Va Vol 48 no 3 may jun 2020

MAY / JUNE 2020

CESSNA 180 CELEBRATION DC-3 WORKHORSE FUN WITH A CHIEF

Rotund

LUSCOMBE

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Message From the President

May/June 2020

SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT

STAFF Publisher: Jack J. Pelton, EAA CEO and Chairman of the Board

Looking forward to seeing you at AirVenture!

Vice President of Publications, Marketing, and Membership: Jim Busha / jbusha@eaa.org Senior Copy Editor: Colleen Walsh Copy Editor: Tom Breuer Proofreader: Meghan Plummer

AS MOST OF YOU PROBABLY know,

my monthly column is written and due six to seven weeks before you see it in your issue of Vintage Airplane, so I make sure to stay away from anything that might be old news by the date of publication. As I write this, spring is just two days away and our country and the world are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Today I wrote a letter to all VAA officers, directors, advisers, and chairpersons canceling the spring VAA board of directors meeting in Oshkosh and replacing it with a teleconference. At this point, the uncertainty surrounding airline travel, the safety of hotels and restaurants, and most importantly the health of everyone involved made this decision an easy one. The Vintage Aircraft Association first met in November 1971, and amazingly enough this is the first time any VAA full board meeting has been held via teleconference. As I write this, VAA Executive Administrator Amy Lemke is working from home and can be reached at 920-426-6110 or alemke@eaa.org. She is able to handle member requests from her home office.

Meanwhile, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh preparations are occupying most of our attention. The Stinson 100th anniversary celebration is coming together quite nicely. To supplement our usual forums, VAA has scheduled Stinson forums in the Vintage Hangar that include an interesting mix of technical, historical, and human-interest subjects. Scheduled forums are planned for Stinson enthusiasts at any level. As of today,

we have commitments from five tri-motor owners and pilots who are planning to attend AirVenture 2020, and there may be as many as seven tri-motors in attendance.

The tri-motors include both lowwing and high-wing Stinsons, Ford Tri-Motors, and the one remaining Bushmaster 2000 in existence. Of course, the low-wing Stinson Tri-Motor Model A is also the lone survivor of its kind. Our VAA Vintage in Review chairman, Ray Johnson, will conduct his “flash mob” interviews with the tri-motor pilots as well as with other vintage aircraft owners and pilots parked along the vintage flightline. The tri-motors will be parked on the east side of Wittman Road just south of the Vintage Village.

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.

Current EAA members may join the Vintage Aircraft Association and receive Vintage Airplane magazine for an additional $45/year.

We have

EAA membership, Vintage Airplane magazine, and one-year

commitments from five tri-motor owners and pilots who are planning to attend AirVenture 2020, and there may be as many as seven tri-motors in attendance.

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 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

12 Sole Survivor Ron Price’s Model 4 — The round-nosed Luscombe

By Budd Davisson

22

Miss Montana Remembering the other paratroop warriors

By Budd Davisson

34 Aging Aircraft, Part 2 Keeping them flying

By Scott McFadden

44 180 Degrees A gathering of Skywagons at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019

By Hal Bryan

52 Jacob and the Aeronca Chief WTFI Aeronca Chief

By Jon Goldenbaum

2

May/June 2020

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Send your thoughts to the Vintage editor at jbusha@eaa.org.

For missing or replacement magazines, or any other membership-related questions, please call EAA Member Services at 800-JOIN-EAA (564-6322).

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ED HICKS

May/June 2020 / Vol. 48, No. 3

COLUM NS COV ER S Front Ron Price brings his rare round Luscombe model 4 in close to the camera-ship.

Photo by Connor Madison.

01

Message From the President

By Susan Dusenbury

04

Friends of the Red Barn

06

Good Old Days

08

VAA Election 2020

10

How To? Wrap a wood wing leading edge with aluminum skin

By Robert G. Lock

Back

Miss Montana cruises under a morning sky near Oshkosh.

Photo by Camden Thrasher.

60

The Vintage Mechanic Breaking in a radial engine

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 May/June 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

C A L L F O R V I N TA G E A I R CR A F T A S S O CI AT I O N

Nominate your favorite vintage aviator for the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame. A great honor could be bestowed upon that man or woman working next to you on your airplane, sitting next to you in the chapter meeting, or walking next to you at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Think about the people in your circle of aviation friends: the mechanic, historian, photographer, or pilot who has shared innumerable tips with you and with many others. They could be the next VAA Hall of Fame inductee — but only if they are nominated.

The person you nominate can be a citizen of any country and may be living or deceased; his or her involvement in vintage aviation must have occurred between 1950 and

the present day. His or her contribution can be in the areas of flying, design, mechanical or aerodynamic developments, administration, writing, some other vital and relevant field, or any combination of fields that support aviation. The person you nominate must be or have been a member of the Vintage Aircraft Association or the Antique/Classic Division of EAA, and preference is given to those whose actions have contributed to the VAA in some way, perhaps as a volunteer, a restorer who shares his expertise with others, a writer, a photographer, or a pilot sharing stories, preserving aviation history, and encouraging new pilots and enthusiasts.

To nominate someone is easy. It just takes a little time and a little reminiscing on your part.

•Think of a person; think of his or her contributions to vintage aviation.

•Write those contributions in the various categories of the nomination form.

•Write a simple letter highlighting these attributes and contributions. Make copies of newspaper or magazine articles that may substantiate your view.

•If at all possible, have another individual (or more) complete a form or write a letter about this person, confirming why the person is a good candidate for induction.

We would like to take this opportunity to mention that if you have nominated someone for the VAA Hall of Fame, nominations for the honor are kept on file for three years, after which the nomination must be resubmitted.

Mail nominating materials to: VAA Hall of Fame, c/o Amy Lemke VAA PO Box 3086 Oshkosh, WI 54903 Email: alemke@eaa.org

Find the nomination form at www.VintageAircraft.org, or call the VAA office for a copy (920-426-6110), or on your own sheet of paper, simply include the following information: •Date submitted.

•Name of person nominated.

•Address and phone number of nominee.

•Email address of nominee.

•Date of birth of nominee. If deceased, date of death.

•Name and relationship of nominee’s closest living relative.

•Address and phone of nominee’s closest living relative.

•VAA and EAA number, if known. (Nominee must have been or be a VAA member.)

•Time span (dates) of the nominee’s contributions to vintage aviation.

(Must be between 1950 to present day.)

•Area(s) of contributions to aviation.

•Describe the event(s) or nature of activities the nominee has undertaken in aviation to be worthy of induction into the VAA Hall of Fame.

•Describe achievements the nominee has made in other related fields in aviation.

•Has the nominee already been honored for his or her involvement in aviation and/or the contribution you are stating in this petition? If yes, please explain the nature of the honor and/or award the nominee has received.

•Any additional supporting information.

•Submitter’s address and phone number, plus email address.

•Include any supporting material with your petition.

Good Old Days

6 May/June 2020

From the pages of what was ...

Take a quick look through history by enjoying images pulled from publications past.

www.vintageaircraft.org 7

VAA Election 2020 SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA 5721 President WALNUT COVE, NORTH CAROLINA

SUSAN BEGAN FLYING at the age of 15 at a private airport (Overton Field) located near her shared hometowns of Andrews and Pawleys Island in South Carolina. She earned her private pilot certificate during her senior year in high school and continued flying during her college years. Susan graduated from Francis Marion University with a Bachelor of Science in business administration and from Florence-Darlington Technical College with a degree in aviation maintenance technology.

DAN WOOD, VAA 23243 Secretary NEWNAN, GEORGIA

DAN CAUGHT THE FLYING BUG from his father, who owned Taylorcrafts back in the ’40s. His first flight, at the age of 9, was with his uncle in a Brantly helicopter. Dan earned his private pilot certificate in 1978 in a Cessna 150 while living near Lansing, Michigan. After receiving a degree in aircraft engineering at Western Michigan University in 1986, he earned his A&P mechanic certificate in 1995. His engineering expertise took him and his family from Michigan to Tennessee to Georgia.

Dan worked at Aeroquip Aerospace and General Motors (Saturn), and he recently retired from Panasonic Automotive Systems

JON GOLDENBAUM, VAA 15278 Director RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA

JON’S AVIATION CAREER began in 1963 when he served as a line boy and mechanic’s assistant for Guinn Flying Service in Pearland, Texas. He earned his private pilot certificate by exchanging manual labor for flying time. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, where he continued to exchange work for flying time to attain commercial, instrument, and flight instructor certificates as he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree.

Jon served 20 years on active duty in the Air Force. He served two combat tours in Vietnam, flying the A-1 Skyraider and the OV-10 Bronco. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross, 12 Air Medals, and numerous other decorations. Over the rest of career, he served in a variety of fighters — including the F-5E, F-111, and F-15 — as a squadron pilot, instructor, and commander. He maintained and operated general aviation aircraft throughout his Air Force career.

8 May/June 2020

While in college, Susan earned her commercial, multiengine, instrument, and flight instructor certificates.

Susan is a longtime EAA and VAA volunteer and currently serves as the president of VAA Chapter 3. She is a director emeritus of the EAA board of directors after serving 20 years as a director. Susan currently serves on the EAA board of directors as the president of the Vintage Aircraft Association. She is a retired night freight pilot, having flown 25 years with ABX Air Inc. (formerly Airborne Freight Corp.).

Susan owns and regularly flies a 1953 Cessna 180 (which is located on her farm in North Carolina) from her local airport, Dusenbury Field. She is currently restoring a 1935 Stinson SR-6.

as global director of supplier quality assurance. He has owned a Cessna 172, Cessna 182, and an Aeronca Champ.

He currently owns a Cessna 170 and a Cessna 170 project.

Dan’s Cessna 170 has received awards at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, SUN ’n FUN, Blakesburg, SERFI, and local fly-ins.

He is president of EAA Chapter 6 in Newnan, Georgia, and has previously served as president and secretary/newsletter editor. He has flown Young Eagles and is an EAA technical counselor. Dan joined EAA in 1988, VAA in 1994, and has attended numerous Oshkosh conventions. He started volunteering at Oshkosh in 2008 in the classic aircraft judging group and has since moved to the contemporary judging group, where he currently is the vice chairman for contemporary awards. Dan and his wife, Debbie, live in Newnan, Georgia.

After being selected for colonel, he retired from the Air Force and joined Delta Air Lines as a pilot and instructor.

Jon has served as president of Consolidated Aircraft Coatings of Riverside, California, a manufacturer of Stits, Ceconite, and Randolph fabric covering products. In 2004, he became a trustee at the Tom Wathen Center at Flabob Airport in Riverside, California. In 2013, he became chairman of the nonprofit charity, which is dedicated to bringing challenged young people into aviation careers.

He is an active classroom and flight instructor and continues to run a successful business.

Jon has owned a Piper J-3 Cub, Taylorcraft BC-12D, Stinson 108-3, Beech Queen Air, Beech V35 Bonanza, and Navy N3N in the antique/classic aircraft category. He actively flies a Navy N3N-3, DC-3, C-47, C-53, T-28, Bonanza, Champ, and Cub and is an active instructor in all. Jon holds ratings in an ATP, DC-3, MD-11, and B-737. He is a CFI, CFII, and MEI with 11,500 total hours and 3,000 hours of tailwheel.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

DAN KNUTSON, VAA 18753 Director LODI, WISCONSIN

A PILOT OF 48 YEARS, Dan Knutson grew up near a small grass airport in Lodi, Wisconsin. As soon as he was tall enough to reach the rudder pedals, he learned to fly in a J-3 Cub and soloed at age 16. Along with his father, Richard Knutson, he was involved in the restoration of many vintage airplanes. Dan has attended every EAA convention since 1966. Dan became the EAA contemporary judging chairman in 1992 when the category was formed.

For 47 years Dan has worked in the automotive industry. Dan and his wife, Mary, who is chairwoman of the Red Barn Store, live in Lodi.

PAUL KYLE, VAA 30571 Director MASON, OHIO

PAUL’S LOVE OF FLYING came from his grandfather and father, who took him to his first EAA fly-in convention in 1983.

During the late ’80s he started helping his grandfather build a Sonerai II. While in college he started taking flying lessons in his father’s 1959 Cessna 150. He graduated from Concordia University in Wisconsin with a degree in accounting and acquired his CPA license in 2011. He currently resides in Mason, Ohio, with his wife, Stephanie, and young sons Ethan and Allon.

Paul has volunteered in numerous positions for Vintage, starting with the Antique Classic Division during the 1989 Oshkosh convention, where he worked the flightline. Later he started volunteering during the work weekends in the mid-’90s at Tall Pines Café and was chair of Aeromart. While he still helps out during the work weekends, Paul’s main role is now as Vintage finance chairman during AirVenture.

STEVE NESSE, VAA 6490 Director ALBERT LEA, MINNESOTA

STEVE WAS BORN in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and grew up on a nearby farm. Having a deep interest in aviation, he received his private pilot certificate in 1967. In 1975 he purchased a 1946 Navion from his father. Since joining EAA in 1967 at Rockford, Illinois, Steve has attended 54 consecutive EAA conventions.

