EDITORIAL STAFF Publisher
Tom Poberezny
July 1996
Editor-in-Chief
Jack Cox
Vol. 24, No.7
Editor
Henry G. Frautschy
Managing Editor
Golda Cox
CONTENTS
Art Director Mike Drucks
1 Straight & Levell
Assistant Art Director
Sara A. Otto
Espie "Butch" Joyce
Computer Graphic Specialists
Olivia L. Phillip Jennifer Larsen
2 AlC News/H .G. Frautschy
Advertising Mary Jones
3 AlC 25th Celebration
Associate Editor
Norm Petersen
5 AlC 25th Anniversary Part IV/Gene Chase 10 The First Airplane at EAA Oshkosh '70/ H.G. Frautschy
Feature Writer
Dennis Parks
Page 10
Editorial ASSistant isabelle Wiske
13 Aeronca 15AC Sedan/ H.G. Frautschy
EAA ANTIQUE/ CLASSIC DIVISION, INC. OFFICERS
17 Preiss's Cessna 195/ Norm Petersen 21 Type Club Notes/ Norm Petersen 23 Pass it to Buck! E.E. "Buck" Hilbert
Staff Photographers
Jim Koepnick Mike Steineke
Carl Schuppei Ken Lichtenburg
Page 17
24 Vintage Seaplanes/ Norm Petersen
President Espie ' Butch' Joyce P.O. Box 35584 Greensboro. NC 27425 910/ 393-0344 Secretary Steve Nesse 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea. MN 56007 507/ 373-1674
Vice-President George Daubner 2448 Lough Lone Hartford. WI 53027
414/ 673-5885
Treasurer
E.E. ' Buck' Hilbert
P.O. Box 424
Union. IL60180
815/923-459 1
DIRECTORS John Berendt 7645 Echo Paint Rd. Cannon Falls. MN 55009 507/ 263-2414 Gene Chase 2159 Carlton Rd. Oshkosh. WI 54904 414/231-5002
26 Calendar 28 Mystery Plane/ H.G. Frautschy 29 Welcome New Members
Phil Coulson
30 Vintage Trader Page 24 FRONT COVER . . . Vintage Airplane editor. H.G. Frautschy enjoys a fall aftemoon flight with E.E. ' Buck' Hilbert·s 1948 Aeronca 15AC Sedan NI048H. SI N 15AC-59. The Sedan was the last model airplane to carry the Aeronca name. before the factory tumed to subcontract work. This porticular example was restored by Paul and Pam Workman of Zanesville. OH. EM photo by Jim Koepnick. shot with a Canon EOS-In equipped with an 80-200 mm lens. 1/250 sec @f90n 100 ASA slide film. Piper Cub photo plane flown by Gene Chase. BACK COVER . .. During EM OSHKOSH. Captain John Preiss. College Stafton. TX and he new bride Beverly top the growing afternoon cumulus clouds with their award winning 1951 Cessna 195. The Preiss' Cessna was selected as the Reserve Grand Champion Classic at EM OSHKOSH '94. and was also selected as the ' Best Restored Classic over 165 hp' at Sun 'n Fun '96. EM photo by Phil High. shot with a Canon EOS-In equipped with an 80-200 mm lens. 1/1 25 sec @fl60n 100 ASAsiide film. Cessna 210 photo plane flown by Bruce Moore. Copyright © 1996 by the EM Antique/Classic Division Inc. All rights reserved. VINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EM 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. Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh, WlSCOI1Sin 5490t and at add~ional mailing offices. The membership rate for EM Antique/Classic Division. Inc. is $27.00 for current EM members for 12 month period of which $15.00 is for the publication of VINTAGEAIRPLANE. Membership is open to all 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 /lPO ADDRESSES - Please allow at least two months for deliv"'Y of VINTAGE AIRPlANE to foreign and /lPO addresses via surface mail. ADVERTISING - Antique/Classic Division does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising. We inv~e constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken. EDITORIAl POUCY: Readers are encouraged to subm~ 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: Ed~or. 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, EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DMSlON, INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB, WARBtRDS OF AMERICA are ® registered trademarks. TlIE EAA SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION and EAA ULTRALIGHT CONVENTION are trademarks of the above associations and their use by any person other than the above association is strictly prohiMed.
