MARCH / APRIL 2020
FABULOUS FLEET TRANS-ATLANTIC TWIN BEECH A WACO NAMED BETSY
Treasured
TRI-MOTOR
A L L- E L E C T R I C . A L L- A D R E N A L I N E .
T H E
F O R D
M U S TA N G
R E S E R V E N O W AT F O R D . C O M Reservation terms and conditions apply. Pre-production vehicle images simulated. Production models may differ. Mustang Mach-E GT edition model shown coming early 2021.
M AC H - E
Message From the President
March/April 2020
SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT
STAFF Publisher: Jack J. Pelton, EAA CEO and Chairman of the Board Editor: Jim Busha / jbusha@eaa.org
On the horizon
Senior Copy Editor: Colleen Walsh Copy Editor: Tom Breuer Proofreader: Meghan Plummer
AS YOU READ THIS, plans are well
underway for AirVenture 2020 in the Vintage Village. As part of our program this year, Vintage will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Stinson Aircraft Co. Several of our committee chairs, as well as executive assistant Amy Lemke, are working tirelessly to create a meaningful and fun event. Our VAA forums chairman, Charlie Waterhouse, is working with Stinson Type Club President Jody Jones and Regional VP Bret Chilcott to schedule both technical and human-interest forums. Amy is bringing together a small exhibition on the history of the Stinson Aircraft Co. to be displayed in the hospitality side of the VAA Red Barn while Vintage in Review Chairman Ray Johnson is developing his program. This is just a sampling of our plans. Stay tuned! We will publish updates in Vintage Airplane and on social media. If you have questions about this event, contact Amy at alemke@ eaa.org or 920-426-6110. On another front, longtime VAA Director Bob Lumley has decided to retire from the VAA board of directors after 23 years of service. Bob’s contributions to our organization are certainly noteworthy. Years ago (actually, decades ago!) Bob took over the management of the Red Barn Store at a time when only caps and T-shirts were sold. Bob greatly expanded the Red Barn Store’s inventory as well as the square footage of the building and made the store an actual destination with his choice of much-sought-after aviation-related merchandise. The Red Barn Store became and continues to be one of VAA’s success stories, thanks in large part to Bob’s direction.
Graphic Designer: Cordell Walker
ADVERTISING Advertising Manager: Sue Anderson / sanderson@eaa.org Mailing Address: VAA, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903 Website: www.VintageAircraft.org Email: vintageaircraft@eaa.org
Visit www.VintageAircraft.org for the latest in information and news and for the electronic newsletter, Vintage AirMail.
Bob was a major contributor to what I think of as VAA’s greatest asset — our corporate culture. Bob’s winsome personality, dedication, and charm played a huge role in developing the current
Current EAA members may join the Vintage Aircraft Association and receive Vintage Airplane magazine for an additional $45/year. EAA membership, Vintage Airplane magazine, and one-year membership in the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association are available for $55 per year (Sport Aviation magazine not included). (Add $7 for International Postage.) Foreign Memberships Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars. Add required foreign postage amount for each membership. Membership Service P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 Monday–Friday, 8 AM—6 PM CST Join/Renew 800-564-6322 membership@eaa.org
VAA culture. EAA AirVenture Oshkosh www.EAA.org/AirVenture CONTINUED ON PAGE 64
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES
888-322-4636
www.vintageaircraft.org
1
Contents FE AT UR E S
10
One Heck of a Fleet In memory of Allan Harter By Christina Basken
20
Ocean-Hopping Twin Bonanza Bill Schutzler’s epic recovery/restoration By Budd Davisson
30
The Low-Wing Stinson Tri-Motor A singular legendary saga of human resolve By Sparky Barnes
44
The Montambo Family’s Four-Generation J-3 Keeping up a family tradition By Budd Davisson
52
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
The travels of a Waco QCF-2
For missing or replacement magazines, or any other membership-related questions, please call EAA Member Services at 800-JOIN-EAA (564-6322).
Betsy By Moose Peterson
2
March/April 2020
Send your thoughts to the Vintage editor at jbusha@eaa.org.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MOOSE PETERSON
March/April 2020 / Vol. 48, No. 2
COV ER S Front Scott Slocum captures Scott Glover’s low-wing Stinson Tri-Motor over his home state of Texas.
COLUM NS 01
Message From the President
By Susan Dusenbury
04
Friends of the Red Barn
06
How To? Install Aircraft Bolts By Robert G. Lock
Back A summer day in an open-cockpit biplane — life does not get much better than this! Connor Madison zeros in on the immaculate Fleet.
08
Good Old Days
60
The Vintage Mechanic Adhesives and Bondings Part 2 By Robert G. Lock
64
Flymart
www.vintageaircraft.org 3
Friends of the
RED BARN DEAR FRIENDS,
For one week every year a temporary city of about 50,000 people is created in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on the grounds of Wittman Regional Airport. We call the temporary city EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. During this one week, EAA and our communities, including the Vintage Aircraft Association, host more than 500,000 pilots and aviation enthusiasts along with their families and friends. With the support of the very capable VAA officers, directors, and more than 600 volunteers, the Vintage Aircraft Association annually welcomes more than 1,100 vintage showplanes throughout the week of AirVenture on our nearly 1.3-mile flightline. We continue to work to bring an array of valuable services and interesting programs to the VAA membership and to all of our Vintage Village visitors during this magical week. Across Wittman Road and in front of our flagship building, the VAA Red Barn, we will feature some really interesting airplanes, including the beautiful past Vintage Grand Champions, an array of fun and affordable aircraft, and some exciting rare and seldom-seen aircraft. In Vintage Village proper we have a hospitality service, a bookstore, a general store (the Red Barn Store), youth programs, educational forums, and much more. As you can imagine, creating the infrastructure to support these displays, as well as the programs offered during the week, is both time consuming and costly, but they are made possible thanks to donations from our wonderful members.
4 March/April 2020
As your president, I am inviting you on behalf of the Vintage Aircraft Association to join our association’s once-a-year fundraising campaign — Friends of the Red Barn (FORB). The services and programs that we provide for our members and guests during AirVenture are made possible through our FORB fundraising efforts. A donation from you — no matter how large or small — supports the dream of aviation for aviators and aviation enthusiasts of all ages and levels of involvement. We invite you to join us in supporting this dream through the Friends of the Red Barn. I thank you in advance for your continued support of the Vintage Aircraft Association as we move this premier organization forward on behalf of our membership and the vintage aircraft movement. If you have already made a 2020 FORB contribution, thank you for your dedication and support of the vintage aircraft movement. I look forward to seeing you all in July !
SUSAN DUSENBURY, PRESIDENT VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD, CONNOR MADISON
How To? ROBERT G. LOCK
Figure 1
Plywood has a big advantage over solid wood in that it has strength in both directions along the length and width of the panel; solid wood has its strength only in the longitudinal direction. Plywood has a big advantage over solid wood in that it has strength in both directions along the length and width of the panel; solid wood has its strength only in the longitudinal direction. Plywood also has negligible change in width and length with changes in moisture content. American mahogany or birch plywood comes in thicknesses of 1/16 inch, 3/32 inch, and 1/8 inch and will have three plies. Plywood of thicknesses of 1/4 inch, 5/16 inch, and 3/8 inch will have five plies. And thicknesses of 7/16 inch and 1/2 inch will have seven plies. When the veneers are glued and placed in a hot press to cure, one face will be very smooth and the opposite face will have some grain lines showing. The
Identify plywood ‘A’ and ‘B’ BY ROBERT G. LOCK
PLYWOOD IS A VENEER FORMED with an odd number
of plies — three, five, seven, etc. — and with the grain direction of each layer at an angle of 90 degrees with the preceding layer, or ply. Aircraft-grade plywood is manufactured to Military Specification MIL-P-6070. Common types are mahogany and birch, although basswood can be found. Aircraft plywood veneers are spread with waterproof adhesive and placed in a hot press to cure. Typical wood used in the cores are basswood and poplar. The outside plies are termed the “faces” or “face and back,” and the inner ply is termed the core. When there are five or seven plies, the center veneer is called the core, and the adjacent plies are called cross bands.
6 March/April 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES
Univair Carries Thousands of Parts for Classic Piper Aircraft smooth side is called the “A” face, and the slightly rough side is called the “B” face. During fabrication and repairs it is always better to bond the B face when possible because the adhesive will penetrate better on that side. This is particularly true when using birch plywood. Standard size for aircraft plywood is a 4-by-8-foot sheet. When the face grain runs parallel to the length, the plywood is called 90-degree grain. When the face grain runs at 45 degrees to the edges, the plywood is called 45-degree grain. When forming of plywood is required, steaming is the best method; however, a steamer is not always handy. Soaking the plywood in hot water will aid in bending and forming the material. Figure 1 shows steaming 45-degree, 3/32-inch plywood around my Fairchild PT-19 center section leading edge back in 1958 when I was 19 years old. That is my late father, Leonard, to the left. He rented a wallpaper steamer, and it did a good job but was slow. Figure 2 shows the center section with the new plywood glued in place. Nailing strips apply pressure until the synthetic resin adhesive cures, then the strips and nails were removed. In this early stage of my career I hope I knew about the A and B side rule. It was more than 55 years ago so I really don’t recall.
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Figure 2
www.vintageaircraft.org
7
Good Old Days
8 March/April 2020
From the pages of what was ... Take a quick look through history by enjoying images pulled from publications past.
www.vintageaircraft.org 9
CHECK OUT THE DIGITAL EDITION of Vintage for a photo gallery on the 1941 Fleet 16B Finch II.
10 March/April 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON
IN MEMORY OF ALLAN HARTER BY CHRISTINA BASKEN
www.vintageaircraft.org 11
yan Harter, EAA 280461, hit the jackpot growing up with a father like Allan Harter, EAA 181892. Ryan spent hours at the local airport in Greenfield, Indiana, watching his dad work on project after project. When Allan died, Ryan knew he had to take care of one of Allan’s most prized possessions: a 1941 Fleet 16B Finch II.
BORN INTO AVIATION
“I grew up out at the airport … my whole life I was out there,” Ryan said. “He had several airplanes, Cubs, Tri-Pacers, a Bellanca, a Bamboo Bomber … all kinds of stuff. The airport was my playground.” Growing up, Allan had always been into hot rods — well, pretty much all cars. That changed when Allan and his father, Jester Harter, came across a Cessna 120 that was for sale. The Cessna became a father-son project, and eventually, Allan and his father decided to take on the challenge of obtaining their pilot certificates together.
12 March/April 2020
Allan started flying in the late ’70s, attended his first EAA fly-in convention with his dad in ’78, and went on to win a Lindy Award at Oshkosh with every airplane he had judged. Allan continued the AirVenture family outing tradition when Ryan was born. Ryan has only missed AirVenture two or three times since he turned 4 years old, and now he is bringing his own son. “My son has only missed it once because he was born June 2, and we didn’t feel like taking him up there when he was a month old,” Ryan said. “But, it’s our summer getaway. We look forward to it every year.” In 1986, shortly after Ryan turned 7, Allan bought the Fleet from Delos “Del” Hickox, whom he met through his good friend Bob Frost. “He had always wanted one, but he was never able to acquire one,” Ryan said. “He was close a couple of times, but they always seemed to slip through his fingers. He wanted something that was classy and antique, and where one person could push it around. It’s not a huge biplane like a Waco or Staggerwing, something like that. It’s pretty manageable for one person to handle it. And it’s somewhat sporty with the Kinner engine on it. It’s just one of those airplanes he had always wanted.” When Allan bought the Fleet from Del, it had been sitting in a barn for quite some time. The wings had been dismantled, and the fabric was falling off.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON
CLICK HERE
TO SEE A FLICKR GALLERY ON THE 1941 FLEET 16B FINCH II
A MAN OF DETAIL
Allan did a full ground-up restoration, although Ryan said that his dad’s true work of art was in the covering. “He really took a lot of time to ensure that tapes were straight, and he instilled that on me,” Ryan said. “It’s just the little details in the fabric process that really stand out in the end and just the quality of workmanship he put into it. It’s the whole airplane, from getting the right color of paint for the wings, the ribs, and the fuselage so it would be right. You know, it’s not a 100-point Warbirds restoration, but it’s a really nice individual restoration done by somebody that really took the time to make it look good.” Allan did some of the sheet metal work himself, but he also bought several panels and a fuel tank from the late owner of Fleet Aircraft Co., Hugo Bartel. “A lot of those Fleets were … when they were redone they were customized and painted to make them look like classy airplanes, more appealing to the eye,” Ryan said. “But he went back with the original markings and numbers, and we even had stencils made for all the tail surfaces and wings from there. They’re exact replicas of the stencils that the factory put on, kind of like a part number, how they would stamp all the pieces when they came from the factory. “We got a lot of help from the Tiger Boys in Canada. That really helped us get some of the original parts and pieces, some of the stencils we put on, all the part numbers, and all the authentic stuff from when it was in the military the first time,” Ryan said. “Tom Dietrich helped us get all of the service information. He helped us get the navigation lights and some other things that are really hard to find items for that airplane.” Allan did everything he could to keep the Fleet looking as authentic as possible, with one exception: the canopy. “It wouldn’t have been a convenience for flying it around; it would have really taken away from the open-cockpit biplane field down here,” Ryan said. “I mean it was a tool for when it was used as a trainer in Canada, when it’s winter time and cold, but that’s not what we were looking for here. So, the canopy didn’t go back on it. Plus, the canopy would have been next to impossible to restore because of the way the glass is on the front and the back. It would have cost a fortune to have that redone.”
