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VOL 31
, No. 3
2
VAA NEWS /H.G. Frau tsch y
4
JOHN MILLER RECALLS
MY TRA NSPORT
LI
CENSE TEST/Jo
hn
l l
er
5
MYSTERY PLANE
MARCH 2003
5
6
IN SEARCH OF THE NORGE
TELLER, ALASKA'S CLAIM TO FAME
Irven F Palmer
10
TYPE
CLUB
NOTES
THE TECHNICAL
CORNER
Robert G.
Lo
ck
13
THE VINTAGE INSTRUCTOR
ASSUMPTIONS
D ou g Stewart
14
WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING
16 BOB DALZELL'S GERONIMO
Budd
Davisso n
21
PASS IT
TO
BUCK
22
CALENDAR
27
NEW MEMBERS
28 CLASSIFIED ADS
30
VAA MERCHANDISE
6
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STR IGHT
e
EVEL
Each
of
us
in
various parts
of
the
United States has
to
deal with some
form of adverse weather. Here
in the
southeastern United
States, it's ice.
During this year, the power compa-
nies have
gotten
really good at
restoring
the electrical grid in the
southeast, with all
the
practice
Mother Nature has given
them.
Ice storms can be really devastat
ing,
and
we
had
a
whopper
of
an
ice
storm
this
past
week.
t
turned
off
the lights and furnaces of more than
250,000 people for three
to
six days,
and
created
some
very real
hard-
ships for many people. What s
heartening is how
people
jump in
and help
each other out during
times like this. It reminds me a lot of
aviation, where we
often
see groups
of folks pitch in and help
out
with a
common goal in mind.
Even though
the drooping
branches
were glistening with en-
crusted ice just a few days ago, we've
already had a temperature of 60°F,
and
the calendar
tells me we're just
a few weeks
short
of Sun
n
Fun.
I m
ready How about you? Norma and I
are looking forward to standing in
the
Florida sunshine and enjoying
seeing our many friends from down
there and across the United States
Y
SPI BUTCH JOYCE
PRESIDENT
VINTAGE
ASSOCIATION
little
perspective
really know your airplane
or
to find
out about one you
want
to buy.
It's
going to be a spectacular start
to
EAA s
Countdown to
Kitty Hawk,
which
is sponsored by Ford Motor
Company. The beautiful
reproduc-
tion Wright
Flyer
built by Ken Hyde's
Wright
Experience
will be
shown
publicly
for the first
time
, and you
really have
to
see
it to
appreciate
not
only
the
great
craftsmanship
of Ken
and
his crew s
work,
but
also
the
work of
the
Wright brothers.
The cost of fuel has been a subject
for some pilots, and there are those
who are certain
that i t
will impact the
attendance at aviation events across
the nation. In some parts of the coun
try, avgas
is at
or just below $3.00 per
gallon. That can be a pretty bitter pill
to swallow when it comes time to pull
out
the
credit card or checkbook and
pay
the
bill. Still,
perhaps
some per
spective
might
help. While I was
coming of age in
the
late 1950s, I was
pumping a good deal of avgas
at our
airport. I was flying, too, so I was
painfully aware of how
much
it cost.
At that time the 80
octane
in our
tanks was selling for 60 cents a gallon.
At that pOint in time, the average Joe
was taking home a weekly paycheck
of $50 for 40 hours of work, for a base
in 1958. I m sure there are
plenty
of
opinions
about
this particular aspect
of flying. There seem
to
be so many
things that
demand a dollar or more
from
us
now
than
there
was
back
then,
that
for many, it becomes a mat
ter of priorities.
Enjoying local fly-ins is a great way
to enjoy this spring and summer's
ac-
tivities.
One example is
the
VAA
Chapter 3 event that takes place
the
first full weekend in May. Folks will
start flying in
on
Friday, May
2.
We'll
have old movies for everyone to enjoy
that night, and then
the
fly-in will be
in full swing
on
Saturday. We'll park
about 200 airplanes on
the
airport in
Burlington,
North
Carolina. Old
friends will see one another, and new
friendships will
start
as folks give
buddy
rides
and hang out around
their airplanes. There's no air show,
but the fly-by pattern is usually plenty
busy. Judging of aircraft begins after
lunch, and the awards are given out at
the awards banquet Saturday night.
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A N WS
COMPJLED BY
RJC REYNOLDS AND
HG
FRAUTSCHY
Field Approval Process
EAA and VAA continue to ac
tively
work
with the FAA
Small
Aircraft Directorate office to ensure
the
confusion
regarding Form 337
Field Approvals
is
resolved as soon
as possible. We continue to hear
from members who are unable to
get a local FSDO approval on a 337,
regardless
of whether or
not
it is
based on a previously
approved
337. Under the new system the
FSDO is to contact an FAA engineer
who
will then review your package.
A
properly
filled
out
337
with
a
copy of a previously filled out 337
forwarded
to
an FAA
CO
(Aircraft
Certification
Office) is all
that
is
needed.
An
engineer in the CO of
fice will review your paperwork
and
then
return it
to
the
FSDO
with a
sign-off.
The policy
is
being reworked into a
single Revision 16
document,
which should
clarify the issue, but
members are encouraged to
go
to the
manager of their local FSDO
if
they're
told a 337 cannot be approved.
If
the
FSDO manager
is
unable to clarify the
procedure for the inspector, please
contact
EAA
Government programs
at
or 920-426-6522.
Wrigbt lyer
Sim
Makes
First
Fligbt
Before it welcomes thousands
of
would-be
Orvilles
and
Wilburs,
the
Wright Flyer
simulator
made
its
first flights in January in
its
birthplace, the restoration
center
vator. These simulator controls are
an e la b o ra t e joys ti c k, said Mi
croso ft Flight
Simulat
o r' s Bruce
Williams after m aki
ng
several test
flights
an
d a
fe
w last adjustment s .
The Flyer is included
in
th e n ew
Microsoft Flight Simul
ato
r: A Century
of Fligh t whi ch will be in sto res
th
is
July.
Th e Wrig
ht
Fl
ye
r simulator will
on ly be availabl e at EAA s Co unt
down to Kitty Ha wk. (For complete
tour in fo
rm
ation, visit ww
w.
count-
downtokittyhaw
k.
com. What 's
u n iq ue about EAA-a
nd
we h ave
partn
erships
with a
numb
er of or
ganizat
i
ons
in th e wo rld of
avia
t
ion,
William s said, is
that
EAA
is
t
he
only one
with
access to
aircraft,
th
e skill
s,
and th e people to
re-create this sort of experie
nc
e.
Bellanca-Champion
Club
Announces
Its Fly-In Schedule
Sun
'n
Fun 2003 Apr
il
2-8: We'
ll
be
at
the
Vintage
A
ir
craf
t
Type
Club Tent du
ri
n g
th
e
eve
nt ,
manned by Club
represent
ati ves
and
vo
lu nteers welcomin g, assist
ing,
and ch a t t in g with o u r
members,
gu ests,
an
d visi t o rs.
Items of
interes
t and som e of our
publications will be on displ
ay.
Two prese
nt
ations are sche
dul
ed
on Thursd
ay,
April 3:
At
12:00 p.m.
we prese
nt
Aeronca legend and au
thor Cha
rl ie
Las her, who will speak
on
Aero n cas (a lso a
ppli
es t o
Citabr ias) in Fo
rum Ten t 2. At 1:00
EAA s
Timeless Voices at Sun n
Fun
Aviation history is more than arti
facts; it 's about the people who make
the artifacts significant. The EM Air-
Venture Museum is preserving these
stories through Timeless Voices
of
Aviation, and
www timelessvoices org
tells
how to videotape the
story of
anyone involved in
aviation's first
century and share
it
with future gen
erations. Besides all
the
deta
i ls
about how to participate,
it
includes
selected videotaped inte rviews al
ready conducted.