28415 Springbrook Dr. Lawton. MI 49065 616/624-6490 Charles Harris 7215 East 46th St. Tulsa. OK 74145 918/ 622-8400 Dale A. Gustafson 7724 Shady Hill Dr. Indianapolis. IN 46278 317/293-4430 Robert Ucktelg 1708 Bay Oaks Dr. Albert Lea. MN 56007 507/373-2922
Geoff Robison 1521 E. MacGregor Dr. New Haven. IN 46774
219/493-4724
Robert C. ' Bob' Brauer
9345 S. Hoyne
Chicago. IL 60620
312/779-2105
John S. Copeland 28-3 Williamsburg Ct. Shrewsbury. MA 01545 508/842-7867 Stan Gomoll 1042 90th Lone. NE Minneapolis. MN 55434 612/ 784-1172 Jeannie Hili P.O. Box 328 Harvard. IL 60033 815/943-7205 Robert D. ' Bob' Lumley 1265Soulh I 24th St. Brooklield. WI 53005 414/782-2633
Gene MorrIs 115C Steve Court. R.R. 2 Rocnoke. TX 76262 817/ 491-9110 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. WHtrnan 1904-1995
ADVISORS Joe DIckey 55 Oakey Av. Lawrenceburg. IN 47025 812/537-9354 Steve Krog 930 Tara HLE Hartford. WI 53027 414/966-7627
Roger GomoIt
3238 Vicoria SI. N
St Paul. MN 55126
612/484-2303
Dean RIchardson 6701 Colony Dr. Madison. WI 53717 608/833-129 1
STRAIGHT & LEVEL
by Espie "Butch" Joyce
I a m alread y packing ite ms to take with me to O shkosh '96. It is ha rd to be li eve th at I ha ve been a vo luntee r fo r over 21 yea rs. I ha ve to ld a number of fo lks th a t o ne o f my first jo bs was t o m a ke le m o na d e for th e p a rkin g vo lunt ee rs . I mu s t have bee n goo d a t d o ing this , o r no t so good , b eca use they moved me to a no the r a rea the next yea r as C lassic Judge. Af te r doing this fo r a numbe r of yea rs, I moved o n to o th e r du ti es. I ha ve serv ed as th e Antiqu e/Class ic Co nve ntion Man age m e n t C h a irm a n , a nd a g ain thi s y ea r will h a v e thi s r es p o n sibilit y a t O s hko s h ' 96 ; th e buck s t o p s h e r e, so to spea k . A s I h a ve in th e past , I will aga in lis t th e Chairme n wh o come unde r my manageme nt a rea fo r yo ur in formation. These C hairme n a re not listed in any o rd e r: Convention Management - Espie "Butch" Joyce 910/393-0344 AeroGram -
Bi ll Ma rcy 303/ 798-6086
Computer Operations - Ea rl Nickoles 708/381-11 62 Antique Awards - Dale Gustafson 317/293-4430 Anniversary 25th -
Bob Lickte ig 507/373-2922
Classic Awards - George York 41 9/529-4378 Construction and Maintenance - Sta n Go moll 612/784-1172 Contemporary Awards -
Dan Knutson 608/592-3712
Data Processing - Janet Ben nett 616/684-8813 Flight Line Safety - Phil Coul so n 616/624-6490 Safe Flying Seminars - Steve Krog 414/966-7627 Fly-Out - Bob Lumley 414/784-2633 Forums - John Berendt 507/263-24 14 Hall of Fame - Dea n Ri c hardson 608/257-8801
AlC Headquarters -
Ruth Coulson 616/624-6490
Interview Circle - Charl ie Harris 918/742-7311 Manpower - Anna Osborn Membership/Chapters - Bob Brauer 312/ 779-2 105 OX-5 Pioneers - Bob Wa llace 301 /686-9242 Parade ofFlight - Steve Nesse 507/373-1674 Parking and Safety - George Da ubner 414/673-5885
Participant Plaque - Jo hn Copeland 508/842 -7867 Photo - Jack McCa rthy 317/371-1290 A/C Picnic - Jea nnie Hill 815/943-7205
AIC Media-PR - jea nnie Hill 815/943 -7205 Security - Geoff Rob inso n 219/493-4724 Tour Tram - james LeFever 414/434-1 656 Type Club Headquarters - joe Dickey 812/537-9354 Volunteer Hostess - judi Wyrembeck 414/23 1-4487 Workshop - Geo rge Meade 414/926-2428 A s yo u ca n see th e re will be a numbe r of a reas th a t might be o f inte rest to you this year. Should yo u have a ny inte res t in a ny o f th ese activities, yo u mi ght want to give one of th ese C hairme n a call. We always try to ma ke yo ur stay with us e n joya ble , a nd sho uld you need any help o r ha ve any good sug ges ti o ns for us, co me by your Antique/Class ic H eadquarte rs and look us up. I am ge ttin g calls e ve ry d ay alm ost no w from pe ople who have some ve ry inte restin g aircra ft wh o will be bringing the m to O shk osh this year. This Conve ntio n looks as if it is sha ping up to be be tte r th a n e ve r. I get e xcite d a bo ut a lm ost eve ry thin g th a t goes o n durin g th e Co nve nti o n , but o ne a ctivit y th a t I a m lookin g fo rw a rd to this yea r is th e Sa fe Flying ses sio ns th a t th e A ntique/Class ic Divisio n will be co nducting o n F rid ay mo rning fro m 8:00 a. m. until 11:00 a .m ., and aga in o n Mo nd ay mo rnin g, same time, same pl ace. I wo uld like to e n co ur age yo u to a tt e nd th ese sessio ns to he lp yo u b eco m e a safe r av ia to r. These sessio ns will b e directed at o ur kin d of airpla nes a nd o ur kind of flyin g. I think yo u will find all of th e a ircr a ft judges havin g their h a nds full tr yin g t o fig ure ou t which o ne of th e a ircraft will rece ive th e bes t awa rd. I a m sure th a t all o f you have bee n made awa re of some of the accidents th a t have happe ned this year a t d iffe re nt e ve nts. I wa nt to as k each o f yo u to be e xtra ca uti o us th is yea r a nd keep yo ur trip to, yo ur s tay a t , a nd yo ur trip fro m O s hk os h '96 a safe o ne. I loo k fo rwa rd to see ing each of yo u this year a nd in th e f uture. T hi s year will b e o ur 25 th A nni ve rsary co nve nti o n ; as k a fri e nd to jo in us. Le t's a ll pull in t he sam e dire cti o n fo r th e good of av ia ti o n. R e m e mbe r we a re better togethe r. J oin us a nd have it all.