A charter member of VAA Chapter 13, Steve has served as vice president and president of that chapter. He currently serves as

chairman of the Metal Shaping Workshop and Tall Pines Café at AirVenture. He served two years as an adviser and later as a director before taking the position of secretary of the Vintage Aircraft Association in 1991. After 29 years, he has decided to step down from his duties as secretary and is again running for the position of director.

See attached insert ballot to vote.

www.vintageaircraft.org

9

How To? ROBERT G. LOCK

Wrap a wood wing leading edge with aluminum skin

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

A COMMON METHOD TO FAIR the leading edge of a wood wing is to

nail aluminum that has been formed to wrap around the area. Many old airplanes used a soft aluminum, probably what is now 5052, but many restorers use heat-treated 2024-T3 for the leading edge. It is best to install aluminum in sections rather than in one piece because when rigging wings, particularly on a biplane, the wires will cause spars of upper wings to bend down slightly, and a one-piece leading edge will wrinkle. Installing sections allows the skin to telescope very slightly when the spar bends.

Leading edges are typically installed using nails; however, a few ships used countersunk brass screws. I hand bend the aluminum skin by rolling it over on itself and, using a padded 1-by-4-inch piece of wood, press down until the proper shape has been set. Then I scrub the aluminum with phosphoric acid and a scrubbing pad (such as Scotch-Brite) and rinse with tap water to remove all traces of acid.

Then the aluminum is treated with chromic acid (Alodine) until the aluminum has a slightly yellow sheen, and then the aluminum skin is flushed with water. When the parts have sufficiently dried, I prime the aluminum with a good grade of epoxy primer. Now the skin is ready to install.

Figure 1

10 May/June 2020

The aluminum is simply an extension of the rib profile and is there to protect the leading edge wood against abrasion.

Wrap the skin around the leading edge and mark rib locations with a soft pencil or waterbased marking pen (don’t use red). Next, wrap the aluminum and hold it in place with rubber tension straps. The aluminum skin should fit tightly on the ribs with no gaps due to poor fit.

The aluminum is simply an extension of the rib profile and is there to protect the leading edge wood against abrasion.

Figure 1 shows the installation of leading edge metal on a Hatz biplane wing. Note that the skin is nailed to filler blocks glued to the spar between ribs and is nailed to each rib. Use cement-coated barbed steel wire nails for this task, as barbless nails will tend to vibrate out during flight operations. When this job is finished, cover all nail heads with a good grade of tape. I like to use gaffer’s tape because it has good adhesion and is thinner than other types of tapes. Some mechanics use sports adhesive tape, and that too is okay.

Just make sure that solvents from the covering material will not loosen the adhesion on the tape.

Figure 2 shows the repaired Hatz wing ready for taping using gaffer’s tape before covering begins. This wing was covered with the Poly Fiber process. The large mahogany gussets on the upper and lower cap strips were necessary because of cap strip splices when all leading edge ribs were replaced.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

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Figure 2

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Toll Free Sales: 1-888-433-5433 Shop Online: www.univair.com Figure 3 shows the Hatz wing with the first coat of Poly-Brush applied, rib lacing completed, and surface tapes installed, with one brush coat on the tapes. Taping was done to match the right upper wing. After PolyBrush and Poly-Spray buildup, the wing was top-coated with Aero-Thane polyurethane enamel paint.

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www.vintageaircraft.org

11

CHECK OUT THE DIGITAL EDITION of Vintage for a video on Ron Price’s Model 4.

12 May/June 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON

RON PRICE’S MODEL 4 — THE ROUND-NOSED LUSCOMBE

BY BUDD DAVISSON

www.vintageaircraft.org 13

here are very few aviators who don’t think Luscombe 8 aircraft are as cute as a bug’s ear — which is another way of saying they’re hard to resist.

The same could be said of round engines — especially small ones. They have the same sort of universal appeal. Who has ever heard of a “real” pilot not loving radial engines? Then there’s the Model 4 Luscombe, also known as the “90.” It would have to be categorized as the best of both worlds: a round-engine Luscombe! And Ron Price of Sonoma, California, can attest to the can’t-get-it-out-of-my-mind appeal of the airplane: It haunted him for decades before winding up in his hangar.

IN THE BEGINNING

Born and raised in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (yes, that, Fond du Lac), Ron didn’t grow up in an aviation family, but when they moved to Phoenix, aviation found its way into his life.

“While I was in high school in Phoenix, they had an aviation program that was attached to Sky Harbor Airport, the main airline airport,” Ron said. “In very short order I got my PPL, then commercial, and II and applied to the airlines. TWA, to be specific. This was in 1966, and there was a terrific pilot shortage because the airlines were experiencing a period of rapid expansion, and WWII pilots were aging out.

“When I started flying in a 727, I had four hours in a simulator, four hours shooting night landings in the 727, and a grand total of 280 hours, every bit of it instruction,” he said. “In my airline training class, about half were like me — low time — and the other half had been hired off the street by the airline with zero flight time and put through the airline training course. It was a crazy time!”

At the beginning of his training, even though he was obviously prepping for an airline career, vintage airplanes had already caught his attention.

1937 Luscombe Airplane Corporation ad boasting of “airplanes in the modern manner,” meaning all metal. Phantom on the top with the “90”/Model 4 middle, and the brand new 8 series that continued production into the 1950s.

“During one of my trips to the airport, while learning to fly in San Jose, California, I spotted this unbelievably attractive airplane on the ramp,” Ron said. “It was obviously a Luscombe, but it had a round engine. One of the older CFIs said it was a Phantom, and it wasn’t until later that I found it was a Model 4, also known as the 90 — the last of five produced to survive. It was instant love, but I obviously couldn’t afford it, even if it had been for sale.”

After seeing the Model 4 again in ’66 and ’67, Ron lost track of it.

“However, it still lived in my mind,” he said.

“We didn’t have bucket lists in those days, but if we had, the Model 4 would have been right on the top of mine. Then a wonderful thing happened.

Luscombe Airplane Development Corp. factory circa 1938.

Product lineup, left to right: second production Luscombe 90, NC1325, s/n 402; Luscombe Phantom, NC1323, s/n 121, first flight; first production 50 8 series, NC1327, s/n 801.

Factory. West Trenton, New Jersey.Photo from Howard Jong, Luscombe employee from 1936 to 1939.

14 May/June 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF RON PRICE

“In the early ’70s I became a regular attendee at the recently formed Continental Luscombe Association Fly-In in Columbia, California, that attracted lots of Luscombe lovers,” he said. “It was there that I got to know Chuck Burgess, Louis Coghill, Fritz King, Bill Shepard, Howard Jong, the Funk brothers, and even Brownie Luscombe [Don’s second wife] and Don’s son Jim Luscombe from San Marino, California. They were the ‘Luscombe alumni.’ Some of them had been with Don Luscombe in 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri, building the first few Phantoms. They moved on to West Trenton, New Jersey, in 1935, trying to stay alive in the struggling aviation industry.”

According to the Luscombe alumni, there was a 90 in the Bay Area and a couple Phantom examples that they had visited, Ron said. “They told me a lot about their efforts to come up with a less expensive metal airplane, thinner skins, fewer of them, smaller and fewer rivets, but most of all a cheaper powerplant. Bill Shepard became a good friend and would stay at our home before or after the fly-in, and we visited the Phantoms in a shop shared with Ole Fahlin’s propeller business in Campbell, California, and this Luscombe 90 that was now in the Flying Lady Museum in Morgan Hill, California. Bill engineered the flaps on what is mostly a Phantom wing and told me about putting a 90-hp Warner on an old fuselage with redesigned gear for proof-of-concept testing in 1936. In 1937 they built a prototype with a simpler fuselage and the same Warner Scarab Junior engine and the modified wings.

They were able to reduce the price by a third from the Phantom.

“The 90 Model 4 was what they started to build in 1937 and in early 1938, even knowing that Continental was promising to deliver the new 50-hp engine,” Ron said. “The 50 [Model 8] started taking shape at this time in the engineering office and school classrooms with thinner aluminum skins, fewer bulkheads, and an all-new, lighter wing with the updraft 50-hp Continental engine. So in June of ’38 they finished four Model 4s/90s, including NC1337, and prepared the factory for the 50s [Model 8s] production. By the end of 1938, Luscombe had built and sold one Phantom, four 90s, and 71 50s at $1,895 [$34,360 in 2020 dollars], which was one-third the price of the Phantom.”

Ron Price’s son, Chris, and friend Bob Small taking apart NC1337 to take out of the Flying Lady Museum in Morgan Hill, California, 1980. Note Stearman-Hammond twin boom aircraft in background.

Luscombe 90 proof-of-concept aircraft.

NX1253, s/n 400, first flight March 10, 1937.

www.vintageaircraft.org 15

In fact, the airplane sat in one of Ron’s hangars and wasn’t touched for several more decades. Ron can’t exactly articulate why he didn’t start restoring it. However, even though he didn’t get it flying, at least he had it. That’s the important part.

ENTER THE MODEL 4

Ron recalled how he found and came to own his 90. “In 1977 I was flying on contract in Saudi Arabia for TWA,” he said. “I was back in California for a few days and happened to pick up a copy of Trade-A-Plane as I was prepping to catch the flight back to Saudi. There, in the ‘Antique’ section, the Model 4 was listed for sale. I immediately called the seller, said I’d take it, and fired off a deposit.

“The airplane was sitting in a museum that was part of a fly-in golf course,” Ron said. “The museum actually owned very few of the airplanes they had on display. Owners of vintage airplanes would loan them to the museum in exchange for free hangar space. So I just left the airplane in the museum until I returned to the U.S. in 1980. In 1986 we moved it to Sonoma, California, where my wife and I had moved and still live today.”

Normally, when telling this kind of vintage airplane tale, now is when the prose would start heading off into restoration territory. We’d be talking about him spending tedious hour after tedious hour in the hangar bringing his sole survivor airplane back to life. But that’s not what happened. In fact, the airplane sat in one of Ron’s hangars and wasn’t touched for several more decades. Ron can’t exactly articulate why he didn’t start restoring it. However, even though he didn’t get it flying, at least he had it. That’s the important part. However, it was never far from his mind. At the same time, the airplane also wasn’t far from the minds of a couple of Luscombe fanatics 1,530 air miles to the east in Bates City, Missouri, just north of Kansas City.

THEY HAD THEIR EYE ON RON’S AIRPLANE AND HAD A PLAN

Mark Anderson and Bill Bradford knew the Model 4 well, and as longtime and very serious Luscombe restorers, they lay awake nights thinking about how much they wanted to get their hands on the Model 4 and restore it. They knew Ron would never sell it to them, so owning it was out of the question. But the historic airplane was just sitting there, getting dustier by the day. The image haunted them.

Mark is a second-generation vintage airplane restorer and owner. In fact, his granddad had some serious antiques, cabin Wacos among them. So it was only natural that he’d buy a Luscombe project right out of college.

“The airplane was in the backyard of a widow, so we dragged it home and I restored it,” Mark said. “I’d actually met Ron Price about that time because my dad knew him.

Dad showed me a photo of a Model 4 in a book, and I never forgot that Ron had one. This made me jealous even then.

Even though I eventually had my own aircraft-restoration business and actually own and am restoring the very first Model 8 Luscombe, Ron’s Model 4 was always out there tempting me. I got very busy building Aerodrome Aircraft full-scale replica WWI aircraft but couldn’t get the Model 4 off my mind.”

Al Langone, owner from 1950 to 1957, at Gardena Valley Airport, Los Angeles County, California, on October 3, 1950, after completing trip from Los Angeles to Olathe, Kansas, and back. Written on the back of the old photo: “SOME SHIP!” Ron Price and his son, Chris, nearly replicated that trip 69 years later in 2019. Starting in Gardner, Kansas (near Olathe), they flew it to its new home in Sonoma, California.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF RON PRICE

Almost exactly 8 miles from Mark’s house and backyard runway, his fellow Luscombe freak, Bill Bradford, also had a Luscombe-restoration facility. He and Mark are good friends and often lamented the fate of the Model 4 and the fact that Ron Price showed no apparent interest in restoring it. This was especially frustrating because they would both run across Ron at various antique fly-ins, including in Brodhead, Wisconsin, and Blakesburg, Iowa.

“Mark and I wanted to restore that airplane in the worst way,” Bill said. “So between the two of us we made it a point to start doing a sales job on Ron every time either of us saw him. This went on for at least five years, and every time one of us saw him and did a sales pitch on him, we’d report to the other.

“In the course of our purposely ganging up on Ron, we put our heads together and came up with a minimum budget for which the airplane could be restored,” he said. “I mean, we came up with an offer to present to Ron that no sane antique airplane owner could turn down. Finally, Mark said Ron was just about ready to give in, and I was assigned the job of laying the offer on him at Blakesburg. Miracle of miracles, Ron agreed to let us restore the airplane!”

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www.vintageaircraft.org 17

Ron Price, Chris Price (16 months), Jon Price (6), and Heidi Price (11) visiting the Flying Lady Restaurant and Museum in Morgan Hill, California, in 1976 some years before they bought the Model 4.

