8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
1/44
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
2/44
VOL. 30, No. 3
STRAIGHT LEVELlButchj
oyce
2
VAA NEWS/H .G. Frautschy
4 MYSTERY PLANE/H.G.Frautschy
6
CAN I
JUST MAKE MINE EXPERIMENTAL?
joe Norris
8
LITTLE BIG PLANE/ArtRink
1
THIRTY-THREE AND A HALF HOURS
/john
M
Mill
er
/Gil sHe
nd
erson
12 IT FLEW TOO
WELL?/HankPalmer
14
IT S A STEARMAN ISN'T
IT?
Budd
Davisson
20
22
TYPE CLUB NOTES
24
CALENDAR
26
NEW
MEMBERS
27 CLASSIFIED ADS
30
VAA
MERCHANDISE
MARCH 2002
SPORT PILOT NEWLETTER
ENCLOSED WITH
THIS
ISSUE
III
WWW VINTAGEAIRCRAFT ORG
http:///reader/full/WWW.VINTAGEAIRCRAFT.ORGhttp:///reader/full/WWW.VINTAGEAIRCRAFT.ORG
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
3/44
5
e
L
Y ESP
I
BUTCH
JOYCE
PRESIDENT, VINTAGE ASSOCIATION
Sun
n
Fun Reflections
In March some early flowers start
blooming
her
e in
North
Carolina.
March
also
means
it s time for
Norma and me to begin getting
ready
to attend the
Sun n Fun
EAA
Fly-In at Lakeland, Florida. This year
will be different. One of
my
favorite
parts
about this great event is the
friends you get to see. I have always
e
njoyed
the
repeated
visits during
the
week with my good
friend
Leonard McGinty.
This
year that
will
not
be possi
ble . Leonard passed away early last
month
after
having
a
heart
attack.
He was
traveling to
Martinsville,
Virginia,
to pick up an airplane to
re
build,
a
project
he
and
his
son
were
to
do together. Leonard was
always a wonderful southern gentle
man, a great promoter of aviation, a
strong supporter of
the
EAA
,
and
one of the original founders of what
is now
the
Sun
n
Fun organization.
People say
that
you remember the
bad times
and not
the good ones
well, this will
not
be
the
case with
Leonard, as I only
had good
times
with him.
Thanks, Leonard. Our
condolences
to his wife, Lena, and
most folks, the event is a sure sign
that
spring
is
just around
the
corner.
Just as I mentioned that the flowers
were starting to bloom here, the
weatherman
informed everyone
that tonight the temperature would
be
down to
15 degrees,
with
snow
forecast
in
the mountains of North
Carolina. I never look for really de
pendable weather until after Easter.
Sun n Fun will be the first fly-in
where our new added group of air
craft will be judged. Remember,
we ve
now added those aircraft
manufactured in 1966 to the
Con
temporary
judging category. Ray
Olcott,
who s in charge
of the vin
tage area parking at Sun n Fun, is
aware of this change,
and
will be
welcoming thes
e
new
aircraft. Ray
has been a longtime
supporter
of
the
vintage aircraft movement.
A
number of years ago he and I served
on the EAA
Antique/Classic Board
of Directors together. He and his
wife,
Jo
were key volunteers at
EAA
AirVenture for many years.
Ray now serves as a director for
Sun n Fun,
and
Ray
and
Jo are key
volunteers for Sun n Fun.
Their
piloting
skills, to o . I
ve
set
up
the
time
frame for
my annual
inspec
tion
of the Baron
and
the Luscombe
to be completed during the month
of
January. Then
I schedule an in
strument
proficiency
checkride
in
late February. I understand there are
all kinds of skill levels in
our
pilot
community.
We all need to take our
responsibility to the public seriously,
and
I d like
to
extend my
thanks
to
each of you in advance for your cau
tion in
that regard.
Dust off your
aircraft
and
head to Florida to have
some fun in the sun at Sun n Fun; I
plan
on being
there
to
enjoy the
time with you.
You ll have
plenty
to see and do,
plus it will be a prime spot to get up
to speed
on the FAA s
proposed rules
regarding the certification of aircraft
and airmen for
the operation
of
light-sport
aircraft.
EAA
views this
NPRM as one
of the most important
initiatives presented within the past
decade, and it s asked us to include,
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
4/44
V
N WS
COMPILED
BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY
EAA s
SP R T
O
ST.
LOU S
REPLICA
IN NATIONAL SPOT
LIGHT
FOR LINDBERGH
FLIGHT 75TH
ANNIVERSARY
EAA s
replica of Charles
Lind
bergh's
Spirit
of
St Louis
will be
in
the
national
spotlight
this spring
during this
year's
commemora
tion
of
the
75th anniversary of
his historic
solo
flight from New
York
to
Paris. In
May 2002 EAA
's
replica airplane
will be part
of
The Lindbergh Foundation's na
tional schedule of events that
celebrate the
1927
flight that
captured
the
world's imagina
tion.
On
May 10-11,
the
airplane
will
be
in
St. Louis, Missouri,
to
re-create
the
arrival of
the
origi
nal
airplane in that city from
Ryan Aircraft
Company in
San
Diego, California.
I t
will
then
fly
to New York City to
participate
in
re-enactment
festivities on May
18-20,
marking
the
75th
anniver
sary
of Lindbergh's departure
from New York's Roosevelt Field
en route to Europe.
At the same
time, a real-time
re-creation
of Lindbergh's 33-1/2
hour
flight will be
takin
g place at
the EAA AirVenture Museum in
Oshkosh, using
the
museum's
Operation
Aviation flight simula
tors. This re-enactment will begin
on
May 20
and
operate
continu
ously through
the
night and
into
the
evening
of
May
21, 75 years
air travel.
EAA's
commemoration of
Lindbergh's flight, supported
by
a
grant from the
Ryan
Founda
tion,
begins May 4-5
with the
opening of
the
EAA AirVenture
Museum's Pioneer
Airport.
The
Spirit
of St
Louis
replica
will be
used for flying
demonstrations
as
well
as
historical presentations
on the ground.
Following its appearances at St.
Louis and New
York, the
Spirit
replica
will stop at the U.
S.
Air
Force Museum
in
Dayton,
Ohio
(May 25-26),
before returning to
Oshkosh
for
EAA s
Family Flight
and Balloon Festival June
1-2.
The
aircraft will then travel
to
West Bend,
Wisconsin Gune
14-
16); a St.
Louis air
show
(July
4-7); EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
2002 (July
23-29); Lindbergh's
boyhood home in Little Falls,
Minnesota
(A
ugust
9-11);
and the
Kansas City, Missouri, Aviation
Expo (August 17).
At the same
time,
more special
activities are scheduled at the
EAA
AirVenture Museum. Those
include
a special
screening of the
film
The Spirit
o f st.
Louis
starring
Jimmy
Stewart
(May
20)
and
a
Spirit of St Louis ground-school
session
(Oc tober 11-l3). Other
activities
will
be announced
as
they are finalized.
The
EAA Aviation Foundation
FRONT
COVER: Well,
I'm
pretty
sure I saw a Stearman ..Dave
and
Peggy Bates earned a Champion
Customized Bronze Lindy
at EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh 2001 for their
beautifully customized Boeing
Stearman.
EAA photo
by Jim
Koep-
nick, shot with a Canon EOSIn
equipped with an 80-200
mm
lens
on
100
ASA Fuji
slide
film. EAA
Cessna 210
photo
plane flown by
Bruce Moore.
BACK
COVER: They made
only
26
of them,
and
this was
one
of only
three
flying
in 1994 when
EAA
photographer Jim
Koepnick cap
tured this 1964
Champion
Lancer
restored
by
Bob Herman.
In
tended to
be a light, inexpensive
twin-engine training airplane,
the
Lancer is
powered by
a
pair
of
100-hp
0-200 Continental
en
gines
driving
fixed-pitch props.
Certainly,
each of
EAA s
judging
categories
has its
own
brand
of
rare,
unique
airplanes.