Ryan was pretty young when his father completed most of the restoration. Once he was older and started getting into aviation more himself, he was able to help his father finish up the restoration. “Dad did everything himself,” Ryan said. “I mean, up to the fuselage was pretty much all him because I was just a kid. But once I was old enough to be able to help and learn how to do things, I got my kids involved and we covered the wings. My son, Michael, he was fairly young at the time, but he was always out here messing around and helping.” Allan and Ryan finished the restoration in 2008. In 2014 Allan passed away, and Ryan spent a few years unsure of the next steps to take in aviation. “Dad was my absolute best friend. He was my best man in my wedding … and I was close with all his friends,” Ryan said. “He instilled in me a lot about antique airplanes or antique aviation and working on these and restoring them.” Better late than never as the old saying goes; Ryan went on to get his sport pilot certificate in his early 30s. “I spent a couple of years not knowing what to do because I just had my light sport license and I had flown the Fleet probably three times with him and never really trusted myself with it,” he said. “And then during that time, that year or two, I got brave enough. I had a buddy help me, and I got to fly it a little bit and knew that it was something that I wasn’t ready for because I didn’t trust myself with it yet. “So, an opportunity came along, and I traded it off to this good friend of ours, Steve Givens, and his son, Keith,” Ryan said. “It was pretty much a new airplane, but it still needed some fine-tuning and some other things, because it had been sitting for several years.” www.vintageaircraft.org 13
14 March/April 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON
SPECS Airplane Type and Model: Fleet Finch 16B N-NUMBER:
39622
TOP SPEED:
120 mph
CRUISE SPEED:
90 mph
LANDING SPEED:
40 mph
RATE OF CLIMB AT GROSS:
500 feet
EMPTY WEIGHT:
1,340 pounds
GROSS WEIGHT:
2,000 pounds
USEFUL LOAD:
660 pounds
FUEL CAPACITY:
32 gallons
WINGSPAN:
28 feet
WING AREA:
194.4 square feet
LENGTH:
21 feet, 8 inches
ENGINE:
Kinner
HORSEPOWER:
160
PROP:
Sensenich
www.vintageaircraft.org 15
A NEW CHAPTER
In 2016 Steve became the proud new owner of the Harters’ Fleet. Steve’s story starts out similar to Allan and Ryan’s. Steve and his father both took up flying as a hobby in 1981, and from there, much like their skills, their enthusiasm grew as the years went on. Steve said he has always been interested in vintage aircraft. He previously owned a Cessna 170, Culver Cadet, Waco, clipped wing Taylorcraft, and Super Decathlon. When he sold his Waco RNF, he still had plane fever. As fate would have it, Ryan just so happened to be interested in Steve’s Decathlon, and Steve had his eye on Ryan’s Fleet … so they decided to make a deal. “[Ryan] had a strip that was just about 5 miles from me, so every once in a while, I’d just go down to visit and see how he was doing with this
restoration,” Steve said. “The work progressed slow, but it was done beautifully, Allan would say [referring to himself ] ‘I’m kind of a perfectionist.’ So, I pretty much knew the airplane before I had gotten in a position to buy it. But before I bought my Waco, I was kind of looking for a Fleet when I found a Waco, and then I bought the Waco and flew it for about seven or eight years and then sold it and discovered that I really missed the open-cockpit flying. So, this became available, and I went ahead and purchased it then.” Since owning the Fleet, Steve has installed a new radio, seat belts, and tires. This past year at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, he made the Harters proud by taking home the Vintage Bronze Age 2019 Bronze Lindy. “I was pretty shocked, to have every airplane that we’ve restored and taken up there get a Lindy is pretty amazing,” Ryan said. “My dad always had this little smirk on his face, and I’m sure he has that little smirk on his face now. He would have been so proud.”
Steve Givens and his significant other.
16 March/April 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON
FLEET UNIQUE FEATURES AND HISTORY
Fleet Aircraft developed the Fleet 16B Finch II from the Fleet Model 1 in Canada in 1930. Originally designed as tandem open cockpits, like so many other Royal Canadian Air Force trainers they were later made with sliding canopies to withstand harsh Canadian winters. The Fleet 16B Finch played a vital role in training Allied pilots in Canada during World War II as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The Fleet was later replaced with the Fairchild PT-26 Cornell. The military service history of the Givens’ Fleet shows their aircraft was put in commission on January 17, 1941, and taken out of commission on January 12, 1943. Fleet 16B N39622 was based at No. 17 Elementary Flying Training School in Stanley, Nova Scotia. “This airplane is actually pretty special because it’s a certified airplane,” Ryan said. “Most of the Fleet Finches that came across the border are flying as experimentals because they weren’t, for one reason or another, they didn’t come as certified aircraft. And this airplane actually is a certified nonexperimental airplane.” Ryan said Steve’s Fleet is quite the conversation topic for people in Canada because it is certified as a rear seat solo only. “According to everyone in Canada, that’s not the way that airplane was designed; it was designed to fly from the front seat,” Ryan said. “Which would help it tremendously because it’s got horrible visibility from the back seat. And it is a handful. Not so much from the front, but with the bigger engine, that one has the R56, which the later model, 16R, they came with an R56 but that one was a 16B so it originally would have the 125horse Kinner B5-R on it. When I put the R56 on it, with the battery and the starter to get the weight and balance right, the pilot had to be in the back seat for solo purposes. So that’s a big discussion point, and people are passionate about that. But that’s just the way that airplane is. Most of the Fleets flying in the United States that have the battery and the starter and the R56s are rear seat solo airplanes. So, it makes it an interesting airplane to fly.” For the most part, the controls in the Fleet are traditional, with one noticeable exception. “The mixture is rigged backwards,” Steve said. “The mixture lever’s right next to the throttle, and it won’t go past the throttle. So basically, what happens is, is when you pull the throttle back, you actually pull the mixture back to full rich. That was the way they did their mixtures in Canada. It’s not too strange because normally the altitudes we fly it at, you just leave it at full rich anyway.” Steve said that the ground handling is a bit weird because it has a direct link tail wheel.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON
“It’s not false level, and it’s very, very, very positive underground,” Steve said. “There’s no dampening there. And when you want to move it around as far as ground handling, you just … the way it’s set up the cables are quick-disconnect to the tail wheel, so you just quick-disconnect them, and then you can spin a tail wheel 360 degrees and move it wherever you want to.” Another unique feature the Fleet has is a red indicator, or flag, on the side of the airplane connected to the ignition switch that was installed to avoid potential injuries and fatalities. “One of the air force officers had a son who was working on a line on one of the airplanes. The mags had been left on hot, and he didn’t know it. He pulled the prop through, and he was fatally injured,” Steve said. “So, he had all of them set up with a … on the right side there’s an external marker or an external indicator, and it’s just a red indicator on the side of the fuselage between the front rear cockpit on the right side. When the mags are hot, it says ‘on,’ when the mags are cold it says ‘off,’ and that way when the ground crew was around it, they could just walk up to the airplane and see whether the mags were hot or not.” A red indicator installed on the side of the plane to let the pilot and others know if the mags were hot. This was installed to avoid potential injuries and fatalities.
www.vintageaircraft.org 17
Kinner R56 engine.
“Everybody compares everything to Cubs, and that was my impression — that it’s like a biplane Cub, just about the same speeds, and it’s very well balanced on the controls,” Steve said. “I wouldn’t say there’s anything too unusual about it. It’s pretty tall on the landing gear, so crosswind landings on pavement are a bit challenging, but nothing outside of the ordinary. It’s pretty much straightforward.” Steve said it is an honor to own and fly this Fleet. “The time and effort my close friends put into restoring this particular Fleet makes it very enjoyable to share with anyone who asks,” Steve said. “I am very humbled that they entrusted me to own something they put so much of their heart and soul into. The open-cockpit configuration is a blast to fly. It’s not every day you can feel that type of wind in your hair! The fact that I can take this airplane anywhere and show it to aviation enthusiasts as well as regular people is so much fun. Those that know about general aviation admire the hard work and intricate details that were put into this restoration; admirers who don’t have an aviation understanding comment on how such an ‘old’ airplane still looks brand new. It entrances enthusiasts young and old everywhere it goes.” INTERESTED IN FLEETS? Contact the International Fleet Club for more information.
It’s the little details that make this Fleet so special. FLYING CHARACTERISTICS
On December 7, 2019, Ryan had finally fulfilled all the requirements and received his private pilot certificate. “To be able to fly it from my home airstrip, it was really a boost of confidence and it was kind of the final piece of the puzzle, I guess, getting to fly it,” Ryan said. “So, it was great. It’s a fun airplane. Flying it from the front, you’ve got good visibility. It has plenty of power. It’s fairly light on the controls. Really agile, pretty responsive. It’s a good airplane.” Ryan said he made the right call having Steve take over ownership of the Fleet, but now that he has his certificate, he is excited to fly his father’s airplane with Steve. “Steve has let me fly it with him, and I love the airplane. It’s been a great airplane, and it’s been a big part of my life, but it never, as far as an airplane, I really haven’t, I didn’t enjoy it like I should have, I guess,” Ryan said. “I didn’t have the opportunity to, but I’m sure it’ll go full circle one of these days.” Steve describes the Fleet as being docile when it comes to in-flight characteristics.
18 March/April 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON
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20 March/April 2020
BILL SCHUTZLER OF APPLEGATE, Michigan, EAA 327457, VAA
726267, described what has to be the most difficult way imaginable to acquire a Twin Bonanza. “After my third trip to Germany, when I discovered it needed even more parts and lots more work, I thought about cutting my losses and just walking away from the project,” he said. “However, back in the U.S. I gave it some more thought and decided it was just too good of an airplane to let die so far from home. I knew it made absolutely zero financial sense, but I vowed to make it work and started gathering parts.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD
It’s one thing to find a semi-derelict airplane and rebuild it, or to find a vintage airplane overseas and go through the effort of bringing it home. It’s an entirely different thing to do both, basically rebuilding an airplane that’s as big as a Twin Bo mostly outdoors, with snow falling, then to annual it and, years after its last flight, point the nose west and drone across the North Atlantic while winter has yet to fade. That takes perseverance and an unreal amount of confidence in your own mechanical aptitude.
www.vintageaircraft.org 21
The D50E Twin Bonanza has one of the most identifiable visual profiles and exhaust sounds in aviation.
ENTER: VINTAGE AIRPLANES
s with so many others in the sport aviation community, Bill can’t remember a time when he wasn’t attracted to airplanes. “As a kid growing up on a farm some 60 miles north of Selfridge Air Force Base and a quarter mile from Lake Huron, where they did a lot of training, I saw a lot of planes almost daily,” Bill said. “As soon as I heard one, I would drop whatever I was doing and run outside to see it. So my love for airplanes and wanting to be a pilot started early.”