THE RESTORATION BEGINS

Ron has repeatedly said there was no particular reason why he hadn’t started restoring the airplane. Having said that, he actually had taken some steps in that direction. He had all the original instruments restored and had Dick Weeden totally rebuild the original five-cylinder, 90-hp Warner engine. However, they too had been put in storage with no particular goal in mind until Mark and Bill talked him into loading the airplane on a trailer and driving it to Mark’s place in Bates City.

“Even though I wasn’t physically doing anything on the airplane at the time, the history of it had me captivated because several of the original people associated with it lived in my general neighborhood,” Ron said. “This included Ignatius Sargent, who had done the original test flights on the airplane in 1938 and was part of the Luscombe team. He was a font of information on Don Luscombe, his airplanes, and the whole Luscombe era. He hooked me up with others who had been at the factory in both the Kansas City and Trenton factories.

18 May/June 2020

“I have a number of other vintage birds, including a J-3, Vagabond, Fleet, and Luscombe Sedan, and as is usually the case, the airplanes are just airplanes, their history trailing out behind them as words in a bunch of books,” he continued. “Nothing personal or direct. With the Model 4, I had a living, breathing portal to the time that gave my airplane birth. He was sharp as a tack and could rattle off the facts and episodes as no one else could. He had lived it. So when I gave in to Mark and Bill and we were loading the airplane for transport in 2016, the historical importance of the airplane was definitely not lost on me. I just wished Ignatius had been alive at the time to see what we were doing.”

Mark described what it was like for Bill and him to see Ron’s Model 4 for the first time. “When the airplane arrived, I don’t think either Bill or I had ever actually examined it,” he said. “We were pleased to see it was actually in pretty decent shape for an 80-year-old aluminum airplane that had spent almost as much time on trailers being trucked around as it had flying. None of the fuselage skins were badly beaten up, but some did require enough work for me to replace them.

“Bill and I decided that I’d restore the wing structure at my place but he would cover them and he’d do the tail, which needed total rebuilding,” Mark said. “Bill is a real sheet metal expert, plus he actually had jigs for Luscombe tails, although the Model 4’s tail was slightly different. It turns out that the fuselage from the wing back was very close to the same as the early 8 series, but the wing was strictly Phantom. As the project moved along, the plan was that the airplane would be finished and test-flown at Bill’s because my runway was too short and Bill was better equipped for some of the work.”

Bill Bradford came from an aviation family.

“From the time I was 6 or 7 years old,” he said, “Dad would have me crawling down fuselages to hook up cables or buck rivets. The first airplane of my own that I rebuilt was a clipped wing Luscombe, possibly the first of its kind. Then [I worked on] my brother’s Tri-Pacer, and I went on from there. In 2015 I built a flying replica of the legendary and largely unknown Model 10 Luscombe, a cute little low-wing bird that never went into production. All this time I’d been working on Ron about us doing the restoration on the Model 4 and, among other things, pointed out that none of us was getting any younger. I was really happy when he agreed to let us do the airplane.”

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF RON PRICE

After Mark had done the wing structure, the Model 4 went to Bill and he started on some of the detail work. “This included rebuilding the landing gear, which is unbelievably stout for such a small airplane,” he said. “Rather than having one oleo strut in the middle, like an 8 series Luscombe, it has one on each side, and it took me three days and lots of heat and swearing to get them apart. When I did get them open, the hydraulic oil was the consistency of heavy grease.

“The top of the cabin has a sort of H-shaped steel tubing structure that ties the wings together and goes forward down and down to the firewall,” he continued. “There are a bunch of oddly shaped skylights up there, and I had to fabricate the hat-section stringers that fastened to the carry-through structure that holds the Plexiglas.

“By far, the tail surfaces were the most work,” Bill said. “Don Luscombe apparently wasn’t a believer in dissimilar metal corrosion because none of the steel fittings were properly coated.

The result was a lot of corrosion in the horizontal stab, and some of the ribs were just not there. They’d been eaten.

“Naturally, no new windshield was available for the airplane,” he said. “The one that was in the airplane, when we got it, was probably the original. When Ron originally bought what is now an 80-year-old airplane, it was only 38 years old and it sat in storage for over another 40 years. So it was protected. However, although the windshield was okay, when you’re restoring such a rare airplane, okay isn’t going to cut it. We sent it to Airplane Plastics in Dayton, Ohio, where they made a mold and did new Plexi for us. But it was tedious putting it in because No. 6 screws are used, and there is barely enough edge distance to install them.

Also, they are slotted screws, like the originals, not Phillips.”

The wheels are interesting because they are 8-by-3, not 8-by-4, so the tires are 8-by-4s with adapters to take them down to 3 inches. The sliding windows in the doors had disappeared, and “someone” had put hinges and latches on them. Crude hinges and latches! So Bill squared everything up and made slider rails.

“Mark knew a hot-rod upholstery guy, and we had him stitch up the red faux-leather seat cushions over 1-inch temper foam,” Bill said. “I glued the same material to 0.020inch aluminum side panels.

“One of the major hurdles was that the data plates for the airplane were lost, so we couldn’t definitively prove which airplane it was and get it licensed,” he said.

“However, Stan Dzus’ Luscombe book lists all the Phantom and Model 4 owners, including the serial numbers of both the engines and the airframes. The engine on Ron’s airplane had the right serial number, and that was good enough for the FAA to generate the proper paperwork, and Ron could have the right data plates made. Incidentally, the data plate also includes the operation speeds.”

Ron Price delivering a new custom windshield Airplane Plastics to Mark Anderson’s shop in Bates City, Missouri.

Co-restorer Bill Bradford, left, and owner Ron Price at Mark Anderson’s shop.

Fuselage semi-finished and pulled out for first time at co-restorer Mark Anderson’s field.

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SO … HOW DOES IT FLY?

Ron finally got to fly the airplane when it was at Brodhead for the fly-in just before the opening of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019. “They had terrible rains at Oshkosh and weren’t letting any more airplanes in unless they had a dry place to park them, but we got a phone call saying they’d like to have the Model 4 to put in front of the Vintage Red Barn,” Ron said. “We, of course, didn’t have a radio, which was going to complicate us getting in up there because the ceilings were fairly low and we couldn’t contact anyone as we were inbound. So one of our friends at Brodhead, Jim Roberts, volunteered to lead us up there in his Swift and he’d handle all the radio work. So my first takeoff and landing were in less than perfect situations.

“Bill Bradford had test-flown it and flew it up to Brodhead,” Ron continued. “So he gave me some pointers, one of which was that I’d be surprised at how pleasant its ailerons are for an airplane that old. And I was. When I landed at Oshkosh I was also surprised at how it flew final. The flaps only have two positions: 10 degrees and a whopping 40 degrees. So when you’re on final with full flaps, you’re either really high and coming down very steep or you’re using a lot of power to drag it in. It comes down as steeply as my Sedan does, and that’s a much heavier airplane. When you flare with full flaps, the 70 mph approach speed disappears in a heartbeat, and you slow to a near stop during touchdown at about 40 mph. It handles very nicely on the ground, but the rollout is so short you don’t need to use the cable-operated Goodyear brakes.”

Ron’s most obvious vote of confidence in his 80-year-old flying machine was his decision, after Oshkosh, to replicate a trip the airplane had made in 1950, when it was not yet even a teenager.

“My son, Chris, and I took off from Gardner, Kansas, heading for Sonoma,” Ron said. “The flight covered 1,800 miles and took 21 hours to complete. With 31 gallons of fuel and burning only 5.6 gph, you can have long legs. We had to hand-grease the rocker arms periodically, but it was totally reliable, with only minor squawks.

Not bad for an ancient airplane!”

So now Luscombe enthusiasts and the general public can enjoy seeing what happens when you combine a cute engine with a good-looking airplane.

It’s unique, and not likely to be forgotten!

INTERESTED IN LUSCOMBES? Contact the Continental Luscombe Association or the Luscombe Association for more information.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILL CAMPBELL, ED HICKS, CONNOR MADISON

CLICK HERE

TO SEE A VIDEO ON RON PRICE’S MODEL 4

Chris Price, flying, with Ron Price, passenger, for EAA photo flight near Brodhead, Wisconsin. August 2019.

www.vintageaircraft.org 21

CLICK HERE

TO SEE A VIDEO ON MISS MONTANA

22 May/June 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON

REMEMBERING THE OTHER PARATROOP WARRIORS

BY BUDD DAVISSON

YOU’RE SITTING IN THE OPEN DOOR of a C-47, straining under the weight of nearly 100 pounds of gear plus your parachute. The howling wind tears at your helmet and you grab the door frame to steady yourself against the fierce turbulence. The jump master taps your shoulder, and you lean out into space. The 20 feet before the static line jerks tight seems to take an eternity. The chute slams open, and you glance up to see the Gooney Bird disappearing in the distance. Your buddies, falling through the air in a string as their chutes begin to open, punctuate the distance. Looking down, you spot a clearing in the trees and start tugging risers, hoping you don’t get hung up.

The drop was perfect. Thankfully, you aren’t drifting toward the fire line.

However, you know your enemy. It isn’t shooting at you. You’re not carrying a Garand, and the enemy isn’t armed with Mausers. You’re carrying pickaxes and chain saws, the enemy is converting pine trees into a tornado of flame, and you have to stop it. You’re a smoke jumper. That’s your job. And the C-47 in the distance was your ride to work.

www.vintageaircraft.org 23

eventy-five years after it was built, the ex-smoke jumping Gooney Bird known as Miss Montana looked a little out of place snuggled into the formation of other C-47s as they droned over the beaches at Normandy last year. Miss Montana was silver — the color it wore to work after World War II. The rest of the siblings around it were dressed in Army-issue olive drab with bands of black and white encircling their wings and fuselages. No one was shooting at them because the flight was a celebration of the heroism that occurred 75 years ago on June 6, 1944.

Although Miss Montana was a C-47 and had served in the U.S. Army Air Forces stateside, its current mission is to commemorate heroes of another kind at another time. As part of the Museum of Mountain Flying in Missoula, Montana, she commemorates the legendary but largely unknown breed known as smoke jumpers.

The mere mention of Missoula, Montana, instantly evokes images of a special brand of paratroopers falling out of airplanes to disappear into a backcountry filled with fire. The concept of smoke jumping was invented in Missoula in 1940 and was carried forward for four decades by Bob Johnson and Johnson Flying Service, which used a wide variety of aircraft. Miss Montana was one of those aircraft. Today it exists because of the combined efforts of the city of Missoula, Eric Komberec, and the numerous volunteers and backers who call the Museum of Mountain Flying home.

In Montana and in certain corners of the aviation community, all you have to do is whisper the name “Bob Johnson” and the response will be immediate: Johnson and the flying service that bore his name are more than aviation icons. The image they evoke involves raging fires, low-flying water bombers, and converted transports with heavily clothed jumpers cascading out of them. Johnson, his pilots, and the jumpers he put out the back placed Missoula on the map. More importantly, he is recognized as a key part of a history that needs to be remembered. He was to forest fires what Red Adair was to oil-well fires. Legends both.

In her life with Johnson Flying Service, Miss Montana probably carried more smoke jumpers into their drop zones than any single military C-47 carried armed troops into combat.

24 May/June 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURIE GOOSSENS, PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MUSEUM OF MOUNTAIN FLYING INC.

Museum of Mountain Flying President Eric Komberec at the controls of Miss Montana. He’s a second-generation fire bomber pilot as his dad flew for Johnson Flying Service almost from the beginning.

Miss Montana got its name from the B-25 flown by Eric’s grandfather in the Pacific during WWII.

Museum of Mountain Flying President Eric Komberec remembers from a personal perspective the stories of men like Johnson and how the museum came to be.

“My dad, Dick Komberec, read a book written by Dale White and Larry Florek titled Tall Timber Pilots, which chronicles the early years of Johnson Flying Service and the pioneering tales of smoke jumping, mountain flying, and early fire-bomber operations,” Eric said. “It’s a thrilling book, and it inspired my dad to learn to fly. By the time my father was in his 20s, he was flying everything from converted A-26s and TBM air tankers to Twin Beeches and Douglas DC-3s, hauling backcountry cargo and jumpers for Johnson. So, as many others did, he spent a good portion of his early flying career down in the smoke and trees dropping fire retardant and jumpers. In 1975, Johnson Flying Service was sold, the aircraft was liquidated, and Dad would go on to a 35-year career with Western Airlines/Delta.

“In 1994, my father, along with Steve Smith, Stan Cohen, Patsy and Gary Coleman, and Jack Demmons, decided it was time to form a museum that commemorated the firefighting history of Missoula and Bob Johnson,” he said. “The museum started as a collection of remaining Johnson artifacts. Artwork, uniforms, photos, and soon aircraft were added. They were housed in a small hangar owned by the local FBO.

“Missoula, a small city of 120,000 people, gained tremendous attention as the location for the movie A River Runs Through It,” Eric continued. “It is, however, very proud of its role in wild-land firefighting for over 100 years. So, in 2001, several local entrepreneurs, including Kathy Ogren, Rich Nash, Tom Gummer, Dick Komberec, and a handful more, helped fund an effort to buy a DC-3 for the museum.

