becky English, Deerfield, Wisconsin

1959 Cessna 150, N5978E

Outstanding Cessna 170/172/175 0utstanding In Type

Frederick Bradford, Fort Worth, Texas

1967 Cessna 172H, N2722L

Outstanding Cessna 180/182/21 O Outstanding

In

Type

Robert Moreland, Byron, Illinois

1957 Cessna 180A, N5224D

Outstanding

Cessna

31

a Outstanding In

Type

Gary Hess, Dexter,

Michigan

1968 Cessna

31

ON

N5063Q

Outstanding Champion Outstanding

In Type

James Bunner, Belleville, West Virginia

1958 Champion Aeronca

7FC

N7543E

Outstanding Mooney Outstanding In Type

Lawrence Freer, Burien, Washington

1964 Mooney M20E, N93GG

Outstanding Piper PA 24/30 Comanche-Outstanding

In

Type

Garry Bernardo, Lakeworth, Florida

1964 Piper

PA

-30, N7409Y


8/44


9/44


10/44

The Safir features a swing-open canopy (complete

with

curtains!) for easy access

to the

cockpit and baggage area.

I

had

started learning in 1947,

Lars remembers, and was flying Kl-

emms, which had been part of the

Swedish air force

and

before

that

had been used by the German Luft-

waffe as trainers. During each of my

vacations from the mines, I flew the

Klemms as much as I could. So, I

guess I have a soft spot for

the

air-

plane because

that's

where I first

learned to

fly

.

His career took

him

all over the

world, including a sojourn in India,

where his wife began taking lessons

in Cubs, but the bug

didn

't bite her

as hard

as

it had Lars. She never so-

loed, but didn't mind if I spent time

and money at it myself.

A trait that appears constant

throughout his career is keeping

an

eye open for aircraft he would like


11/44

Thanks to the aerobatic capabilities of the Saab

Safir,

the seats feature

full

aer

obatic harnesses.

The

cockpit of the Saab has a portable Garmin 296 GPS mounted on the panel.

utility with aerobatic capabilities.

At

one point an

old

classmate

bought

the

last flying A model

Sa fir

in

Denmark. The airplane had been

damaged

when the

gear collapsed,

and

he

bought

it sight unseen.

I

had

first rights

to buy

it,

if

he

ever

sold it. But

that didn't

work out, so

I kept looking.

After Lars

moved to

California

he

began to hear about

a Safir

that

might

be

located

in the

San Fran

cisco area,

and

after tracking down

leads he did, indeed, find

a late

model

Safir, a 91D disassembled

in

storage.

I t

was one of

the

last 20 pro

duced for a Dutch flying school. But

it

wasn't

for sale. Although

the

air

plane had been sitting

for several

years, it was one of those

I

'm going

to

get

it

flying

one of

these

days

airplanes

that

owners just

can't

bring themselves to part with.

Lars

,

however

, is nothing if not persis

tent,

as

his restoration of

the

Klemm

indicated. That was 1986, and even

though he

moved several times, he

never

gave up, and

the owner

be

came accustomed to hearing

from

him

. Finally,

in

2002, 16 years af

ter

he

made his first offer

on the

air

plane, the owner relented

and

sold

it to

him

. Of course, during those 16

years,

the

airplane,

which

was sit

ting

outside,

had

deteriorated con

Siderably.

He

dismantled it

and

had

it trucked

to

his

home

outside Vero

Beach, Florida, in January of 2003.

The

engine only had 50

hours

on

it, Lars says, but

the

overhaul

had

been

done

in 1983, just before

it was ferried to San Jose

and put in


12/44

The Saab Safire 9

In

1944, when

it

appeared the war was going

to

end favorably,

Saab

de

cided

it

was time

to think

past the conflict

to

its future in the postwar avia

tion world. It concentrated its efforts on a three-seat aircraft

to

be used for

training, touring, and liaison work.

If

the outlines

of

the airplane remind you

of

something, think back

to

the

German Bucker Bestmann. It looks simi lar because

it

was designed by A.J.

Andersson,

who

was chief designer for Bucker and was responsible for the

design

of

the Bestmann. . .

The prototype flew in November

of

1945 with a 147-hp Gypsy Major In

the nose (Model 91

A).

Several years later,

Saab

introduced the 91

and

91 C

(four-place with the fuselage tank relocated into the wings) powered by the

six-cylinder 190-hp 0 -435 Lycoming. Production was also undertaken in the

Netherlands because Saab was overloaded

with

military contracts. Then

the final variant was the 91 D

with

a tried and true 180 Lycoming dragging

it around. The last one rolled off the line in 1962 with a total of 323 built and

sold

to 23

countries. Approximately 75 are known

to

still be flying, with Lars

airplane being the only airworthy version in the United States.

Througho all

f

his

trav

ling

ld adv nturou

craft projects

e of Swed n s

wn

product

Saab

Model

Sdfir

hdd been

ttlng around

t

e g ~ s of his

sian we'd find. However,

it

was all

good

news, as we

found

no corro-

sion of any significance.

When

it came to the fabric, I was

really

fortunate in having

William

Kaser as a

next-door

neighbor.

e-

fore I even bought

my

house I talked

to

him

about helping me because he

had restored a number of Stearmans

and really knew how

to do

fabric.

He was a lifesaver on

this

project.

The same thing goes for Pattie Da-

vis, who did

the upholstery

in the

same black leather

as

the

original.

It doesn't take

much

imagination

to picture

what

nearly two decades

sitting out in the California sun

would

do

to

those

parts of the air-

frame that are

bound

to take a beat-

ing in

that

kind of situation.

e cowling the 180-hp Lycoming

has

its outlets for the cooling air on the

side. The

amount

of

deflection for the side vents

can be

adjusted on the ground.


13/44

trol

system,

which

uses ball bear

ings

and

roller bearings exclusively,

only required several bearings be

re-

placed,

and even those

were

stan

dard bearings. The same thing was

true of

the

landing

gear,

which

is

mechanical and

spring-loaded like

an

old Mooney: I t

took only

clean

ing up

and

painting.