'*
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1
A/C NEWS
TYPE CLUB LISTINGS
Here are two updates to our Type Club list under the Organizations cate ______________________________________________________ gory:
compiled by H.G. Frautschy JOH N HALTERMAN AND BI LL WATSO N
PERISH IN MIDAIR COLLI SION
The antique aircraft world lost two of its most knowledgeable men during the National Biplane Association's Conven tion at Bartlesville, OK, June 1, 1996. While in the left hand traffic pattern for the north runway, John's 1931 Waco QCF-2 collided with Bill's 1928 Kreider Reisner KR-31. In the ensuing crashes, both John and Bill were killed, along with two passengers. Riding with John was Annette Delahay of Bartlesville, a local pilot and cable television personal ity. An active volunteer during the Bi plane Convention, Annette was an avia tion booster in the fullest sense. Bill's passenger, Rod Bogan, was the Safety and Environmental Dept. man ager for Phillips Petroleum Company, and the husband of Jill Bogan, manager of Phillips' Aviation Sales Dept. Rod, a private pilot, was getting his second bi plane ride when the accident occurred. John Halterman, (EAA 241635) of Creve Coeur, MO has long been ac knowledged as one of the finest antique aircraft restorers in the world. His hangar at Creve Coeur airport held the
(Above, right) Accomplished aircraft restorer John Halterman and his Waco QCF-2. It was the biplane he was flying when he and his passenger were involved in the mid-air collision. (Right) Bill Watson, retired corporate pilot and restorer of this extraordinary Kreider-Reisner KR-31. Both John, Bill and their two passen gers perished in the ensuing crashes.
2 JULY 1996
most wonderful of projects, but among his favorite works were the Wacos and Monocoupes he rebuilt. As mentioned in last months news, John had only re cently acquired the Type Certificate and drawings for the Monocoupe 90 A/AF/AL series of airplanes, and planned on building approved parts for those airplanes. Bill Watson, (EAA 837) of Collins ville, OK was a past president of AIC Chapter 10, and a retired corporate pilot who learned his craft in the Aeronca C-3 and progressed all the way up to the transoceanic Falcon 50 bizjet. Bill was most widely known in antique circles for his restoration of a KR-31 he found in a barn in Pennsylvania in the early 1970s. Selected as the AAA's Grand Champion at Blakesburg in 1979, tied with the Younkin Travel Air Mystery Ship, it was one of the most authentic restorations seen in many years. To the families and friends of Bill Watson, John Halterman , Rod Bogan and Annette Delahay we extend our sympathies.
Piper Aviation Museum Foundation Ginny Edmonston, Exec. Dir.
One Piper Way
Lock Haven, PA 17745-0052
717/748-8283
Fax 717/748-3790
Newsletter: Quarterly
Dues: $30.00 annually
internet: http://oak.kcsd.k12.pa.us/pam
Emai l : pam@oak.kcsd.k12.pa.us
Sentimental Journey to Cub Haven, Inc. E.J. "Doc" Conway, Fly-In Director P.O. Box J-3
Lock Haven, PA 17745-0496
717/893-4218
Newsletter: Quarterly
Dues: $10.00 annually
National Air Racing Group Betty Sherman NAG Treasurer 5508 7th Av, NW Seattle, WA 98107 Newsletter: Professional Air Racing Dues: $15, ($20 outside USA) payable to NAG, Inc.