But it wasn’t just any DC-3. It was one that had been a carrier with Johnson Flying Service, entering service in 1946 after the war. The effort included building a massive hangar large enough to house several aircraft and our artifact collection.”

While the museum was getting off the ground, a young Eric Komberec was building a career as a professional pilot. He spent several seasons in Alaska flying both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

“One of the more interesting jobs was flying a helicopter that was based on an icebreaker in the North Pole,” he said. “However, my wife and young daughter were still living in Kalispell, Montana, so I relocated back to Missoula where I’m now a large air tanker captain for Neptune Aviation. Neptune Aviation is a great family-atmosphere business.

With almost 300 employees, they operate nine large air tankers under contract for the U.S. Forest Service.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURIE GOOSSENS, PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MUSEUM OF MOUNTAIN FLYING INC.

www.vintageaircraft.org 25

The history of the C-47 now known as Miss Montana is entirely postwar because the war ended almost before it was finished being built.

Johnson Flying Service bought it in 1946, and it joined two other C-47s as part of the company’s smoke-jumping program, eventually flying contracts for the military.

26 May/June 2020

“Neptune’s aircraft carry 3,000 gallons of fire retardant,” Eric said. “Recently retiring all remaining Korean War P2Vs, we now fly converted British BAe 146 four-engine jets. We travel around the country on a moment’s notice, working where we’re needed. And currently the company is looking at expanding to worldwide operations.”

Eric described the way aerial firefighting works as a little like the way the Battle of Britain is imagined. “We brief in the morning and wait until the bell rings, and we’re off the ground as soon as possible, usually within 15 minutes, heading to someplace we may not have even thought about the night before when we went to bed. Because we’re either waiting around for days or crazy busy, I fill my free time with museum and Miss Montana business.”

The history of the C-47 now known as Miss Montana is entirely postwar because the war ended almost before it was finished being built. Johnson Flying Service bought it in 1946, and it joined two other C-47s as part of the company’s smoke-jumping program, eventually flying contracts for the military. It was flying troops around the country in 1954 when disaster struck: It ran out of fuel with a full load of holiday-bound soldiers and was bellied into the Monongahela River just short of the runways at the Allegheny airport. The pilot and nine others drowned while trying to make it through the icy waters to shore.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ED HICKS

Within days it was pulled out of the river and put back into the air by Johnson mechanics before being brought back to Missoula to fly another 20 years. Prior to this it was involved in yet another disaster: In August 1949 outside of Helena, Montana, 15 jumpers parachuted from N24320 into a new fire start and soon were trapped by the fast-moving blaze. Known as the Mann Gulch fire, the blaze claimed the lives of 13 of those young men, many of them WWII veterans.

Miss Montana served Johnson well until it was sold to Evergreen Aviation of Oregon in 1975. Coincidentally, Eric’s dad was the pilot on the ferry flight and the last Johnson employee to fly it.

“When we first started talking about buying a DC-3/C-47,” Eric said, “my dad, Dick, remembered seeing ‘3-20’ on one of his trips as a Delta pilot. At the time, she was working as a freighter in Arkansas. By this time, our fundraising had given us enough money to make a worthwhile offer, and we were successful. The papers were signed and my dad, along with Rick Nash, climbed into the airplane and brought her home in 2001. That was a turning point for the museum. We now had a real airplane!”

The museum’s original plans in 2001 were not to make the airplane a static display, but with high maintenance costs and a lack of mechanics, they were only able to pull it out once every few years and run the engines. According to Eric, they didn’t think they could afford to keep it flying, and then 18 years later something unique happened.

“The first airplane owned and operated by the U.S. Forest Service was a Stinson SR-10C Gullwing in 1939, and the first smoke-jumper drop was made from it,” he said. “I currently am in the process of restoring this historic artifact to flying condition in order to display it in our museum. So I was looking for a similar Reliant to help aid in the restoration of mine and bought a V-77 Reliant in Peachtree, Georgia. There had been a tornado earlier in the day I was to start home, so we decided to stay the night and leave in the morning. We opted for a late dinner in a small restaurant in the local area with the seller and his wife.

“Our conversation quickly became centered largely on our DC-3 when a lady at the table next to us was introduced,” Eric continued. “She was a friend of the sellers, and a conversation was sparked when we started talking about DC-3/C-47s. It was none other than Connie Bowlin, whom I recognized as a famous Mustang pilot, but I didn’t know she was also connected with the guys who were going to be flying Gooneys to Normandy to be part of the 75th anniversary of the invasion. She asked if we were going to try to make the flight to Normandy the next June. Openly admitting our aircraft hadn’t flown in almost 18 years, and considering they were making the flight in just 12 months, we said that, unfortunately, it would only be a fool’s dream for us.

When the decision was made for Miss Montana to fly to Normandy and be part of the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, she hadn’t flown in 18 years and the fly across the Atlantic was to take place in less than a year.

www.vintageaircraft.org 27

Flying to Normandy would be a difficult trip so the 75-year-old aircraft had to have every system totally remanufactured to guarantee a safe trip.

“Two days later Brian Douglas, a friend from Missoula, and I were droning along in the Reliant on the way home, and I got a text from Connie! She had reached out to Eric Zipkin, who was president of the D-Day Squadron and pilot of the DC-3 Placid Lassie, and we were invited to come along on their ‘little’ adventure.

“The concept of paying homage to not only D-Day vets but, in our case, smoke jumpers, too, really appealed to us,” Eric said. “So the entire rest of the flight home was an extended conversation about whether such a thing was even possible in the time available. The museum had taken care of the airplane, but we were only preserving her on life support, not prepping her for flight — especially one that would cross the Atlantic not once but twice! Plus, how could we possibly afford to do it? The cost and man-hours that would be required were impossible to calculate while sitting in the Reliant. All we knew was that the two prime requirements, money and people, would each be huge.

However, by the time we got home, we were determined to try to make it happen.

28 May/June 2020

“Shortly after we arrived home, the ‘new’ display airplane, the Reliant, was almost lost in the furor that resulted from the enthusiasm that erupted among the museum volunteers over a possible Normandy trip,” he said. “However, that was nothing compared to the way Missoula residents reacted. It was incredibly gratifying that everyone saw value in investing their donations and time in a project that, at the onset, appeared almost impossible to accomplish in the time frame available. Still, we jumped into it with both feet, and it soon took on a life of its own.

“One of the personally gratifying aspects was that I came up with a photo of my grandfather and his B-25H, the version with the cannon in the nose, in the Marshall Islands during WWII,” Eric said.

“A local Montana boy, he had received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Flying Cross with a cluster. The name emblazoned on the nose of his airplane was Miss Montana, and that was soon destined to be the name of our C-47.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON

“In a matter of days, the name was on the airplane and we had stickers, retail posters, and press photos produced, and the Miss Montana-to-Normandy campaign was conceived,” he said. “Had we actually known what the final tally of both time and money would be, we undoubtedly would have shied away from the project: The grand total was somewhere near $500,000 and at least 14,000 manand woman-hours. Every minute of the time spent on the airframe was volunteer labor. We practically had a continual line of locals, many of whom I had never met, coming in the door asking to help. It was very heartwarming.”

When it came to the actual work to be done to the airplane, there was a lot of good and bad news. By far the best news was that the time-consuming and expensive replacement of the wing-attach angles, the point where the old Gooney Birds show the most fatigue, had already been done. Plus, there was little or no corrosion.

The engines were sent to Ray Anderson of Anderson Airmotive in Grangeville, Idaho, in June 2018 for overhaul, and one entire crankshaft had to be replaced due to rust.

From front to back, everything had to be gone through with an eye toward both authenticity and reliability: Crossing the Atlantic in a 75-year-old airplane wasn’t something to be taken lightly. Eric said nearly 350 pounds of ancient radio equipment was removed from the cockpit. In addition, the original, usually unreliable bladder brakes were replaced with more modern units, and the interior, which had carried everything from horses to chickens, was totally cleaned and painted.

The original interior, both in its military and smoke-jumping days, would have included wooden bench seats running down both sides of the fuselage. None were available, but an original paratrooper set was found and purchased. The total tab for the original seats and the reproducing of them was $18,000. The museum had a sale where each seat was to be dedicated to individual family members of the donors who helped to purchase them. It only took two days, and all the seats were spoken for.

“One of the biggest problems was sourcing parts like the fuel tanks,” Eric said. “For decades there had been very little demand for the parts, but now there were 15 or 20 other groups out there doing the same thing we were: prepping their airplanes to go to Normandy. So the price of parts had skyrocketed!

“We started getting tremendous press and social media coverage,” he said. “It became known as ‘The Miracle of Missoula,’ and we soon had over 8,000 Facebook followers. Because there were no millionaire supporters involved and it was 100 percent volunteer supported, we were definitely viewed as the underdog. This whole thing had to be pulled off in 10 months, and we weren’t even sure we could make it. However, we knew we had to, and we did. We even had a CBS reporter, Richard Schlesinger, and his camera crew onboard.

It took $500,000 in donations and over 14,000 man/ woman-hours to get Miss Montana ready for the trip to France. Every single minute of time invested in the airframe was via Missoula volunteers.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURIE GOOSSENS, PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MUSEUM OF MOUNTAIN FLYING INC.

www.vintageaircraft.org 29

Of the 15 DC-3/C-47s that successfully made the trip to Normandy, Miss Montana was the only one to make the round trip without a single mechanical issue. Almost as soon as the aircraft returned, it and the museum took on the chore of flying 10,000 hot meals a day to the Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.

30 May/June 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAMDEN THRASHER

Possibly one of Miss Montana’s and the Museum of Mountain Flying Museum’s most worthwhile missions is that they are bringing attention to a narrow niche in aviation that is seldom recognized: the smoke jumpers and aerial firefighting.

“When the gear came up, we picked up an eastern heading toward New York City with a grand total of about five hours of flight time on the airplane,” Eric continued. “On our way we got to circle the Statue of Liberty. Our pilot at the time was Nico Von Pronay, who had emigrated from Germany and exactly 11 years earlier had become a U.S. citizen. It was a very special moment in a trip that was to have lots of special moments.

“The trip across was not only uneventful, but when we landed at Duxford, there was a certain amount of amazement among the other flight crews that shook our hands on arrival,” he said. “They thought there was no way in hell we were going to make it. In fact, 25 aircraft had registered to make the trip but only 15 had made it, and almost every one of them, except for Miss Montana, had some sort of mechanical problem, including a couple of engine changes.

We were the amateurs, but somehow we pulled it off and made it work.

“As for the C-47 itself, it’s a sweet airplane to fly,” he continued. “It is so forgiving and so enjoyable, it’s impossible not to smile while flying it.

More than that, when we are flying, it is impossible not to think of all the hands that had held those control yokes in the past, my dad and Bob Johnson included. And then there were all the jumpers who had risked their lives — and sometimes lost them — stepping through the open door. It was very sobering. The history that old bird had seen is monumental. There wasn’t a single volunteer who laid a hand on that ‘ancient pelican,’ as Ernie Gann called the C-47, that didn’t sense the history they had personally played a role in preserving.”

Although Miss Montana’s trip to France and back should have been enough to earn the Museum of Mountain Flying and the Miss Montana-to-Normandy group a heap of accolades, they weren’t done there. Shortly after their return to Missoula, a demand for cargo aircraft to fly supplies into the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian gave them another mission: They volunteered Miss Montana to fly more than 10,000 hot meals a day into the Bahamas during the early desperate days of the countrywide recovery.

Possibly one of Miss Montana’s and the Museum of Mountain Flying Museum’s most worthwhile missions is that they are bringing attention to a narrow niche in aviation that is seldom recognized: the smoke jumpers and aerial firefighting. Once studied, its history and the personalities involved are engrossing. For bringing that to the rest of the aviation community, we all owe them a big thank-you.

Good on you, Miss Montana!

A rare sighting of current and former firefighting aircraft. Left to right, USFS Short C-23 Sherpa, EAA’s Ford Tri-Motor, and a C-47.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILL CAMPBELL

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32 May/June 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON

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34 May/June 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURIE GOOSSENS

KEEPING THEM FLYING

BY SCOTT MCFADDEN, EAA 611467 AND VAA 726528

www.vintageaircraft.org 35

S A NEW MEMBER of

Vintage Aircraft Association I read with interest Robert Lock’s article “Aging Aircraft Issues” in the January/ February edition of Vintage Airplane. After thanking the editor and offering a couple suggestions for Part 2, I was saddened to learn of Robert’s passing.

I was also asked if I would like to take a shot at writing the follow-up article! I don’t consider myself a vintage mechanic. For one thing I haven’t been around that long (I’m more than 10 years younger than my airplane), but I like to research and write, as well as fly and turn wrenches. So I’ll try my best to live up to Robert’s valuable contributions.

“I wish to avail myself of all that is already known,” Wilbur Wright asked of the Smithsonian Institute in 1899. Of course, comparatively little was known about aircraft at that time, and as the brothers would come to discover, a lot of what was “known” was not correct! Fast-forward 120 years and how that situation has changed! My rule of thumb is that I don’t know what I don’t know, so I make an effort to find and read the materials that others have spent so much time and effort putting together.