We

did, how

ever, replace

the Goodyear

brakes

with more

modern

Cleveland units,

which

made them

much

more reli

able

and

easier to maintain.

The original bladder tanks did

the

normal thing

that

happens when

they sit empty for a decade or two

and

died.

We

removed the bladders

and

It's a

great

flying

airplane.

All

of

the

controls are

in

ball bearings,

so they are

smooth and wonder

fully effective. It's

comfortable

on

cross-countries,

and

I flight plan 107

knots, which

is

slower

than

it should

be. It should

do

110

knots.

It

has

ground-adjustable

cooling flaps

in

the

cowling,

and

I have

them

set to

the Wide-open, high-drag position.

I think, if I were to adjust those, I'd

pick up some speed.

I

love

doing

aerobatics

in

it.

It's approved for everything except

snap

rolls and

inverted

spins. I fly

the

Sportsman sequence

in

it all the

time,

and t does it as well as any


14/44


15/44

he sunny

Lakeland sky and vintage

flightline provided a cheerful backdrop

for Pete and Jeanne Reed's Stearman,

splendidly poised in its

quietly stated

elegance. Dressed in Moss Green and Sun

Valley Ivory, Lucky Lady is adorned

with

accessories including a smooth engine cowl, pol

ished spinner, and wheelpants. Born in 1943 s a

Boeing Stearman N2S-5, this biplane

eventually

found its way to Central America, before returning

to

the United States

in

disrepair.

rom th Ground Up

It took Pete Reed 3,000 hours to complete the

custom restoration-

but

it was work

he

knew well

from previous experience. He has restored 18 Stear

mans with partners and through his business,

Reed's Restorations, in Goshen, Ohio. Pete ac

quired his airframe and powerplant mechanic cer

tificate

with

inspection authorization

and

his pilot

certificates back when he was in college, and his

affinity for Stearmans developed when

he

started

flying them in 1975.

Lucky Lady is the first project the Reeds have

owned

without

a partner; hence the restoration


16/44

With Boeing Stearman drawings

in hand,

Pete used 4130 steel tub

ing to repair

the

fuselage

and

tail

feathers,

then

sandblasted

and

ep

oxy primed

them.

New elevator

and

rudder hinge bearings were in

stalled,

and the

wings were repaired

with

Sitka spruce

and

plywood. He

coated

the

wood with polyurethane

and

installed fabric on

the

airframe

§ using

the

Poly-Fiber process,

with

an

Aerothane topcoat. Selecting

the paint

scheme was easy.

I had

picked

out the

green early

in the

project, because there was a Waco

that had

a

paint

scheme I really

liked. But I

couldn t

find a cream

color to

match

it, shares Pete

with

o

a smile, so a friend of ours is an

Q. interior designer,

and

I showed

her

the color chart. She immediately se

lected

the

Sun Valley Ivory.

orsepower

Pete

and

Jeanne carefully con

sidered whether they wanted to go

with a 450-hp Pratt Whitney en

gine

and

decided instead to use a

300-hp R680-E3B Lycoming. That

turned

out

to be

the

ideal engine for

the

airplane, explains Pete. It's ba

sically

the

same weight as

the

225

hp Lycoming stock engine, so the

only additional weight is

the

con

stant-speed prop. It works

out

really

great,

and

has 75 more horsepower.

The 300-hp Lycoming

is on

the

type

certificate data sheet

and

can be in

stalled (with a Form 337) using

the

Mississippi Valley Aircraft Service

paperwork. The 300 uses

the

same


17/44

cowling that I modified, and every

thing

just worked great."

The cowling looked so nice that

Pete decided the Stearman needed

a set of wheelpants, too, so he pur

chased them from Wag-Aero. Even

tually, he also installed Redline disc

brakes. Pete didn't have trouble with

field

approvals for the various mod

ifications, for a couple of reasons.

Jeanne explains,

We

have a wonder

ful FSDO

in Cincinnati tha t knows his

work well. Almost all the Stearmans

he restored went from restricted cate

gory to standard,

so

he would

layout

all this paperwork on a white table

cloth in the hangar, and they'd come

in and everything was right there. So

it's a matter of being prepared and de

tailed-and

that pays off."

Reluctant Pilot

being with

the

people,

but

I

didn t

want

to get

in

the

airplane

and

fly.

I was really afraid because I

didn t

understand

the

mechanics of it,

and

I

thought

if you

throttled

back,

the

engine was going

to

quit.

Then

when

Pete lost his medical, he was

so devastated

that

I

thought,

well,

maybe I can [learn to fly]."

So at age 46, she started taking les

sons from an instructor at Bowman

Field

in

Kentucky. I t was a tedious

and

arduous process for Jeanne. Yet

her primary motivation-love for

her

aviator husband-compelled

her to embrace

and

grow beyond

her

personal

boundary

of fear. "My

instructor was

one

of these

who

just

wore

the

airplane," says Jeanne,

smiling brightly. "And

he

knew I

was afraid. Every time we'd go up,

he d push

me just a little bit fur

her private. She took her checkride

in the

Piper J-5

in

which she'd been

taught and in the

examiner's Cita

bria, as well. "The day I got my li

cense, I was so excited about it,"

shares Jeanne . "It was probably

the

biggest accomplishment and

the

best feeling

that

I've ever

had

abo

ut

any

particular thing. It was so unbe

lievable to me

that

I was able to do

it

and

to

do

a good job.

So

I flew my

J-5 for about 350 hours before we

got

the

Stearman flying."

ockpit hallenges

Now

that

Jeanne was a pilot, an

unforeseen challenge crept into the

cockpit. Pete describes it this way:

"The problem arose

when

we start

ed flying together, because I was go

ing to 'be

the

pilot' and [tell her how


18/44

it out,

and he

has learned to listen

to me, because he finally realized I

do know what I'm doing."

More than likely,

the

Reeds aren't

the only couple who have experi

enced this type of situation. Fortu

nately, they've diligently worked

through

their differences. IIShe s

such a good pilot," says Pete, with

a respectful nod to his wife, and

she's proven

that

she can

do

it. I

don t need

to

criticize her at all."