N EW W X STANDARD REPORTS Just when you thought you nailed down the revised airspace classifica tions, the FAA has continued their re work of many rules and standards. Both the airspace reclassification and the "new" standards for aviation weather reporting have been mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organiza tion (ICAO), and are part of a world wide effort to make the reporting of avi ation weather consistent all over the globe. Canada has already adopted the new standards this past June 3, and the National Weather Service and Depart ment of Defense will also revise their reporting methods. The changes will be most noticeable
EAA ANTIQUE
CLASSIC DIVISION
25th ANNIVERSARY
AlC DIVISION 25th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION PARADE OF FLIGHT To help us celebrate the milestone of our 25th A nniversary, we are planning two Parade of Flight events at EAA OSHKOSH '96. The first will be on Thursday after noon, August 1, the opening day of the Convention. The second will be on Monday afternoon, August 5. We are looking for volunteers who wish to fly their airplanes in one of these events. Those participating in the event will be given a Parade of Flight patch, a Parade of Flight plaque and a baseball cap. We'd like advance registration for this event - if yo u have a nice example of an An tique, Classic or Contemporary aircraft and would like to participate, please con tact Steve Nesse, 2009 Highland, Albert Lea, MN 56007, phone 507/373-1674.
fach year at fAA OSHKOSH, the largest contingent of showplanes come from the Antique/Classic area, headquar tered at the A/C Red Barn, just south of the showcase West Ramp. The growth of this area is a compliment to the members of the Antique/Classic Division, who have encouraged education and preser vation for 25 years. The Division's his tory mirrors that of fAA's presence in Oshkosh. Antique airplanes had always been el igible for awards at fAA Conventions. By the late 1960s, those who owned such airplanes were requesting an area to park them together during the fly-in. The emergence of that idea neatly coincided with the move of the Convention from Rockford, IL to Oshkosh in 1970. An tique airplane owners organized to park the aircraft at that first fAA Oshkosh . That organization of vintage airplane en thusiasts grew until, in November 1971, the first bylaws of the fAA Antique/Clas sic Division were established. Since that time, the Antique/Classic
Division has been a major organizer of fAA activities. Division members have donated their time, talents and aircraft to many fAA initiatives, including the cur rent Young fagles program . That in volvement shows how aviation's heritage is also creating the interest in its future. As the Antique/Classic Division cele brates its 25th anniversary, it has sched uled a number of unique activities, many of them open to all aviation enthusiasts. Special guests and aviation pioneers have also been invited to participate in this celebration. The OX-5 Pioneers Tent, located just behind the Red Barn, is a great place to learn more about the his tory of early flight. You never know who you might meet - perhaps a living legend may be your guide to aviation's grand past. The Type Club tent, just south of the Red Barn, will be open throughout the Convention to welcome those interested in a particu lar type of airplane. The neighboring Antique/Classic Workshop offers Fly-In participants the chance to see actua l restoration taking place. In honor the Division 25th an niversary, even the Red Barn is get ting a face lift. You'll see many avi ation artifacts and displays creating a panorama of the Division past, present and future. This year, a new "video corner" features films The AlC Division's many members are of interest to many, including FAA administrator David Hinson (center), shown visiting with AlC of ficers E.E. "Buck" Hilbert (left) and Espie "Butch" Joyce.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (Be sure to check on the scheduling of all events at the NC Red Barn)
Thursday, August 1 12 :30 p.m.: Pa rade of Flight, Part I
Friday, August 2 10:00 a.m.: 25th Anniversary news conference, Red Barn
Saturday, August 3 7 a.m.: Briefing for Antique/Classic fly-out to Shawano, W I 8:00 a.m.-11 :00 a.m.
Safety Seminar, Theater in the Woods
Sunday, August 4 6:00 p.m.
Division Banquet/Picnic, Nature Cen
ter (tickets available at the Red Barn)
Monday, August 5 8:00-11 :30 a.m.: Safety Seminar, The ater in the Woods 12:30 p.m.: Parade of Flight, Part II Theater in the Woods even i ng pro gram, Charter Member Reunion
Multi-day activities: August 1-7: Special participant plaques, Workshop tent, Type Club Tent, Antique/Classic Forums (Forum tent area near the Fly-Market) August 2-4: 25th Anniversary Banner Tow
and interviews recorded during past Con ventions. Many aviation pioneers will be featured. Antique/Classic members are again participating in the popular forums schedule throughout Convention week. Check the schedule near the forum tents or at the Red Barn. Also, there are spe cial Antique/Classic Safety Seminars. See the special notice in this article concern ing this new enhancement to the An tique/Classic area. An occasion such as this for vintage airplane enthusiasts comes along only once every 25 years, so join in the cele bration. Complete details are available at the Red Barn, along with many com memorative items marking the Division's silver anniversary. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3
by Walter Dorlac • (NC 22270)
The Antique/Classic area at EAA OSHKOSH has a lot to offer. For starters, you can learn how to cover with fabric in the AlC Workshop, or you can learn more about the Curtiss OX-5 engine from someone who knows them intimately.