22 March/April 2020
Almost from the beginning of his flight training he had a fondness for vintage aircraft. “I think my first old-airplane influence was my friend Tom Bryce’s dad, who had a Cessna 170, and the local car dealer, Stu Lindke, who owned several different aircraft, including a Staggerwing Beech,” Bill said. “My own first foray into vintage aircraft was a 1947 108-2 Stinson, followed by a Cessna 195, and then just airline flying until 1990. At that point, bitter merger and management pressures were getting to me, so I decided to get back into general aviation flying. After considering several aircraft — Travel Air, Twin Bonanza, Baron, Cessna 421, 310, 320, Skymaster — to haul my family around, I kept coming back to the Twin Bonanza, as it could get me from lower Michigan to Florida nonstop along with a high g-load and reasonable single-engine performance. An older Twin Bonanza owner, Sye Royce, told me if you want to go fast, get a Baron, Duke, or Cessna 310, but if you want a plane that will do everything else, get a Twin Bonanza. So I followed his advice and bought a Twin Bo. After doing much work on it, including having both engines overhauled, it became obvious that not many mechanics knew the airplane very well: I was having trouble finding someone to do inspections. At that point, I decided to work toward getting my A&P license. I received my A&P in 1998 and my IA rating in 2005. This made owning an unusual airplane — in this case a Twin Bonanza — much easier, especially since I was about to retire and had the time to work on it.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT BROCK, JIM RAEDER
Ocean-Hopping Twin-Bonanza
Bill Schutzler freely admits his love for the Twin Bonanza overcame his common sense when it came to saving N555BT from being scrapped. A BIG PROJECT BECKONS
Bill was happily flying his original Twin Bo when, in 1998, his Twin Bonanza friend, Gregg Cadieux, told him about a D50E in Germany that Gregg had been trying to sell for the owner. “In the fall of 1998, N555BT D50E DH318 was based in Landshut, Germany, and had been advertised for sale for a couple of years with no apparent interest,” he said. “Then the owner, Volker Werchau, started parting it out by advertising the engines and props for sale. I didn’t like the idea of someone parting out a Twin Bonanza airframe so I contacted him for more information. “By November my curiosity had been piqued, and I had to make the trip to Munich, Germany, to see for myself,” Bill said. “Off I went with tools and gauges in hand to check it over. I came back with a lot of information and a lot of thinking to do. A month later, after putting a pencil to it, I decided to make the move and buy it, even though I knew it really made no financial sense.” Just after Christmas that same year Bill headed back to Germany with his son Derek and two rebuilt cylinders and tools to get started on the project.
“Volker, the owner of nine years, and I hit it off right from the start and formed a great relationship,” he said. “Without Volker’s help in finding parts, and with the language translation [barrier], it would have been very difficult to get the project completed. The plane hadn’t flown in four or five years and needed work, which began with the changing of two cylinders. It needed both ailerons and both elevators replaced because, being magnesium, they were corroded beyond repair, a common problem with some Beechcraft models. The de-icing boots were badly deteriorated so we just removed them altogether. Then we had to change out one starter, two vacuum pumps, two fuel pumps, one gearbox (a big piece of work to be doing outside), one prop clamp, 28 hoses, and a set of tires. Also, all of the radio equipment had been sold, but the trays were still in place so they had to be replaced. We had a long list of work to be done to get it back to the U.S. “It was after my third trip over there that I thought about getting out of the project,” Bill said. “All the work had to be done outside, with one wing in a hangar at a time as the wingspan was too large for the door opening. The weather was similar to that of a Michigan winter. In other words, cold and miserable. Plus, because of the distance and the local authorities, this couldn’t be a get-it-flying-and-don’t-worry-about-the-details type of project. A ferry permit was not going to work, so a complete annual had to be done before we could leave.”
It’s one thing to find a semi-derelict airplane and rebuild it, or to find a vintage airplane overseas and go through the effort of bringing it home. It’s an entirely different thing to do both.
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Ocean-Hopping Twin-Bonanza
ATLANTIC TRIP LOG: WAS THIS A GOOD IDEA?
Bill overhauled the complicated, geared GO-480G2F6 engines himself and has had zero problems with them.
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It took Bill seven working trips over to Germany to get the Twin Bonanza airworthy for its trip home to the United States. “Finally, we were ready to start the trip back on the 1st of May 1999,” Bill said. “However, getting all the details for the trip turned out to be a huge task of its own. Planning details kept falling apart, so I hired a professional ferry pilot, Tony Eyes. That decision finally got everything together, as he had all the required equipment [and] knew places to get the best fuel prices, routing, flight plans, and what to say and do. That was one of the smartest things I did in the whole project.” Bill rode along with Tony on the trip from Germany to Michigan and described the challenges they faced along the way. “From Germany to Scotland over the North Sea an engine did sputter for about 20 seconds, then went back to normal,” he said. “Tony, the old ferry pilot, never batted an eye, but I for sure had concerns.
“From Scotland to Reykjavik in Iceland the heater failed, and we took on ice climbing on top and lost 12 knots until the ice burned off, which took about an hour and a half. The flaps failed in the up position for the remainder of the flight. There were 40-knot winds at Reykjavik right down the runway, and it was entirely too cold to work on the heater, so we soldiered on. “From Reykjavik to Goose Bay ‘only’ one failure occurred, when the right generator quit. “When landing at Goose Bay at dusk, after 13 hours of flying with one generator, no flaps, and no heat, I was beat. However, Tony wanted to keep flying. I won that argument, and we got something to eat and went to bed. “Flying from Reykjavik to Sherbrooke in Canada the next morning, the heater worked until 4,500 feet, which took the chill out of the plane before it once again quit,” Bill said. “Once at Sherbrooke, while doing the walk-around, I noticed blue stains trailing from the inboard side of the right cowling. I opened it up, and the left inner door was completely blue, as was the firewall. Why we didn’t have a fire is beyond me. What happened was the fuel return line had broken at the flare at the carburetor. I capped it off, fueled and oiled, and we were off again.” While on climb-out from Sherbrooke to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the oil temps were rising and the Twin Bonanza started losing power. “Looking around for answers, checking pressures and temperatures, I noticed that the left engine CHT was dropping,” Bill said. “For some reason, the No. 5 cylinder on the left engine was shutting down. I really wanted to get home, but not without knowing what was going on. I took over flying, and Tony started making arrangements for customs at the nearest suitable airport. He had no more gotten that done when the engine started smoothing out and the CHT started climbing. Finally, it came back to completely normal. Tony canceled the customs, and we went back to the original flight plan. Tony was not happy, nor was customs, but everything seemed fine. “We landed at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for customs and then on to Winchester, Virginia, to drop Tony off and put a new flare on the end of the return line. We hooked it back up, then [I] went on to Tecumseh, Michigan, where I was living at that time. I arrived just in time for dinner and to celebrate my wife’s birthday with a bottle of wine from Germany that Volker had given us.”
BACK HOME AND THE WORK BEGINS
Once Bill was back home in Michigan, the airplane became a long-term restoration project. “First, I overhauled the two GO-480-G2F6 engines myself, trying to use as many new parts as I could locate” he said. “I didn’t find it difficult, as I just followed the overhaul manual. However, I did have Columbia Aircraft overhaul the gear cases for me. “Over time I have replaced all the fuel tanks and accessories, installed the Electronics International MVP-50 engine gauges and all the wiring, fabricated the new instrument panel, and installed all the trays for the Garmin G600, GTN 750, GNS 430, GTX 327 transponder, auto panel, and Sandel 3800 HSI. The avionics wiring was done by Huron Avionics in Port Huron. I did the painting on the interior and instrument panel and installed all-new gray-tinted windows — except for the windshield, which someone else did. I also installed strobe lights in both wings and tail.” Too often, when rebuilding or restoring big, older aircraft that have been derelict for a time, corrosion raises its ugly head, but Bill lucked out in that area. “Fortunately, all Twin Bonanzas came from the factory with everything, inside and out, zinc-chromated — the older primer that really works,” he said. “So the wings were basically pristine except where I had removed the de-icing boots. I didn’t replace them and just painted that area. I did, however, have to put a few patches on the fuselage where old radio antennas had been. I also had to put a new hinge on the airstair door. I then replaced both of the props with new McCauleys and installed a prop synchrophaser system that works amazingly well!” Some airplanes are rolled into a hangar not to be seen again for years until they come out looking better than when they left the factory, with a stem-to-stern restoration done all at one time. Not so Bill’s. “From the first time I flew it on April 30, 1999, in Germany, it has been a flying restoration,” Bill said. “It was down for about a year with the engine overhauls and the installation of the Bendix fuel injection, which was one of the best improvements that I made. It is the only naturally aspirated Twin Bonanza flying with that conversion. The fuel burn at cruise went from 26 gallons per hour to 20 gallons of total fuel burn at 155 knots TAS. That’s at 55 percent power. With the 180
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT BROCK
total gallons it carries, it gives me eight hours of flight time — roughly 1,200 statute miles with a 45-minute reserve. Its useful load is 1,684 pounds, so with just short of full fuel I can still carry four passengers, but it’s seldom I’m flying legs that long. However, I can if I want. “After AirVenture 2017 I was pushing to get the airplane into the paint and interior shop and have it ready for Oshkosh 2018,” he said. “Most of the heavy maintenance had been done, so I worked on the areas that would make the paint job and interior go quicker. That included completely stripping the seats and modifying their frames for a new look and sturdier construction. Then it was on to engineering an overhead shoulder harness for the cockpit. “There were no factory shoulder harnesses or STC’d shoulder harnesses available for the Twin Bonanzas,” Bill said. “I tried to get some of the aftermarket people to take on this project, but there were not enough numbers for them to get involved. However, they were very helpful with information as far as materials to use and where to get the inertial reels. I set out to engineer my own, using designs from similar aircraft that had factory- or STC-approved installations.”
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26 March/April 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD
Ocean-Hopping Twin-Bonanza PAINTING: EASIER SAID THAN DONE
Painting is one area where things did not go as Bill planned. “I knew I’d eventually be painting the airplane, so several years ago I had two models of the airplane made in the colors and design that I was going to use at that time,” he said. “It was going to be very simple and clean — one in blue, the color on a Corsair, and the other was maroon. “As I was getting ready for paint, I decided to hire Scheme Designers, which was some of the best money I spent,” Bill said. “What I ended up with was a long way from what I started with. I was very satisfied with their service and would recommend them to anyone. “All was going along as well as could be expected, and my deadline was approaching: I wanted to have it in the paint shop on May 1, and we made it,” he said. “On the way to the paint shop, we made a quick stop to pick up some of the control surfaces that Roy Williams of Williams Airmotive had worked so hard on to meet my deadline. We arrived at the painter, who promised to have the paint and interior finished within two and a half months so I could make AirVenture 2018. I emphasized that everything taken off the airplane had to go back in its original position. That was important. More on this later.”
The landing gear was rebuilt early in this longterm, flying restoration project.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT BROCK
During the third week of May, Bill made the first of 10 trips to the paint shop to deliver parts and check on progress. The plane and parts were mostly stripped and some of the interior was out, with some work being done there. Progress was being made. “Back down a week later, I found my plane pushed back in the corner, and another plane being worked on,” he said. “As I confronted them on their promised deadline, their attitude was ‘not to worry.’ This went on for months, so there was no hope of taking it to Oshkosh in 2018. In fact, they missed their own promised deadline by two months. “Finally, in the third week of September, I picked it up and was on my way home to start working on the plane again,” Bill said. “However, by the time I got home, the to-do list in my head had gotten very long, as I kept discovering things that were wrong. When I picked it up, I was so excited that I had missed seeing lots of problems, none of them being obvious at first. “When they disassembled the airplane for paint, they didn’t even come close to getting it back together right,” he said. “Nothing was correct, and the list was unbelievably long. It was a real mess. And then they had the gall to charge me more than I was quoted. Even the detailing they were supposed to do later was badly done. I do have to say, however, that they did an excellent job of putting the paint on and striping it. I had to spend many hours correcting what should have been done, or what had been done incorrectly.”
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AIRVENTURE! FINALLY!
Seating includes a fore and aft bench-type seat.