Timeless Voices headquarters will
be
in the Greatest Aviators section
of EAA
' s Countdown
to
Kitty Hawk
pavilion . If
you
have
a story to tell,
you
can
schedule a
Sun
'n Fun interview by
contacting Mary McKeown at 920-426
6880 or
timelessvoices@eaa org
Forum : Learn how
to set
up and
conduct a Timeless
Voices
intervi
ew
at
EAA s
Timeless Voices
of
Aviation-
How To Get Involved,
on
Thursday,
April
3,
at
1
p.m. in
Sun
'n
Fun
Forum
Tent
4. Visitors
can
also meet project
staff
and
pick up project kits.
CURTISS-WRIGHT PROP DECALS
Fe ll ow VAA member Sylv a in
Melancon is looking for a pair of
decals for hi s 104-inch-long Cur
tis
s
-Wright metal prop.
t
was
made in 1937, and he's been told
it wa s used on a C
an
adian Pacific
Airwa ys
airplane
in th e ear ly
1940
s,
but he was unable to sup
ply us with any further details. If
mailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.timelessvoices.orgmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.timelessvoices.orgmailto:[email protected]
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VAA s
Friends of The
Red
Barn
VAA 2003 Co nve nt ion Fund Ra i
sing Program
The Vintage Aircraft Association is a major partici
irplane magazine, and on a special display at the VAA
pant
in
the
World's Largest
Ann
ual
Sport Aviation
Red
Barn.
You will
also be
presented with
a
special
Event - EAA AirVenture Oshkosh! The Vintage Divi
name
badge recognizing your level of
participation.
sion hosts and parks over 2,000 vintage airplanes each
During AirVenture, you'll have access to the Red Bam
year from
the Red
Barn area
of Wittman
Field south to Volunteer Center, a nice place to cool off.
the perimeter of the airport.
Gold Level
contributors
will also receive a pair of
The financial su
pport
for
the
various activities
in
certificates each good
for a flight on
their choice of
connection
with
the weeklong event in the
VAA
Red
EAA's Ford Trimotor or New Standard
Biplane,
re
Barn area has been principally derived from the Vin
deemable
during AirVenture or during the summer
tage Aircraft
Association's genera
l income fu
nd.
flying season
at
Pioneer Airport. Silver Level
contribu
Starting in 2002, the Vintage Board elected to more tors will receive one certificate for a flight on
their
properly underwrite
the annual
Vintage Red Barn area choice
of one of
the
two
planes.
Convention
activities from a year ly special conven-
This is a grand opportunity for all Vintage members
tion support fund. This effort is the VAA s "Friends of to join together as key financial supporters of the Vin
the
Red
Barn" program.
tage Division . I t will be a truly rewarding
experience
This fundraising program is an annual affair, begin for
each of
us as individuals to be part
of
supporting
ning
each
year
on
July
1
and end
i
ng
June
30 of
the
the
finest
gathering
of
Antique, Classic,
and
Contem-
following year. This year's campaign
is
we ll underway,
porary
airplanes in
the
world.
with contributions already arriv ing here at VAA HQ. Won 't you please join those of us who recognize the
Our
thanks to
those
of
you
who have
already
sent in
tremendously valuable key role
the
Vintage Aircraft Asso-
your 2003 contributions.
ciation has played in preserving the great grass roots and
You can join in as well. There will be three levels of general
aviation
airplanes of the last 100 years? Your
gifts and gift recognition:
participation
in
EAA s
Vintage Aircraft
Association
Vintage Gold Level - $600.00
and
above gift
Friends of the
VAA
Red Barn will help insure the very
Vintage Silver Level - $300 .
00
gift
finest in AirVenture Oshkosh Vintage Red Barn programs
Vintage Bronze Level - $100.00 gift
For those of you who
wish
to contribute, we've
Each
contribution
at
one
of these leve ls
en
t itles
included
a copy of the contribution form . Feel free
you to a Certificate
of
Appreciation from the Division.
to copy it and mail i t to VAA headquarters with
Your
name
will be listed as a contributor
in
Vintag
your
donation. Thank
you.
2003
VAA
Friends of
the
Red
Barn
Name______________________________________________ EAA#_______________VAA # ______________
Address,___________________________________________________________________________________
C
ity
/Sta te/ Zip,
__________
__________________________________________________________________
__
Phon
e
________________________ ____________
_ E-Mail
______________________________
___________
Please c hoo se your level of participation:
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pleasant en-
countErsthro.ugh
the
1930s
with
George
Ream, the early
Department of
Commerce in-
spector at
old
Roosevelt Field.
He was quite a character, and I
had many contacts with
him,
especially
when
getting planes
inspeCted,
which in those
days
was
done
by
a
Department of
Commerce inspector. The first
time was in early 1928 when I
flew to Roosevelt to
take
the
test
for my transport license,
equivalent to today's commer-
cial
certificate. This was to be
my first
pilot
license under
the
new
1927 regulations.
I had an early morning ap-
pOintment
for
the test
and
took
off from Poughkeepsie's
old
air
port (long gone now) in my
OX S
powered IN-4 Canuck
in
beauti
ful
calm weather. The direct
course
took me
across Long Is
land
Sound, qUite a
broad
area.
Over the water I encountered
some
rather rough
clear air tur
bulence, and then the
airplane
seemed
to stand almost
still
in
an
extremely
strong
head wind,
descent
and
landing, after
I
had to
hold
the
power
on and
the tail up to prevent having the
plane
rolled
over
by the wind.
Several
men
came out
and
held
the wingtips so that I could turn
the plane to a crosswind position
to
keep
t from being blown
away. A Jenny does not have
brakes,
and the
way to "lock"
the
controls is to put a tightened seat
belt over the stick. The rudder
re-
mains free.
George Ream, whom I had
"\'ou '
mean
to tell
me
that
you
came here
never met up to
that
J l t ;
out of
the
little office and
"You
mean
to tell
me
that
you
came here in this wind expecting
to take a flight test?" When I af
firmed that I did, that I
had an
appointment,
and
that
there was
NO
wind
at Poughkeepsie,
he
said, "Okay, we'll go," and
he
got
aboard. With the help of the men
holding the wings, we turned
into the wind and
lifted
off.
There was no interphone, so no
communication between us,
and
:no
airspeed indicator. I just made
a few 45-degree turns and did the
required spins with
the
wind
drifting us clear across the field
each time.
Then I made
another
vertical descent
and,
knowing
that the
landing
had
to be made
within 200 feet after crossing
the
fence, landed about
one
fuselage
length
windward of it at zero
ground
speed. The
men on the
ground
held
the wings again.
George said,
That's enough.
Come into
the
office."
He
made
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A few of
our
mem bers
were ab
le
to identify
the
pretty cabin biplane
that served as our
December
Mys
tery Plane. Here's one answer:
The December Mystery Plane is
the one and only Mode l E Cabin
Bird that was
bu
il t . It was built in
1931, and had experimental registra
tion number X8SSW.
It
was built by
the
Bird Aircraft Corp.
in
Gl
enda
l
e
Long Island, New York. This
com
pany
was the
successor
to the
Bru
nner- Winkle
Aircraft
Corp.
,
wh ich originally
designed
and
mar
keted
the
Bird line of biplanes.
The Cabin
Bird was
in
t rod u
ced
to the public at
the 1931
National
Aircraft
Show
that
was
held at
De
troit
City Airport in
Detroit
,
Michigan,
on
April 11
to 19,1931. It
was a
hit
at
the
show. The
plane
was
powered with a 12S-hp Kinner BS
engine, was described as a five -place
plane with capability for
big pay
loads, and was advertised at a price
of
4,995.
B Y
H G F R U T S C H Y
DECEMBER S
MYSTERY
PL NE
Our thanks to Dick and Jeannie Hill , who shared this photo from their collec-
tion of Bird Aircraft Co. materials. This version
is
not retouched, unlike the
December issue s photo. You can see they added a square window in the
cabin during the retouching, along with a D window. The actual registration
number
is
also shown
in
this version of the shot. There are a few more de-
tails coming to light concerning the Bird Model E, which will be included in
the forthcoming book,
History
o
the Bird ircraft by
Richard C Hill.
