VA-Vol-21-No-1-Jan-1993

EDITORIAL STAFF

Vol. 21, No.1

January 1993

CONTENTS 1 Straight & Level/

Espie "Butch" Joyce

2 AIC News/

compiled by H.G. Frautschy

4 AeroMail 5 Waco 39 Romeo/Don Toeppen

PageS

Managing Editor

Golda Cox

Art Director

Mike Drucks

Computer Graphic Specialists

Olivia L. Phillip

Sara Hansen Jennifer Larsen

Advertising

Mary Jones

Associate Editor

Norm Petersen

Feature Writers

George Hardie, Jr. Dennis Parks

Staff Photographers

Jim Koepnick Mike Steineke

Carl Schuppel Donna Bushman

Editorial Assistant

Isabelle Wiske

9 Texas Trimotor Trip/Andrew King

13 The Impossible Dream •. .!

Norm Petersen

EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION, INC,

OFFICERS

17 I've Never Seen a Waco Like That Before!/H.G. Frautschy

21 What Our Members Are Restoring/ Norm Petersen

23 Pass it to Buck/ E E. "Buck" Hilbert

President Espie "Butch" Joyce 604 Highway St. Madison, NC 27025 919/427·0216

Vice-President Arthur Morgan 3744 North 51 st Blvd.

Milwaukee, WI 53216 414/442·3631

Secretory Steven C. Nesse 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea, MN 5I:flJ7 507/373·1674

Treasurer E.E. "Buck' Hilbert P.O. Box 424 Union, IL 60180 815/923·4591

DIRECTORS

24 Mystery Plane/George Hardie 26 Welcome New Members 27 Calendar

30 Vintage Trader

Publisher

Tom Poberezny

Vice-President,

Marketing and Communications

Dick Matt

Editor-in-Chief

Jack Cox

Editor

Henry G. Frautschy

Page 21

FRONT COVER. .Charles "Chalkie " Stobbart and Peter Hengst really wanted to fly to the EAA Convention in Chalkie's Fairchild 24W, so they did· all the way from South Africa l See Norm Petersen's article on this t;:;;~:::="::;3 intrepid pair and their adventure, starting on page 13. EAA photo by Carl Schuppel. shot with a Canon EOS-1 equipped with an 80·200mm lens.

1/ 500 @ f8.0 on Kodachrome 64. Cessna 210 photo plane flown by Bruce Moore.

BACK COVER ...Jack Goodnight's very rare 1938 Waco ZVN·8 was one of the attention getters at EAA Oshkosh '92. EAA Photo by Carl Schuppel, shot with a Canon EOS-1 equipped with an 80·200mm lens. 1/250 @ f9.0 on Kodachrome 64. Cessna 210 photo plane flown by Bruce Moore.

Copyright © 1993 by the EM Antique/Classic Division Inc. All rights reserved.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091·6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EAA Antique/Classic Division, Inc. of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published monthly at EM Aviation Center, 3000 Poberezny Rd., P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903·3086.

Second Class Postage paid at Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901 and at additional mailing offices. The membership rate for EM Antique/Classic Division, Inc. is $20.00 for current EM members for 12 month period of which $12.00 is for the publication of VINTAGE AIRPLANE. Membership is open to aU who are interested in aviation.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EM Antique/Classic Division, Inc., P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903·3086. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surtace mail.

ADVERTISING - Antique/Classic Division does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken.

EDITORIAL POLICY: Readers are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor. No renumeration is made.

Material should be sent to: Editor, VINTAGE AIRPLANE, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903·3086. Phone 414/426·4800.

The words EAA, ULTRALIGHT, FLY WITH THE FIRST TEAM, SPORT AVIATION and the logos of EAA, EAA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, EM ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION, INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUBS, WARBIRDS OF AMERICA are ® registered trademarks. THE EM SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EM AVIATION FOUNDATION and EM ULTRALIGHT CONVENTION are trademarks of the above associations and their use by any person other than the above association is strictly prohibited.

John Berendt 7645 Echo Point Rd. Cannon Falls, MN 55009 507/263-2414

Robert C. "Bob" Brauer 9345 S. Hoyne

Gene Chose 2159 Carlton Rd. Oshkosh, WI 54904 414/231·5002

John S. Copeland 28·3 Williamsburg Ct. Shrewsbury, MA 01545 508/842·7867 George Daubner 2448 Lough Lane Hartford, WI 53027 414/673·5885

Phil Coulson 28415 Springbrook Dr. Lawton, M149065 616/624·6490 Charles Harris 3933 South Peoria P.O. Box 904038 Tulsa, OK 74105 918/742·7311 Dole A. Gustafson 7724 Shady Hill Dr. Indianapolis, IN 46278 317/293-4430 Robert Lickteig 1708 Bay Oaks Dr. Albert Lea, MN 5I:flJ7 507/373·2922 Gene Morris 115C Steve Court, R.R. 2 Roonoke, TX 76262 817/491·9110

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Stan Gomoll 104290th Lane, NE Minneapolis. MN 55434 612/ 784·1172 Jeannie Hill

P.O. Box 328

Harvard , IL 60033

815/943·7205 Robert D. "Bob" Lumley 1265 South 124th St. Brookfield, WI 53005 414/782·2633 George York

181 Sloboda Av.

Mansfield. OH 44906

419/529·4378

S.H. "Wes" Schmid 2359 Lefeber Avenue Wauwatosa, WI 53213 414/771·1545

DIRECTOR EMERITUS S.J. Wittman

7200 S.E. 85th Lane

Ocala, FL 32672

904/245·7768

ADVISORS

Jimmy Rollison

823 Carrion Circle

Winters, CA 95694·1665

916/795·4334

Dean Richardson 6701 Colony Dr. Madison, WI 53717 608/833·1291

Geoll Robison 1521 E. MocGregorDr. New Haven, IN 46774 219/493·4724

STRAIGHT & LEVEL

by Espie " Butch " Joyce In the December issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE , the article on Delton Perry's Piper Tri-Pacer sparked a lot of memories for me. I'd like to tell you why this article prompted so many pleasant memories.

My father, Espie Joyce, Sr. , became interested in flying around the year 1936 and was flying by 1937. At that time he had a garage with several mechanics working for him. He opened up an EXXON service station in Mayodan, North Carolina. There was a small airport in Mayodan , and soon he was just bitt e n by the " bug " and became interested in flying. After World War II, he purchased a farm outside Mayodan of about 100 acres and built a home for us. Now that we were out in the country, he developed a runway on this farm , basically for our own personal use.

Charles Bailey, who ran a small airport as a si deline , and was very interested in airplanes, also ran a body shop and wanted my father to construct a body shop building on his airport. It also was to be used as a place to teach flying , e tc. during this period of time.

Charles eventually ended up with about five or six J-3 Cubs and J-5 Cruisers for people to rent and le a rn to fly in . He also owned a Gullwing Stinson that he used for charter work.

Growing up in our home near the airport , naturally I was always there around the planes. I developed my love for aircraft in general and this particular era of aircraft during the time I spent on the farm and at the airport. I worked around the old Stearmans , cranking them up when I was 13 years old. I was around airplanes constantly and have never lost my love for them. It has been my experience that people who are associated with a irplanes achieve more than the average person .

A couple of years after Charles had his body shop going, my father moved his operations from the service station to a larger garage near the airport and our ho me. He also opened up a Studebaker automobile agency in 1949.

Later that same year, he took on a Massey Ferguson tractor dealership.

Because it was so new, aviation was really hopping in this little town durin g this time. It seemed as though everyone was learning to fly. I have pilot friends now who have moved into this area and

say that they have never been into a small area that had as many pilots or people who have learned to fly and rece ived their licenses. It was the result of Charles Bailey and other people like my father who promoted aviation.

Most of these people around town do not fly any longer , but some are still flying and taught others who are now flying and have careers in aviation.

I remember my fath e r buying a brand new Piper Cub Coupe, and later, a new Super Cruiser. We had a great time! People would land and then taxi over to our house for a cookout and to enjoy themselves. It was a community of aviation people that I grew to know during that period of time , and I still have long-term friends from that period in my life.

The reason the Tri-Pacer article sparked such an interest for me is that once our Super Cruiser was gone , we didn 't have an airplane for about a year.

One morning we were eating breakfast and my fath er was looking out the window at the hangar and he said , " I cannot do without an airplane," so he bought a one足 year-old 135 hp 1953 Tri-Pacer.

During the period of time that he owned this Tri-Pacer, I was about the age that I was old enough to start my flying. John Pace, who earlier had been an ag pilot and opened an airport in Martinsville , Virginia would fly down to Madison in a J-3 or a J-5 Cruiser and was teaching my older sister, Frances, and myself to fly.

I was 11 years old a t th e time; Frances was 5 years older than l.

Basically we used the J-5 Cruiser for the lessons. We got to the point that John started teaching us spins. Frances just didn't like this aspect of flying and stopped taking lessons. I continued on and flew the Tri-Pacer with other people there. of course. Later my Dad traded in the 1953 Pacer and bought a brand new 1956 150 hp Tri-Pacer. As we moved up to the 150 hp Tri-Pacer, it felt like it had 400 hp compared to the 135, just because it was new.

This was th e airplane that I eventually got my private license in , as well as my commercial license and other ratings. I personally put almost 1000 hours on this airplane. It is my opinion that these airplanes have been underrated for years. We would haul just about anything you could put in it.

Mr. Piper at Piper Aircraft told my father to cruise this airplane at 2550 rpm. H e sai d h e didn ' t care what

anyone told us; that was just the way to do it. From the day we bought it until the day it left , it was cruised at 2550 rpm and it would indicate about 1321134 mph at that e ngine speed, making it much faster than the 172s of the time .

We never had one minute of trouble out of that engine, and when I sold it after my father died , it had approximately 1500 hours on it and had never had anything done to the engine.

Of course, at that time we didn ' t know that the 7/16" valves were no good.

Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

On Sundays I would sit around the airport after I got my commercial license and hop passengers in the Tri足 Pacer. It was really not hard at that time to hop passengers and make a $150.00 to $200.00 on a Sunday. At that particular time I was working during the week as a mechanic and bringing home $75.00 per week.

People talk about the price of airplanes now compared to the price of airplanes in the past ; when we bought the Tri- Pacer new in 1956, it was about $12,600.00 for the airplane. It was pretty well equipped. Now these d ays that's not very much money, but you must keep in mind that in 1956 you could buy a brand new Studebaker pickup truck for $1 ,200.00 and people were making about $45.00 per week at that time!

Possibly, I think people are more able to own aircraft now than ever before , but I think it is simply a mental attitude that makes it hard to relate the prices of today to the prices of yesteryear, especially to people like us who have been around aviation so long.

I might mention, also, that when my father bought this Tri-Pacer from Piedmont Aviation in 1956, there was a gentleman at Piedmont, Joe Culler, who was a salesman there. Joe and my father got to be really good friends over the years. Joe was selling, at that point in time of aviation, an average of 30 airplanes per month. We all thought it would last.

Two weeks ago, I traveled to Dall as, Texas to meet with the Home Insurance Company who is the und e rwriting insurance company for our Anti足 que/Class ic insurance program. AU A, Inc. in Greensboro also made the trip; they are the agency for our program. I want everyone to try to support this program , as Home Insurance and AUA have once again made a commitment to work with the Antique/Classic people and try to keep our flying affordable. I will have further information on this in a future issue .

Rem ember, let's all pull in the same direction for the good of aviation. We are be tter together. Join us and have it all!

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1

(3~WJ AVIATION MECHANIC AND REP AIRMAN RULES CHANGES If you ar e an A & P mechanic, th e FAA is a bout t o issu e a Noti ce of Pro pos e d Rul e m a kin g (NPRM) that will directly affect how you can exe rcise th e privileges of yo ur certificate.

For th e past two years, th e FAA and th e Professio nal Aircraft Mainte na nce Assoc ia ti o n ( PAMA ) ha ve b ee n reviewing FAR Part 65 with th e inte nt o f up g r a din g th e c e rti fic a ti o n a nd training require me nts of mech anics a nd repairmen.

An addition al workin g group, made up o f indu s tr y re pr ese ntati ves , a nd orga nized by the FAA , was assigned th e task of fo ll owin g throu gh o n th e FAA a nd PAMA recco m e nd a ti o n s. Thi s gro up, called th e FAR Pa rt 65 Wo rking Gr o up . includ e d r e pr ese nt a ti o n by EAA. When th e N PRM is is s u e d , it is expected to state th e foll owin g: In additi o n to th e curre nt re quire足 me nt for six mo nth s of ac tivity o ut of eve ry 24 mo nth period (FAR 65.83 ), a minimum o f 16 h o urs o f a ppro ve d tra inin g will b e re quire d in ord e r to c o ntinu e t o function und e r th e prov isio ns of a mechani c's ce rtifi cate.

N OTE: th is requirem ent wo uld apply only to th ose op erating as m echanics for comp ensalion. It wo uld no t apply to th ose wh o wo rk on ly o n (in cl u d in g restoring) th eir own personal aircraft and o th er wise do n o t mak e th emse l ves available fo r hire.

A rel ated change will revise th e "six months" of activity to " ] ,000 h o urs" in each 24 month pe ri od.

Other changes include: -A v ia ti o n m a inten a nce in structor e xpe ri e n ce could b e use d to sa tisf y recency req uirement s.

-M ec h a nic a pplic a nt s would b e r e quir e d to d e mon s tr a t e E n g lish language proficiency.

-Appli ca nt s wo uld b e re quire d t o p ass a writte n test that wo uld exa min e th e m o n all appli ca bl e m a int e n a nc e regulations.

-Th e durati o n o f th e Insp ec tion A uth ori za ti o n wo uld be exte nded from o ne to two yea rs.

-The re ne wal o ption s a vail a bl e to lAs would be expanded .

-Th e r eg ul a ti o n s p e rt a inin g t o 2 JANUARY 1993

compiled by H.G. Frautschy

m e ch a nic s a nd r e p a irm e n would b e removed from FAR Part 65 and placed in a new FAR Part 66.

