VA Vol 50 no 5 Sep-Oct 2022 by EAA Vintage Aircraft Association

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2022 140A SUPERWACOPROTOTYPEREUNIONCHIEFRESTORED S JUNIOR

“Morning Mission” is a wooden statue created to honor all military pilots who served, and in particular all military pilots who served in World War II. It was commissioned by Charles W. (“Charlie”) Harris (1927-2017) and sculpted by renown chainsaw artist Clayton Coss, both of whom were living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the time. Some of you will remember that Charlie Harris served as a director of VAA (1988-1995) as well as treasurer of the organization (1996-2009). He became one of the VAA’s most stalwart supporters after his retirement from the VAA. The works of Clayton Coss are created “to memorialize, to commemorate and to preserve” our nation’s heritage. This beautiful wooden statue, “Morning Mission,” stands over 7 feet tall and depicts a typical World War II pilot in uniform carrying his parachute while looking skyward as he walks toward his airplane for the day’s ﬂight. At Vintage, we chose to place “Morning Mission” facing east. It is housed in a newly erected gazebo in the Charles W. Harris Memorial Park located in Vintage Village on the EAA grounds on Wittman ﬁeld. This statue was donated to the Vintage Aircraft Association by the Charles W. Harris Foundation. “Morning Mission” will be on permanent display in Vintage Village. Please drop by for a visit. You will not be disappointed.

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

Mailing Address: VAA, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903

Message From the President Standouts

September/October 2022

CONTINUED ON PAGE 64

These three dedicated and volunteersdeterminedspent every weekend for several months converting an old ramshackle hay barn into the ﬁrst wing of the VAA Red Barn.

Vice President of Publications, Marketing, Membership, and Retail: Jim Busha / jbusha@eaa org

Website: EAAVintage org Email: vintageaircraft@eaa org

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

Vintage has a spectacular schedule of events planned, but there are two standouts that have occupied my mind a great deal recently. They are the unveiling of the statue named “Morning Mission” and the dedication of the Red Barn Porch to “Bob, Bob, and the Other Guy.” I was never one to be cryptic, so an explanation is in order here.

IT IS MID-JULY as I write this letter. In two days, I will be leaving my farm here in North Carolina for the trip to Oshkosh for EAA AirVenture 2022 — the greatest air show on earth. Of course, as you read this EAA AirVenture 2022 will be a fait accompli.

P O Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903 3086 Monday Friday, 8 AM 6 PM CST

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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.)

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SUSAN DUSENBURY, VAA PRESIDENT

EAA AirVenture EOshkosh AA Oshkosh www EAA org/AirVenture 888 322 4636

The schedule of events for Tuesday morning, July 26, during EAA AirVenture include the dedication of the Red Barn Porch to “Bob, Bob, and the Other Guy” as they were known to the Vintage world in the early 1990s. They were: Bob “Bob” Brauer, Bob “Bob” Lumley, and George “The Other Guy” Daubner.

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

42 CallAir A-2 Larry Mayer’s high-altitude survivor

By Budd Davisson

2 September/October 2022

30 Uno – The First One The Morris 140A prototype

By Sparky Barnes

By Philip C. Whitford

52 Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines The unplanned resurrection and restoration of Aeronca Super Chief 4098E

Contents FEATURES 10 Waco Reunion Photo gallery 20 The Junior Model S A rare facet of Stinson history

By Budd Davisson

Leonardo Correa Luna QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Send your thoughts to the e 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 LARRY MAYER www.EAAVintage.org 3

S over the Ohio countryside. Back Lorraine Morris ﬂies her family’s award-winning Cessna 140A prototype over Illinois.

September/October 2022 / Vol. 50, No. 5 COLUMNS 01 Message From the President

04 Hall of Fame 05 Friends of the Red Barn 06 How To? Install Stressed Plywood Skin By Robert G. Lock 08 Good Old Days 60 The Vintage Mechanic Special Inspection – Boeing Stearman By Robert G. Lock 64 Classiﬁeds COVERS Front EAA’s

By Susan Dusenbury Connor Madison captures Scott Glover’s Stinson Junior Photography by

•Include any supporting material with your petition.

Email: alemke@eaa org

•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.

•Area(s) of contributions to aviation.

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.

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

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.

4 September/October 2022

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.

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

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

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

•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.

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

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

•Email address of nominee.

•Name of person nominated.

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

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

Mail nominating materials to: VAA Hall of Fame, c/o Amy Lemke

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

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

PVAAOBox 3086

•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.

•Address and phone number of nominee.

CALL FOR VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

•Date submitted.

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

•Any additional supporting information.

Oshkosh, WI 54903

•Time span (dates) of the nominee’s contributions to vintage aviation. (Must be between 1950 to present day.)

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

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.

As a dedicated member of the Vintage Aircraft Association, you most certainly understand the impact of the programs supported by Vintage and hosted at Vintage Village and along the Vintage flightline during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh every year. The Vintage flightline is 1.3 miles long and is annually filled with more than 1,100 magnificent vintage airplanes. At the very heart of the Vintage experience at AirVenture is Vintage Village and our flagship building, the Red Barn.

The Vintage area is the fun place to be. There is no place like it at AirVenture. Where else could someone get such a close look at some of the most magnificent and rare vintage airplanes on Earth? That is just astounding when you think about it. It is on the Vintage flightline where you can admire the one and only remaining lowwing Stinson Tri-Motor, the only two restored and flying Howard 500s, and one of the few airworthy Stinson SR-5s in existence. And then there is the “fun and affordable” aircraft display, not only in front of the Red Barn but along the entire Vintage flightline. Fun and affordable says it all. That’s where you can get the greatest “bang for your buck” in our world of vintage airplanes!

DEAR FRIENDS,

For us to continue to support this wonderful place, we ask you to assist us with a financial contribution to the Friends of the Red Barn. For the Vintage Aircraft Association, this is the only major annual fundraiser and it is vital to keeping the Vintage field of dreams alive and vibrant. We cannot do it without your support.

Your personal contribution plays an indispensable and significant role in providing the best experience possible for every visitor to Vintage duringContributeAirVenture.online at EAAVintage.org. Or, you may make your check payable to the Friends of the Red Barn and mail to Friends of the Red Barn, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.

Vintage Village, and in particular the Red Barn, is a charming place at Wittman Regional Airport during AirVenture. It is a destination where friends old and new meet for those great times we are so familiar with in our close world of vintage aviation. It’s energizing and relaxing at the same time. It’s our own field of dreams!

Looking forward to a great AirVenture 2023!

www.EAAVintage.org 5

Be a Friend of the Red Barn this year! The Vintage Aircraft Association is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), so your contribution to this fund is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

But let’s leave my early years of learning how to work with wood and proceed to much later when I was a little smarter. The task at hand is to cover the top and bottom leading edge with 1/16-inch birch plywood, so how is that done? Well, you should always bond the lower skin on ﬁrst, because if any moisture gets into the structure it will be on the bottom skin, so you want a good and complete varnish seal on the wood. So this is how it is done.

6 September/October 2022

IN THIS ISSUE, WE WILL LEARN the specifics of installing stressed plywood wing skin. I first learned how to do this task back in 1958 when I was restoring my Fairchild PT-19 as an aspiring 19-year-old future aviator and mechanic. It was a great learning experience, and my friend George Adams (of Stolp-Adams fame) was one of my mentors. My other mentor was Elmer Ruzicka, who owned Elmer’s Wing Shop in Waukena, California, not far from the Hanford airport and my uncle’s crop-dusting and spraying operation. Elmer taught many secrets of aircraft woodworking.

ROBERT G. LOCK

Cut the upper and lower skin to size, and soak and bend if necessary. Fit the upper plywood in place, driving 3/4inch nails in each end to hold the material in place. Next, use a pencil to mark all the locations where the plywood will be glued to the structure. Draw a circle around the nails so the holes can be located, cut the heads off the nails, and remove the skin.

After all this preparation is complete, the upper skin can be glued into place. It might be necessary to have an extra person or two to hammer nails into the nailing strips, because it is a slow process and, depending on outside air temperature, may need to be completed in a hurry.When an upper skin is varnished it is ready to be glued into place on the upper leading edge of my Command-Aire wing. I glued the inboard section ﬁrst, then aligned the scarf joint and glued the outboard section. This is the outboard section. At left is the plywood skin securely attached using pine nailing strips.

Install PlywoodStressedSkin

After this task is completed for all upper skin, the lower skin can be glued into place. I always use nailing strips to apply pressure to the joint and then remove after the glue has cured. Purchase some good knot-free 1- by 4-inch soft pine and rip into 1/8-inch-thick strips, and you have your nailing strips. The upper skin is masked off using a good grade masking tape and adequate varnish applied to thoroughly seal the wood. The inside of the lower skin and surrounding structure is thoroughly varnished, but all areas to be bonded should not be varnished. Filler blocks between ribs should not ﬁt tightly to the ribs but have open space of 1/4 to 1/2 inch to allow moisture to drain out if any accumulates from condensation. This eliminates the need to drill drain holes in the lower skin.

Plywood comes in standard 4- by 8-foot sheets and, therefore, will require a scarf joint somewhere along the leading edge. Both pieces of skin are scarfed to a slope of 12:1 prior to applying varnish. Therefore, 1/16-inch-thick plywood would have a scarf of 12/16 inch, or 3/4 inch, in length. The scarf should be located over a nose rib, and an additional shim can be bonded to the rib to make it 3/4 inches wide to accommodate the scarf.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ROBERT G. LOCK

When the glue has cured, break off the nailing strips and pull out all the nails. There do not need to be any nails holding the leading edge plywood in position now. Any nails left in the joints will eventually try to back out, causing lumps in the fabric covering. Don’t be tempted to leave any nails in this structure once the glue has cured. They are not needed — remove them all.

The top left image shows the center section before all plywood is bonded to the structure. The inboard section of plywood has been steamed to ﬁt using a wallpaper steamer that my father rented. It worked! The leading edge had 45-degree grain plywood, but I did not know at the time that you could buy 45-degree grain plywood in the 4- by 8-foot sheet, so I cut two pieces from a regular 90-degree grain sheet. It was a lot of extra work, because the two pieces, when joined, have to be scarf-cut, which was a real pain.

I glued new skin to the left side of the PT-19 center section, with nailing strips to apply pressure to all the glue joints. When the glue has cured, the nailing strips are removed and all nails pulled from the wood. These nail holes will be ﬁlled with thinned wood ﬁller wiped on with coarse cloth or burlap.