The Cabin
Bird had a
very short
life. It was
an entrant
in
the
1931 Na
tional Air Tour competition for the
Edsel B. Ford Reliability Trophy (com
monly
known as the Ford Air Tour).
On
July 4 1931,
the
Ford Air Tour de
parted
Dearborn, Michigan. The
THIS MONTH S MVSTERV PLANE COMES FROM THE
COLLECTION OF ALFRED FOX
JR.
OF GRAV, LOUISIANA.
Cabin Bird was flown by Leonard Flo
from Dearborn.
The tour
spent
the
first night in Le Roy, New York . On
July
5 the tour
went
to
Binghamton,
New York. On July
6
the Cabin Bird
suffered
an engine
failure near Ceres,
New
York
(on
the
New York/Pennsyl
vania
border
about
20
miles east of
Bradford, Pennsylvania). This resulted
in
the
Cabin Bird being
out
of the
tour for good.
Although
Bird Aircraft Corp . ad
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The semi-rigid dirigible Norge as it
appeared just prior to its arrival at
the Artic Circle.
In Search of the
Norge
Teller, Alaska's Claim
to
Fame
IRVEN F PALM ER
As
a
member of
the
EAA
Vintage
Aircraft Association I tried for yea rs
to keep my airplane in its original
configuration. My reasoning was
simple. Since Cessna s design
team
worked for years developing its four
place
economical-to-operate
all -
metal
, easy-
to-fly
,
low-mainte
nance
good-performance
personal
transportation aircraft, why should I
try to change anything? Living in
Alaska, though ,
did require
a few
modifications, such as steel axles to
safely use skis in th e winter.
I purchased
N342SC
in 1975.
t
had rolled
out
of
the
Wichita factory
in 1954; a beautiful Cessna 170B, Se-
rial
No. 26471
that
had
incorporated all
of
the refinements
to the original 170 design.
The original
Continenta
l 145-hp
engine had
been
replaced back in
1967 with a new Continental 0
300A 145-hp engine. I
had
acquired
the aircraft with about 250 hours on
that
engine, and I
put
another 1,400
hours on it before I decided to have
it
overhauled
or replaced. The time
between
overhau
ls (TBO was listed
as l,SOO hours,
but
I decided to do
something befo re things started to
go bad.
The Norge
as
it deflates after arriv
ing in Teller Alaska at 7:30 a.m. on
May
14
1926
I looked at various options. A few
people I knew owned Cessna 170s.
One had replaced his engine with a
160-hp Lycoming, another with a
lS0-hp Lycoming, and still
another
with a new lS0-hp Continental with
fuel
injection.
All
of
thes
e conver
sions gave
their
owners a little
higher cruise speed
and
better take
off performance , while the gross
weight and useful load remained
nearly
the
same. The downside was
that all of those engines burned a lot
more fuel. So unless an auxiliary fuel
tank
is
installed,
which
usually de
creases the baggage area, the range
goes down as the fuel cost increases
as you arrive at
your
destination a
little sooner.
In
addition the installation
of
these engines requires major
and
costly changes to the airplane. For
instanc
e,
an
auxiliary fuel tank, new
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engine mounts, relocation
of
the
battery,
alteration of the engine
cowling, installation of
propeller
controls, purchase of
a
constant
speed prop, installation of manifold
pressure
gauge, and more. All of
these things cost money,
and
the re
sult
is
only
a marginal
increase
in
performance
at certain weight
and
balance configurations.
So, I
made
the
decision to
keep
my Continental 0-300A
and
have it
overhauled.
After
this work was
done
by Alaskan Aircraft Engines in
Anchorage, Alaska,
and after
the
break-in period, I wanted
to
go
on
a
long trip
to
see
how
the
airplane
performed with its new engine.
During
the 7
years I have owned
N3428C I have flown it to nearly all
parts of
Alaska,
either
on
work
as
signments or
on
fun trips
that
have
included
hunting, fishing, and
prospecting. The one area of the
state that
I
had not ventured into
was
the
extreme northwestern part,
so I began
planning
a trip to tryout
my new engine.
Nearly
all
of
us
have been
on
many of
the
so-called 100
ham
burger outings, where we fly
out
to
some
destination
for
lunch and
re
turn home
the
same day. It's just an
excuse to go fly
on
a pretty day. Up
here in Alaska
many of our destina
tions
are
hundreds of
miles
apart,
and overnight camp-outs
are
com
monly associated with weekend trips.
This is especially true in
the
winter,
where the small number of daylight
hours makes planning critical.
One village in northwest Alaska
on the
Bering Sea gained
national
recognition in aviation circles back
in
1926
as the landing site of the
very first transpolar flight from Eu
rope to Alaska by the dirigible Norge.
The Norwegian
ex
plorer Roald Amundsen
wanted
to
be the first to
fly
to the North Pole and
then
on
to
Alaska. He
and Lincoln Ellsworth, a
wealthy
pilot and ex
plorer, tried in i t 1925
using
a
pair of Dornier
Wal seaplanes, but failed
in
the
attempt
and had
to
return to
their base.
Deciding
that
a dirigible
was
more
likely
to
suc
ceed on such a flight,
Amundsen made
a spe
cial
purchase
deal with
the
Italian government,
which
was
approved
by
Mussolini
on two
conditions:
that
the
Italian Col.
Umberto Nobile,
designer
of
the
air
ship, be appOinted
commander,
with
five
other Italians
forming
a part
of
the
crew, and that
Italy would
repur
chase the ship,
then
called
N-l,
if
it survived the ex
staked their claim to
reaching
the
North
Pole by air on May 9, 1926 .
The first flight
to
the
North
Pol e
would
not
be theirs to grasp,
but
the
crew of the Norge would be
the
first
Ten-year-old Janelle Menadelook
stands by
the
con
crete block that
used
to serve
as
the monument at
the spot where the
Norge
landed. A
bronze plaque
used to be mounted
on
the base, but it has been
missing
for some
time.
pedition in
good
Later, the
bronze
plaque
used
to be
on
display here at
condition.
the Teller Trading Co. store, but it s
no
longer there.
Later, Ellsworth
eventually contributed more than
to attempt a transpolar flight. Like
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The Norge s landing spot
is
now oc-
cupied by fishing bo ts , a snow
machine, nd a
dog
sled.
Are
these
pieces of
the
Norge? I
don t know, but if they are, they are
a sad reminder of a once large air-
ship th t
weighed ton s and made
history when it landed t this small
Eskimo village.
Norwegians,
one American, one
Swede,
and
six
Italians,
the
Norge
lifted off
of
Spitsbergen, Norway,
at
Kings Bay on May
II,
1926,
and
headed for
the North
Pole, with a
planned destination of Nome, Alaska.
Navigation
was difficult in those
days before
LORAN
and
GPS, as a
magnetic compass is
not reliable
at
high latitudes. Perhaps celestial navi
gation
was the key
to their
success.
After
an exhausting
three-day flight,
disagreement
between
Amundsen
and Nobile became
known,
particu
larly after President Coolidge and
Italian
dictator Benito Mussolini
feted Nobile
as
a great hero. Amund
sen had felt
that
credit for the
planning and
execution of
the
flight
belonged to
him,
Ellsworth, and his
crew, and that Nob il e
had
been no
more
than
a
hired
pilot
and engi
neer. No sign
of this
rift
appears in
the
book
First Crossing of the Polar
Sea by Amundsen a n d Ellsworth,
published
by
Doubleday, Doran
&
Co. in 1928. Yet
in
his other
book,
My Life as
an
Explorer,
he spent
nearly 100 pages discrediting Nobile.
Still,
inJune
1928,
Amundsen
chose
honor
above his
hard fee lings
and
joined a rescue
operation to
retrieve
Nobile
and the crew of the airship
Italia.
After
departing Tromso in
a
search plane, Amundsen
was
never
heard from again.
He and
his plane's
crew disappeared without
a
trace.
Nobile, after
a
tumultuous
career
punctuated
by
persecution by
the
Italian Fascists,
immigrated
to the
United States, where he died in 1978.