Ch a rlie Schuck , EAA 's W as hington Repr ese ntativ e, is a m e mb e r of th e committees th at have bee n stud ying a ll o f th e pr o p os ed c han ges to th e repairme n and mech anics rules, and has been keeping E AA Headquart e rs up to dat e o n all o f th e propo sa ls. It is expecte d th a t the FAA will iss ue th e N PRM som e tim e in th e fir st half o f 1993, at which time we will advise you in both SPORT AVIATION a nd VI NT A G E AfRPLANE. Wh e n th e NPRM is published , we will list th e Dock e t Numbe r and address that yo u can m a il your comments to th e FA A .

h a ve in cl uded MTBE as a n a dditive. ( A STM is th e orga ni z ation that establishes th e specificati ons for a ll fuel re fined and sold in the U nited States.)

E AA comm e nds FAA' s B a rr y C le m e nt s, M a n ager , Sm a ll Ai r pl a n e Directora te, a nd J a ck Sa in , M a nage r , E ngine a nd Prope ll e r Directora te, and their res p ective sta ffs fo r th e ir time ly acti o n on E AA's request. With the new wint e r r e quir e m e nt fo r th e use of o x yge n a t e d aut o fuel in mo st m ajor me tropolita n a reas aro und th e na tion , a nd with most of that fu e l cont a inin g MTBE, a majo r pro bl e m was loomin g fo r h o ld e rs of a ut o fu e l STC s.

Fortun at e ly, th e h a rdships th a t wo uld have res ul ted have been ave rted.

MTBE APPROVED FOR USE IN AUTOGAS STCs

MORE TYPE CLUBS

At E AA 's r e qu es t , th e FAA h as approved th e use of autogas containing meth yl-te rti a ry- butyl-e th e r (MTBE ) in a ircraft be ing o pe rat ed in accordan ce with th e provisio ns of supple mental type certifi ca te s (ST C) iss ued by th e EAA Avia t io n Foundati o n a nd Pe t e r se n Av iati o n. MTB E h ad previo usly bee n included on a list of " Oxyge nates" th at could not be used in fu e ls inte nded for a ircr a ft u se. A dvi so r y Cir c ul a r A C 23.1521 -1 A will be revised to re flect this change.

Th e use o f fue ls conta inin g alco ho l additives is still prohibited.

Cited as d e te rminin g fact o rs in th e d ecisio n to approve th e use of MTB E were th e facts th at . ..

-MTBE co ntinu es to b e used b y a lmost a ll oil compani es as a bl e ndin g age nt to increase th e o cta ne ra tin g o f unl eaded fu els.

-Th e FAA's own T echni ca l Ce nter has conducted tests with fu e l co ntaining MTB E and fo und n o s afe t y relat e d problems.

M a te rial co mpa tibilit y a nd pe rfo r足 mance d a ta suppli e d by STC hold e rs Pet e rse n Avi a tion a nd th e E A A Avi a ti o n F o und a ti o n h a ve s ho wn no safe ty proble m s rel a te d to th e us e o f MTB E. - FAA se rvice difficult y report s d o not reveal an y mate ri al compatibility o r sa fety issues related to th e use of MTBE. - T h e m aj o rit y of th e futur e fu e l bl e nds being de ve lope d as pa rt of th e Am e ri ca n Soc ie t y F o r T es tin g and Mate ri als (ASTM) task force progra ms

A couple mo re type cl ubs should be add e d t o th e li st we publi sh annu a lly every Nove mber. They a re: Trave l Air R esto rers A ssociation Jerry Impe llezzeri , President 4925 Wilm a Way San Jose, CA 95 124 408/356-3407 Newsle tter: 4 p e r yea r Dues: $15 per year US and Ca nada $20 Fore ign Internatio nal Li aison Pilot and Aircraft A ssociation (ILPA) 1651 8 Ledgesto ne San Antonio , TX 78232 Bill Stratton , E ditor 512/490-ILPA (4572) Newsle tter: " Liaison Spo ken Here" Dues: $27 per year US and Canada $30 pe r yea r Fo re ign We have also been advise d th at th e address and phone numbe r given fo r th e "Silve r Wings Fraternity" is incorrect - if yo u are a current member of this frater足 nit y, please drop us a card or note in the mail and we will pass it along to a member wh o is inte reste d in joinin g. We have bee n unable to find any new inform ati on th at is different than th e listing we had in th e last Type Club Listing.

STEARMAN RESTORERS ASSOCIATION CHANGE The Stea rm an Restore rs Association, a n ac tiv e t yp e club d e d ica t e d t o th e fl y in g a nd r es t o r a ti o n o f St ea rm a n

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While visiting the Southwest Regional EAA Fly-In at Kerrville, Texas this past fall , EAA Founder and Chairman of the Board Paul Poberezny snapped these shots of Brian Dalton's praiseworthy 1928 Travel Air 4000. This good looking antique is powered by a Wright J-5 engine.

a ircraft , has a nnounced th e re tire me nt of preside nt Tom Lo we . Tom has been tirelessly head ing up th e acti ve group (it has an inte rnation a l me mbe rship of o ve r 1500 me mb e rs) fo r th e past 22 yea rs.

Tom wishe s to thank all of his friends a nd associ a tes who ha ve made th e past 22 years so e njoy a ble, and ho pes that e ver y on e concern e d will le nd th e ir support to the n e w presid e nt , Brian Riggs of Ro c kvill e, MD. Bri a n is a Stearm a n pilot and res tore r, and is th e a uthor of many of th e techni ca l a rticles that have a ppeared re cently in the SRA " Outfit " newsle tte r. Our bes t wishes to T om for his continued e njoyme nt of his St e arm a n , and we comm e nd Bri a n Riggs fo r voluntee rin g to ta ke on th e st e ward s hip of th e SRA. If yo u ar e inte res ted in joining th e SRA , yo u can contact th e m Stea rm a n Resto re rs Asso­ ciation , c/ o Brian Riggs , P .O. Box 10663, R ockville, MD 20850.

DON'T MISS TH E

FEBRUA RY EAA ADULT

AIR ACADEMY

Tim e a nd space a re runnin g o ut for you to participate in the EAA Adult Air Acade my, te achin g Bas ic Aircraft Main ­ tena nce, Building a nd Resto rati on Skills.

The Adult Air Academy will be offe red in two , on e -we ek sess ions with th e fir s t session beginning Fe bruar y 14 - 20 and the second session February 2 1 - 27, 1993.

Thes e c lasses a re limit e d t o 25 parti ­ cipants each . Your $700 registra tion fee co vers a ll lod g in g. fo od , loca l tr a ns­ portatio n, plus all class room mate ri als.

R egist e r tod ay! For furth e r in for­ mation , contact th e EAA E ducation Office b y callin g 4]4 / 4 26 -4 88 8 or writing P . O . Box 3065. O s hk os h , WI 54903-3065.

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EAA AIR ACADEMY

AT SUN'N FUN '93

The E AA Air Academy will move to Sun ' n Fun fo r it s fir s t yo uth Air Acade m y o ffe red a way fr o m O shkosh .

From April 17 thru th e 24th , yo uth age d 15 - 17 will have th e o pportunity to "share th e s kill s and lo re of av ia ti o n " in conjun c ti o n with th e E A A Sun ' n Fun Fly-In . The $450 registrati o n fee included ho usin g, fo o d a nd progra m ex pe nses fo r t he wee k . Don ' t de lay, registr a tion is limit e d a nd will b e con s id e re d in th c o rd e r rece iv e d. Co nt ac t th e EAA Edu ca ti o n o ffi ce fo r a n info rm a ti o n p ack age a nd reg is tr a ti o n m a t e ri a ls.

Phon e 41 4/426-4888 or write Educati o n Office, EAA Avi ati o n Fo un da ti o n, P.O .

Box 3065. Oshkos h WI 54903-3086.

EAA OSHKOSH DATES D o n ' t fo rge t , th e d a tes fo r th e 4 1s t Annu a l E AA Co nv e ntion a t Wi tt m a n Fie ld in O shkosh, WJ. have bee n cha nged sli ghtl y to a llow mo re memb e rs to ta ke part in o ne of th e world 's pre mie r av iati o n eve nts. This yea r 's con ve nti o n will start on Thu rs d ay, J ul y 29 , a nd e nd o n Wednesday, A ugust 4.

For th e Antique/C lassic e nthusiast, th e co nv e n t io n thi s yea r will m a rk th e b eg innin g of Ju dg in g fo r the ne w Co nt e mp o rar y C lass a irc r a ft. Th ose a irpla nes a nd r o to rcr aft (s ure, go a head a nd bring yo ur cho ppe r !) ma nufactured betwee n J a nuary 1. 1956 a nd D ece mbe r 31. 1960 will be e li g ibl e fo r a war ds at EAA OSHKOSH '93 .

Arr a nge m e nt s a re be in g m ad e now concernin g the special progra ms that will be fea ture d as pa rt o f thi s yea r's EA A Co nve ntio n. and we 'll be sure to kee p yo u up to d ate he re in A /C News wh e n th e

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d e t a il s becom e ava ilabl e . Mak e yo ur pl a ns no w to att e nd EAA OSHKOS H '93. Fo r more info rm a ti o n, ca ll 414/426­ 4800 o r writ e E A A O shk osh ' 93, E AA A via ti o n C e nt e r , P.O . Box 3086, O shkos h, WI 54903-3086.

NOMINATIONS FOR

ANTIQ UE/CLASSIC DIVISION

OFFICE RS AND DIR ECTORS

In acco rd a nce with th e E AA A n ­ tique/Classic Divisio n's bylaws, the terms of six directors, th e Vice -Preside nt a nd Treas ur e r will ex pire a t th e Div isio n 's a nnu al business mee tin g at O shkos h. WI on Wednesda y, August 4.

No min a tions fo r any e lec tive offi ce (including th e six e lective Directors, th e Vice-Preside nt a nd Treas ure r ) can onl y be m a de on offi cia l nomin a tion fo rms which m a y b e o btain e d from E AA H ea dqu a rt e rs. (Co nt a ct To m Pob e r­ ezny's o ffice.)

Each nomin ati o n form must contain a minimum of te n ( 10) signa tures of E AA A n tiq ue/C lass ic Di vi s io n m e mb e rs in goo d s t a ndin g , t oge th e r with th e ir me mbe rship num be r and ex piration date.

Th e no minatin g pe tition sha ll contain a brief resume of th e nomin ee's expe ri ence a nd b ac k g r o und a nd s h a ll b e acco m­ pa ni ed by a rece nt photo . To be eligible for no mination , a ca ndid ate must be a me mb e r in goo d st a ndin g of both th e EAA and th e Antique/Class ic Divisio n.

No minatin g p e titi o n s mu st b e s ubmitt e d to th e Chairm a n o f th e No m in a tin g Co mmitt ee , c/ o EAA Headqu arte rs, no la te r than the e nd of th e sixth mo nth prior to th e a nnu al business m ee tin g (Febru a ry 28, 1993). Vo tin g instructi o ns and the official ballot will be published in th e Jun e 1993 iss ue of VI NTAGE AIRPLA NE.

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

MAIL

Dear H.G.

Curtiss Jr. photos supplied by Dan Cullman (right), holding his reproduction of an original airspeed indicator.

You know I am an enthusiastic supporter of the "Young Eagles Program". Champ and I were making our dent in the Rideless Kid Population long before the program was an­ nounced. But I suggest there is another group needing at­ tention - the "pi lot stops". The industry likes to talk about "pi lot starts", but I think the industry is properly embar­ rassed by the numbers of "pi lot stops". I know too many ex-pilots. Bet you do , too. They are ex-pi lots for manyad­ mitted reasons, but the real reason is that flying wasn ' t as much fun as they thought it would be. I think they were do­ ing it wrong. Champ and I have some converts to our credit to prove my conte ntion . Take a bored ex -pil ot , stick him in a real airp lane with no radios and gy­ ros, bounce him into a couple of good grass strips and flying looks much different!

As an o rganization of real pilots in real air­ planes, the members of the EAA Antique/Classic Division can best reach these ex-pilots. I encourage a ll of us to be aware of the thousands of not-so­ Young Eagles out there who need our help to dis­ cover wha t real flying is all about.

All the best,

Joe Dickey

A /C4169

Columbus, IN

Joe also wrote an essay about an evening a few years ago, when the last thing on his mind was taking an airport kid for a ride. Published in last month's issue of VINTAGE A IRPLAN E, it's a thought pro­ voking piece, and you can find it on page 72. - HGF Dear H.G. , The first letter in "Aerom ai l" for the November issue of Vintage A irplan e requests information on a Curtiss Jr. , NC 10943. This airplane is owned by DeWitt R oss in Carson City, Nevada. I am helping DeWitt with an original a irspeed vane and a new instrument panel (see photo) J have enclosed pho­ tos of this airplane a nd the instrument panel of J r.

NC671 V, which we a re using for a model. Also en­ closed is a photo of Jr. NCl1832 owned and being restored by my Dad , Paul C ullm an of Ferndal e, Washington. This (a irplane) will a lso have the orig­ inal instrumentation and airspeed vane the two oth­ ers have. NC 11832 will be Salmson powered.

Sincerely , Dan Cullm an A/C 814 Kent , WA 4 JANUARY 1993

" Hey, look at this picture !" " It ' s a W aco , isn ' t it ? " said J oa n , my wife.

She 's no t much fo r a irplan es. It 's OK to use a je t to go fr o m one pl ace to an ­ oth e r, but to fall in lo ve with one, ne ve r!