When it first came time for

Jeanne to start flying Lucky Lady af-

ter Pete had completed the restora

tion, Jeanne's original flight instruc

Close-up view of the panel.

The engine

air

intake

is

flanked

by

a pair

of exhaust stacks

protruding from the

smooth cowl.

LEFT

The baseball-stitched leather

covering on the fuselage handle adds

came easily

to

me.

tor came to Ohio and checked her

out in it. She was sure he wouldn't

make her solo the Stearman the first

time they went up ...but that's exact

ly what he did. IIWe did several land

ings," recalls Jeanne.

li he

runway

was only 1,800 feet at

the

time, and

our brakes were

not

Redline brakes.

So when he parked, and his seat belts

came off, I thought,

Oh

no.' Then I

thought, 'Okay, I can do this ' I did

two landings, and they worked

out

fine. Even though I knew I could

fly

it, I wanted Pete to go up with me for

a while-I just had to get comfort

able first. I didn't want to get cocky,

because that's very dangerous."

Jeanne finds

that

male pilots,

IIfor

the

most part, are so support

ive of my flying. There are some

that

don t

like to

think that

a

woman

can

fly a Stearman,

but

for the most part,

they're so happy for me. It helps

that

I learned to

fly in

taildraggers.

Also, I play

the

piano and

the

organ,

so I have

the

hand-eye coordina

tion with

my

feet,

and

it was just a

natural thing. It clicked right away;

I could work

the

rudder pedals and

feel for

the

ground,

and

the

landings

By now, I have

over 1,000 hours in taildraggers."

lying Lucky Lady

The majority of those hours are in

the

Stearman, which, Jeanne says, is

lIalmost easier to fly

than

thej-S, be

cause it's bigger and heavier. It's

not

as easy to land, because it's squirrel

Iy. When

you take off, you just wait

for it to

fly

right

off-you

can take


19/44

in

on

the glide slope, touch down at

the bottom of the hill, and you still

have 1,000 feet of runway left. Most

of the time I do three-point landings,

and of course Stearmans prefer grass

to hard surface, especially if there's

any wind. But if there is a wind on a

hard surface, I do either a tail-low at

titude or a wheel landing."

With her cowled 300-hp Lycom

ing and slick wheelpants, Lucky Lady

will cruise at 110

mph on

16 gph. She

has a fuel capacity of 46 gallons, and

the Reeds flight plan for two-hour

legs.

They

fly

only in good weather,

and though they used to

fly

with just

a finger tracing their flight

path

on

a sectional

as

they peered over

the

cockpit coaming to

the

earth passing

below their wings, they now have a

GPS/corum, transponder, encoder,

and a backup GPS in the front cock

pit. That's primarily because their

home strip in Ohio

is

just inside Cin

cinnati's 30-nautical-mile veil, and

the updated equipment gives them

more in-flight options.

Psst-Be Involved!

A Word to

the Women

Jeanne volunteers at a hospital in

Cincinnati, where she and at least a

dozen ladies enjoy lunch together

when they work. Quite naturally, the

ladies heard about her flying the Stear

man and were intrigued. So Jeanne

invited them all over for lunch, with

the promise of showing them the

air-

plane and giving to those who

might want to go up. To her surprise

and delight, most of the ladies eagerly

Jeanne and Pete Reed really enjoy their custom Stearman. The registration

number has special significance to the Reeds; 5 is Jeanne's lucky number, and

the

P

and

R

are Pete's initials.

a pinch-hitter course, it could be so

beneficial. Don't be afraid of flying,

and don t

be afraid

to

turn

the di

als on

the

panel.

Don t

be afraid to

take

the

stick or the yoke-just do

it. Once you

do

it a few times, it be

comes a little more comfortable,

and

then

you're not totally unaware of

[how

the

airplane works].

You

nev

The

PR is

for Pete Reed,

and

the

double 5s are, well, twice as lucky

for Jeanne. Hence

the

biplane'S nick

name,

Lucky Lady. liThe

name

fits,

because she's brought us luck and

has been a good airplane for us," ex

plains Jeanne. Indeed, good fortune

has smiled

upon the

Stearman, its

restorer,

and the

reluctant pilot. The


20/44

IT

OES

TTER

The mission

is

simple

Step 1: Survive brain cancer.

Step

2: Restore a

1942

L-4

Cub, with the help of

EAA

Chap

ter 64, to fulfill

the

dream of

fly

ing again.

Step

3:

Fly

the

L-4

across

the

country.

Step

4 :

Continue to dream,

enjoy life, fly and remember . . .

there are

no

ordinary moments

in life, and what you do every

minute does matter.

The horrific

thunderstorm

has

passed and

the

smell

in

the

air is

now fresh and clear. It's reminiscent

of copper and iron, like a handful of

pennies or blood flowing from a fresh

cut. In this war, however, too much

blood has already been spilled. Too

many lives were lost that could have

perhaps been saved if only.

But I

can t think about that

now.

The sky is clear, and I must focus on

the

mission at hand. I finish

the

last

few sips of my coffee and head out to

the airplane.

BY BRIAN KISSINGER

flight, before it is all taken away from

me to end

in

death.

Today people are counting on me

to lead the way .. . not to victory, but

to hope. Together, we create one more

day of

hope that

someday soon, we

will be victorious.

There is no time to waste.

My 1942 L-4 Piper Cub is pulled

from her hangar. It's my pride and joy

dubbed Miss P after my wife, Priscilla,

and

for perseverance, two forces that

help me get through day after day.

After a quick preflight I

straddle

the right-front tire, hold

on

firmly to

the inside of the cockpit, and reach

out to throw the propeller down with

one quick arm motion.

The finely

tuned

engine leaps to

life with a roar. Miss seems as eager

as I am to get back

in the

air. With

the

prop blast blowing

on

me I start

to hop in the front seat of the Cub. I

pause, look back,

and

smile at my ob

server who is already strapped in the

back seat. We are ready to

go.

Fifteen minutes later, as we circle

over a German castle, I can t believe

I m actually fighting in a war. It's so

peaceful now, so serene.

My

observer

and I enjoy the view for a moment.