How To?

And that’s all there is to it, folks — a quick lesson on how to apply stressed plywood skin.

What does the scarf joint look like after removing nailing strips, you ask? Above shows examples of before and after sanding it smooth. Scarf joints, when properly done, give 100 percent strength through the joint, give grain continuation, and are perfectly smooth and flush. Compare the unfinished scarf joint to the finished joint. It should not take too much sanding to make it smooth — just basically removing the excess glue that has squeezed out from the joint when a nailing strip applied pressure.

The ﬁnal step is to smooth the plywood along the leading edge strip using a disc sander, then hand-sanding with a sandpaper block, and ﬁnally using an emery cloth sanding strip.

Finally, here’s a quick review of aircraft plywood. Common types are mahogany and birch. Mahogany will bend dry the easiest, and, while both are identiﬁed as “hardwoods,” birch is denser and more difficult to drive nails through, especially in the thicker ﬁve-ply material. I still have some brass nails that were originally used, and it is almost impossible to drive a brass nail into 3/16-inch or 1/4-inch wood that is used for wing walk areas. All modern nails that appear to be brass are really steel wire nails that are brass-coated to prevent rusting and discoloring the wood. Oh, by the way, I use common steel nails that are about 1/2 inch long, and that can be purchased from almost any hardware store, to secure the nailing strips in place. They are going to be pulled out anyway, so why add the expense of using brass-coated nails?

www.EAAVintage.org 7

8 September/October 2022

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

From the pages of what was ...

Good Old Days

www EAAVintage org 9

10 September/October 2022

Waco Reunion

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON

www.EAAVintage.org 11

Poplar Grove Airport (C77) was a ﬁrst-time host for the annual American Waco Club Fly-In.

2: (bottom left) (top far right) among attending

Cabin models.

A familiar sight: Justin Niemyjski hopping rides in his Waco CSO.

3: showing of

the variety

YQC-6

Waco

were

several

and YKC

Reunion 1 2 September/October 2022

A lineup

Waco models that ﬂocked to C77 for the ﬂy-in. 2

www.EAAVintage.org 13PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON 1 3

1 4 September/October 2022 Waco Reunion PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON 1: A UIC performes a ﬂy-over before landing. 2: A QCF-2 taxis out for a ﬂight. 3: The Poplar Grove Wing’s and Wheels Museum provides a great backdrop for photo-ops. 1 2 3

Bookmark EAA.org/AirVenture for AirVenture 2023 updates

1 6 September/October 2022 Waco Reunion PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON 1: One of three SREs that were in attendance. 2: Steve and Tina Thomas’s PSO. 3: An RNF taxis out from the Waco corral. 4: S3HD owned by John Ricciotti. 5: A Monocoupe 90A owned by Justin Niemyjski, one of three that joined the Wacos. 6: Justin Niemyjski prepares for another ride hop. 1 3

www.EAAVintage.org 17 4 5 6 2

Great weather for the entire ﬂy-in ensured that everyone had an excellent visit to C77.

Waco Reunion

PHOTOGRAPHY CONNOR MADISON

1 8 September/October 2022

Guadalcanal, 1942. Although often outgunned by Japan’s best troops, our brave Marines fought on through that hellish jungle. After months of costly ferocious battle, by outthinking and outfighting them they pushed the Japanese off Guadalcanal, denying them an air base to cover their warships venturing further into the South Pacific. It also put Japan on the defensive for the rest of the Pacific war. We're with you, Ukraine! Hang on, H lcanal, Al houg of en ang on!

www.EAAVintage.org 19 316-283-8000 • BandC.com Upgrade to R y to 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 Paircraft. A 22 aircraft. Includes brackets for Wide or Narrow Includesdeck Narrow-deck engines ... with NO change of oil cooler location required! STC/PMA

A RARE FACET OF STINSON HISTORY SPARKY BARNES

The Junior Model

20 September/October 2022

While the four-place Junior S bore a great deal of similarity to one of its predecessors, the 1930 SM-8A, the Junior S weighed 111 pounds more and originally included niceties such as a speed ring around its nine-cylinder, 215-hp Lycoming R-680; oleo spring shock-absorbing struts; and 8.50-by-10 low-pressure tires with brakes. “Also, unlike the SM-8A, the Junior S has wing strut attachments inside the wing with a ﬂat cover plate over that area,” said Kelly Mahon of the MAFM. “That was an effort to streamline the airplane and simplify the building process.”

mbodying a lustrous yet rugged elegance in its black and burgundy livery, a 1931 Stinson Junior Model S served as an eye-catching sentinel of days gone by during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021. Standing tall on its distinctive outrigger gear, it quietly graced the ﬂightline and attracted many inquisitive admirers. Owned by Scott Glover’s Mid America Flight Museum (MAFM) at Mount Pleasant, Texas, NC12164 is maintained in airworthy condition and ﬂown occasionally for rides.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON www.EAAVintage.org 21

Stinson Aircraft enjoyed a resounding success when its sales numbered more than that of all the other cabin airplane manufacturers combined in 1930. An ad in Aero Digest touted the company’s ongoing success and strategy: “Last year Stinson built more than 50% of all cabin planes built. Again Stinson takes leadership! The 1931 Stinson program, with another new radically low price and an improved plane, is a continuation of the policy which made last year so successful. Again, the management says that the present volume does not warrant the new price of $4,995. But by putting an even better plane at an even lower price within the reach of vastly more people, the Stinson management again believes volume will follow. It is Stinson’s policy always to make continual improvements but no radical changes in design that obsolete investments of Stinson owners. It is our belief that the basic design of the present Stinson plane will be continued for years to come.”

Around 100 of the Model S’s were reportedly manufactured by the Stinson Aircraft Corp. at Wayne, Michigan, a division of the Cord Corp., and 10 remain on the FAA Registry. Of those, at least one other Junior S is known to be currently flyable; hence, NC12164 is a rare facet of Stinson history.

“Scott Glover is a huge fan of big Stinsons,” said Kelly. “He owns two Stinson Tri-Motors, a Gullwing and an SM-8A, and a rare SR-9F Gullwing, powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-985 — that project is in the talented hands of Doug Smith at our restoration facility in Ohio. So naturally, when Scott had the opportunity to acquire this Junior S, he was more than happy to have it join his growing collection.”

Stinson Rarity

Aviation historian and author Joseph Juptner described the Model S as: “… the so-called Stinson ‘Air Taxi’ and charter-flight operators were scattered in all parts of the country. Unusual for an airplane of this modest size, the ‘Model S’ even took on the role of airliner. Several small airlines sprang up in the most likely and unlikely spots to offer scheduled and non-scheduled runs, most often to connect passengers with main-line systems. … Of very good nature, the ‘Junior S,’ like its earlier sister-ships, was very patient and made great allowances for abuse or error.” (U.S. Civil Aircraft, Volume 5)

The Stinson company homed in on specific features to make their aircraft just as appealing to potential owners as elegant motorcars of the day. Topping the list were an aesthetically pleasing appearance, creature comforts, and ease of operations. Ergo, Stinsons were popular with businessmen and private pilots alike, and some were “pressed” into aerial service to facilitate the “power of the pen.” The Aircraft Year Book 1932 listed such an example in its section on Aviation and the Press: “The Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph purchased its third airplane in 1931, a Stinson Junior (Lycoming) monoplane [dubbed the Scoop III], to keep pace with its needs for circulation promotion and the gathering of news over a wide area in Illinois.”

22 September/October 2022

Stinson maintained a strong position in the market despite the ongoing economic depression and began production of the Junior S in its new factory in May. According to The Aircraft Year Book 1932, “A new service hangar was built in 1931 adjacent to the company’s modern 100,000 square foot factory which was expanded to care for an engineering department, motor division, and stock room.”

Eddie Stinson, founder of the company, was an ardent promoter and active pilot who relished flying in local and national aviation events. In the 1931 National Air Tour, Eddie flew a Stinson Junior with a 215-hp Lycoming and finished in eighth place (out of 10) with an average speed of 110.48 mph.

A snippet from the air tour coverage in Aero Digest lauded his salesman prowess: “Speaking of plane selling, you should have seen Eddie Stinson on this tour. He was flying a Stinson Jr. in competition, but gave it about as many hours in demonstration flights as in the tour proper. He was hardly landed until he was up again, with his cabin full of business men who are prospective plane buyers. Up 1,000 feet or so, he says to whoever is seated beside him, ‘Take a hold there and fly it yourself.’And usually they do, and find it easier than driving a car. Eddie was using the tour just as it should be used — as a great sales promotion opportunity.”

A Thriving Company

Climb at sea level: 750 fpm first min sea level

Oil: 5 gallons

Length: 28 feet, 11 inches

Ceiling: 11,000 feet

Baggage capacity: 75 pounds

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON www.EAAVintage.org 23

Not eligible to be flown by a sport pilot.

Fuel: 51 gallons

Engine: 215-hp Lycoming R-680

Cruising speed: 100 mph

Empty weight: 2,172 pounds

1931 Stinson Junior Model S Specs

ATC 423

Wingspan: 42 feet, 1 inch

Useful load: 1,093 pounds

Gross weight (landplane): 3,265 pounds

Height: 8 feet, 9 inches

Gross weight with Edo P floats: 3,520 pounds

Max speed (with speed ring): 120 mph

Landing speed: 56 mph

Tread: 115 inches

The Junior S was, wrote Juptner, “without a doubt the best buy in the country for a four-place cabin airplane at this time … Features of convenience and finery, as introduced in this basic ‘Junior’ design a year previous, were all retained in full with perhaps a little more stress on being more serviceable and more practical.” (U.S. Civil Aircraft, Volume 5) Stinson championed the Lycoming engine used in its aircraft and issued the following statement in an Aero Digest ad for the 215-hp Stinson in May 1931: “Lycoming motors in Stinson planes operated by the New YorkPhiladelphia-Washington Airways alone have flown 780,300 consecutive engine miles without failure of any sort — a record, we believe, never before approached.”