All aircraft are aging aircraft! But let’s face it: What we’re interested in are really old aircraft.

Fortunately for us, a lot of what we need to know to maintain and repair our old aircraft has been recorded by generous and knowledgeable people like Robert — as well as by manufacturers, governments, the military, training units, etc. — and is available to us, often for free.

Of course, much of what we know today was not yet discovered, much less widely known, when our aircraft were designed, built, and manufactured. The prevailing standards of 70-plus years ago are often not acceptable today.

Fortunately, we can take advantage of updated standards and practices to improve safety and reliability, while remaining true to original designs and configurations.

In many cases, manufacturers produced a bare minimum of documentation and published even less, and none of them ever dreamed that their products would still be flying in 2020!

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Higher probability of trouble anywhere wood interacts with hardware (including nails) and bracketry. Here the aileron spar was 50 percent dust, yet due to the plywood doublers and brackets themselves, not readily visible without dismantling.

Ongoing shrinkage of dope/ fabric over the years crushed these aileron ribs into the rear face of the spar.

Thankfully, the FAA created reference materials that can be used (in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere) when information isn’t available from the manufacturer. The Best Practices Guide for Maintaining Aging General Aviation Airplanes lays out inspection guidelines and other sources of specific and general data, including information about type clubs. Some of the most convenient sources these days might be the online forums dedicated to your type. (But don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion as people can be, shall we say, hasty in their responses to your questions.)

Now, back to the specifics at hand. Chapter 6 of FAA circular AC 43.13-1B (available online for free) provides a wealth of information that fits well with the topics covered

by Robert in Part 1. It also answers many questions we might have about maintaining, repairing, and restoring aircraft. Building on the topic of removing corrosion from aircraft components, the chart in Section 7 is useful. In my shop I use aluminum oxide for all hand and mechanical media, and aluminum oxide, glass beads, or soda in my media blaster.

I find the 3M Roloc Unitized Wheels to be particularly effective and convenient, as are Scotch-Brite surface conditioning discs. I don’t like wire wheels or brushes of any description. They’re not particularly effective, and the prospect of tiny fragments of wire flying around doesn’t appeal to me in the least. Another surprisingly effective option is the flap disc. I have one on a 4-inch surface grinder, and it’s surprising how often I use it. The flap disc provides a high degree of control (doesn’t grab or chatter) and heat dissipation.

Note that although we commonly use the terms “sandpaper” and “sandblasting,” sand is not an appropriate abrasive to use on aircraft. Sand residue causes corrosion and also contains significant levels of silica, which when turned to dust and inhaled can result in serious respiratory disorders.

The safety and environmental concerns surrounding some of the chemicals used in treating and preparing metals make mechanical methods more suitable for our purposes. If you’re fortunate enough to have access to wet-blasting, you should go that route. It appears to be state of the art and leads to better outcomes for both components and health!

By the way, you should take the time to acquire or build an effective extraction system with a movable intake that can be positioned directly adjacent to your work.

Manufacturers are required to publish safety data sheets (this wasn’t always the case), so take the time to read them.

It’s a bit of a pain, but I default to my fresh air supply (Hobbyair) when working with dust, chemicals, solvents, and paints of any kind (not just urethane).

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT MCFADDEN

Alodine conversion coating is an ideal preparation for primer, but can also provide an attractive corrosion resistant finish for aluminium alloys.

Simple Alodine bath... More time in the bath equals darker color. Solution can be recovered and reused but loses a little “potency” each time. (Use an adequate extraction fan.)

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One important question: After corrosion is removed, is there enough remaining material for the part/structure/ skin to remain airworthy? In many cases, the lack of repair data from manufacturers makes this is a difficult question to answer. Depending on the component and manufacturer, removal of up to 20 percent of the thickness of the material may be the limit. In other cases, evidence of any internal corrosion is enough to reject the part (a Taylorcraft lift strut, for example).

In the real world, there is invariably a need to assess based on the expected consequences of failure versus ease of repair/replacement. If you’re in the middle of a restoration, the decision to replace, for example, a fuselage tube section is relatively straightforward compared to an in-service decision. Primary versus secondary structure versus nonstructural considerations are clearly key criteria. The so-called awl test of tubular members is an accepted albeit subjective method of determining serviceability. In practice, it’s just one part of a decision-making process involving several variables.

Listening for loose material inside a tube provides another clue, and with the availability of inexpensive USB cameras these days, sometimes it’s possible to do a detailed internal inspection. For instance, on my Taylorcraft lift struts, a small $20 USB camera was inserted through a 9/32-inch hole drilled in the endplate.

The photos and video I obtained confirmed that each strut was free of internal corrosion. I then sent them to be sealed and recertified as a terminating action to the airworthiness directive.

One material worthy of special mention is magnesium.

New magnesium alloys are more corrosion-resistant, but the ones we come across in our old airplanes? Not so much. Magnesium can be found in engine casings, various bracketry, control yokes, rudder pedals, cast parts, and even skins (Beechcraft). A drop of vinegar on magnesium will turn gray, but the same test produces no immediate reaction on aluminum.

Magnesium was used because it’s strong and light, but perhaps it wasn’t intended to last into the 21st century.

Pay particular attention to areas where magnesium comes into contact with other materials, and if the part has been repainted, there’s a good chance it’s corroding under the finish. Mechanical corrosion removal techniques are similar to those used for aluminum, but paint preparation is different; etching primers must not be used. The original magnesium conversion coating was achieved using chemicals containing hexavalent chromium (fortunately, it’s no longer readily available). For small jobs, Alodine 5700 wipes “produce a chromium-free conversion coating on aluminum, titanium, and magnesium surfaces.”

Internal lift strut inspection with $20 USB camera.

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This magnesium aileron attach bracket cracked due to corrosion between the magnesium and AN3 bolt. Damage is not visable with the components assembled. Do not use self-etching primers on magnesium.

For aluminum, I use Alumiprep 33, which provides a final cleaning and etching of the surface. I follow this up with Alodine 1201, which provides a conversion coating to which paints will stick but can also provide a corrosion-resistant “gold” finish by itself. (This shouldn’t be confused with “anodizing,” which is an electrochemical process.) Note that Alclad aluminum has a very thin surface layer that is harder and more corrosion-resistant than the base material. This layer is formed during manufacture by cold-rolling to the final dimension. This cold-roll work hardens the surface. Alclad is removed with any mechanical cleaning, so the part must receive at least an Alodine conversion coating, but preferably epoxy primer as well.

Ferrous metal is not as difficult to get paint to stick to.

Solvents like MEK or lacquer thinner are often used, but Metal Prep 79 is perhaps a friendlier option. (You need to dry and prime soon after application.) Always ensure your air supply for prep and drying is clean and free of oil!

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT MCFADDEN

A “bath” can be made with a simple wood frame on a work surface covered with poly. Alternatively, I have used a length of HVAC duct from the local hardware store as an inexpensive way of fabricating a long, narrow bath for cleaning and treating longer parts.

Using preservative oils and compounds is an effective way to provide corrosion resistance. Line oils and similar low-viscosity/high-surface-tension oils get into areas through capillary action. These oils provide an effective way of stopping and preventing corrosion in tubular members and most metal skins and structure. Chromate paste used to be a good treatment for hardware installation, but it’s difficult to find these days. I once maintained a Goose, and every screw, nut, and bolt was installed with EZ Turn lubricant, a more easily sourced product. You end up with sticky hands but no corrosion around fasteners! Waxy coatings like LPS 3 also work well. The solvent helps with capillary action before evaporating and leaving a protective film.

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Of course, one advantage of wood and fabric is that they don’t corrode! Unfortunately, they have their own vulnerabilities, some of which may not be readily apparent. As we’ve seen, when metal structures develop problems, there are usually telltale signs. That’s not necessarily true for wood and fabric.

Wood is simply a wonderful material. It’s strong, light, can be crafted into virtually any shape, and is easy on the eyes! There’s a lot of great information available on the inspection and repair of aircraft wood structures, so I’ll just mention a couple of points I think are worthy of special attention. Transport Canada states, “If excessive moisture is not allowed to enter the wood fibers, there is virtually no limit to the components’ structural life expectancy.”

That’s easier said than done, perhaps, but it starts with storing the aircraft under cover. (My hangar has no water supply other than what I collect from a small dehumidifier. I always have enough water.) Ensure that the airframe surfaces protect against water ingress, and if water does get in, make sure that it drains properly.

Finally, ensure that the wood component surfaces and joints remain properly sealed (using varnish, sealants, and compounds).

Old varnishes, unlike the newer two-part urethane products, eventually dry out and crack, and much of the structure is likely not accessible to properly repair the finish unless the covering is removed and the airframe or component is dismantled. Wood can also dry too much if the varnish finish is compromised. Moisture testing can be done, but don’t let an acceptable moisture test give you a false sense of security. Note that softwoods like Sitka spruce do not accept varnishes all that well. The first coat or recoat should be reduced 50 percent or more to ensure good penetration, adhesion, and sealing.

Failures have occurred on wood structures — even ones subject to airworthiness directives — because deterioration had occurred under attachment plates. So areas of real concern to me are any part of a wood structure hidden and/or to which another part is attached using hardware. Damage can be concentrated at attach points due to a lack of care and sealing during assembly, as well as moisture capillary action and retention characteristics of plates, straps, brackets, and hardware. These also tend to be the higher-stress points in the structure.

40 May/June 2020

This OEM aileron spar is manufactured from three strips of spruce. The glue joints failed even where the wood was still sound.

Your health is important to me, but it’s much more important to you! A 20-foot length of 10-inch flex duct attached to an inexpensive squirrel-cage blower draws away fumes, dust, and overspray at source.

Make virtually any size cleaning/etching Caption...extraction bath using 6 milliliters poly and wood frame attached to a level surface.

This aft spar has been crush-damaged in the critical root area by over-tightening of poorly designed/fitted fuel tank straps.

Damage to aileron spar rear face caused by rib webs and dope/fabric shrinkage.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT MCFADDEN

It is easy to crush wood structure with an AN nut and bolt, and the damage is not readily detectable. If you find a loose bracket, it is tempting to just tighten the fasteners, maybe even add a washer or two. But there is likely damage, water ingress, and rot, which may be the root cause (and risk). Take the time to remove components, fabric, etc., as needed to take a closer look.

Perhaps the most difficult issue facing the vintage aircraft mechanic when assessing the viability of wood structure is not the wood itself, but the adhesive used when the aircraft was constructed. Glues applied in the ’30s and ’40s are at or, in some cases, have exceeded their effective life span by now. Similarly, varnishes of the day may have been fine for a 20-year life horizon, but we’re well past that for most of the production fleet! Also, in order to make thorough use of their wood supplies, some manufacturers used “engineered wood.” For example, they may have joined strips of spruce to form aileron spars and other components. Needless to say, if the laminated glue joints have deteriorated, the component is scrap.

Fabric testing is easy enough and will usually reveal UV-deteriorated fabric, but again, don’t let a successful test provide false comfort. The condition of the fabric is only a small part of the equation. To me, what lies beneath is often more important — and more difficult to determine. If the fabric was installed using butyrate dope, chances are it has continued to shrink over the years, so even though the fabric tests well, considerable damage/deformation to the structure may have occurred due to overtensioning. I once flew a Citabria that had a tendency to snap (in place of the design’s benign stall characteristic), which was a real attention-getter! The upper wing surfaces had been rejuvenated at least once, and the ongoing fabric/dope shrinkage had caused the wings to develop a “wash in.” The only solution was to re-cover.

Clues like raised fasteners under the fabric, a bump or depression on a rib, or a scalloped trailing edge can be an indication of trouble. Often, wing root ribs will deform enough that the spar ends can be exposed under wing root fairings. Look for broken or chafing rib lacing (or damage around clips rivets or screws used in lieu of lacing). These anomalies may not be immediate showstoppers, but they are good enough reason to take a closer look and possibly bring forward the planned re-covering timeline.

As mentioned, detecting failures or impending failures in old aircraft is more difficult than in your typical semi-monocoque aluminum airframe, where corrosion and failures often show up on the surface in the form of wrinkles, kinks, bulges, and/or holes (see Robert’s Part 1). For wood structures you need to “look, feel, and listen.”

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Look for discoloration, bumps, bulging, delaminating, exposed grain, mold, corroding metal fittings, and hardware that might indicate moisture ingress. Look more closely at any area that is difficult to see! Access may be required where there currently is none, hardware/components/assemblies may need to be removed, and it may be necessary to get beneath the surface (and then repair the test areas).

Feel using your hands, fingers, fingernails, a knife, an awl, etc. Test wood structure and covering for soft spots, bumps, and bubbles. Pay particular attention to any areas where moisture is likely to have entered and/or remained in the airframe. Any delaminating/detaching glue joint is cause for concern unless it’s clearly due to a localized issue.