After landing in Telier, the crew de
cided
not
to proceed any farther even
though a big
celebration
awaited in
Nome . The unceleb rated crew
set
about dismantling the airship. Nobile
wanted
the engines returned to Italy,
so
they
were crated
and
shipped out.
The rest
of
th e airship was also taken
apart,
but
here the differing accounts
become confusing.
Some old-timers had stories about
vi ll
agers carting
off pieces of
th
e
Norge. Was
the
Norge fabric used for
remembered or been told
about
the
Norge. I
wan
ted to get my hands on
a piece
of
the airs
hip or at
least stand
where th e hist
or ic
flight
had land
ed.
On September
20, 2002
, I
got
a
good
weather
report
on local
news
,
and Duat.com confirmed
a
nice,
sunny
high-pressure
weather win
dow
of
about five days. I sorted all
my
camping
and surviva
l
gear and
loaded
N3428C,
Char lie , and took
off at 10:47 a .m. From my home
base
at
Sold
ot
na , Alaska, I
climbed
steadily westward, crossing Cook In
let and the Al
aska Range
throu
gh
Rainy Pass
at
6,500 feet
with
a
good
tail
wind and
a groundspeed
of
125
mph . Mount McKinley
and
the
other
peaks,
partially covered with
new snow,
provided spectacu lar
scenery. I landed at McGrath
and
again
at Unalakleet
t o gas up
and
found
fuel cost 3.45 per gallon, so I
had
an
instant
clue that this trip was
going
to cost me. I continued flying
to the north
and
northeast around
Norton
Sound.
My
groundspeed
dropped to abo ut
60
mph
as I
bucked about
a
30-knot easterly
flow. Once
aro und the Sound, I
could then run
west again,
and the
groundspeed
picked
up to
115
mph.
I flew on
into
Nome, arriving
at
6:25
p.m. I gassed
up
at
th
e Bering Air
terminal
and pitched
my tent
beside
the airplane for the night.
The
next morning
I awoke to a
24°F temperature
and
lots
of
frost
on
the
tent and
the airplane. I turned
Charlie around so its tail pOinted east
and exposed
the top
surface
of
the
wing and
tail surfaces to
the rising
http:///reader/full/Duat.comhttp:///reader/full/Duat.com
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The author inside of
n
Eskimo
sod
house
in
Point
Hope Alaska. This may very well
be
one
of the last
surviving
sod
houses
in
all of Alaska. The interior
framework is made with bowhead whalebones.
t
is
amazing
what
we
pilots
can see
on
our journeys
I wa lk
ed
around
th e village, knocked
on
a few doors, and
t a lk ed to a lot of
peop le. Most of
th
e
yo un g
people
I met
had
never h
eard
of
the Norge, and those
that had
only knew
about the
concrete
block over
by
the
beach
that
used
to
be th e monum ent.
One
middl e-aged
man
sa id he remem
bered people talking
round
this amazing state.
to a stop. I told the driver
that
I'd like
a
rid
e
to
the vi ll
age, and he said,
Hop in. On the drive
in t
o town I
told him my mission.
He
told
me
th
at there aren't any really old peo
ple in the village that
wou ld
have
seen th e Norge, that th e on ly person
who did see it that
he knew
abo
ut
was living in Seattle, and her name
was Ethyl Vogen. It is rumored the
Mrs.
Vogen
made
a
bl
o use
from
a
piece of the Norge's rubberized silk
gasbag.
She
wou ld be in
her
90s if
she was still alive.
My new friend drove me to town,
and
we stopped near
th
e beach. He
pOinted to a large block
of concre
te.
That
is all that's left
of th
e monu
m e
nt
to
commemorate th
e
Norge
landing, he sa id . He
told me
it used
to occupy a prominent place on the
beach,
but was pushed out
of the
way
to
make a better tie-up spot for
villagers'
fishing
boats. He pOinted
about the Norge,
and
that ther
e used
to be pieces in the local landfil l. Since
there has been 76 years
of junk
piled
on top of an ything put there in 1926,
it seemed
ho p
eless to
me that th
ere
would be
anythin
g vis ible. Another
man sa id his uncl e had some odd
pieces of aluminum in his shop tha t
might have come from
the
Norge. We
went to a small shed used as a work
shop, and he rummaged around and
fo und a
co
upl e o f pi eces, and
said
there a re more but he didn ' t know
where. I looked at
th
e pieces and took
a photo . I h eld th em in my hand . I
could not tell
what
they were. Since I
had never seen any part of a dirigible,
I couldn 't kno w
if the
y were a part of
the puzzle. My search for
th
e No rge
e
nd
ed right
th
ere with a couple piec
es
of scrap aluminum .
Since I had come so far, it seemed
like a go ld
en
opportuni ty to see th e
most remote part of northwest Alaska.
So
I flew across th e Seward Peninsula
blown across th e fores t ed
terrain
.
From
Ga lena it
was
on
to Nenana,
th en so uth through
the Alaska
Range , o nc e again v ia th e aptly
nam ed
Windy
Pas
s, and on south
through Anchorage to my hom e
base at Soldotna.
My G
PS
and LO
RAN proved extremely valuabl e
during those long flights over forest
a
nd
hills, where
th
e sameness made
picking
out
promin
e
nt landmark
checkpoints extremely difficult. The
entire trip was flown VFR so I
could
en joy th e scenery.
Av ia
tion
in Alaska is
the
lif
eb
lood
of the sta te.
With
so few
roads to
supply towns and villages with es
sential
it
e ms needed
to condu
ct
daily liv in g, airplanes are essential.
Most sit
es
I landed
at on
this trip are
way too small for co
mm
ercial airlin
ers.
Small private plan
es
and lo
ca l
fixed-based operators keep th ese vil
lages supplied, and
th
eir citizens in
contact
with th
e outside world.
I flew
on
thi s trip al
one
in my small
airplane and saw things that the earth
bound
or commercial airline traveler
will never see. My new engine ran per
fectly. Charlie and I flew over some of
Alaska's, ma ybe the world's, m os t
beautiful vistas. My trip cost me nine
tim es a 1
00
a
hamburg
e r, but
the
memories of my search for the Norge,
the surpr ise of the ancient sod hous
es,
and the wa
rmth
of the Nor
th
ern hos
pitality were well worth
the
expense.
For your interested readers I offer th e
followin g numbers:
Food and supplies : . . 65
Film
and processing: . 54
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The Technical orner
The
Travel
Air
Log
the newsletter of
the
Travel Air Restorers Association.
Repairs AHerations
Maintenance Preventive
Maintenance
We begin
this
column with
a dis
cussion
about
maintenance,
repairs,
and
alterations
for the antique air
plane. Let's proceed from
the
owner's
standpoint and talk briefly about pre
ventive maintenance. Federal Aviation
Regulation
(FAR) 43
Appendix
A(c)
describes
preventive maintenance
as
that maintenance that can be accom
plished by the owner, provided it does
not
involve
complex
assembly opera
tions. We will cover
just
a few; i f
you're interested consult
the FAR.
First,
the
owner can make
minor
fabric repairs consisting of bonding a
patch to
small
holes. The FAR does
not
allow patching large holes
or
do
ing any kind of rib
lacing.
Also
included
is
making sheet metal repairs
to
secondary structures, such as
the
cowling, fairings, and the like. t does
not authorize repairs to primary struc
tures. The
owner
can
repaint
the
ROBERT G. LOCK
gap spark plugs; and replace hoses in
fuel
and
oil
systems (excluding hy
draulic system). Please
note that this
is only a partial listing.
f
the airplane is operated for hire,
then the work needs to be supervised
by an A P (airframe and powerplant)
mechanic who needs to make an ap
propriate
entry
in the logbook.
I'd like to briefly discuss
the
certifi
cation of A&P mechanics and why
there is a shortage
of
qualified people.
When I began
instructing
in
the
A P
program at Reedley College in 1967,
the local
FAA mandated that
we teach
students how to make a five-tuck wo
ven cable splice, splice a wood wing
spar,
and weld
a
cluster
out of
steel
tubing.