In a countrywide advertising campaign, Stinson proudly elucidated the strength of its company and the airplanes it designed and manufactured. “Stinson changed airplane design in 1925 by building the first plane which combined closed cabin comfort, inherent stability, such that the machine would fly itself in the air; [it had an] electric starter, brakes and cabin heat ers. All modern cabin airplanes now follow this design. In 1930 Stinson made available for the first time, at the radically low price of $5,995, an even better 4-passenger cabin plane than was formerly obtainable in the $11,000 class. Today the Stinson plane definitely and exclusively estab lishes a totally new standard of value. … Stinson makes available for the first time in the history of aviation the benefits that are possible only when vast production resources, financial strength, experienced management, and great buying power are concentrated on the building and marketing of better planes at new, radically low prices. Everyone profits from this pro gram. The world applauds Stinson’s success in making air transportation practical and safe and placing it within the reach of the thousands who have been waiting for it.” (Aero Digest, April 1931)

The fuselage and empennage of the Model S were built of welded steel tubing, the wings of spruce spars and aluminum ribs, and the airframe was covered with fabric and finished with dope. Handy foot steps were welded to the tall gear legs, and attachment fittings for Edo Model P floats were standard.

Setting a Precedent

24 September/October 2022

NC12164 was purchased new by Daniel Wallace of Pennsylvania, who apparently was a frequent flyer from his home base, the Pittsburgh-Butler airport. The Stinson had a total flight time of 405 hours when the Aero Club of Butler Inc. purchased it in 1934. The club was based at the Allegheny airport, and rather amazingly, the airplane’s total flight hours increased to 736 in just a short time.

Stinsons in the Air Races

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON www.EAAVintage.org 25

Speaking of the air races, the Edward A. Stinson Memorial Cup Race was held in 1932, after Eddie died in January from injuries sustained in the tragic crash of a Model R. Fondly referred to as the “dean” of flyers, Eddie was only 38 and reportedly had more than 16,000 hours in the air. The memorial race was specifically for men and women pilots flying Lycoming-powered models S and R. The race consisted of six laps around a 3-1/2-mile course, and half a dozen pilots vied for the top cash prize of $450. (The Aircraft Year Book 1933)

As an interesting side note, Dudley’s attraction for owning a Stinson may have been influenced by his participation in the 1932 National Air Races at Cleveland, Ohio. He flew a Lycoming-powered Stinson to a 15th-place finish (out of 24) in the Cord Cup Race, Atlantic Wing, for a $100 prize. (The Aircraft Year Book 1933)

1930s

“The Stinson is a comfortable airplane to fly, and it was about a 2,000-mile adventure, flying through the mountains and then over the plains to Mount Pleasant.” — Kelly Mahon

By 1938, West Virginia partners Dudley Reed and Dice Harper were the new owners, and they based the Stinson at Harpers Field. Dudley became the sole owner in November 1939, and a year later, the Stinson’s total flight time had increased to 996 hours.

The Stinson continued changing hands and locations rather frequently during the decades of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. First it was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for about six years, then Minnesota, then Iowa. In 1958, it was in Norfolk, Nebraska. By the early 1960s, it was based on the West Coast in Washington.

At some point along its journey, NC12164 was likely in project status, and apparently its chain of ownership was missing a few links. So in July 1971, a previous owner, Iowan Vincent Burke, submitted a handwritten note to the FAA: “This aircraft [Stinson JR S N 12164] was sold by me in dismantled condition in 1955. Transfer of Title was assigned. It passed through several owners, apparently title was never transferred. It was never made ﬂyable and was destroyed in a hangar ﬁre at Norfolk, Nebraska, several years ago.” The note was stamped with “Reinstated on Feb 23 1987.”

1950s to 1970s

In 1948, then-owner Lewis Vince Willimack of Iowa had an engine change done on NC12164. The original 215-hp Lycoming R-680, ring cowling, and Hamilton Standard propeller were removed, and a 300-hp Lycoming R-680-13 (E3B), Hamilton Standard 2B20-329 constant-speed propeller, and a T-10 exhaust ring manifold were installed. A new oil tank was fabricated, the electrical system was changed to 24 volts, and a Jasco alternator and voltage regulator were installed.

NC12164 was based in New York and Iowa during the 1940s. In July 1943, a change of ownership was duly recorded on the War Production Board’s form for the “Authorization for Speciﬁc Transactions in Restricted Commodities,” which reﬂects not only the approved wartime aircraft sales transaction, but also the government’s circuitous wording: “Hall-Taylor Aviation at Kent County Airport, Grand Rapids, Michigan, is hereby granted permission to receive from Harry Schwartz, Midwest Aviation Company, who is hereby granted permission to deliver the following commodities restricted by said order, a Stinson JR-S, 215 Lycoming Engine, NC-12164 for $3,500, provided such price does not exceed CAA formula.”

1940s

26 September/October 2022

In May 1944, the Stinson was purchased by F.E. Corey and Robert P. Bell, who were associated with the Civil Air Patrol, Group 2, Squadron 722, Iowa Wing. These co-owners were truly caretakers; they had a great deal of work done on the Stinson by Hunter Flying Service, including an extensive engine overhaul. Additionally, since fabric-covered aircraft weren’t always hangared in those days, the portions of the airframe that bore the brunt of ultraviolet exposure — the stabilizer, elevators, wings, and the top of the fuselage — were re-covered with grade A cotton.

NC12164 remained in Bunky’s capable hands until he passed away in 2017, and his widow, Ronda, sheltered the Stinson until finding its next caretaker, Scott Glover.

Antique Airplane, Modern Times

“Bunky was a well-known antiquer, especially on the West Coast,” said Kelly Mahon, “and he was a gifted restorer. We have both of Bunky’s antiques here at the museum — a 1928 Travel Air 4000 and this Junior S. These airplanes fly beautifully, thanks to Bunky’s talented craftsmanship.”

Kelly is highly experienced with flying antiques and a wide array of aircraft, and happily shouldered the mantle of flying the Stinson from Washington to the MAFM at Mount Pleasant, Texas, in the summer of 2020. Accompanying him were his son, Curtis, and friend Scott McKinley, who made it a two-ship cross-country by flying along in the Mahon Pietenpol. “The Stinson is a comfortable airplane to fly, and it was about a 2,000-mile adventure, flying through the mountains and then over the plains to Mount Pleasant,” said Kelly. “The first night we stayed in Sheridan, Wyoming, and the second night in Hays, Kansas.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON www.EAAVintage.org 27

By this time, the Stinson Junior Model S had landed in the hands of 23 caretakers throughout more than half a century. Not only that, it was one of the few survivors of its kind. It deserved a good home, and indeed, it found one in May 1987, in the personage of Gregory “Bunky” Larson of Washington. Bunky kept the Junior S flying for a number of years, in both its seaplane and landplane configurations, and enjoyed giving rides in it. In August 2009, he flew it to the Paine Field Vintage Aircraft Weekend at Everett, Washington, where it received the President’s Choice Award.

The privilege of flying this rare Stinson Junior S to AirVenture 2021 was bestowed upon Elliot Block of San Diego, a friend of Kelly’s and a corporate pilot who also has quite a bit of Howard DGA-15P and Cessna 140 tailwheel experience. Elliot loves flying vintage and antique aircraft, and jumped at the surprise“Kellyopportunity.textedme at 5 in the morning about a month before AirVenture and asked if I’d be interested in taking the Stinson Junior to Oshkosh. I told him he should have first asked if I was sitting down! We both laughed, and I said, ‘Yes, sir, I’d be honored.’This is a nice example of the Junior S, and you don’t see many of these,” said Elliot. “When I got to Texas, Kelly briefed me on flying it. It’s got really nice mechanical brakes and a steerable tailwheel, so I just familiarized myself by taxiing around. Then I went out to the runway, took off, and shot three landings and we called it good,” said Elliot. “Actually, leading up to the checkout, Kelly mentioned that the airplane could probably be landed with the pilot blindfolded, which is a testament to just how pleasant it is to fly. The gear is super forgiving and really smooth, and this airplane tracks pretty straight.”

Elliot’s flight from Texas to Wisconsin was, perhaps predictably, a pure delight. “The airplane is just easy and fun to fly; there’s nothing scary about it! One of the most important things Kelly relayed to me about flying the Junior S is that it’s very important to plan your legs for no more than two hours,” said Elliot. “So that’s what we did, and everything worked out really nicely. At cruise, it burns about 15 gph, and we were running about 1900 rpm and 23 inches of manifold pressure, with an indicated airspeed of 90 mph. So it gets you there, at its own pace.”

Flight to Oshkosh

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON28 September/October 2022

When it comes to landings, both Kelly and Elliot prefer to three-point the antediluvian monoplane. “Once you’re on ﬁnal and have the runway made, you start pulling the power back gently. By the time the airplane touches the ground, you’re probably doing 60 mph or less,” said Elliot, who added with a smile, “You can’t mess up a landing; it makes you look good every time!”

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BUDD DAVISSON

UNO THE FIRST ONE 30 September/October 2022

THE MORRIS 140A PROTOTYPE

www.EAAVintage.org 31PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA

t has often been said that married couples who fly bombers together stay together. Okay … so maybe that’s not actually said often. However, inasmuch as Ken (EAA Lifetime 58044) and Lorraine (EAA Lifetime 1136221) Morris, of Poplar Grove, Illinois, are both B-17 type rated and often crew the EAA’s B-17 together, how do they decide who sits in what seat? As far as that goes, since they’re both airline pilots with hyper-fat logbooks, how do they decide who has the left seat when flying their Cessna 140A? Actually, they have found the perfect solution for that specific problem: They own two Cessna 140As. And both airplanes are firsts. One is the first 140A Ken’s dad bought, which is the first airplane Ken soloed and the steed for his first date with Lorraine. The second 140A is the factory prototype, making it a first as well, and it is miraculous that it has survived seven decades in the air.

There is no better way to view a sunset than from a Vintage airplane.

32 September/October 2022

www.EAAVintage.org 33PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA

The “A” in 140A means the same thing that an A on any aircraft designation means: It says the airplane in question is the improved version of an original, preexisting model. Some of the changes brought to the 140A from the original 140 were major. Not only that, but some of those changes gave birth to the C-150 a decade later.

What the new 140A wings definitely did not feature were the Fowler flaps that today are practically a Cessna trademark. The 140A flaps were slightly wider than the earlier 140s, but they were also shorter and so were no more effective than those on the original airplanes. Which is to say, they weren’t very effective.

34 September/October 2022 PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA

For Ken, this love goes all the way back to when he was a teenager and the odd way Cessna 140As came into his life.

“When I was 13, my dad was flying an American Airlines B-727 and happened to fly over his home airport,” he said. “On a whim, he called UNICOM, asking if any airplanes on the airport were for sale. The operator said yes, there was a 140A for sale. Later that day, Dad called the number he was given and bought the airplane over the phone, never having laid eyes on it. I soloed it when I was 16, later took my commercial and CFI checkrides in it, and the practical signoff for my A&P. Better yet, my dad gifted it to me when I was in college, and we still have it.”