Listen. Don’t knock it! Or, rather, do knock it. Tap testing is perhaps as close as we’ll get to ultrasonic inspection in the average shop. Whether you use the wooden handle of your awl, the frame of your pocketknife, or a knuckle, we’re hoping for a knock as opposed to a thud. Unlike ultrasonic inspection, however, this is an inexact science and experience counts. So learn from those who have been around for a while!

All clues derived from the above inspections will need to be weighed against any remaining unknowns, as well as the overall condition and life stage of the aircraft and its planned use/mission, the degree of difficulty/effectiveness of any needed repairs, and the general inspection, preservation, and restoration plans going forward.

From a pure airworthiness perspective, cost shouldn’t enter into the equation, but let’s face it — it’s a key consideration. There may be no point investing in, for example, refinishing/revarnishing (assuming an otherwise sound airframe) if you decide to take the aircraft out of service for more detailed restoration within a reasonable timeframe.

Finally, during inspection/repairs/restoration you may come across things that are consistent with the original type design but are inconsistent with best practices or even airworthiness standards. Should you restore the aircraft to the design standards of the manufacturer — which, in the ’30s and ’40s, was surely more interested in production costs than possible restoration questions in 2020 — or incorporate changes to be consistent with current airworthiness standards? My preference is the latter, but note this may entail going through a field approval process or at least a determination of whether the solution constitutes a major or minor alteration (see FAA AC 43-210A, Figures 3-1 and 3-2).

Clearly our master mechanics, inspectors, and restorers, even though they may be a little crotchety at times, have a collective wisdom that we need to preserve

I learned that nails are used in wood fabrication to hold parts in place while the adhesive sets, yet we often see nails used (unsuccessfully, usually) as standalone fasteners. Selftapping screws are also frequently inadequate. Whenever I can — and certainly during a restoration — I’ll either augment nails with an adhesive or use a different method of attachment altogether. For example, I may use throughbolts, nut-plates, or more substantial fabrication.

A more significant example is the Taylorcraft aileron. The ribs were manufactured from soft aluminum, and at the spar relief only the top and bottom flanges support the ribs (and therefore structure) aft of the spars. Fabric/dope shrinkage, either immediately or over time, crushes the top and bottom rib flanges such that the web of each rib is pushed hard against the rear face of the spar. After time and usage, damage to the spar results. The remedy is a minor modification, but it serves to illustrate the dilemma.

Note that I have found no recorded failures of Taylorcraft ailerons, and this is not considered to be a high-risk issue, but it is nevertheless important to keep in mind. I haven’t been able to find factory drawings of the ailerons, and the parts list (even for the F19-22 series aircraft) does not include additional parts that would indicate this issue was ever addressed.

I began by talking about available knowledge, and I’ll finish by pointing out that even with all we have at our disposal, the lack of specific information demonstrates that these beautiful old aircraft present unique challenges. Clearly our master mechanics, inspectors, and restorers, even though they may be a little crotchety at times, have a collective wisdom that we need to preserve along with our vintage aircraft. Watch, listen, and learn.

SCOTT MCFADDEN’S FIRST JOB FIRST JOB WAS OVERHAULING JET ENGINES. He later obtained B-727 maintenance certification while working on narrow and wide-body transports.

Switching to light aircraft, he opened an AMO, maintaining and restoring a wide range of aircraft from Champs and Chipmunks to Gooses and Learjets. In 2014 he retired as an airport CEO and in July completed his second restoration (in the last decade), flew it to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, and was awarded Outstanding Taylorcraft. Scott has an MBA, obtained his private

along with our vintage aircraft.

42 May/June 2020

pilot certificate in 1983, and just completed his commercial pilot certificate.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ED HICKS

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TO SEE A VIDEO ON THE CESSNA 180 GATHERING

44 May/June 2020

PHOTOGRAPHYPHOTOGRAPHY

BY CONNOR MADISON

BY XXXX

A GATHERING OF SKYWAGONS AT EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH 2019

BY HAL BRYAN

“I’VE BEEN IN THE 180/185 CLUB for a number of years and have been coming [to Oshkosh] for quite a while, and especially the last three or four years walking by the 195s, and they’re gorgeous,” said Carl Geisert, VAA 726507, of Chandler, Arizona. “And I thought it was awesome, and then I saw the 170s were together, and it just kind of hit me as, ‘Hey, why don’t we do that?’”

After some discussions with the Vintage parking crew, Carl reached out to the International 180/185 Club membership and asked if anyone would be interested in a group gathering at Oshkosh.

“Within probably three weeks,” he said, “I had 28 people sign up. So I was amazed. And it just went from there.”

www.vintageaircraft.org 45

THE BIRTH OF A CLASSIC

Building on the success of the popular 170, and with production of the 195 starting to wind down, Cessna designed the 180 to take advantage of Continental’s new six-cylinder, 225-hp engine. The company focused on making the design as clean as could be, using flush rivets where possible as well as building in wheel fairings and a flush carburetor air inlet. When compared to the 170, the new design’s more powerful engine called for a more powerful rudder, which meant a larger vertical stabilizer.

The prototype Cessna 180, N41697, first flew on May 26, 1952. In his book Cessna: Wings for the World, company test pilot William D. Thompson described that first flight as “exhilarating.”

“This was definitely a ‘hot rod’ airplane in the 1950s,” he wrote. While the initial rudder upgrades were necessary because of the engine’s power, those early test flights revealed that the elevator and horizontal stabilizer needed some upgrades to counteract its weight. The changes were made, and William reported that the airplane performed flawlessly.

JAKE GASPER of Broomfield, Colorado, flew his 1963 185 to Oshkosh for the gathering. It was originally sold to the state of Minnesota and used by its Department of Natural Resources — the November Romeo at the end of the airplane’s registration pays tribute to its history. The airplane was operated for a number of years, flown on skis, and wrecked and rebuilt. Jake bought it about 12 years ago.

“I had a Maule, and a Maule before that, and a PA-12, and an Aeronca Chief, so I was always kind of [partial to] conventional gear in the light airplane flying,” he said. “I wanted a little more room and a little more speed, so the 185, this particular airplane has the Robertson/STOL kit on it, so it still has the IO-470. But I do fine, especially at this altitude.”

Jake comes to Oshkosh every two or three years, but he was especially happy to meet up with so many other 180/185 pilots.

“A lot of guys have come by, and I’ve got some ideas about new mods on my airplanes, so that really makes a difference,” he said.

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When Cessna introduced the 180, the emphasis was on the airplane’s utility and performance, traits that explain not only why it remained in production for nearly 30 years, but also why so many are still flying today.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HAL BRYAN, PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

The airplane went into production, with the first model year being 1953. The airplane was touted in contemporary marketing materials as “America’s first all-new airplane in years.” In 1956, Cessna swapped the tail wheel for a nose wheel, and the venerable 182 was born. In 1960, the 180 was upgraded with a beefed-up fuselage, an expanded vertical fin, and a 300-hp Continental IO-520 and was designated 185. Interestingly, there was a period when the 180, 185, and 182 were all in production at the same time.

The 180 family’s utility on wheels, skis, and floats has made it hugely popular with bush and backcountry pilots since the beginning. In later years, the type was marketed as the Cessna “Utililine,” with the tagline “carries what others can’t, works like others won’t.” Cessna 180s saw service with air forces around the world, notably those of Australia, Israel, and Burkina Faso, while big-brother 185s were designated U-17 by the U.S. Air Force and delivered to friendly military agencies around the world. The largest user of U-17s was the Republic of Vietnam Air Force, while South Africa, Uruguay, and other nations also employed the type.

While the Skywagon can be celebrated for never straying far from its vintage roots, the type was produced for longer than many people realize.

The last 180 rolled off the production line in 1981, while the final 185 was built in 1985. After more than 32 years, a total of more than 10,500 180/185s were produced — an impressive number by any standard.

If the gaggle of Skywagons at Oshkosh didn’t convince you of the airplane’s ongoing popularity, the International 180/185 Club, which was founded in 1977 by Charles and Edith Bombardier, currently boasts more than 1,200 members in 24 countries — proof that the type is still going strong.

CESSNA 180 SPECS Aircraft make and model: Cessna 180 II LENGTH: 25 feet, 9 inches WINGSPAN: 35 feet, 10 inches HEIGHT: 7 feet, 9 inches MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT: 2,800 pounds EMPTY WEIGHT: 1,700 pounds FUEL CAPACITY: 88 gallons SEATS: 6

POWERPLANT MAKE AND MODEL: Continental O-470 HORSEPOWER: 230 PROPELLER: Two bladed, constant speed CRUISE SPEED/FUEL CONSUMPTION: 139 knots POWER LOADING: 16.1 pounds/square foot WING LOADING: 12.2 pounds/hp VNE: 169 knots VSO: 52 knots

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THE GEISERT FAMILY SKYWAGON

“I love the looks of the airplane, its history, and the way it flies,” Carl said. “[I like] being able to get in and out of very small places with just about anything you want to throw in there. And it just laughs at it and takes off and climbs out. … You can do a very wide range of things with the aircraft, and it performs very well.”

Carl’s love for the Skywagon dates back to his childhood. His dad, Leroy, flew Helldivers right after World War II and then went on to TWA, flying Martin 404s, Douglas DC-8s, Boeing 707s and 747s, and his favorite, the Lockheed Constellation. In 1968, Leroy bought N1564C, a 1953 Cessna 180 that is one of the oldest still flying. The airplane, along with the family 140, was used to train Carl and his brothers to fly.

John Hodgson’s 1967 Cessna 185 came from Atlanta, Georgia, to stand proud on the grass at Oshkosh.

JOHN KRAMER came from New Orleans with his 1979 185. He’s an avid outdoorsman who loves putting his Skywagon to work.

“Well, I’ve flown Super Cubs for 40 years or more and [taken] all kinds of trips up to Alaska and everything,” he said.

“And every young man … that loves the outdoors, hunting and fishing, and getting there in airplanes wants to have a Super Cub, but they also want to have a Cessna 180/185.

Because when you need to get someplace, this thing will get you there rapidly at 135 knots or sometimes faster, and the Cub goes about 80 knots. … It’s kind of like a gentleman’s outdoor airplane, as opposed to the Super Cub, which is kind of the backpacker’s model.”

This was John’s fifth time at Oshkosh over the past 30 years.

“It’s just fun to hang out with other Cessna 180 people,” he said. “And you get to look at their modifications and what they’ve done to their airplanes, and you get to get some ideas of what you need.”

48 May/June 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINA BASKEN, HAL BRYAN

“Everybody back then was landing on little dirt roads in the middle of nowhere or in farms or next to lakes and all that,” Carl said. “[It] was basically expected that you soloed on your 16th birthday and got your license right afterward, so all three of us did that. My solo was about a week late because the weather was really lousy because I was born on Christmas. I think it was snowing.”

After Leroy died in 1998, the airplane changed hands among Carl and his brothers multiple times, but it never left the family, and Carl ended up with it in 2014. At that point, it hadn’t flown in a while, so Carl took the opportunity to restore it, overhauling the engine while installing a new prop, new fuel bladders, a tail assembly, and windows, among other things. He repainted the airplane in 2018 ( just two weeks before AirVenture) and took home a Bronze Lindy that year, as well as a Custom Class C Award in 2019. But winning an award at AirVenture 2019 was the furthest thing from his mind — he had a party to plan.

INTERESTED IN CESSNA 180S? Contact the International 180-185

STEVE KRASOVICH, an airline pilot from Golden, Colorado, is fairly new to the Skywagon family.

“I purchased it about a year ago,” he said, though the airplane had belonged to his hangar partner for quite some time before that. “I had flown it a little bit, but I had been ogling it for 15 years.” He loves the airplane for what it can carry. “[I] do the backcountry stuff. It hauls a load,” he said. “I can stick my mountain bikes in it and all my camping stuff and just go away for the weekend.”

Steve owned a couple of Pitts biplanes and did a lot of aerobatic competitions in the ’80s and ’90s but had drifted a bit since.

“I haven’t been doing a lot of GA stuff the last few years and wanted to get back into it,” he said.

As it turned out, 2019 was a great year for Steve to return to Oshkosh for his fourth visit.

“It was a great opportunity for a great parking spot for one, and I had not participated with the 180/85 Club until now,” he said. “And it’s absolutely been an awesome experience of just getting to know everybody and commiserating with everybody, watching the air show together.”

Club for more information.

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The gang was all smiles as they gathered in front of Carl’s early Cessna 180 to pose for a group photo.

MEETING AT OSHKOSH

VAA 726372

ONE OF THE OLDER AIRPLANES at the gathering of Skywagons was Brian Matthews’ 1955 180, which he flew from Corsicana, Texas.

He and his family used to fly a 172, but eventually they outgrew it, and to Brian, the 180 was the clear choice to replace it.

“Really it’s just about as good of an all-around airplane that you can get,” he said. “Short-field takeoff and landing, hauls a good load, and decent speed — comparable, almost, to a Bonanza. … The 182s, 206s, they’re great airplanes also. The 180, 185s, in my opinion, have a little better utility as far as not having the nose gear and that in the backcountry.”

If someone was wondering about whether the 180/185 family was a good airplane, Brian has a simple answer.

“Just take them for a ride, then that’ll do the convincing for them,” he said.