The
FAA's reasoning
was
that
many modified Stearman agricultural
aircraft were located in
the
valley
and
therefore all
mechanics should
have
these skills. Eventually these skills be
came even more outdated and were
dropped in the level
of
importance.
Skill levels are dete rmined by the
FAA
and
appear
in FAR
Part 147. There
are
now
44 subject areas that all
stu
dents for the A P certi ficate
must
be
exposed to, and
there are three levels
of
exposure.
Levell
means to
be
lec
ES
chanic/inspector supervise their work
and sign off such work in logbooks,
or
they must have an
experienced
per
son do the work. These
experienced
wood, fabric, steel tube welders, and
radia
l
engine
fo lks
are
becoming
harder and harder
to
locate . The
Travel Air Restorers Association has
several experienced mechanics and
inspectors
within its ranks. But there
never seems enough to go around.
To
compound the problem
of
me
chanic shortage, general aviation A P
mechanics must
endure very low
wages
to stay in
the business. And
fixed-base operators
don't
like to hire
newly certificated mechanics because
they don't
have experience
and must
be trained. It's a vicious cycle; it was
when I started teaching
in
1967, and
it still
is
now. Where are we
going to
find experienced young mechanics to
maintain the fleet
of
aging airplanes?
I'm still looking for that answer!
Before I get too far off
the
subject of
repairs,
alterations, and preventive
maintenance,
we
shou
ld
look at the
above issues now. Let me state
that
an
A P mechanic can perform and return
to
service
minor
repairs,
minor
alter
ations, and maintenance,
including
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2003
13/36
pair
is a repair to the
aircraft struc
ture
that
returns
the airplane
to
conform with its
approved
type cer
tificate (ATC), or
in rare
cases
its
Group 2 approval.
A simple definition of a major al
teration
is something done to
the
structure that moves
the
airplane out
side of its ATC or Group 2 approval.
Let
me list just a few major repairs,
as
specified by
FAR
43 Appendix A(a).
Splicing of structural members-such
as spar splices and steel tube splices
large repairs
to
stressed sheet metal
components,
and
the repl
acement
of
fabric (original type only). And
there
are many more.
Now, here
is
a very brief list of ma
jor alterations,
as
specified by FAR 43
Appendix
(b).
Electrical system ins tal
lations in non-electrical airplanes,
radio installations,
battery insta
lla
tions, and replacing of synthetic fabric
on surfaces originally
approved
for
Grade A cotton fabric. Again, there are
many more
to list. But, some
major
alterations
can
be
approved
by an
A P who also
ho
lds an IA.
Other
major
alterations cannot be
approved by
the
A&PIIA. A few
of
these
alterations are
engine
and/or
prop changes, changes in wheels and
brakes, changes in tail wheel insta
ll
a
tions, changes in fuel system (addition
or subtraction of fuel tanks), install
a-
tion
of an
entire
electrical system
including battery
and
charging
sys
tem, and alteration of wing
and/or
control surface shape.
So what happens
(with the
FAA)
when a person buys an airplane that
had
been converted to
a
crop
restricted
category and is no longer
valid.
The
point here is that
the
me
chanic
is
modifying existing structure
back to
standard,
not the opposite.
Thus
far, in my
career
as an
aircraft
mechanic, I've been through six dif
ferent
FAA conformity
inspections,
the
most difficult being on
the
1929
Command-Aire because there were
no
drawings
. Fortunately for the Travel
Air
folks, Phil Wyles has a large collec
tion of drawings for the purpose of
keeping
t h ese airp lanes
airworthy.
And
that
is an
important
factor for fu-
ture dealings with the
FAA.
More on
that
later.
THERE ARE
NOW
SUBJECT AREAS
THAT
ALL
STUDENTS
FOR THE A&P
CERTIFICATE
MUST
BE
EXPOSED TO ,
AND THERE ARE
THREE
LEVELS
OF EXPOSURE
.
Factory draWings
continue
to be
an
important
item
for aging aircraft.
Drawings are needed
when the
owner
finds it necessary to replace a primary
structural
component,
such as wings,
control surfaces, fuselage, and landing
gear, among others.
How were drawings originally sub
mitted to the aeronautics
branch
of
the U.S.
Department of Commerce, or
ment
's
files."
t is
the location of and
access to the
second
set
of
drawings
that
is controversia
l. Some drawings
have been released,
either
hard copy
or microfiche, while some are still in
storage. And many drawings were de
stroyed. Such was
the
case
for the
Command-Aire.
Where
were (are)
the drawings
stored?
Originally they
were
stored
in
Washington, D.C., in the
depart
ment's files. As the drawing files grew
and more aircraft received the coveted
ATC, the drawing files were relocated
to
the old
torpedo
factory building at
Suitland, Maryland. As the files con
tinued
to
grow, the FAA
re located
drawings to the District Office (D.O.)
nearest to where the
airp l
ane was
manufactured. Some drawings were
lost
during
transfer,
and
some
were
destroyed at the D.
O.
But,
many
draw
ings are still being stored at the
Federal
Records
Center
in Maryland. I
have
perused
boxes
and
boxes
of
original
blueprint drawings stored
there
for
years! /t's absolutely amazing what is
there. But
no
one knows exactly
what
is in
each
of the boxes. I have a brief
transcript of what I saw in 1982, but
it's a drop in the bucket of
what
is ac
tually
there. Perhaps this could be
another future col
umn
for liThe Tech
nical Corner."
So draWings are an important item
when
it
comes
to
repairing
a
struc
ture or fabricating new. What if you
want to
make
a new wing structure
and no
drawings
are available. Aha!
The
wall has been
set,
and it is a l-
most
impossible
to obtain draWings
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2003
14/36
steel
tube
structure. Was it originally
SAE
1020, SAE 1025,
or SAE
4130?
What
type of filler rod was originally
used, was
the structure heat treated,
and if
it was heat treat,
what
specifica
tions were followed
and
what
was the
final tensile strength of
the
material?
My
point
here again is that drawings
are most valuable
when reproducing
parts.
Without
them it can
be
very
difficult. And these
needed
drawings
are sometimes impossible to obtain or
have been destroyed .
If
the
drawings
are
not
available
and the
owner needs
to fabricate a primary structural part
for
his/her own
airplane, then my
question is-where is the middle
ground?
And how can we keep
this
airplane airworthy?
Alterations are necessary
to mak
e
an aircraft safe; one
doesn't
want
to
build problems that
came
with
the
airplane
in 1929 back
into
a restora
tion
completed in 2001. What
are
some
common alterations that one
finds
when
dealing
with
older
air
craft?
The
first that
jumps
out at me
is an
engine change. Say from
an
OX
5 or Wright J 5
to
a Continental
W-670 or Lycoming R-680,
as
is com
monly found
in
many Travel Air
airplanes.
Originally, these conver
sions
were
done with
field
approval
from
the
CAA Try doing a complete
engine change
without
any type of
approved data
in
today 's
world.
It
's
near impossible. To remove a Wright
R-600
Challenger engine of 185 hp
and
install a Wright R-760 engine of
240 hp, I had to do a one-time STC
It
involved 1-1 /2 years,
much
paper
work,
and
rapidly increased
the
gray
hair
on
my
head.
But 1
finally pr
e
vailed and have a
one-time
STC
approval for NC997E only. I cannot
do another installation , but I can use
my original Form 337 as substantiat
ing evidence that th
e
installation
might be
field approved again. The
use of previously approved Form 337s
can be another topiC for "The Techni
cal Co rner" at a future date. Perhaps
ALTERATIONS ARE
NECESSARY
TO
MAKE
AN AIRCRAFT
SAFE;
ONE
DOESN
'T
WANT
TO
BUILD
PROBLEMS
THAT CAME WITH THE
AIRPLANE
IN
1929
BACK INTO A
RESTORATION
COMPLETED IN 2001.
when the
waters
are a little less
muddy.
There are
many changes
occurring within
the
FAA at this time,
and the field
approval process hap
pens
to
be one .
So
we'll just have
to
wait and see what happens.
Supplemental type certificates
(STC) are just
what the
term indicates.
A major alteration of the original type
certificate (TC). Obtaining an STC
takes
time, money,
and the " know
how
to get
it
through the
system.