BUCK S
VACATION
Our resident sage, Buck Hilbert,
certainly has earned his
editorial
stripes over the years, and this year
he took an extended vacation during
the winter months. His column will
be on hiatus for this issue, but don t
worry-I m
sure he ll have plenty to
say
when he gets back
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
5/44
ment the history of EAA
for
future gen
erations.
We are
looking
for artifacts re
lating to
EAA and EAA
fly-in
conventions, in particular those prior
to 1980, said Curator of Collections
Ron Twellman. Items from
the
very
early days of EAA (1953-1970) are
especially sought, including EAA-re
lated souvenirs, clothing hats,
jackets, T-shirts, sweatshirts), and
convention-related ephemera (pins,
patches, decals, posters).
Items not needed include EAA
maga
zines/programs (unless yo u have some
of the earliest mimeographed xp ri-
menters from 1953)
and trophies/plaques
awarded to fly-in participants.
Because
we
cannot guarantee the return
of unso
licited items and are not looking for
loaned
items, please
check with
Ron be
fore sending anything to EAA. You can
reach him at
920/426-5917
or via e-mail
at
rtwellman@eaa org
FLYING COMMERCIAL
TO AIRVENTURE
Special airfare discounts are now
available
for
EAA
members and others
who plan to
attend EAA
AirVenture
Oshkosh 2002. The 50th annual avia
tion gathering
will be
held July
23-29
at
Wittman Regional
Airport
in Oshkosh.
EAA AirVenture discounts are
ava il
able
from the folJowing airlines
(be
sure
to
refer
to the proper
file
numb
er
when
requesting the discounts):
American
(800/433-1790): 5 percent
off published fares; 60 days in advance
is
10 percent
off
during travel from July
10
to August
7;
arrival cities are Green
Northwest (800/328-1111): 5 percent
off published fares; 60
days
in advance
is 10
percent off during travel from July
10 to August 8; arrival cities are Apple
ton, Green
Bay,
and Milwaukee; File
No
.
NYQSS
United (800/521-4041): 5 percent off
published
fares; 60
days in advance
is
10
percent off during travel from July
13
to August
6;
arrival cities are
Oshkosh, Appleton, Milwaukee, Green
Bay, and Chicago:
File No. 501ZR
SO
H VE
YOU GOT
THE RIGHT
STUFF
EAA s
Pioneer Airport
is
seeking
qualified tailwheel pilots to volunteer
one weekend a month from May to
October, or several days
during
the
E
SPORT
PILOT NEWSLETTER
Bound in the center
of
this month s
magazine is a special
informational
newsletter created and published by
EAA.
The newsletter, the cost of which has
been covered by
EAA,
will help you under-
stand the many
facets
of the FAA's
proposed rules regarding the certification
of aircraft
and
airmen for the operation of
light-sport
aircraft. While
intended
to
cover the operation of some homebuilt
and newly certificated aircraft that meet
the specifications of the proposed rule,
sections of this proposed rule will allow a
portion of the current fleet of antique and
classic aircraft to be operated under
these
new
rules.
For
those of us who fly these types of
aircraft,
and
who operate under Part 91,
be sure to look at
page
7 of the newslet
ter and read the
short chapter that
discusses the minor changes to other
week. Adjacent to the
EAA
Aviation
Center in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Pioneer
Airport re-creates the golden
age
of
avi
ation with period hangars clustered
around a
grass
strip, and the pilots
will
be Hying classic
vintage aircraft
like
the
Travel Air
E-4000 and
Waco YKS-7.
To be considered pilots must hold
a commercial pilot certificate and
sec
ond-class
medical , have
extensive
tailwheel experience, and meet EAA s
minimum
flight experience require
ments.
Flight
time
minimums
and
volunteer duties are posted on EAA s
website at
www eaa org
fyou·r in-
terested,
send
your resume
to
EAA
Flight Operations, Attn: Pioneer Pilot
Screening, 1145 W. 20th Ave.,
Oshkosh,
WI
54902.
medical condition, or are taking medica
tion or receiving treatment for a medical
condition, that would prevent them from
having a safe flight.
After the newsletter was printed, but
just prior to going to press with this issue
of Vintage Airplane,
we
found an error on
page
4
in
the paragraph related to operat
ing a light-sport aircraft certificated
in
a
category not listed on your private pilot
certificate (powered
parachute and
weight-shift
contrOl). That paragraph
should read:
If you want to fly a light-sport aircraft
of a different category/class,
you
must
receive and log ground and flight training
from a sport pilot instructor, and then
complete a proficiency check adminis
tered by a different instructor. Following
the successful completion of the profi
ciency check, the second instructor will
mailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.eaa.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.eaa.org
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
6/44
: YST RY
PL E
BY H .G . R UTS
C H Y
While certainly not unknown,
the December Mystery Plane isn t
one you see on the
antique
fly-in
circuit, at least not yet. Here's our
first letter:
The
December
Mystery Plane
would appear to be
an
Alexander Ea-
glerock
Combo-Wing with
a 90-hp
OX-5
or
100-hp OXX-6 engine. The
Alexander Film Company
got
into
the
aircraft business
when
it formed
Alexander Aircraft in Denver in April
1925. The Eaglerock, designed by
Daniel
Noonan and
assisted by
Al-
bert Mooney,
appeared
in August
1925. About 455 OX-powered Eagle
rocks were built by 1928
when
the
company moved to Colorado
Springs.
Further aircraft
appeared
with Whirlwind, Salmson, Hispano,
Siemens, and Comet engines.
Alexander went under in 1931.
The Eaglerock was the first OX-5
powered lightplane to receive a type
certificate. The Combo-Wing was cer
tificated as ATC No.7 in April 1927.
Thanks for
the
fun. Just
out
of
cu
riosity, how
many
Eaglerocks still
exist?
Tomas H. Lymburn
Princeton, Minnesota
According to the FAA s electronic
database available
at
www.land
ings.com,
only
two Long-
Wings
are
registered, with the last registration
activity
in the
mid-J980s.
Three
Combo- Wings are registered, and one
of
them
is
in the collection
of
the Mu
seum
of
Flight in Seattle, Washington.
The other two are registered to private
owners,
and
we expect
that
at
least
one will be flying in the upper Mid
west. As sometimes happens with old
type certificates, the airplanes in the
F
database don t list Alexander as
the manufacturer, but rather the last
holder
of
the type certificate, Aircraft
Mechanics Inc.
I realize I m
more
than late in
identifying
the
Mystery Plane.
That
trick with the
door
edges
is
clever I
couldn t
believe
that
I would find a
combination wing
Eaglerock in
a
Mystery column. Doesn't everybody
recognize that?
But then I thought maybe it could
be only me I m old enough-and
maybe we have mostly young read
ers. That one a combination
wing-was
pretty early and
was
probably
manufactured
in Engle
wood,
Colorado,
before the tragic
fire. The original design avoided the
odd
slant of
the struts by
having
a
few additional feet on
the
lower
wing.
And beginning with the
Model A it was changed to incorpo
rate a center section,
and both
wings
on each side were the same length.
Through
the
1920s I was growing
up
in Fort Collins, Colorado,
and
was able to
visit
the fields around
Denver and
Colorado Springs. Go
ahead-ask me about an Eaglerock. I
http://www.land/http:///reader/full/ings.comhttp:///reader/full/ings.comhttp:///reader/full/ings.comhttp://www.land/http:///reader/full/ings.com
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
7/44
T H I S M O N T H S M y S -
TERY
P L A N E
COME S
TO
US
VI THE
COLLECTION
O F J A M E S
M A R T I N
O F
SOUTH BEND,
INDIANA.
have pictures of most models.
R.H.
Osborne (Dick)
Colorado Springs, Colorado
I recently published a book,
Wings
North: Wausau s Aviation History,
which includes information relating to
Alexander Eaglerocks
in
Wisconsin.
The
Hall
Aircraft Corp., Wausau, was
the Eaglerock distributor for all
of
Wis-
consin in the late
1920s,
and I have
numerous photographs
of
their Eagle-
rocks at Wausau Among
my
collection,
but not
in
the book, is a photo taken
on
April
13, 1928
,
of
a group
of
Chrysler
Corp. executives next
to an
Eaglerock
in
exactly the same location,
in
front
of
the very same hangar as in your photo
(left). Mark Hubbard, president of Hall
M A R C H MYSTERY
P L A N E
SEND
YOUR
ANSWER TO:
EAA
VINTAGE
AIRPLANE
, P.O. Box 3086 ,
OSHKOSH
, WI
54903-3086 .