She recognized this one because I'd flown so man y UPF-7s and pictures of th e m ap­ pea r througho ut th e o ld photo album. But this one was in VINTAGE AIRPLANE, Nove mbe r 1991 , page II. " Yup , it 's a Waco , but do you re cog­ nize it?" " I've ne ve r seen o ne with those things on the e ngin es. Your W acos had naked e ngin es . And th e s treamlin e d thin gs on the wheels, those are different," she said . " You 're right , but look at th e 'N' num­ be r: 32039. That's one of th e ships we fl ew a t Mitche ll Fie ld in Milwa ukee, and la te r a t Northport , Whit e Bea r L a ke, Min ­ nesota. Re me mber th e picture?"

"But it looks so diffe re nt. " " Be autiful , is th e wo rd you wa nt, " I said , for it was.

It no longe r looked like a train e r, wh ich it is, but like something special o rde red di­ rec tly from th e fac t o ry b y a pilot with ple nty bucks and an eye for th e sublim e .

M y mind flash e d b ack t o 1942. W e ' d just fini s he d WTS Primary in Be midji , Minnesota a fe w d ays be fore Th a nk sgiv­ ing (VINT A GE A IRPLA NE, A u g us t 1983, page 16). It was but a sho rt wait be­ fore th e le tt e r ca m e a ssi g nin g Chuck O ' Meara a nd me to Midwest Airways, a n FBO in Cuda hy, Wi sco nsin .

I' d ne ve r hea rd o f Midwes t Airways , but kn e w where C ud a hy wa s. a nd could find th e Medford H o te l wh e re we were to s tay in d o wntown Milw a uk ee with o ut a co mpa ss . It wa s o nl y a s hort trip from Wilmette , IL on th e No rth Sh o re e lectri c r a ilwa y, a nd I was in th e ho te l a ft e r din ­ ner th e ne xt d ay.

The fo ll owin g day saw me in C ud a hy.

A short wa lk to th e wes t found me at th e eas t side of Mitch e ll Fi e ld , wh ere a short se rv ic e roa d le d t o Midw es t Air wa ys.

Gra nte d , th e posta l address was C udah y, but it wo uld hav e bee n ea sie r to find if th e y had sa id it was o n Mitch e ll Fi e ld.

Did an yone eve r acc use th e CAA o f d o­ ing some thin g th e easy way?

Classes didn ' t s ta rt for a d a y o r tw o , a nd by th e n Chu c k h a d m a d e hi s way fr o m Cass L a ke , M inn esota. G roun d school was he ld a t th e U ni ve rsi ty of Wis­

con s in Mil­

wauk ee ca m­

pu s . Mid wes t wa s c urr e ntl y teac hin g a

Navy program in th e ir J-3 C ubs, and WTS

Second a ry in three W aco U P F-7s. H a nk

Weil, V. G . " Bill " Ca rlsen and Russ Rite r

we re the Seco nd a ry instructo rs for we 20

stud e nt s f rom va ri o us pa rts o f th e co un ­

try . Rit e r wa s a lso th e Chi ef F li ght In ­

structo r.

C huck drew H a nk We il , wh o had bee n a P e nn sy lva nia Ce ntr a l Airlin e s pil o t.

H a nk 's du a l ship was N C32039, with a large ye llow fi eld numbe r e mbl azoned o n th e fu se lage sta tin g th a t it was 39 R. The le tt e r indica te d th a t th e s hip was radi o equipped; th e lates t tec hn o logy!

My in s tructor turned out to b e Bill Ca rl se n, a fo rm e r ba nd le ad e r from th e Big Ba nd e ra a nd quite we ll- known in the loca l regio n. Perh aps he was be tt e r kn own nation ally as a form e r a rran ge r fo r Wayne Kin g. H e was a sle nd e r m a n. a rin ge r for Fre d Astaire.

All of us had go ne throu gh Primary in J-3 Cubs with th e ir simple altime ters . The fir st trip in th e W aco was rea ll y an eye o pe ne r. Firs t. it had a sensiti ve a ltime te r with tw o po inte rs. That wasn't hard to figVINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

Front end of a Waco UPF-7 mounted on Federal SC-4 skis. Note all- metal Curtiss-Reed prop, winter front on 220 Continental with ta pe over the openings and a unique system used for maintaining attitude of the skis in flight-a spring loaded piston is attached to a vertical member that pulled the ski to level with nose and tail cables. These skis are rated up to 2850 Ibs. (Below) "39 R" rests in the hangar at M itchell Field, M ilwau kee, WI duri ng the w inter of 1942.

ur e out, but th e Waco climbed like a rocket compared to th e J -3. Everyo ne of us climbed to our first assigned altitude as co mmunicated ove r th e gos port system, but that altitude arrived befo re we did.

Only thin g to do was to jam th e stick for ­ wa rd to leve l o ul. As you ca n ima gin e, th a t left us a ll poised in mid air. above th e sea t, with a shar p crunch jn the g ut from th e seat belt. That was a fast lea rn!

But we all e njoyed that old bird. The throaty roar of th e Continental radial was swee t musi c. Toe bra kes we re a real plea­ s ur e . Sh e h ad a ta il wheel lock , which would minimi ze a ny tend ency to g round loo p. She had a battery a nd starte r so we did not h ave to hand pr o p he r. If th e 6 JANUARY 1993

ship 's battery di ed , a ground power unit could take over. The cockpits were roomy a nd to top it o ff , s he looked lik e a 1930s pursuit ship. It was rea l hot stuff!

Our practice a r ea was southw es t of Mitchell Fi e ld. W e' d take off, cl imb to 500 feet AGL, a nd head wes t to Highway 4 '1. A le ft turn t o th e so uth too k u s to Wi sco ns in byp ass Hi g hwa y 100 , where we'd aga in proceed westbound.

One thing a bout the Midwest: th e re is a fine grid patt e rn of roads for g round reference man e uv e rs, and th e fields are fl a t , eac h one m a kin g a fin e place for a forced la ndin g. Anywhere south of 100 a nd west of 41 mad e a perfec t practice a rea.

We started with th e same man e uve rs we'd used in Primary; rec tangul a r p a t ­ te rn s, S turns across a road, eights on an inte rsect ion , and pylon e ights, at 500 fee t.

Above 1500 feet we did stalls and preci­ sion spins. Old hat , but much more fun in an open biplan e! Ju s t call us Jimm y Doo little.

After we ' d flown th e bird e no ug h to feel a t home, it was tim e to start ae ro bat­ ics. First was the loop, a real easy one th a t most of us had seen in th e J-3 Cub wh e n th e instructor go t tired of Primary ma ne u­ vers. Easy to do , and it s ha kes th e cob­ we bs out!

Back on the ground , Bill said. "T o mo r­ row we 'll do slow rolls."

We start ed with some high ma ne uv e rs to warm up , th e n over th e gos po rt came th e word. " We ' ll do a slow ro ll to the ri g ht. Fol­ low me through ."

We had talked a bout it on the ground , so I had a n idea of wh a t to expect. The first part was easy; just start out like yo u were go ing to ro ll into a turn. Wh e n s he got on knife edge, it was o bvious I had .to feed in top rudd e r to kee p th e nose fr o m fallin g through th e horizon . So far, so good. However, wh e n we got on our back , my fee t fe ll off th e rudd er pedals a nd got lo s t so mew he re und e r the in s trum e nt p a ne l. Try as I might , there was no way th ey we re going ba c k where th ey be­

lo nged until we were again right side up.

It work ed bette r the nex t tim e aro und; I just pu she d aga in s t the rudd e r pe d a ls and my feet staye d where th ey were sup ­ posed to. Befo re the course was ove r, we were doin g Imm e lm a n s, snap ro lls, laz y eights a nd cha nd e ll es. While so lo, we all tried a few improvisations not in the sta n­ dard sy ll ab us. But m y favorite was th e lazy eight. Start out just like the syllabus sa id, but pu sh it to th e point where yo u were on knife edge a lm os t sta ll e d as she fell throu gh th e hori zo n. Wh e n she came up throu g h th e hori zo n at 180 degr ees. s he wa s go in g all out a nd th e wind was sc rea min g throu gh th e ri ggin g. H a rdl y a lazy eight now; a whifferdill , I'd say. Then cha nge the pattern eve r so s li g htl y and yo u we r e in a Cuban e ig ht. This was pretty heady stuff. Our c hande ll es were like th e WW I escape ma neuv e r, not th e funny loo king thing the FAA as ks for to­ day. One could neve r escape from a nyone with th at thin g! Ju s t watch closely at Oshkosh during th e ai r show ; th ose boys know how to do it!

The front pit of th e Waco was built for two people. Bill could ra ttl e a ro und in it like a pea. Stick pressures durin g aero ba t­ ics a re substa ntial , a nd Bill had d ifficulty ge tting e no ugh leverage, particula rly dur­ ing th e inverted st uff. Fortun a te ly for him , th e re were tw o diagonal braces at t he front co rn e rs of the cockpit. They were padd ed a nd lea th e r cove re d . He' d

use his left ha nd to gra b th e left brace and thi s gave him e nou g h he ft to ha ndle th e pressures.

Wi sco ns in winters a r e no to ri o us for frosting yo ur gizza rd . Though we were in a n Arm y program. we did no t hav e the flight clothing th e reg ular Arm y boys had.

Before fli ght we 'd put on eve rythin g we owned, a nd we still froze .

A coupl e of weeks into th e program , WTS found so m e new old s t oc k CCC (Civilia n Co nse rva ti o n Co rps) gree n uni­ forms a nd mad e th e m ava il a bl e to us.

They we re like horse blanke ts a nd ple nty warm. C huck had a bit of a problem in that as an acco mpli s he d woodsman. he was of a gro up who loo ked d o wn on th e CCC boys. After a ll , if city boys a re im­ ported to the wild e rn ess, th ey are total g ree nh o rn s. It t akes tim e t o lea rn th e ways of th e woods. To have to wear that uniform rubbed him th e wrong way; how­ eve r, th e weather was cold , the uniforms warm a nd in th e e nd . a ppreciated .

Early o n, th e snow carne . In those days, Mitche ll did not plow snow; they rolled it!

They constructed a long roll e r o ut of what appeare d to be a piece of co rruga ted stee l c ulv e rt tubin g. It was we ig ht ed , a n ax le was stu ck in the middle and a tow ba r at­ tached to each end. This thin g was pulle d ove r th e runw ays a nd taxiw ays. The s ur­ face was quite smooth until sp rin g came a nd large c hunk s of ice started popping up, leav ing huge po th o les. Th a t was wh e n

Flight instructor Hank Weil , ready for some open cockpit dual i nstruct ion during the winter of 1942.

Chuck O'Meara (getting ready to climb into the cockpit), and Don Toeppen flew NC 32039 during their stint at Midwest Airways as part of WTS Secondary pilot training. NC32039 is now owned and flown by Jack Roehm of Clinton, IN. The " R" on the side of the fuselage designates that "39R" is radio equipped.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7

-.J" -. ,

-.

."

.­

~

ehuck O'Meara, in his green wool eee pants, pauses next to one of the UPF-7's.

You can see the ridges in the snow from the corrugat ed steel t ube used to roll the snow flat.

the punishme nt caught up with the crime !

With th e arrival of the snow, all the Midwest airpl a nes were put on skis. This has to b e somewhat like flyin g a float­ plane. Ground turns are made by pushing the rudd e r a nd blasting th e e ngin e. Like any taiJdragge r, a ilerons are use d exten­ sively to steer.

When it came to inverted m a neuvers , a new sound had bee n added . One e nd of th e ski was held in place with a stee l ca­ ble; th e other with a s hock cord, which pe rmitted th e toe to remain pointe d in an upward dir ec tion so the ship could land without stubbing the ski. Wh e n the ship was roll ed , th e ski would flop and a loud "clunk" was hea rd. Roll ri ght side up, and th e s ki re turn e d to its prope r position , with another "clunk" as th e to e again pointed up. It acte d almost lik e a B-747 main gear. Watch one land some time.

Wiscon s in h as many day s wh e n the cei lings are low. If we were legal, we were se nt to do low work. We soon discove red that there was frequently a large opening over Wind Lake in the southwest corner of the practice area. W e' d climb up through th e hol e to do th e hi g h work , then down aga in wh e n it was time to go ba c k to Mitchell. One day when back down , I found I was early, so r started S turns along a no rth bound ro ad. The pat­ tern was go ing very nicely and I congratu­ lated my se lf on how we ll I was doing.

Co min g a ro und a right turn , I looked a head to find 1 was about to ta ke out th e radio tow e rs for WTMJ , Milw a ukee ' s prime radio stat ion at the tim e. Talk about

"1 lea rned about fl ying from th at!"

On the days wh e n the ceiling was too low for YFR (CFR in the o ld terminology for Co ntact Flight Rul es), Hank We il put hi s old a irlin e back ground to goo d use.

He' d tak e a stud e nt out and fl y fi e ld cir­ cuits IFR. Thi s was in the d ay when no one talked directly to ATe. The airp la ne would ca ll th e tow e r or radio ra nge and ask for the cleara nce . They in turn phoned ATC which , in thi s case, was loca ted in th e Nationa l Guard hangar on Ce nt ral Ave nue on th e wes t side of Midway Air­ port. If one was flying for an airline, the company had assigned radio fre qu e ncies.

The plane called th e company radio oper­ a tor who m a d e th e phone call. It was a very time consuming operation. Thus , H a nk ca ll e d th e towe r for a tak eo ff and la nding. If th e center advised it was OK , th e tower issued the clearance and a round th ey would go. If IFR traffic was inbound , Hank was told to wait. H e had to ask each tim e th ey were rea d y to go. But at leas t his students got to fly!

Too soon we had run through th e syl­ labus and it wa s time to advance to the nex t course. Yes, I'd had my chance to fly Chuck 's plan e, NC32039. As each instruc­ tor had a fu ll complement of stud e nts, if o ne needed a da y off, they wo uld juggle th e schedule and we'd fly in th e other in­ structor 's plan e . Thus I flew with Hank W e il in NC32039. But r was to fly her again up at Northport durin g Seco ndary I ns tructors sc ho o l. b u t that 's a no t he r story.

It wou ld be se..