28 March/April 2020
After a long, sometimes frustrating year, Bill and N195HP finally made it to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019. It was sporting new paint, interior, and a new N-number (N1061), which includes the last two digits from the year it was built, 1961. However, he didn’t make it there through his own efforts. “I have to first thank Volker Werchau for selling me the plane and all the help with getting it out of Germany,” Bill said. “There are many stories in those efforts alone. Huron Avionics has been very helpful with the radio installation and autopilot repair, and I have to thank Gregg Cadieux, the fellow Twin Bonanza guy who turned me on to the airplane in the first place, for swapping parts back and forth while I was trying to get the airplane back together.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT BROCK
“I also have to thank my wife, Gail, who was a princess through this whole drama,” he said. “The airplane pretty much dominated my time, much of which was taken away from her, but she supported me 100 percent every step of the way. And now that the airplane is finished, it’s time we start using it to do the things we both like to do.” Bill said that he wouldn’t change a thing about the way the airplane turned out. However, he hesitated for a moment and said, “But there is the …” Flying restoration projects are never finished.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM RAEDER
THE ELECTRICAL STORM T H E Y WA R N E D YOU A B OU T
Introducing the all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E. The spirit of Mustang, electrified.
R E S E R V E N O W AT F O R D . C O M Reservation terms and conditions apply. Pre-production vehicle images simulated. Production models may differ. Mustang Mach-E Premium edition shown available late 2020.
A SINGULAR LEGENDARY SAGA OF HUMAN RESOLVE BY SPARKY BARNES
IN NOVEMBER 1947, over a remote area of the Alaskan tundra, NC15165 experienced engine failure, and its crew made a gear-up forced landing in a crystalline blanket of snow. All on board survived, and there was minimal damage to the airplane. For the next 15 years, the grand old airliner slowly settled into its seemingly permanent location in the tundra, enduring nature’s cycle of freezing and thawing. Though abandoned, this Stinson Model A was not entirely forgotten. There were a few who remembered — and one in particular …
30 March/April 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM
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CHECK OUT THE DIGITAL EDITION of Vintage for a photo gallery on the Stinson Tri-Motor.
32 March/April 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM
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AMERICA’S FASTEST TRI-MOTOR
The Stinson Model A was designed as an eight-passenger commercial feeder airliner with excellent short-field performance, and the prototype first flew in 1934. The Model A’s fuselage and empennage were constructed of welded steel tube covered with fabric, with the exception of the metal-covered nose forward of the cabin area. Parallel wing struts braced the wing to the top of the fuselage, and according to aircraft historian Joseph Juptner, the fabric-covered, double-tapered wing used a sesqui-spar design built of steel tubing with a girder-type spar beam and riveted dural truss ribs. The flaps and landing gear were operated by an electric motor (with a manual hand-crank option), and the mains could be partially retracted inside the wheel wells underneath the engine nacelles. The baggage bin (which carried mail as well as luggage) and lavatory were aft of the soundproofed cabin with its shatterproof windows.
NC15165 was delivered to American Airlines in early March 1936 in Chicago. The first mishap of its storied life occurred that June, when a drunk driver plowed an automobile into its tail while it was parked at the Washington, D.C., airport. By November 1939, the stately Stinson had accrued 2,234 hours of flight time. In April 1940, it was sold to Lavery Airways of Fairbanks, Alaska. In 1942, Ray Peterson’s Flying Service of Anchorage, Alaska, purchased it. After the forced landing in 1947, Northern Consolidated Airlines became the registered owner. Of 31 Model A’s manufactured, NC15165 is not only the sole survivor, it also stands as the embodiment of a singular legendary saga of human resolve. Its ongoing legacy is powered not only by its three rumbling Lycomings, but also by a notable succession of modern-day caretakers.
The firefighters who saved the Stinson in 1968. Eighteen-year-old Doug “Montana” Lutz is second from the right on the front row.
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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DOUG LUTZ
CLICK HERE
THE LOW-WING STINSON TRI-MOTOR
TO SEE A FLICKR GALLERY ON THE STINSON TRI-MOTOR
The well-appointed interior of the Stinson’s soundproofed cabin.
The Stinson A Tri-Motor’s business office — note the side window, which provides additional visibility. FROM THE ICY TUNDRA
In 1961, Jerome D. “Red” Berry of Fairbanks, Alaska, became overwhelmingly intrigued with the abandoned Tri-Motor. That intrigue, coupled with an intrepid spirit, led him to undertake the largely singlehanded, eight-year, herculean task of physically retrieving the Stinson A from the tundra. But first, Red wisely tackled the legal chain of ownership issue. To wit, he received a letter in February 1964 from James N. Dodson: “Northern Consolidated Airlines willingly conveys to you any and all rights it might still have in the Stinson A Trimotor which forced landed near the Toklat River on a course between Fairbanks and Lake Minchumina. … I personally flew a hand sled into a small lake about 1-1/2 miles east of the downed plane and we hand sledded the mail to this point for takeoff. I am sure that the location is on a straight course between Nenana and Minchumina but am not certain whether east or west of the Toklat. Good luck and I hope you find something left after all these years.” (Letter courtesy Greg Herrick.)
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM
Red did indeed find something left, and he commenced the arduous retrieval. Friend and author Byron “Fred” Fredericksen captured the essence of Berry’s monumental efforts when he penned the article “A Stinson ‘A’” in the June 1978 issue of The Vintage Airplane. “I was shown a photo of the airplane which was about halfway on its almost one hundred mile trip from its original location … to the nearest road. J.D. had all his equipment in the bush at the Stinson site. This included a D-8 Caterpillar equipped with a dozer blade, a huge sled on skids which contained many fifty gallon drums of fuel and oil, two five ton come alongs, snowmobile, many parts and hand tools and the two airplane wings. Along with these he had built a six foot by twelve foot cabin for shelter mounted on skids for pulling. This home away from home is called a ‘Wanigan.’ He would go ahead with the Cat and clear a few hundred yards of timber along the route he chose through the bush and over the ridges, come back and hook up his ‘train’: airplane, sled and Wanigan, and then unhook again and clear another path and so on. The only catch to this process was that this had to be done in the winter months only as the unfrozen tundra would not hold up the Cat in the summer months. And what with the break downs, problems with starting and operating a diesel engine in fifty degree below zero weather, uncertain ice thicknesses to cross over rivers, coupled with very few hours of daylight that time of year in Alaska one wonders if any price is worth that. A man all alone in this type of operation could get himself killed. In fact the Cat did go through the ice once. He got it free all by himself. Another time he broke a foot in a mishap and laid in the Wanigan in that condition for ten days before a refueling plane he had ordered found him. Talk about a dedicated antiquer!”
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THE LOW-WING STINSON TRI-MOTOR
THROUGH A WILDFIRE
SPECS 1936 Stinson Model A Tri-Motor NC15165, Serial No. 9125 Built under ATC 556 Not eligible to be flown by a sport pilot. SEATS:
10 (eight passengers, pilot, and co-pilot)
WINGSPAN:
60 feet
WING CHORD:
134 inches, 67 inches at tip
WING AREA:
500 square feet
AIRFOIL:
2R-18/10
LENGTH:
36 feet, 10 inches
HEIGHT:
11 feet, 6 inches
EMPTY WEIGHT:
7,200 pounds
USEFUL LOAD:
3,000 pounds
PAYLOAD W/FULL FUEL:
1,780 pounds
GROSS WEIGHT:
10,200 pounds
ENGINES:
Three Lycoming R-680-5 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engines, 260 hp each
PROPELLER:
Hamilton Standard
FUEL:
160 gallons
OIL:
12 gallons
VNE:
180 mph
CRUISING SPEED:
170 mph at 1950 rpm
LANDING SPEED:
63 mph with flaps
RATE OF CLIMB:
980 fpm
SERVICE CEILING:
17,000 feet
CRUISING RANGE:
490 miles
BAGGAGE CAPACITY:
500 pounds
PRICE NEW:
$37,500 at factory
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As Abraham Lincoln once said, “Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.” Red epitomized that type of resolve, and so did a group of firefighters who rallied around the relic to save it. In 1968, 18-year-old Doug Lutz was working for the Bureau of Land Management as a wildland firefighter. He and 15 of his co-workers volunteered to protect a rare airplane (using only manual tools) from a rapidly encroaching wildfire and were flown to the site via helicopter on August 11. Doug wrote: “We figured we had about 24 hours to dig a fire line down to permafrost, cut the existing trees down, drag them to the outside of the fire line, and back-burn the fuel before the fire hit. We worked feverishly to prepare for the onslaught, resting only when we dropped from exhaustion. I marveled at the very reason for our task, as the Stinson Tri-Motor, partially dismantled, was the most incredible aircraft I had ever seen. … As the front hit us, the incredible heat, smoke, and wind generated by Z-83 [the BLM fire designation] defied comprehension and lies in my memory as the most vivid reminder of my insignificance in the grand plan of things. … The smoke was so intense that the only way one could breathe was to drop to the ground, put your face on the tundra, and breathe the air pockets. … We ran out of food on about the third day, drinking water was nearly gone, and our radio to the outside broke down. We were later told that BLM headquarters had pretty much given us up for lost and were contemplating notifying next of kin. … As the 100,000-acre stage 5 fire (inferno) finally blew past us, we realized what had happened and the symbol the Stinson Tri-Motor played in the fragile mortality of 16 men. We made a small cardboard plaque out of a K-ration box and put our names and events that had occurred with the desire that if the plane ever made it out of the tundra, our small contribution might be remembered. A snapshot was taken on the fourth day, August 14, by one of the guys. … The most vivid picture, however, resides only in my mind as the helicopter raised up to take us home. The two acres or so within the fire line was resplendent green, and as far as you could see in every direction was starkly black. And the Stinson Tri-Motor sitting in the center of the green circle, looking so proud and incredibly alive, remains as one of the most significant and indelible images of my life.” (https://DisciplesofFlight.com/ saving-the-last-stinson-trimotor, posted March 8, 2016)
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM
ACROSS THE RIVER TO NENANA
In 1970, Red made a deal with Eugene D. Coppock of Illinois in which Eugene purchased the Stinson contingent upon its being brought to an easily accessible location. Red had acquired two new wings, which were included in the deal. Fred assisted the dauntless Red in the latter phase of the retrieval, which also proved to be challenging. In 1972, they transported the Stinson across a river with the help of a barge line company. Fred wrote: “They pushed into shore as close as possible and tossed heavy cables ashore which we clamped around tree stumps we had cut. The crew pulled the barge with the power winches. … J.D. pushed tons of dirt and trees into the river between the shore and the barge. Half of it washed away but finally enough logs and trees were crisscrossed and this base began to hold the mud and dirt and soon we had a ramp (which continued to wash away). We immediately began to pull everything on board. In a couple of hours we were all loaded just as our ramp vanished. … The next day the tug brought our precious cargo downstream to the river dock of the Union Oil Company. … We pulled everything to a dirt side street out of everyone’s way and wondered where we could store the airplane. We discovered an abandoned electric company power sub station at the edge of town. It had a cyclone fence around it with a gate and lock. We found the owner to be Golden Valley Electric Association Inc. … [We] asked and were given permission to use the Nenana Station for a month. ... Then we realized we had to cross two sets of railroad tracks with the Cat and the airplane. … After much negotiating with the local railroad depot personnel we got the okay to cross the tracks if we first built a bridge of planks to run on. This we did and pulled the TriMotor up to the power station gate only to find the gate was too small to allow the airplane to pass through. We got some shovels, dug down all around one gate post until we hit the huge chunk of concrete the post was cemented into. This we lifted out with the dozer blade. We then pulled the airplane inside the fence, replanted the cement and post, closed the gate and locked it.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM
Three 260-hp Lycoming R-680-5 engines power the Stinson.
The Model A’s empennage — note the rudder trim.