Seventy years is a long time in any airplane’s life. However, when that airplane is a trainer and much of its life has had students beating on it, the odds of it surviving that long are not good. Approximately 525 Cessna 140As were built, and the odds of a specific one out of that group surviving are even longer. Then the odds of the absolute oldest one in existence surviving are almost incalculable. Additionally, prototypes were actually built just to make sure a concept worked and weren’t usually released as a production airplane. These odds make it seem as if Uno, as the Morrises call N3779V (Spanish for “one”), led a charmed life. The luckiest aspect of its survival is that fate and the Morrises’ love for 140As worked together to lead it to their workshop and their stewardship. They were the perfect couple to bring it back to health, because not only are they skilled vintage aircraft restorers, but also they have a deep love for 140As.

By far, the biggest and most noticeable change the A-model introduced was an entirely new wing design. This was done in 1949 as an overall redesign of Cessna’s flat- and single-engine product line — the 120/140/170 (as opposed to the round-engine 195). Gone were the round-tip, Hersheybar fabric panels, and in their place were aluminum wings with the planform that today clearly says “Cessna.” Virtually every single-engine Cessna since that time sports the same wing shape with the straight leading edge and partially tapered trailing edge that mounts the ailerons. Also, since aluminum wings are their own torque box, a single strut replaced the V-struts the fabric wings needed to stabilize the front and rear spars and provide torsional rigidity.

The luckiest aspect of its survival is that fate and the Morrises’ love for 140As worked together to lead it to their workshop and their stewardship. They were the perfect couple to bring it back to health, because not only are they skilled vintage aircraft restorers, but also they have a deep love for 140As.

www.EAAVintage.org 35

Ken and Lorraine Morris. Is this a happy couple or what?

Ken has been a 140A guy from the day he edged his way into the cockpit for his first flying lesson. Since that time, he has spent an obscene amount of time in an obscene number of exotic cockpits. It’s impressive enough that his log shows something like 37,000 hours, but what’s much more impressive is the 9,000 hours of tailwheel time spent herding around the likes of B-17s, Beech 18s, and who knows how many variations of Wacos, or Jennys, or homebuilts. However, some part of his heart always comes back to his first aerial love, the C-140A.Youcan

pick any airplane of any type and be almost guaranteed that there is a community, a type club, that is built up around it. And one of the strongest is the 120/140 Association. It’s a given that the birds-of-a-feather thing is extremely strong, and the communication member-to-member solves all sorts of problems and passes along all sorts of important information. From Ken and Lorraine’s point of view, one of the most “interesting” pieces of information that was passed to them was the location of the preproduction prototype 140A. Apparently, it had been owned by the same owner for 30 years, but it hadn’t flown for over a decade. Ken got on the phone and verified first that the data plate number was 152000. The second question, obviously, was, “How much?”

Some of the most notable bits of aviation fiction are contained in old airplane logbooks. However, if they lie, it is generally by omission: Something happened that wasn’t recorded. For instance, in Uno’s case, it took only a little physical investigation to determine that the poorly repaired wings and tail surfaces were the result of an unscheduled arrival on its back next to an unnamed runway. Combine that with the hail damage on the wings, and it was obvious that this wasn’t going to be one of those wingsStevement.thejob.apart-jig-it-reskin-and-replace-a-bunch-of-partsjobs.el-before-drilling-out-the-next-panelreplace-this-pan-reskinningThiswasgoingtobeatake-it-completely-Therewasnowayitcouldbedonewithoutfactory-stylejigstoguaranteeproperalign-TheclosestshopwiththerightjigswasMeyersinOshkosh,Wisconsin.So,offthewenttohimtoworkhismagic.

36 September/October 2022

Ken and Lorraine bought the airplane in February 2019, did a quick inspection, and headed home with it.

The original C-170A had the same wing and flap configuration as the 140A, but it was later redesigned to be the 170B, which incorporated Fowler flaps, which were effective. The 140A would not see that improvement, because it was determined that the tail would have to be totally redesigned to handle the trim changes the Fowler flaps could introduce, and it wasn’t felt there would be enough continued sales to make it worth the investment. Reportedly, there actually was a 140B built, but it never got past the prototype stage. Production of the 140 ceased in 1951, but most of its design and structure reappeared a few years later with a nose wheel, a bigger tail, and Fowler flaps, and the legendary C-150 was born.

Ken characterized the airplane as a “50-foot airplane,” meaning from 50 feet it looked good, but the closer you got to it, the worse it looked. One aspect to “airplanes in a barn,” when it comes to condition, is that rag and tube airplanes are easier to bring back to perfection than aluminum ones. Unless an aluminum airplane is kept in a glass case for its entire life, it is bound to accumulate more than its share of nicks and dings, scrapes and scuffs, most of which are hard to correct. The rag and tube airplanes have a similar problem, but it’s much easier to replace fabric than aluminum. Since aluminum skin is structure, you can’t just strip it all off without your airplane disintegrating to a pile of disassociated parts. Plus, in the case of N3779V, all of its upper surfaces bore the mark of Mother Nature’s gift to repair shops: hail pockmarks!

“It was located in Richmond, Virginia, and it was the dead of winter,” Ken said. “The airplane had no heater duct, so I suffered all the way home. But it was worth it.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA www.EAAVintage.org 37

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA38 September/October 2022

Using photos and catalogs as guides, Uno’s interior was returned to 100% original form.

In the meantime, Ken and Lorraine attacked the fuselage. This too would require square yards of new skin, but that was a little easier to do because it could be done one skin at a time: Remove one and let the others hold the fuselage in alignment, while the new one was riveted in place. When finished, Ken said there were only three skins on the fuselage they didn’t replace. This is one of the inextricable aspects to repairing old aluminum structures: When you replace one piece of skin, that makes all those around it look truly dingy and out of place. So, you do themIncidentally,all. there’s a high probability that Lorraine can lay claim to being the only female B-17 pilot who has spent many hours lying inside a Cessna fuselage while bucking rivets. Also, not many marriages could withstand that.

Hands-down one of the most difficult aspects of bringing what was viewed as a low-dollar airplane in its prime back to original is the instrument panel. Over its 70-year life span, as new instruments and radio systems were developed, the panels were chopped and butchered to make the requisite holes to fit whatever was going to be installed. Making the restoration even more difficult was that Cessnas of the period all had very identifiable plastic overlays that finished off the panel. If they are eliminated, the panel simply isn’t “right.” The 140 Cessna plastic overlay was killed by sunshine and hard use, and most are badly cracked and discolored. Originals simply don’t exist. Not to be stymied by plastic, Ken went out on a limb and commissioned the fabrication of the tooling that would be required for manufacturing totally accurate originals. This was not a simple or inexpensive process. Figuring other 140 owners would be facing the same problem he was, he had 55 overlay pieces made, which he said were snapped up as soon as the 140 community heard they existed.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA www.EAAVintage.org 39

The engine was basically rebuildable, but Ken wanted to use a C90-14, rather than the original 12. This gave him conical engine mounts, which are much smoother and longer wearing. The engine, of course, looks as if it came out of the factory yesterday and is detailed à la 1949.

“As with a lot of 140s, this one had been ‘150ized,’” he said. “There was a time when, as 150s were being wrecked, they were being cannibalized and some of their equipment worked into 140s. Sometimes this was done with field approvals, but more often it was just ‘done’ with no attempt to make it legal. In the case of Uno, it had 150 seats and rails, 150 control yokes, and cast 150 rudder pedals, so we found original pieces and took it back to 1949 status.”

One of the bigger problems in doing a Cessna 140 restoration is almost always trying to bring the instrument panel and interior back to original, but Ken was determined to do that.

One of the high-wear areas on every airplane is the cowling. It’s constantly being opened and closed, removed for oil changes, etc. In the best of situations, given enough years and hours, the bolt holes get egged out, dents accumulate, and cracks spider in from the edges. Then put the airplane over on its back — definitely not an uncommon occurrence in the life of lots of 140s — and the cowling is usually wrinkled and disfigured. This is another way of saying Ken made a lot of phone calls and looked at a lot of 140 bottom cowls before he found one that could be used, and even that one needed a small, nearly invisible patch, something that still bugs Ken.

With the overlay problem solved, Ken had all the instruments rebuilt and refaced in Cessna brown. Then he installed a Garmin 375 in the original hole on the left side of the panel, but covered it with a nearly perfect face panel from an old G.E. broadband radio so it looks totally original. He went so far as to install an original type copper-wire trailing antenna and routinely has to explain what it is to fly-in spectators.

The Morris 140 duo: They’re part of a family tradition that has no end in sight.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEONARDO CORREA LUNA40 September/October 2022

Ken and Lorraine live on Poplar Grove Airport, where she has had a hand in doing more than a few interiors for folks who were rehabbing a number of different types of airplanes, and Uno’s interior is one of those. In reality, the only common trait shared between upholstery and pounding rivets, her other specialty, is attention to detail, and that served Uno well. Lorraine was able to come up with a supply of upholstery material that matched what Cessna had used, but had to have it fireproofed to use in an airplane. Using factory photos, she stitched it to exactly match factory patterns. The final result was that the Vintage judges at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021 agreed that when the interior work was combined with the airframe work, the Morris couple had taken Uno right back to factory standards in every possible way and awarded them Grand Champion Classic honors.

It’s a wonderful thing when a piece of aviation history ﬁnds its way to those who value its provenance as an artifact as much as the fun it provides as a ﬂying machine. It’s even better when the history of the machine matches the history of the family caring for it. This guarantees a multigenerational stewardship, and Ken and Lorraine’s grown children are ready to be that next generation. Uno has found a home for the ages.

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42 September/October 2022

LARRY MAYER’S HIGH-ALTITUDE SURVIVOR BUDD DAVISSON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY MAYER www.EAAVintage.org 43

f you ask anyone in the United States to name cities that have birthed civilian aviation companies, inevitably, the first to be mentioned will be Wichita (Cessna, Beech, etc.). A few might mention Lockhaven, Pennsylvania (Piper), or maybe Vero Beach (Piper again). One of the last to be mentioned, if mentioned at all, however, would be tiny Afton, Wyoming.