Don Toeppen , winter 1942. His cold weather flight gear consisted of eee wool pants , long j ohn s, a number of sweaters and his leather flight j acket, finished off with a pair of chopping mitts.

ne xt WTS assignment came. Chuck we nt back to Cass Lake a nd I to Wilmette. Un­ fortunate ly, while C hu c k was sp littin g firewood , a splinte r pe netrated his eye. It was successfull y removed with no loss of vision , but the Air Force decided the scar was disq ualifying. Thus, a natural born pi­ lot spe nt th e rest of th e war in Air Force ground jobs. The res t of us were gra teful to have had th e opportunity to fly that grea t bird , the UPF-7.

And to one of th e eag les who carried on , Mr. Jack Roe hm of Clinton, Indiana, many th a nks for the wo nd e rful job you hav e don e on restoring old 39R. H ow about brin g in g h er to Oshkosh for the EAA Co nvention o ne of th ese summe rs?

She is sure to win a prize! ...

Texas Trimotor Trip

by Andrew King (EAA 275985, A IC 10739)

The common facts and eve ryday ex­ p e ri ences of life se ldom hav e a ny e f­ fect on the figurative spin of the ea rth , but each of us with our own pe rspec­ tiv e ca n often find a significanc e in th e m. B e ing an a ctive history buff brin gs its own sp ecial appreci a tion of peopl e, places, a nd things, and thi s is on e of the be ne fit s of involve me nt in antique airplan es . [n th e summ e r o f 1940 an 11 yea r old boy had his first airplan e ride, from a fi eld near H e rkim e r in upstate New York , in a ba rn sto rming Ford Trimo­ tor. 52 years and hundreds o f mil es away his son, m yse lf, was lift e d into clea r T exas skies on his first Fo rd Tri ­ motor ride, the beginning of anothe r o f my airborne odysseys.

It all began in Miami on e Mo nd ay a ft e rnoon wh e n my bos s, K e rmit Wee ks , said that he was goin g to pick up the Trimotor that he 'd bought at the Sant a Monic a a uction last fa ll . H e' d fe rri e d it to Midl a nd , Texa s wh er e it s pe nt th e wint e r in the CAF h a nga r , a nd now he was go in g to brin g it the rest of the way back and wanted me to go a lon g as mecha nic in exch a nge for having my expenses out and back p aid.

That sounded like a pretty good dea l to me and Friday morning we set out fr om

Fl o rid a . W e we re a lso joine d o n th e adventure by two other Wee ks Air Mu­ se um mechanics, Russ La ng a nd Mike Armstro ng.

At th e a ppointe d ho ur we boa rd e d another type of Trimotor (Boeing 727) which de posited us a fe w hours later at Dall as -Fort Worth Airp o rt. Th e first ord e r of busin ess was to vi sit H artl ee Fie ld in De nton to check o ut the good­ ies b e in g offe re d th e n e xt d ay in th e aucti o n o f Bill Hill ' s a vi a tion co ll ec­ tion , th e n we ch eck ed into a hote l and a ft e r dinn e r settl e d d own to get so me slee p . Th e aucti o n turn e d out to b e more o f a soci a l eve nt fo r m e - whil e K e rmit wa s bu y in g Wri g ht J -5s a nd part s, [ wa s catchin g up with som e o f th e fri e nds and acqu a intances fr o m aro und the country who showed up .

Fin all y on Sunday morning a noth er shorte r a irlin e trip too k us to Midl a nd wh er e th e bi g whit e Trimotor was a l­ ready o utside waiting for us. We set to work loo king he r ove r a nd famili ariz­ in g o urse lves with wh at would become ve ry fa mili a r ve ry soon . Lowe r spa rk plu gs we re re mo ve d , e ng in es pull e d thro ugh , fue l tank sumps drain ed , a nd fin ally the three Wri ghts were fired up for a tes t run. With a ll indication s sa t­ isfact o r y we at e a qui c k lunch , we nt thro ug h th e C A F mu se um , and th e n boa rded o ur Tin Goose tra nspo rt a nd taxied to the acti ve runway.

I sat in th e back fo r th e first ta ke ­ off a s Ke rmit advance d th e throttl es a nd th e Fo rd levitat e d s kywa rd. W e m a d e a p ass for th e CA F g u ys a nd th e n hea ded east , 1,600 mil es of fl yin g in front of us . An h o ur o r so out we ra n into a line of sc a tt e re d thund e r­ storm s a nd discovere d th at ra in out­ sid e mea ns a little bit in sid e a s we ll , not e no ugh to bothe r us much tho ugh, we we re trimotoring!

Mik e , Ru ss and I t oo k turns in th e right sea t and 200 mil es la te r , aft er 3 hours o f fl ying, Kermit greased one on at Breckinridge wh e re o ld fri e nds fo r him and new fri e nds fo r us we re wa it ­ in g. U n fo rtunat e ly we h a d to ge t to work ri ght away wh en we di scovered a broken stud on the top cylinder of th e right engine.

With th e he lp o f Ne lso n Eze ll a nd crew we pulle d th e cylinde r, repl aced th e o ffe nding stud , and h ad everything almost b ac k toge th e r wh e n we had to s top at nin e a nd ge t to dinn e r be for e the last restaurant in town closed.

Wa ke-up ca ll the next mo rning was at 5: 30 a nd a ft er brea kfas t we returned to th e a irpo rt and fini she d o ur e ngin e work . T he n, a fter a tes t run , we sa id our go od-byes and took -o ff into som e of th e b es t we ath e r T e xas has e ver see n. Fort Worth was vi sibl e from 40 miles away and there was o nl y light tur­ bul e nce in th e air , a lth o ugh we co uld VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

Kermit and Mike up front somewhere over Texas.

have used a tailwind to help with our 75 mph cruising speed. Once again we took turns in the right seat and occa­ sionally eve n in the left. Taking hold of that big wooden control wheel and looking out at those engin es and the corrugated wings stretching out be­ yond was a great experience for an an­ tique airplan e nut such as myself, and a real learning experience. This was added to by knowing that Charles Lindber g h had flown thi s airplane

when it was delivered new to Robert­ son Airways in St. Louis, his former airmail employer.

I had brought my own charts and drawn out our course so that when it was my turn to fly I could put my map in my lap. fly pure pilotage , and ignore the Loran and VOR and other unnec­ essary modern abbreviations. I wanted to be as close as was safely possible to experiencing the 192R I never knew.

After three and a half hours of dron­

ing along we touched down in Mar­ shall , Texas, just short of the Louisiana border, where we had a broken exhaust clamp welded, got some lunch, and were photographed and interviewed by the local newspaper. That was our longest leg of the trip , although the Ford carries enough fuel for over 5 hours of flying , 231 gallons burned at 13 per hour per engine. Strangely, the center engine ran hot while the two outboards , one with an oil cooler and one without, ran equally as cool.

Interstate 20 was our main naviga­ tion aid on the next leg across northern Louisiana and into Mississippi. After passing over Tallulah, Louisiana we swung north a little to pick up the big river and spread our shadow on the muddy Mississippi for about 10 miles before pulling up and passing over the famous Civil War town of Vicksburg. and then flying a little further east to a landing at Williams Airport near Jack­ son , Mississippi. By now the wind had finally shifted around from the north to the northwest and was helping us along a little bit, especially on the next leg when we veered south to make Hatties­ burg for our overnight stop. Those last 100 miles on Monday went by in just ove r an hour, and sunset saw the Ford tied down on the ramp at Hattiesburg's Chain Airport. Incide ntally, we had to carry our own tie down ropes that were long enough to reach the wing, two on

The crew, left to right: Russ Lang, Kermit Weeks, Mike Armstrong, and Andrew King.

10 JANUARY 1993

each side , because the Ford is kno wn to be s usceptibl e to th e wind , as a nyon e who knows a nythin g about wh a t ha p­ pene d to th e EAA Trimotor before its restoration will realize .

It was unusually cold th at night, in the thirties, a nd I'd o nl y brought a lo ng o ne li ght jacket, but th e ne xt mornin g wa s sunn y a nd pe rfe ctl y windl ess. I was in the ri ght seat at engin e start-up, and Ke r­ mit turned to me and said, " It's all yours, make a left downwind departure."

75 R4 is equipp e d with th e o ri g inal Jo hnson Bar brake syste m, which some p e opl e confu se with th e Wa co o r th e Briti sh brak e sys te m s - those in vo lve pulling a leve r (pulling the throttl e in­ boa rd on the Waco or pulling o n a sep­ a ra te bra ke le ve r in the old British a ir­ pl anes) and then pushing on the rudder pe da ls for diffe re nti a l bra kin g. In the Trimotor the rudde r peda ls have noth­ in g to do with th e brakes. In s t ea d, th e r e's a large le ve r that loo ks lik e a gea rshift lever be twee n the sea ts. co n­ nec t e d to th e tw o brake c y lind e r s mo unte d und e r th e floor at 45 deg ree a ng le s to th e ce nt e rline. Pullin g the le ve r straight b a ck ge ts both bra ke s, bac k and to the le ft gets left bra ke. a nd b a ck a nd to th e ri g ht giv e yo u , o f co urse , ri g ht br a k e. It do es n ' t t a k e much gettin g used to a nd eve n th o ugh th e r e's no t a ilwh ee l st ee rin g, o nl y bungees holding the tailwh eel stra ight. the airplane taxis quite easily, waddling

Andrew King sitting in the back, note the baggage compartment almost full of spare parts and the rag stuffed in the door to stop the draft.

alo ng lik e its nickna mcsa ke.

Run -up is prett y simple , a nd o n take­ off o ne of th e bi gges t fac tors in fl yin g th e Fo rd be com es a ppare nt- a d ve rse ya w. I had be e n to ld a bo ut thi s by fo r­ me r owne r AI C ha ney and was awa re o f the techniques fr o m growin g up aro und th e bra ke less Wo rld Wa r I a irpl a nes a t th e Old Rhin e bec k Ae rodrom e ( in ci­ de nt a ll y, this ve ry Trim otor has la nd ed a nd take n off at Old Rhine beck . whi ch

says so me thing abo ut its sho rt fie ld ab il­ iti es) , the use of ail e ron s fo r directi ona l co ntro l on th e ground , so o n ta ke-off at H atti esb urg, after adv a ncing th e throt­ tle s and ge ttin g th e ta il up . I exp e ri ­ m e nt e d a littl e and fo un d th a t it was quit e poss ibl e to swin g th e nose ba c k a nd fo rth by turning th e whee l opposite th e directio n you wa nted to go. Al says that on la ndin g this is th e be st way to ke e p stra ight and with th a t he avy , sl ow

Making a pass by Connie Edward's castle south of Big Spring, Texas.

VINTAG E AIRPLANE 11

Home at last, parked next to a younger brother on the Museum ramp.

rudder I can believe it.

Th e oldest flying airliner in the world gets off the ground pretty quickly, although it's no rocket ship on climb-out with the three 235 hp Wright R-760's doing their thing. On our trip we usually cruised at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,000 feet above the ground for a panoramic view of the deep south countryside . In smooth air, as with so many really old airplanes, the ship is a delight to fly, although you can see why they called them "s hips " back then-the big. slow moving craft can make you feel more like an Admiral than an avia­ tor. In rough air the story is quite dif­ ferent and I've gained even more re­ spect for the fellows who flew these machines every day in all kinds of weather. You ride the thermals and watch the tachs. If RPM goes up you pull the nose up a little and vice versa , happy to hold altitude within plus or minus 200 or 300 feet. Elevator control is fairly normal , heavy but not bad and effective enough, but rudder and aileron are as poor as anything I 've ever flown and real turbulence can be more than disconcerting. A wing goes down , you crank in some aileron and nothing happens , so you put in more and the wing still doesn't come up but that adverse yaw starts to take effect and the nose starts swinging, so you start pushing rudder which doesn 't help as much as it should, so finally you push the nose down and dive for addi­ tional speed and eventually get things straightened out. This doesn 't happen often but it would only take once in the wrong spot and you could be in real trouble. The Ford does have enough dihedral that you can try using opposite rudder to raise the wing but again this is a slow, slewing process.

It 's always been funny to me how stories of flying old airplanes compare with actually doing it. For instance, the 12 JANUARY 1993

Curtiss Jenny is not as bad as you hear, but the Trimotor...

You hear people joking that it climbs , cruises , and land s at the same speed, well , this one climbed at 70 , cruised at 75, maybe 80 in smooth air , and glided at 75, although I think we were touching down around 50 mph with Kermit making wheel landings.

The landing rolls seemed short enough although he did seem to be working a little to keep us straight, I can see where it might be tough if you wanted power and brakes at the same time.

You can ' t do both without two right hands or a really good co-pilot. We did land at Winter Haven with the wind from about 30 degrees to the right at 25 knots gusting to 30, but it was the best landing of the whole trip , which we de­ cided was because Kermit was so "wired" for it, concentrating real hard.

We had initially figured on staying overnight at Winter Haven but during the morning the most wonderful tail­ wind developed and although it was bumpy we made great time through Mississippi and Alabama, past Mobile, and on into Florida to a stop at Talla­ hassee. There we ate lunch and figured out that if the wind kept up we could make Miami by dark , which was impor­ tant as the supply of tortilla chips was getting low and my personal reserve of clean underwear was exhausted. We were amazed at our good fortune as far as weather was concerned and figured that we were using up our tailwind quota for the whole year in one day.

At times during the trip , while at the controls, we discussed encounter in g "artificial turbulence ", coinciding of course with the occasion of another of the crew retreating to the rear of the cabin to use the on-board facilities (empty oil cans) , but we never actua lly did anything so unkind. After we left Tallahassee there was no need to fake

it, we flew through some of the rough­ est air of the whole trip, still taking turns keeping the old lady on a more or less even keel.

The Gulf coast followed along on our right for awhile and then we angled in towards the lake country and our stop at Winter Haven , where standing on the wing to pump a hundred and some gal­ lons of avgas into the tanks became quite a task in the strong wind . After a quick peek in the hangar at Joe Mackey's old Taperwing Waco we were aloft again and following the concrete compass of Route 27 towards home.

