SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
WACO CABIN TANDEM LUSCOMBE CESSNA 150 HOTROD
Heavy HAULER
CGI image, pre-production models and optional equipment shown.
R E S E R V E
Y O U R S
N O W
A T
F O R D . C O M / B R O N C O
Message From the President
September/October 2020
SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT
STAFF Publisher: Jack J. Pelton, EAA CEO and Chairman of the Board Vice President of Publications, Marketing,
New and Improved Vintage Look
and Membership: Jim Busha / jbusha@eaa.org Senior Copy Editor: Colleen Walsh Copy Editor: Tom Breuer Proofreader: Meghan Plummer Graphic Designer: Cordell Walker
ADVERTISING THIS PAST JULY 20, Vintage debuted
its new and improved website. The updated website has been optimized for viewing on all platforms, including desktop, tablet, and phone. The format was reorganized, making the entire website more user-friendly. New content has been added and will continue to be added on a regular basis. If you have not done so already, please visit our new and improved website at EAAVintage.org. At least once a week our office receives requests for information regarding vintage aircraft, the history of vintage aircraft, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, and a wide range of other subjects related to the Vintage Aircraft Association. Most requests originate here in the United States, but we do get quite a few requests from citizens of other countries from around the globe. Some of these inquiries are quickly and easily answered by the Vintage office, but quite a few require some time and effort, usually on my part as these requests are always forwarded to me. Fortunately for all concerned, the Vintage membership is a treasure trove of information on all aspects of vintage aircraft, including but not limited to its history and the best maintenance and restoration practices. I frequently call the real experts in the field (our members!) for their input or just have the person making the inquiry get in touch with them directly.
A few examples of the inquiries that we receive would be the three that I received this past week, which were really not that time-consuming. One involved an engine change on an airplane with a Continental engine in the lower horsepower range where the owner is thinking about removing that engine and installing a Continental with a little more horsepower. The engine change question was straightforward and easily answered and discussed via a telephone conversation.
The updated website has been optimized for viewing on all platforms, including desktop, tablet, and phone.
Advertising Manager: Sue Anderson / sanderson@eaa.org
CONTACT US Mailing Address: VAA, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903 Website: www.eaavintage.org Email: vintageaircraft@eaa.org Phone: 800-564-6322 Visit www.eaavintage.org for the latest in information and news.
Current EAA members may join the Vintage Aircraft Association and receive Vintage Airplane magazine for an additional $45/year. EAA membership, Vintage Airplane magazine, and one-year membership in the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association are available for $55 per year (Sport Aviation magazine not included). (Add $7 for International Postage.)
Another inquiry was about aircraft wood glues. This one is a little more complicated, but I reread the letter and decided that he was asking about glues that are acceptable here in the United States per the FAA as stated in AC 43.13. This inquiry originated in the United Kingdom. The individual making the inquiry does not use email so our executive assistant Amy Lemke mailed him a package of printed material on acceptable glues and gluing techniques used here in the United States.
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
10 Looks Can Be Deceiving This nicely restored Cessna 150 packs a punch By Hal Bryan
20 Cabin Comfort
Pemberton & Sons’ Waco EQC-6 Cabin By Moose Peterson
30 Noorduyn Norseman A hardy North Country workhorse By Budd Davisson
42 When a Good Deal Isn’t so Good Keeping project dreams from becoming nightmares By Budd Davisson
52 Where the Fun Is — No, Really, It’s a Luscombe Clu Colvin’s T8F By Budd Davisson
2
September/October 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 JACK FLEETWOOD
September/October 2020 / Vol. 48, No. 5
COV ER S Front The Norseman is right at home among the snowy Minnesota landscape.
COLUM NS 01
Message From the President
By Susan Dusenbury
04
Friends of the Red Barn
06
How To? Maintain Spark Plugs
Photography by Leonardo Correa Luna
By Robert G. Lock
Back
08
Good Old Days
The Pembertons’ cabin Waco sporting a stunning paint scheme.
60
The Vintage Mechanic Materials & Processes, Part II By Robert G. Lock
Photography by Moose Peterson
64
Flymart www.vintageaircraft.org
3
Friends of the
RED BARN 2020-2021
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 September/October 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 2020-2021 FORB contribution, thank you for your dedication and support of the vintage aircraft movement. I look forward to seeing you all in Vintage Village at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh beginning July 26, 2021! SUSAN DUSENBURY, PRESIDENT VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LYLE JANSMA, 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.
How To? ROBERT G. LOCK
MAINTAIN SPARK PLUGS BY ROBERT G. LOCK
SPARK PLUGS PLAY AN IMPORTANT part in the smooth operation
of an engine. They come in shielded or the older unshielded types, but all have the same job — ignite the fuel/air charge furnished by the carburetor or fuel-injection unit. Older radial engines were designed for 73 octane fuel that was used back in the ’20s. When a higher-octane fuel was needed, 80/87 octane was developed and dyed red for identification purposes. All the older engines ran great on this blend, but it was discontinued several years ago in favor of 100LL, the so-called savior for aircraft engines. However, 100LL (the LL stood for low lead) contained about four times the lead content as 80/87, but then additives we call aromatics were added that caused spark plug fouling in older low-compression engines. Thus, the need for regular spark plug maintenance. The engine original equipment manufacturer (OEM) determines what spark plugs are approved for a particular model. Early unshielded spark plugs such as Champion C-26 plugs had 18 mm threads, as did all other spark plugs for most models. The only 14 mm threads I came in contact with were those used in Franklin engines, mostly in Bell 47 helicopters. However, Franklin engines installed in fixed-wing aircraft still use the 14 mm plug. Figure 1 is a schematic showing the unshielded plug on the left and the shielded plug on the right. The firing end of the plug can have two electrodes or be the massive electrode (four-electrode) type. It is the electrodes that are gapped to the OEM’s recommendations, which is usually around 0.016 inch. Figure 1
6 September/October 2020
Opposed engine spark plug wear is the greatest on the bottom of the cylinders because they run hotter. Therefore, reversing the plugs from top to bottom at regular intervals will even out the wear and therefore make the plugs last longer. Besides reversing the plugs, they should be advanced to the next cylinder to fire. The same is true for radial engines. On radial engines the rear plugs wear faster than the front plugs because they run hotter. They will also be the ones that will foul out first. Spark plug fouling is caused by a buildup of oil deposits or chemicals from the fuel during the ignition process. Lower plugs in radial engines will normally oil foul because of oil draining into the lower cylinders. Much of the time that oil will be burned out during the first few minutes of operation, but chemical fouling will normally mean identifying the plug(s), removing, and cleaning. To prevent chemical fouling (we call them “clinkers”), I do regular maintenance by rotating the plugs every even oil change, or 50 hours. If the airplane is not flown 50 hours per year, then the plugs should be rotated on the annual, no matter how much time the engine has incurred. When removing the plugs, mark “front” and “rear” on a paper and record the numbers 1-7 or 1-9. As the plugs are removed, lay them below your numbers so you know what cylinder they were removed from and whether they are from the front or rear bank. If they need to be cleaned, by all means blast them with glass beads or plastic media. I don’t usually clean my plugs because my maintenance program usually takes care of the cleaning. Next, check the gap using a wire gauge and tighten the gap if needed. Figure 2 shows the proper method to set the gap of a spark plug using a wire gauge. Figure 3 shows a carbon-fouled spark plug. This platinum wire plug shows the wires are ground while the center electrode carries high current from the magneto. If anything bridges the gap, it will cause high current to immediately go to ground, and the plug will not fire. Locating a fouled spark plug is easy — just run the engine on the magneto firing the bad plug long enough to cool that plug and get the other plugs hot. Shut down the engine and locate the cool plug. That is the one that is not working. In most single-row radial engines, the LEFT magneto fires the REAR plugs, and the RIGHT magneto fires the FRONT plugs. So, if the engine misfires on the LEFT magneto, the problem plug is in the REAR bank. One fouled spark plug causes an rpm drop of about 250 rpm, and the drop is immediate.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES
Figure 2
It is always recommended that new copper gaskets be installed or the gaskets be annealed before installing spark plugs. I always put anti-seize compound on the threads and torque the plugs to 300-360 inch-pounds. That I always do! Over the years of operating Continental and Wright engines, I find that proper maintenance of spark plugs will give me 600-700 hours of reliable service. And the swapping of plugs from front to rear, plus moving the lower plugs to the top cylinders, will automatically keep the plugs clean, even using 100LL. It is worth the effort.
Upgrade to Reliability
Figure 3
STC/PMA
The BC400 Alternator system is now FAA-approved for Piper J-5C, PA-11, PA-12, PA-14, PA-16, PA-18, PA-20, and PA-22 aircraft. Includes brackets for Wide- or Narrow-deck
engines ... with NO change of oil cooler location required!
316-283-8000 • BandC.com www.vintageaircraft.org
7
Good Old Days
From the pages of what was ... Take a quick look through history by enjoying images pulled from publications past.
8 September/October 2020
www.vintageaircraft.org 9
CHECK OUT THE DIGITAL EDITION of Vintage for a photo gallery on the Cessna 150.
10 September/October 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD
THIS NICELY RESTORED CESSNA 150 PACKS A PUNCH BY HAL BRYAN
SOMETIMES WE GO HUNTING FOR STORIES; sometimes they have a way of finding us. When my wife told me that her friend and co-worker’s nephew was flying into Oshkosh for AirVenture 2018 and suggested that it would be nice to find him and say hello, of course I immediately asked what kind of airplane he had. All her friend knew was that it was older, which naturally grabbed my attention. Then the nephew, Dakota Garlick, EAA 1244669, told his aunt to tell my wife to tell me that it was a Cessna 150 with a 180-hp engine. That didn’t sound right. I’d heard of 150s on floats and the well-known taildragger conversions, and I was sure I’d heard of some with modestly upgraded engines, but I’d personally never come across one with 180 hp. I was intrigued but admittedly a little skeptical, and I thought that maybe something had gotten lost in the translation. Once AirVenture was up and running, I met Dakota down in the South 40 and, as it turned out, I was wrong, and happily so.
www.vintageaircraft.org 11
EASY TO FLY ... EASY TO BUY
It’s easy to be a little dismissive of an airplane as ubiquitous as the Cessna 150. After all, if you include the 152, more than 30,000 of them were built, which makes it one of the top five most-produced GA airplanes of all time. But back in 1986, when I first soloed, that little airplane, good old N5294Q, was hardly “just a 150.” It was the coolest airplane in the world at that moment, and I’m willing to bet it was for many of you, too. The 150 first flew in 1957 and went into production the following year. Just as its big brother, the 172, was conceived as a tricycle-gear replacement for the 170, the 150 was meant to supplant the 140, which had been out of production since 1951. According to the Cessna 150-152 Club, the airplane was originally going to follow the 172’s naming convention and was initially dubbed the Cessna 142, but that was quickly changed to 150.
The original 150s were available in three variants: the Standard, the Trainer, and the “Inter-City” Commuter. The price started at $6,995, which translates to roughly $63,000 in today’s dollars. The Trainer had some features that were missing from the Standard model, such as sun visors, a cigarette lighter, an upgraded altimeter, a landing light, and turn-and-bank and rate-of-climb indicators. The Commuter included those upgrades as well as a gyro horizon, directional gyro, a rotating beacon, and an engine-driven vacuum system. Interestingly, dual controls were standard only on the Trainer models, at least initially. In the marketplace, Cessna positioned the 150 as an affordable, all-purpose airplane. The airplane was billed as “easy to fly … easy to buy,” and an early brochure touted it as “ideal for … flight instruction, salesmen, sports or pleasure, second airplane for business, rental service, charter, farm and ranch, flying club, patrol work.” The marketing got a bit more hyperbolic in a later brochure, which proclaimed that the airplane was “custom designed for two, big enough for three or four.” To be fair, Cessna did offer an optional child seat that could be installed in the baggage area, technically making the airplane a 2+2.