Then it hits me.

People are dying. Dying for no

good reason. Dying from a hideous

enemy

that

has no soul. An

enemy

that doesn' t care if its victim is a man,

woman, or child. It simply attacks

ev

eryone in its path without regard.

As Gen

. William

Sherman

first

said, "War

is

hell.

I

I

have to

say I

wholeheartedly

agree. Fighting brain tumors and can

cer is hell, yet

this

is

the

war I am

fighting. Cancer is a hideous, soulless

monster that kills randomly, without

regard to socio-economic status, sex,

age

or any other demographic.

The

flight described above actu

ally occurred during my Brain's Flight

2007

tour

on a stop in Burnet (pro

nounced BERN-it), Texas. While we

weren't fighting in the European the


21/44

ater in World War II, we did fly my

freshly restored 1942

L-4

Cub over a

German castle built in the Texas hill

country near Burnet. The castle is

called Falkenstein.

Every day on my three-week tour

I knew I was flying and fighting for

others with brain tumors and cancer.

My

mission was simple ...raise aware

ness and money for brain tumor and

cancer research. I

was thankful every

day for the opportunity to have one

more flight, and for

being

cancer

free . I slept well each night and awoke

with a smile

on

my

face

every morn

ing, knowing I was headed to the air

port to do it all over again. It was the

best of times

barnstorming

against

cancer and brain tumors-an experi

ence both uplifting and life-growing.

I'd like to share my experience with

you. So please, jump in the plane and

brain surgery to remove the primary

tumor, followed by 20 months of che

motherapy, it appears that the cancer

is

now in remission.

While

it

was

not easy

getting

through the cancer, I fared

better

than

many other people fighting this

hideous disease. I survived the surgery

with no major complications and did

not need any post-surgery physical

or occupational therapy to regain my

strength or coordination like

many

people do. I made a promise to my

self, and to the big guy upstairs, that

if I survived I would not waste the gift

of life and would

do

something to

help others dealing with cancer and

brain tumors. But what?

I knew I wanted

to

get back into

flying. To some people it might sound

crazy that a guy

with brain

cancer

wanted

to fly again, but flying has

body to invade. I declared

war,

deter

mined to eliminate my

foe s

existence.

To put it plainly, the surgery

sucked. Chemotherapy

was

not much

better. My family, friends,

and

co

workers were incredibly supportive.

With their help

I

made it through

the

pain, negative

feelings, sleep

less nights, and other obstacles. I

also knew that somewhere,

no

mat

ter how terrible I felt, someone had it

worse. Someone was losing her battle

against this disease.

I tried

to

focus on hobbies other

than

flying, since I was grounded un

til I fully recovered. Even in the midst

of

chemo my

body remained

rela

tively strong, so I started training for

another

marathon. In

the

past I had

been a runner. I decided to

put

my

physical strength to

the

test, at

the

same time doing what I could to help

my cause. I raised a

few

thousand dol

lars for

brain

tumor

and

cancer re

search with the help of several friends

and family members.

Completing

the

marathon on

the one-year anniversary of my sur

gery was a

rewarding experience,

but it

wasn t

flying. The brain sur

geon hadn t cut

out

the part of me

that

held my strong love of aviation.

He couldn t because it resides deep

in my heart and in my soul. Keeping

my sights set

on

getting back into the

cockpit helped me make it

through

my chemo. As soon as my treatments

were done I moved back into flying

as

safely (and quickly) as possible.

"It's not

wh t h ppens to

you, but how

you

react

to

it


22/44

the

1990s

I

served

over

seas

in the

Air Force as a

navigator

and electronic

warfare officer with

the

1st Special Operations

Squadron

.

During

a

stop

in

Korea I ordered base

ball caps embroidered

with our names.

Mine

was misspelled B-R-A-I-N

instead of Brian. Despite

my objections, which usu

ally

make

things

worse

when

you re

around

a

bunch

of

crew

dogs,

the

name

stuck. Little

did

I

know how

prophetic the name

would become.

Since I was flying for those

with

can

cer and brain tumors,

I thought it

natural

to use

myoId

crew

moniker

Brain instead of Brian for the flight.

Shortly after

I

began formulat

ing my

plan,

I

found an

almost

abandoned 1942

L-4 Cub

project at

my

local airport . It was as

i f this

air

craft

had been

waiting for me just as

much as

I

had

been

looking

for her.

To non-fliers or

restorers

this

may

seem strange, but

I feel

that aero

space

vehicles

are incredible ma

chines with special characteristics

unlike

any land-based vehicle. Sim

ply put they fly

They take

their

occupants into the atmosphere and

to

places

not

everyone gets

to

see.

The L-4 project became my pas

sion,

my obsession, over

the next

seven

months. With the help of

sev

eral members

of my

EAA Chapter

64

and

one person

in

particular,

fel

low pilot

and

cancer

survivor

Todd

Drenkhahn,

we finished the project

in efficient order, and I took off on

was

produced

by

the

Piper factory

in

the summer

of 1942

and

delivered

to

the

U.S.

Army in August 1942.

It

was

brought on the books after

the

fiscal

year (October

1)

and given

the

se

rial number 43-570. The L-4 is a mili

tary version

of a J-3 Cub that, with

few modifications, was painted ol

ive

drab and sent

off to war.

My L-4

Cub

served its war years

at

Fort Sill,

Oklahoma, helping to train Army

Air Corps pilots

and

observers

to

di

rect artillery. She later served with

the

South Carolina Civil

Air

Patrol before

being

sold to a private

individual in

the

1950s.

The old

Army

Cub

even

tually

made it to

Marvin Campbell,

the

fixed base

operator owner at the

Sparta, Illinois,

airport where

it suf

fered severe

damage

from a bad go

around attempt that ended with the

Cub flipping over in a ditch.

I first saw the dust-covered, ol

ive drab

Cub in the

back

of the

large

maintenance

hangar at

the

Sparta

airport. It was love at first sight.

The

restoration

had stalled years before,

and

now cobwebs

and

dust were

her only

friends. I was

immediately

drawn

to

the L-4, and as I first looked

year later.