When I was working on my one-time
STC
for
the Command-Aire, there
were
FAA
folks
who didn
' t
know
ex
actly what a
Command-Aire
was
They
knew what
a MOD DC-lO was,
or a Boeing 727. In other words, these
engineers primarily were assigned ma
jor
modifications to very large
transport category aircraft. That's part
of
the
problem I finally
had to
hire a
designated airworthiness
representa
tive (DAR) to help
get the
STC
application
off dead center.
All
I
can
say that it was a nightmare But I, with
the help of my DAR, finally prevailed.
And the Command-Aire was licensed
standard
(NC) in 1989 and has been
flying ever since.
Lastl
y, I'd
like
to
say a few
words
about
maint enance. I know I am
preaching to the choir, but continu
ous maintenance
will keep
the older
airplane in airworthy condition.
Many owners are not certificated me
chanics,
but
it
is
extremely
important
to
be able
to
diagnose a
problem
, or
be able to thoroughly describe what
the problem
is
to
get it repaired.
As
I
stated earlier, many new
mechanics
don't have a clue about
the
older air
planes. I have instructed
my son, Rob,
who
operates a 1929 New Standard -
25
biplane,
how
to
time a magneto
and how
to check
and
reset idle mix
ture or speed-things
that can
or will
go wrong with a radial engine. Now,
Rob
cannot
do any of these mainte
nance
items because he
operates the
airplane commerCially. But, he can de
scribe a problem, diagnose how to fix
it,
and if
it's a magneto, describe
how
to
time it
to
the
engine.
It's
kind
of
like when I ferried his Fairchild PT-26
from Kentucky to California,
and the
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15/36
o¥JJ ASSOcI
T
- Qq,.
•
Assutnptions
t
was one of those fall days that
we all
dream about.
The
azure
sky
yielded unlimited visibility. The air
was as smooth as glass. Not a ripple.
The cool temperatures and high
pressure had every airplane perform
ing as i f
the
engine had just
had
a
major overhaul. This was
the
quin
tessential
CAVU
(ceiling and
visibility unlimited) day. What a day
for our local Chapter's fall fly-in
breakfast. This would be the day
that
we obliterated all previous
records for attendance.
The light breezes favored landing
to
the south, meaning that
all ai
r-
craft would
have an
unobstructed
approach. They wouldn't have to do
that gnarly
approach to
the
north,
slipping
down
over
the tall trees at
the south end of the
runway
that
prevented a low approach. Nor would
they
have to float
and
float . . .
and
float, as the runway,
sloping down
hill,
dropped out beneath
them,
while correcting for a choppy cross
wind and wind shear that the
trees
on
the west
side
of the
runway al
ways
crea ted
when the wind
was
from the northwest. Landings
today
should be a piece of cake.
Although we
had
experienced a
DO
UG STEWART
NAFI MASTER
IN
STRUCTOR
to coordinate
the
parking
and man
the multicom
frequency
that
we
would smash all previous records for
our breakfast fly-ins. In prior fly -ins,
the
typical aircraft
attendance
rarely
exceeded 40 planes, and
the
job I vol
unteered for was easily handled by
one person, with some occasional as-
sistance. This time we ended up with
more
than
80 airplanes flying in. Not
on ly would we be running out of eggs
and
bacon and pancake mix, but we
would also be running out of parking
spaces for all the aircraft.
Landings
today
should be a
piece
of
cake .
• •
Little
did
I
know . . .
The
tone
for
the
excitement
of
the
day was set ea rly on, as a flight
of
four
biplanes arrived. The two
Tiger Moths,
a
Fleet, and
a Waco
UPF -7 set up
to
land on Runway
Ol.
the Cherokee. By the time the Cessna
was
back
on
fi nal
for 19 all
the
re
maining biplanes
were
on the
ground, off the runway, and with en
gines
shut
down. Maple syrup would
soon be dripping off their chins.
This turned out
to
be the
only
ar
rival incident of the day. The only
problem
now
was
getting
airplanes
clear of the runway before the
fol
lowing aircraft touched
down.
(Boy,
did
I
gain an
inordinate
amount of
respect for all those
wonderful
vol
unteers
at
Oshkosh who
do
this type
of
thing
routinely.) Luckily for me ,
the airport's resident mechanic,
and
his teenage sidekick, seeing my work
overload, quickly moved to the fore
to
help
me
get aircraft moved to safe
parking spots.
As
the morning wore
on, things
settled into a routine. t was harried,
but
it was a
routine
.
Although not
every pilot followed instructions, we
were able to get
them
clear of
the
runway and parked
without
inci
dent. The
first
to have syrup
dripping
off his
chin
would
soon
be
the first to depart. Who would want
to spend
such
a glorious day ground
bound?
So now, added
to the
mix of
the arrivals, would be departures.
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WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING
BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY
M I L L E R S
T R A V E L A I R
Jim Miller,
of
Spokane, Washington , believes he has
berton
all lent
their
expertise. The cockpit has a
set of
the oldest flying Travel Air in existence. Originally built as
original 4-inch instruments, and under the cowling is
an
an OX-5
powered Travel Air
2000, Jim
has converted it to original-looking custom exhaust system welded up by Ra
a 220-hp Continental-powered Model
4000.
The project
dial Exhaust Systems
of
Jumping Branch, West Virginia.
was not much more than a fuselage frame and a set of (See their ad on page
28
.)
new wings built by Brodhead, Wisconsin s Kent McMakin
Jim named the airplane after his wife , Bernadine (he
when Jim purchased it from Kent
in
1997.
says she
must
like him, because
they re
just
past
the
Jim says
that
restoring the airplane had a huge learn
hand-holding stage ). Jim was thrilled when the Travel Air
ing curve, and
that
a few key people helped along the
won the Jesse Woods (Best Biplane) trophy at the
2002
way.
Jack Lanning, Harmon Dickerson, and Addison
Pem-
Evergreen fly-in.
MONOSKI 'S
L I N D Y- WI N N I N G
STINSON
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O R I G IN A L W R I G H T
E N G I N E
R W
Scotty
Markland,
the
Technical
Counselor
for
EAA
Chapter
961,
dropped us a note
to
tell us about
this
remark
able project:
"
In
May
2002
the Aeroplane Works,
who
are mostly EAA
mem
bers ,
ran up
the Franklin Institute 's original Wright engine , Serial
Number 57. This engine is from the original Wright B aircraft, SI N
13. The Wright Co . built it in 1911. The engine had been installed in
the aircraft that was flown
by
Grover Bergdoll ,
who
was trained
by
the Wright Co . Pilot/ owner Bergdoll was reported to have flown the
airplane
on
748 flights,
over 312
hours during a period of two
years
"The Aeroplane Works
of
New Carlisle , Ohio, is meticulously
restoring the
Wr
i
ght
B
airplane
for
the
Franklin Institute of
Philadelphia. Interestingly, visitors who examine the details
of
the structure and working
parts
of
the engine all seem
to
have
the same comment: '
So
that's how they did that '
"Subsequently,
EAA
Chapter
610
members and others are
constructing
an
exact replica side-
by
-side with the original Wright
Model B It will
be
powered
by
a modified
Ford
Model A engine and will have the control system revised to enable it to
be
more flyable to modern standards. After limited flying,
it
will
be
donated to the Greene County Ohio Historical
Mu
seum for display. "
S E L I G S B I G T A I L S T I N S O N
From
Nick and Suzette Selig, Naperville,
Illinois,
we
have this note:
"Here is our
1948
'big tail Stinson Flying
Station
Wagon
after
a 3-1 / 2-
year-long
restoration.
We
used
the
more
distinctive
1946
paint scheme
and
restored the instru
ment panel
and
interior to original , including
a faceplate from a
1948
Hallicrafter low-fre
quency radio
to cover
the
modern
electronics while on the ground.
We
have
owned ive
ike
since
1969.
Our
oldest
daughter soloed it
on
her
16th
birthday,
and
Sue and I have put over
2,500
of its
4,800
total
hours
on in
the
Chicago
area, with
some long cross-countries thrown in, such
as our trip
to
Stinson Field
in
San Antonio,
Texas.