Brian’s been to Oshkosh many times over the years, and 2019 was the sixth year in a row.

“We’re usually way down in the South 40,” he said. “This is a little better spot; it’s a good group, and [it’s] nice to have all of us together.”

50 May/June 2020

By early July, Carl had about 32 airplanes signed up. Then, just a few weeks before AirVenture, he started getting more calls.

“All of a sudden the number blossomed by another 15 airplanes, and I had to make arrangements,” he said. “At one point I think I had 12 to 15 airplanes on the waitlist.” His list peaked at 50 airplanes, but like everything else at AirVenture, the gathering of Skywagons hit a few bumps early in the week, thanks to Mother Nature.

“My tent had about a half an inch of water in the bottom of it Friday night,” Carl said. “Then Saturday it rained again, and then Sunday finally it’s a nice day and dried out and my airplane looked like a clothesline.” Carl had planned for a 30 percent cancellation rate, but the rough weather upped that to closer to 50 percent.

“We topped out at 26 Skywagons parked in our three rows,” he said. “We would have had more if the weather had cooperated.” But eventually things dried out and the airplanes were well established in Vintage rows 78-80, and Carl couldn’t have been happier.

“Oh, it was fantastic,” he said. “I mean, just the camaraderie and being able to just walk down the line and look at people’s airplanes and running into people that you maybe just corresponded with by email. … Many had their families with them. …

Just the personal camaraderie and the exchange of information as well was fantastic, which you won’t get any other way. I

mean, you’d have to walk the lines for two weeks to meet everybody, but we were able to just chat with and go to dinner with, go to breakfast with. It was fantastic.”

When he looked back on the event, Carl was effusive with his gratitude toward all involved.

“I really wanted to thank the volunteers for all they did to make our gathering a success; Tim Fox and Susan Dusenbury in Vintage were fantastic,” he said. “[EAA’s writers] and the photographers were great to work with. … The flightline folks were amazing, especially Suzy at Magoo point; she was herding cats — well, Skywagons and anything else with wings — on her scooter every day from 6:30 a.m. to dark, rain or shine. Amazing job!”

As much fun as everyone had getting their Skywagons together in 2019, you probably shouldn’t expect an encore in 2020, as Carl is going to be a little busy. It seems the volunteers who worked so hard to make his event a success rubbed off on him.

“I’m going to volunteer next year,” he said. “[The Vintage volunteers] do a fantastic job, and I’ve just got to pitch in. … Several of us will pitch in.”

HAL BRYAN, EAA Lifetime 638979/VAA 714005, is senior editor for EAA digital and print content

DENNIS PILARINOS of Vancouver, British Columbia, came to Oshkosh in his late-model 180K. It was built in 1981 and was the eighth-last 180 ever built.

“I just spent the last year restoring it, and my vision for the airplane was to [ask], ‘If Cessna were to make a 180 today, what would they do?’” he said. He’s a software guy, so it’s not surprising that his panel has been updated. “I put a full-stack glass panel from Garmin in it,” he said. “I put in an IO-550. It has new paint, new interior. It’s basically a brand-new airplane.”

Dennis is a fairly new pilot, but he knows what he likes. As of AirVenture 2019, he’d logged about 400 hours, of which all but about 0.9 is in taildraggers.

If you ask him what he loves about the airplane, the answer comes quickly and easily.

“Everything. I love it,” he said. “I think that the community is amazing. I actually just love the way that it looks, honestly. I just love the way it kind of squats down.”

and publications, co-author of multiple books, and a lifelong pilot and aviation geek. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at halbryan or email him at hbryan@eaa.org.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HAL BRYAN, LYLE JANSMA

www.vintageaircraft.org 51

LIKE MANY OF US, Jacob Palmer

WTFI AERONCA CHIEF

BY JON GOLDENBAUM

52 May/June 2020

was one of those kids who had to fly. He’s been obsessed with aviation for as long as he can remember. He took a route familiar to most aviators — bugging his nonflying parents to take him to the airport, attending every local air show, and asking only for model airplanes when birthdays or Christmas came around.

In his freshman year of high school he discovered that an aviation charter school was opening at nearby Flabob Airport. At age 14, he was one of the first to enroll, and soon he entered a dream world. River Springs Charter School (now Flabob Aviation Preparatory Academy) had aviation labs and a modeling class, and best of all, Flabob’s unique antique and classic airplanes taxied by the school every day. Soon he was bumming rides in anything that flew, immersing himself in RC model aviation, and rubbing shoulders with the aviation characters who hung out at Flabob.

He volunteered to help at every

Young Eagles event held by Flabob’s EAA Chapter 1, escorting riders to airplanes and helping with parking and registration as needed. Soon he discovered that the Tom Wathen Center at Flabob had several active aircraft-restoration programs for young people, so he eagerly joined in, learning about tools, aircraft structure, and materials while helping to restore a Stits Skycoupe. This was a special project.

Ray Stits had developed many of the first successful homebuilding kits at Flabob in the ’50s before founding EAA Chapter 1, the first EAA chapter outside of Wisconsin. Of course, Ray is best known to aviation enthusiasts as the founder of the Stits Poly Fiber fabric-covering system. Working on the Skycoupe was Jacob’s introduction to the rich history of Ray, the EAA, and Flabob.

Even with all of this, Jacob had still never learned to fly. He was getting anxious. Several of his older schoolmates were learning to fly with the help of scholarships from the Wathen Center or Ray Stits himself.

PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY

BY CONNOR

BY JIM MADISON BYBUSHA XXXX

www.vintageaircraft.org 53

ne day during Jacob’s sophomore year, a rather tired-looking Aeronca Chief flew into Flabob with a sign in the window that said, “For Sale or Trade.” He immediately called the number on the sign and found out the price was $13,000. He excitedly approached his dad, but they both knew his mom would probably nix the idea. She was worried enough about the family Harley. “Well, how about trading the Harley for the airplane?” he asked his dad. Unfortunately, the Chief’s seller had no interest in motorcycles. For months nothing happened. Then the seller called back. He had not sold the Chief, and he had a buddy who wanted the Harley. A deal was struck, and 16-yearold Jacob and his dad were the proud new owners of the Chief. Since neither could fly, they tucked it away in a hangar at Flabob and proceeded to work on cosmetics and simple maintenance tasks. The money for flight training was simply not available; there were three Palmer kids to feed and educate.

Fortunately, in 2012, U.S. Air Force Pilot Training Class 70-05 decided to have a reunion at Flabob.

These men became fast friends in 1969 while learning to fly for the Air Force. Most went on to Vietnam and then completed distinguished careers in the

54 May/June 2020

military and the airline industry. Every few years, the class gets together to reminisce and visit. In 2012, they chose Riverside, California, and Flabob. One of the 70-05ers was a Flabob regular who was active in the Wathen Center youth programs. As part of the reunion, he convinced his buddies to kick in for a full flight training scholarship for a deserving young person. To win the scholarship, interested Flabob kids wrote essays. The 70-05ers picked the best submissions and interviewed the authors. You guessed it: The winner was Jacob Palmer.

Jacob began training at Flabob with Capt. Jack Emmons, a retired Swissair pilot, in Jack’s L-4 “Fighting Grasshopper.” When it came time to start completing the more complex requirements for his private pilot certificate, he worked with Dave Rogers, a renowned instructor and mentor.

Airport Manager Beth LaRock personally coached Jacob through ground school. Jacob flew every day he could, and finally, in December 2012, at the age of 18, he earned his private pilot certificate in Dave’s 172. Soon after, Jack gave Jacob his tailwheel endorsement, and it was time for Jacob to fly the family Chief. As you might imagine, after a short checkout, Jacob flew the wings off the Chief, taking it out at every opportunity.

Jacob’s Chief retains the late 1940s look and feel of fun flying.

Although Jacob was preparing to head off to college, he decided to push himself to get the Chief airworthy so he could take it with him.

Eventually the Chief started showing its age. It needed to be re-covered and would no longer pass a punch test.

Jacob spent some time working with his dad in the family business, then went off on a mission with his church. After the mission, he returned to Flabob determined to get the Chief back in the air. Although Jacob was preparing to head off to college, he decided to push himself to get the Chief airworthy so he could take it with him. The Chief had a low-time, recently topped C-85-8F that ran well, so the emphasis went on the airframe.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

Simple was the name of the game — a couple couple shots of prime and the C-85 fires right up.

www.vintageaircraft.org 55

Jacob and his friend Tyler restored the Chief to like-new condition.

Cozy comfort seating is what you expect while flying the Chief.

Jacob’s Flabob classmate and best friend Tyler Howell offered to help. Tyler had picked up some real skills in aircraft restoration at Flabob and was ready to pitch in. Like Jacob, Tyler was determined to finish all his ratings and pursue a career in aviation, so he wanted all the practice and wrenching he could get. The boys soon disassembled the bird, stripped the fabric off, and then stood back and wondered just what in the heck they were getting into.

And as often happens, challenges soon arose. A close inspection of the wings revealed cracks in the wood spars, particularly under the doublers. So the ribs came off, the cracked spars were removed, and the boys sought advice from Flabob’s brain trust on how to replace them. They were getting pretty skilled at woodwork by this time so they tackled the tapering and drilling of the spar blanks themselves with the help of their Flabob mentors.

Soon they reassembled and trammeled the wings and prepared for new fabric donated by friends at the Flabob Poly Fiber factory. The work on the wings went well, so it was time to take on the fuselage — a job Jacob had dreaded. His friend and fellow EAA Chapter 1 member Jimmy O’Brien, an A&P mechanic, offered to help, and piece by piece the fuselage was cleaned,

56 May/June 2020

Jacob wanted to keep the Chief as original as possible, even installing the rare McDowell starter to supplement its character.

He had always liked modeling, and he soon discovered that covering the Chief was not that different from covering RC models.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

repaired, and primed. New hardware and cables followed. As will happen, the work looked so good they decided to do more by adding a new interior and instrument panel. Jacob tackled the panel himself, installing a handsome wood veneer panel with refurbished instruments.

Jacob and Tyler then started covering the fuselage and tail feathers. By now they’d acquired some real skills from covering the wings. Jacob said doing the fabric-covering was “super fun.” He had always liked modeling, and he soon discovered that covering the Chief was not that different from covering RC models. “It really isn’t hard,” he said. “It just takes time, and my time was cheap.” Soon brothers Nando and Hauldo Mendoza, the young restoration artisans at Flabob’s West Coast Air Creations, shared some of the tricks that go into completing a first-class covering job. They also helped with the stunning Ranthane finish, and the covering job was done.

In April 2017, the Chief flew again. “Hands off and light as a feather,” Jacob said. As planned, he and the Chief were soon off to college at Utah Valley University.

Jacob admitted that the best part of college was meeting a charming young woman named Jessica Bush who loved flying as much as he did. Cupid soon took over, and after a short courtship they were married. With new responsibilities, Jacob decided to focus on his career. He took a break from college to finish the ratings he needed for an airline job. When the ratings are done, he and Jess will return to Utah Valley University to finish their degrees.

You can bet that you’ll one day find Capt. Jacob Palmer in command of an airliner. If anyone can reach that goal, it’s him.

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58 May/June 2020

The Continental C-85 powers the Chief.

Jacob added his personal touch to the right-side door of the Chief.

Classic post-World War II aircraft present real opportunities for young people like Jacob, or anyone else with the modest means to own such an aircraft. Jacob took the restoration route, but there are many ready-to-fly classics available for relatively little money. As the saying goes, classic aircraft are “affordable and fun.” Jacob estimates he and his dad have put about $20,000 into the Chief — a fraction of what they could have spent on a used airplane or kit.

INTERESTED IN AERONCAS? Contact the National Aeronca Association or the Aeronca Aviators

She said yes! Jacob and Jess pose in front of their Chief.

Club for more information.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA

www.vintageaircraft.org 59

The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK

Breaking in a radial engine

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

IN THIS ISSUE WE DISCUSS RADIAL ENGINE break-in proce-

dures. Keep in mind that these are my opinions, but they should be consistent with other mechanics maintaining radial engines in the industry.

First, when the old engine is removed, there is a great opportunity to clean and inspect the remaining components of the engine compartment. You might want to remove, blast, inspect, and paint the engine mount. Remove and flush the oil tank and oil cooler, and clean the inside of all oil lines. In other words, start the new engine with a clean firewall-forward installation.

Replace all rubber shock mounts; inspect and cadmium-plate the bolts. These bolts are usually quite long and expensive to replace.

There is nothing wrong with having these bolts cad-plated as long as they are baked after plating. A competent plating shop knows how to handle the plating. Replace the nuts and AN washers when installing the engine.

When the newly overhauled engine arrives, inspect for any shipping damage. Hopefully the engine has at least five hours of test-stand time so the break-in process has started. If there is no test-cell time on the engine, I don’t recommend running it for five hours on the ground before flying. Install it in the airplane, assure everything is airworthy, and go flying.

The New Standard D-25 ready for engine installation.