As an airframe

and powerplant mechanic

with

inspection authori

zation

(A&P/IA),

Marvin

also supervised

most of

the

work

on

the

aircraft.

Together with Marvin

,

Todd, several

members of

my

local

EAA Chapter

64,

and

other generous folks,

we

finished the

restora

tion in seven months

of

weekends

and

evenings.

As

with

any

project

one

of

the

first

things you need to do

is

to put to

gether a plan

and an

inventory,

which

I did.

Then

it's all

about

executing

the

plan with

dogged

determination

and

not letting the

inevitable, albeit fig

urative, brick walls get in your way.

Brick walls are for people

who don t

want something bad

enough. People

who are determined will either climb

over or knock

down the brick walls in

their lives.

One of the many brick

walls we

faced during

the

restoration was

when

we started

to put the

Lexan glass

on

the

greenhouse after we

had cut

and

fitted

everything.

The

glass was

in

place, but the paper would not

come

off

Those of you who have

worked

with

Lexan before know that the pro

tective

paper is supposed to

peel off

easily. But after a couple of years of sit

ting around

the

hangar, "easy" did not

happen.

We

tried everything we knew

to

remove

the

paper. Nothing worked.

Frustrated, I

went home that

evening

dreading the inevitable need

to

fit

and

cut

new

Lexan for

the

entire aircraft.

Then someone

threw me

a rope from


23/44

AUA is responsive, professional, competent, competitive

and friendly. Plus it is nice to

do

business with

good

friends

who are also avid sport aviation enthusiasts a valued

long-term experience.

- John Parish Sr

John

Parish Sr

Tullahoma TN

• Founder

and

chairman of

the board

of Beechcraft Heritage

Museum

;

president for

20 years

•

Past board

member fAA Aviation

Foundation

and

fAA Aviation

Assoc

for

over 30 years

•

Commercial

instrument multi-

engine land and

sea; 5,000+ hrs

• Three

sons also

p

ots

and

satisfied

clients ofAUA


24/44

and spring of 2006-2007.

Every Saturday and Sun

day after

church I was

there,

along with

sev

eral others who would

show up

as

often

as

they

could. I was never sure

who would come along,

but when they arrived

I had a

task

for them;

there was always some

thing to do. One person

Brian Kissinger

and fellow

cancer

survivor

Tod

d

Dre

nkhahn

was there

nearly

every

rebuilt

Brian s L-4

over

seven

months during 2006 200

7.

day

with

me. Todd was

my partner in the Luscombe. He is an

A&P who works for Boeing (formerly

McDonnell-Douglas) in

St.

Louis. His

contribution to the project cannot be

understated.

Without

Todd I would

not

have completed the restoration in

time to depart

on

the first of June.

I

am

sure there are people out there

who say they have completed

their

airplane project

all

by

themselves,

without

any

help

or advice from

someone else, but I have never met

such a person. There were so many

other

people,

too many to mention

in this brief article, that contributed

to the success of my project.

As

a sign

of

my sincere

appreciation, when

we finished fabricating the new bag

gage compartment panel, I had every

one who worked on

the

project sign

the

panel. Now during

my

preflight,

when

I flip

up

the panel to pull out

my fuel strainer and flashlight, I al

ways look at those names

and

smile.

I

thank

them again

in

my mind for

their selfless

dedication

and

time

given for a good cause.

As

the project started to come more

done

anything

like this before, her

help was very welcome

and

valuable.

I could stay focused

on

finishing the

airplane project, test-flying it, and my

flight planning.

On May 26 Todd gave me a hand

prop prior to

the

first flight myoid

Cub

had

seen in

many

years. I taxied

out at

the

Sparta airport, and after my

pre-takeoff checklist, I said a prayer,

looked up at

the

St. Christopher's

medal I had placed on the instrument

panel, and laughed as I prepared for

takeoff. The epoxy

compound I used

to attach the medal to the dash

had

set up

hard and

strong.

However,

overnight

the

medal had shifted and

was now at an almost 90-degree angle

to the right. St. Christopher looked

like he was falling over.

Oh

well, any

one could

put

a medal on straight, I

thought. "Let's slip the surly bond of

earth, Chris "

When the

wheels left

the

ground

and

I was in the air, a feeling came

over me like no other.

t

was a complex

mixture of astonishment, pride, and a

sense of accomplishment. I

was

on an

approaching. On

June

1 we

gathered near

the

Mississippi River and the

St. Louis Gateway Arch

at the St. Louis Down

town Airport in Cahokia,

Illinois. I said

my

good

byes to everyone, espe

cially

my

wife and kids,

and

after a few passes by

the Arch I turned east for

my first stop. The next

three weeks were simply

amazing,

flying

across

the country in my Cub on a mission

to raise research money and aware

ness. I saw some old friends and made

many new friends. People amazed me

with their generoSity and willingness

to help.

Despite being an

Air

Force-trained

navigator

and an instrument-rated

certificated flight instructor, I go back

to

the basics when flying my Cub.

First of all, I never underestimate the

power of IFR in these old airplanes. Of

course IFR stands for I Follow Roads

or

Railroads navigation and

not

In

strument Flight Rules. Another help

ful

navigation tool

is

the

water

tower" navigation technique. For ex

ample, if you are

not

sure where you

are, simply observe the name on the

city's water tower, reference it to your

sectional, and you can probably

fig-

ure out where you are.

Remember, you are never in a

hurry

when

flying a Cub, or

at

least

you

shouldn't

be. You aren't getting

anywhere fast in a Cub anyway. Sim

ply fly slow and low and enjoy the

view. Also, enjoy life and whomever


25/44

Light Plane Heritage

PUBLISHED IN E Sport viation

APRIL 96

The Driggs Dart at the 1926 National Air

Races

in Philadelphia.

T H E

D R I G G S

D R T

I

The Driggs Dart I was

one

of

the

best-known and most practical of

th

e early

lightplanes

produced in

this

country.

In

addition to com

peting successfully in closed-course

races, the Dart was one of the few

lightplanes

of its time

that

was ca

pable of long cross-country trips .