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A 1936 Central Airlines ad touted its Tri-Motor service as “linking the major air routes in a fast frequent ‘tie-line’ service with soundproof luxury airliners.” Eugene finished NC15165 in the livery of a Pennsylvania Central Airlines Model A that flew the U.S. Mail CAM 14-22 route on the Detroit-Washington, D.C., run. The Stinson graced the February 1980 cover of The Vintage Airplane, and that issue featured Edward D. Williams’ article “Stinson Model A Trimotor” about its restoration. Eugene later sold the rare Stinson to the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum in Anchorage. Close-up view of the Tri-Motor’s throttles (black knobs), flaps and landing gear control (gray knob), and mixture controls (red knobs). If you look carefully at the top of the photo, you’ll see the prop controls ahead of the throttles.
Note the wide doorway and the interior lavatory door.
EAST TO ILLINOIS
Finally, in May 1972, Eugene was able to see the Tri-Motor in person at Nenana. Arrangements were made for its fuselage, center section, and empennage to be hauled to his hangar at Crystal Lake airport the following month. That fall, Eugene drove 3,500 miles from his home in Lake in the Hills, Illinois, and loaded a pickup and flatbed truck with the wings and ailerons, engines, propellers, and landing gear. Eugene, a United Airlines Boeing 727 captain and A&P, started the restoration project in 1973 and completed it in 1979. He enjoyed the capable, hands-on help of his wife, Roberta, son Van, and a cadre of antiquer friends throughout those six years. NC15165 received its airworthiness certificate on July 25, just in time for Eugene to fly it to the EAA fly-in convention in Oshkosh. The Tri-Motor wowed the crowds and judges alike and received the Antique/Classic Transport Category Champion award.
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPARKY BARNES, CRAIG VANDER KOLK
THE LOW-WING STINSON TRI-MOTOR
“This Stinson Tri-Motor is actually one of our regular flyers; I keep it at my house because I love it so much, and I enjoy flying it.” — Scott Glover GOLDEN WINGS MUSEUM
In 1988, private collector Greg Herrick bought the Stinson from the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum. “I hired John Mohr, the great aerobatic pilot, to fly it from Alaska to Minneapolis,” Greg said. “After arriving in Minneapolis, John told me it was the best flying airplane in my collection and said he’d wanted to loop and roll it, but decided not to. We then did a complete and thorough inspection of the airplane. Lo and behold, we discovered there were some very important parts of the center section where you could put your finger through a hole in the tubing. I said, ‘John, thank goodness you didn’t roll that airplane when you were flying it!’”
The restoration was turned over to H.O. Aircraft, and after X-raying the airframe, it was determined that the best option was to fabricate the majority of the airframe using modern materials and methods. They also reworked the sheet metal for the nacelles and center section. Fortunately, the wings were salvageable. Modern avionics were installed in place of antiquated instrumentation, and the interior and upholstery were also replaced. The Stinson was finished in its original 1936 American Airlines livery, and then the rebuilt engines and overhauled propellers were installed. (https://DisciplesofFlight.com/ restoring-stinson-model-a) Herrick explained his philosophy about antique airplanes during Ray Johnson’s Vintage in Review at AirVenture 2019: “It’s one thing to have an airplane on display in a museum, but it really brings the character of the airplane out and tells its story when you can see and hear it fly, and learn what it did. Being able to share it with other people in that way is really what it’s all about. So it’s an honor to have Scott Glover own this airplane, because he’s not only flown it here to Oshkosh to share it with people, but he’s flying it all over — which is what should happen with airplanes that have this kind of history.”
Current owner Scott Glover and wife, Brittany.
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MID-AMERICA FLIGHT MUSEUM
Scott Glover of Mount Pleasant, Texas, owns the Mid America Flight Museum, which is home to 55 airplanes. “I’ve known of this Stinson since about 2011 when I went to Greg’s museum and saw it,” Scott said. “I never dreamed there would be a possibility that I’d have it. A friendship developed, and Greg wanted me to have it and I ended up buying it in 2018.”
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Scott’s father was a pilot and owned a Cessna 172, which facilitated Scott’s interest in aviation. But his desire to fly was really piqued when he was 9 years old. “A pilot who was flying cross-country in a Waco UPF-7 landed at Mount Pleasant,” Scott said. “He and his wife ended up spending the night with us, and the next morning he gave me a 10-minute ride and that flipped the switch. One thing my mom and dad instilled in me is that every one of us can have a positive influence and can change people’s lives if we just help one person. I’ve given thousands of rides to kids, and if you give a
hundred rides, only one or two kids will flip the switch. Andrew Kiest was one of them; I gave him a Stearman ride when he was 16, and I could just tell his switch was flipped. When we got fuel I got a logbook and signed him off for his first lesson. He went on to college, became a corporate pilot for a while, and now he flies every airplane in our museum.” The Mid America Flight Museum has four primary missions: to honor veterans, mentor kids, support community, and preserve
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SLOCUM
aviation history. “We have Doug Smith doing some amazing restoration work at Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio, and Kelly Mahon is another real integral part of our team and lives in Spokane, Washington,” Scott said. “Kelly spends a great part of the winter with us doing maintenance. It takes a team to maintain and restore these airplanes. This Stinson Tri-Motor is actually one of our regular flyers; I keep it at my house because I love it so much, and I enjoy flying it.”
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AN AMAZING AIRPLANE
Scott alternated pilot duties with Andrew Kiest and Billy Packard during the Tri-Motor flight from Texas to Oshkosh. Andrew, 31, is delighted to be flying for his early mentor. “What makes the Stinson really unique and special to fly is that it flies like a modern airplane,” Andrew said. “If you’ve flown a Beech Baron you can fly the Stinson. It’s an amazing airplane and is extremely stable. Everything about it is just gentle and pleasant. It cruises at 165 mph, but if you cross the fence at 80 mph, you’re going to float it. The cockpit layout of the flight controls, engine controls, gauges, and the landing gear and flap levers is very modern-like for a 1936 model, and it has toe brakes. So it’s very ergonomically comfortable; it’s really a one-pilot airplane.” Another plus about the Model A, according to Andrew, is that “everything is real easy to work on. You put the flaps down, and all the cables and guides are easily accessible. All the inspection panels are quick turns, so with a flat-blade screwdriver you can have the whole wing opened up in 10 minutes.” Judging by appearances, the Stinson’s visibility seems to be rather limited, but Andrew said, “You have a little bit of forward visibility while the tail is down, but because you sit so much higher than the engine, once the tail starts to lift off the ground you have very nice forward visibility. The little window on the right-hand side serves two purposes: one, when you’re starting the engine you can look back and see that it’s running; and two, it provides visibility while taxiing — especially when making a right-hand turn onto a taxiway. Without that window, your view of the taxiway would be blocked by the No. 2 engine and the nacelle.”
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The Tri-Motor has four fuel tanks and one fuel selector. “If you select a tank, all three engines are running on that one tank. You use a stopwatch to know when to select another tank; if you run a tank out, the engines all go together. Then it turns into a glider,” Andrew said, chuckling. “But the fuel system’s so simple, if you do flame them out you just switch tanks, turn the electric boost pump on, and they all light back up real easy. We experienced that coming up here while everybody in the back was asleep. They didn’t even know it; it was so smooth when it did it. The first engine that goes is the middle one, so it started surging and I looked over at Billy and said, ‘Hey, switch tanks!’ And we looked back in the cabin and everybody was still asleep.” NC15165 was awarded the 2019 Transport Category Champion — Bronze Lindy at AirVenture. There was another “award” of sorts — the thoroughly trampled grass surrounding “America’s Fastest Tri-Motor.” It was a sure sign that Scott helped flip the switch for at least a few people who were inspired by the handsome old airliner’s commanding presence on the flightline. INTERESTED IN STINSONS? Contact the International Stinson Club for more information.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LYLE JANSMA
PLEASE JOIN US THE VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION will be commemorating this milestone 100th anniversary of the Stinsons and the founding of the Stinson Aircraft Corporation at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2020. Plans are being developed for many special events, and I invite all Stinson owners and enthusiasts to join us in celebrating the iconic Stinson aircraft!
Look for more details in the next issue of Vintage Airplane.
HOW LONG DOES THE AVERAGE
KEEPING UP A FAMILY TRADITION
BY BUDD DAVISSON
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airplane family keep and fly a given airplane? That’s a good question, but even the FAA’s monster computers can’t give an accurate answer. However, when we hear someone has had the same airplane for 20 years or so, we think that’s a long time. Then there’s the Montambo family: J-3 Cub NC1502N came to live with Ray Montambo in 1951, and while he loved the airplane and flew its wings off, it’s unlikely that he could have envisioned that his son, grandson, and great-grandson would all still be flying it 69 years later. To keep all the characters in this tale straight, I’ll list them here in chronological order: Ray Montambo (deceased); Roger (current owner), 75; grandson Ryan, 47; and great-grandson Andrew, 18.
Great granddad Ray Montambo with NC1502 shortly after buying it in 1951.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHY OF ROGER MONTAMBO BY XXXX
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THE CUB SAGA BEGINS
oger, who currently owns the Cub, shared its early history. “Clyde Smith Jr. confirmed that there were only 148 Cubs manufactured in Ponca City, Oklahoma, after NC1502N was produced, which ended the run of the J-3 Piper Cub there,” he said. “Cubs from Ponca City had the aluminum spar, and the lightning bolt stripe did not extend onto the metal boot cowl because the enamel paint on the boot cowl was incompatible with the nitrate/butyrate process. “Dad bought the Cub in July 1951 for $600 from another local Michigan UP pilot who had paid $1,995 for it when new, which was only four years earlier in May of 1947,” Roger said. “When Dad asked the seller why the price was so low, he said this is what they were going for at the time, shortly after the war. That’s about $6,000 in today’s dollars. So, comparably speaking, that meant new Cubs were apparently going for around $2,000 in 1947, or $20,000 in 2020 dollars. Still a bargain.”
The airplane was originally bought by the late Ray Montambo in 1951. Picturered, left to right: Roger J. Montambo (son), Ryan J. Montambo (grandson), and Andrew J. Montambo (great-grandson).
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Roger said that when he was a kid, he was constantly riding along with his dad, and they often took friends along, with both sitting in the rear seat. He said this was probably the first and only time many of his friends would ever fly in any aircraft. “We had skis, so we could fly it pretty much year-round,” he said. “On one flight, we left the Stambaugh Airport to fly around the frozen winter lakes and returned mid-afternoon. However, what was 3 to 5 feet of frozen snowpack when we took off had changed, and the ‘crust’ was no longer the crust we’d seen earlier. The plane broke through and sank up to its belly, but nothing was hurt. It did, however, take two toboggans to get it back on the top of the snowpack so we could push it back in the hangar.” In the early ’70s, the airplane was vandalized and the cover was cut in multiple places, making it no longer airworthy, so it sat in the hangar for a number of years. “Dad always intended on re-covering it, but his health was starting to go downhill and he couldn’t get at it,” Roger said. “He had the interest to fly but was not physically capable. At the time I was in my early 30s and started bugging him to let me bring the airplane home with me so I could re-cover it. At first he balked, but in 1976 as his health deteriorated, he finally gave in and gave me the airplane. I brought it home and a friend, Marvin Hoeft of Frontenac, Minnesota, and I got it back in the air in 11 weeks, in time for the EAA convention.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF TOM JOHNSON
“However, while we don’t take the Cub [to EAA’s fly-in conventions] as much as we used to, we’ve still made it there and camped out around 20 times. Ryan now brings his family, and they’ve attended about seven times.” — ROGER MONTAMBO “By then my son, Ryan, was 5 or 6 years old, so he was constantly flying with me on short cross-country flights to local fly-ins and such,” he said. “I’d give him the heading, and even though he couldn’t see over the panel, he’d do his best to hold it. While living in Red Wing, Minnesota, we simply left the wheels on and we’d land on Lake Pepin [wide area of Mississippi River], where snowmobilers had made the track flat and packed, allowing an aircraft to easily land on wheels. It was common to see frozen fish in the clear ice, which had us wondering how they allowed themselves to let that happen. “There were a few times when the thought about getting a faster airplane for cross-countries crossed my mind, but they weren’t serious thoughts,” Roger said. “Yeah, speed was neat, but I just didn’t have the urge.”