You have been to Oshkosh for 20 years and never volunteered? We all know that without the ground crew , the plane will not get off the gro und . Well, without the thousands of volun teers who put in countless hours of their time, Oshkosh might not be the grand occasion we all enjoy.
Past Champion Activities by Dean Richardson, NC Director The EAA OSHKOSH Antique/Clas sic Grand and Reserve Grand Champi ons from past years will be honore d with various activ ities . Returnin g air planes will have special display parking across from A/C Headquarters. A Sun day breakfast will further honor the re turning champions as well as a special award for those ab le to bring back the winning aircraft. We look forward to a large number of returning aircraft for this special 25th anniversary celebra tion.
AIC Flying Safety Seminars by Steve Krog, A/C Division Advisor No pilot ever wants to deliberately be unsafe or have an accident. How ever , after obtaining our pilot certifi cate, we sometimes develop habits and behaviors that if unchecked could some day result in an accident. Everyone agrees that maintaining 4 JULY 1996
Every year at thi s time, my thoughts turn to Oshkosh and what great events will be taking place this year. Most of " what happens" I have no control over a nd just enjoy. The daily air shows, the stroll through the Fly Mart, the countless opportunities to take advantage of hands-on learn ing and listening to experts in all areas share their experience in the forums. There are always wonderful programs in the Theater in the Wood s after a fulfilling day soaking in row after row of great airplanes. There is an aspect of Oshkosh, however, that I do have control over and we all know it is NOT the weather. The enjoyment I get out of Oshkosh is
profici e ncy at basic stick-and-rudder skills is important. But flying is more than be ing proficient at manipulating the controls of an airplane; it's also our planning skills and thought processes that guide us to a safe landing--{)r not. Th e Fe d era l Aviation Administra tion (FAA) has spearheaded the effort to raise pilots' awareness of the charac teristics of both good and bad decision making in everyday flying activit ies . This effort has included the publication of training manuals, Back-to-Basics training materials and an Advisory Cir cular (60-22) entitled "Aeronautical De cision Making." The FAA is currently developing new training materials in advanced aero nautical decision making to enable less experienced pilots to solve problems more like seasoned pilots. Both EAA and NAFI endorse this important work. At Oshkosh '96 , the EAA Antique/ Classic Division will conduct two safety seminars on the latest FAA effort in ad vanced pilot decision making and how to avoid "pilot error" accidents.
directly related to what I do to he lp . I have been volunteering for seven years at Oshkosh, the last five with the Antique/Clas sic Divi sion , working with the greatest people. I have found that by being a p articipant my enjoym en t ha s increased tre mendou sly . Since Gene Soucy has not called me to train for wing-walking yet, helping to park planes seemed like a great opportunity to be involved as much or as little as I want. Not only have I enjoyed admiring count less airplanes up close, I have gotten to know many peo ple ,whom I would n eve r hav e met had I not volunteered. Our Volunteer Center is lo cated by the road in front of the Red Barn and the fine folks there can match you up to th e work you d esi re. We have husband and wife teams, father and son teams and even whole families who return annu ally to help. There are many opportu nities during the Convention: crowd control, crossing guards, wing walkers, bikers, Red Barn staff, writers for the Aerogram and much more. For only 15 hours of work during the Conven tion , you can earn the Antique/Classic patch and a year patch to add eac h year you return .
There is something for everyone to do. Stop by our volunteer booth in front of the Red Barn and join us for a few hours. You will be glad you did. The seminars will foc us on how to define success in our flying and how to guide your thought process to lead every flight to a safe outcome. Learn to "SOAR," a new de cision m ak in g process use d by experts that will help you avoid th e "seven deadly sins " of poor decision making. You'll learn to recognize the differ ence between novice and seasoned pilot decision making . You ' ll also gain in sight into the awareness and vigilance used by expert decision makers to han dle everyday situations. Our decision making is also affected by the attitude we bring to flying. The seminars will discuss the five hazardous attitudes and how they affect decisions. You'll have the opportunity to rate yourself on the attitude scale. Whether you have 50 hours or 50,000 hours, you'll find these programs infor mative. The two seminars will be held on Saturday, August 3 and on Monday, August 5 at the Theater In The Woods. Each seminar will begin at 8:00 a.m. and ... conclude at 11:00 a.m.