The

first

airplane

of the se

ries, known as

the

Driggs Johnson

BY

J ACK M c R E

ficiency

Race

the OJ-I was second in

spite of two forced landings due to

fuel stoppage. This race was won by

Harvey Mummert in his Harley Da

vidson-powered Sport Plane. He was

more fortunate in having

only

one

forced landing. The

third

lightplane

event was for the Rickenbacker Tro

phy and was flown over a 140-mile

course. Johnson had

anoth

er forced

Fokker practice at that

time with

a

steel tube wire braced fuselage and a

plywood-covered, tapered-cantilever

wing. A metal propeller and a

streamlined cowling

with

pressure

cooling were installed.

The DJ-l was also

one

of

the

few

airplanes of

that

time to

have

an

enclosed cabin. Most pilots

then

believed

that

to fly an airplane


26/44

surfaces were also of steel

tubing

fabric-covered with external wire

bracing.

The

single-piece

cantilever

wing of about

75

square feet area

was of wood construction and used

the

US

45

airfoil.

The two spars

were built

up

of

laminated

1/8-inch

thick spruce planks with 12 lamina

tions

at

the root, tapering to four

at

the

tip. Ribs were of

plywood

and

the

wing

was covered

with

3/64

inch plywood aft to the rear spar.

The careful design work that went

into the

OJ-I

is

shown

by

the

empty

weight of only 330 pounds includ

ing 127

pounds

of engine. The span

was 27 feet. The top

speed

was 84

mph ,

and the

rate

of

climb was

320

feet/minute. The ceiling was 12,000

feet. Gross

weight

was 511 pounds

with

a ISO-pound pilot.

The DJ-l

was

also

flown

in the

1925 National Air Races at Mitch

ell Field

New York.

I t

had been

rebuilt

after

a

crackup

with cowl

ing

modifications and with the

1924,

which

received

considerable

publicity. After

the

performance of

the

OJ

-1 at the Dayton Air Races,

where

it was

closely

observed by

such prominent aviation people as

Gen. William Mitchell

Lt.

Jimmie

Doolittle

and Capt. Eddie Ricken

backer

arrangements

were

made

for

the

U.S. Army Air Corps to pur

chase a refined model known as

the

Driggs Dart

I

It was given Serial No.

A.S. 26-205 and had the McCook

Field

Number P-443. I t was

also

felt

that

small-engine development

needed stimulation so

an

order was

placed by the Air Corps for six of

the

new Wright-Morehouse 28-hp

engines

which appeared to be the

most

promising lightplane power

plant. Driggs

set

up a small shop

in Dayton

and

started construction

on two Driggs Dart airplanes the

first of which was

delivered

to the

Air Corps.

The military

Driggs

Dart

was used for flight-test work sup

plementing wind tunnel research

on high-lift

devices and

eventu

ally for static tests to determine the

structural properties of wood and

metal

cantilever

wings. After deliv

ery

to

the Air

Corps

the airplane

was

modified by

the

installation of

wing flaps and

leading edge

slats,

which extended

from

the

wing

root

to the

inboard

end

of

the

aileron.

The slats

and

flaps were intercon

nected and the

maximum flap

angle

was 26-1/2 degrees. This

mod

ification increased the wing weight

by

about

48

pounds

but

greatly im

proved the landing and

takeoff per

formance . The gross weight of

the

airplane

due to this and other mil

itary changes

increased

from 532

pounds

to

639 pounds.

Maximum speed

with

high-lift

devices extended was 65 mph and

with

them

closed it

was

79

mph.

The relatively poor

top

speed

with

slats closed may have been due to

the poor

fit

of the

slat leading edge.

Landing speed

with

slats

and

flaps


27/44

extended was

42

mph compared

with 55

mph

for the plain wing.

These tests were made in March 1928

at the maximum gross weight of 639

pounds. The test pilot complained of

the excessive vibration of

the

engine.

The Air Corps Material Division

built an experimental all-metal wing

intended to be used on the Dart but

the

airplane was ordered to be sal

0.020-inch

and

0.030-inch corru

gations.

Spar flanges varied from

0.040 inch to 0.064

inch. Many

details

of the metal

wing

and

static

test are given in Air Corps Techni

cal Report No. 3415.

THE COMMERCI L D RT

The third airplane of

the

Driggs

Dart I series was also built

in

1926

engine

was off the

ground

con

Siderably quicker than

the

Dart. In

the air however the speed of the

two ships was

about

equal.

The Airplane

Reliability Tour

started

from

Detroit

on

August

7

1926. The Dart with Racing No. 24

and flown by

Jack

Laass suffered

a forced

landing

due

to

fog on

the

fourth lap of the tour near St. Paul

Minnesota

.

The following day

shortly

after

takeoff a

crankshaft

failure forced the withdrawal of the

Dart from

the

competition. The en

gine was repaired

and

about a week

later Laass and the Dart joined the

tour again at Indianapolis. The

next

day

valve

trouble

caused the Dart

to be

withdrawn again. In spite of

the bad luck

with the

engine

an

average speed of 77 mph

had

been

maintained

by

the

Dart for

the

580

miles comp leted which favorably

compared

with

speeds

of some of

the standard-size airplanes.

The 1926 National

Air Races

were

held in September

1926

in

conjunction

with

the SesqUicen

tennial Exposition. The Dart again

piloted by

Jack

Laass was

flown

from

Dayton over the Alleghen y

Mountains in weather so bad

that

many

of

the larger airplanes were

grounded. This flight is described

in detail by Laass

in the

October

1926 Aero igest.

In

the

three lightplane

events

at

the

National

Air Races

the

Dart

placed second in

one

race and fourth

in the other two being beaten by the

Heath Tomboy Racer and the

Kre-

ider-Reisner Midget. The best average


28/44

Diamond Plus Level

Gordon Anderson

Charlie Harris

Marlin Horst

Matthew

Hunsaker

Lynn

Jensen

Norma Joyce

Espie Butch Joyce

Robert Long

Bob Lumley

Bill Saundra Pancake

Ronald Tarrson

Tulsa, OK VAA hapter 10

John

Turgyan

Diamond Level

Raymond

B

Bottom, Jr.