While a Cub is generally a local sightseeing bird, they often give in to the natural urge to be with their own kind. It’s the birds-of-a-feather thing, so they are drawn to Oshkosh, among other gatherings of the clan. “In the mid-1970s, while living in Minnesota, we took the airplane to the EAA convention on many occasions, accompanied by close family friends. The men would fly the plane while the ladies would drive a car with all the kids and enough camping gear to last at least four or five days. Everyone enjoyed it then as much as we do today. We love meeting people with common interests, whether they’re grown-ups or children. However, while we don’t take the Cub as much as we used to, we’ve still made it there and camped out around 20 times. Ryan now brings his family, and they’ve attended about seven times.”
Uh-oh! NC1502N
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ROGER MONTAMBO
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Great-granddad and grandson: Ray and Ryan in the early 1980s.
THE THIRD GENERATION TAKES OVER
yan, the grandson, detailed the Cub’s second restoration. “Dad completely rebuilt the airplane again in 2016, more or less in preparation for AirVenture’s 80th celebration of the Cub,” he said. “It’s hard to believe that it had been 40 years since they last rebuilt it, but this time they went for authenticity in all the details. The last time it was done I was 5 or 6 years old, but this time I appreciated what was being done. While the last time it was just the yellow airplane that had always been part of my life, this time around I recognized it for the icon that it is and realized that details count when you’re restoring what is basically a piece of history. At the same time, Dad wanted to bring it up to modern times in regard to safety and usability, so it received safety harnesses for both seats, Grove disc brakes, and a shielded ignition.”
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Ryan, who lives in Charlotte and is active in Chapter 309, now has the airplane. He loves giving other members rides and converting them to tailwheel flying. “I give as many rides as I possibly can to members who have often expressed concerns about the whole tail wheel thing,” he said. “They don’t admit it, but their apprehension is obvious. They have a maybe-I’ll-do-it-someday attitude. So I go out of my way to talk them into taking a ride or two with me. Usually that’s all it takes to light up their interest, and they often go ahead and get an endorsement. When they do that, it widens their view of sport aviation to include a lot of types that they’d never considered in the past. Plus, there are a number of local Cub rebuilders, so the type is well represented in the area.” Going to AirVenture for the Cub’s 80th anniversary was a special experience for Ryan and his son.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF TOM JOHNSON, ROGER MONTAMBO
“My son, Andrew, first started going to Oshkosh when he was 4 or 5 years old, but in 2017, when he was 15, we took the Cub to the 80th anniversary bash at AirVenture, and the flight itself was an adventure,” Ryan said. “The round trip from Charlotte took 27 hours and 23 fuel stops, but it’s hard to describe what it was like arriving at Oshkosh as part of the mass EAA Cub arrival gaggle organized by Steve Krog of Hartford, Wisconsin. There were 80 reservations made and about 43 Cubs ultimately involved, and we were right in the middle of them. The goal was 80 aircraft to coincide with the Cub’s 80th anniversary, but weather in Oshkosh was a limiting factor for many. It was simply an amazing experience to see that many Cubs in one place and to be part of a monumental celebration. Even though we had both been to AirVenture many times in the past, this is one that will stand out in our memories for the rest of our lives.”
Andrew, who is now a freshman at Kent State in its professional pilot program and being exposed to all aspects of aviation, still loves flying the Cub. “He soloed it in 2018 and got his PPL in May 2019,” Ryan said. “There’s a good possibility he’s going to want to take the Cub to Oshkosh this year on his own. We’ll see. We know that is going to happen. We just don’t know for sure when. The truth is that the airplane will eventually be his, and that figures into all of the thoughts about the airplane. It’s also worth mentioning that although Andrew applied for the Ray Foundation Scholarship, he did receive one of two $2,500 grants from EAA Chapter 309 in Mooresville, North Carolina, allowing him to finish his license and making the EAA trip a possibility.”
RIGHT: Ryan and Kevin, with an unidentified friend, on the lake ice.
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THE FOURTH GENERATION MAKES ITS APPEARANCE
ndrew, the great-grandson, can’t remember a time without the Cub in his life. “When I was younger, other than flying, a lot of my time was spent at taekwondo. I also did a lot of remote-control driving and flying of models,” he said. “My earliest memories of the Cub are flying to Lincolnton County Regional Airport and back to Bradford to get popcorn and gas at the airport. I don’t remember my first time ever flying in the Cub because I was so young and have been doing it since I was big enough to fit a headset on my head.” Despite being the fourth Montambo to fly the Cub, Andrew, the great-grandson, experienced a family first in the airplane. “After flying with my dad for my whole life, I finally soloed at age 16 in the Cub, the first in the family to do so,” he said. “I wasn’t that nervous because I had been doing it for so long and was well prepared. However, as I was climbing out I noticed how much better it climbed without the extra weight of another passenger. The next thing I felt was pure joy realizing that I was actually doing this all by myself. It was a really good feeling. Turning final, I was a little nervous about how the landing would go, but I was mostly excited to feel the difference without anyone else in the plane.”
Andrew also has fond memories of his trip to AirVenture for the aircraft’s anniversary. “My trip to the 80th Cub anniversary was the very best flight of my life,” he said. “Flying low and slow across the country is a much different experience than any other type of flying. Although it took a long time to get to Wisconsin, it was never boring. It was cool to see everything from the sky with the doors open and cruising at about 65 mph. When we were inbound to Oshkosh as part of the gaggle, I was watching the airplanes in front of and behind us and was excited to land at Oshkosh. “On the ground, it was a cool experience to be with all the other Cubs, knowing they had just taken a journey similar to ours to get there,” Andrew said. “I was busy taking pictures and watching the other Cubs around us. It was fun listening to the Cub chatter on the radio while landing, and it was even more fun to be camping with the other 43-plus, including those that were not able to join the core Cubs in a big group.” Andrew said that although the airplane won’t be his for a long time, he knows he will ultimately be responsible for it. He said that when the time comes, he’ll be ready to care for it, as he knows it’s part of furthering a family tradition and taking care of a historical icon.
Andrew, the great-grandson, was the first Montambo to solo the airplane at 16.
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And this is what the front office of a J-3 Cub is supposed to look like!
A CUB FOR THE AGES
Andrew said that although the airplane won’t be his for a long time, he knows he will ultimately be responsible for it. He said that when the time comes, he’ll be ready to care for it, as he knows it’s part of furthering a family tradition and taking care of a historical icon. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF TOM JOHNSON
Granddad Roger summed it up well when he said, “I don’t see any reason that this Cub, with all the work done to it, cannot last another 70 years. Many airplanes older than Cub NC1502N continue to fly today. They look much nicer than new and are probably a lot safer due to the love and care that goes into their restoration by their respective caretakers.” Another 70 years down the road, the “respective caretaker” in this case will undoubtedly be a Montambo. And given what NC1502N has experienced in the last 70 years, it is reasonable to think it could be one of the first airplanes to be owned by the same family for 150 years. That sounds bizarre, but is it? INTERESTED IN CUBS? Contact the Piper Cub Club for more information.
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The travels of a Waco QCF-2 STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MOOSE PETERSON
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In a matter of moments, the jostling from the grass strip ends and the wind begins whistling past your ears while the smell of oil fills your senses. The earth slips away and the horizon grows larger through the struts as we bank slowly left out of the pattern. The brisk air is replaced by the warmth of the radial engine emanating from the firewall when a voice in the headset asks, “You okay up there?” How can you not be? There is a definite romance to flying in an open-cockpit biplane — anytime, anywhere! Add to that, flying over the Sierra foothills in spring when the landscape is a vast carpet of green, dotted by valley oaks with few signs of civilization. It’s a gorgeous place to be flying low and slow. What a great day to be out flying with Betsy!
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Waco, an early aviation manufacturer, constantly evolved its aircraft designs, and there was excitement in the factory as new prototypes rolled out. The morning chill in Troy, Ohio, was fading to a mild 54 degrees on April 4, 1931. Sporting some new features that the manufacturers hoped would add to the safety and fun of flying (thus translating into sales), anticipation ran high for the new prototype, serial No. 3453. With the success of 1930’s Model F, Waco introduced the redesigned QCF, which was based on the earlier model. Known as the QCF-2, this updated F-line had more horsepower, courtesy of a 165-hp Continental A-70-2 engine. The new prototype boasted more than just greater power, however. For the first time, Waco incorporated the Clark Y airfoil and redesigned the QCF-2 landing gear, making it stronger while increasing the new F-2’s payload and speed. The F model was also the first to use the mechanical brake system called the British brake. The F-2 marked Waco’s first use of metal ailerons. The tail wheel was improved and moved back 12 inches. The Waco QCF-2 quickly established itself as the biplane of the day, earning a grand reputation for its class. It has been written, “Engineers at the Waco factory, eager to demonstrate the F-2’s impressive short field takeoff and landing characteristics, cleared their vehicles from the perimeter of the 100-foot circular parking area to demonstrate that the F-2 could take off and then land in the parking circle. The short field performance of the F-2 was so impressive that it even outperformed the exciting newcomer to American skies, the Pitcairn ‘Whirly Bird’ rotary-wing autogiro.” An experience in flight once again was being enjoyed, which began with Betsy that day back in April 1931.
THE WACO QCF-2 BETSY STORY
A huge debt is owed to a former owner of Betsy, Waco QCF-2 NX11241, serial No. 3453. M.H. “Curly” Havelaar acquired Betsy back in 1957 for $1,800. As a bombardier in a B-17 during World War II and a B-29 during the Korean War, his love for aviation began in a B-26 factory right out of high school and flourished again in 1956 when he soloed in a Monocoupe. He was at the hangar of his friend and mentor, world-renowned aerobatic pilot Frank Price, when he learned of a “little, squatty F model” that Sandy Vance (who had bought it from Elmo Mauer) was selling in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Curly was still in the Air Force, so it wasn’t until 1979 that Betsy was fully restored.
When he bought the plane in 1957, he was “somewhat disappointed” that it wasn’t all jazzed up with wheelpants, a speed ring, etc. That opinion changed when he learned about Betsy’s history. Curly’s restoration was immaculate, and it won him the 1987 Reserve Grand Champion Antique trophy at Oshkosh. Working with original plans and photos, he covered NX11241 in grade A fabric and painted it in its original colors — Waco Vermillion on the fuselage fin and rudder, a black stripe edged in gold on the fuselage, black struts, and silver wings and horizontal tail surfaces. While Curly thought the restoration was important, he also felt strongly about the importance of owners researching the history of their antique and classic aircraft.
Curly’s dive into Betsy’s history all started with a simple comment: “You have an unusual airplane. It’s the prototype of the Waco F-2 and still licensed experimental.” Curly’s dive into Betsy’s history all started with a simple comment: “You have an unusual airplane. It’s the prototype of the Waco F-2 and still licensed experimental.” He learned that QCF-2 NX11241 was manufactured on April 4, 1931, and sold to the Continental Aircraft Engine Co., which first flew it on November 28, 1931. Curly had located the Continental test pilot, Paul E. Wilcox, who said, “I’m so happy to learn that Betsy is still alive and so well. Had no idea she could have lasted this long. We installed R-670 serial No. 501, and gave it its maiden flight on December 12, 1941.” Paul went on to say, “After many hours of flight-testing under the most severe conditions, I delivered the plane and engine to the Navy in Pensacola, Florida, where they tested its suitability for use on the [the dirigible USS] Macon” for the XJW-1 procurement. The Navy ended up purchasing two QCF-2s. Paul also noted that Betsy “went to Randolph Field at San Antonio, Texas, and was demonstrated to the Air Corps [in the hope that] they might be interested in the plane’s merits as a primary trainer. My last flight in the F-2 was on September 23, 1932, about a month before I left Continental. I can’t remember whether we sold her before I left. If not, it was a short time thereafter.”
Curly heard stories about Betsy from Paul in later conversations. He learned that in all of Continental’s flights of NX11241, including the cross-countries, only one prop was used, a “flattened out” metal Hamilton that gave “a fascinating short takeoff run and high rate of climb, at least for those days.” All those flights were flown at full throttle and only one failure occurred. The oil pump drive shaft failed about 30 miles south of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where they landed Betsy, tied it up to a fence, and rode a milk train into Williamsport to get a part sent. And while Betsy was in Pensacola, some of the Navy pilots took their wives and girlfriends for aerobatic rides that included loops, slow rolls, snap-rolls, etc. Wilcox told Curly the “QFC-2 was equipped with a Heywood starter [as was Continental’s Waco C Cabin], and the F-2 was flown mostly without a speed ring.” And because of all his research, and with the help of Paul, Curly was able to complete the restoration of Betsy in the original configuration as flown by Continental.