YOUR
ANSWER NEEDS
TO
BE
IN NO
lATER
THAN
APRil
10 FOR IN-
CLUSION IN THE JUNE 2002 ISSUE OF
VINTAGE AIRPLANE
.
You
CAN
ALSO SEND
YOUR RESPONSE
The best reference for Eaglerock
history
is
The Alexander Eaglerock:
A History of
the lexander
A ircraft
Company,
written by Col.
John
A.
deVries
and
published
by
Wolf
gang Publishing, Colorado Springs,
Colorado, in 1985. There have
been
other
articles and mentions
in several books. The
Eaglerock
can be
found in
Vol. 1 of Juptner s
U . Civil Aircraft.
The combo-wing
Eaglerock received ATC 7, and the
long-wing
is
ATC
8. Later
models
can
be found listed
under
ATCs
57,
58,59, 139,141, and 190. The No
vember
1973
issue of EAA Sport
Aviation contains
an
article enti
tled,
An
Alexander
What?
by
Jack Cox.
VIA E-MAil . SEND YOUR ANSWER
TO
vintage@eaa org .
BE SURE TO INCLUDE
BOTH
YOUR NAME
AND ADDRESS (ESPECIAllY YOUR CITY AND
STATE )
IN
THE
BODY
OF YOUR
NOTE
AND
PUT
(
MONTH)
MYSTERY
PLANE"
IN THE
SUBJECT LINE
The original wing configuration, or
long-Wing, used 18-foot wing pan
els, and because of the 2-foot width
of the fuselage at the lower wing at
tach point, the overall span for the
lower wing
was 38 feet,
while
the
upper span was 36 feet. This pro
vided an excess
amount
of lift, so
the lower wing panels were reduced
to 16 feet. The A model was intro
duced in 1928 and featured a 6-foot
center
section in
the upper wing,
with the 16-foot outer wing panels
then
used for
both
upper
and
lower
wings. It
could accommodate
two
people
in
the
front cockpit if you
were willing to be friendly enough.
So technically it can be identified as
a three-place airplane.
mailto:[email protected]
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
8/44
O
a
regular
basis here at
EAA headquart
ers, mem
bers ask us if
there
is
any
advantage to converting
their airplane to
the
experimental
category. Many
aircraft
owners
have
the idea
that
they will save
money if they switch their factory
built aircraft from standard
category to experimental. This no
tion no doubt stems from the fact
that they see owners of
homebuilt
aircraft
doing
their own mainte
nance, repairs, and inspections or
using more
modern auto-engine
aircraft. This
is the
certificate un
der
which
homebuilt aircraft are
operated. There
are
several
other
purposes
for which
an
experi
mental airworthiness certificate
can
be issued.
These include re
search and
development,
crew
training, exhibition, air racing,
market survey, and others. Each
purpose has its
own
unique char
acteristics and limitations.
In truth, there is little benefit to
changing from standard to experi
mental category. Here's why. Since
the
aircraft
is
factory-built
and
It's not
certificated
within
one of
the
other
experimental purposes.
The
least restrictive of
the
available
purposes
would be
exhibition,
but this purpose still places signif
icant restrictions on
the
use of
the aircraft.
FAA
Order 8130.2D outlines the
procedures for cert ificating aircraft
and
related products,
and
it
con
tains the definition and limitations
of various certification categories.
Section 8 covers operation of air
craft under
the
experimental
purpose of exhibition and air rac
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
9/44
E"1'eri-menta.l?
movie or television
productions.
You'll
notice that
recreational
and cross-country
flying
are not
mentioned.
Experimental/exhibition cate
gory
is
further broken down
into
four groups,
identified
by
Roman
numerals I through IV. Aircraft
that
were formerly certificated in
standard category fall into Group
IV.
Group
IV
aircraft will be issued
operating limitations that
include
the
following:
The proficiency area
is limited
to non-stop flight
that
begins and
to
an exhibition that is not
listed
in your program letter. Any flight
that is
not
to,
from,
or
at one of
these exhibitions
is
a proficiency
flight
and
must be
conducted
only
from
your home
field,
and
you can land on
ly
at your home
field-no $100 hamburger
trips
for pleasure.
Only FAA-certificated mechan
ics with appropriate
ratings
as
authorized by FAR 43.3 may per
form inspections required
by
these
operating limitations.
Unlike the
amateur-built
cate
JOE NORRIS
E
AVIATION INFORMATION SERVI
CES
mechanic
do the required main
tenance,
or
supervise you
while
you
do the
maintenance,
on
your
aircraft, just like
when
it was in
standard category.
As
you can see, the experimen
tal /exhibit ion category places
significant restrictions on the op
eration of the
aircraft, which in
turn limits the utility of the air
craft
while
offering
little if any
opportunity
for
cost savings.
These
limitations
also
signifi
cantly reduce
the
market value
of
the aircraft should the owner ever
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
10/44
LITTLE BIG
PLANE
The Rearwin Cloudster
only
looks big in photos
T
HE CLOUDSTER WAS
THE LAST OF
A
SERIES
OF LITTLE ROUND EN
GINE
AIRPLANES DESIGNED BY
REARWIN AIRPLANES. THE
CAA
DES-
IGNATED THE
ORIGINAL
1939
CLOUDSTER
AS
AN
8125.
THIS
ENTRY
INTO THE MARKET WAS REARWIN S
ATTEMPT
TO
PROVIDE NEW SIDE-BY
SIDE
SEATING. A FIVE-CYLINDER KEN
ROYCE
ENGINE THAT DEVELOPED
90
HP AT
2250 RPM
POWERED
THE
8125 . ONLY ONE
WAS PRODUCED
In 1940 Rearwin changed the
engine
to
a
seven-cylinder
radial
and with
that
came a new designa
tion: 8135. A seven-cylinder Ken
Royce
engine
that
produced
120
hp at 2225 rpm powered the 8135
ART R INK
t - - - - . - z · - - - - - -1
r -
o -
.u , · · 1
Rearwin Cloudster
A two to three-place private owner plane with a choice
of Ken
Royce
engines from 90-120 h.p. Aircraft
Yearbook 1941
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
11/44
Art Rink refinished his
194
Rearwin Cloudster in chocolate brown, in mem
ory of Smilin' Jack Mosley
nd
his real-life airplane, NC2600.
entering
and
exiting
the
rear seat.
My Cloudster, NC25545, was a
flying
airplane in December
1999.
Since I
didn t
have a
hangar at
the
time, I decided to buy some
time
by
having
work done to
the exterior.
One thing led to
another,
so over a
period of 12
months
I had the wood
in both wings repaired
where
needed.
I
also had new leading
edges, pulleys, cables, and electrical
wiring installed at
the
same tim
e
Following that, over the next six
months,
both the
wings and ailerons
were covered in Ceconite 102
and
finished using Randolph's STC The
fuselage was rejuvenated,
and
all the
metal parts were stripped and
painted with
Randolph products.
The propeller
was
sent back
to
Sensenich for a complete overhaul.
John
Talmage,
the
previous owner,
had rebuilt the engine, firewall, inte-
riof,
and instrument
panel,
so I
didn t
have to rework those items.
The 8135 Cloudster cruises at 120
mph at 2050 rpm using 7 gallons of
fuel per hour. Since all
the
control
cables have ball bearing pulleys, the
airplane is a real joy to
fly
The flight
controls are sensitive to light pres-
sure. On
the
ground the
forward
visibility
is
limited, but the steerable
tail wheel makes it easy to do S-
turns while taxiing. The brakes are
mechanical with
bron
ze plates,
and
they
work very well. The
airplane
has an empty
weight
of approxi-
mately 1,200 pounds and
a gross
weight of 1,900 pounds. The fuel
tanks hold
34 gallons
and
are fed
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
12/44
Thirty-Three and a Half Hours
A little anecdote of 1927
JOHN M. MILLER
cal
en , - - = i i i i i ~ ~
n Q t e G FIQwa d n the
I
n
May 1927
I
was
a mecha
neering student at
P-ratt
In titute of
Technology in Brookl 11, w York,
about to graduate. I had done some y
ing
before that, starting in 1923 when I
soloed
a
IN-4
on
my
18th birthday
dur
ing my fourth year of high school. I
spent the summer of
1924
hopping pas
sengers. This was
long
before
there
were
any regulations, so it was without a
pi
lot certificate.