One of the many upgrades made to the airplane was the addition of vortex generators.
12 September/October 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LYLE JANSMA
CLICK HERE
TO SEE A FLICKR GALLERY ON THE CESSNA 150
CONTINUED GROWTH
EVOLUTION CONTINUES
The 150 steadily evolved over the next several years. The gear was repositioned aft a couple of inches, the empty weight was reduced, the fastback gave way to the large rear window, and with the F-model in 1964, the straight tail was swept back. The Patroller model, which added windows in the bottoms of the doors along with long-range fuel tanks in the wings, was introduced in 1960, while the G-model, which was launched in 1967, was the first to be certified for floats. In 1968, the company delivered its 10,000th 150, an H-model. Shortly thereafter, the company set out to add another skill to the airplane’s repertoire — aerobatics. “Although our company’s lawyers were wringing their hands and our financial officers were ready for ulcers, the C-150 group beefed up the wings, struts (wider chord), and empennage to withstand the 6g positive and 3g negative required in the aerobatic category and the higher 193-mph red line speed,” wrote longtime Cessna engineer and test pilot William D. Thompson in his book Cessna: Wings for the World. That was the birth of the Model K, known as the Aerobat. In 1977, after nearly 24,000 150s had been produced, Cessna retired the 100-hp Continental O-200 engine in favor of the Lycoming O-235. This change not only brought 10 additional horsepower, but also was quieter; had a higher, 2,000-hour TBO; enabled a roughly 40-pound increase in useful load; and liked 100-octane fuel better than its predecessor. In addition to the new engine, Cessna added a 28-volt electrical system, an oil cooler, and an updated prop. The changes were enough to necessitate a new name, so the new model became known as the 152, and more than 7,500 were produced until the type was finally retired in 1985.
Over the years, Cessna 150s have been modified, in many cases via supplemental type certificates (STCs), in multiple ways. Some of the available STCs are simple and straightforward, like adding gap seals or fairings to reduce drag, or upgrading avionics. If you want to add rudder trim, ADS-B, or a shoulder harness to your 150, there are STCs for each. If you fly in places like, say, Wisconsin, there’s an STC to put skis on the airplane. If you think a classic airplane looks better with the little wheel in the back, 150s have been modified to be taildraggers via the Lowe Aviation, Texas Taildragger, or Bush conversions. But for some people, what the 150 needed more than anything else was more horsepower. Companies like Aero Upgrade and Avcon Conversions offered STCs to install O-320s, bringing the airplane up to 150 hp, while Del-Air in Porterville, California, upped the ante a bit. In February 1979, it applied for an STC that would enable Cessna 150 owners to install either an O-320 or an O-360, the latter bringing the stalwart little trainer up to 180 hp. The STC, number SA4795SW, was approved three and a half years later and issued on October 25, 1982. It’s unclear how many 150s were actually converted to the 180-hp engine, but Dakota estimates there are fewer than a dozen of them out there, including the freshly restored N51168, a 1968 J-model 150 that he flew to Oshkosh.
The interior is brand new, while the clean and tidy panel is basically stock, with the exception of an Insight G3 graphic engine monitor.
www.vintageaircraft.org 13
According to Dakota, this 150 climbs “like a homesick angel.”
DAKOTA
Dakota got into airplanes at an early age, thanks to a dad and grandfather who are also pilots. When he brought the 150 to AirVenture two years ago he was 27 years old. It was his 26th trip to Oshkosh but his first time flying in. But he was focused on learning to maintain airplanes before flying them.
14 September/October 2020
“I actually went to school one year,” he said. “I just did general studies. Then after that I was, like, I really want to work on airplanes, so I went to school at Vincennes University down in Indianapolis. Once I got my license, I passed the test. Two days later I got a job where I’m at now, and I’m learning something new every day still.” Where he is now is Cherry Hill Aviation based at Freeman Municipal Airport (KSER) in Seymour, Indiana. He started there in 2012 and began flight training shortly thereafter, working with his boss, Lance Bartels, EAA 573396. (The irony of a story about a Cessna 150 involving two guys who share names with Piper airplanes — Lance and Dakota — isn’t lost on me, though I’m sure to be the only one who cares.)
LANCE
“I started Cherry Hill Aviation in 2004 when I got out of Embry-Riddle, Daytona Beach, Florida,” Lance said. “I was flight-instructing on the side, I was doing maintenance, and then over the years it’s turned into maintenance and flight instruction and banner towing. And Dakota has worked for me for, I don’t know, over eight years now. One of the other guys has been here just as long. So we’ve got a total of five mechanics, including myself, and three instructors, including myself.”
Over the years, Lance flew as a corporate pilot, getting his type ratings in Lears and Challengers and the like. He now flies for a major cargo carrier, but Cherry Hill remains at the center of his aviation world. The business is named for a private grass strip, Cherry Hill Airport (40IN) in nearby Freetown, Indiana, where Lance keeps the airplanes. He had a Pawnee 260, which he’s since sold in favor of a Super Cub, and he needed a second airplane for banner towing. That’s when he spotted the 150 project listed for sale on Barnstormers.com.
“It’s not your typical towplane. Like the FAA guy told me ... ‘It’s the cleanest towplane I’ve ever seen.’” — LANCE BARTELS
Along with the VGs, the droop tips help with STOL performance, and contribute to the airplane’s 35-mph stall speed.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD, LYLE JANSMA
www.vintageaircraft.org 15
RESTORATION
“When I bought the airplane, it was basically in a box in pieces,” Lance said. “It had an STC [for the] 180, but the engine firewall forward was missing. So we got the Del-Air drawings for the STC. Actually, they came with the airplane and all the engineering drawings, which is a great set of drawings. And from there we were able to acquire all the parts and reassemble it back to where it should be.” When he acquired the airplane about half a dozen years ago, it hadn’t flown for quite a while. “It looked like it was flying somewhere down, I want to say, in Texas as a glider towplane,” Lance said. “But it sat dormant for, I’d say at least 15 years. And when we got it there was no electrical in it, no instrument panel, no interior, no windows, [and] the wings were off of it.” “Essentially we got it as just a side project for when we’re slow at work, and we started working on it,” Dakota said. As the restoration began, a lot of the focus was on getting the airplane mated to a fresh Lycoming O-360-A3A.
The airplane is equipped with a tow hitch and two release handles in the cockpit, which means they could drop a banner and then pick up a second one without landing.
16 September/October 2020
“Del-Air’s got a special engine mount and then you modify the cowling,” Lance said. “And, of course, it has a different exhaust system, different baffling, which we got all the drawings [for] and produced our own baffling. Exhaust system — we were able to find one and get it overhauled.” They bought a new spinner and eventually tracked down both a cruise and a climb prop. The only thing they changed from the STC was getting field approval to add a second oil cooler, which Lance said is a must when towing banners. The landing gear got some attention as well. “There’s an option in the flight manual to add heavyduty nose gear,” Lance said. “So we put the heavy-duty nose gear on there, put the big fork on it, 6-by-6 tire, and that was a Cessna option.” If something about that bigger nose gear looks a little unusual to you, you’re right. “As part of the STC, you actually flip the nose fork backwards,” Dakota said. “The scissor link usually faces backwards, but as you see on this one, it actually faces forward, which makes it a pain to get the cowling on and off.” In addition to the engine and related changes, 51168 has gotten some other performance upgrades as well. “We actually put different wings on it also,” Dakota said. “It’s got the Patroller wings. It actually carries 40 gallons of fuel also.” They added the hardware to support electric flaps, installed droop tips and vortex generators (VGs), and paid special attention to the rigging to make the airplane as efficient as possible at slow speeds. The interior is all new, while the clean and tidy panel is basically analog and stock, with the exception of the addition of an Insight G3 graphic engine monitor. “We completely restored the whole thing down to the bare frame,” Lance said. “It took two years. The airplane first flew in January of 2016.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LYLE JANSMA
INTERESTED IN CESSNA 150S? Contact the Cessna 150/152 Club for more information.
PERFORMANCE
Obviously, increasing the horsepower by 80 percent has had a serious effect on performance. With a cruise prop, Lance reported that he easily sees 150 mph while burning 11 gph at 70 percent power. With the extended Patroller tanks providing 38 gallons of usable fuel, the airplane has an endurance of about three hours with a reserve. But this airplane is focused more on climb than cruise. “The way the prop’s pitched, where our performance cruise-wise is slow, it’s like 90 knots, something like that,” Dakota said. “[But] it’ll climb like a homesick angel.” The airplane loves the slow speed regimen, and Dakota reported that power-on stalls are essentially impossible. “With, say, 15 degrees of flaps and a little bit of power in, the airplane won’t stall,” he said. “It’ll actually climb about 500 feet a minute at 30 miles an hour.” Lance said that power-off stalls are somewhere around 35 to 40 mph, thanks to the droop tips and the VGs. The airplane is a solid STOL performer and, lightly loaded, can easily take off in less than 50 feet. Both Dakota and Lance want to see the airplane fly in a STOL competition at AirVenture one of these days. “It’s honestly just an airplane that’s a blast to fly,” Dakota said.
This 150 is about more than just having fun, however. It’s an airplane that works hard to earn its keep.
SPECS Aircraft Make and Model: 1968 Cessna 150J LENGTH:
23 feet, 9 inches
WINGSPAN:
33 feet, 6 inches
HEIGHT:
8 feet, 8 inches
MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT:
1,760 pounds
EMPTY WEIGHT:
1,216 pounds
FUEL CAPACITY:
38 gallons
SEATS:
2
POWERPLANT MAKE AND MODEL:
Lycoming O-360-A3A
HORSEPOWER:
180
PROPELLER:
McCauley two-blade climb prop
CRUISE SPEED/FUEL CONSUMPTION:
150 mph/11-12 gph
POWER LOADING:
9.8 pounds/hp
WING LOADING:
11 pounds/square foot
VNE:
162 mph
VSO:
35 mph (estimated)
www.vintageaircraft.org 17
With a cruise prop, the 150 will hum along at 150 mph, but, in the banner business, it’s all about climb performance, not cruise.
BANNER BUSINESS
This 150 is about more than just having fun, however. It’s an airplane that works hard to earn its keep. “It tows banners,” Dakota said. “We tow [over] the Indianapolis 500, the Kentucky Derby, the Brickyard 400, IU football games.” The airplane is equipped with a tow hitch that they built from Cessna drawings. There are two release handles in the cockpit, which means they could drop a banner and then pick up a second one without landing, though Lance said that they don’t really use it all that much, preferring to focus on full three-hour tow flights as opposed to smaller, shorter jobs. When towing banners, the airplane is equipped with a 15-foot cable that has a steel grappling hook on the end that’s used to catch a loop at the end of the banner’s 275foot towrope. “When I take off, I have the hook in my hand and the cable’s taut, [and the excess] is coiled up,” Lance said. “When I get airborne, I drop the cable and the hook and make sure I don’t hit the gear or the tail. I carefully drop it, so then it’s hanging off the tail.”
18 September/October 2020
Once the hook is dangling, the pilot comes in low at about 65 mph to pick up the typically 40-by-100-foot banner. “I basically have the banner laid out the opposite direction as I’m flying,” Lance said. “So when I come down, there’s two poles that are about 10 feet tall that are holding the loop at the end of the rope. And that catches that loop with the hook, and it peels the rope off the ground backwards, and then it peels the banner off the ground up at about a 45-degree angle, and off you go.” Lance said that, when you hook the banner, the speed drops about 15 mph, down to 50, but it’s a very gradual deceleration. “And then we tow at about 50 to 55 and we go to drop it; it’s pretty much the same speed and just kind of set on down to 50 to 55, and [when you] get within 50 feet of the ground you pull your release,” he said. “And then … the hook and the cable and the banner and the rope all fall to the ground.” Dakota takes pride in the fact that the 150 looks good doing what it does. “Normally you see planes like this, they’re workhorses,” he said. “My boss, he likes it the other way. He likes his airplanes to look good. We make sure the airplanes look good before he actually goes out and uses them.” Lance backed him up. “It’s not your typical towplane,” he said. “Like the FAA guy told me … ‘It’s the cleanest towplane I’ve ever seen.’”