Betsy flies the skies of the Sacramento Valley. Chris says, “It flies so easy it’s hard not to fly it every day.”
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CLICK HERE
TO SEE A FLICKR GALLERY ON BETSY
One deviation from the original Continental configuration is the engine. NX11241 was originally powered by an A-70-2 serial No. 501 165-hp Continental engine. Continental later replaced it with its R-670 210-hp engine. Curly had an A-70-2, but it was in bad shape. For practical and safety reasons, Curly installed a 220-hp Continental W-670 — the same kind of engine that was in the Waco when he bought it. Curly owned Betsy until his passing. He’d flown it for thousands of hours and shared its story with all whose ear he could lasso. In 2006, his trust sold the aircraft. While being ferried in 2009 for the new owners, it was ground-looped, damaging the undercarriage and wing and cracking three spars. In 2015, the project was purchased by its current owner, who has brought Betsy back to its glory days for Continental Aircraft.
Rick’s meticulous care in restoring Betsy to its original glory comes through in the cockpits. With only a few reference photos to go by, Rick’s craftsmanship shines with every screw and rivet.
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BETSY GRACES THE SKIES AGAIN
In January 2015, Chris Galloway acquired Betsy. Chris already had several gorgeous antique aircraft that Betsy would perfectly fit in with once restored to airworthiness. When asked why he took on the project, considering all the aircraft he already had, Chris replied, “Momentary lapse of reason. … Seriously, I wasn’t really looking for an F-2, but I really liked the history of Betsy, and she looks great, too! Betsy has a long history, and being the prototype, she was the test bed for the Continental W-670 [installed on thousands of Stearmans]. A unique fact is that she is the only F-2 built with the front fuselage fairing in around the engine cylinders [like in a Waco RNF].”
At a fly-in Chris hosts for antiques in the Central Valley, Betsy watches as the sun sets on a great day of camaraderie and great flying.
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The restoration started with the wings being sent to Aircraft by Shue in January 2016. Chris then delivered the project to aircraft magician Rick Atkins at Ragtime Aero in Placerville, California. For the next 18 months, Rick worked to bring the QCF-2 back to airworthiness. “Got the airframe with new wings built by the Shue father-son team at Shue Aircraft,” Rick said. Is Betsy exactly how Continental Aircraft flew it and how Curly restored it to win Grand Champion? Rick went on to say, “Betsy was put back to a front exhaust and cowling, to when it came with the A-70 Continental engine first, then the Continental W-670 was installed later. And [I know] Curly had Betsy set up with the rear exhaust off a Stearman PT-17.”
Bringing Betsy back to factory condition would have typically required tons of drawings and photographs, but Chris knew the skill and talent he had entrusted Betsy to when he brought the project to Rick. When asked what references he used, Rick said, “I used factory photos of Betsy but only had about three or four with original front exhaust and cowling.” Rick’s experience with Wacos shows in his attention to detail. The dash in both compartments is impeccable from gauges to finish. The woodworking is spectacular and incorporates all the factory details. When you walk up to the QCF-2 from a distance you can’t help but be stopped by the “glow” it has. Rick is one of the best when it comes to paint. Asked about the process he used in bringing Betsy’s color alive, he said, “We used Poly Fiber process, four coats of Poly-Brush, seven coats of Poly-Spray, one coat of white Poly-Tone, and three coats of Aerothane color.” Rick put Betsy back in Chris’ hands on August 24, 2018. When Curly picked Betsy up from Tulsa in 1957, he had a friend along who was experienced in flying a Fleet. Curly said that during Betsy’s first launch, the Waco leaped off the ground so fast it impressed them both. You see this same performance today when watching the QCF-2 launch! In fact, watching Betsy — with its graceful lines and color — fly over the Sierra foothills is a thing of beauty. “My typical preflight consists of a thorough walk-around, including checking the oil, fuel, flight controls, tire inflation, flying wires, and looking for any abnormalities,” Chris said. He went on to explain, “Moving to the cockpit, I will first check to be sure the magnetos are in the off position and the fuel valve is off. I will then pull the engine through about 14 compression strokes to ensure there is no oil in the combustion chamber. Startup is a very simple process. I will set the parking brake, turn on the fuel, prime the engine with about four strokes of the primer, crack the throttle, turn on the master switch, engage the starter, count four blades, and turn on the magnetos. This method has been pretty reliable for an easy start.
“Taxi is pretty straightforward: Release the parking brake, and as she starts to roll, I will perform a brake check to a full stop,” he said. “She has pretty good visibility during taxi. The run-up is simple. I will set the parking brake, pushing throttle forward to approximately 1500 rpm, checking both magnetos as well as making sure the mags will turn off, pulling the carburetor heat out and looking for a reduction in rpm, and checking all the engine instruments. Last, we perform a full control check and adjust the trim for takeoff. The takeoff roll is very short; she is off the ground before the throttle is fully open.” Chris carefully chose his days to fly Betsy over California’s Central Valley. “Betsy is magnificent to fly; she handles and flies like a butterfly. There is nothing like looking through the lens at a flying Waco in the spring in the California foothills. I will admit I feel a great sense of responsibility flying such a beautiful piece of history around.” Carrying Curly’s legacy, Chris has no plans of making Betsy a hangar queen. Special thanks to Chris Galloway, Betsy pilot; Scott Woods, photo platform pilot; and Rick Atkins for aiding in this piece. WACO AFICIONADO? Contact the American Waco Club or the National Waco Club for more information.
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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK
My thoughts on radial engines BY ROBERT G. LOCK
AS AN FAA AIRFRAME AND POWERPLANT MECHANIC, I have been around single-row radial engines such as the Wright J-6-7 (R-760), Continental W-670 (R-670), Pratt & Whitney R-985, and Lycoming R-680 for many years. I will attempt to pass along some of my experiences, most recently maintaining and operating three Wright R-760-8 and two Continental W-670 engines. Many older single-row radial engines were certificated on 73-octane fuel. They were low-compression engines and operated at low rpm, and manifold pressure was not boosted. When 73-octane fuel was no longer available, the next higher grade, 80/87, was used. This fuel worked well with low-compression engines, but has become another good product that has been added to the “disappeared” list. So now operators must decide whether to use 100LL or auto fuel. During the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, I had the opportunity to operate a Wright R-760 installed in my 1929 Command-Aire biplane on 80/87, both leaded regular and unleaded regular automotive fuel. I found the leaded automotive fuel to be a suitable replacement for the more expensive grade 80/87, but when leaded fuel became extinct, I switched to unleaded auto fuel. I found it to be a dirty-burning fuel that sooted up the exhaust collector of my Wright and sent exhaust residue down the side of the fuselage. So I immediately quit using unleaded fuel and switched completely to 100LL. That engine now has about 400 hours since major overhaul (SMOH), but I haven’t flown the Command-Aire much in the past six years. Now I am flying behind a Wright on an everyday basis. My son, Rob, owns two 1929 New Standard D-25 biplanes equipped with the Wright R-760-8. There are two of only seven that are airworthy. Which leads us to a discussion of low-lead avgas and the radial engine. Having spent time maintaining Wright and Continental radial engines that total 5,000-plus hours of operation, the following are some tips I’ve learned to keep the engine operational as the hours SMOH build. After more than eight years, the two Wright-powered New Standard D-25s have more than 4,000 hours of operation. I have done much of the maintenance on the airframe and powerplant and can report the following information. First, the engines now operate about 250 hours per year and are installed in ships used specifically for giving rides; therefore, I use full power for takeoff, climb at 1750-1800 rpm to 1,000-1,500 feet above the ground, cruise at 1650-1725 rpm, gradually reduce power, and land. Each flight is actually in the air for slightly more than 15 minutes. There are, of course, ferry flights where the engine runs constantly at 1700-1750 rpm. That’s the type of operation the engines have endured. And they are operated specifically on 100-octane low-lead aircraft fuel.
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The engines have regular 25-hour inspections, which includes oil change, screen inspections, and spark plug maintenance, plus a generous inspection of the engine compartment and a solvent wash-down. At the even inspections (50- and 100-hour), I inspect and gap the spark plugs, then rotate their installation from the front bank to the rear, being sure to place spark plugs from lower cylinders into top cylinders. This automatically cleans the plugs because rear plugs tend to run hotter, will erode quicker, and tend to acquire chemical deposits. I attribute this routine to getting 700 hours of foul-free spark plug operation. New plugs were installed at this point. So, if you don’t change plugs from front to rear, I suggest you institute this procedure. It really works! We rarely have a magneto drop due to a fouled spark plug caused by chemical deposits from 100LL fuel. I was conducting a cylinder leakage test each 100 hours of operation, but when an engine reaches about 75 percent of the service life, I do the check every 50 hours just to keep tabs on cylinder leakage. With the engine warm and at 80 psi of air pressure, a cylinder normally will hold 72 to 78 psi. When cylinder leakage drops below 70 psi, I “stake” the exhaust valve (if that is leaking) by removing the rocker cover to tap the valve with a wood block and hammer. Avgas of 100LL puts an unbelievable amount of chemical deposits into the combustion chamber, on the piston top, and around the exhaust valve that sometimes causes the valve not to seat properly. You can usually hear where air is escaping around the rings or around the exhaust valve seat. It’s when you have leakage at both locations that things get interesting. At the 600-hour SMOH mark of operation, one engine began acting a little strange. Since I have flown behind Wright engines for more than 1,500 hours, they “talk” to me. I thought I could hear a cylinder either not firing or running a little rough on takeoff power, but the engine seemed to develop power and performance seemed otherwise normal. The problem was intermittent, which made troubleshooting even more difficult. I leakage-checked the cylinders, and everything was normal. However, the problem persisted. Finally I caught the culprit! It wasthe No. 4 cylinder; the leakage check showed that at 80 psi it was holding only 10 psi. I removed the cylinder and piston, but there appeared no obvious damage other than blowby around the rings because the ring gaps were almost lined up. I re-staggered the ring gaps and replaced the cylinder and continued on.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES
At the 910-hour SMOH mark, the No. 5 cylinder decided to do the same thing. At 80 psi the cylinder would hold only 50 psi, which would slowly drop to 44 psi and stabilize. So I removed the cylinder, and it appeared exactly as the No. 4 did 300 hours earlier. There was blowby around the rings (which could be heard coming out of the crankcase breather) and a lot of chemical buildup from the low-lead fuel. I inspected the piston and cylinder, roughed the walls with a hone, and reinstalled the cylinder with new seals and gaskets. That was 20 operation hours ago, and a leakage check shows at 80 psi the cylinder holds 76 psi. For the present, problem solved! The No. 5 cylinder can cause other problems. Overnight, oil will seep around the suction inlet check valve in the oil pump, and since it’s located directly above that cylinder, oil will flood the combustion chamber and fill the intake pipe, causing “hydraulic lock.” I always drain any oil from the No. 5 induction pipe by removing a 1/8-inch pipe plug before pulling the prop through at least 14 blades. I also make sure that the No. 5 piston is at top dead center on the firing stroke when I leave the engine overnight. I line up the No. 1 propeller blade with the centerline of the No. 5 cylinder on the compression stroke. It works! The cylinder problems we’ve experienced on the Wrights have been on No. 4 and No. 5, the two lower cylinders. All the other cylinders are still the original overhauled parts and have 930 total hours of operating time. Wright R-760s have always had an oil control problem with the lower cylinders, and this could be the root cause. The Wright R-760 engine also has no lower rocker drains, so all rocker arms below the horizontal will not drain back to the sump to be scavenged into the oil tank. During engine operation, condensation forms in the oil tank and works its way to the lower parts of the engine. This water from condensation will eventually seek the lowest level and form sludge in the rocker bosses of cylinders No. 4 and No. 5 and in the lowest rocker bosses of cylinders No. 3 and No. 6. I remove the rocker covers to drain this static oil every 50 hours of engine operation. The new silicone rocker cover gaskets make this job easy but messy.