Given the number of aircraft produced in Afton over the years and the small size of the community, it’s possible that Afton may hold the record for the highest number of aircraft produced per capita in any American town/city. Lots of airplanes; not many people. The story of CallAir’s backcountry and agricultural aircraft being born in the American backcountry is a prime story of America’s entrepreneurial nature and aero pioneering at its best. See the accompanying sidebar for the story of Reuel Call and his airplanes.

Today, Afton is one of the smallest towns (2,100 hearty souls) in what is America’s ninth largest, but absolutely least-populated, state (581,000). Wyoming is nearly twice the size of England, but England has nearly a hundred times Wyoming’s population.

Located in the breathtakingly beautiful Star Valley, southwest of Jackson Hole, Afton is also one of the best examples of old-fashioned western Americana. For instance, one of its features is the world’s largest elk antler arch, which bridges the town’s main street. There is, however, an unexpected discontinuity: Since before World War II, when the Afton population was just 1,200, the north side of that street has been dominated, to one degree or another, by an aircraft manufacturing plant. Today it is Aviat Aircraft, the birthplace of the Pitts Special and Husky backcountry bird. Beginning in 1941, however, a portion of that area was home to Call Aircraft Co., better known as CallAir, builder of a unique and utilitarian series of light aircraft that is seldom mentioned today, and even more seldom seen.

According to the keeper of the CallAir flame on Facebook, Tom Arnold (no, not that Tom Arnold), it is estimated that of the total number of CallAir aircraft built, approximately 1,200, which includes both cabin and crop duster versions, there are 18 registered cabin versions with maybe 10 actually flying. An additional 12 of the crop dusters are registered, but an unknown number are still flying, although some have found work towing gliders. So, there’s a reason we seldom see a CallAir aircraft of any kind: Only a few of them are available to come to fly-ins, one of the most recent being the A-2 CallAir that belongs to Larry Mayer, EAA 424790, of Billings, Montana.

Larry came into aviation having benefitted from his time as a paperboy delivering newspapers.

44 September/October 2022

“While still in my teens, I had a Nikon F and started taking photos for the little newspaper in the small town where I lived,” he said. “I was attracted to the technical aspect of it and spent time in the darkroom, developing and printing black-and-white images. After graduation, I continued doing that, when, right out of the blue, I got a call from the Billings Gazette, which was actually a big paper. They’d seen my photos and wanted me to come to work for them full time. That was absolutely amazing, except I was assigned the eastern part of Montana, which was five or six hours away by car.”

Lots of wing and a low weight made the CallAir a well-performing high-altitude bird.

“One of the first stories I shot in my original newspaper job was on skydiving, and I actually did a static line jump myself,” he said. “Skydiving was fun, but I found myself much more attracted to the jump plane, a 182. So, when I arrived at the Gazette and was driving all over half of the state, the thought of learning to fly to shorten those trips was attractive to me. Accordingly, I borrowed some money and started taking lessons. For a few years, I was renting to do my trips, but then I bought a C-170B. By then, I was seriously hooked on airplanes, and when I wasn’t running around shooting photos, I was working on airplanes.”

“I know this sounds crazy,” he said, “but once I started flying, I looked back and realized that one of the requisite skills for flying in Montana is understanding the wind. It’s a never-ending challenge that I started battling as a kid. When delivering papers on my bicycle, besides avoiding marauding dogs, I was constantly fighting the wind. It’s always blowing. Because of that, we kids had a game where we’d stand on a ledge, open our jackets like a wing suit, and lean as far as we could into the wind. Unknowingly, I gained an innate understanding of wind most pilots don’t have when they start to fly.”

According to Larry, he wasn’t one of those kids with model airplanes hanging all over his bedroom. In fact, he didn’t give airplanes much thought at all. That all changed once he started working at the Billings Gazette.

While traveling around doing photo shoots, Larry ran across numerous derelict airplanes. He started buying them, bringing them home, getting them back in the air, and selling them.

Coupled with his wind adventures, Larry was attracted to photography.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY MAYER www.EAAVintage.org 45

“So far, I’ve done 102 in total,” he said. “Some were just in need of some TLC, while others required a pretty fair amount of work. For the serious stuff, I get a mechanic involved, but I do all the grunt work myself. Cleaning, disassembling, etc. I do so much of it that buying and selling airplanes has become something halfway between being an obsession and a business.“Along the way I bought a 1961 C-180D, and I’ve been flying the wings off of it,” he said. “I’m on the second engine and have a third one sitting on the floor waiting its turn. To give the 180 a little rest, I bought a Thorp T-18, which is one of the few built with straight wings, rather than having the upturned outer panels. I’ve piled up about 6,000 hours of tailwheel time, most of it in the 180 and the 170s I’ve owned along the way.”

Rugged design personified

46 September/October 2022

In contrast to what Larry said he usually has to do with his new-to-him airplanes — completely go through them, cleaning and fixing as he goes — he said this is an airplane he can just get in and go flying.

Larry soon found he could use some help, and that help is what led him to the CallAir A-2.

“At one point, I was in the process of rebuilding the fourth A-1 Husky built and asked Ira Walker, from Afton, to help me with the rigging. From that point on, he has become a good friend and is often involved in some of my projects. More than that, he knows I’m always looking for airplanes, and last year he called to tell me of an A-2 CallAir that was for sale in Afton. Afton isn’t 250 miles from me, and CallAirs are fairly well known in my part of the world. They’re known as good high-altitude airplanes. Further, this particular airplane had been sold as part of the sale of the hangar it was in, and the new owner wanted the hangar but not the airplane. He wanted the CallAir out of there immediately. The sooner the better. So, I was interested. That’s my kind of deal!

“All I’ve done is install ADS-B, and I hid that up behind the panel, so it’s still original,” he said. “In fact, it’s really a time capsule with a link back to a time in America when folks would get together and make things happen. In this case, it was the Call family. They came together and wrote their own chapter of aviation history. And, personally, I love their airplane.”

When Larry finally went to pick up the CallAir, it was obvious he’d made the right decision.

“We pulled it out of the hangar, checked the fluids, did a super detailed preflight, put in some fresh gas, did a couple of mag checks, and I took off,” he said. “As with any new airplane, I was a little on edge on that first takeoff. However, my fears were unfounded, as it is the most stable airplane I have ever flown. It’s like a perfectly rigged Champ. It flies itself! Plus, it lifted off before I had the throttle all the way in. This at 6,200 feet! The ailerons were heavy, but there were no surprises. With a 180 Lyc and flaps, this airplane would be a short-field monster! As it is, it is amazingly good. It’s perfect for the high-altitude conditions we’re always dealing with up here. Plus, on takeoff and landing, not only is it very Champ-like, but you can pretty much see over the nose.”Larry had to dodge inclement weather getting home, which took at least twice as long as it should have, but in doing so he found the CallAir was the perfect airplane in which to be flying the valleys to stay under the clouds.

“I knew that if it got really bad, I could land it almost anywhere,” he said.

“It turns out that a ranch family had bought the airplane new from the factory in Afton in 1952, and it’s been based in Afton since then,” Larry said. “That’s 70 years, and except for the years it spent on display in the CallAir Museum in Afton, it had spent most of its life in the same hangar. Ira said that amazingly enough, other than receiving a 150 Lycoming in place of the original 125-hp O-290 and having the fabric replaced in 2009, it’s almost exactly as it was the day it left the factory. He said the airplane had been annualled every year and flown just enough to keep it happy so it was in terrifically good condition. So, rather than taking the time to go look at it, I took Ira’s word for it, got in touch with the owner, and bought it — sight unseen.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY MAYER www.EAAVintage.org 47

Larry Mayer and his CallAir pose for his son Eric’s camera.

CallAir’s approach was to keep it simple and keep it light.

48 September/October 2022

Reuel Call appears to have been an entrepreneur from birth. He was barely 20 years old when he opened a two-pump gas station in Afton with money he had earned from renting out roller skates. Throughout the rest of his life, he developed a string of gasoline outlets in the west that were the prototypes of what we’ve come to recognize as the convenience store approach to pumping gas. When he died at the age 94 in 2002, he had nearly 150 stores in seven western states, and his headquarters was, and still is, right where he started, in Afton. And it’s still a family business.

How does a town of 1,200 people, that’s struggling to get through the Great Depression, go about designing and certifying an airplane, and then setting up a factory to build that airplane? As is usually the case with big outlandish projects, there’s a human spark plug behind it. However, Reuel Call, the spark plug of the project, came equipped with his own workforce — his family.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY MAYER www.EAAVintage.org 49

They went into production with the A-2 CallAir in 1945. A wide (43-inch), two-place, strut braced, low-wing aircraft powered by a 125-hp surplus Lycoming GPU engine, it faced the fierce competition that characterized the aeronautically fateful years of 1946-1947. All of the civilian aircraft manufacturers were cranking out airplane like cookies, only to find salesNotlacking.oneto

In the mid-1930s, he began to tiptoe into aviation and hadn’t flown long before he realized that there are airplanes, and there are airplanes. Those that were perfectly functional in Wichita at 1,300 feet MSL were woefully lacking in Afton at 6,200 feet MSL. And Afton, like so many other western states, was surrounded by mountains. Tall mountains. Density altitude was a very real factor in the area and could be a killer. So, being a westerner, most of whom are pragmatic problem-solvers, he decided to design an airplane that could take care of itself in rarified air. This was a pretty lofty goal for someone who was both a low-time pilot and not an engineer. True entrepreneurs, however, know how to get things

Thedone.coreof his new venture depended on his family, specifically, Uncle Ivan, who was a civil engineer and could do truss analysis. Shortly after starting the project, they were joined by Reuel’s brother, Spence, who had recently graduated with an engineering degree. Then, since no one in Afton had experience in welding the thin wall tubing the project required, they hired mechanic Gaylord Swartz, who relocated to Afton. He taught Reuel the tricks of aircraft welding, and the two of them built the prototype fuselage.

Their isolated location precluded Call Aircraft from getting any production work from the government during the war. However, its facility was kept more than busy repairing damaged training aircraft that were trucked in from various military training command bases.

A year later, the airplane, having been tested in the air and on the ground, met the CAA’s stringent standards and the certification papers were signed. He had done it! However, serial production was almost five years in coming: While the officials and the Call family were in their offices signing the papers that made the type certificate official, they were listening to news flashes on the radio. The date was December 7, 1941.

By 1940, this group of admittedly amateur airplane builders had a prototype ready to take to the air, and it did, with Reuel at the controls. The airplane clearly outperformed any other similar craft at that altitude, which was his goal. Then, this gas station magnate who knew nothing about aircraft certification took the outlandish step of applyingto the Civil Aeronautics Administration for for type certification of his new airplane.