THE NEXT GENERATION
As proud and capable as this muscle-bound banner-towing platform is, N51168 also proves its worth in a more traditional role for the type, as Lance has been using it to teach his son Noah to fly. “He’s 13, and if he could legally solo in it, he’d solo in it,” Lance said. “He’s been flying for a year now. And so whenever we’re not towing with it, he likes to do takeoffs and landings in it. So even a 13-year-old can fly it.” I asked Lance if Noah was going to go into the banner-towing business, and he passed the question along for me. “Noah, are you going to tow banners someday?” he asked. “I don’t know,” Noah said.
At 13, he’s got plenty of time to decide, and he can bet that the 150 will be there, as Lance has no plans to part with it. “There’s only a handful of them in the world,” he said. “We’ll hold onto it.”
Vortex generators on the vertical stabilizer help improve rudder effectiveness at slow speeds.
HAL BRYAN, EAA Lifetime 638979/VAA 714005, is senior editor for EAA digital and print content and publications. He’s the co-author of multiple books as well as a lifelong pilot and aviation geek. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @halbryan, or email him at hbryan@eaa.org.
With all of the upgrades Lance and Dakota have done to the airplane, N51168 is the kind of 150 that the original Cessna designers might only have dreamed of.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD, LYLE JANSMA
www.vintageaircraft.org 19
PEMBERTON & SONS’ WACO EQC-6 CABIN STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MOOSE PETERSON
20 September/October 2020
It was a delightful Zero in the photo platform but it’s a really cozy Waco EQC-6 for its passengers. Addison Pemberton, owner and pilot this afternoon, was dressed in shirt and tie making sure all had a marvelous flight.
www.vintageaircraft.org 21
ooking out in every direction all we saw was snow, from field to mountaintops, as the hangar door slowly folded open. The hangar had been packed the night before for the day’s flying. The snow had been moved, so getting to the ramp and field would be smooth going. It was a gorgeous winter day in Spokane. There were clear skies overhead, and the air temp hovered just below the 30-degree mark as Tony the Towbot scooped up the Waco’s tail wheel, pushing it out the door. As the aircraft slipped from the darkness, its vermilion color took on a glow in the winter sun. The grinding noise continued for a few minutes and then stopped as it retreated to the dark corner of the hangar to await our return. It was going to be a great day of flying!
Many pilots don’t like flying their “antique” aircraft in the winter. Not only are the skies predominantly gray, but it’s also just plain cold! An open cockpit with an air temp below freezing and the wind zipping by at 90 knots brings frigid temps right inside. Flying in a cabin allows the heat from the engine to make a difference and makes flying possible. It’s the only reason we had a full load for the photo flight, which included Mr. Bear (the plane’s mascot). Wearing a dress shirt and tie just as they did back in the day, the pilot and ground crew got everyone settled in their seats, belted in and headsets on, and then yelled “CLEAR!” as the Wright turned the prop in the crisp air. All were genuinely excited to fly and see the Washington state landscape carpeted in white from 2,000 feet. Back in the day, the Waco EQC-6 would bring folks to Spokane to go skiing. Today’s owner of the Waco came for the skiing, too. Mount Spokane is a favorite locale, so that was our destination for this flight. Radar indicated possible clouds and snow flurries in the area of Mount Spokane as we left the ground. The launch was so smooth that only the disappearing runway told us we were up. We climbed and banked left out of the pattern on a heading northwest. It was a great day to fly!
Pictured here parked on the early morning grass right outside its hangar, the Waco EQC-6 is equally comfortable on grass or tarmac.
CHECK OUT THE DIGITAL EDITION of Vintage for a photo gallery on the Pemberton and sons’ Waco EQC-6 Cabin.
22 September/October 2020
THE WACO EQC-6
In 1924, Advance Aircraft Co. of Troy, Ohio, designed and built the first cabin Waco, the Model 8. Able to carry six passengers inside the cabin and two in the open cockpit, only one of them was made. In 1931, Waco produced the QCF-2, at the time the industry’s highest-performance open-cockpit biplane. In 1932, Beech first flew its gorgeous Staggerwing, putting pressure on Waco for a cabin aircraft. This prompted Waco’s engineers to start designing a four-place cabin aircraft with similar performance to the QCF-2. They also wanted it to have the ability to land and launch from small fields just like the QCF-2. If all of that weren’t enough of a challenge, the Waco engineers wanted to maintain the low weight and small size of their biplane but design it with better vision — while keeping the price below $6,000. That was a tall order that was quickly not only met but exceeded in the Waco Model C. Advance Aircraft Co. sold 37 1931 Waco Model C QDC cabin aircraft (along with 149 open-cockpit models) at a time when most aircraft companies were struggling. This great success pushed Waco to further improve its series. The 1932 cabin series saw further refinements and improved power while keeping the price below the targeted threshold. Along with the significant “blind area” improvement, this made Waco the most bought cabin (and open-cockpit) aircraft in 1932. In 1933, Waco brought its cabin series to the next level with the introduction of the UIC and its ad campaign “Fly on Silver Wings.”
“I also discovered large segments of the fuselage wood that was taped with friction tape and doped into position. I also found scary stock brass cone water valves for the fuel valves — all original. The airplane has beautiful lines, but [it was made using] many very crude building practices.” — ADDISON PEMBERTON
www.vintageaircraft.org 23
CLICK HERE
TO SEE A FLICKR GALLERY ON THE PEMBERTON AND SONS’ WACO EQC-6 CABIN
The new paint schemes and more luxurious interior of the UIC, along with a wood grain instrument panel, got aviators and especially executives looking at the new UIC. It could take off or land in less than 100 yards, had lower operating and maintenance costs, and featured controlled ventilation and greater visibility. This made the silver wings and vermilion fuselage that much more attractive. Waco sold 83 of the aircraft, along with its open-cockpit airplane, that year. Waco continued this pace of improvement, refinement, power, and luxuriousness in 1934 and through 1935, when it introduced the Standard series (renaming the Model C) at lower prices and with more power. The new Standard series was a new custom cabin aircraft. The list of improvements and refinements on the 1935 Standard series is lengthy. Highlights were various powerplants; rounded windows; a nonglare instrument panel; a direct-drive electric starter; a safety glass windshield; front adjustable seats, fore and aft; a stabilizer control mounted on the steering column; and independently controlled mid-chord flaps (made from corrugated aluminum). The Standard series made the Waco Aircraft Co. feel very optimistic for a bright sales year, and the company named the new cabin aircraft the “Four Aces of the Air.”
24 September/October 2020
In 1936, Waco’s refinements and improvements produced what many say are the finest aircraft Waco ever produced! Waco wowed the aviation world in 1936 at the National Pacific Aircraft and Boat Show with its 1936 line of cabin aircraft. With a starting price of $4,995 for the S-6 cabin and maxing out with the gorgeous C-6 cabin at $9,650, Waco increased sales and production with new designs that grabbed everyone’s attention. The Standard S-6 featured new landing gear and a new engine cowling. The Custom C-6 featured new landing gear, a new engine cowling, a longer fuselage, and fabric-covered ailerons. The C-6 was the high-performance model with a top speed of 176 mph. Waco would go on to produce new, improved, and refined cabin aircraft until 1940. Many feel that it set the standard for the golden era of luxurious, fast flight. The one confusing thing about Waco is the coding or naming structure for its aircraft. While some of it is perfectly clear, there is also some variance. But, basically, the first letter indicated the powerplant, the second stood for the basic airframe, and the third was the series and dash, which generally indicated the year of manufacture. For example, EQC-6 equates to:
E=
Wright R-760E2, 350 hp
Q=
1936 custom cabin types and 1930 National Air Tour Special
C=
All cabin models 1931-1935, and custom cabin models from 1936
-6 =
1936
“Engine was smooth and powerful, and the airplane flew hands off. The freshly rebuilt oleo landing gear made the first landing as smooth as a butterfly with sore feet.” — ADDISON PEMBERTON PEMBERTON & SONS’ EQC-6 (N16591) STORY
Addison Pemberton and his sons have a wellearned reputation for restoring gorgeous aircraft. In the fall of 2007, their restoration on the Boeing 40 was in its final stages. At that time Addison went out looking for their next project. At Blakesburg, Iowa, the Waco Cabin series grabbed his attention, and after doing lots of homework and talking with a number of folks, in May 2008 he found and purchased EQC-6, N16591, serial No. 4490. Pemberton purchased the EQC-6 from the Gomoll family, who had owned the aircraft since the 1960s. N16591 left the factory on October 3, 1936 (as a DQC-6). It was purchased by Howard Aircraft and then went to the Wallace Air Service (as an EQC-6) at Felts Field a few years later. Felts is the home base for Pemberton & Sons Aviation, so it was, in a way, going home.
The ferry trip from Minneapolis back to Spokane was completed in under 12 hours (excluding the two days they spent waiting out a freak late-May snowstorm in North Dakota and an incident where the exhaust fell off over Mobridge, South Dakota). Amazingly, the EQC-6 cruised at 145 mph at 7,500 feet (and at 55 percent) all the way back to Spokane, burning only 18 gph. The supercharged Wright R-760-E2 was strong and smooth, especially considering it was just 50 hours since major overhaul 16 years prior to the ferry flight. As winter approached in 2008, the Waco was rolled into the main work hangar as the restoration process began, starting with the engine, propeller, accessories, and instruments going out for overhaul. The landing gear went out to John Nace, with the tail wheel and trim jackscrew going to Joe Maridon. As the EQC-6 was being carefully torn down, Addison was amazed to see “PK screws drilled right through longerons and major structure wherever Waco decided to mount whatever.” He went on to say, “I also discovered large segments of the fuselage wood that was taped with friction tape and doped into position. I also found scary stock brass cone water valves for the fuel valves — all original. The airplane has beautiful lines, but [it was made using] many very crude building practices.”
Addison is quite the gentleman and character. All of his aircraft have some stuffed mascot that greets those when they enter the cabin. On the EQC-6, there’s a dressed up teddy bear to take your drink orders.
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The fuselage was actually in really good condition, despite all the PK screw holes, which were remedied with minor welding repairs made by Ryan Pemberton. It was beadblasted, epoxy-primed, and painted with gloss black polyurethane paint. One mod was made with FAA field approval: The rudder pedals were switched to PT-19 (on both sides) and five-eighths modern brake master cylinders. The PT-19 pedals were reworked, and the Fairchild casting logo was replaced with Waco logos. This mod also required designing new linkage with clever pedal geometry to prevent pedal angle change throughout the pedal stroke. With this accomplished, a new one-quarter Baltic birch floor was installed onto the C-6 “roller coaster floor.”
26 September/October 2020
Pemberton & Sons spent 10 months re-creating all-new wood longerons from the original parts. Using the original longerons as a pattern, new ones were manufactured for the EQC-6 and the process was pretty much straightforward. The challenge came with the crescent-shaped longeron shape formers. Pemberton & Sons was able to find a cabinet shop in Spokane with tooling capable of cutting the inside and outside shape even for the 18-foot sections! These were all made from spruce spar stock. The wood fuselage parts all fair in the metal fuselage 4130 chromoly structure. The long, crescent-shaped wood longeron parts attach to steel longerons that neatly blend in the wood stringers that make up the fuselage shape. One deviation from the original fuselage is a removable belly aluminum panel center section from the firewall to aft of the front seats. This permits easier access for annual inspection and for servicing primary flight controls.
Grabbing the wheel in the Waco EQC-6, you quickly can see what Addison loves it so much. Addison loves to share that joy so those in the right seat are often given stick time to see for themselves.