Past Lake Okeechobee , a fly-by at Clewiston where I tried to rock the wings without much success, then through the Everglades to fami li ar skies.

Soon a red-white-and-blue mono­ plane curved in alongside us as Linda came to meet us in her CAP 231. She'd been in the Trimotor with Kermit in the fall on the trip from California to Texas and had decided to forego the continuance of the trip with the four of us (can you blame her?).

The control tower, no doubt used to this kind of thing by now , authorized the traditional fly-by over the museum hanger, and minutes later we rolled to a stop on the ramp while a small crowd of museum employees and friends waited , as eager to see inside the Ford as we were to be outside for awhile. Eventu­ ally, ears ringing, our tale-telling slowed down and we drifted off in our separate directions, while the sun set on a new , dignified addition to the collection.

(Editor's Note: As you may have seen in the October issue of VINTAGE AIR­ PLANE, the Ford flown by Kermit and his crew was severely damaged during Hurricane Andrew. Just prior to going to press with this issue, Kermit told us that the Ford is repairable, although it is cer­ tain to be an extensive task. - HGF) ...

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by Norm Petersen U nless yo u have had th e pl eas ure rebuild e rs ca ll e d th e " LS -l of meetin g the two pilots in this hair­ Docum e nt " . Thi s rulin g a llows th e raising adve nture, it would be hard to average pe rson to restore a n antique compre he nd just h o w th ey m a naged a irplan e , providin g he d oes at leas t t o co mpl e t e s u c h a n o utl a ndi s h 51 % o f th e wo rk , and is lega l to fl y a ttempt. H owever, C harles " Chalkie" Stobb a rt ( E AA 27 3568) of Gall o M a n o r , So uth Africa a nd P e t e r H e ngs t (EA A 305761) of Sa ndt o n , So ut h A frica are ru gged individuals of the most te nacio us va ri e ty. If eve r in th e hi sto ry of lo ng ra nge fli ghts, th e m a ke -up o f th ese t wo exp e ri e nce d pilo ts fits the required mo ld fo r such c a n a tt e mpt - e xtre m e ly inte llige nt , ~ quick witte d , th oro ugh, d e te rmin e d , 2 a nd above all e lse, just e no ugh o f the ';; good o ld-fas hi o ne d stubb o rnn ess to .~ ~ overcome a ny a nd all obstacles. (And c3 the re we re man y!) " Chalkie" Stobbart and Peter Hegst .

Th e res t o r a ti o n o f th e 194 1 Fa ir c hild 24 W t oo k 3- 112 yea r s o f inside th e R e public of South Africa .

Chalkie Stobba rt 's spa re time a nd was Howe ve r , outs id e of th e co untr y , a d o ne und e r a s p ec ia l rulin g that is Sta nd a rd Airwo rthiness Ce rtifica te is gr ant e d to S o uth A fri ca n a ntiqu e re quire d . Th ere fo re, w he n C ha lki e

resto red the Fairchild unde r the " LS-l Docume nt" , it had to be upgraded to a Standard Airworthiness Certificate by the So uth Africa n Directo ra te of Civil Aviation (D C A) it 's c a ll e d " p a p e rwork " - many p o unds of it plus inspection s of all kinds and th e adh e re nce to m a ny additional rul e s and regula tions.

Although the origin al plan was to sell the Fairchild in the U.S. follo wing the long fli ght, it is now contempla ted th a t th e F a irchild will b e c o n­ taine ri zed and shipped back to So uth Africa where it will re ve rt to the " LS­ I Document " unde r r eg istration Z S­ VWO , upon re moval o f th e 70-gallo n fu el ta nk located in the rear seat.

It was back in 1990 wh e n th e call w e nt o ut fr o m J o hn B e r e ndt , preside nt of the Fairchild Club , to try and loca te a se rviceable " A e roma tic" pr o p e ll e r for th e So uth Afri ca n Fairchild in h o p e s of a idin g th e ir c r ui se s p ee d o n th e lo n g t rip .

The familiar outboard type landing gear of the Fairchild 24W represents the classic design of many years ago. Note the large 70 gallon fuel tank installed in the rear seat and the all-important pilot relief tube extending underneath the airplane.

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This very nicely restored instrument panel contains many original instruments and control knobs plus the right hand side panel, which contains the Garmin GPS pinpoint navigation system and the Bendix VHF radios.

14 DECEMBER 1993

However, with the extreme sca rcit y of such items and the coll a ps e of a ny "fac tory activit y" in building n e w Aeromatics, none were to be had . In th e final analysis , a new Sensenich wood e n prope ll e r wa s o rdered from th e factory a nd a ir-shipped to South Africa.

Flight tests req uired fo r a Standard Airworthine ss Ce rtifi ca t e includ e d makin g tak eoffs at 20 % over gross we ight. Norm al gross is 2562 Ibs. and successful tak eo ffs were demon足 strated at 3012 lbs. with the Fairchild n eed in g 85 mph on th e airspeed before the airplane would lift into th e air' Needless to say, s uch prac ti ce run s w e re absolutely esse nti a l for some o f th e wild a nd wooly overgross , hi g h d e n sity a ltitud e. takeoffs e ncountered on the long trip ! (On th e tak eo ff from Lodwar , Nairobi , the rate of climb hovered between 10 and 50 rpm after str u gg lin g to becom e airborne. Th e pair had to circle several tim es to ga in enough altitude to cl ea r the hump at the e nd o f the runway! ) There a re numerous it e m s that

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First off was the use of GPS for navigation. Both Chalki e and Peter admit this was a Godsend as it gave precise locations at all times. Without GPS , they might not have been able to pull it off. Please bear in mind that a considerable portion of the trip was flown under IFR conditions and the vast experience of the two pilots coupled with the performance of the Fairchild was just enough to make the next destination .

A se cond item was Chalkie's unusual ability to rebuild the old Warner Super Scarab 165 to where it performed extremely well for the entire trip under the most severe conditions from hot desert duststorms that nearly clogged the air filter to severe icing that forced them to fly under a solid cloud deck at 200 feet over the ocean (in be tween 300 foot high ic e bergs) with the temperature at one degree above zero , Centigrade! The Warner handled the trip without incident except for an increase in oil consumption during the last five hours of the trip when th e

bottom cylinder suffered a sticky oil ring.

With 13.5 hours of fuel (122 gallons) on board , the Fairchild had a maximum range of 1100 nautical miles with the normal cruise figured at 85 KTS . Fuel costs averaged about $4.50 per gallon with the lowest price in Luxembourg and the highest price in Greenland - $7.50/ga\. (At 9 gal/hour you can now understand why they needed as many sponsors as possible to finance the trip!)

Perhaps the one item that was most exasperating during the trip , yet it was probably handled better by this pair of pilots than anyone else , was the "bureaucracy" - aka - the government officials!! Being able to deal with these " friendly folks " without pulling your hair out by the roots was indeed a challenge. The constant requests for money from nearly every person involved in a service was mind boggling. In Cairo , Egypt, the pair was asked to fly to another airport for fuel and return to Cairo - and pay another huge set of charges! The shouting match that developed caused

Peter Hengst to walk outside before blood was shed! When they finally departed for Imbaba for fuel , the fuel handler had gone home 15 minutes before they arrived and would not stay to help them under any circumstances!

(They filled up on auto gas from across the street - strictly illegal - but, so be it.)

Denied permission to land at Pescara, Italy , because they lacked " military clearance", they were forced to divert to Bari, Italy instead. It turned out to be a Godsend as the headwinds shortened their range and they just barely made it into Bari (11:45 in the air!). An attempt to reach Pescara could easily have precipitated a forced landing under dangerous conditions.

Following a spectacular trip through the Swiss Alps with visibility at 50 miles, the Fairchild was flown through Germany and on to Luxembourg . Chalkie and Peter highly recommend the Airport Hotel in Luxembourg as the service is excellent and the prices reasonable.

After the second try, the pair reached VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

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Standing proudly on the grass at EAA Oshkosh '92 is the immaculate Fairchild 24W-41, wearing its South African registratio n ZS-VWO and looking none the worse for its nearly 10,000 mile journey. This successful trip is a triumphant accomplishment f or the two pluc ky pilots and an everlasting credit to the Fairchild 24 and its many devotees, worldwide.

E ngland afte r four hours of solid IFR and received a huge " Welcome" from th e locals a t Bre ighton , a neat grass strip wh e re th e o nly re quire me nt to land is a tailwhee l! The foll owing day was s pent co mpl e tin g a fift y hour in specti o n, cl ea nin g up th e a irplan e a nd loadin g th e necessa ry life ra ft s, e tc. on board fo r the long ove r water flights.

Th e well established gove rnm ental po licies of jo ll y o lde England gave the pa ir a few mo re joys be fo re leavin g.

Th ey a tt e m p te d t o go thr o u g h C ustom s a t S to rn o way in th e Out e r He brides. A T C contacted th e m a nd a d v ise d th ey wo uld arriv e fift ee n minut es af t e r th e age nt h a d go n e ho me fo r the day. When as ked to stay a n e xtra fi fteen minut es, th ey we re fla tl y told , " No dea l, I'm going home !"

Diverting to In ve rness, Sco tla nd , they we re ask e d h o w lo ng th ey wo uld be s t ay in g . Wh e n C halki e a nswe r e d , " Ove rni g ht " , th ey sa id , "So rr y, 24 ho ur s a d va nce n ot ice re qui re d fo r C ustoms!" Mea nwhile, someone e lse had o rde red a C ustoms In specti o n at Kirkwall in the O rkn ey Islands. The pa ir fl ew over t h e r e a nd pro m p tl y clea red Customs easily, and the n took off fo r Reykjavik. Ice land.

T he bl ack beach es o f Ice la nd , left o ver from t h e vo lc a n ic d ays, we re qu it e a sigh t and C h a lki e a nd Pe te r enj oyed their o ne day stay amo ng the bea uti ful people of Iceland . Early the n ext m o rnin g. a h e lp f ul t a il w ind s t arte d them o n th e i r way t o 16 JANUARY 1993

Na rssa rsuag, G ree nl a nd , only to di e o ut a ft e r 80 miles. The 550 n.m. trip was made at 200 fee t over the wa te r with th e t e mp e r a tur e ju s t a b o v e freezing. Oh yes, the artificial hori zon tumbled halfway though the fli ght!

C rossing the Greenla nd ice she lf at 10 ,000 fee t, th e p a ir was sta rt le d to hea r th ey we re requested to climb to 13 ,000! In spite of th eir best e ffo rts, th ey radioed th at th e Fairchild wo uld cl imb no hi gher with th e huge load 足 a n d A T C all owe d th e m t o s t ay a t 10 ,0 00. A rri vin g in G oose B ay, L a bra do r, th e p il o ts were trea te d to quit e a cel e br a ti o n by th e loca l po pUl a tion as th ey e nj oyed a d ay o ff fro m the ir trave ls.

Fl ying across Ca nada, the Fairch ild m e rril y c hu gged a lo ng as th e p a ir a pp roac hed no rmal civilizatio n aga in , making stops at Bykema and O shawa wh e r e th e loca l E AA C h a pt e r s e nt e rt a in e d th e two pilot s. F r o m To r o nt o ' s Is la nd Airp o rt , th e Fa irch ild was fl ow n to Ni aga ra a nd then to Lake Huro n fo r U. S. C ustoms in spection. R at he r th a n cross La ke Mi c hi ga n , th e t w o e le ct ed t o fl y aro und the so uth end o f the la ke and la n d a t C hi cago H e ig ht s , I L. " W e do n't mind fl yi ng over salt wa te r, bu t we do n' t like to fl y over fres h wa ter! " ex pl ain ed Chalki e with a smile.

A rath e r tri cky cross wind la nd in g was made at Chicago 's Miegs Field in order to take pictures of the Fa irchild wi t h t h e C hicago sky lin e i n th e backgro und. Besides, the loca l people

treated the pair as celebri ties and when you a re the subj ec t o f a ce le brati o n, why not partake? A short fligh t up the lakefront and on to Fond du Lac, WI on Tuesday a llowed th e pre p arati ons to begin fo r the fin al esco rted tri p to O shkosh o n Wedn esday.

With a n es co rt of E d W eg n e r 's bright re d Range r powe red Fa irchild 24 and C harlie B e ll' s bri g ht ye ll o w Warn e r Fairchild 24, th e trio headed for O s h kos h a t 9 a. m . in tr a il form a ti on. Th e b ea uti f ul blu e sky see m ed t o a lm os t acce nt th e " W e lc o m e" as C h a lki e a nd P e t e r brou g ht ZS - VWO int o th e hu ge gath e rin g a t O shk osh with a pe rfect landing o n Run way 18. T he recepti on co mmitt ee includ e d To m a nd P a ul Po be rez ny amid a h ost of othe rs and Chalkie a nd Pete r we re overwhe lmed .

Th e rece ption , th e wa rmth an d th e fee lin g o f ca m e r a d e ri e w as m ost humbling accordin g to Chalkie. " Yo u soon fo rge t a ll th e h a rd s hip s, even tho ugh yo ur back side ge ts num b! " T he first ite m of business: Send a postcard from O shkosh to the D CA in South Af ric a say in g thr ee wo rd s 足 " W E M A D E IT!" Congratul atio ns a re in orde r for a p air of rea l EAA people - C h a lk ie St obba rt a nd P e t er H e n gs t - for ma kin g th e fli ght of a life tim e, 98 14 n a uti ca l m il es fro m G r an d Ce n tra l T e rmin a l, So uth A fri ca to O shkos h, Wi sconsin in 125 h o urs of fly ing time.

T he n a me o f the fli ght: EAA Chapte r 322 Exp ress. ...

(Above) The flying business end of a cabin class executive airplane of 1938 - Jack Goodn ight's Waco ZVN-8.