At the time, a number of pilots were
making preparations at
Roosevelt Field
and Curtiss Field on Long Island to
compete
for
the Orteig
Prize
of $25,000
for th e first nonstop flight between
New
York and Paris. I sometimes went
out
to
Mineola, Long Island, to watch
the preparations, often cutting classes .
On one day I
was
standing beside a
friend, Howard Stark, who lived
at
Pawling, New York,
near
my
home
here in PoughkeepSie. We were watch
ing Lindbergh
and
his plane.
Lindbergh had flown from San Diego a
day or so before, with only one stop,
at
St. Louis, and was getting ready for his
flight to
Paris.
Howard
was
the first person to
fly
successfully in the
fog
while using the
then-new "turn indicator."
He
had
dis
covered the proper way in which to
use
the
instrument
and
to recover
from the deadly out-of-control spiral
phie a copy of whi
he
purchased by ma il and ad used to
teach himself to fly in
the
fog using
Howard's method. Howard had already
mentioned to
me
that
he
had sold the
pamphlet
to
Lindbergh
by
mail, but he
was
a very shy person and had
not
in
troduced himself to Lindbergh. I did
not join in the conversation
for
I
was
a
very junior member of the aviation
scene at the time. We both had looked
into the cockpit of the Ryan airplane
and
seen
the
turn
indicator on the
panel. In addition, we saw a Pioneer
Earth Inductor Compass, powered by a
little anemometer on the
top
of the
fuselage. Those two instruments were
on the cutting edge of technology at
the time and certainly made the
fa
mous flight possible.
As
far
as
I know,
all
the other airplanes that
were
being
prepared for the trans-Atlantic flight
had turn
indicators
but
I doubt
whether the other pilots were really
proficient in their use. Howard, too,
was doubtful about their proficiency.
I
was
again at the field the day
be
fore Lindbergh took off and heard the
rumors
that
he planned to do so
the
next morning,
so
I stayed up
all
night
in the lobby of the Garden City Hotel,
waiting
for
the event. On that murky
morning, I watched the takeoff and
was
t>reparations
but had
missed
its
takeoff.
rk ors
y lplane
had
also
crashe burned, attempting takeoff
with a too-heavy
fuel load
.
Later, when the Lindbergh welcom
ing parade
was
held on 5th Avenue, I
sat on a ninth-floor windowsill with
my feet hanging out, at 507 5th Av
enue, the office of
my
aunt who had a
little employment agency for office
girls. It was
a perfect grandstand
seat for
the huge parade.
In
1930
I
was
flying professionally
at
Teterboro Airport.
At
that
tim
e,
the
Lindberghs kept their Lockheed Sirius
in the Bendix hangar at Teterboro. I
used to help Lindbergh push
it
in and
out of the hangar when he and his
wife
went on various flights. I
did
not really
get acquainted with him because I did
not wish to be another pushy person.
There were
plenty
of those already.
However, he voluntarily gave
me
an 8
by 10
autographed photo of himself,
which I
still
have and highly prize .
On March 23, 1992, I was in Wash
ington, D.C., visiting the National Air
and Space Museum. The Spirit of
St.
Louis Ryan airplane had been lowered
from its
usual place, hanging
from
the
ceiling, and the Smithsonian techni
cians were in the process of cleaning
it.
They were evidently being very careful
to
avoid wiping off the now ancient and
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
13/44
gle static discharge can be disastrous
Over the past year I have been
restoring
a Cassu t t lIM
sport
racer
that
had
formerly belonged to Pete
Myers of Oak Lawn, Illinois. The fuse
lage was covered with Ceconite fabric
and four coats
of
nitrate dope; all the
finishing tapes, reinforcement
patches, inspection rings, and gussets
had
been installed.
The project
was
ready for
butyrate
.
Although the
air
frame was not being covered with the
vinyl-based,
less
flammable Poly
Fiber process, I was following many
of the excellent suggestions
and
tech
niques
outlined in
Ron Alexander's
aircraft builder and
the
EAA/Poly
Fiber
Aircraft
Fabric
Covering
instructional video. This included
wearing latex rubber gloves for chem
ica l
protection
while
wiping down
the fabric surface
with
a prep
solvent
prior to spraying. After wiping several
square feet, the shop towel
was
recharged with solvent. At this time I
had a gallon can of solvent in my left
hand
and a clean, solvent- laden shop
towe
l in my
right
hand. (Editor's
Note:
See
my comments
at
the end of
this article regarding shop towels.)
s
my gloved right
hand holding
the shop towel
approached the
air
craft, a static discharge snapped
from
GILES HENDERSON
garage caught fire. The
entire
cover
ing
of
fabric burned in less than two
minutes
.
By the tim
e I reali zed that
my solvent-saturated g loves
had
caught
fire, I
had
accrued
some
sec
ond-degree burns. The outcome could
have been considerab
ly worse.
My
burns are now hea led,
and
the
little
airplane is now re-covered and in
the
paint shop.
1 1 d
Several precautions had been taken
to avoid flame
and
electrical ignition
sources. Although procedure manuals
caution us of
the hazards of static
electricity caused by sanding or spray
ing a
fabric surface, over the past
decades I had
become
complacent
about
this danger.
This accident
oc
curred on a warm, blue-sky
October
day with exceptionally low
humidity
.
In retrospect, it seems likely
that
the
friction of
the l
atex rubber
glove on
the surface
of
the polyester fabric was
the primary source
of
static charging,
no
t
unlike
the
static charge
created
on th e surface of a rubber balloon
whi le rubb ing it
on
a piece of fur or
synthetic fabric.
Static electricity is
dissipated by co
rona ionization
in
a humid
atmosphere
. But under low humidity
chips and circuit
components
subject
to static damage.
Ground
the fabric surface
and
its
attaching structure, if it's metal.
Given
that
epoxy
primers
are
not
electrical
conductors,
I am not co nfi
dent that
grounding
an
epoxy-primed
airframe is
an
effective means of dis
charging static
electriCity from
the
fabric surface since the primer cannot
provide a
conducting
pathway be
tween
the fabric and th e
airframe.
Static charge accumulates on the sur
face
of
th e smallest radius
of
a curved
surface. Thus, static wicks located on
the
trailing edge of a
wing or control
surface diSSipate electricity
from
an
airborne aircraft by corona discharge.
Perhaps
a grounded copper foil
clamped to the trailing edge
of
a wing
or
control
surface
would
be equally
effective in the
shop.
In a similar
manner,
grounding the metal leading
edge
of
a
wing
panel or the metal tur
tledec k or aluminum stringers of a
fuselage, which are in direct contact
with
the
fabric,
may
also be effective.
t
would
be instructive to
evaluate
these techniques
with an
electroscope
to measure static
charges
before and
after these
grounding methods
.
Neutralize electric potential differ
ences.
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
14/44
You
never know ow potenti l customer will re c
t!
T
he first job I
had
after I got
out
of the Navy in 1945 was
as
an
instructor
using
Piper
Cub seaplanes. An old
and
dear
friend, Jimmy,
who was operat
ing
seaplanes at St. Petersburg
Beach hired
me.
I had instructed
a
couple of
years in Navy primary
school
before going to the Pacific
fleet. I worked at the seaplane
base
for
a
couple
of years,
and
then
left
for a better
job
flying
airfreight.
Wh
en I left the
seaplane
opera
tion , the owner owed me some
mon
ey that he
didn't have,
so he
HANK PALMER
usually flew. Even
with
its faults,
he was still giving
instruction
in
that
plane
when
he
gave it
to
me.
plane
base I
saw y Cub on the
downwind
leg, about 2,000 feet
high
,
throttle
wide
open and
still
climbing.