When Pemberton & Sons got to the wings of the Waco, the company had just spent four years building the wings of the Boeing 40. It found that the lower wings required minor rib repair and several spar plate replacements. The upper wing spars were badly fuel-stained, and there were minor cracks outside of most of the spar plates. In addition, the spar plates were squared off with sharp transitions, as opposed to the tapered transitions typically seen in woodwing aircraft. It was decided that Pemberton & Sons would take on the lower wings and the upper wing would be sent to John Pike at Big Sky. It was a good call, as Pike had the wing back in 12 weeks, on budget and looking great! After work was completed on the gas tanks, ailerons, and tail, everything was fitted and rigged before being covered.
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Because of the cold winter temperatures in Spokane, working with cloth and paint is a summer task. In this case, it consumed June to September 2011. Addison’s wife, Wendy — who does gorgeous work — covered the surfaces and produced award-winning results. Ceconite 102 fabric, nitrate, and butyrate dope were used throughout the process. Thirteen coats were applied, creating the perfect base for the Randothane polyurethane topcoats. All the wood was painted with Stits two-part epoxy varnish, which is resistant to dope and Super Seam cement. There was an issue with orange peel until the topcoat was thinned to twice the recommended amount. The majority of the sheet metal was remade from 5052-H34 using original parts as templates. The 5052-H34 worked well with the planishing hammer and English wheel. Because of the extreme forming required, dead soft 3003 was used for the compound shoulder fairings where the landing gear exits the fuselage. All metal parts were acid-etched, epoxy-primed, and finished with Randothane polyurethane.
28 September/October 2020
Our run out to the ski resort on Mt. Spokane complete, passengers enjoying their ride to and from, Addison turns the Waco EQC-6 back towards Felt Field and the warmth of the hangar.
It now came down to finishing details. The supercharged Wright R-760-E2 was hung, and all the overhauled instruments were installed along with some new avionics. Cessna 310 Cleveland wheels and brakes were installed with an FAA field approval. Final assembly was completed with all-new hardware, wiring, cables, and bearings. A new leather interior was installed, along with mohair headliner and pile carpeting with soundproofing. And with that, Pemberton & Sons basically had a brand-new 1936-era Waco EQC-6 with some really nice upgrades.
Specs Airplane Type and Model: 1936 Waco EQC-6 N16591 ENGINE:
350-hp supercharged Wright R-760-E2
FUEL:
94 gallons
FUEL BURN AT 28 INCHES MANIFOLD PRESSURE/1900 RPM:
18 gph
GROSS WEIGHT:
3,650 pounds
FLAP EXTENSION SPEED:
108 mph
BEST GLIDE:
95 mph
HIGH-SPEED CRUISE:
170 mph
MAX SPEED “DIVE”:
214 mph
NORMAL CRUISE:
145 mph
MAX POWER 1 MINUTE:
35 inches MP/2400 rpm
METO POWER:
32 inches MP/2200 rpm
NORMAL CLIMB:
30 inches MP/2000 rpm
CRUISE:
28 inches MP/1900 rpm
SLOW CRUISE:
22-26 inches MP/1800 rpm
On July 14, 2012, N16591 made its first flight. Addison said of the flight, “Engine was smooth and powerful, and the airplane flew hands off. The freshly rebuilt oleo landing gear made the first landing as smooth as a butterfly with sore feet.” That was a 45-minute flight over the airport. The restoration took three years and nine months and cost $75,000; $25,000 went to the firewall forward, $10,000 to cover and paint, and $10,000 to avionics (this does not include the purchase price). You can see the Pemberton & Sons Waco EQC-6 flying year-round in the skies of Spokane and elsewhere. It’s an incredibly easy, comfortable, and luxurious ride — and it doesn’t stay in the hangar much. Way back in 1936, Waco’s engineers knew how to produce a cabin aircraft for aviators. The EQC-6 is living testimony to their skill, talent, and dreams. Simply a gorgeous aircraft! Many thanks to Addison Pemberton for flying the Waco EQC-6 through the snow and to Ryan Pemberton, photo platform pilot, for a great flight! INTERESTED IN WACOS? Contact the American Waco Club or the National Waco Club for more information.
www.vintageaircraft.org 29
A HARDY NORTH COUNTRY WORKHORSE BY BUDD DAVISSON
RARELY DOES THE NAME of an airplane truly characterize what the aircraft stands for. In a single word — Norseman — the image is set of a group of people and a machine that are known for their ability and determination to explore, survive, and prosper in the arctic wilds. The airplane lives up to its name and heritage in every possible way. So it’s sad that, although 904 of the aircraft were built, it is not well remembered and is seldom seen at fly-ins. That’s why Tony Phillippi’s Mk. VI Noorduyn Norseman, N164UC, was something of a sensation at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019. The vast majority of those trudging the flightline had no idea what it was, and even fewer visitors had ever actually seen one. Norseman expert and pilot Rodney Kozar says one reason the Norseman is so rarely seen is that only approximately 50 airframes still survive, eight flying in Canada, four in the U.S., and one in Norway. A total of 37 projects and museum survivors are scattered around the world, most of them in Canada, the United States, and Europe. That’s a survival rate of less than 6 percent for Robert Noorduyn’s bush-specific design that first flew in 1935.
30 September/October 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA
www.vintageaircraft.org 31
A Norseman isn’t rotund. It is purposefully shaped to accommodate as much cargo as it can. The Norseman was originally certified on floats, not wheels, hence the big gear fairings.
32 September/October 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA
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tility doesn’t recognize age as long as the job is getting done. Utility does, however, clearly understand attrition: The job for which the Norseman was designed — carrying heavy loads onto the most marginal of runways and lakes — is fraught with daily risks. It’s a fact that continual exposure to high-risk environments, whether it’s an airplane or a bulldozer, means the odds of long-term survival are not good. The odds chip away at the survivors until there are none left. Aggravating the survival odds of the Norseman is the fact that the mellow rumble of a healthy Pratt & Whitney radial in the far north has increasingly been replaced by the near-scream of turbines. Enter Glen Crandall of Ponoka, Alberta, N164UC’s restorer, and Tony Phillippi of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, the current owner. Owning, operating, and restoring big airplanes has long been Tony’s personal passion. “I think my interest in bigger-than-normal civilian airplanes may come from the Northrop Delta my dad owned and flew us around in in the ’50s,” he said. “He was a construction contractor and eventually bought a DC-3, which he owned with his friend Max Conrad, the record-setting long-distance pilot.”
34 September/October 2020
Tony continued in his dad’s construction footsteps, eventually founding a company that specializes in really big, heavy lift cranes. “We’ve done jobs around the globe, including in Antarctica,” he said. “At a lot of the overseas jobs, we’d have an airplane or two of our own in country to help with the logistics. For instance, in 1976 we were doing work in Iran and the Shah had a Lockheed JetStar, which we wound up buying. It was the only U.S.-registered aircraft permitted to fly in the country. “We really loved the JetStar. It had lots of room and range and, of course, the reliability of four jet engines. Eventually, we were operating 11 of them and set up a support program for JetStar owners around the world. “At one point I saw a picture of a Howard 500 in Trade-A-Plane, and I was totally hooked,” Tony said. “At the time I knew very little about them, but what I saw I liked. What’s not to like about a pair of R-2800 P&Ws? I wound up buying four, and two have been restored. One was Grand Champion at Oshkosh.” Because Tony and his company need the utility that aircraft can give him on the job, he couldn’t help but be aware of the various bushplanes that had served “the North” for generations.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY DANDO, LEONARDO CORREA LUNA
Hans Meyer, one of the pilots for Tony’s fleet of vintage airplanes, brought the airplane to AirVenture 2019.
“Besides being totally restored, the fuselage fabric had been replaced with aluminum and a larger-than-normal cargo door had been installed. The original door is pretty good-sized, but you could almost put a Volkswagen through this one.” — TONY PHILLIPPI
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The Norseman Festival: Red Lake, Ontario — A Town That Remembers ALTHOUGH THE NORSEMAN is little known outside of Canada, in Red Lake, Ontario, it is a celebrity. Self-described as an end-of-the-road town, Red Lake and the six small enclaves it encompasses date back to 1926, when bushplanes began to connect such rural communities to the outside world. After the war, the sound of a Norseman on floats transiting the town’s docking facilities was a signal that the outside world hadn’t forgotten Red Lake. Although the Norseman has been mostly replaced by Beavers, Otters, and others of the new generation of bushplanes, Red Lake still calls itself the Norseman Capital of the World and has a festival in honor of Robert Noorduyn’s gift to the North Country. Where most communities have a statue of a gallant soldier in the town square, Red Lake has a Norseman, CF-DRD, on a pedestal overlooking the lake where it often landed. Unfortunately, a major hailstorm pummeled the town in 2017, severely damaging the fabric on CF-DRD and allowing the elements to do their thing to the interior and structure. They’ve mounted a fundraising campaign to save their town icon. If you’d like more information or want to give them a hand, please contact Duane Riddell at 807-727-0772 or Sophie Castonguay at 705-363-8906. You can also email duane@norsemanfestival.on.ca or visit https:// ca.gofundme.com/f/Save-DRD.
36 September/October 2020
“I knew of the Norseman and knew they were becoming rare,” he said. “Then, when we had a crane operation going in Alberta, Canada, I heard about Glen Crandall in Ponoka. He had been a Norseman owner and restorer since he rescued one from the Yukon in 1993. His fully restored airplane was for sale and had some notable modifications to it, which made it even more attractive to me. Besides being totally restored, the fuselage fabric had been replaced with aluminum and a larger-than-normal cargo door had been installed. The original door is pretty good-sized, but you could almost put a Volkswagen through this one. A snowmobile isn’t even a tight fit. It had a total of about 13,000 hours on it, of which about 2,000 were military.” Among the other big airplanes Tony has owned was a Grumman Albatross, which was often flown by Brian Van Wagnen, a retired airline pilot who is also a vintage airplane freak and restorer. Tony didn’t have to push Brian very hard to get him to fly up to do a prebuy inspection on the Norseman and fly it back to Michigan.
“I had flown Norsemans back in the day, but I had long since figured I’d never get the opportunity to fly another one,” Brian said. “However, as soon as I caught sight of the airplane Tony was thinking of buying, it was pretty obvious that I was going to be flying it home. “Norsemans are so big and so often have gone through a period of abandonment that they take much more than a coat of paint to make them right,” he said. “It’s a very expensive process on an airplane for which there is a very limited market. Plus, they’re slow, they burn a lot of gas, and to restore one is a massive project. However, even as I walked up to CF-UUD, it was obvious that Glen had done a nearly perfect job. In fact, it was a real joy to crawl all over this airplane inspecting it. I wasn’t so much looking for things that were wrong as I was appreciating the masterful work that had been done. It was with some pleasure that I gave Tony a thumbs-up evaluation on the airplane.
The P&W R-1340 puts out 600 hp and the three-blade Hartzell does a good job of putting those ponies to work, but it’s pulling a lot of airplane around behind it.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA, CHRISTOPHER MILLER
www.vintageaircraft.org 37
Brian added that the skis and floats were part of the package. In fact, the Norseman may be one of the only airplanes that, when it did its certification flying for the Canadian government, it was all done on floats. It didn’t get wheels until later. “The skis with Glen’s airplane were the last of 50 sets of retractable skis that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had manufactured for their Norsemans,” Brian said. “The skis were on the airplane when Tony bought it, and I left them on as I flew it back to my strip in Jackson, Michigan. Tony has said that he doesn’t want to put it on floats.” It should be noted that CF-UUD, now registered as N164UC (when it was built in 1943, its U.S. Army Air Forces designation was UC-64A, hence the “N” number), was born under a lucky star. It has had far more brushes with death than most aircraft. For instance, in 1956, when it returned from long-term employment in Mexico, where the larger-than-normal door magically appeared, a careless welder set it on fire. In seconds the fabric flared up, destroying the wooden wings but leaving the fuselage and cockpit structure largely untouched. The remains were purchased by an engineer, Charles Ursell, who metalized the fuselage and then designed and installed a set of all-metal wings with 170 gallons of fuel in them. He even managed to get an STC for them. Surviving the fire and being found by someone who was willing to revive the aircraft was lucky strike number one for the airplane.