(Right) Jack's wife Betty color coordinated the interior work to match the exterior colors of Daytona Wh ite and Boston Maroon.

18 JANUARY 1993

position when he enters it and remains so throughout the periods of take-off and landing run. " One other feature set the N model apart from it's Waco brethren . The Waco N was the only Waco cabin model to have flaps on all four wings, added to help make the ai rplane one of the easiest to handle air足 planes of its time.

Serial N u mber 5107 completed the man ufactur ing process at the Waco factory on April 29 , 1938, and was delivered to Charles Lontz of Richmond, Indiana. The airplane then went to Danville. Virginia , where it was owned by a Dr. Langsley un足 til his passing in 1959. Fred Simmons of Pol kville, North Carolina bought the Waco from the doctor ' s estate , and he started restoring t he airplane. He got as far as cove ring the wings, but then the project was halted. It would wait another 31 years before Jack Goodnight would find out about it.

Jack Goodnight had restored a number of airplanes before - his family owns four Cubs, all of them built up by Jack. Two of

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Waco ZVN-8 restorer Jack Goodnight (center) is flanked by his son Douglas on the left and his friend Bill Bewley on the right during their visit to EAA OSHKOSH '92,

the Cubs are owned by Jack, and the other two are owned by Jack 's son, Douglas, and his so n-in-law , Steve Hinson. Each has bee n given th e gift of the Cub, with th e proviso that th e plane cannot be so ld.

Each is to pass th e ai rplan e on down th e line. That should be no problem for Dou­ glas' young son, J a mes Jack so n Good­ night. James is 2-'1/2, and already is an air­ plane enthusiast. He doesn 't just lik e any airpl a nes thou gh - when it com es to toy airplanes, it needs to have a propeller on it - no jets for him !

A smatt e rin g of Vagabonds. a PA - 12 Super Cruis er and o th e r Pip e r projects have come out of th e Goodni ght shop.

Jac k is fortunate th at his shop and 1100 fool airstrip are nex t to his hom e in Kan­ napo li s. NC. An airport "brat " as a kid.

Jack went to work for the late Strait Rin e­ ha rdt, working on co nv e rtin g Cubs and Stearmans from wartime use. As the post­ war mar ket slowed down. Strai ght began to do heating work, and Jac k also began to pick up th e ins an d o ut s of th at trade as well. The mon ey was not enough to live

on tho ugh, and Jack went to work at Ca n­ non Mill s to earn a livin g. He continued workin g on heatin g a nd ventilation sys­ tems on the side, building up that business until he co uld work at it full time. After working as a full time co ntrac tor, th e busi­ ness was built up to th e point Jack co uld dabble in airplanes aga in , which he did with a vengeance. The flying and airplane bug had bitten him hard in his youth , and his enthusiasm for aviation neve r left him.

Th e Waco N th a t Fred Simmons had in Polkvill e wa s eve ntuall y bou g ht by Mik e Steel. Mik e knew that J ack e n ­ joyed reb uilding airpl anes, and he called Jack and told him he should com e loo k at the project.

Jack looked at the tri -gear Waco a nd lik ed what he sa w. It soo n was fillin g th e Goodnight workshop. wh ere Jack and his son Do uglas, as well as a number of Jac k's friends would pitch in during the winte r of 1991-1992 to rebuild the Waco. Jack 's air­ pl a ne reb uildin g friends included Ba rr y Dishman. John Raidenhour. Ferrell James.

Arlen Colberg, and Bill Bewley.

Spending a ll his avai lab le time. Jack and hi s crew orga nized and restored the Waco ZVN-8 in a relatively short period of time . The time frame is eve n more im­ pressiv e when you see the grea t looking results of their labor. Wi th a goal of bring­ in g it to EAA O shkos h ' 92, the fellows knew what they had to attain. and the pro­ ject was attacked with gusto. Fortun ately, the structure was in excell e nt shape - the weld ed stee l tubing fuselage needed only one small section replaced, and only three areas required replacement of wood.

Th e original woode n fairing structure around th e tubular fu se lage was very in­ teresting to Jack. "All of the streamlining woodwork on the fus elage is ti ed to the fus elage by string. None of it is bolted to it," he explained.

Th e fab ric coverin g acts as a tub e to hold th e stringers in place on th e formers , and each stringer is ti ed to ea ch form er with polyester rib lacing cord. It makes for a very effect ive, light structure. Instead of boltin g to a welded-on g usse t, th e cord keeps everything in place. and helps keep the weight of the installation down.

Covering the airplan e with a li ght er mod e rn fa bric also mad e it possibl e to have an airplane lighte r th an when it was first delive red. Repl acing the plate glass in

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

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the windows with plexiglass also shaved quite a few pounds (nearly 75!). When first built by Waco in 1938, Jack's Waco weighed 2463 Ibs. Eliminating the mag­ nesium flare dispenser and the auxiliary power system also took off unneeded weight. After the restoration was com­ pleted , the airplane tipped the sca les at just over 2200, 250 pounds lighter!

Paying careful attention to details also helped keep the weight down - none of the bolts on the airplane have more than one washer; each bolt was matched to its location , so that no extra steel was added to the airframe.

The wheels were converted to the Cleveland wheels and brakes , and th e electrical system was redesigned to b e safer, without always-powered wires run­ ning a ll over the airframe (sometimes re­ ferred to as a " hot system ").

Other than the electrical system , Jack is very impressed with the engineering don e

by Waco during the 1930s. "... it's simple, sound aircraft engineering," he said.

One characteristic of the Waco J ac k really e njoys is the ease with which the 'N' model can be landed. "The airplane flies very stable , and it 's the best landing airplane I've ever had. The fellas that fly it with me have also said that it's th e best landing airplane th ey've landed . These are all air­ lin e t ypes, three of them, and th ey're thrilled with the way th e airplane flies."

The only problem encountered 20 JANUARY 1993

with the tricycle landing gear has been some nosewheel shimmy. A pair of 850xlO's are mounted on th e main wheels, with a large 750xJO tire on the nose gear.

When first designed, the large tires, it was felt, were needed to handle any type of field the ' N' model might encounter.

With excell ent short fie ld performance, the Waco Cabin models were often called upon to land in relatively short field, and often the terrain was not the smoothest.

A large set of wheels and tires, coup led with good shock absorption in the landing gear, allowed the strong cabin model Wa­ cos to do the job when called upon.

Unfortunately, when they flew the air­ plane over to the nearby airport in Salis­ bury, NC to load up for the trip to EAA OSHKOSH '92, th e nosewheel vibrated so badly that it damaged the nosewheel fairing, and they had to remove it from th e airplane. Jack fee ls that th e shimmy problem is related to th e geo metry of the nose gear structure, but th a t so me of the problem can be solved by tightening up the tolerances in the installation. Ac­ cording to Jack, Waco ev idently had some difficulty with th e nosewhee l con­ figuration, but it was neve r considered a

major problem.

The interior of the airplane is com­ pleted in a beautiful cream broadcloth , carefully matched to the outside color scheme of D ay tona White and Boston Maroon by Jack 's wife , Betty. J ac k says he depends on Betty for her guidance and taste when it came to the selection of color and trim for the Waco - th e basic design was Jack 's, but the final details were approved by Betty.

The instrume nt panel features a num­ ber of original instruments, as well as th e addition of a few newer gages to help cope with the modern world. A short stack of mod e rn radios also allows the airplane to be flown most anywhere Jack and his compatriots wish to go.

Waco was known for the fine details they included in th e designs of their air­ planes - exce lle nt cabin ventilation , indi­ rec t lightin g for the in s trument panel , and a simple but kind gest ure to th e pas­ senger si tting in th e right forward seat - a pair of foldin g rudder pedals , allowing them a few extra inches in legroom. Ah, the luxuryl After seeing his gra ndfather fix up th e Waco to its pristine show condition, little g rand so n James is very im­ pressed - he is convinced " My gra ndpa can fix anything!"

J ames , not only can your grandpa fix anything. he does it very neat ly - you' re ri ght on th e mon ey to be so proud. Jack Goodnight has done good! ...

WHAT OUR. MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - by Norm Petersen

Jim Lefevre's

Piper J-3 Cub, N98035

A tr o phy winn e r a t O s hk os h a nd o th e r fl y-in s o ver t he yea rs, thi s ve ry ni ce C ub , N98035 , SI N 18 182 ,

m o unted o n a se t of ra re J aco bs s ki s, is ow n e d b y Jim L e fev r e (EAA 22789 1, A IC 9586) o f Gree n Bay, WI. Jim h as o wn e d th e Cub fo r n ea rl y twe nt y yea rs with the las t re build fin ­ is he d in 1984 . The J acobs s ki s, whic h

we re built in Yipsil a nti , MI , o ri g ina ll y h a d w oo d e n b o tt o m s, but Jim r e ­ pl a ce d th e m with a luminum botto m s a nd h as used th e m for yea rs . Thi s photo was take n a t John H a tz's 1986 skipla ne fl y-in a t G le ason , WI.

Marv Vandenheuval's

Taylorcraft D CO-65

Pa rked next to the pine trees at Brod­ head, WI is Taylo rcra ft DCO-65 , N61807 , SI N 5760, mo unt e d o n a se t of Fe de ra l A1500 ski s a nd fl own by Ma rv Va nd e n­ he uva l (EAA 25842) of Milwa ukee , WI. Ma r v, who a nswe rs to th e nickn a me "Murph " , is a regular attendee at the f1y­ in s a ro und Wi sco nsin on wh ee ls in t he summer and ski s in the winter. The 1943 ta nd e m T ay lo rcra ft is kep t in e xce ll e nt co ndition with its yell ow and brown paint sch e me a lways po li shed a nd th e en tire airplane displaying lots of TLC. It seems that whe neve r Murph ste ps o ut of the T­ Craft , he is always smiling, which lets yo u kn o w he re ally e nj o ys fl yin g th e 65 hp tandem, be it wheels or skis.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - by Norm Petersen

Ted Davis' J-3 Cub, N30719 The good-looking man in front of the Cub is Ted Davis (EAA 89935, A/C 12403) of Brodhead, WI and the J-3 Cub , N30719 , SIN 5068. is a wood spar model with an 85 hp Continental and a wood prop. Mounted on a set of Federal A 1500 skis , the Cub really comes alive when the throttle is opened. Ted has used the Cub for instruction on wheels and skis. Since this photo was taken , the Cub has been sold to Bernie Hanni­ gan at Lake Geneva , WI.

Ron Harvey's

Piper J-4 Cub Coupe,

N26700

This very nice Piper J-4 Cub Coupe , N26700 , SI N 4­ 864, mounted on a set of Federal A 1500 sk is , is the pride and joy of Ron Harvey (EAA 56688) of Hor­ tonville, WI. Powered with a Continental A 75 engine of 75 hp. the J -4 performs very nicely on wheels and skis.

Sharp-eyed readers will spot the welded-on float fittings that Ron installed on the low er longerons before re­ covering the pretty side-by­ side Coupe.

,

'I

WeedenlDavis

Pietenpol Aircamper,

NX98WD

This rather elegant looking Pietenpol Aircamper, NX98WD, SI N WD-l , mounted on a set of Federal SC-J skis, was con­ structed by Dick Weeden (EAA 30164) and Ted Davis (EAA 89935) of Brodhead, WI. Fin­ ished in June, 1989, the Pieten­ pol has accummulated over 270 hours to date. Powered with a 70 hp LeBlond five-cylinder ra­ dial engine , the tandem home­ built will handle two large peo­ ple very nicely, especially in the cold air of winter! ....

eASS IT TO

--lJ

An information exchange column with input from our readers.

Dear Buck,

by Buck Hilbert

(EM 21, N C 5) P.O. Box 424

Union , IL 60180

Dear Buck , Th e e ncl osed photo is in response to yo ur " Pass it to Buck" column in the Jul y ' 92 iss ue of Vintage A irpl a ne. Y es!

There a re st ill people th at "s tack" air­ pl a nes to store th e m. Thi s photo w as ta ke n o n July 14 , ]992 at th e Hoffman Flying Service ha nga r at H a rr y Brown e A irpo rt. Saginaw, Ml. Al "B ut ch" Hoff­ ma n, J I'. a nd his father , Al Hoffman , Sr. s tored a irpl a ne s in this mann e r a t th e J ames C le me nt s A irport a t Bay City.

Michigan during the '40s, '50s and ' 60s.

This particular Taylorcraft BC12D , 1946 model was being sto red while waiting the arri va l of its new owner, Dale Senn of Co­ coa , Florida. The prop a nd spinner were supported by a cradle o n the fl oo r.

I am se ndin g a co uple of photos that mayor may no t ki ck up a little nosta lgia in yo ur se lf and so m e of o ur r ea d ers.

These were tak e n by myse lf at a bout th e age of 12 or 13 - a nd it 's not too hard to te ll th a t photography was no t o ne of my ston g tale nts at th e time!

Th e year wa s possibly 1935 , a nd th e a irplan e was an o ld " Monoprep" own ed by my uncl e, Lyma n Smith. Powered by a 5 cylinder Velie e ngine. I th o ught this old " Mon oprep" was the ultim a te in s p o rt aircraft a t the time.

I do n' t know what becam e of th e a ir­ cra ft nor do I recall too ma ny other d e­ tail s on it , other th a n th e fac t that it was manufact ured b y th e Mon oco up e Co. Pe rh a ps so me of th e reade rs have m o re information on this than I.

My uncle , who wound up teachin g pi­ lots during WW II in T e xas , e ventu ally ran a n a irport (Sky-Haven), nea r Eau Claire, WI for a number of yea rs aft er the war. a nd teachin g ex -G. I. 's o n th e G. I. bill.

Ho pe this helps shed a little more light o n thi s no t t oo frequently see n Mono­ coupe model.

Yo urs Truly, Pa ul Spallees Eau Claire, WI AIC 13843

Hi Paul, Neat Pictur es!' Thank s Jar sharing them with all of us.