A valve clearance of 0.010 inch cold should be set and checked on the 100-hour inspection. I rarely find that the clearance has gotten out of limit, but I do occasionally have to readjust the clearance on one or two valves. I rotate the engine through three complete firing revolutions and check the clearance on each cylinder. If the spark plugs are removed, turning the engine through three rotations is relatively easy. Here again, the silicone valve cover gaskets make this task easy but messy. Re-torque the rocker cover retaining nuts to about 20-25 inchpounds, no more. After a flight around the patch, the leaking covers will be readily seen. I carry a 7/16-inch socket and ratchet in my pocket, and after the flight I “snug” the nuts until the cover quits leaking. Engine power output and gauge readings plus listening to the engine are helpful to long life. We have been using AeroShell SAE 120 (60 weight) oil here in Florida, even in the winter. Oil pressure is a constant 70 psi, while I occasionally see the operating temperature at 65° to 80° Celsius. AeroShell tech reps have told me that I can operate the oil to slightly more than 100°C (213° Fahrenheit) with no breakdown of the oil. The oil should run hot to help boil off water accumulations caused by condensation. The Wright is redlined at 88°C inlet oil temperature. I set operating oil pressure at midrange, 68-70 psi (the Wright oil pressure is 50-80 psi). It has been cold (!) here in Florida, and the temperature gauge reads below 30°C when I start the engine. So I warm the oil for 15 minutes before taking off. My primary concern in operating this engine has been the use of 100LL fuel. The aromatics used to boost octane rating and whatever chemical is used to replace the lead cause a large buildup of deposits in the combustion chamber, on the piston top, and on the valve stems and seats. There are chemical deposits showing up on the leading edge of the right lower wing just behind the exhaust tail pipe that no cleaner will remove. These deposits appear as small black specks that you can feel when running your hands over them. Your fingernail will flake them off. This chemical buildup is also inside the exhaust system and appears as a light tan to a yellow color. I’ve seen it in this engine and inside exhaust systems of opposed engines. I have a series of colored photographs taken of a Lycoming O-320 in New Hampshire that was operated on 100LL fuel. The chemical buildup is very heavy. So we can expect changes in radial engine operation and even overhaul life if this fuel is used on a regular basis. The Wright R-760 engine also has no lower rocker drains, so all rocker arms below the horizontal will not drain back to the sump to be scavenged into the oil tank.
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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK
A New Standard D-25A with a nicely spun Townend cowl surrounding the Wright R-760-8 engine.
I have used no fuel/oil additives; however, I did use some Marvel Mystery Oil in the fuel for a time. We cannot operate the engine on automotive fuel because the airplane is flown commercially. However, if I could use auto fuel, I’d try to use a mixture of 75 percent auto and 25 percent 100LL. I’ll bet the engine would love it! (Editor’s note: We concur here at EAA. The 75/25 mix seems to have just the right amount of lead for valve lubrication, while minimizing the deposits and staining mentioned by Bob. — HGF) So, it is my belief that if one stays on top of engine operation and does regular maintenance along with good preventive maintenance measures, engine life should be enhanced. I am absolutely “sold” on AeroShell ashless dispersant oil, with changes every 25 hours (with no filter system installed). In fact, AeroShell is now an official sponsor of Rob’s barnstorming business, Waldo Wright’s Flying Service. Cylinder leakage checks on a regular basis, spark plug gapping and reversing every 50 hours, and perhaps oil analysis will keep that radial engine operational for a long time. I pay close attention to oil consumption. This engine has used 4 quarts of oil over a 15-hour span of operation. However, oil consumption increases as operating times go above the 600-hour mark. I’m sure that prolonged engine life is due to the improvements in lubricating oil. And a good understanding of how best to operate and maintain the engine over a long period of time will always pay dividends in the end. The overhaul manual for a particular engine will normally contain sections on troubleshooting and inspections, including daily, 25-hour, and 50-hour checks, which can be easily added to the 100-hour and annual inspection checklist.
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Something that is intriguing to me was overall engine expansion when operating temperature has been reached. For a period of time we ran a Townend ring cowl on the New Standard D-25A, but it soon cracked around the attachment points. I also noticed that the cowl was very tight when the engine was hot, so I loosened the attachment clamps until there was a small amount of looseness with the engine at temperature. When the engine cooled there was quite a bit of clearance between the cowl and engine. This eliminated the cracking problem. To my amazement, the Wright Whirlwind engine must have grown at least 1/2 inch or more in diameter when it came up to temperature! Now, on the preflight inspection I can shake the cowl, but when the engine is hot there is no movement. Amazing! In 1928, Fred Weick (pronounced Wyck), an engineer from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), led the development of what was to become known as the NACA low-drag engine cowling. Fred had access to the NACA Propeller Research Wind Tunnel at Langley, Virginia. Fred and his team won the 1929 Collier Trophy, the first of five Collier awards for NACA. Their wind tunnel experiments led to many discoveries as to how to fair in an engine and how to control cooling of the engine. But I don’t recall reading anything about cowling fit to the engine when at operating temperature. Oh, well, book this one to experience and a little trial and error! There is something to be said about looking over an exposed or cowled engine on final approach to landing. It is much easier to see without the cowling around the cylinders, as the photographs show.
Final approach into the Reedley, California, airport in my Command-Aire, shot looking over the right side of a great Wright R-760 engine on short final.
Arrival at the Reedley, California, airport in 1989 after 31-1/2 hours of flying. That’s my oldest grandson, Joshua Lee, coming up to greet me with a welcome balloon. He is a young man now!
Ring cowls, commonly called Townend cowls, only covered the circumference around the cylinders. In many cases the engine did not cool as efficiently as if it were completely exposed to the air. The cylinder heads ran cool enough, but oil temperature would rise to near or above redline. The Wright engine oil temperature in my Command-Aire always ran very hot, particularly in hot summers in central California, sometimes approaching 94°C. The final answer was to install a small oil cooler in the system, which lowered the oil inlet temperature to a respectable 82°C. The tech reps at AeroShell told me that an inlet oil temperature of at least 80°C was needed to boil off water condensation from the oil system. And it in fact does that! The Wright R-760 engine installation is very reliable, and I am not afraid to take the ship on a coast-to-coast cross-county flight. I would have to say it was a successful flight with 19 fuel stops and seven days and six nights of travel. Considering the airplane had only 15 hours of flight time and the pilot had the same number in type, I encountered just two problems. First, the base seal on the No. 1 cylinder decided to leak (badly), and second, the throttle control broke on takeoff from the Blythe, California, airport, resulting in some anxious moments, as the engine was turning only 1200 rpm. But that problem was overcome, and the trip continued as if nothing had happened. But enough of the flying stories; back to the subject at hand.
The Wright cylinder base seals are a constant problem with leakage as engine time builds. It seems at about the 600-hour mark oil will begin seeping around the cylinder base area of cylinders No. 1, No. 2, and No. 7. The solution is to loosen each cylinder and raise it off the power case about 1-2 inches (do not remove the cylinder completely). Using gasoline on a rag, wipe all metal-to-metal surfaces clean and pay particular attention to the O-ring area. Apply a small amount of high-temperature sealant to the chamfer on the power case and the O-ring on the cylinder base. Do not get the sealant on the metal-to-metal surfaces, or the base nut torque will be compromised. Slide the cylinder back down, install the base nuts, and torque. The base nuts on the Wright engine were originally safetied using 0.041inch safety wire; that too must be completed. Then install the intake pipe and push rod housing with new gaskets and seals. Finish by installing the rocker arms and check the clearance to 0.010 inch. You should be good for many more hours of operation. So, as the owner, operator, and mechanic of a single-row radial engine, my best advice is to read and understand how the engine operates and pay attention to its idiosyncrasies. If you do, it will last for many years between expensive overhauls. Good luck and happy flying.
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Message From the President SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
As an aside, I might add that Bob holds the record for the greatest number of times any volunteer has fallen off the roof of the Red Barn. This volunteer record will forever stand, as Bob’s tumblings led to the current VAA policy of hiring professionals for any building projects that require a ladder. Bob was a major contributor to what I think of as VAA’s greatest asset — our corporate culture. Bob’s winsome personality, dedication, and charm played a huge role in developing the current VAA culture. As director emeritus of the Vintage Aircraft Association, Bob will provide valuable counsel to our board. Bob will also continue as co-chair of our video department and work as a weekend volunteer. Thank you, Bob! The Vintage board of directors recently elected adviser Paul Kyle to fill Bob’s unexpired term as director. Most of you will remember Paul as the chairman of Aeromart, where he did an exemplary job of recruiting and organizing a very talented group of volunteers to run the operation. Before accepting the Aeromart chairmanship, Paul was a longtime Vintage volunteer at our Tall Pines Café. He is a regular attendee at our three volunteer work parties,
which are held every year in April, May, and June. Paul is a certified public accountant and brings to the board a level of accounting expertise that is essential for our operation. Paul will also continue his volunteer work at Vintage during AirVenture. I am sure that all of us send our congratulations and thanks to Paul for accepting this position. Paul lives in Ohio with his wife, Stephanie, and his two sons, Ethan and Allon. Blue skies!
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COPYRIGHT © 2020 BY T HE E AA VIN TAGE AIRCR AF T A SSOCIAT ION. ALL RIGHT S RESERVED. VINTAGE AIRPLANE (USPS 062-750; ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published bi-monthly at EAA Aviation Center, 3000 Poberezny Rd., PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903-3086, email: vintageaircraft@eaa.org. Membership to Vintage Aircraft Association, which includes 6 issues of Vintage Airplane magazine, is $45 per year for EAA members and $55 for nonEAA members. Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54902 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Vintage Airplane, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. CPC #40612608. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES—Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surface mail. ADVERTISING — Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken. EDITORIAL POLICY: Members are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor. No remuneration is made. Material should be sent to: Editor, VINTAGE AIRPLANE, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 920-426-4800. EAA® and EAA SPORT AVIATION®, the EAA Logo® and Aeronautica™ are registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited.
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DIRECTORY OFFICERS President Susan Dusenbury 1374 Brook Cove Rd. Walnut Cove, NC 27052 336-591-3931 sr6sue@aol.com
Secretary Steve Nesse 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea, MN 56007 507-383-2850 stnes2009@live.com
Vice President Tim Popp 60568 Springhaven Ct. Lawton, MI 49065 269-760-1544 tlpopp@frontier.com
Treasurer Jerry Brown 4605 Hickory Wood Row Greenwood, IN 46143 317-627-9428 lbrown4906@aol.com
DIRECTORS Dave Clark 635 Vestal Lane Plainfield, IN 46168 317-839-4500 davecpd@att.net
Dan Knutson 106 Tena Marie Circle Lodi, WI 53555 608-354-6101 lodicub@charter.net
George Daubner N57W34837 Pondview Ln. Oconomowoc, WI 53066 262-560-1949 gdaubner@eaa.org
Paul Kyle 1273 Troy Ct. Mason, OH 45040 765-336-3544 paul_e_kyle@hotmail.com
Jon Goldenbaum P.O. Box 190 Warner Springs, CA 92086 951-203-0190 jon@conaircraft.com
Earl Nicholas 219 Woodland Rd Libertyville, IL 60048 847-367-9667 eman46@gmail.com
John Hofmann 548 W. James St. Columbus, WI 53925 608-239-0903 john@cubclub.org
Joe Norris 264 Old Oregon Rd. Oshkosh, WI 54902 pilotjoe@ntd.net 920-688-2977
Ray L. Johnson 347 South 500 East Marion, IN 46953 765-669-3544 rayjohnson@indy.rr.com
Dan Wood 75 Walton Place Dr. Newnan, GA 30263 678-458-3459 fly170@gmail.com
ADVISERS Kevin McKenzie 40550 La Colima Rd. Temecula, CA 92591
Joel Meanor 1015 Trail Ridge Ct. Keller, TX 76248
DIRECTORS EMERITUS David Bennett antiquer@inreach.com
Robert D. “Bob” Lumley rlumley1@wi.rr.com
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S.H. “Wes” Schmid shschmid@gmail.com
Ronald C. Fritz itzfray@gmail.com
John Turgyan jrturgyan4@aol.com
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