fAA Antique/Classic Division
25th Anniversary PART IV
by Gene Chase Since many of our current members may not be aware of the extraordinary efforts that went into the formation of
the largest of fAA 's Divisions, we're pleased to present a 25th Anniversary reprint of the history of the
fAA Antique/Classic Division as first published in the July 1985 edition of the magazine. In next month's issue we
will conclude the series with a retrospective covering the past 10 years. - H.G. Frautschy
1982 In his February editorial in SPORT A VIATION Paul Poberezny touched briefly on the possibility of pursuing the availability of a Repairman's Certificate for the owners/restorers of vintage air craft. This had been on Paul's mind for a number of years. He felt that a certifi cate similar to the one which allowed homebuilders to do the maintenance on and re-certifying their aircraft could be a fitting recognition by the FAA of the excellent effort put forth by many re storers of vintage aircraft. He asked for reader 's comments and said he would pursue the matter only if there was enough interest. The responses were numerous and positive , including remarks by A&P's and lAs. These encouraged the forma tion of a committee to evaluate the com ments and present a proposal to the FAA. Composed of leadership from both EAA and Antique/Classic Divi sion, the committee members were Paul Poberezny , Charles Schuck, Brad Thomas, AI Kelch, Morton Lester and Claude Gray. The Board of Advisors was increased to eight when the Antique/Classic Offi cers and Directors named Roy Redman, Kilkenny, MN and Robert G . Herman , Menomonee Falls, WI to fill vacancies. In the June issue of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE the Division Officers and Directors announced a dues increase from $14.00 to $18.00 per year, effective September 1, 1982. In the same issue, President Brad Thomas, in his editorial, listed each of the Division Officers, Di rectors and Advisors along with their duties at the Annual EAA Convention and where they could be found during the event.
OSHKOSH'82-SALUTETO NASA AERONAUTICS EAA's 30th Annual Convention, July 31 - August 7, seemingly had every thing, the good , the bad and about everything in between. It began and ended in good weather, but mid-week brought thunderstorms , low ceilings, damaging winds and high water. An as tounding number of people and air planes converged on Wittman Field for opening day and did so safely. But on the fourth day whi le traffic was rela tively light, a mid-air collision occurred in the fly-by pattern, taking the lives of three persons: Rick Demond of Whit more Lake, MI in his 1932 Corben Baby Ace, plus the pilot and passenger of a Starduster Too . Rick and his family were ardent supporters of EAA and the Antique/Classic Division and his ab sence would be deeply felt.
Oshkosh '81 , groundbreaking cere monies for the EAA Aviation Center. Flanked by the Spirit of St. Louis, Dick Stouffer leads the dedication cere monies for the future home of EAA and the Antique/Classic Division.
On the brighter side, FAA Adminis trator J. Lynn Helms presented Paul Poberezny STCs for the use of unleaded auto fuel in the Continental 0-200 en gine and the Cessna 150; then he became the first person to legally fly a U.S. regis tered aircraft on auto fuel. EAA's Chief Pilot, Jim Barton, accompanied him. NASA was at Oshkosh '82 in force with four aircraft, several displays and over 30 forums of interest to sport and general aviation pilots. The total count of registered show pla nes was 1818. Of that number, 176 were Antiques, 585 were Classics and the Replicas num bered 5. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5
The top awards went to: ANTIQUE: Grand Champion - Stin son SR-8C, NC17116 , Roy and Judi Redman , Faribault, MN. Reserve Grand Champion - Stinson SM6000B Tri-Motor, NCl1170, Chuck Andreas , Bill Brennand and Byron Fredericksen. CLASSIC: Grand Champion - Lus combe 8A, NC71454, Tom Stoia, Man ning, Sc. Rese rve Grand Champion - Aeronca l1AC Chief, NC85829, Elymus L. Nace, Rehoboth Beach, DE. REPLICA: Champion - Howard DGA-6, " Mr. Mulligan ," NR273Y , Bob and Jim Younkin Springdale, AR. At th e annual business meetin g of the Antique/Classic Division on August 7,1982, it was reported the Division was experiencing a steady growth. The offi cers a nd directors up for re- e lec tion were unanimously elected for their two year te rms of office. Following th e membership meeting a Board of Direc tors mee tin g was conducted and th e Board unanimously voted to donate $1,000 per year for five years to th e EAA Capital Campaign Drive. It was noted that none of the donated funds came from membership dues , but from several projects promoted during th e Conventions which bring income to the Division. On October 20,1982, EAA on behalf of its Antique/Classic Division, wrote to the FAA proposing that FAR 43 be
6 JULY 1996
amended to allow the restorer of an an tique or classic aircraft , at his/her op tion , to conduct inspections (including annual inspections) repairs and alter ations to his/her aircraft, so long as the restoration work was accomplished by the res torer under supervision of an A&P. The proposal was publish e d in the Federal Registe r in Nove mber with the request for comments to be received no later than December 8, 1982. The year ended awaiting FAA's decision.