Every now and then he
would push the nose down,
but
then
it came right back up again.
(He was holding back
on
the stick,
as he
had
to do
in the other
Cub.)
He turned on final
approach,
over
shot Boca
Ciega
Bay, and had to
go
around.
This
time
he
was
even
higher
on
downwind, but
he
man
aged to get it
down
about
two
miles
north
of the
base. It
must
have
taken
him half an hour to
taxi back to the
ramp. He
was
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
15/44
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
16/44
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
17/44
t has been said
that
subtlety
is
wasted
on
the unwashed
masses.
That may
be the case in
most of the world, but definitely not at
EAA Air-
Venture Oshkosh 2001. Yes at times the masses
were unwashed,
but
they still picked up
on
the
subtleties that made the Bates' Model
7S
Stear
man ... just a little different.
It's Peggy Bates who is most likely
to carryon
about
the
family's relationship with
the
airplane,
...
it's always
been
there
and
is part of the fam
ily, she says.
Logically she d feel that way since Dave met
the Stearman about the same time he met Peggy
although
the
Stearman wasn t at Uncle Miltie's
Disco, and Peggy
was.
Dave is
now the ground
fleet
manager
for a
major airline, where he spends his days worrying
about keeping thousands of tugs, fuel trucks, and
their ilk ready to service aircraft. It wasn t that
long ago, however, that he was squinting down
1,120 feet of pavement, waiting to edge his com
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
18/44
With John Turgyan
performing
the
piloting
honors, Peggy
Bates
rides along in
the Stearman
she and
her
husband,
Dave, restored.
first big date,
as
she calls it,
with
her future husband was to go look at
his Stearman
project.
At least she
was
forewarned.
Dave was
in
his early 20s in the
1970s when he found he just could
n't live without an
airplane,
even
though he hadn't even started to
learn to fly yet. One of
his
close
friends was
John
Hatz, of Hatz bi
haven't noticed. So
we
started look
ing at other biplanes, and that's
when I discovered how much I liked
Stearmans even though
I'd
never
even flown in one.
By then
it was
1978
and
Stear
mans
were definitely on the way
out
as crop dusters because
the
newer monoplanes
and
big Ag-Cats
were putting more
and
more of
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
19/44
Light
Sport
Aircraft
Hello Fellow
Aviation nthusiasts
Welcome
to the
third issue of
the f
Sport Pilot
newsletter
.
In
it
you ll learn
the
deta ils of
what
FAA is
proposing
to help
recreational
aviation enter
its next
great
phase. In the fourth
issue,
we
will provide
EAA s
evaluation
of the
proposal. It
will be
available in
April
in
EAA s publications and
on EAA's
websites
at
www eaa org
and
www sportpilot org
Some
in
aviation
will see the sport pilot
certificate and new light-sport aircraft cat
egory
as
a
·coming of
age
for the ultra
light community.
Others will
see it
as a
renaissance in pilot
certification and
air
craft
ownership
that reflects the heights of
aviation in the
1930s and 1940s, when
simpler pilot training, proficiency, and
maintenance requirements matched the
simplici
ty
of flying sought (and
the
simplic
ity of many forms of recreational flying to
day).
Still others will see it as anew growth
area of airborne sports
opportunities that
will be as
access
ible as other leisure activi
ties
in
a
new
economy
and
society.
EAA believes
that
the sport
pilot/light
sport aircraft
notice
of proposed rulemak
ing (NPRM) isall of these things. Th ispro-
posal should create
an
opportunity for
increased
fl
i
ght act
ivity
and aircraft owner
Federal Register Publishes
Sport
Pilot NPRM
O
February 5,2002, the
summarizes
the
NPRM. To read
Federal Regis ter
published
the
proposal itself, you can
down
the FAA s
sport pilot load
a copy from EAA s sport pilot
notice of proposed
rulemaking
website
at www.sportpilot.org.To
(NPRM),
which
is officially get
a
printed (hardcopy)
NPRM,
titled, Ce rtification of Aircraft
call
the
FAA
at
202/267-9680
and
and
Airmen for the Operation of request a copy using
the
docket
Light-Sport Aircraft.
Publication
number: FAA-2001-11133. The
officially opened th
e
90-day next
i
ss
ue
of the EAA Sport
Pilot
comment period, which
will
end
newsle
tter
will
contain
EAA s
on May
6,
2002. detailed
analYSiS,
comments,
and
This EAA
Sport
Pilot newsletter suggestions
on the
NPRM.
Five
Ways
This
NPRM Affects
You
THE SPORT PILOT
NPRM
IS
A
COMPREHENSIVE PROPOS L TH T
ENCOMP SSES
THREE
new rules: a new
pilot
certificate (sport pilot), a new aircraft category
(light-sport aircraft),
and
new
maint
e
nance
procedures. To make it easier
to understand
,
we've
individually summarized its
components:
pilot certi
fication ,
instructor
certification, aircraft certification,
maintenance
certifi
cation,
and
changes to
other
regulations .
The NPRM does not change Federal Aviation Regulation FAR Part 103
ultralight
rules
in any
way,
and
it
do
es
not
change
th
e
existing amateur
built experimental aircraft rul es
or the
requirements for
the
repairman
certificate for
this
aircraft category.
When
reading
the summaries (and
NPRM itself), pay close
attention to
words like
do do not and will and
will
not because
they
are
important
to understanding
the
subject being addressed.
http:///reader/full/www.eaa.orghttp:///reader/full/www.sportpilot.orghttp://www.sportpilot.org.to/http:///reader/full/www.eaa.orghttp:///reader/full/www.sportpilot.orghttp://www.sportpilot.org.to/
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
20/44
first check the EAA and
FAA
web-
sites' frequently asked questions
(FAQs) at www sportpilot.org and
www.faa.
govlavrlafsl
sportpilot/faq.cfm
If
don
't find
an
answer to your
question, contact EAA s Aviation
Information Services at 920/426
4821 or e-mail:
infoserv@eaa
org.
This NPRM has the potential to
significantly increase people's
access to recreational aviation
because it reduces
the
time
and
money
it takes
to
earn a pilot cer
tificate while maintaining
an
; . ; : :
a.;.
;;; ; ;;
v
; ;
l ;.;.f
""
;; ;;;.;. .
; ;
;;;;l
;; ;
--_--.;:
; ;
e = c..=rtun i Y: to desi
te le
-,
e o sa e
;J"';"1t
..;a so
th
;...o J = = ,build,
Pilot
Certification
WH
AT IT TAKES TO ENJOY SPORT
PILOT
privileges depends on
whether
you
have any previous flying experi
ence. To avoid confusion, we'll
summarize the sport pilot privileges
and limitations, and then address
the
requirements for newcomers
and
those with previous experi
ence.
Sport pilot's eligibility require
ments apply to everyone.
You
must
increases the opportunities to
become an aircraft owner.
This NPRM is innovative because
F
advisory circulars
and
accepted
industry standards replace some
regulatory requirements. Making
new rules takes time; providing the
necessary
information through
ad
visory circulars allows the FAA and
industry
to devise
and
institute
the
details quickly and effectively, en
suring safety
and
efficiency.
For example,
the
new light-sport
aircraft category gives manufacturers
Airplane (single-engine only)
Glider
Lighter-than-air (balloon
and
airship)
Rotorcraft (gyro plane only)
Powered parachute
Weight-shift controlled (trikes)
Sport pilots can fly cross-coun
try, and
they
can share their oper
ating expenses with their passenger
(they can carry only one at a time).
With training
and
a logbook
endorsement
sport pilots can
fly
in
Class
B,
C,
and
D airspace. They
cannot fly for compensation or
hire, at night,
in
Class-A airspace,
or above 10,000 feet mean sea
level. [Section 71,
73]
Medical Certificate Options
To fly powered aircraft, sport pilots
and
sell completed aircraft
that
meet
industry consensus standards of con
struction, inspection,
and
safety, not
expensive type
and
production cer
tificate requirements. These consen
sus standards have
not
yet been writ
ten, so they are not in the NPRM.