Over 10 you} Buck

Thanks fo r the memories, John C. Hicks A IC 14423 Pinconning, MI

Using a nose cradle can help you get a lot of junk, er, stuff besides an airplane in a hangar.

Paul Spallees, Eau Claire, WI , sent in t hese t wo view s of the Monoprep he shot when he was 12 or 13 years old.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

by George Hardie This month 's Myste ry Pl a ne should bring many re plies. It is a typica l Golde n A ge airpl a n e a nd should brin g back me mori es to ma ny re ad e rs. Th e photo was submitted by Owen Billman o f May­ fi e ld , Ne w Yo rk . Answe rs will be pub­ lished in th e A pril , 1993 iss ue o f VIN­ TAGE AIRPLANE. Deadlin e for that issue is February 20, 1993.

The Oct obe r Mys te ry Pl a ne re mains somewhat o f a mys te ry. The pho to ap­ peared in the book "Cradle o f Ame rican A viation " by Ke n Beatty , a n acco unt of the history of College Park a irport, out­ sid e of Washin gt o n, D .C. Th e ca ption with the photo credited the design to the compan y "w hi c h built th e E rcoup e" , with Don Be rlin e r as designer. No con­ firm a tion of thi s cl a im has bee n found .

May b e som eo ne out th e re ca n s h e d more light o n thi s puzzle.

C ha rl ey Hayes o f Pa rk Fo res t , IL th ought it was th e airpl a ne built by stu­ de nt s at the Boe in g Schoo l of Ae ro na u­ tics, with Rudy Paulic as designer. Robert Durr of Escondido, CA thought it was the one built by students at the Pasade na Ju ­ ni or Coll ege in 1938-39 . We' re ho pin g th at someo ne ca n clear up th ese co nflict­ ing claims. This onl y illustrates the diffi­ culty of researching these obscure aircraft.

A PRIL MYSTE RY PLA NE SOLV ED Th e Myst e ry Pl a ne from th e April , 1992 issue has fin all y been revea led.

A no th e r vie w o f th e sa me a irpl a ne, was ta ke n by Di ck O sbo rn e, Co lo ra d o Sprin gs, CO wh o sent in th e ph o to re­ produce d on th e o pposite page. H e ex­ pl ains: "Th e photo was made whil e J was in high school in 1928- 1929. It was ta ke n at the Cheyenne, Wyoming Municipal A ir­ p o rt , e le vati o n 6, 0 96 fe et a b ove sea

leve l. The ide nti ficatio n number o n the rudd e r is e ithe r 565 or 5651. r ded uce from th e hi gh as pec t rat io win g th at it was a low- powered d esign, possibly fo r th e high a ltitude o f the Wes t, a lm ost a low-powe red glider. T his pla ne must be a o ne -of-a -kind , maybe by o ne of o u r earl y homebuilders. I hope this will he lp in its eventual identi fication. " EA A 's ace Libra ri an , D e nnis P arks . co n tac te d th e Na t ion a l A ir a nd Space Mu se um 's D a n H agedo rn , a nd he was able to trace the earl y regis tration n um­

Don Berliner's?

be r. D a n writ es HI ch e ck e d th e d a t a base we ha ve bee n con stru ctin g o n th e 1927 -1 929 Air T ra nsportati o n registra­ ti ons e ntries a nd sure e nou gh, the issue o f 9 Jun e 1928 sho ws [ 0 # 5651 reg is ­ tere d as the All e n Bip la ne , powe red by a Wri g ht M o re ho use e n g in e . It was o wn e d b y E dmund F. A ll e n of U t a h , whi ch wou ld p ut it in t he ri ght pa rt of the country at the ri ght tim e. I fee l sure that this is our airplane." (Jack Cox and I wo nder if this is th e sam e Eddie A llen of Boeing (est pilot fa m e? - H G F) A t first, a few me mbe rs th o ught th e airpl ane might be a Hawker Cygne t, but that was ha rd to confirm. Peter Bo we rs was kind e nou gh to se nd alo ng a photo of a Cygnet th at still exists. By compar­ ing it with the two pho tos of Mr. A lle n's bipla ne , yo u ca n see the diffe re nces be ­ t wee n th e Cyg ne t a nd th e A ll e n m a ­ chin e. You ca n see th at the tail surfa ce shap e s a re differ e nt on th e C yg ne t, as we ll as the ca bane struts, which are two p a ir of box ce ll strut s on th e Cyg ne t , whil e th e A ll e n bip la ne ha s a p a ir o f " V " strut s for th e ca ba ne . Th e A ll e n

Not our April mystery plane-the Hawker Cygnet.

al so has aile rons o n the lowe r wing o nly, whi le the Cygne t has ail e rons on all fo ur wings.

It too k a bit o f di gging, but tha nks to a sha rp- eye d member, a no the r o bscure a ircra ft fro m th e pas t has bee n id e nti­ fi e d . Th a nk s t o a ll th e me mb e rs w ho

ori g in a ll y se nt in re p lies to th e A p ril Mystery Pl ane, as we ll as Dick O sborne, P e t e r B o we rs and th e S mithsonian ' s Dan H agedo rn , who braved a mountain of re mode ling dust in the upstairs office area o f th e Air and Sp a ce Mu se um to track this o ne down. Thanks to all ! ...

The April mystery plane has now been unmasked-it is the Allen Biplane, constructed during the late 1920's.

The Allen Biplane, as captured on film by a young Dick Osborne in 1928 or 1929.

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is VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

WELCOME

NEW MEMBERS

Richa rd Alegre Santa Pa ula , CA La M esa, CA William C. Alle n John A. Anson Albuque rque , NM Mike J. Anspach Shippe nsburg, P A Pea rl a nd , TX C raig Arnold J . Sh e rwood A shton Onta ri o , Canada Al Ball Santa Pa ula , CA Norman Ba rte ls Jr. Apple Va lle y, MN Peggy J . Baty Columbia , IL Brad Bea ne r Nobl esville, IN Paul R . Beck Va le nci a, C A Bob L. Bonde Las Vegas, NV Bre nt D . Boon Louisville, KY Z ack R. Bowe n Robin sville , NJ E dward L. Brady H o nolulu, HI D av id Bra nd Toronto , Ca nad a Rod J. Bridge Ore m, UT Patrick Brockway Arca ta , CA G. E. Burgly New Ke nsingto n, PA Fred H. Clapp Me mphi s, MO John W. Cliffo rd Ste rlin g. VA Ralph Cordle Jr. Pa lme tto, GA G eorge W Cottrill L adue, MO Clark Crawfo rd Hansville, W A David D a rbyshire Si e rra Madre, CA Ke n Dixon Mi a mi , FL Gibby D o mbroski e Ce nte rville , OH Jose A . D o minguez Virgini a Beach, V A John Dona ldson Orilli a ,C anada Walter S. D o ughe rty Stone Mo unta in , GA G eorge T. Dunn Brockpo rt, NY Stephe n A Edwards Longvi ew, WA Joseph Virgil Elliott Cobington , IN Larry Ern ewe in Inne rKip, Ontari o, Ca nada Pa ul H . Fairchild Ancho rage, AK J oseph S. Field Kingma n, AZ Lawrence Fil e ne r Albeque rque , NM Wa yne Fo lsom Cha mpaign , IL Bethpage, NY Carl Gie rsbach John E Gl aze r Le wisburg, WV Tony Green Mo rtdal e, NSW, Australia William Gressinge r Sebas ti an, FL Robert E . Griffin Gree nwood , AR Frank T. H agney Nashua, NH G ary H amm Germ antown , OH Mark Ha rrin gto n H e witt , NJ Ca rl J. Hartke Beaufo rt, SC Donald Ha rvey Mt Vern o n, OH Grange r H a ugh Fa llbrook, CA Ma rk H e iinge Auro ra , OR T ed Herlihy Fa llbrook, CA 26 JANUARY 1993

Wern e r Heye Coppenbruegge, Ge rm a ny E dw a rd C. H o ffman Jr. T a rpon Springs, FL Michae l E . Howe ll Hamilto n, OH Sta nley W . Hubba rd Wichita, KS C urtis Hughes Colorado Springs, C O Juli a n Courte nay Hunt Orange P ark, FL Al a n La Brie re Ft. J o nes , C A R e mo La nfra nchi Sunn yvale, CA Bille rica, MA Ro be rt W. L ee J a mes W. Loolo ia n Arvin , C A Westo n, CT Pe te r Mahr Lubbock, TX D a rryl Mark owski W ylie Mason Anchorage, A K Ro be rt Way ne McCoy Colorado Springs, C O Kalispe ll , MT R o d McLean G e ne W. McMill e n D a le , OK Al a n P. Mckeen Live rpool, NY Gle nn O. Mitte lstadt Tryo n, NC Piscataway, NJ J oseph A. Mo llica Sandy Spring, MD J . Le wis Moore Ma rk W Morrison Bloomingd ale, IL F ra nk Thom as Mo rton Jr. M obil e , AL D e nnis L. Murr Hibbing, MN H . P. Mye rs Smithville , MO D a ll as D . Ne lson E dm o nto n, Alberta,Ca nada Bruce 1. Ol son St Croix Fa lls, WI Fra nk M. Pavliga Rootstown , OH J o hn Pe ntick Thunde r Bay,Ca nada J o hn Price Grapevine , TX P. Cart e r Rise New Yo rk , NY Lesli e Sargent Ewa Beach, HI Cha rl es M Schlosse r Milto na , MN Ro be rt Schmidl e Sr. Ne wtown , CT D a nn y Si e ki e rski Philade lphia , PA Michae l E . Smith E I Re no, OK J e rry R. Stephe nson Zanesvill e , IN Wilsonvill e, OR J a rl Von Strasse r Ro be rt H . Suttie Ka nta, Onta ri o, Ca nad a D o nald B. Swo rd Woo dst ock, IL Ca rl R. Toltz Medfo rd , MA Phillip Ush e r Sydney, NSW, Australi a Waco 4 Project, c/o William La ufer Troy, OH Victo r Wed e l Washingto n, IA Fre de rick P. Wo ll Clifton Pa rk , NY CliffWood Boulder, C O Ge ra rd H Z a npe lt R ysenhout , Ne the rla nds Oma ha , N E Michael Zimme r

MEMBERSHIP

INFORMATION

EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is $35.00 for one year, including 12 issues of Sport Aviation.

Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20.00 annually. Family membership is available for an additional $10.00 annually. All major credit cards accepted for membership.

(FAX (414) 426-4873.

ANTIQUE/CLASSICS EAA Member- $20.00. Includes one year membership in EAA Antique!C/assic Division. 12 monthly issues of Vintage Airplane and membership card.

Applicant must be a current EAA member and must give EAA membership number.

Non-EAA Member- $30.00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique! Classic Division. 12 monthly issues of Vintage Airplane, one year membership in the EAA and separate membership cards. Sport Aviation not included.

lAC Membership in the International Aerobatic Club, Inc. is $30.00 annual/y which includes 12 issues of Sport Aerobatics. All lAC members are required to be members of EAA.

WARBIRDS Membership in the Warbirds of America, Inc. is $30.00 per year, which includes a subscription to Warbirds. Warbird members are required to be members of EAA.

EAA EXPERIMENTER

EAA membership and EAA EXPERI足 MENTER magazine is available for $28.00 per year (Sport Aviation not included). Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER for $18.00 per year.

FOREIGN

MEMBERSHIPS

Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dol/ars. address:

EAA AVIATION CENTER

P.O.BOX 3086

OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086

PHONE (414) 426-4800

FAX (414) 426-4828

OFFICE HOURS:

8:15-5:00 MON.-FRI.

1-800-322-2412

~-~

.. '-.,...

The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of information only and does not constitute approval, sponsorship, involvement, control or direction of any event (fly-in, seminars, fly market, etc .) listed. Please send the information to EAA, Att: Golda Cox, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh , WI 54903-3086. Information should be received four months prior to the event date.

J AN. 10 - SEBRING, FL - South Florida Seaplane Fly- In. Lak e J ack­ son (SE corner). 305/421-8917.

JAN. 23 - OSHKOSH, WI - EAA Air Adventure Museum Cockpit Climb. 414/426-4800.

J AN. 27 - P AL- WAUK EE, IL­ Pal-Waukee Airport Pilot s Assn.

General Meeting. 312/853-3550.

FE B. 7 - OSHKOSH , WI - EAA Air Adventure Museum - C h a rl es Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis , a discussion by Verne Jobst. 414/426­ 4800.

FEB. 7 - FT. MYERS, FL - EAA Chapter 66 Pancake Breakfast Fly- In , Page Field. 813 /947-1430.

FEB. 12 - PAL-WAUKE E, IL­ Pal-Waukee Airport Pilot s Assn .

Valentine's Day Party. 312/853-3550.

FEB. 13 - LEESBURG, FL - EAA C hapter 534 Fly- In /Drive- ln Break­ fast /Lunch. 9041360-0293 .

FEB. 20 - OSHKOSH , WI - EAA Air Adventure Museum - "Choosing a Ho mebuilt Aircraft Design ". A dis­ cussion by Ben Owen. 414/426-4800.

FEB. 20 - ROCH ES TER, MI ­ 36th Annual Amelia Earhart Lun­ cheon. 3131781-6488.

MARCH 4-6 - ST. LOUIS , MO ­ 4th Annual National Women in Avia­ tion Conference. Sponsored by Pa rks College. 618/337-7575.

MARCH 7 - FT. MYERS, FL ­ EAA C hapter 66 Pancake Breakfast Fly-In. Page Field. 8131947-1430.

MARCH 9 - OSHKOSH, WI - EAA Air Adve nture Museum - Aviation Re­ search Seminar by Dennis Parks, Direc­ tor of th e EAA Boein g Aeronautica l Library. 414/426-4800.

MARCH 19-21- CHANDLER, AZ - 10t h Annual Shamrock Air D er b y Cross Cou ntry Speed R ace (AZ 99s).

602/961-1172.

MARCH 20 - OSHKOSH , WI ­ EAA Air Adventure Museum. Women in Aviatio n presented by the 99s.