1983 - NEW EAA AVIATION CENTER DEDICATED Just two years after Paul Poberezny turned that first spade of dirt, th e mag nificent new EAA Aviation Center was dedicated on July 30,1983. The keynote speaker was Barron Hilton , Chairman of the Board and President of Hilton Hotels Corporation and an active EAA member. Special guests included actor Cliff Robertson, who acted as Master of Cer emonies; Sam Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Johnson Wax Company, Deputy Secretary of Defense , Paul Thayer; Aviation Great, Steve Wittman ; FAA Administrator , J . Lynn Helms, plus many more. EAA President Paul Poberezny and EAA Aviation Foundation President Tom Poberezny both addressed the as sembly. Just as the ribbon was cut, the
EAA Foundation's replica "Spirit of St. Louis " made a low pass over the cere mony and the new EAA Aviation Cen ter was officially open. This historic event took place on the first day of the 31st Annual EAA Fly-In Convention and was the highlight of the week. Early in the year the Antique/Classic Board of Directors named Daniel Neu man of Minneapolis , MN to the Board of Advisors to replace Ed Burns who re signed. Th e Board also voted to have THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE deliv ered in a protective wrapper because of members' complaints of receiving muti lated copies in the mail. On March 7 , 1983, Antique/Class ic Division Chapter 11 received its charter at a ceremony at Milwa ukee , WI. Th e group's first president was John Kalas. The 9th Annual EAA Sun ' n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, FL, March 13-19, es tablished new attendance records in spite of one of the area's worst winters and three days of IFR weather during the popular event. In spite of these ad versities, th e Fly -In recorded 25,000 people, 5,100 aircraft and over 800 show planes. Antique/Classic Division Chap ter One has been a vital element in this Fly-In since its inception. In his June , 1983 editorial, Division President Brad Thomas reported on the Board meeting held on May 6 at th e Kermit Wee ks Flight Research Center in Oshkosh , WI. They discussed the problem of pilots parking in the An
tique/Classic area at Oshkosh an d not registering their aircraft. As a possible solution, each arrival at Oshkosh '83 would be given a sheet ex plaining the registration procedure and listing the advantages of registering: no fee , complimentary Conve ntion pilot mug, and a more complete and accurate count of show planes in attendance. Before adjourni ng, the gro up was given a tour through the soon-to-be completed EAA Aviation Center and all were thoroughly impressed. The July 1983 issue of VINTAGE contained a guest editorial by Division Director Claude Gray, who also served as Chairman of the EAA National Judg ing Committee. He discussed the intent of the rules in the Judging Guidebook and gave some valuable tips for restor ers who plan to have their aircraft judged. Paul Poberezny a nnounced in his July edi torial in SPORT AVIATION that, "The EAA petition for an An tique/Classic Repairman Certificate for those who would have qualified has been den ied by the FAA eve n though 208 agreed, 82 disagreed, and some 153 letters were irrelevant. However, FAA has agreed to a feasibility study with the possibility of receiving a petition for a rule change. The denial was based upon many of the comments submitted by the president of the Antique Airplane As sociation of Blakesburg, Iowa. " The October 1983 issue of THE VIN TAGE AIRPLANE contained EAA's petition, the FAA's letter of denial, and a sampling of letters, both pro and con, from respondents.
OSHKOSH '83 As always, the Antique/Classic Divi sion played an important part in this, the 31st Annual EAA Fly-In Conven tion. Each year the operation ran more smoothly, thanks to the many dedicated volunteers who made it all happen. The new venture in '83 of making space available in the Hospitality Tent for the Type Clubs was an outstanding success. Advisor Butch Joyce, through input from the Type Club members, would plan a larger program for the groups in 1984. The Antique/Classic Division's hour of glory was their ever-popular Parade of Flight on Wednesday, August 3. With incredible organization and hard work by 60 flight line volunteers, 96 aircraft were flagged off for exhibition flights before the huge throng of spectators, and parked after landing in only 60 min utes! The entire operation was con ducted without a hitch. First to take off was Dale Crites of Waukesha, WI in his 1911 Curtiss Pusher followed by a steady flow of vin
tage aircraft representing the years from 1911 through 1955. The Parade of Flight continues to be one of the highlights of the Annual EAA Convention. Included in th e 1521 show planes were 119 Antiques, 514 Classics and 5 Replicas. ANTIQUE: Grand Champion Fairchild 24W, NC77655 , Charles W. Bell, Sheboygan, WI Reserve Grand Champion Beechcraft B 17L Staggerwing NC270Y, Dick Hansen and Dick Perry, Batavia, IL. CLASSIC: Grand Champion Aeronca 7AC NC84998 , Robert K . Armstrong, Rawlings, MD. Reserve Grand Champion - Lus combe 8F, N1373B , George Chaffey, Pittsburg, CA. REPLICA: Champion - 1916 Halber stadt D.IV, N1388J, Carl Swanson, Al Iens Grove, WI. Following a long established custom, the September, 1983 issue of VINTAGE contained an extensive listing of Type Clubs with addresses, phone numbers and other information. The same issue announced the FAA had amended EAA's STC to include the Continental A-40 through the C-90 series of engines, permitting them to use unleaded auto gasoline. More changes in personnel occurred late in the year when the Board of Di rectors accepted the resignations of Vice President Jack Winthrop, and Sec retary Kelly Viets. Both men had faith fully served the Division since it started. Their positions were filled by Robert J . Lickteig of Albert Lea, MN and Ronald Fritz of Kent City, MI respectively. Frik had been a long-time Director and Ad visor. The resignation of Director Robert E . Kesel was also accepted and to fill his
(Above) Robert J. "Dobbie" Lickteig, Al bert Lea Minnesota, served as the An tique/Classic Division President, having taken over in April 1984. (Left) Replicas have been recognized as an excellent means of keeping the "an tiques" alive. This replica of "Mr. Mulli gan," a Howard DGA-6, NR273Y, won Grand Champion Replica honors for Bob and Jim Younkin of Springdale, AR at Oshkosh '82. The Red Barn and Type Club Tent are in the background.