In 1939, knowing he’d need space, Reuel built CallAir’s first building. Reportedly, it was a 60- by 100-foot hangar/ office building. So, they then had an aircraft factory but no runway. For years, they depended on pasture land that their neighbors let them use for free, so grazing cattle were a continual flight hazard.

let the market defeat them, the Calls were constantly putting their heads together to come up with products suited to the local area. Among other things, this included a unique type of ski that featured a cradle that held the wheel in place atop the ski, rather than removing the wheel and mounting the ski on the axle as was usually done.

They also began making snow cars. Powered by aircraft engines with pusher props, they were designed to deliver mail and generally provide transportation in those areas of the west where, during the wintertime, isolated roads couldn’t be kept open all the way to secluded small towns, ranches, and farms. Essentially the snow cars were fabric and tube, two-place tandem cockpits perched over three skis, one in front and two behind. An estimated several hundred saw service with the postal service, Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, and small mountain communities. They also built a small scooter, and that proved to be popular with ranches not wishing to use horses in the field.

Meeting challenges was the key to the Call Aircraft way of doing things. For instance, the local power authority realized the factory was a major consumer of electricity, which might be in short supply. Reuel, being an oil man (he owned several small reﬁneries), scouted around and found a nearly new Caterpillar diesel generator for sale and had it installed. They made it do double duty by ducting the heat generated by the big radiator into their main building. Winter at that altitude was serious business, but Call had worked his way around it.

The complete tale of the Call family entrepreneurial saga has yet to be told, but the CallAir Museum in Afton does an excellent job of keeping the legend alive.

Little airplane in a big country.

50 September/October 2022

Anderson stayed in the Afton area after CallAir Aircraft drifted through several ownerships before Rockwell International/Aero Commander purchased the type certificates and moved the operation to its base in Albany, Georgia. At that point in time, Rockwell had bought five or six smaller aircraft manufacturers and produced a much larger Anderson/CallAir design, the B-1 powered by an R-985. Herb Anderson and Doyle Child later came together again to produce yet another aircraft with a new partner by the name of Curtis Pitts. Today, Pitts Specials and Huskys are still being produced in Afton.

Shortly after the war, agricultural areas nationwide became used to seeing low-flying surplus Stearmans spraying and dusting fields, many of them sporting the R-985 Pratt &Whitney from a BT-13 grafted onto their firewall. However, they were big, burned a lot of gas, and couldn’t work small fields very well. Seeing this, Call brought in Herb Anderson, who had a background in designing ag planes, and pointed him at the A-4. Anderson instantly stripped the A-4 down to its underwear, taking off everything that wasn’t needed, making it into an open-cockpit airplane with a stout pilot cage. The hopper occupied the space where the passenger once sat, and the 150-hp A-5 was born. It’s variously estimated that as many as 500 A-5s were built, with some still towing gliders today. In the 1950s, Anderson became CallAir’s general manager and, supported by local businessmen Doyle Child and Ted Frome, developed the much larger A-9 ag plane, of which an estimated 850 were built.

As production scaled up, whether it was airplanes, scooters, or ski-type cars, as the A-2 morphed into the A-3 and then the A-4, the new aircraft company began to gain a foothold, and aircraft began to be delivered at a regular rate. They became so successful that the city of Afton worked with the company to build an actual runway that paralleled the main street of Afton only a few hundred feet away. So, the populace got used to airplanes taking off from behind the row of buildings next to downtown. Later, when the Pitts came to town, they weren’t surprised when a small biplane would come roaring up from behind the buildings and roll inverted to climb out. A new runway and airport complex has since been built farther away from main street in a more normal location.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY MAYER www.EAAVintage.org 51

BY PHILIP C. WHITFORD

The unplanned resurrection and restoration of Aeronca Super Chief 4098E SWEET DREAMS AND MACHINESFLYING 5 2 September/October 2022

www EAAVintage org 5 3

his is a tale of two Aeronca airplanes: a 65 hp 1946 Chief 11AC, and an 85 hp 1947 11CC Super Chief. Both were assembled in the Dayton, Ohio, municipal airport Aeronca facilities in the postwar years It was a time when Aeronca 7AC Scout production peaked, outselling 11AC Chiefs by 8 to 1 and requiring all the factory space of the Middleton, Ohio, Aeronca facilities

While doing all that, I was also a biology Ph D graduate student and teaching assistant atstudent assistant UW Milwaukee I began learning everything I could about Canada geese for my dissertation research And, I didn’t know it then, but I had also just begun learning many aircraft repair skills I would use repeatedly in the next 45 years.

So from 1977 to 2016, I owned a 1946 Aeronca Chief, N9494E, serial No. 1129. It was slow but wonderful to fly, when it was flight worthy, which was far less often than I wished, for it was an extremely ill fated craft. The seller failed to mention the wing fabric had failed

The 7AC series were taildraggers with tandem seating and stick flight controls, similar to Piper Cubs Aeronca 11AC and 11CC series were fabric covered taildraggers as well, but had side by side cabin seating and dual yoke controls in the panel.

Did I mention I’d never flown a taildragger? The West Bend airport manager recommended a flight instructor to “introduce me to the difficul ties of safely landing a non tricycle gear aircraft.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON5 4 September/October 2022

I completed my master’s degree in wildlife management and my VFR commercial certificate in 1976, hoping to become a pilot biologist in Alaska At that time, they only hired pilots with over 200 hours logged in small taildraggers I had zero hours in such planes, but knew someone selling an Aeronca Chief, which I could use to gain those hours. Dad lent me $3,500 to buy the airplane, if I promised he could fly it with me.

its punch test. I couldn’t fly it until both wings were inspected, re covered, and signed off by a certificated A&P mechanic Though I had no idea what I was doing, I removed the wings, brought them to my parents’ eastside Milwaukee garage, and set up enough sawhorses to support them at working height I stripped off the old fabric and tape coverings, leaving the wings looking like wood and aluminum skeletons

Riding in my father’s lap in a friend’s Piper Cub at age 7, I vowed I’d fly airplanes myself one day. Dad soloed Stearman biplanes in military flight school and ended the war in the Pacific theater in a P 61 Black Widow of the 421st Night Fighters Squadron. He loved and missed flying and gladly helped pay for my flight training

I found an A&P who came to check and sign offsign off on my work. With his advice, I spliced and rein forced cracked spars, repaired damaged ribs, and did everything required before I could cover thecover wings with fabric, glue, tape, and paint. Once the wings were ready, friends and I reinstalled them. The airplane passed its annual and was ready to fly

Well, I had logged several hundred flight hours in Cessnas and had an idea of what we’d done wrong. Admittedly a bit shaken myself, I pushed the throttle in, climbed to 3,000 feet, throttled back, and held the Chief level until it stalled, then did it three more times. Stall always came gently at 38 mph indicated airspeed. Feeling pretty confident, I went back to the runway, approached at 50 mph, leveled out just above it at 42 mph, throttled back, and let it settle to ground when it was ready. I did that several more times, and you might say it was “love at first flight” for me and the Chief.

He did an impressive job of that. He’d flown only Bellanca Decathlon aerobatic taildraggers, which land at higher airspeeds than the Aeronca 11AC. We took off, did a few maneuvers, and returned for landing practice He told me to do final runway approach at 70 mph and touch down at 55 mph, and then “pull the yoke firmly all the way back into your gut” to hold the tail on the ground It didn’t work out well. Fifty five mph is the bestout rrateate of climb speed for the Aeronca 11AC. Guess what happened. Yup, we rose about 30 feet, began to stall, gave it full throttle and nose down to regain flight speed, and repeated the same mistake twice more before circling the field, and porpoising up and down three more times, and rolling to a stop. Visibly shaken, the instructor leapt from the idling airplane, saying he’d taught me “everything he could.”

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In summer 1992, I left the Chief at the Wautoma airport while I borrowed our farm pickup truck to move my family to my new teaching position at UW Whitewater. Returning four days later, the airplane was upside down, courtesy of severe storm winds. Tom and I worked fall and winter until repairs were completed. The following spring and summer was the only time I ever had my Chief based just minutes from home. I ﬂew almost daily all summer. My one year position at Whitewater ended, and the only tenure track position I was offered was in Ohio I moved my family there

The following spring, we learned my wife had advanced lung cancer. Our lives changed profoundly as we focused on her care and quality of life My daughter and I did our best to fulﬁll her travel desires, with trips to Europe and Canada She passed away on September 8, 2000

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON56 September/October 2022

All the fabric except the wings required replacement, so we did a full rebuild, from sanding the frame to replacing every bit of wood and window in the aircraft. I re covered the fuselage and control surfaces with Ceconite fabric before painting it all. My hour drive to the hangar and daily teaching and research schedules slowed the rebuilding pro cess, but we got it done Once again, I’d learned new skills to keep an aircraft ﬂying

I put in many hours flying in the next two years, until the day I got to the airport to find a 1974 Ford on my left landing gear with its fender well into my engine cowling. Vandals had smashed four taildraggers and abandoned the car they’d stolen. It was a year before the Chief flew again.

To see our families in Wisconsin more often, we bought a Cherokee 140 and then later a Cessna 177 Cardinal RG to get there The Chief stayed behind and was little used Its ﬁnal recorded ﬂight was August 17, 1997 Landing atrecorded Wautoma, we found the Chief 200 yards from its tie down spot, a collection of broken spars, bent struts with a twisted tail and control surfaces, wrecked by a wayward tornado. We packed the pieces in our empty barn, promising our selves we’d rebuild it soon. But life had other plans.

Fortunately, I’d met Tom Guntly, an A&P who had allowed me to work on my annuals with him, and then to rebuild the Aeronca once more. Tom owned an airfield and work hangars southwest of Milwaukee He had the knowledge, tools, and materials we needed to repair the damage Tom replaced the bent steel tubing of airframe and engine mounts so the prop faced forward once again, and then replaced the oil tank and left exhaust pipe He taught me how to cut and shape new engine cowls and how to patch the nose bowl, and then he located a replacement propeller to install.

What became of old 9494E? I sold it to a man whom I knew had welded a pristine Aeronca Chief frame and built several airplanes from scratch. With my parts, I hoped he would get 9494E back in the air. His wife said they couldn’t afford much, but she really wanted my airplane’s parts to keep her husband’s hands busy and his mind off his advancing cancer. Recalling my wife’s final year, I could not deny her request for a very low price. When I delivered the old fuselage to him only two weeks after giving him the broken wings, he had them fully taken apart and polished and every rib repaired and awaiting new spars. I sincerely hope he had time to finish his project and that 9494E is back in the air as well.