Remember,
the
sport pilot
NPRM
is a proposal, and you are encour
aged to submit thoughtful sugges
tions about how FAA can improve
it (see How to Comment ). To link
this
summary with the
NPRM,
we've included
the
applicable sec
tion numbers.
(and student sport pilots) must
hold either a
current
and valid U.S.
driver's license
or
an FAA medical
certificate and comply wi th all list
ed restrictions, such
as
must
wear
glasses or contacts. Pilots who fly
gliders
and
balloons do not need
any form of medical certification.
[Section IS, 17]
All
pilots must adhere to
FAR
61.53, Prohibition
on
Operations
During Medical Deficiency,
which
prohibits pilots from flying as pilot
in command
whenever
they know
or have reason to know of any
medical
condition, or
are taking
medication or receiving treatment
for a medical
condition,
that
would prevent
them
from having a
safe flight.
http:///reader/full/www.sportpilot.orghttp:///reader/full/www.sportpilot.orghttp:///reader/full/www.sportpilot.orghttp://www.faa.govlavrlafslsportpilot/faq.cfmhttp://www.faa.govlavrlafslsportpilot/faq.cfmhttp://www.faa.govlavrlafslsportpilot/faq.cfmhttp://www.faa.govlavrlafslsportpilot/faq.cfmhttp://www.faa.govlavrlafslsportpilot/faq.cfmmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.sportpilot.orghttp://www.faa.govlavrlafslsportpilot/faq.cfmmailto:[email protected]
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
21/44
New lo
ts
To earn a sport pilot certificate peo
ple without any piloting experience
must meet
the
age
and
language
requirements and get the required
training.
Student Pilot
Certificate-You
need a student certificate, and the
minimum
age
is
16 for a powered
aircraft
and
14 for gliders
and
bal
loons. f you have a valid driver s
license or medical certificate you
may obtain a student certificate from
an FAA
Flight Standards District
Office FSDO) or a deSignated pilot
examiner DPE). [Section 31, 33]
Sport
Pilot
Training-To
earn a
sport pilot certificate, students
must get the reqUired ground and
flight training for the
type of
air
craft they want to fly (airplane,
trike, powered parachute, etc.) and
pass a knowledge test and a practi
cal test.
The knowledge test assesses your
knowledge of such required subjects
as navigation, weather, decision
making,
and
regulations,
and
you
acquire this knowledge through a
home-study course or a ground
school. [Section 51] The practical
test is your checkride, where you
demonstrate your
flying ability to a
deSignated pilot examiner by flying
the
maneuvers called for
in
the
F
practical test standards.
Required pilot skills
depend
on
the type of aircraft you want to fly,
but they include everything neces
of cross-country
training
and
a solo
cross-country
flight.
Sport pilots
learning to fly a
glider must
have
at
least 10 hours
of
training, with two
hours
of
solo flight
time.
f
glider stu
dents have at least
20
hours
of
pow
ered airplane expe
rience, they can
add a glider rating
with a
minimum
of
three hours
of
training, to include
at least one hour of
solo flight. [Section
55]
Unlike other F
pilot certificates,
the sport p ilot cer
tificate will
not
list
the
aircraft cate
gory and classes you re rated to
fly.
Your
pilot logbook
will record this
information
through the endorse
ments
of
the instructors and exam
iners who trained and tested you.
[Section 61] .
To fly a new category of aircraft
you
must
acquire
the
required
knowledge, training, and experi
ence
from a qualified instructor. To
earn
the
logbook
endorsement that
allows you to fly
the
new category,
when
you finish
training
you must
demonstrate
your proficiency to an
private pilots (or higher) have dif
ferent ways to
enjoy
sport pilot
privileges because
their
experience
counts. The
avenues
are different
for ultralight fliers and those
who
hold an F pilot certificate, so
we ll address
them
separately to
avoid confusion.
FAA Certificated Pilots-Private
pilots or higher with a current
medical certificate
and
flight review
can fly
any
light-sport aircraft in
the
categories and classes for
which
they are rated.
Private pilots
or
higher who
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
22/44
sport pilot privileges must have
either a valid driver s license or FAA
medical certificate, and get a flight
review.
You
can take the flight
review in
the
sport-pilot eligible air
craft you
want
to
fly,
and this ful
fills
the
requirement for
the
make
and-model endorsement. [Section
15, 91, 193]
If you
want
to fly a light-sport
aircraft category not on your pri
vate pilot certificate, like a powered
parachute, you
must
meet
the
same
training and
testing requirements
for these aircraft as pilots with no
you will receive a sport pUot certifi
cate. [Section 91]
Ultralight Pilots The NPRM
does not change FAR Part 103.
Ultralight
pilots
who
want
a
sport
pilot
certificate must be at least
17 years old, have
either
a valid
driver s license or FAA medical
certificate,
and
pass the required
knowledge and practical tests.
[Section 93]
f you re an ultralight pilot regis
tered
with
an
FAA-recognized ultra
light pilot registration program
(EAA,
USUA, ASC), your logged
l2ri r eX)2erience, and in this c a e _
-
i ,ght time will fulfill or
count
Instructor
Certification
TH
E SUCCESS OF
THE
E
W PILOT ERTIFI-
cate hinges on
the
creation and
activation
of
sport pilot instructors
(SPls)
and
designated sport pilot
examiners
(SPEs).
To teach in pow
ered aircraft, sport pilot instructors
must be at least 18 years old, have
either a valid driver s license
or
cur
rience
requirements
and pass a
practical test in the category in
which
they want
to
teach,
Airplane
and weight shift air
craft require at least 150 hours of
pilot time that includes 100 hours
pilot in command (PIC) in powered
aircraft, 50 hours in
the
desired cate
gory, 25 hours cross-country, 10
hours cross-country in category, and
15
hours
as PIC
in a sport-pilot eligi
toward sport pilot requirements for
the same aircraft category.
For their ultralight experience to
count, registered ultralight pilots
must apply for a sport pilot certifi
cate
within
24
months
from
the
effective date
of the
final rule and
present a notarized copy of their
ultralight pilot records from the
FAA-recognized program.
f you are not a registered ultralight
pilot, and you
do
not register
within
the
24-month grace period, you
receive no
credit for your previous
experience
and
must meet all the
training and x ~ r i e n e requirements.
hours, to include 100 powered PIC,
50 gyroplane, 10 cross-country, 3
gyroplane cross-country,
and
15
PIC
in a sport pilot-eligible gyroplane.
Glider
requires 25 glider PIC,
100 glider flights, and 15 PIC
flights in a sport pilot-eligible glid
er; or 100 powered pilot time, 20
glider flights, and 15
prc
flights in
a sport pilot-eligible glider.
Balloon
requires 35
prc,
to
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
23/44
CFls need
not
show
any
further
proficiency for sport pilot teach ing
privileges in
the
categories and
classes listed on their instructor cer
tificate. They
must
log five
hours
PIC in the make and model light
sport aircraft
they
will teach in and
have a logbook endorsement stat
ing their proficiency in
that
make
and model.
To
teach in a category they're
not rated for, such
as
powered para
chute
or weight-shift, CF Is must
meet the applicable aeronautical
training
and
experience require
ments and logbook endorsements.
[Section 151]
Re gis
te r
ed ultralight instr uctors
have 36 months from
the
date of
the
sport pilot fina l rule's effective
date to apply
th
ei r experience to a
sport pilot
in
structor certificate.
hey
must hold
at least a sport pilot
or rivate ilot certificate be 18
Aircraft
Certification
years old, have either a valid dri
ver's license or current FAA medical
certificate,
and
pass
the
sport pi lot
knowledge and practica l tests.
When
ultralight instructors
apply for an
SP
I certificate they
must
present
a
notarized copy of
their ultralight pilot records from
an
FAA-recognized
ultralight
pro
gram (EAA, USUA,
ASC).
If these
documents are in order,
ultralight
instructors do not
need
to meet
the SPI's
aeronautical knowledge
and flight proficiency require
ments. They must take the FO
test if they have not already
passed the FAA or
an
FAA-recog
nized fundamenta ls of
instruct
i
on
test
Ultralight in structors m u
st
meet m inimum c
at
egory-specific
flight time
requir
em ents,
but
they
do not
ne
ed
to me
et th e PIC,
time-in-aircraft ; : : : : : ; : e l o
craft (special-LSA) and experimen
tal light-sport aircraft (experimen
tal-LSA).