We
are also
the Midwest
regional
representatives for the International Stinson Club.
We
joined
EAA in
1964
at the Rockford fly-in . I am the Technical
Counselor
and
Flight Advisor for
EAA
Chapter 15.
We
volunteer at the Stinson table
in
the
VAA
Type Club tent each year
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2003
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8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2003
19/36
more
angular
lines of
the
WOIl1Imlo tell you this Is not
your
grandfather s Piper
Apache
a doctor. No, that's
not
. He's
actually
an air
just
happens
to be a
his tastes run to
the
the bright
and
shin
y.
in
college, in
what
was
fortuitous events of
doctor who
owned
a
took a liking to him.
in
exchange he'd let
had a Champ, which I
.a Jungmeister, a Great
an
RNF Waco, and a
friend's
to
fly,
but,
still,
he wanted one
he
could call his own, and he didn 't think small.
My first airplane was a Staggerwing Beech,
but
it was far from being a pristine airplane.
It
had gone through a bunch of hands after sit
ting in a hangar for
17
years. In fact, a pilot in
Kodiak,
Alaska
bought it, stuck the wings back
on
it, and took it to Alaska without rebuilding
.When I bought it, most of the fabric
still the original, and it was really getting
),at .
So,
once we got it home, we started to re-
build it.
It goes without saying that rebuilding a
Stag
gerwing, especially one that
went
for long
periods of time with no TLC, isn't for the faint
of heart, and it isn't something
that
happens
quickly.
It was obvious the Staggerwing was going
to be down for a long time,
and
I still needed
something to fly, so on a whim, I bought a 195
Cessna with a 300-hp Jake as a fill-in until the
Staggerwing was finished.
I
flew the Staggerwing for a couple of yea rs,
and then I had a heart attack. I'm not certain
which scared me more, the danger to my health
or the
thought that
I might never fly again.
Fortunately, it was a mild one, and after jump
ing
through
all of the FAA's regulatory hoops I
got my medical back.
By this time I had kids, and I thought I
needed to
be more
practical. As part
of
my
practical mode, I also thought I needed two en
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2003
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The Geronimo
is
so heavily modified that i t carries a new
dataplate for
the
complete conversion. Originally developed by Seguin Aviation ,
the
27 STCs
needed for the conversion are now held and marketed by Diamond Aire Avia Bob Dalzell pulls a fuel sample from
tion, Kalispell, Montana. the left engine nacelle.
the
C-310
(If
you ignore surplus Bam
boo Bombers),
the two usually
eronimo
weren't
mentioned in
the same sen
tence because the only similarity was
the
number of engines. Where
the
Cessna was
svelte
and capa
ble of quickly
disappearing over
far horizons, the
Apache was none
of
those.
How
ever, the Apache
had traits the 310
couldn't
touch. It
was the soul of
docility, a big, fat
pache
Facts
Piper's f irst foray Into the l ight
twin
field,
via
an
acquisition
from
Stinson,
the
Apache was a stubby
lit
tle
contradiction:
on
the
one
hand
i t
was
the
butt of
endless jokes
("at
least the second engine carries you
to
the
scene of
the accident,"
yuk,
yuk),
while
on the other, i t undoubt
edly generated
more
multi-engine
puppy of an air
plane
that
always
treated
i ts pilots
right regardless of how numb- or ham
handed they might be.
At the
same
time
i t
offered
a cabin
that
had
to
be
flown to be believed. It
was,
and is,
huge
It's a
true mini-airliner.
A very
slow mini-airliner.
The Apache s
big,
comfortable
cabin was one reason
i t
was so slow
atlves Included engines that were
too small, a nose that
beat the
air
Into
submission
rather than cleav·
ing through i t
and an
air f rame
that
brought new meaning to
the
word
"dowdy"
with drag protuber·
ances
and funky
corners. I t didn't
take
a genius to know
that
those
were
all
fixable
problems.
I f
Piper
wasn't going to do
It,
then Seguin
Aviation In Seguin, Texas,
would.
The power problem could
be
solved
several ways, by far
the
simplest be
ing
to
bolt a couple of 0-360s
in
place
of
the 0·320s. That however
raised
the
single
engine speed
to
unaccept·
able levels, so a big dorsal was added.
Drag, however, has a funny habit
of
going
up
much
faster than
the speed
when power alone
is
added to an ai
frame. So, the watermelon
nose
had
to
be
streamlined,
which meant ex·
tending i t several feet and carefully
fair ing i t into
the
exist ing
sheet
metal. Then the tail was reshaped to
give more rudder authority and help
the VMC
(minimum
control
speed).
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The front office of Bob mini-airliner, neatly laid out with the latest in IFR in-
strumentation, including a set of flight instruments for the co-pilot.
Today
the
STCs
for the
Geron
imo mods,
27 in all, rest with
Diamond Aire Aviation
la93
Air
port
Road,
Kalispell,
MT
59901,406/752·5092, e·mail:
[email protected], web
site: www.diamondaire.com).
Diamond Aire is run by CEO John
Talmage,
who
says, We purchased
the tooling and
STCs at
auction
in
1997.
Prior to that, everything had
been in
storage,
and
the
conver·
sions were unavailable
for
nearly
nine years.
Talmage estimates
300
to
400
conversions were done by Seguin
prior to it selling the material.
One
of
the things
John points
out is that the secret is as
much in
the aerodynamics as the power.
People think they are going to
hang
180 hp
engines
on
it and im·
mediately see the
25 mph
increase
quoted
in
original Geronimo mate·
rial, and that just isn t so. The
climb goes up, and the single
I get asked about the airplane a lot.
Bob's airplane
is
a
full
Geron
imo,
which means
all
of
the
modifications (mods)
that
can
be
done
,
with the exc
e
ption
of
the
cowlings
,
have been
done. The
Geronimo mods can
be
done in
stages (see sidebar), but whoever
had
Bob's done went all the way, right
from
the
long
nose to
the
squared
off wings
and tail to new
cowlings
with
gear doors
plus
the 180
Ly
comings
in
place of
the original
150/160 hp versions.
I was
looking
for solid
perform
ance
and
single engine costs with two
engines, and that's what I
got.
For
one
thing, at a
normal
cruise setting
I'm burning 19-20
gallons
per hour
total,
and
I can get it
down
from
that
at altitude. It's not incredibly fast,
but
its usually truing 178-180 miles per
hour, which isn't bad. I always flight
off the ground easily.
liThe
airplane
is a real
gentleman
on
one engine. Because of the big dor
sal
fin, the
Single-engine speed is
nearly down at stall, but it's really easy
to control at all times. Also,
if
you do
lose
one,
everything
happens
so
slowly
that
you have all day to figure
it out. Now
that
t has enough power
to
fly well on
one
engine, I
think
it's
one of the safest light twins ever built.
In fact, its single engine ceiling
is
up
around
12,000 feet,
which
is impres
sive, considering
that
with the smaller
engines and
none
of the drag mods, t
had trouble just staying in the air with
one shut down.
I flew
one
of
the
original airplanes
and
then set
mine
up with a full copi
lot panel and arranged the engine
instruments
across
the top, which
makes it easy to fly from either seat.
When
it
comes
to
smaller
twin
engine airplanes, it's pretty hard
to
find
anything
that has some 'charac
ter,' but the
Geronimo
has
that.
The
fact that the
airp
lane was the third
one built in 1957 and is
45
years old
mailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.diamondaire.commailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.diamondaire.com
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2003
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: i;
t
SU
FUN
This is the
year
to warm-up your passion for aviation in Lakeland, Florida at
the
2003 SUN'nFUN Fly-ln.
Debuting at this year's
Fly-In
will
be
EMs
Co
untdown
to
Kitty
Hawk
Pavilion featuring an accurate reproduction
of the 1903 Wright
Flyer-
built
to flyabove
the
sands of
Kitty
Hawk , North Carolina
this
December
in
commemoration
of
the
100th anniversary of
the
Wright Brothers' historic flight.