One week after being signed off as “passed,” Super Chief 4098E made a five-hour ferry flight that began a four-month series of flights by J. Stanley Kerr. They appear to have been sales/advertising related, as one might expect when introducing a new line of airplanes with higher horsepower andAperformance.yearlater,the handwriting and signature changed for logged time and line checks. On August 4, 1951, the new signatures and recorded information confirm it was sold to a flight school, as it recorded “soloed” and/or “XC” (crosscountry) notes for student use. It changed hands again on September 27, 1953, until November 25, 1955, when the left wing needed to be re-covered, and again on April 22, 1957, when the right wing was re-covered. It returned to service on June 23, 1957, with 640.4 total hours of tach time.

A Short History of Super Chief 4098E After It Left the Factory and Before It (Literally) Dropped Off the Radar for 44 Years in Storage

The first step was to remove the fabric of the ’46 Chief to see if its twisted steel frame could be saved. Our first problem was encountered. The answer clearly was no. The frame of the Super Chief was 5 inches shorter than the Chief’s but it was in flawless condition. Further explora tion revealed all the Super Chief parts were free of damage or corrosion.

When my daughter entered college in 2004, I began searching for a nonflying Aeronca Chief to cannibalize. I found an ad for a dismantled Super Chief, and Tom and I dragged a long, enclosed trailer to Rhode Island to carry the parts back to his airfield. Since I still taught full time, Tom hung the fuselage and wings in a large hangar and piled the other parts below them I towed the old Chief’s fuselage to the hangar We thought we were staged and ready to begin, but it was 10 years later before retirement granted me the free time needed to begin rebuilding the original Chief It had been stored for 17 years

The logs indicated two other owners of the airplane, from 1957 to 1960, and 1960 to 1964. On August 8, 1964, it was sold to James Sheehan of Wakefield, Rhode Island, the pilot I bought it from. The log showed he flew it only six or eight times a year from 1964 to 1968, and then 50 to 60 times a year until his final flight on September 26, 1973. I’m guessing it needed another fabric re-covering of the wings, since he had begun the process. I never learned why he packed it up and put it in his garage, or why it stayed there unused for 31 years. But then, it took me 12 years after I bought it to find the time and opportunity to rebuild it and get this rare old Super Chief into the air once again. In hindsight, I’m guessing James began to refabric the wings and then, like me, found other things in life intruded on his plans for all those years. I know his wife had advanced cancer when he sold me the airplane, but no more on the subject.

Teaching full time and a single parent, I began a con sulting business based on my years of Canada goose behavior research I worked with Bird X Inc of Chicago, Illinois, to develop equipment and methods to drive geese away from airports, corporate parks, and other sites Having lived in Ohio since 1993, my early teen daughter had school commitments and friends there My job and research, and my need to be there for her, all delayed my returning to Wisconsin to rebuild the Chief with Tom.

Complete logbooks came with the airplane’s purchase Now I reviewed them for the first time To my amazement this airplane had logged fewer than 1,150 hours on the engine and airframe since it left the factory, “passed” by test pilot H J Rosing on August 29, 1947 Super Chief 4098E was serial No 7 of only 134 ever made It was last flown on September 6, 1973. So, it had been in storage for 31 years before I acquired it, and 11 more after that. When I bought that Super Chief, I had no idea what a rare and pristine piece of aviation history I’d stumbled onto. Knowing what we had, Tom and I agreed to concentrate our renovation efforts on the 1947 Super Chief.

When I bought that Super Chief, I had no idea what a rare and pristine piece of aviation history I’d stumbled onto.

www.EAAVintage.org 57

Tom checked every cable pulley and replaced all the steel cables from the dual panel yokes and rudder pedals to control surfaces of the wings, rudder, eleva tors, and trim tabs Before replacing the fuselage fabric, I sewed a new white head liner (fabricated by Flightline Interiors, Wind Lake, Wisconsin) to thin metal rods that supported it as a cabin ceiling

All exterior wood and steel surfaces had cloth tapes glued to them before I covered the fuselage with new Ceconite. On control surfaces, small PK screws and washers held the new fabric in place, and another set of pinked edge cloth tapes was glued over the heads of the PK screws. When the glue had fully set, I shrank the fabric to a taut fit over the entire fuselage and control surfaces using a heat gun. Next, we jacked up the fuselage and installed the landing gear, wheels, brakes, and tail wheel assembly We fitted a new plexiglass windshield and new plexi glass rear side windows and sliding windows within theTdoorsherestoration would have been completed much sooner if wasn’t a 106 mile drive from my home to Tom’s hangar. I left home each day at 5:30 a.m. to be at the hangar by 7:30, and left for home about 6 p.m. Tom performed annual and serviced or repaired other airplanes while I worked on the Super Chief. He was a great source of information and directions for tasks I needed to do. He knew where to obtain all needed parts and materials I counted on Tom to do all of the engine overhaul He sent out the camshaft and crankshaft for inspection, grinding, and plating at Aircraft Specialties Services, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and United Plating Works, also of Tulsa He ordered replacement cylinders, pistons, rings, and rods for the 85 hp Continental, had the engine block inspected and passed, and finally, sent the metal prop from the 1946 Chief to be straight ened, balanced, trimmed, and painted by H&S Propeller Shop, White Lake, Michigan.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNOR MADISON58 September/October 2022

The wings of the 1947 Super Chief were par tially re covered by James Sheehan, the prior owner. Everything else needed to be taken down to bare metal and restored from the ground up. We began in earnest the summer of 2015, giving me another opportunity to use the airplane resto ration skills I’d gained since 1976. I stripped paint from all metal surfaces and removed the fabric from the fuselage, elevators, horizontal control surfaces, rudder, and trim tab I hand sanded the steel frame free of rust or paint for inspection before repainting it with rust inhibiting paint I replaced some wooden bulkheads within the steel frame and several longerons, the wooden strips that give final form to the fuselage beneath the fabric. I cut all new wood to form the upper frame and cross pieces above the cabin and holding the rear side windows.

www EAAVintage org 5 9

He ordered our Superflite system products for fabric filling and finishing from Aviation Products Systems in Granite City, Illinois Wag Aero Group in Lyons, Wisconsin, provided the windshield, Ceconite fabric, firewall pad, paint, tapes, and myriad small parts, gaskets, tires, brakes, flying wires, etc. Tom did all the painting of the airplane in his paint shop.

Too often during my airplane ownership years I knew the heartbreak James Taylor called to mind by his song “Fire and Rain.” The single line “Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground” can’t help but resonate in my memory.

Completion of our project made it clear to me that it may take a village to raise a child, as Hillary Clinton said, but it takes many companies and many dedicated people to make it possible to renovate an antique aircraft I wish I could thank them all for what they did to assist thisMprojectostof all, I thank Tom Guntly for all his hard work, assistance, and friendship that kept me flying

On a happier note, Super Chief 4098E returned to flight on April 6, 2016, with Tom at the controls, after 43 years stored in the dark and without the feel of wind beneath its wings It made me proud to see it climb into the air again, where it belonged

for 43 years We finished our final project only two weeks after the FAA denied my medical due to severe heart arrhythmia issues I had dreamed of flying the Super Chief all during the restoration process I’m dis appointed I never got that chance.

Super Chief 4098E returned to flight on April 6, 2016, with Tom at the controls, after 43 years stored in the dark and without the feel of wind beneath its wings. It made me proud to see it climb into the air again, where it belonged.

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And therein lies the problem. These NAS148 bolts were assembled using common AN 960-8 washers. The NAS143C washer designation indicates that the washer was heat-treated to high strength and has a small countersink (chamfer) to accommodate the radius from the bolt head to the shank. If there was no countersunk area around the inside of the washer, then all the torque applied will be absorbed by the small area where the washer contacts the inside radius in the area where the shank transitions to the head. Not only does this deform the washer, but under heavy loads the AN washer can crush, thus lowering or eliminating the torque applied to the fastener.

EXPERIENCE IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY, and in these past columns I have tried to pass along my knowledge gained over 50-plus years as a mechanic. There is always something new to be learned when working as a mechanic, especially on vintage or “orphaned” aircraft. This column focuses on special inspections on a particular aircraft — the Boeing Stearman. Checking the Continental W-670 oil sump for large fragments of crankshaft main bearing-cage failure is one special inspection I already brought to light. Here is an email from an owner who found these fragments in his oil sump.

Well, I kept your article and at annual this month checked the oil sump, and “ouch,” we found metal parts from the cage. We have 375 hours on the engine. Last year, one of our friends here at C77 had the same problem, but he had 1,700 hours on his engine!Thanks for your article; our engine is in Oklahoma being repaired/overhauled.

Now,sump.onto another special inspection I recently encountered when performing an airworthiness inspection on a modified Boeing A75N1. This aircraft was highly modified to include the installation of a Pratt & Whitney R-985-14B with a Hamilton Standard 22D30 propeller, making the ship licensed in the experimental-exhibition category. Aircraft certificated in the experimental category do not have annual inspections; rather they are given an “airworthiness” inspection (which actually is the same as an annual inspection).

I became aware of an accident in South Africa involving an R-985-powered aircraft. The pilot was practicing aerobatics the day prior to an air show. The loads imposed on the engine mount caused the attachment bolts from the mount to the airframe to fail in ﬂight. The whole ﬁrewall-forward engine installation departed the airplane, and it crashed near the airport with fatal results. The accident report is online and is very detailed, having been investigated by the CAA (the Civil Aviation Authority) in South Africa. After reading the accident report, I decided to make a close inspection of the hardware attaching the engine mount to the fuselage structure, since it appeared to be the same type of engine mount.

60 September/October 2022

The Vintage Mechanic

ROBERT G. LOCK

Hi, JustBob.wanted to give you some feedback regarding your Vintage [Airplane] article earlier this year. You reported on crankshaft bearing failures in the W-670 engine — which I have on my Stearman.