IFAR
21, Section 186, 191]
To earn them, aircraft
must
meet
these requirements:
Maximum gross takeoff
weight: 1,232
pounds or
less
Lighter-than-air
maximum
gross weight: 660 pounds
or
less
Maximum stall speed-land
ing
configuration
(V
so): 39 knots
or less
Maximum
sta ll
speed-with
out
using lift-enhancement devices
(Vs1): 44 knots
or
less
cross-country
flight time require
ments. [Section 153]
Groun d ins tr uctors with basic
or advanced ratings can provide
ground
instruction
to
sport
pilots
without further training. [Section
213,215]
Design ated sp o
rt
p ilot ex am
iners (SPEs) wi
ll
be the individu
als who
endorse
the logbooks of
new sport
pilots
and
SP Is. Initially
the FAA will draw SPEs from the
ranks
of the
current
and
qualified
ultralight flight instructor examin
ers who belong
to
an FAA-recog
nized ultra li
ght
organization (EAA,
ASC,
USUA).
Current
FAA deSignated pilot
exam
iners with experience
in
sport
pilot-eligible aircraft will have an
op
por tu nity to extend their autho
r
ity in acc
ord
ance with
FA
R Part 183
and other FAA guidelines not yet
th iness certificate applies only to
new
factory-built, ready-to-fly air
craft
designed
and
produced to
industry consensus standards,
which have not yet been written.
Sport pilots
can rent
and train in
special-LSA, and owners must fo l
low prescribed maintenance
requirements
(see Maintenance
Certification ).
The
experiment l
light-sport air
craft category encompasses a n um
ber
of
existing aircraft and new
LSA
kits. Sport pilots can fly experimen
tal-LSA for recreation and
non
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
24/44
requirements similar to amateur
built experimental aircraft.
Existing aircraft that qualify for
the experimental-LSA certificate
include ultralight trainers and vehi
cles that do not meet
the
ultralight
weight, fuel,
and
speed require
ments in
FAR
Part 103. Owners
of
these aircraft will have 24
months
Maintenance
Certification
THE NPRM
BRE KS
NEW GROUND Y
outlining light-sport aircraft LSA)
maintenance and inspection
requirements in FAR Part 91
and
in
the individual aircraft's operating
limitations instead of FAR Part 43,
which regulates the maintenance
on
other aircraft.
With the appropriate repairman
certificat
es an
d training, sport
pilots will be able to maintain
and/or inspect experimental and
special light-sport aircraft depend
ing on the cer
ti
ficate type and
the
manufacturer's maintenance
instructions. Accompanying these
from the final rule's effective date
to apply
for and
36 months to
obtain an
experimentaI-LSA air
worthiness certificate.
The NPRM stipulates
that
ultra
light trainers registered with an
FAA-approved program EAA,
USUA,
ASC) may be used for
com
en
sated for hire
fli
ht rainin
for
up
to 36
months
after
the
final
rule takes effect.
New experimental-LSA kits need
not meet th e amateur-built experi
mental
aircraft's
5
I-percent rule,
but kit
LSA
must be designed
and
produced
in
accordance with (yet
to-be-defined) industry consensus
standard.
demonstrate
the
skills necessary to
assess the airworthiness of a light
sport aircraft.
Tasks
they cou ld perform would
be listed in
the
operating limita
tions and manufacturer's mainte
nance instructions. Repairmen
would require additional approved
Maintenance Requirements
Special
and
experimental
LSA
have
their
own
maintenance require
ments. In addition to the appropri
ately certificated repairmen,
FAA
certificated airframe and power
plant mechanics and FAA-approved
repair stations can maintain and
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
25/44
remedy safety issues with safety-of
flight notices. Owners must comply
wi
th
and correct any manufacturer
specified safety-of-flight issue .
In
th
e
pream
ble
th
e
FAA
said
owners could perform preventive
maintenance on their special-LSA,
but EAA cannot find the regulatory
basis for this in
the
NPRM. The FAA
Check Out
the
Sport Pilot
Website
Continuous
updates
regarding
in th e aircraft operating limitations.
EAA will include this point in its
comments on th e NPRM.
Experimental light-sport aircraft
can be maintained by
the
owner
according to the requirements
annual condition inspection. When
owners apply for their experimental
LSA airworthiness certificates, they
must give the inspector a copy of the
manufacturer's maintenance
and
inspection instructions and require
spelled out in
the
aircraft's operating ments. It's likely
that
the aircraft
limitations. Owners will need a operating limitations will require
repairman certificate with an inspec
owners
to
follow these instructions
tion
rating to r o r m
the
reguired
and
reguirements.
First,
th
e defini
tion
of
"cross-country"
will include the sport-pilot distances for
the respective aircraft categories.
Second, like sport pilots, recreational
pi lots will be able to fly in Class B C, and
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
26/44
owto Comment
o
the NPRM
T
he FAA will accept com
ments on the Certification
of Aircraft and Airmen for
the Operation of Light-Sport
Aircraft
NPRM FAA-2001-11133,
until
May
6 2002. Given the com
plexity of
this
NPRM, the FAA
anticipates a
significant number of
comments, and the FAA must read
When you write your com
ments.. .
Be reasonable and rational.
Avoid emotional or unsupported
statements
.
Identify the NPRM section
you are commenting on.
Be factual and
suggest
changes and/ or improvements.
link
to the
online
form and make
your
comments. EAA will
convey
these
comments directly
to
the
Docket Office. You may also submit
comments
through
the
Docket
website
at http
dms dot gov
You can also submit comments
by
mail, but
remember
that postal
service in
Washington,
D.C., has
http:///reader/full/http://dms.dot.govhttp:///reader/full/http://dms.dot.govhttp:///reader/full/http://dms.dot.govhttp:///reader/full/http://dms.dot.govhttp:///reader/full/http://dms.dot.govhttp:///reader/full/http://dms.dot.govhttp:///reader/full/http://dms.dot.gov
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
27/44
taken less than two days.
Two days came
and went. Then
three. Pretty soon, he had been gone a
week,
and
we
hadn
' t heard a
word.
The
Bates family with their Sky Rod Stearman . Dave and Peggy have watched
their three children David John and Anne grow as the Stearman was bui lt
up over a 16-year period.
hopper where the front seat should
hav
e
been. When Stearmans
were
converted into
dusters/sprayers,
owners removed
anything
having to
do
with the
front pas
senger
(stick, seats,
instrument panel, and
more) to make
the
hopper
as large as practical. Tradi
tionally
,
they
removed a
number
of
pieces
of tubing
as
well. This
wouldn't
be a
problem
except that by
the
time most Stear
mans were retired, lots of chemicals
had been spilled
into the
front pit
area
while the hopper
was being
filled . This meant
that
most hard
working Stearmans
had
a fair amount
of
corrosion
in
the front pit
area.
Dave's airplane was
no
exception. The
front pit reqUired a lot of clean up,
and
a
bunch of
tubing had to be re
placed. Then he had to find all of
the
right aeronautical goodies, for exam
the
bearings, re-covering
the
wings,
and making everything right took
over three years. I don't think I knew
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
28/44
The cockpit was crafted
to
maintain
the vintage feel
of
a Stearman with
out
details and doodads
that
would
be distracting.
how big a
project it was
when I
started,
he
grins.
The original engine
had
only 400
hours on it,
but
Dave says, It wasn't
very pretty, so I spent a lot of time de
tailing it. It ran great, however.
time, his future mate.
The scene
at Uncle Miltie's disco
happened the same year Dave bought
the
Stearman,
and the
very fact
that
Peggy showed interest in
the
by-then
disassembled Stearman indicated
what the future held
for
the two
of
them.
She
hung in there with him
during the rebuilding process and was
one of Dave's first passengers after he
checked out in it The lithe co-restorer
installed many fittings and bolts.