Susan Dusenbury

Earl Nicholas

Robert Schjerven

Steven Nancy Taft

Silver Level

Jerry Brown

Brodhead Peitenpol Assoc.

John Carr

Phil Ruthie

oulson

Tom Hildreth

A ] Hugo

John Kephart

Larry Nelson

Roger

P

Rose

Carson E Thompson

Jamie Wallace

Shawn Lynch

Bronze Level

John

adou

George Ceshker

Gene Chase

David Clark

Wanda Clark

Geoffrey Clark

Kenneth Clark

Sydney ohen

John Cooke

Leland Corkran

Gary COVington

Gerald ox

Dan

Dodds

John

Elliott

H.G. Frautschy

Tim Greene

Terry Griffin

Malvern Gross

Red Hamilton


29/44

ank

y u

for

your generous donations

Gerald Liang

James Lockwood

Charles Luigs

Thomas Lymburn

John Lyon

Sarah Marcy

Bill Marcy

William Morgan

Roscoe Morton

Jim Moss

Stephen Moyer

C.Keith Newman

George Northam

Lynn Oswald

Steven Judith

Oxman

John Patterson

Roy Reed

Theodore Reusch

Jerry Riesz

Robert Wagner

on Weaver

LeRoy Weber

Roy Williams

Alan Williams

Daniel Wood

Michael

Wotherspoon

Brian Wynkoop

Supporter evel

John

Addams

Harry Barker

Jesse Black

Noble Blair

James Braden

James Buddemeyer

Larry Collins

Camille Cyr

Petter D' Anna

Alex Hudnall

Walter Kahn

Nicholas Kapotes

Peter Karalus

Grady Keith

Richard

A

Kempf

John

Koons

Robert Lannon

Ballard Leins

John Montmorency

Frank

Moynahan

Harry Mutter

Eugene Nabors

James Newhouse

Keith Plendl

Ray Proctor

Thomas Reilly

Frank Schelling

Leon Siverling


30/44

YROBERT G LOCK

eaking in

a

radial engine

I

n this issue we discuss radial engine break-in pro

cedures. Keep in

mind

that these are my opinions,

but

they should be consistent

with

other

mechan

ics maintaining radial engines in the industry.

First, when the

old engine is

removed,

there is

a

great

opportunity

to clean

and

inspect the remaining

components

of

the

engine

compartment.

You

might

want

to

remove, blast, inspect, and paint the

engine

mount.

Remove

and

flush

the

oil

tank and

oil cooler,

and clean the inside of all oil lines. In

other

words start

the

new

engine with

a clean firewall-forward instal

lation. Replace all rubber shock

mounts;

inspect and

cadmium-plate

the

bolts. These bolts are usually quite

long

and

expensive to replace. There

is nothing

wrong

with having these bolts cad-plated

as

long as

they

are

baked after plating. A

competent

plating

shop

knows

how to

handle the

plating

. Replace the nuts and N

washers when installing

the

engine.

When the newly overhauled engine arrives, inspect

for any shipping damage. Hopefully the engine

has

at

least five

hours of test-stand time

so

the

break-in

process has started. I f there is

no

test-cell time on the

engine, I

don t recommend

running it for five

hours

on

the

ground

before flying. Install it in the airplane,

assure everything

is

airworthy,

and

go flying .

Hoist and install the engine in the mount, torque

the

mounting bolts/nuts,

and safety

them with

cot

ter pins. Then go about installing all that other stuff

that

was

removed

with the

old engine. Again, this

is

a great opportunity to inspect/repair/paint if needed)

all those components. I always either flush the oil

tank

with solvent

or steam clean it. The oil cooler

(if installed) should be sent out for overhaul or at

least be flushed to assure

there

are no

metallic

frag

ments in the cooler. I

heard

of an

owner

replacing a

newly

overhauled engine

because

he found metal in

the

screen. Seems it came from

the

oil cooler because the previous en

gine had an internal failure. This is

also a good time to closely inspect

all components of the exhaust and

sumps are full, bring

the

level back


31/44

A newly installed Wright R 760 engine in the New Standard

Ready

for the first flight after

an

engine overhaul

up

to

4 gallons. After pre-oiling, we

are ready

to

start

the

engine.

Prime

and start the

engine.

Watch

the

oil pressure gauge;

the

pressure

should show almost

im

mediately.

If

there's

no

pressure in

dication within 30

seconds,

shut

the

engine

down

and

troubleshoot.

Safety is a

prime

issue

on the

first

start, so have

a

second person

standing by with a fire extinguisher.

If

a fire starts

in the

intake system,

continue

cranking

the

engine

with

the

starter

to

suck

any

flames

into

the

engine.

Assuming

everything went

well

on the

start

and no

problems were

encountered, run the engine

from

idle to about 1000 rpm to warm

it up.

Shut

down and

inspect for

oil

and

fuel leaks. Let

the

engine

cool until you

can

touch the

cyl

inder

heads

with

your

hand. e-

start the engine,

allow

it

to run

near

idle,

then

run it

up and do

a

quick check of

the magneto and

carb heat

operations. Reduce

the

power

to

idle for cooling,

and then

shut

the

engine down.

Inspect

the

engine

compartment

at

each shut

down. Don t run the

engine for

long periods

on

the

ground.

The

supervising

mechanic will

dictate

the number of

ground runs. Long

ground

runs will cause overheating

and can

glaze

cylinder

walls, and

the

rings will never seat properly.

When the mechanic is sure ev

erything is airworthy it's

time

for

the

test

flight.

Don t run

the en

gine on the ground for extended

sary. Now, go flying for 10

hours.

I recall

breaking

in a Ranger in


32/44

Run the

engine

hard Continue to

note the time and amount of

oil

added on your notepad.

Then drain

the

oil and check

the

oil screens again. Check

the

cylin

der compression/leakage. Check

your notepad

for how much oil

you have added. Oil consumption

should

show

a

decline. When

oil

consumption stabilizes at

the

10-15

hour

mark,

the

rings have seated. If

there

is still oil consumption, con

tinue

the

high-power flight until oil

consumption

lowers

and

stabilizes.