So here, spreading the word paid off. Any owner/pilot with a Continental W-670 should be on the lookout for these bearing-cage fragments that will show themselves in the oil

The engine was attached to the fuselage structure with four NAS148DH24 bolts. These are high-strength steel bolts, heat-treated to 160,000 psi with much greater tensile strength when compared to common AN 2330 nickel steel bolts that are heat-treated to 125,000 psi. FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 43.13-1B states, “Internal wrenching bolts, NAS144-158 and NAS172-NAS176. These are high-strength bolts used primarily in tension applications. Use a special heat-treated washer (NAS143C) under the head to prevent the large radius of the shank from contacting only the sharp edge of the hole. Use a special heat-treated washer (NAS143) under the nut.”

Special Inspection — Boeing Stearman

The original airframe had heattreated studs installed to connect the mount to the fuselage, but the STC calls out these high-strength NAS (National Aeronautical Standards) bolts.

Figure 2

Figure

In Figure 3, the bolt is partly out, showing the washer installation. This is a standard AN 960-8 washer and is not authorized. It could lead to failure of the bolt if the ship were used for aerobatics, because it may crush under loads, lowering or eliminating the torque applied to the fastener. It takes a heavy load to cause a 1/2-inch-diameter highstrength bolt to fail, but the upper right bolt failed first on the South African Stearman. It apparently went undetected — one usually does not remove engine mount to fuselage bolts during an inspection. The right lower bolt failed, and the entire engine package rotated left, failing both the left upper and lower bolts on the left side of the mount.

Figure 2 shows the NAS148DH24 internal wrenching high-strength bolt in place, with head safetied to the mount. If the bolt fails, the safety wire keeps the fastener in place, making its failure difficult to see.

Figure 1 is a vibrodamp engine mount produced under a supplemental type certificate (STC) to convert a Boeing Stearman biplane to either 450 or 600 hp. It is beautifully engineered. Large Lord-type vibration isolators can be seen at four locations around the mount ring, while attachment to the fuselage structure is rigid. The mount is fabricated from 4130 steel tubing.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ROBERT G. LOCK www.EAAVintage.org 61

The stock engine mount for either Continental or Lycoming engines attaches to the fuselage structure via four threaded studs 7/16-inch diameter by 3-1/2 inches long. The factory also produced 0.004-inch oversized studs. If a conversion to a larger engine was desired, studs not produced by the original factory were 7/16-inch diameter by 2-1/2 inches long. Figure 3

As previously stated, NAS148 bolts and NAS143 washers (superseded by MS20002C-8) are stronger in tensile strength than a regular AN bolt. They also have an internal hex head rather than external. Figure 6 shows the configuration of an NAS148 drilled head, internal wrenching bolt.

The NAS148 bolt is steel and heat-treated to 160,000-180,000 psi tensile strength and is plated with cadmium for corrosion protection. The arrows point to an area where the head fairs into the shank — a generous radius is provided, since this bolt is used principally in tension loads. Thus, the need for a countersunk (chamfered) washer as shown in Figure 7.

Figure FigureFigure465 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ROBERT G. LOCK62 September/October 2022

Torque charts in AC 43.13-1B, Pages 7-9, show a range of 480-690 inch-pounds for a 1/2-inch20 AN365 nut. If no torque value can be located, torque the NAS148 bolt to the upper limits, which is 690 inch-pounds. I torqued this bolt installation to 60 foot-pounds, or 720 inch-pounds.

Since the BT-13 mount pads were used, all the ships had to be modified to the 1/2-inch-diameter short studs because that is what the BTs used. The threaded bushings welded into the four longerons were drilled oversized and tapped to 1/2-inch by 20 NF threads to fit the studs. Such is the case on these modified 450/600-hp STC mounts — the attaching hardware is 1/2-inch-20, thus the NAS148DH24.

Figure 5 is a Boeing factory sketch for a bushing repair to the engine mount stud. Note the original threaded bushing is inserted into the longeron and then welded into place.

The Vintage Mechanic

Figure 4 shows a Stearman converted to 450 hp in the late 1950s. It was owned by my uncle, George H. Baldrick. This is where I both started flying and being a mechanic’s helper.

When we converted aircraft back in the ’50s and ’60s, we made our own engine mounts in-house by cutting up BT-13 mounts, saving the ring and mounting fittings, building a fixture, and gas welding a “stiff” mount. The mount arm was severely shortened due to the added weight of the engine/prop package.

The NAS143 washer was superseded by MS20002C. The C indicates countersunk on the inside diameter to accommodate the head to shank radius of the bolt. In the case of the NAS148DH24 bolt, the 8 indicates the bolt is 8/16-inch (1/2-inch) diameter. The washer under the head carries the code MS20002C8. The same washer, when used under a nut, carries the code MS20002-8. In the sketch (Figure 7), arrows point to the chamfered Figure 7 areas.

ROBERT G. LOCK

All owners of Boeing Stearman aircraft modiﬁed with any type of engine mount other than stock parts should inspect for attaching hardware type. In particular, those mounts that are STC’d with NAS148 attachment bolts should be inspected prior to further ﬂight to ascertain the bolt condition, proper washer usage, and correct torque. If the wrong washers are installed, or if the bolt shank shows signs of grooving or movement of the engine mount, investigate further and replace the hardware. Further, when the proper hardware is installed, check the bolt torque at every annual inspection.

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: 07/15/2022. 4. Issue Frequency: Bi-Monthly. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: 6. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $45.00 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: 920-426-6571. 8. Headquarters or General Business Oﬃce of the Publisher: Same address as above. 9. Publisher: Jack J. Pelton, EAA, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.

www.EAAVintage.org 63 AeroEducate™ Your Gateway to an Exciting Career in Aviation Our AeroEducatepartners:is a totally free resource now open for all youths, parents, educators, and youth leaders to register and explore the wide world of aviation and aerospace. Start your journey today. AeroEducate.org

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: May/June 2022. 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 (6,948/6,922) 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) (5,722/5,747). 2. Mailed InCounty 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 (334/320). 4. Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail through the USPS (e.g., First-Class Mail) (7/8). c. Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)) (6,063/6,075). 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) (6,063/6,075). g. Copies Not Distributed (See Instructions to Publishers #4 (page 3)) (886/847). h. Total (Sum of 15f and g) (6,948/6,922). i. Percent Paid (15c divided by 15f times 100) (100/100). 16. Electronic Copy Circulation (N/A). 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/October 2022 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, Editor, 07/15/2022. PS Form 3526, July 2014.

Message From the President

Dan

MISC 1919 Cadillac type 57 phaeton car (VIN 57DD958) FOR SALE $53,000 OBO. Car owned by 1 owner since 1974. Car totally restored previously by Vintage member VAA # 719643 in 1970s - 1990s. In April 2022 Mr. James Moss, auto historian, curator & mechanic checked systems (electrical, fuel, mechanical), changed oil; restored fuel tank; raised car on lift; cranked & ran it. “Engine ran smoothly through all gears. Perfectly idled in neutral. No major issues on car”. Mr. Moss rates it a 9 out of 10. Contact: Mr. James Moss at telephone 1-239-940-2166 or flippy1215@comcast.net

These three dedicated and determined volunteers spent every weekend for several months converting an old ramshackle hay barn into the first wing of the VAA Red Barn. And that red barn with such a humble beginning became VAA’s flagship building. This selfless act on the part of these three individuals, along with other volunteers before and after, was instrumental in creating the Vintage culture of today. A culture I consider to be our most valuable asset.

Phil Robertrcoulson516@cs.comCoulsonRonaldC.Fritzitzfray@gmail.comD.“Bob”Lumleyrlumley1@wi.rr.com

Set of plans for the Davis DX-1 Starship Alpha, flying wing demonstrator; rfhowley@msn.com

ADVISERS

Ray L. rayjohnson@indy.rr.com765-669-3544Marion,JohnsonINSteveNesseAlbertLea,MN507-383-2850stnes2009@live.comEarlNicholasLibertyville,IL847-367-9667eman46@gmail.comJoeNorrisOshkosh,WI920-279-2855wacoflyer@gmail.com

Amy alemke@eaa.orgLemke

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.

PRESIDENT Susan Dusenbury 1374 Brook Cove Rd. Walnut Cove, NC sr6sue@aol.com336-591-393127052

Jesse jesseclement1@gmail.comClementLukeLachendroavidaviator98@gmail.comKathyMcGurrankmcgurran@aol.com Kevin charles.e.waterhouse@gmail.comkevinamckenzie@yahoo.comMcKenzieCharlieWaterhouseMaxwellWenglarzwaco20900@gmail.com

“To Look Upward: One Flight Instructors Journey” Rob Mixon Amazon

And on another note, information on the VAA Hall of Fame nomination process is placed in every issue of Vintage Airplane magazine for your convenience. In addition, please contact Amy Lemke in our office for any questions you may have on the process. Amy can be reached by phone at 920-426-6110 or via email at alemke@eaa.org. For those of you who are planning to nominate someone to the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame, you need to have your entries postmarked no later than October 15 of the current year. Blue skies!

BOOKS

64 September/October 2022

David antiquer@inreach.comBennettRobertC.Brauerphotopilot@aol.comDaveClarkdavecpd@att.net

FROM PAGE 1

SECRETARY Wood Walton Place Dr. Newnan, GA fly170@gmail.com678-458-345930263

As an aside, VAA Director Emeritus Bob Brauer currently serves on our maintenance committee. VAA Director Emeritus Bob Lumley managed the Red Barn Store for many years and is now retired. (We miss Bob’s morning delivery of his homemade biscuits. Who knows how many stops he made every morning in that Model A Ford delivering biscuits to his buds!) And lastly, current VAA Director George Daubner recently retired from EAA’s B-17 flight program as a pilot and manager. George is now a part-time volunteer with EAA’s B-25 program. Thanks “Bob, Bob, and the Other Guy.” Your vision and hard work initiated the development of one of AirVenture’s most popular destinations, VAA’s Vintage Village.

Jerry lbrown4906@aol.comGreenwood,BrownIN46143317-627-9428GeorgeDaubnerOconomowoc,WI262-560-1949gdaubner@eaa.orgJonGoldenbaumRiverside,CA951-203-0190jon@conaircraft.comJohnHofmannColumbus,WI608-239-0903john@cubclub.org

FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES: Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surface mail.

VICE Dan Knutson 106 Tena Marie Circle Lodi, WI lodicub@charter.net608-354-610153555

Need a Sensenich W-76RM-2-46 for a Lyc O-235C1B in good condition/360.609.2418, Capnandy737@msn.com

Classifieds

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Gene genemorris@charter.netMorrisTimPoppSunCity,AZ269-760-1544tlpopp@frontier.com

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EAA MEMBERSHIP SERVICES, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. CPC 40612608