In 1981, Dave took
the
airplane to
its
first Oshkosh
still wearing
its
fiberglass fuselage skin. It
made
it
to
the
next
couple
of
Oshkosh
fly-ins,
but
1983
would
be its last
EAA
con
vention for more than 16 years. That
same year Dave was taking Peggy for
a
plane
ride,
and with no warning,
he
asked
her to marry him
over
the
intercom.
She said yes (obviously).
They got married (Dave buzzed
the
church in the you-know-what), set
up house, started a family,
and
began
the
long restoration/modification of
their
Stearman. It would grow along
with the
family, which eventually
numbered three children.
In
addition to the
16
years Dave and
Peggy
Bates spent restoring their Stear
man a number
of
well-known aviation
names also added their expertise to the
effort.
Jim
Younkin did the sheet metal
work
and Tom
Brown served as the AI
on
the
program-he
also covered the
airframe. When the biplane was com
pleted Forrest Lovely rigged it
an
effort
complemented upon by antiquer John
Turgyan who flew the Bates Sky
Rod
for
our air-to-air photographs.
some came from
the
guys we asked
to
help us.
At the
same
time
we had
to keep
the legalities
in
mind
be
cause any modification we did
would
have
to be run through the
FAA and
certified.
For
most of the
changes, we just
looked
around and
tried to get a feel
for
what
it is
that
makes particular
airplanes look
the
way they do,
and
we put
together
a list of
possible
changes.
Along the way,
each of
those who helped us
out
contributed
their own thoughts
on the
subject.
We
went to
Jim Younkin for most
of
the
sheet metal work, and he
thought
it
would be
a
good
idea
to
shrink
the
size of
the
firewall slightly.
Then
we
ran the
top
fuselage line
gradually uphill to the windshield
.
We
changed the
side stringers
to
get
rid of
the
typical
Stearman rounded
look
and flattened the shape out
to
came up
with
an
old-timey
slab
sided fuselage. Younkin carried
the
theme even
further
by making new
dishpan cowlings
that
flowed down
into
the engine
compartment.
Dave sold the original wings
and
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
29/44
and mounted a set of Younkin-made
Mr. Mulligan wheel pants. The
pants
hide a set
of
lO-inch wheels and tires
mounted on Ag-Cat axles.
The
engine
was running good,
but we
decided
it was time
to
do it
right, so we
had
Bob Younkin build
up a new engine
for
us, and I do
mean
new
, Dave says.
Everything
in the engine is new old stock (NOS),
except
for the crankshaft and the
nose case. We
hung
a Hydromatic
prop up front
and
made
a
dual
ex
haust system using
parts from a
French Broussard. The
spinner
blank
was made for us by Spindustries in
Lake
Geneva, Wisconsin.
As a duster, the airplane had been
in
the
restricted category. After
the
first semi-restoration, Dave got it put
into the
air
show/exhibition
cate
gory. What he wanted, however, was
to
get it
into the standard/aero
batic category. This task fell to Tom
Brown as
the
A.I.
to
get the paper
work
ironed out. To change
the
category, the airplane,
among other
things, had to have a Serv Aero mo
tor
mount
installed.
By
the
time
they got the airplane into
the
new
category,
they
had certificated 24 de
viations on
the
Serv Aero STC.
When
it
came time to
paint
the
airplane, Peggy a professional art di
rector,
applied
her graphics skill to
the paint scheme while
John Hatz
suggested
the
color
combination.
Blowing the paint on fell
to
John
Colton of Northfield, Minnesota,
and
Dave is quick to
point
out
that
the
paint
has not been buffed. What
Simple Control Lock
In the front
cockpit of
the Bates
' Stearman a clever control lock is
installed
on
the
cross
tube.
To
store
the
lock
and ensure
it doesn t
accidentally foul the controls, it is swung up under the instrument
panel and
secured in place using a quick-release
fastener.
(In this
case, a Pip pin is used.) A
thumbscrew could also be em-
ployed.
In either case,
the
method
to keep the lock out of the
way
must be positive and secure.
To
lock the controls the
screw
is
loosened, and the lock's cup is
flipped
over
the top
of
the
control
stick, immobilizing the stick. No
padded
blocks
to
scratch
the fin-
ish or clutter up the precious
baggage space, and no bungee
cords to snap
and
rap you on
the
knuckles.
You
may
wish to
paint the
pivot-
ing portion of the lock a bright,
contrasting color to make it
even
more
obvious
when it is in use.
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
30/44
WHAT OUR
MEMBERS
ARE
RESTORING
BY H G FRAUTSCHY
ERONC GRASSHOPPER
Don Gibson, El Paso, Texas, has just
completed the
restoration of this 1942 Aeronca
O-S8B-L3C
Defender. Don
says he started with a pile of scrap found in a barn in Akela
New Mexico, and that
it
flew hands-off in perfect trim on
its first flight. After upgrading the Aeronca with a
C8S
-12F
Continental engine, Don also installed a communications
radio, an encoder and transponder, and an additiona l 12
gallon wing tank. He covered the airplane using th e
Poly-Fiber system, and
is
very pleased with the results.
Don would like to thank retired Aeronca service engi
neer John Houser,
who
supplied
the
drawings for
the
restoration. He says that without John's help, the project
would have stalled out.
STINSON
108-1
t looks a
bit damp near Jasonville, Indiana
, but
Graydon Napier seems quite pleased with
the
two
and
one-half
year
restoration of
his
1946 Stinson.
Powered
by
a
lS0-hp
Franklin,
the total time on the airplane
in
this
photo was a remarkable
554.5
hours,
probably
the lowest-time
Stinson known.
t had been sitting
in
a hangar since 1966,
and
it first flew again
on
March
14, 2001. t even has an ancient Hallicrafters CA 2 ra
dio installed. Graydon wanted us to mention
his
gratitude
to Kelly, Marc, Nick, Nichole
Napier,
Bill
Humphrey, Tom Thomas, Jason
Fiscus,
and Shawn
Vanhorn for their help and support.
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
31/44
THER PY
Ken Harbison,
Las
Cruces, New Mexico, has
dubbed
his 450
hp
Stearman Th
e
rapy no
doubt
expressing the feeling many of us have
for
the time
we
spend with airplanes! Grounded for nearly 20 years,
N450KH
is
a bright red labor of love, according to its happy owner
and pilot.
SEND
Us A
PHOTO OF
YOUR
PROJECT
All
photographs must be sharp, with the main sub
ject in clear focus and properly exposed.
We
can t
fix
photos
that do
not meet those
two basic criteria.
f
your
photograph
has problems like this, we simply
can t
publish it . Here's
our
list of acceptable
photo
graph formats,
in
order of preference:
A 35
mm
slides
on
100
ASA
or lower film
B. 4-by-6-inch or larger prints from
35 mm
or larger
negatives
C
Digital photographs-The digital file directly
2.
Clean
the
airplane. Even a
coating
of
dust can
make it look drab.
3.
Put away any accessories such
as
fueling steps or
ladders. Keep
the background
clean.
When you re
shooting the airplane, avoid including other objects or
people.
Be
mindful
of background landscape items
such
as
airport antennae or control towers-in
a
photo, they can
appear
to
grow from your airplane.
The same holds true for people standing behind the
airplane-your
fuselage may sprout
feet
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2002
32/44
OTES
MAX
ON
VIKINGS:
Dope and fabric covered airplanes
M X
SCHUERMANN
This article first appeared
in Vol. 12, No. 1 of
B-C Contact
A
yone who
has
been
associated
with
an
airplane
that
contains
wood and
fabric
in
its
structure
knows the
importance
of keeping water from
en
tering
and remaining
inside that
structure.
Early
on,
Bellanca Viking owners learn
the importance of
keeping
the fabric/paint cover on
the airframe-and on the
wings
in
particular-in good condition. The fabric/paint cover is
the protective coating of
the
wood wing. Service Letter 87
A,
Wing Inspect ion, tells you to inspect the entire exterior
surface for
any
type of damage
that
would allow water
to
penetrate the fabric/paint barrier. The life of the wing will
be directly affected by the
condition
of its cover.
If
chips are
in the finish, they should be repaired.
If
dings penetrate the
fabric,
the
fabric should be patched. Some
of
these repairs
wil