414/426-4800.

MARCH 20 - PUNTA GORDA, FL - EAA Chapter 565 Fly-In Breakfast.

Charlotte Co. 8131575- 1471.

MARCH 24 - PAL-WAUKEE, IL­ Pal-Wa ukee Airport Pilots Assn. Gen­ e ra l Mee ting. 312/853-3550.

MARCH 27 - OSHKOSH, WI ­ EAA Air Adventure Mu se um ' s 6th Annua l Model Airplane Show.

414/426-4800.

APRIL 4 - FT. MYERS, FL - EAA C hapte r 66 Pancake Breakfas t Fly- In , Page Field. 8131947-1430.

APRIL 17 - OSHKOSH, WI - EAA Air Advent ure Mus e um - Wyli e Post a nd th e Win chester 2 1 se min ar.

414/426-4800.

APRIL 18 - 24, 1993 - LAKE­ LAND , FL - " The Gift Of F light " .

The 19th A nnu a l Sun ' n Fun EAA F ly- In and Int e rnational Aviation Co nv e ntion . Lake land-Lind er R e­ gio na l Airport. For information ca ll 813/644-243 1.

APRIL 24 - GLOBE, AZ - Holy Angels Fly- In . Globe San Carlos (Cutter A irp ort). 602/425-5703 , 425/5979 .

APRIL 25 - SPRINGFIELD, IL ­ 2nd Annual Fly- In Drive- In Break­ fast. Capita l A irport. 217/483-320l.

APRIL 30 - MA Y 2 - BURLING­ TON , NC -Spring EAA Fly-In for Antique and Classic aeroplanes . Tro­ phies in a ll categories; vintage avia­ tion fi lms; good EAA fe llowship. All welcome. Contact: R . Bottom , 103 Powhatan Pkwy , Hampton, V A 23661.

APRIL 30-MA Y 2 - CLEVE­ LAND, OH - 9th Annual Air Racing History Symposium. 216/255-8100.

JUNE 26-27 - GREELEY, CO ­ EAA Rock y Mountain Fl y- In. 3031798-6086.

JULY 7-11- ARLINGTON, WA­ Northwest EAA Fly- In . 206 /435­ 5857.

THURSDA Y JULY 29 WEDNESDA Y AUGUST 4,1993­ OSHKOSH, WI - 41st Annua l EAA F ly- In and Sport Aviation Conven­ tion. Wittm a n R eg ion a l Airport.

Con tact John Burton, P.O. Box 3086, O s hk osh , WI 54904-3086. Call 414/426-4800 for more information.

ITS NEVER TOO EARLY TO MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND!

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27

The ~.

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--~

-,A!LORCRAFG

Story

b, Ch... ll·l~1.

The Taylorcraft story

by Chet Peek

@3 ~

The complete story of the Taylorcraft Company and its airplanes are detailed in this new book.

C.G. Taylor can truly be called the father of the light airplane industry. At one time Taylor's two famous designs comprised half of the world's light aircraft fleet.

The story opens with the 1935 "splif with W.T. Piper. Taylor designed a new plane, started a new company and succeeded against almost insurmountable odds. Detailsof the original design, the difficult search for financial backing and production facilities are detailed and illustrated with numerous original factory photos.

Growth and prosperity are recounted, then wartime liaison production, and the post-war boom & bust.

The author, Chet Peek, captures the spirit of the early aviation scene with color and clarity.

Foreword to book written by Bob Taylor, 80n of C.G. Taylor. Epilogue to book written by Duke Iden , son of "Duke" lden, long-time Taylorcraft Sales Manager. Book includes several 3-view drawings.

Chronological order and covers all major events, new models, ownership changes, from the start up to the !

8112" 111", 236 pages, 425 photos, #108·A - Hardbound $54.95 #108 - Softbound $24.95

Roosevelt Field world'S Premier Airport

ROOSEVELT FIELD World's Premier Airport by JoahUISlol! &

W,lIlamCllmp

by Joshua StoH & William camp, Curators, Long Island Cradle of Aviation Museum

Roosevelt Field was the center of the aviation world in the '20s and '30s. When Lindbergh made Paris in 1927, he introduced to the world-the place of his departure-Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York. During aviation's Golden Age, crowds flocked to see Charles Lindbergh, Admiral Byrd, Bert Acosta, Elinor Smith, Jimmie Doolittle, Roscoe Tumer, Bert Balchen, Clarence Chamberlin, Amelia Earhart, Clyde Panghom, Ruth Elder, Ruth Nichols, and AI Williams. Roosevelt Field was more than an attraction or a stage for the dashing aviators; it was the premier showcase for demonstrations of flying skill or innovative design. Curtiss, Beech, Sikorsky, Bu melli , Bellanca, Fokker, Seversky, Grumman, and Waco all displayed their latest products. It was the capital of the air, the world's premier airport. Traced through forty years of uninterrupted aviation history: from Glenn Curtiss' arrival with his pusher biplane in 1909, through the closing of the field at the dawn of the Jet Age in 1951, then takes us through the 1970s when Roosevelt Field's last hangar was destroyed forsubsequentcommercial development. Extensively illustrated. Extensive & detailed text.

81/2"111",140 pages, 500+ photographs (most never befOre published), SOftbound, #107, $22.95

world1s Greatest Scale Airplane Drawings ~~--~~~====~=-~ Internationally Acclaimed SCale Drawings by Paul Matt

Now In a set of 2books

I ~ ,.

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\H-++-t+t-+

325 pages of scale drawings of 124 type airplanes are in- ~ . ' ...... , . "­ cluded in a set of two volumes. Each drawing is highly detailed ~- . ~f~~~ and is an accurate working print with all dimensions, specifica­ - • -­ ~ ~I-:\f\,:,r) _ - _ { ,,-l 'r' ' tions, airfoils, cross sections, templates, & color schemes in­ cluded. Drawings are part of the collection of the internationally acclaimed Historical Aviation Album by Paul Matt. Each book is 8 1/2' x 11', softbound and has 150+ pages per book. In addition to drawings, each book contains several detail photos. Includes drawings from Golden Age, WWI, WWII, Classic & Modern Eras,

Volume 1 cOlalns airplanes frolR Athrough G- #401, $24.95 Volume 2 cOlalns airplanes frOIR Hthrougll W­ #402, $24.95

11UlJ1leToUS•••

"

"magnificent drawings"

- Jeff Troy, Model Aviation Magazine

"really masterful ... we should each own a copy ofeach volume. " - Leo Opdycke, WWI Aero Magazine

"treasure trove of marvelous and beautifully detailed scale drawings."

-Kenn Rust, Skyways Magazine

V IS IO !\"S OF L l1S C O M R E T h e Ea rly }/car s

Visions of Luscombe- The Early Years by Jim zazas

When aviation was in its infancy, a new and affordable light airplane was makin~ its debut. It was neither another war surplus tandem seating biplane nor an underpowered mono­ plane. Those types were commonplace. Instead, this airplane was most unique ... side-by-side seating, an enclosed cabin, a sexy fuselage, responsive flight controls, a powerful power plant and a single wing.

What did Don Luscombe, this design's consummate promoter, call it? "Monocoupe'" clayton Folkerts, Jerry Lederer, Fred Knack and Ivan Driggs made the Monocoupe name synonymous with gracefu styling and sprightly performance.

Other designs included the four-place "Monocoach," the open-cockpit "Monoprep" and the swift"Monosport."

Some evolved into sleek and powerful racers.

Don Luscombe, who was he? A charismatic promoter, true, but he was a visionary. He anticipated correctly what the market wanted and he endeavored to meet this demand. Though he never designed his airplanes, he 4iilll~ii~ brought together the necessary engineers and skilled workers who could design and build his airplanes.

Don Luscombe's promotional efforts were aided by the many air racing and aerial derbies that were common in the '20s and '30s. Race pilots such as Roberts, Omlie, Quinby, Bowman , Klingensmith and Livingston became "heroes" and added to the aura of the Monocoupe legend.

Don Luscombe's Monocoupe work was comparatively brief, lasting only seven years. Market forces and corporate events compelled Don to pursue the means to mass-produce his airplanes. From 1933 through the next six years, Don Luscombe founded at least three other airplane companies that carried his name . He pursued his "mass produced, all-metal" visions with an unmatched enthusiasm. His factories produced stylish and robust airplanes with catchy names such as "Phantom," "Sprite," "Ninety," "Fifty," and "Sixty-five ." These new airplanes graced a wide array of promotional literature. Like the Monocoupe designs, the later designs offered class with performance.

In addition, Don Luscombe created a school to train airplane mechanics in the engineerin~ and construction of metal aircraft. The Luscombe School of Aeronautics was developed to meet a rapidly growing demand for individuals expenenced in the art of working on "ali-metal" airplanes.

Orders for Don Luscombe's airplanes flowed into the company, but it was the Luscombe Model 8 that truly fulfilled Don's goals of an affordable, mass produced, all -metal airplane for the private owner.

.

81/2" 111", 325 pages, 325 photos, 3·,l8w drawings, 6 color pages, #109·A - Hardbound $36.95, #109 - SOftbound $26.95

WACO - symbol of courage and Excellence

Volume 1, 1910 to 1925 by Fred Kobernuss . . . S'£ib!4r¥,g44m •

;§iYlIlb{l[ of Ql nU ntgl' 1I 11 11

Excl'llwl'l' Waco - Symbol of Courage and Excellence deals with the evolvement {?Tlmest producer of commercial aircraft during the 1920s and '30s. For example, in 1927 this company built 460 airplanes while \"Iun' f ' Boeing rolled out 25.

It details the founding of the Waco Aircraft Company and treats its growth in historical perspective by illuminating facts and figures that represent not only the contemporary competition to the men of Waco but also the general aviation climate of those embryonic years.

Only a handful were acquainted with the historical meaning of the 'Waco" acronym . Now the mystery which enshrouded the formative years of the company has been removed .

Painstaking research by the author, the late Fred Kobemuss, has cleared the ai rof prevalent conflicting information. Read the fascinating story of an aircraft company that had its own gravestone -long before its demise.

The author spent ten years researching and writing this work. The story is backed up by appropriate documentation . It is an amazing story - one that has not been told until now. Personalities include: George E. "Buck" Weaver, Charlie Meyers, Ray "Bucf' Vaughan , Hattie Meyers, Elwood H. "Sam" Junkin, Clayton Brukner and many more.

In the case of the Waco Aircraft Company's founding there were two teams of two men each who were responsible. Messrs. Weaver and Meyers formed one team ; Messrs. Junkin and Bruknerthe other. Their interpersonal relationships are delved into extensively. Includes the inside storyof the development ofthe Ohio Aviation School, the DBJ (Deuther, Brukner, Junkin) Aeroplane Co., the Weaver Aircraft Co., and the Advance Aircraft Co. Comprehensive "Waco" history from 1910 to 1925. Soon-to-be-released Volume 2 will include "Waco" history from 1925 through the 1930s to include the Taperwing.

81/2" Iii", 190 pages, 150+ photos, 3·,lew drawings, #106·A - Hardbound $34.95, #106 - SOftbound $24.95

"Don't miss the new Waco history book... a masterpiece" - Waco Historical Society - June, 1992

waco Magazines of the International Waco Association

The International Waco Association was formed nearly two years ago to provide Waco enthusiasts a forum in the form of a quality 28 page quarterly magazine. The magazine features stories from leading Waco historians, Waco owners and Waco enthusiasts. Each issue is packed with extensive text, numerous photographs, drawings, illustrations, and helpful and historical information regarding various Waco models and Waco personalities, past and present.

In order to subscribe to receive future quarterly Waco 28 page magazines, you must join the International Waco Association . New members' subscriptions will start with the next issue and your membership fees will be good for the next four quarterly issues. Membership dues are: $25.00 for Regular Membership or $50.00 for Charter Membership. Individual past issues may be obtained for per issue fees of: $10.00 each for non­ members or $6.25 each for members. You may join the I.W.A. by sending dues to International Waco Association, P.O. Box 2065 - WACO, Terre

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The Vintage Trader, EAA Aviation Center, P.o. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-2591 .

Payment must accompany ad . VISA/MasterCard accepted.

AIRCRAFT: 1942 DC 65 - Tandem seating, TT 1200, TT on engine 1015, STOH 195, since complete restoration 195 hrs., real nice, $13,900 or trade for experimental. 419/394-4188. (1-1) '46 Aeronca Chief - 1500 TT, 400 SMOH . Recovered in '79, han­ gared, fresh annual. Pretty plane. $11,000. 913/528-3940, Dave.

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30 JANUARY 1993

GEE BEE, etc. - Super scale model plans (used for Benjamin's R-2).

Catalog $3.25, refundable. Vern Clements, 308 Palo Alto, Caldwell, 1083605. (c-4/93) 1930's Kollsman "Bubbleface" compass, have several, N.O.S., $225 each . Many other vintage items - 44-page catalog, $5. Jon Aldrich, Airport Box 706, Groveland, CA 95321,209/962-6121 . (c-12/92) Air Salvage of Arkansas - Dealing in aircraft and engine parts, hardware, Route 1, Box 8020, Mena, Arkansas 71953. Call Ron Otto, 501/394-1022 or FAX 501/394-7475 (Answer machine also) . (2/93-4) 20ct. DGA-15 Howard Flaps - very good condition, $40 each for entire lot, u-haul. 913/528-3940, Dave. (1/93-2) Antique and Classic wheel pants - Will custom build in fiberglass from original drawings, blueprints or photographs. Harbor Ultralights Products Co., 1326 Batey Place, Harbor City, CA 90710, 310/326­ 5609, FAX 310/530-2124. (c-10/93) Get closer to EAA, the big Convention and your airplane - This 2,200 sq . ft. three-bedroom ranch has a 36' x 42' "Cloud Nine" hangar in the background East of the north/south runway on Oshkosh's Wittman Airfield. $175,000. 414/233-6443. (u fn )

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