Flash ahead 30 years to 1986 and the airplane, now living in Canada, was sinking into the grass on the side of a nearly forgotten runway — a typical situation for working airplanes that are well past their prime. Glen Crandall, a farmer from Ponoka, Alberta, who had wanted a Norseman since he was a teenager, discovered CF-UUD. It was in questionable condition, but the good news was that it was marginally airworthy, so it was ferried down to Wetaskiwin, British Columbia, where Solar Aviation took it down to the last nut and bolt and brought it up to nearnew condition. Lucky strike number two. For a time, the restored CF-UUD lived in a big wooden hangar on an ex-Royal Canadian Air Force base. The month after Glen decided to move it to another hangar, his former hangar burned down. Lucky strike number three. It stayed in the new hangar for a time before being moved to another newer hangar. A month later, the hangar it had just vacated burned down. Lucky strike number four. Restorer Glen Crandall had two hangars burn down shortly after moving the Norseman out. Owner Tony Phillippi now keeps it in the hangar with his Howard 500s and a fire system watches over them all.
38 September/October 2020
When Brian got the airplane back to Michigan, his challenge was to sort out the paperwork required to get the airplane ready to be registered in the United States. As an experienced A&P/ IA mechanic, he knew this could be daunting. “It’s quite common,” Brian said, “for older aircraft to have huge parts of their history not covered in the logbooks and mechanical modifications are missing important supporting paperwork. They may have a change made to the airplane that requires an STC, but the owner doesn’t have that STC in their files. Or maybe it’s not in the logbook. This was not the case with Tony’s new plane. Everything that had been done to the airplane was there.” In 1967 the aircraft was exported to Canada and registered as CF-UUD, and in 1976 UUD’s metal wings (the only ones in existence) were transferred to another aircraft and replaced with original all-wood/fabric-covered wings. All of this was covered in the logbooks along with everything Glen Crandall had done. So Brian’s job of making the aircraft legal in the United States was simplified. Speaking of his airplane’s long history, Tony said, “You wish the airplane could talk. With 13,000 hours, almost all of it in bush operations, you can bet it had some interesting adventures.” One of the more interesting episodes in CF-UUD’s life involved the metal wings, which were wet and reportedly held 170 gallons. Later owners assumed that when the wing modification was made, the Norseman’s original 100-gallon belly tank had been removed and wasn’t reinstalled when the metal wings were removed. This left only the two 50-gallon wing tanks to feed the 600-hp P&W R-1340, which has a voracious appetite. So later pilots had to carefully plan their flights. However, during a rebuild in the 1990s, it was found that the original belly tank had not been removed and still had 10 gallons of gas in it!
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA
SPECS GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS CREW:
1
CAPACITY:
10
LENGTH:
32 feet, 4 inches (9.86 meters)
WINGSPAN:
51 feet, 6 inches (15.70 meters)
HEIGHT:
10 feet, 1 inch (3.07 meters)
WING AREA:
325 square feet (30.2 square meters)
AIRFOIL:
NACA 2412
EMPTY WEIGHT:
4,240 pounds (1,923 kilograms)
MAX TAKEOFF WEIGHT:
7,400 pounds (3,357 kilograms); 7,540 pounds (3,420 kilograms) with floats
FUEL CAPACITY:
100 imperial gallons (120 U.S. gallons) in two wing roots, plus optional 37.4 imperial gallons (44.9 U.S. gallons) front and 64 imperials (77 U.S. gallons) rear belly tanks
POWERPLANT:
One Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN1, nine-cylinder aircooled radial piston engine, 600 hp (450 kW)
PROPELLERS:
Three-bladed Hamilton Standard, 9 feet, 0.75 inches (2.7623 meters) diameter
PERFORMANCE MAXIMUM SPEED:
155 mph (249 km/h, 135 knots) landplane; 138 mph (120 knots; 222 km/h) (skis); 134 mph (116 knots; 216 km/h) (floats)
CRUISE SPEED:
130 mph (210 km/h, 110 knots) KTAS at 10,000 feet (3,000 meters)
LANDING SPEED:
68 mph (109 km/h, 59 knots)
RANGE:
932 miles (1,500 km, 810 nm) at 10,000 feet (3,000 meters)
SERVICE CEILING:
17,000 feet (5,200 meters)
RATE OF CLIMB:
591 feet/minute (3 meters/second) at 100 mph (87 knots; 161 km/h)
WING LOADING:
22.8 pounds/square foot (111 kilograms/square meter)
POWER/WEIGHT:
12.3 pounds/hp (7.48 kilograms/kW)
MAXIMUM, FLAPS EXTENDED (VFE):
108 mph (94 knots; 174 km/h)
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Brian says the airplane flies very much the same as it looks: heavy, stable, and easy on the runway with loads of character. “First, you have to remember that at 4,650 pounds empty, even with 600 hp, it’s not going to be a rocket ship,” Brian said. “Plus, it has a steerable tail wheel rather than one that locks, so when taxiing you can easily make it go where you want. However, you always have to remember that it has a lot of inertia and the old drum brakes are adequate but not great. “On takeoff, you have pretty decent visibility for a taildragger and, of course, the soundtrack is terrific! Nothing beats a round motor,” he said. “The acceleration at the weights we fly it, with just a couple people and gas, could be likened to a light 172. I let the tail fly itself off the ground with only a little help, then hold a slightly tail-down attitude and let the airplane make the takeoff, which generally happens around 65 to 70 mph. You have some right foot in it during most of the run, and as soon as it starts to leave the runway, you get a lot more boot into it for P-factor. It has a big rudder but also has lots of P-factor. The flight deck is accessed after walking up the fuselage aisle. Unseen behind the instrument panel is a huge oil tank necessary to keep the R-1340 happy.
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA
“You’re limited to 36 inches of manifold pressure and about 2250 rpm on takeoff and climb, which gives about 700 fpm at 80 mph,” he added. “The whole takeoff process is extremely solid, and throwing a couple of people in the back has little or no effect on the performance. For that reason, inasmuch as making a profit in a bush freight operation is a function of how much you can carry on each trip, you can bet the old girl was usually carrying a lot more than its official payload of 3,300 pounds. In those kinds of North Country operations, the rule is, ‘If it fits, it flies.’ “As you can imagine, at cruise it’s as if you’re humming along in an 18-wheeler on the interstate. Nothing seems to bother it,” Brian said. “This’ll be at 28 inches and 1800 to 1850 rpm, which is sucking close to 40 gph. For all that effort and drama, you might be seeing 110 mph as long as the skis aren’t mounted. It’s really cool to be rumbling along in that big old cockpit imagining that you’ll be landing on a minuscule gravel runway in the middle of nowhere where men are men and they’re all flying manly airplanes like this one.
“I fly the approach at 85 mph or so and want 80 over the fence,” he said. “I’ll start cranking flaps down on downwind, which is sort of unique because the flaps have a crank on the end of a cable that’s not unlike a tachometer or speedometer cable, so they are infinitely variable. “I carry a little power, maybe 1500 rpm, into the flare and set it up for either a three-point or a wheelie. It does them both really well,” Brian said. “It has a very gentle stall, which happens around 55 mph, so as soon as it touches, it starts decelerating. I seldom use more than half of my 2,500-foot home runway. When asked, I often tell people it’s like flying a 7,000-pound T-craft.” What he doesn’t say is that a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 will never sound like a Continental A-65.
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A beautiful shot of someone’s DIY dream. It takes planning and determination to get any airplane to this point.
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PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERINBY BRUEGGEN ED HICKS
KEEPING PROJECT DREAMS FROM BECOMING NIGHTMARES BY BUDD DAVISSON
N A BROAD SENSE, vintage pilots (pilots who fly vintage airplanes, not pilots who themselves are vintage) break down into two categories: those who buy ’em and fly ’em and those who are afflicted with Geppetto syndrome. Those in the latter category imagine themselves slaving away by candlelight as they bring a tiny, ancient widget for their much-loved vintage airplane back to life. This syndrome has a near-narcotic effect on many of them. Both approaches to vintage airplane ownership are valid, but taking a less-than-wonderful airplane and bringing it up to a more acceptable level (not necessarily award-winning quality, but close) can expose one to hidden “gotchas” that have to be considered ahead of time. www.vintageaircraft.org 43
THERE’S DIY AND DIFM
DIY (do it yourself ) is self-explanatory, although in aircraft terms, DIY often includes other helping hands contributing to at least a few parts of the get-it-flying adventure. The opposite of depending on helping hands only once in a while is DIFM (do it for me), which involves the same airframe and the same result, but with someone else doing all the work. One of the primary differences between the two, besides the obvious cost difference, is predictability. When a professional is contracted to return an airplane to a given level of airworthiness, every step of the project should be spelled out in a very detailed, fixed-cost contract so the surprises are minimized. This requires a point-by-point analysis of the airplane in question and a firm agreement and schedule that includes penalty clauses affecting the person or company doing the work and whoever is writing the check. This, of course, assumes a perfect world, and it often doesn’t work that way.
Interiors are good, relatively inexpensive DIY projects.
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When getting ready to purchase an airplane that the buyer imagines rehabilitating mostly solo, the analysis has to be even more detailed. This is more difficult because, when contracting with a professional to do an airplane for you, it’s a given that the contractor can handle each of the processes that will be involved. Whether it is applying fabric and paint or doing welding repairs on a fuselage, one can assume that the skill is there. This is another perfect-world assumption. However, you likely won’t have all the pertinent skills required for a purely DIY project. When working on an airplane yourself, your ability to safely handle certain processes will vary wildly from process to process. The amount of work and the type of work (riveting, wiring, welding, engine work, etc.) that a given airplane will require has to be carefully analyzed. Then, if you plan on doing it all yourself, you have to realistically determine your ability to perform tasks or learn skills. If some of the work has to be farmed out, the person doing the work will take $50 to $100 out of your pocket for each of the hours spent making up for what you can’t do. That has to be looked at carefully because that closes the dollar gap between doing a DIY project and buying a ready-to-fly airplane.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA, CONNOR MADISON
RESTORING VERSUS REHABILITATION
Before we go any further, we need to define a few terms, including “restoration” and “rehabilitation.” “Restoration” means we’re going to take this airplane down to its underwear and do our best to make it like new. Anything less than that is “rehabilitating,” which entails going through the airplane; making it safe, reliable, and flyable; and bringing the cosmetics up to a level that we can live with in the long term. These airplanes are built to be used, not just displayed. In both approaches, the basic processes are the same, as they are focused on safety and reliability, so no corners are cut. However, in the rehabilitation process, the attention to show detail and cosmetics definitely takes a back seat. The time and money invested in doing a 10-point restoration can easily be double or triple that of a simple rehabilitation. It should also be noted for the purposes of this discussion that the kind of rehabilitation we’re envisioning — invasive processes like welding and riveting — will hopefully not be necessary.
THE IDEAL REHAB PROJECT
The perfect candidate for a rehabilitation is a flying airplane that needs upgrading for peace of mind and/or to meet your visual standards. Hopefully, we’re not talking about an airplane that needs to be totally dismantled; however, in some cases, that might be a viable approach. A note about transporting aircraft off the airport: High-wing airplanes are easier to transport because the landing gear is in the fuselage. So the fuselage can simply be rolled up on a trailer or flatbed truck with no cradling involved. Taking the wings off lowwing airplanes is usually a much more complex endeavor that often requires building cradles for the fuselage while removing the wings and transporting it. This is not a deal-breaker, but it is something that you need to consider before choosing an airplane to be rehabbed.
Fly market airplanes are possibilities but need a very thorough pre-buy and make sure they have the requisite paperwork. It’s difficult to do a title search in this situation.
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Accessories can be very expensive to rebuild.