60 May/June 2020

Hoist and install the engine in the mount, torque the mounting bolts/nuts, and safety them with cotter pins. Then go about installing all that other stuff that was removed with the old engine. Again, this is a great opportunity to inspect/repair/paint (if needed) all those components. I always either flush the oil tank with solvent or steam clean it. The oil cooler (if installed) should be sent out for overhaul or at least be flushed to assure there are no metallic fragments in the cooler. I heard of an owner replacing a newly overhauled engine because he found metal in the screen. Seems it came from the oil cooler because the previous engine had an internal failure. This is also a good time to closely inspect all components of the exhaust and carburetor heat systems and make necessary repairs.

With the engine newly installed, the prop on, and the prop nut torqued, it should be about ready to run.

But first the engine should be pre-oiled. The overhaul manual should show a pre-oiling port somewhere on the case. If one isn’t available, remove all spark plugs and turn the engine over with the starter until oil pressure registers on the pressure gauge. Once oil pressure is indicated on the gauge by turning the engine with the starter, crack the oil lineto-gauge nut at the gauge and release any trapped air.

Sometimes there may be an air bubble at the inlet to the oil pump, causing a no-pressure situation. You must crack the inlet oil line to the pump by loosening the hose to allow air to escape, and then retighten the clamps. That should solve the problem.

I like to use straight mineral oil for the first 35 to 50 hours of operation. Fill the oil tank to whatever the operating level should be. If it’s 4 gallons, put 4 gallons in. Then after the first start and the oil system and sumps are full, bring the level back up to 4 gallons. After pre-oiling, we are ready to start the engine.

Prime and start the engine. Watch the oil pressure gauge; the pressure should show almost immediately. If there’s no pressure indication within 30 seconds, shut the engine down and troubleshoot. Safety is a prime issue on the first start, so have a second person standing by with a fire extinguisher. If a fire starts in the intake system, continue cranking the engine with the starter to suck any flames into the engine.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

A newly installed Wright R-760 engine in the New Standard.

Ready for the first flight after an engine overhaul.

Assuming everything went well on the start and no problems were encountered, run the engine from idle to about 1000 rpm to warm it up. Shut down and inspect for oil and fuel leaks. Let the engine cool until you can touch the cylinder heads with your hand. Restart the engine, allow it to run near idle, then run it up and do a quick check of the magneto and carb heat operations. Reduce the power to idle for cooling, and then shut the engine down. Inspect the engine compartment at each shutdown. Don’t run the engine for long periods on the ground. The supervising mechanic will dictate the number of ground runs. Long ground runs will cause overheating and can glaze cylinder walls, and the rings will never seat properly.

When the mechanic is sure everything is airworthy it’s time for the test flight. Don’t run the engine on the ground for extended periods. Get it started, taxi to the runway, do a quick run-up, and get it into the air. Use full power for takeoff. Reduce power slightly and keep the airspeed up to cool the engine. Remember, tolerances are close on a newly overhauled engine, and that generates a lot of heat. Keep the engine cool!

When I broke in the Wright R-760, I ran the engine at 1800 rpm until the rings seated, which took about 10 hours. It is important to keep the rings loaded; don’t “baby” the engine or you’ll pay for it later!

Run it hard!

After an hour of in-air operation, check the oil level and record it on a notepad. Remove the main and sump screens, inspect them, and then reinstall them. Check the torque on the prop and retorque it if necessary. Now, go flying for 10 hours. Run the engine hard! Continue to note the time and amount of oil added on your notepad.

Then drain the oil and check the oil screens again. Check the cylinder compression/leakage.

Check your notepad for how much oil you have added. Oil consumption should show a decline.

When oil consumption stabilizes at the 10-15 hour mark, the rings have seated. If there is still oil consumption, continue the high-power flight until oil consumption lowers and stabilizes. If the oil consumption does not decrease, then the cylinder walls have glazed and the rings will never seat. It will be necessary to remove all the cylinders, hone the walls, reinstall the cylinders, and go through the break-in procedure again. Running the engine hard during initial flights will lessen the possibility of cylinder wall glazing. The Wright R-760 in the New Standard stabilized in about 13 hours. Oil consumption went from more than a quart per hour to a quart every four hours. When the engine rings and other components “seat in,” the oil and cylinder head temperature reduces, along with oil consumption. That’s how you know that things have seated in. I change oil every 25 hours of operation (no filter is installed), and I check cylinder condition by conducting a leakage check at least every 100 hours of operation. As the engine continues to wear, I start checking cylinder leakage every 50 hours.

I recall breaking in a Ranger inline engine installed in my son Rob’s Fairchild PT-26 several years ago (see photo on Page 62). The Ranger engine is very tightly cowled, and the rear cylinder always runs hot. I called the overhaul shop before running the engine and asked for its advice regarding the engine’s break-in procedure. I was informed to prepare the engine for first start by pre-warming the oil to 40°C to 50°C. Put 4 gallons of preheated oil into the tank, start the engine, and run it for no more than five minutes at 1000 rpm. Shut down and check for oil and fuel leaks. Allow the engine to cool until you can touch the cylinders with your hand. Restart the engine, give it one minute to warm up, then change the rpm to 1000 for five minutes, and shut it down.

Check the engine compartment again, but don’t let the oil cool. Start the engine and taxi to the runway.

Begin the takeoff roll, and check the magnetos at 1300 rpm; if they are okay, go to full power, climb at 100 mph, and keep the airspeed at 100 mph or greater. Keep monitoring the engine instruments for any abnormalities. After 20 minutes, throttle back to

www.vintageaircraft.org

61

The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK

2250 rpm, fly for up to one hour, land, and check the engine compartment again. Now, go flying using a high power setting until oil consumption stops. Initially the engine was burning 3 quarts of oil per hour. Oil consumption stayed near this rate until 15 hours of operation. Then, all of a sudden, the consumption dropped to 1 quart every three hours. Not too bad for a Ranger. The engine had no run-in time from the overhaul shop.

If it had five hours, then the break-in would have happened after only 10 hours of flight. That’s how you break in engines.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Static rpm is very important because it determines whether the maximum rpm will or will not be exceeded in level flight. I don’t check static rpm on a new engine; I take a quick look at full-throttle rpm on takeoff when there is air flowing around the cylinders. If the overhaul is done correctly, then the maximum rpm the engine can turn is governed by the prop pitch. Many engines use a ground-adjustable prop. Climb or cruise performance can be set by adjusting the pitch of the prop.

Cylinder leakage tests can give an indication of cylinder condition. I always conduct the leakage test with the engine warm when the rings seal the best. Leakage checks are usually conducted at 80 psi; the tester puts 80 psi into the combustion chamber of the cylinder when at top dead center (TDC) on compression stroke, and the amount of leakage is measured by reading how

much pressure the cylinder will hold. If you hear air flowing around the rings, you can hear it in the crankcase breather system. Air flowing around an exhaust valve can be heard in the exhaust collector system, and air flowing around an intake valve can be heard in the intake system, specifically the carburetor. Normally I look at the spread of leakage between the cylinders. A common question is, “How much leakage before you have to do something?” I say when 25 percent of the 80 psi leaks out, then it is time to do something. However, since the engines I maintain are “for hire,” if the cylinder leakage gets into the upper 60s, I do something. I’ve found that on the Wright R-760s, 80 psi into the cylinder will show normal readings of 72-78 psi. Even at the 1,100 hours since major overhaul point, at 80 psi the cylinders are still holding 70-74 psi! So the power output is still there at the 1,100-hour mark. However, at around 1,000 hours, the leakage on the No. 5 cylinder went from 80/72 to 80/10, with leakage around the rings. Preliminary diagnosis: broken rings, ring grooves aligned, broken piston, etc. I removed the cylinder and found nothing visually wrong, except the walls were glazed. I inspected the piston, rings, and ring grooves.

So I roughed the walls by cross-hatching, reinstalled everything with new gaskets and seals, and flew the airplane. Now, 120 hours later, the cylinder shows 80/74 leakage. Why did the walls glaze? Maybe the cylinder got hot during a heavy climb; who knows!

Rob Lock’s Fairchild PT-26, which required a slightly different procedure for breaking in the inline Ranger engine.

62 May/June 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES

A typical Bendix Stromberg float carburetor. Idle mixture adjustment can be seen in the middle of the illustration, next to the economizer boot.

Another problem I inherited was a seep of oil coming from the threads where the cylinder head screws on to the barrel. Not knowing if this is a crack or a stress failure, I changed the cylinder. That cylinder had only 30 hours since the overhaul. Don’t mess with this problem; change the cylinder immediately!

Another problem I inherited was a sticking exhaust valve in the No. 4 cylinder. It was hard to locate because the problem was intermittent, but I could hear the sound of exhaust, and there was definitely a “miss” during the firing of the engine; it would happen when the engine was under a heavy load. I finally figured out where the problem was and started to remove the exhaust valve cover. When I tapped the cover with a mallet to loosen it, I heard the valve close with a “bang.” I attempted (with success) a repair without removing the cylinder. Here’s how to do it.

Move the piston to TDC and then back off a little. Remove both spark plugs and force a 1/4-inch diameter nylon rope into the combustion chamber. Carefully move the piston toward TDC until the rope compresses against the valves. You can then remove the valve springs; now back off the piston position and remove the rope. I mixed up some engine oil with valve-lapping compound, squirted it in the valve guide, put a short length of rubber hose on the valve stem, and rotated the valve, working it up and down as I rotated it. When the valve had loosened (valve clearance in the Wright is 0.002 inch to 0.008 inch) and there was a small bit of side movement between the valve and guide, I flushed out the oil/lapping compound mixture, slid the valve closed, put the rope back in the combustion chamber, used the piston/ rope combination to clamp the valves closed, reinstalled the valve springs, put the cylinder back together, and ran the engine. That valve never stuck again!

Here’s a close-up of the mixture lever. Moving the lever to the right leans the mixture, while moving it to the left richens the idle mixture.

When I broke in the Wright R-760, I ran the engine at 1800 rpm until the rings seated, which took about 10 hours. It is important to keep the rings loaded; don’t “baby” the engine or you’ll pay for it later! Run it hard!

Another problem I’ve found on the Wright is the carburetor-to-adapter mounting point. After a period of operation, the carburetor becomes loose. My son Rob found this on a preflight inspection when we had the New Standard at an air show in Mansfield, Ohio. He shook the carb air box and found the problem. I removed the safety wire, checked the condition of the gasket, tightened the nuts, and replaced the safety wire.

Apparently there is a harmonic vibration that caused some shaking between the carb and its mounting point on the engine power case.

Shaking the carb air box is now an item on the preflight inspection for us.

Idle rpm can be set on the throttle arm of the carburetor. Make sure the engine has warmed up and then adjust the screw until the desired rpm is set. The Wright idles nicely at 500 rpm.

Idle mixture can easily be set by adjusting the lever on the carburetor to either side of center to set mixture either rich or lean. Make sure the engine has warmed up, set the rpm at around 600, then move the mixture control to full “lean” and note whether the rpm increases slightly or immediately decreases. Adjust the idle mixture so there will be a slight rise in rpm before the engine quits. As soon as the engine quits, move the mixture to full rich and the engine will regain power, eliminating the need to restart the engine each time. It’s an old trick.

I hope this is enlightening for you radial-engine folks. I can say in complete honesty that if you stay on top of engine operation, that engine will last a long time.

www.vintageaircraft.org

63

Message From the President SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

If all goes as planned with the aircraft restorations currently in progress, Vintage will host some rare vintage aircraft from several different manufacturers. We’ll also be recognizing the 75th anniversary of the Taylorcraft, the Aeronca Chief, and the Cessna 120/140 aircraft.

Vintage aircraft parking east of Wittman Road and just south of the Vintage showplane display area will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. So those of you who want to park together will need to arrive in sequence together.

On another note, I am sure that all of you have noticed our site improvements over the past few years, all of which are thanks to the generosity of our members, particularly Friends of the Red Barn. We have made several significant improvements since 2019 and plan to continue with major site improvements throughout the Vintage area for the foreseeable future. Some of these targeted improvements are structural in nature, some are aesthetic, and some involve program enhancements — but most

importantly, all of them will enhance your enjoyment of the Vintage Village and the entire Vintage area.

We look forward to seeing you at AirVenture 2020 this July.

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.

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64 May/June 2020

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 262-844-3351 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

Robert C. Brauer photopilot@aol.com

Gene Morris genemorris@charter.net

Phil Coulson rcoulson516@cs.com

S.H. “Wes” Schmid shschmid@gmail.com

Ronald C. Fritz itzfray@gmail.com

John Turgyan jrturgyan4@aol.com

© 2020 Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc.

THE

N E W S TA N D A R D

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ANTIQUE

The EAA and Vintage Aircraft Association Aircraft Insurance Plan has all the special coverage options VAA Members require for hand propping, tailwheel, grass strips, and unique aircraft. Visit EAA.org/Insurance today for the right coverage at the best price for you.

Aircraft | Personal Non-Owned | Powered Parachute & WSC Trike | Accidental Death & Dismemberment | Flight Instructor | Hangar | Airport

EAA.org/Insurance | 866.647.4322

When you insure with the EAA Aircraft Insurance Plan you are helping VAA to continue to promote the heritage of vintage aviation.