If the oil

consumption

does not de

crease, then

the

cylinder walls have

glazed

and the

rings will never seat.

I t

will be

necessary

to

remove

all

the cylinders, hone the walls, rein

stall

the

cylinders,

and

go

through

the

break-in procedure again . Run

ning

the engine hard during initial

flights will lessen

the

possibility of

cylinder

wall glazing. The

Wright

R-760 in

the

New Standard stabi

lized in about 13 hours. Oil con

sumption went

from

more than

a

quart per

hour

to a quart every four

When I broke in the

Wright R-760,

I ran the engine at

1800 rpm until the

rings seated,

which

took

about

10 hours.

It is important

to keep

the

rings loaded;

don't "baby" the

engine or you'll

pay for it later!

un it hard!

line

engine installed

in

son Rob's

Fairchild

PT-26

several years ago

(see the

accompanying

photo).

The

Ranger engine is

very

tightly

cowled, and the rear

cylinder al

ways runs hot. I called

the

overhaul

shop before

running the

engine

and asked for its advice

regarding

the engine's

break-in

procedure.

I

was

informed

to prepare the

en

gine for first

start

by

pre-warming

the

oil

to

40°C

to 50

°C.

Put

4 gal

lons of preheated oil into

the

tank,

start the

engine, and

run

it for no

more than five minutes at 1000

rpm.

Shut

down and check for oil

and fuel leaks. Allow the engine

to

cool until

you can touch the cyl

inders

with your hand.

Restart

the

engine, give it

one minute

to warm

up, then

change the rpm to

1000

for five minutes, and shut it down.

Check

the

engine

compartment

again, but don't let the

oil

cool.

Start the engine and

taxi to

the

runway. Begin

the

takeoff roll,

and

check

the

magnetos at

1300

rpm;

if they are okay, go to full power,

hours.

When the

engine rings

and other components

climb at 100

mph, and

keep

the

airspeed

at

100

mph

"seat

in, the

oil and

cylinder head temperature

re

or greater. Keep monitoring

the engine

instruments

duces,

along with

oil consumption.

That's how you

for any abnormalities. After 20 minutes,

throttle

back

know that things have seated in. I change oil every 5

to

2250 rpm, fly for up

to

one hour,

land

, and check

hours of

operation

(no filter

is

installed),

and

I check

the engine compartment

again. Now, go flying using

cylinder

condition

by

conducting

a leakage check

at

a

high

power setting

until

oil

consumption

stops. Ini

least every 100 hours of operation. As

the

engine con tially

the

engine was

burning

3 quarts of oil per hour.

tinues

to

wear, I start checking cylinder leakage every

Oil consumption stayed

near

this rate

until

15

hours

50 hours. of operation.

Then,

all of a sudden ,

the consumption


33/44

dropped to 1 quart every three hours. Not too bad for a

Ranger. The engine

had no

run-in time from

the

over

haul shop. If it had five hours,

then the

break-in would

have

happened after only 10 hours of flight. That's

how you break in engines.

Troubleshooting

Static

rpm is

very

important

because it

determines

whether the maximum rpm will

or

will

not be

ex

ceeded in level flight. I don't

check

static rpm on a

new engine; I take a quick look at full-throttle rpm

on

takeoff when there

is

air flowing around

the

cylinders.

If the

overhaul is

done

correctly,

then

the maximum

rpm

the

engine can

turn

is governed by

the

prop pitch.

Many engines use a ground-adjustable prop. Climb or

cruise performance can be set by adjusting the pitch of

the

prop.

Cylinder leakage tests can give

an

indication of cyl

inder condition. I always

conduct the

leakage test with

the

engine warm

when the

rings seal

the

best. Leakage

checks are usually

conducted

at 80 psi;

the

tester puts

80 psi into the combustion chamber of the

cylinder

when at top dead center

(TDC) on

compression stroke,

and

the amount

of leakage

is

measured by reading how

much

pressure the cylinder will hold. I f

you hear

air

flowing around

the

rings, you can hear it

in the

crank

case

breather

system. Air flowing around an

exhaust

valve can be heard in

the

exhaust collector system,

and

-

air flowing around

an

intake valve can be heard

in

the

intake system, specifically the carburetor. Normally I

look at the spread of leakage

between

the cylinders.

A common

question

is:

How

much leakage

before

you have to

do

something?" I say

when 2S

percent of

the

80 psi leaks out, then it is time

to

do

something.

However, since the engines I maintain are "for hire,"

if the cylinder

leakage gets into the

upper

60s, I

do

something

. I've

found

that

on

the

Wright R-760s, 80

psi

into

the

cylinder will show normal readings of 72

78 psi. Even

at

the 1,100 hours since major overhaul

pOint, at

80

psi the cylinders are still holding 70-74

psi So the power output is still there at the 1,100-hour

stress failure, I changed the cylinder. That cylinder had

only

30 hours since

the

overhaul. Don't mess with this

problem; change

the

cylinder immediately

Another problem I inherited was a sticking exhaust

valve

in the number

four cylinder. It was hard to locate

because the problem was intermittent, but I could hear

the sound of exhaust, and there was definitely a "miss"

during

the

firing of

the

engine; it would

happen when

the

engine was

under

a heavy load. I finally figured

out

where the problem was and started

to

remove the ex

haust

valve cover.

When

I tapped

the

cover with a mal

let to loosen it, I heard

the

valve close with a "bang."

I

attempted

(with success) a repair

without

removing

the

cylinder. Here's

how

to do it.

Move

the piston to

TDC and then back off a little.

Remove both spark plugs

and

force a 1/4-inch diame

ter nylon rope

into the

combustion chamber. Carefully

move the piston toward TDC

until

the

rope com-

presses

against

the

valves. You

can

then remove the

valve springs;

now

back off

the

piston position

and re-

move

the

rope . I mixed

up

some engine oil with valve

l

apping compound,

squirted it in the valve guide,

put

a

short length of

rubber hose on the valve stem,

and

rotated

the

valve, working it up

and

down

as

I rotated

it. When the valve had

loosened

(valve

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