REASON NO. 1: YOU’RE TRYING TO SAVE MONEY
FIRST, ASK YOURSELF WHY YOU ARE DOING IT
There are lots of reasons individuals decide they’ll go the sow’s ear/silk purse route. Maybe it’ll be a down-in-the-mouth Luscombe that’s been sitting on the back tie-down line forever. Or maybe a TriPacer or Bonanza that has seen better days but has potential. Invariably, those afflicted with Geppetto syndrome see the airplane as it can be, not as it actually is. You’re looking past the grunge and the surface dings and visualizing yourself making all of that disappear with copious amounts of elbow grease. But why are you doing it? You’re looking at a project that will take several years or more and require a ton of determination and motivation. Do you have it? Think carefully about why you’re doing it and how firmly you’re committed to that goal before you pull the trigger.
Some interiors are less expensive than others.
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The most common reason given for taking a lessthan-perfect airplane and deciding to upgrade it is financial. You think you can save a few bucks. Unfortunately, in most cases a low purchase price turns out to be a shiny lure that sucks the buyer in and sets the hook. Seldom can an airplane be bought at the bottom edge of market value and, through the application of personal effort, be brought up to the quality of aircraft at the top of market value without putting you in a financially upside-down situation. The only way that approach can succeed is if you are capable of doing almost every bit of the work yourself — including on the engine, electrical, interior, and paint — or if the aircraft doesn’t need all of that work done to it. Those four factors — engine, electrical/avionics, interior, and paint — coupled with flight time are what set the price of an airplane. If you hire someone else to upgrade those areas, the costs can easily get out of hand. Here are a few rough estimates: Engine: $15,000-$30,000, assuming overhaul on four-cylinder engines Prop: $1,500-$3,500, depending on the prop Avionics: $5,000-$8,000, assuming middle-ofthe-road basics Interior: $3,000-$5,000, depending on the aircraft Paint: $15,000-$30,000, depending on the aircraft Fabric: $15,000-$30,000 Let’s say it’s a straight-tail 172 and you decide to have all of the above work done. Assuming midrange costs for everything, you’ll have about $47,000 tied up in bringing the aircraft up to the top level for the type. However, these numbers assume you got the airplane for free. But you didn’t. You paid $35,000 to $40,000 for it, so you’ve sunk more than $80,000 into the project, and the airplane isn’t worth that much. That is not always a bad thing. If it’s a midtime engine, you can ignore that cost for a while, but the purchase price will likely be higher. The same goes for the paint, interior, etc. This raises a typical dilemma when it comes to buying airplanes: You either buy the best airplane available, pay top dollar, and do no work, or if you really want to do it yourself, you can get the airframe for close to salvage value and try not to farm out anything. If you do everything on the list above yourself, you should be able to cut the cost in half or close to it. At that point, rehabbing an airplane actually begins to make financial sense.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA, ERIN BRUEGGEN, CONNOR MADISON
REASON NO. 2: YOU DO IT BECAUSE YOU LIKE DOING IT
What value do you place on doing a project yourself and having the airplane turn out exactly the way you want it? Only you can make that determination. It doesn’t have to be logical. For many, just being able to say, “I did it all myself,” makes it worth the effort. At that point, assuming you can afford the cost, it almost makes no difference what you spend.
REASON NO. 3: YOU PLAN ON KEEPING IT
If you plan on keeping the airplane for the long run and fully expect to fly it regularly for the rest of your life, then spending more on it than it’s worth can be, well, worth it. Yes, you could buy an airplane that’s as good as yours will be when finished, but then it wouldn’t be “your” airplane. Plus — and this is important — if you buy another airplane, regardless of how good the pre-purchase inspection is, it’s always possible that you’re buying someone else’s problems. By spending whatever it takes to bring the airplane up to your standards, you’ll know exactly what’s in it, and you’ll never know that if you’re buying a finished airplane.
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DIY REQUIREMENTS
There are lots of limitations and/or requirements that have to be considered if you’re truly going to rehab your airplane yourself. They include, but are not limited to:
LEGALITY
Unless you’re an A&P mechanic, the things you can actually do to a certified airplane are limited unless you have an A&P looking over your shoulder. So find one and pay him to school you where necessary, and to inspect and sign off on all major work done. However, a lot of the more labor-intensive stuff, like interior and paint prep, can be done without involving an A&P.
EXPERIENCE LIMITS HOW MUCH YOU CAN DO
No one knows everything. In some cases, folks intent on going the DIY route know very little, but that’s no reason to avoid a project. See the next point.
Overhauling instruments can run the costs up.
FINANCIAL PLANNING
The rule of thumb for estimating what a project will cost is to make your best guess with a very sharp pencil. If you double it and add 10 percent, you’ll be close. Or you can drop me a note at buddairbum@cox.net and I’ll send you an Excel spreadsheet that’ll help you estimate the cost.
A WILLINGNESS TO LEARN IS CENTRAL
FAMILY
Airplanes are not complicated machines. However, some restoration work requires specific skills, and EAA has workshops on just about everything you’ll ever need to know. Before actually writing a check for an airplane, spend a week at Oshkosh and go to every forum having anything to do with what a project like this needs. It’s the cheapest and best investment in aviation you can make. Still, don’t hesitate to call a pro to do any work that’s outside of your comfort zone.
This is a very important point! Make sure the project isn’t going to steal too much time or money from your family. If possible, make them part of the project.
LIFE’S SCHEDULES
If you’re retired, you can skip this paragraph. If you’re like the rest of us, you have lots of job and life responsibilities to take care of, and you’ll have to find time for rehabbing projects between kids’ soccer games, family members’ birthdays, etc.
SHOP SPACE
Yes, airplanes have been rehabbed in back bedrooms, but a two-car garage is close to being the minimum amount of space you’ll need. If you have to rent space, make sure it is as close to the house as possible. Long distances between one’s home and the shop have killed a lot of projects.
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM BUSHA
Ideally, no re-covering will be necessary.
ON-AIRPORT PROJECT LIMITATIONS
Some airports have rules about what can and what cannot be done in their hangars. Check that out. For instance, some don’t allow mechanical work and most don’t allow painting.
EVALUATING AIRCRAFT FOR THE DIY REHABBER
The primary mechanical factors that decide whether a vintage airplane is practical for the DIY rebuilder are the airplane’s complexity and condition, and those factors are often entangled. On the surface, rehabbing an 8E Luscombe, for instance, should be about as simple as it gets. However, if intergranular corrosion is found in the spars of a metal wing or the carry-through structure in the fuselage or if damage is found in the gearbox area, it can become very complex very quickly. Most folks find that this kind of work often needs to be done by a professional. By the same measure, an early Bonanza, because of its bigger size and overall complexity, should be a much more challenging rehab project than the Luscombe. However, that’s not necessarily true. If the Bonanza is totally corrosion-free and critical systems such as the landing gear, control surfaces, instruments, and glass are in good condition, it might prove to be less of a hassle (although more expensive) than the corroded Luscombe, and it can be done in the hangar. However, in most situations, complex systems and size add greatly to the difficulty and expense of a rehab.
Having the right seat belts can add to the character of the airplane.
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TO BE AVOIDED
Since we’re talking mostly about a person rehabilitating, not restoring, an airplane, and it’s probably being done in their hangar or garage, it should be noted that there are certain things to be avoided when picking a project. Remember, ideally we’re talking about aircraft that need upgrading, not major work. What follows are reasons not to buy a given airplane.
AIRFRAME CORROSION IN ALUMINUM AIRPLANES
Primary structural corrosion, as opposed to mild skin corrosion, is a deal-breaker. Look hard for internal signs of rodent hotels.
OBVIOUS RUST IN RAG-AND-TUBE STRUCTURES
If tubing rust in a rag-and-tube airplane — especially in the wing spar carry-through structure in the fuselage — is visible, find a better airplane. Those kinds of repairs can go far beyond casual rehabbing.
RAG WING CONSIDERATIONS
Replacing the fabric on an aircraft, regardless of its size, is generally much more work than we’re talking about for rehabilitation. The skills required are easily learned, but the work is very labor-intensive.
SIGNS OF DAMAGE
Properly repaired damage is no big deal, but quite often such work is unsatisfactory. The prebuy inspection should look for these kinds of problems — and they, too, are deal-breakers. Repairing a repair is often very difficult.
Wings in this condition require a full restoration, not a casual rehab.
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT BROCK, JIM BUSHA
HAVE A PLAN: EVALUATE AND PRIORITIZE ITEMS FOR PROJECT CONSIDERATION
The rehabilitation of an airplane can vary tremendously from plane to plane. However, when evaluating a potential project, you should start by placing a priority on those items that are difficult/ expensive and more likely to keep the airplane grounded. The recommended sequence is as follows: • Engine/firewall forward: Depending on the airplane, this may or may not be the most expensive part. Analyze carefully. • Airframe: Make sure there are no deal-breakers. • Panel: Fix only the important stuff. The rest can be taken care of later. • Avionics: Repair/replace what is needed to get the plane in the air; niceties can wait. • Interior: Research local automotive shops and available interior kits. • Glass: Unless the Plexi is really bad, wait until just before painting to change it. • Paint: Most rehabbers have professionals paint the airplane because of the required equipment and expertise. However, many have done the paint work themselves. Or you can simply ignore it. Ugly flies just as well as pretty.
Working on the right project can be as much fun as flying it.
Keeping an airplane flying while rehabbing it piecemeal is a worthwhile approach.
DON’T GROUND IT: FLYING REHAB PROJECTS
More and more we’re seeing owners decide not to ground rehab projects during the summer. So the work is done piecemeal during the winter. To make this work requires planning, but it makes a lot of sense.
BE VERY PARTICULAR: DON’T LET A LOW PRICE SEDUCE YOU
Project fever, the rush we all get when launching a new project, can seriously distort our thinking. What seems like a great deal can get our mental adrenaline pumping and interfere with our ability to reason. Don’t let that happen. Look past the proverbial good deal and make sure you have a firm handle on what needs to happen after you buy a project. Rehabbing an airplane is supposed to be fun; it’s not supposed to cause ulcers.
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ED HICKS
IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING (but we’ll say it anyway) that the T8F Luscombe is unusual among vintage airplanes, and for that reason, it’s only logical that Clu Colvin of Big Cabin, Oklahoma, owns one. This is because Clu also stands out as being unique for lots of different reasons. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD
CLU COLVIN’S T8F
BY BUDD DAVISSON
53
PHOTOGRAPHY BY XXXX CONNOR www.vintageaircraft.org MADISON
BORN TO BUY AND SELL First and foremost an airline pilot, Clu still lives on the farm airstrip where he was raised northeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma. If he didn’t live there, many of the circumstances that led to his unique life would not have come about. “My dad was an engineer,” he said, “but most of his working life he was a crop duster/farmer and a buyer and seller of airplanes. During the offseason he would be buying and selling little airplanes of all types. He’d sometimes specialize in given types. For instance, he once got hot on Tomahawks, and we’d have half a dozen sitting around as he bought and sold them. In total, the official records say he cycled over 1,300 aircraft sales out of that grass runway. “I was right there in the middle of things with him starting almost as soon as I could walk,” he continued. “Truth is, I didn’t know any different. I thought that’s what every farm kid did. So as I went into high school, I was attracted to Luscombes. At the time they were really cheap. You’d find lots of them sinking into the dirt on back tie-down lines at rural airports. So I started buying them, and with Dad looking over my shoulder, started rebuilding them. Before I was out of high school, I could do a complete overhaul on an A-65, and that’s where I was making my money. Overhauling and selling exchange, and I had lost any fear a person might have about working on sheet metal. The whole process became second nature.