Be part of this week-long
AeroExpo starting
Wednesday, April 2.
Share
experiences
with thousands of aviation
enthusiasts
from around
the world.
Thrill to the precision and
skill
of
the world's best
aerobatic
pilots
performing
daily.
Gain insight on the latest aviation products
from
500
exhibitors.
Review
mile after mile
of
restored and
revered
aircraft.
Participate in
one or more of 450
educational
forums
and
hands-on workshops. Visit our
permanent
display
in the Florida
Air Museum featuring
the
recent addition of
the Howard
Hughes Aviation
Collection.
Visit
th
e
SUN n FUN web site W\\l\vsun
-n-
ful1
.org
for complete information
-review
progran1 schedule,
exhibitor
listing and
lodging
information-o r
call 1-863-644-2431.
I
/ .........
. , . ........
Fly-In D
ate
s:Wednesday, Apri l 2-
Tuesday,
April 8, 2003
http:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.orghttp:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.orghttp:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.orghttp:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.orghttp:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.orghttp:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.orghttp:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.orghttp:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.orghttp:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.orghttp:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.orghttp:///reader/full/W//l/vsun-n-ful1.org
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2003
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P SS T CK
Y
E.E.
BUCK HILBERT, EAA 21 VAA 5
P O Box
424,
UNION,
IL
60180
hink
about it
As
an old-time CFlI (certificated
flight
instructor-instrument),
with a lot of the old basics in
grained in
me,
and with several
forced
landings
to think
about,
landing an
airplane when you ab
solutely
have
no
choice has
become foremost in
my mind
over
the past several months.
I read the ads in publications,
and I read ads in
our own
publica
tions, for the latest technological
advancements-how
this
radio,
and this wing leveler,
and
this safe
flight indicator, and this oil filter,
and these anti-collision lights,
and
this
GPS,
and
all those
other
gadg
ets
that take
your
mind and
eyes
deeper into the cockpit supposedly
guarantee
to make life easier and
safer for
the
average
pilot.
I read
how
this
power
flow
system
will
increase the
horsepower
output,
how
this
add-on will bring you
safely to earth if your airplane falls
apart, and on and on.
I attend sessions, and they are
all very
much the same-FAR
re
views, safety lessons, how to use
the equipment
in
the
panel and
on
board. Total time
on the
air
frame, engine, and propeller
seem
insignificant to the
radios,
electronics, gadgets, and
doo
dads advertised.
All this is
building
up to
one
thing. How
much good
is
this
stuff going to do you when
that
engine quits?
When
you're in the pattern, you
hear all this radio chatter: turning
downwind,
turning
base,
turning
final, and
on
and
on.
En
route
it's
the same thing; people at local air
ports
up
and down
the
state are
chattering
away.
What's your
po
sition,
Booger
One,
this
is
Cloud
Runner." Oh, it's you Cloud Run
ner I'm 11 and 1/3 miles on the
332
nd
radial of
whatchamacallit
VOR, where are you? Right
off
your right wing, Booger. Try look
ing out the window "
What I'm getting at
is
all
these
devices
that
supposedly make fly
ing easier and safer seem to ignore
some of
the
basic facts of flight.
I 'm talking abo ut emergency
FARs.
No
one
is
going to reach out,
take you by the hand,
and
tell you
what
to do. It's all up to you and
y u alone
Do you prepare yourse lf before
every
takeoff
by rehearsing in
your mind what action you'll
take
if that engine
shells
out on
takeoff?
When
is
the
last time
you practiced S-turns
across
a
road, or
rectangle
patterns, or
precision spot
landings, or
any
other b sic head-out-of-the-cock
pit maneuvers?
Frankly,
those
maneuvers
should be
an
every day, every flight
exercise. The traffic pattern itself
is
nothing
but
a rectangle pattern . S-
turns flying
a ground
pattern
included. The four basics of flight
take place in the pat tern the
climb, the turn, straight and level,
and
the glide. Ground reference all
the while to place yourself where
you
want
to
be. This
practice
should be ongoing
and
in prepara
tion for what cou ld
happen.
Learn your airplane.
f
it's only a
partial power failure, can you fly
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2003
24/36
FLY-IN CALENDAR
The fo llowing
li
st ofcoming
events is
furnished to
our
readers
as
a matter
of
in fo
rmation on ly and
does
not constitute
app
r
ova
l,
sponso
rs
hip
, invol
vement,
con
trol
or
direction
of
any event (fly- in,
seminars, fly market, etc.)
li
sted. To
submi t an even t , please log on
to
www.eaa.or
g/events/eve
nts.asp. Only if In
ternet access
is
unavai lable should you
send
the
information via mail to:,
Att:
Vintage
Ahp
lane
P.O.
Box
3086,
Oshkosh,
WI 54903-3086. Information should be
re
ceived four months prior to
the
event dat
e.
MARCH
7-9-Casa Grande, AZ-45th annual
Cactus Fly- In at Casa Grande Airport. Info:
www
cactlls{lyil1.org/or
call
john
Engle, 480
987-55 16 or Dave Sirota, 520-60 3-5440.
MARCH 12-13
-Romeovill
e,
IL -
29
th
Annual
Ge nera l Aviation
Maintenance
Seminar. At
Lewis Un iversity. Co-sponsored by
the
[lli
nois DOl: the
FAA
and the Professional
Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA).
MARCH
22
-Fort
Pierce, FL-EAA
Ch. 908 Fly
[n Pancake Breakfast,
Ft.
Pierce
[nt
'[ Airport.
Info: Pau , 772-464-0538
or 772-461-7175.
MARCH
20-23
-Cil1cimwti,
OH-14th
Annual
[ntl Women in Aviation Conference. Info:
386-226· 7996.
APRIL 2-8-Lakelal1d, FL-Sun
'n Fun
EAA FJy
[no Inf
o:
863·644-2431,
www.s lI1-I1-fun.org.
APRIL 19
-Fort
Pierce, FL-EAA Ch. 908 F[y-[n
Pancake Breakfast, Ft. Pierce [nt '[ Airport.
Info: Paul, 772-464-0538 or 772-461·7175.
APRIL 19
-20
V
isalia,
CA-Ch. 262 Fourth
Annual Spring Wing Thing
and
Visalia
Vintage Airshow. Info: 559-625-9889, e-mal
APRIL 27-H a
lfM
oon
Bay,
CA-13th Annual Pa·
cific Coast Dream Machines Show, Half Moon
Bay Airport. 10am-4pm. Admission $15 adults,
$5
(age
5-
14 65+), free for kids age 4 and un
der.
Parking included in price of admission.
Info: 650·726-2328, www.miramarevents.colII .
APRIL 2 8 -Half
Moon
Bay, CA-Pacific Coast
Dream Machines Fly-[n
and
Show. Half
Moon
Bay Airport. 20 miles so
uth
of
San
Francisco. I
Oam-4pm. Displays and
rides. Info:
650-726-2328,
web:
MAY
16-18-Collllllbia, CA-Ga
thering of
Luscombes 2003. Aircraft
judging
, spot
landi ngs more. Info:
559·888·2745.
Web
www.
/ll
scol1lbe-c1a.org.
MAY 18-R
omeoville,
IL
-EAA
Ch. 15 32nd
Ann ual Fly-In Breakfast,
L.ewi
s University
Airport (LOT), 7am-Noon. Info: George
630-243-8213 .
MAY
1 8 -
Troy,
OH - VAA
Ch.
Olel Fash
ioned Barbeque Fly·ln, WACO Field (I WF),
I lam-4pm,Young Eagle Flights. (Rain date
for Young Eagle tlights, june 22, Ipm·4pm)
Info: 937·335·
1444
, e-mail:
dickandpatti0.aol .com.
or 937 ·294·1107, e-mai l
navion
@ge
lllair.colll.
MAY 16
-
26--
Fayetleville, NC-
Fe
stival
of
Flight
2003. Info
www.(eslivaloft
li
giIt.or
g.
MAY 24-F
ort
Pierce
,
FL-EAA Ch. 908 Fly-