“Eventually, I owned something over 35 Luscombes and totally restored five or six of them,” he said. “The rest I just cleaned up, inspected, made the repairs needed, and sold them. At the same time, I was trying to work my way up the pilot’s ladder and started flying right seat in a cargo DC-8. That progressed until I got on with a major airline about 20 years ago, and I’m now flying Airbuses. Still, the little-airplane thing is cooking in the back of my head at all times.” The “little-airplane thing” he is talking about has exploded far past Luscombes, which he said he pretty much got out of in the ’90s because he started running across intergranular corrosion in a large number of spars. Luscombe spars are onepiece extrusions, not spar caps with webs, and replacing them was very doable (Univair has new ones), but it took too much time for it to be profitable. This was further complicated by the fact that Clu is a first-class “project junkie.” He is always looking for the next project. And this is where living on a farm with a runway helps. It enables him to give in to his little-airplane addiction without facing any of the space limitations normal people usually labor under.
As far as he has been able to find out, Clu says only about 54 T8Fs were built. His has a 125-hp O-290, which really improves the performance.
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY LYLE JANSMA
Clu’s flying buddy, his son, Baron, has no choice: He’s going to have to own a funky airplane as soon as he’s able. It’s a family tradition.
“Yeah,” he said, “I love almost anything that flies; the more unusual, the better. That’s how I wound up owning five Convair L-13s and 10 Fuji LM-1s, a Clark-modified Stearman duster, a stock Stearman, a 90A Monocoupe, and now an An-2. It goes on and on. I own one each of every Cub. In fact, I built my J-3 while in high school, learned to fly in a J-4 Coupe — which I still own — and, of course, have a J-5. Not long ago I bought a Stinson V-77 Gullwing with a folded landing gear for the engine and prop to go on a Stearman, but the airplane is too good not to put back in the air, so I’m fixing that, too. In total I own 54 airplanes, with 21 of them flying.” You thought we were kidding when we classified Clu as a “project junkie,” didn’t you? And we haven’t talked about the overgrown Super Cub he’s recently finished.
“It started out as a PA-14 fuselage from Wag-Aero but has morphed into a four-place with a 300-hp Continental 520 that I built and modified ahead of the firewall,” he said. We also haven’t mentioned that he bought the acreage at the end of his runway, which extended the runway from 2,400 feet to 5,000. “A T8F has always been on my bucket list, and a number of my friends know that,” Clu said. “One of them clued me in to a T8F that was tied up in a messy divorce and was in storage with the wings off. The wife was more than a little ticked and wanted it gone. The logs weren’t to be found. Possibly the husband had them, but that wasn’t a big deal. The airplane was a little roachy but not damaged, so it would be a relatively easy airplane to put back in the air.” www.vintageaircraft.org 55
This is a good cockpit for a “What airplane is it?” contest. Not many would guess it’s a Luscombe. The T8Fs were obviously designed for the military.
T8F: NOT JUST ANOTHER LUSCOMBE Clu explained what makes the T8F different. “The first T8Fs were just 8Es they took off the line and modified to compete in a government L-bird competition in ’47 or so,” he said. “Luscombe did the fuselage modifications that would make it a better observation airplane, including the bubble in the rear. I don’t know all the details of the competition, but I do know it was supposed to be for aircraft under 150 hp. The competitors included the Aeronca L-16 and the Cessna L-19. I’m not privy to any of the palace intrigue involved, but there had to be some — or a second competition conducted — because the L-19 didn’t fit the original competition horsepower requirements. What Cessna had done was bring a gun to a knife fight. The outcome was easy to predict. “Luscombe apparently took the competition airplanes back to the factory where they were converted back to 8Es,” he said. “However, the company had gotten enough market interest in
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the possibilities that the T8F presented and decided to put them into production. As I understand it, they had two versions. The first, the ‘Trainer,’ had no flaps and a C-90 for power. The second was a sprayer version that had flaps, but not for the normal reason. The flaps, when set at 10 degrees, would help disperse the spray. The spray tanks were 40 gallons in each wing outboard of the fuel tanks. They looked like big gas tanks but weren’t. To keep the weight down, the sprayer versions had no electrical and the engines were C-90-8s. “Luscombes were known for landing gear failures because they couldn’t handle hard side loads, so the T8Fs had the Silflex landing gear,” he added. “The standard gear on the older airplanes was a straight tube down to the axle. The Silflex gear was a tapered tube with much heavier walls and was heat-treated. The fittings on the gear at the fuselage were relocated, so the axles were moved 2 inches farther forward. The airplane I was looking at had that gear.”
The back seat was designed for an observer or an instructor-pilot.
OSHKOSH IS THE GOAL Anyone who has bought any kind of a project — be it an airplane, car, house, or boat — always finds some surprises, good or bad, when they get it home. Most of the surprises that came with Clu’s new airplane were more or less pleasant, but they led to more work. “The airplane had been painted at least four or five times, but not stripped even once,” he said. “There was so much paint on it that the rivet heads, which were mostly -3s, looked like -6s. Stripping it was not a lot of fun, but fortunately modern stripping compounds and blasting media made it much easier than it would have been a decade or two ago. “The wings were average Luscombe wings, but I barely looked at them,” he said. “By this time, original spars made me nervous, and I had a set of 8E wings I had totally rebuilt some years ago, so I just used those. Same thing with the engine. I had a freshly overhauled Lycoming O-290 in a corner of the shop and I already had the McKenzie Flying Service STC for O-235s, O-290s, and -320s, so I put that engine in. Of course, with the airplane fully fueled, I now have enough useful load for just me and a kid.
“The first T8Fs were just 8Es they took off the line and modified to compete in a government L-bird competition in ’47 or so.” — CLU COLVIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY LYLE JANSMA
Obviously, Clu has his own way of doing things and humor is almost always part of the equation.
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“In the past I might have restored this airplane to original, but this was hardly an original airplane,” Clu said. “I’ve done so much of this kind of restoration and have so much other stuff to do, so for projects like this I’m into ‘replacing’ rather than ‘restoring.’ That saves a lot of time. Plus, I wanted it to be a useful airplane that my kids can fly.” Saving time on fixing this airplane was a big deal for Clu. He trailered it home in late March or early April of 2018 and wanted to be in Oshkosh three and a half months later. “It was going to be a squeaker, so this wasn’t going to be a 100-point original Luscombe,” he said. “At the same time, I didn’t want to be ashamed to be seen in it. I had to watch what I did in terms of the super-fine details because it’s that last 10 percent of the work that takes up 50 percent of the time. “It was with the kids in mind and the time available that I installed C-150 seats and rails,” he said. “The stock seats are fixed in position, and you have to use lots of cushions for short legs. Also, those seats are much more comfortable, and I can see us using this airplane for more cross-countries than a stock one because it cruises at an honest 127 mph!
“I sometimes talk to people about restoring a Luscombe, and I tell them all not to be afraid of sheet metal work, which a lot of them are,” Clu said. “A Luscombe is an incredibly easy airplane to restore because it is so simple. Better yet, once the wings are off, the fuselage is quite small. It is ready-made to be restored in a single-car garage. A double garage would almost be luxurious. I have a fuselage jig so I can repair a pretty badly damaged or deteriorated fuselage with everything staying in alignment. However, most hobby restorers aren’t going to buy an airplane that is that far gone to begin with. “Also, almost every part for the airplane is available from someone, somewhere, starting with Univair,” he added. “You can literally Google for most of the parts. There are some stock Luscombe parts, however, that are becoming hard to come by. This includes fuselage bulkheads, some of the gear box fittings, and ribs and capstrips for the metal wings.”
The T8F is one of nearly two dozen airplanes Clu has put back in the air and still flies. Another three dozen are squirreled away waiting for him to restore them. And he’s looking for more.
58 September/October 2020
“A Luscombe is an incredibly easy airplane to restore because it is so simple. Better yet, once the wings are off, the fuselage is quite small. It is ready-made to be restored in a singlecar garage.”
The initial T8Fs were factory-modified 8Es. When the competition was over, Luscombe put the T8F into production for crop dusting, etc.
“Jesica Brodersen Williams of Aircraft Windshield Co. in Los Alamitos, California, is a godsend when it comes to odd windshields and such. She is more than happy to make molds for just about anything. She did the big windshields for my L-13 projects and did the bubble and windshield for the T8F. Everything was more than perfect. It took maybe 15 minutes of cutting and sanding on the bubble for it to drop into place. It’s nearly perfect right out of the box. But that’s not the good part. She knew I was pushing to get the airplane ready for AirVenture, and one day a box showed up with two canopies and a note from her telling me she knew I was in a hurry and didn’t want me to think she wouldn’t ship until I paid. That kind of service is rare.” We don’t know if the T8F is included in the 21 airplanes Clu has flying. Or maybe it’s No. 22. Regardless, he has something like 32 more to start hammering on for the next AirVenture. Wonder what it’ll be. We told you he was at least as unique as his airplane. INTERESTED IN LUSCOMBES? Contact the Continental Luscombe Association or the Luscombe Association for more information.
— CLU COLVIN Because so few T8Fs were built — about 54 in all — and they had factory modifications to the fuselage, there are bound to be some parts specific to that airplane that are hard to find. These include the rear spar carry-through structure and window frames. The carry-through is made only for this airplane, and although it’s in the same location as the original, it is totally different. It’s a press-formed bulkhead that is riveted together. Clu has four brand-new ones that he protects like gold. The stick controls and trim mechanism also involve parts that aren’t readily available but can be made to the drawings. By far the hardest part, however, would be the rear Plexiglas bubble. Fortunately, Clu says someone has come to the rescue of T8F rebuilders.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD, LYLE JANSMA
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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK
Materials & Processes, Part II BY ROBERT G. LOCK
IN THE LAST ISSUE WE LOOKED in detail at
structural and nonstructural metallic components of older aircraft. Now, let’s look at other materials and processes that will be helpful in restoring and maintaining our vintage aircraft. Control Cable: Aircraft-quality control cable is available in sizes from 1/16 to 3/8 inch in diameter. For most vintage airplanes, the maximum diameter used is 5/32 inch. Two types of material are used to manufacture cable — stainless steel and carbon steel (which is coated with pure tin or zinc for corrosion protection). Either flexible or nonflexible type cable may have been used on the original airplane. I suggest you use the type of cable originally installed; however, I have substituted corrosion-resistant cable for carbon steel, especially where cables are subjected to the elements and corrosion is a problem. Incidentally, researching the history of cable invention and production is very interesting. On this subject one person’s name comes to the forefront — John Roebling, one of the pioneers of the wire rope industry. Interesting reading can be found at the following websites: www.InventionFactory.com/history/RHAgen/ rstory/rswar.html www.GlobalSpec.com/FeaturedProducts/Detail/ LoosWireDiv/ Specialty_wire_rope_honors_legacy_of_John_ Roebling/40136/0 Flexible cables may have been used by the factory when the cable is not required to change direction drastically. Flexible cable is designated as 7x7. It is composed of wire rope of six strands of seven wires each, twisted and laid around a strand center or core consisting of seven wires. Extra-flexible cables are designated as 7x19. That is wire rope of six strands laid around the central core strand in a clockwise direction. Each strand consists of 19 wires each. Cable strength data can be found in FAA AC 43.13-1B, Section 8. Cable strength data will not be presented here. After fabrication, control cables are tested to a proof load, which is a pull test to 60 percent of rated cable strength for three minutes.
60 September/October 2020
Cable assemblies are mechanically fabricated, the most common being swage-type terminals and the Nicopress process. The Nicopress-type cable ends may be used as a substitution for the Navy five-tuck woven ends used on most vintage aircraft. The Nicopress process is most easily adapted for “field” manufacture of cables. Swage cable end fittings require elaborate squeezing tooling, which is hard to find and very expensive. It’s interesting to note that the newly revised AC 43.13-1B manual has deleted both the wrapped and soldered and five-tuck woven cable ends. However, both these deleted methods appear in the terminated AC 43.13-1A. When I attended Northrop Institute of Technology back in 1960-1961 to train for my airframe and powerplant (A&P) certificate, we were required to fabricate a five-tuck cable to length. We made a cable clamp and marlin spike from scratch out of raw stock, learning how to use hand tools and read blueprints. I still have those tools to this day, although they are a little rusted. Inspection of control cables should be made at the 100-hour and annual inspections. Most cable wear takes place where the cables pass over a pulley or through a fair-lead. To locate broken wire(s) in a strand, run a rag along the cable. In many cases the cable should be loosened so a close inspection can be made of the area that touches a pulley through full travel. Bending the cable so that the portion that rubs on a pulley is on the outside of the bend will help reveal damage. Corrosion is another common type of damage. It will show up on carbon steel cables as rust. Replace any cable that shows signs of damage. Again, AC 43.13-1B is a good guide for cable inspection. Figure 1 shows the method of detecting broken cable strands, particularly where cable lays contact a pulley.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES
Figure 1
Inspect pulleys for wear and ensure that pulleys rotate when cable is moved. Always lube pulleys with a good lubricating oil. Replace any pulleys that show signs of wear or seizing of the bearing or bushing. Sudden loss of cable tension can usually be traced to the cable wearing into a pulley. Inspect cable ends for wear or slippage. Swage-type cable ends are painted red at the junction of the terminal end and cable so slippage can be detected. Again, a sudden loss of cable tension should be investigated immediately. Don’t just retension the cable. Finally, turnbuckles are used in a cable system to provide a means of tensioning. They actually adjust the length of the cable. Cable tension on vintage aircraft is relatively small, from 10 to 25 pounds. The reason is the pulleys did not have a bearing in the center, just a bronze bushing. The more tension on a cable, the “heavier” the control movement. Adjust tension to give good control response and safety the turnbuckles. I have found that 10-20 pounds of tension is good for these type systems. When installing turnbuckles it is necessary to screw both threaded terminals into the turnbuckle barrel an equal amount. It is essential that cable terminals be screwed into the barrel so that not more than three threads on the terminal are exposed. Be sure to secure both cable terminal ends when screwing a turnbuckle; don’t allow cable to twist during this operation. There are two methods of safety wiring turnbuckles — single and double wrap. The correct method for wrapping turnbuckles is shown in AC 43.13-1B, Figure 7-24. Pay close attention that the correct size safety wire be used when safetying cable terminals. This is a most
common area where mistakes are made. AC 43.13-1B gives appropriate wire type and diameter for this process. Either copper, brass, stainless steel, Monel, or K Monel may be used. NOTE: Onesixteenth-inch and 3/32-inch cables may be single wrapped only with copper, brass, or stainless steel safety wire at least 0.040 inch in diameter. For cables of 1/8-inch diameter, single-wrap safeties are made with 0.040-inch stainless steel safety wire. If a single-wrap safety using copper/brass wire is desired, the diameter must be 0.057 inch. I’ve never used or seen 0.057-inch brass wire! However, 1/8-inch cables may be double wrapped and safetied with copper/brass or stainless steel wire. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD 0.032-INCH DIAMETER WIRE BE USED TO SAFETY ANY TURNBUCKLE. It might be wise to do a turnbuckle safety wire check of your airplane. Figure 2 shows both single- and double-wrap safety of turnbuckle. Only cable terminal ends and fittings that meet AN standards should be used in aircraft applications. AC 43.13-1B gives directions on how to properly safety a turnbuckle. And lastly, cables tend to stretch after fabrication, and it may be necessary to retension the cables after a few hours of flight. When retensioning cables, always make the same adjustment to cables that pull against each other. In other words, if the aileron system has three turnbuckles, adjust all three the same amount of turns, and the travel will not be affected; only the tension will increase. Tubing: Aluminum tubing is commonly used to fabricate fuel, oil, hydraulic, and instrument system installations. Alloy 3003 is most easily bent and flared, followed by 5052, and finally 6061. Since most vintage restorations require hand-forming and flaring, only these alloys should be considered. In the softest state the code will be an “O,” indicating the annealed condition. An example would be 5052-O. Alloy 6061 would show a hardness code of -T6 (6061-T6), indicating the tube has been heat-treated and artificially aged. It is difficult to bend and flare this tube type, but not impossible. Tube Bending: Alloy 3003-O tube can be hand-bent, even small radius bends. This tubing should be used for instrument installations where the pressure is low and tubing is protected. Alloy 5052-O tubing can be hand-bent, but the bend radius must be large to prevent flattening or kinking of the tube in the bend radius. Use of hand-bending tools is recommended. Alloy 6061-T6 can only be bent with a hand-bending tool using a substantial bend radius. Always check tube flattening in the bend radius; for fuel lines the maximum flattening is 5 percent of tube diameter. Tube Flaring: Aircraft tubing is flared to an angle of 37 degrees. Do not use automotive flaring equipment, as the flare angle is 45 degrees. The older aircraft used AC fittings. While the flare angle is the same, AC fittings are not interchangeable with AN fittings. Most modern restorations will convert fittings to AN due to ease of procurement. Tubing should be flared so as much of the flared area of the tube as possible seats on the AN fitting. Always check flared area for cracks, particularly alloy 6061-T6 tubes.
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The Vintage Mechanic ROBERT G. LOCK
Figure 2
Alignment of tube to fitting is also critical. Misalignment will eventually cause leaks at the fitting. Tube Installations: For instrument installations, use 3003-O tubing, 1/8-inch (-2) or 3/16-inch (-3) diameter. Some restorers may want to use 5052-O tube for the oil pressure gauge. For fuel installations, use 5052-O tubing, most often 1/2inch (-8) diameter. AC 43.13-1B gives much information on fuel systems, particularly the location of support clamps and fuel line bonding information. Consult Chapter 8, Section 2. I don’t like using copper tube in aircraft applications because it will work-harden with vibration. I know all early aircraft used it for fuel and instrument installations, so if authenticity is the goal, use it. However, copper tubing may need annealing from time to time. Anneal by heating and quenching in oil. (Editor’s note: Remember Charles Lindbergh’s admonition to the people building the Spirit of St. Louis; he required the interruption of the fuel lines with sections of flexible rubber hose to soak up vibration and prevent breaks due to work-hardening of the tubing material. — H.G. Frautschy)
Tube Fittings: The most common tube fittings are the AN818 nut and AN819 sleeve. Most aviation supply company catalogs give a list with description of all AN fittings needed to complete the project. I keep a copy of the Standard Aircraft Handbook in my toolbox for quick reference of the AN code. Since I’m writing this in Florida, a nearby source for this handy book is www.Great-Atlantic1.com. Look for part No. TS157642-8. Most suppliers carry this book; you’ll find it very useful. Low-Pressure Oil System: Dry sump oil systems use tubing of 1 inch in diameter. The tube can be 5052-O, and special tools are required to bend it to the desired shape. After bending, the tube is beaded on both ends using a beading tool. Be sure to remove all burrs after beading, and clean the tube before installation.
Figure 3
62 September/October 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF EAA ARCHIVES
Univair Has Kept Aeroncas Flying Since 1946 Tube Installation: After fabrication of necessary tubing, be sure to clean thoroughly and blow-dry with compressed air. Assemble with proper hose and clamp using stainless steel hose clamps. The tube ends should never touch, as this would allow fragments of aluminum to enter the oil system. Maximum distance between tube ends is one tube diameter. Hose: For fuel and oil systems use only Mil-H6000 hose. It will come in inside-diameter sizes, -4 (1/4 inch) through -112 (1 1/2 inches). The burst pressure for this type hose is 1,000 psi, and it is resistant to fuel, oil, and coolants. For pitot/static instrument systems I have used rubber heater hose or Tygon B-44 type flexible plastic tube, but not in antique restorations. For fuel and oil systems I use stainless steel hose clamps. Tighten clamps to torque of just 20 inch-pounds and don’t overtighten. That’s it from here. Let’s keep those antiques safe and flying!
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STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685). 1. Title of Publication: Vintage Airplane. 2. Publication No.: 062-750. 3. Filing Date: 09/14/2020. 4. Issue Frequency: Bi-Monthly. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: 6. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $42.00 in U.S. 7. Known Office of Publication: EAA, 3000 Poberezny Road, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Contact Person: Ron Lindgren, Telephone: 920-4266571. 8. Headquarters or General Business Office of the Publisher: Same address as above. 9. Publisher: Jack Pelton, EAA P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Editor: Jim Busha, c/o EAA, 3000 Poberezny Road, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Managing Editor: None. 10. Owner: Experimental Aircraft Association, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. 11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amounts of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: None. 12. Tax Status: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months. 13. Publication Title: Vintage Airplane. 14. Issue date for circulation data below: June 2020. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation (Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months/ No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date): a. Total No. of Copies Printed (6945/6644) b. Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside the Mail): 1. Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies) (5618/5701). 2. Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies) (0/0). 3. Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS (352/343). 4. Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail through the USPS (e.g., First-Class Mail) (7/7). c. Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)) (5977/6051). d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail): 1. Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 (0/0). 2. Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541 (0/0). 3. Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail) (0/0). 4. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution outside the Mail (Carriers or other means) (0/0). e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3), and (4) (0/0). f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e) (5977/6051). g. Copies Not Distributed (See Instructions to Publishers #4 (page 3)) (968/593). h. Total (Sum of 15f and g) (6945/6644). i. Percent Paid (15c divided by 15f times 100) (100/100). 17. Publication of Statement of Ownership: Publication required. If the publication is a general publication, publication of this statement is required. Will be printed in the September 2020 issue of this publication. 18. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties). Jim Busha, Publisher, 09/14/20. PS Form 3526, July 2014.
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Message From the President SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
The third inquiry that we received from a very forward-thinking pilot involved Vintage aircraft parking at AirVenture 2021. I might add that the two most common inquiries that we receive at Vintage are in relation to aircraft parking at AirVenture and on aircraft wood glues. The very capable Tim Fox is the Vintage chairman of featured aircraft parking at AirVenture, so the parking inquiry was turned over to Tim. On occasion there is an aircraft type club that I can recommend with regard to one of these inquires. These type clubs are the absolute best resource for information on maintenance, history, and FAA airworthiness directives and service bulletins for vintage aircraft. A majority of the type clubs provide a highly informative newsletter and some host fly-ins and forums. Vintage provides a venue for these type clubs in the Vintage Hangar during AirVenture every year. At Vintage the very efficient Charlie Waterhouse serves as the chairman of the Vintage Hangar during AirVenture, which includes the organization of the type club display area. For a list of vintage aircraft type clubs and contact information,
please visit our website at EAAVintage. org. (Then go to the Members tab and scroll down to Type Club Corner.) The VAA office can be contacted via email at vintage@eaa.org or by contacting executive assistant Amy Lemke directly at alemke@eaa.org. Blue skies!
Flymart & Classifieds
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
AIRCRAFT APPRAISALS I Specialize in Aircraft NOT found in any price guide. Desktop or Full On-Site Appraisal for ANY Aircraft. JetValues-Jeremy LLC www.jetvaluesjeremy.com +1.636.751.3987 MISC Gordon Wilson, EAA 36367 For Sale: Original factory installed tinted windshield removed from 1981 Cessna 182R. No damage, good condition. Contact 708-767-1851 Michigan resident
COPYRIGHT © 2020 BY T HE E AA VIN TAGE AIRCR AF T A SSOCIAT ION. ALL RIGHT S RESERVED. VINTAGE AIRPLANE (USPS 062-750; ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published bi-monthly at EAA Aviation Center, 3000 Poberezny Rd., PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903-3086, email: vintageaircraft@eaa.org. Membership to Vintage Aircraft Association, which includes 6 issues of Vintage Airplane magazine, is $45 per year for EAA members and $55 for nonEAA members. Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54902 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Vintage Airplane, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. CPC #40612608. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES—Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surface mail. ADVERTISING — Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken. EDITORIAL POLICY: Members are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor. No remuneration is made. Material should be sent to: Editor, VINTAGE AIRPLANE, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 920-426-4800. EAA® and EAA SPORT AVIATION®, the EAA Logo® and Aeronautica™ are registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited.
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
Executive Assistant 64 September/October 2020
Amy Lemke alemke@eaa.org
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THE
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