and Frik 's post on the Board of Direc tors, Robert G. Herman and Gene Mor ris were moved up from the Board of Advisors. Replacing them were newly named Advisors Ray Olcott of Nokomis, FL and Gar William s of Naperville,IL.
1984 - EAA'S NEW HOME After 31 years in Hales Corners, WI EAA moved into the new Aviation Cen ter in Oshkosh , WI and was open for " business as usual " on January 9, 1984. THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE 's new Oshkosh address was reflected for the first time in the January, 1984 issue. In his January "Straight and Level" editorial, President Brad Thomas re capped the Division 's accomplishments during the previous year and outlined the goals for '84. He mentioned that a specific area at Oshkosh '84 would be designated for the display of past Grand Champions in both antique and classic categories. He hoped that many would be returned to be so honored. He described the "face-lifting" planned for the Red Barn Headquarters in the form of a new porch complete with porch swings and rocking chairs. He further described a study that was underway to increase the number of VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
The Antique/ Classic Red Barn with the new Friendship Porch beckoning mem bers "to come on in and set a spell." A big thank you is due AI Kelch and Bob Lumley for their perseverance in seeing this project to its completion.
awards for antique aircraft to spread the awards more evenly among antiques and classics. In his February editorial Brad an nounced to the members the EAA Avi ation Foundation's plans for the EAA Air Academy, an aviation program for boys and girls 15-17 years of age. An tique/Classic Division Vice-President , Bob Lickteig volunteered to assist the Foundation by heading up the efforts of the Division toward this new project , not only with funding from donors, but in assisting with the procurement of volunteers and tools needed to make the venture a success. An editorial by the editor in the March issue of the magazine stated, " The last five years have seen gre a t progre ss in the Antique/Classic Divi sion under the leadership of Brad Thomas and his Board of Directors. As we go to press with this issue of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE , we learned of his request to step down from this position. Brad served admirably as President and his resignation is ac cepted with regret." Also , by action of the Board of Di rectors , Vice-President Bob Lickteig was named President; Director Roy Redman was named Vice-President and 8 JULY 1996
Advisors Jack Cope land and Stan Go moll were named Directors. President Lickteig's first editorial appeared in the Apri l 1984 issue of THE VINTAGE A IRPLANE. In it he reconfirmed the aims and goa ls of the Division. He stated, "As I write my first message to you I cannot he lp but think of the great opportu nity we have not only to continue our efforts of the past but to look at the cha ll enges that lie ahead. " I n his next editoria l, Bob discussed t he EAA Air Academy and the An tique/C lass ic Division's p lanned in volvement. He vo lunteered the use of his son's J-3 Cub in which each of the 30 students wou ld receive an orienta tion flight. He predicted the EAA Air Academy would be expanded over the years to come and paid tribute to Paul Poberezny for his foresight and vision for bringing EAA to where it is today. The Antique/Classic Division was becoming international with the first re quest for chapter status by a group of members in Argentina. This announce ment in the June 1984 iss ue of VI N TAGE named Mr. Abel D e bock as Chapter President. The group became Chapter number 12. Another Chapter was formed during the year when Chapter 18 in Phoenix , Arizona rece ived its charter. Stan ley W. Loer was the group's first president. The EAA Aviation Foundatio n 's Auto Fue l STC program made great str ides d u ring the year when they re ceived FAA approva l for the iss uance
of STCs for many models of Aeronca , Cess na, In terstate, Luscombe, McClish (Funk), Piper and Taylorcraft aircraft. At the same time, the list of airports in the U.S. providing auto fuel grew rapidly.
OSHKOSH - 84 THE FREEDOM OF fliGHT Oshkosh '84, the 32nd Annual EAA Fly-In Convention was held July 28-Au gust 4 and new records were set in all areas with the weatherman cooperating nice ly. Total show plane count was up incl uding 128 Antiques and 607 Clas SICS.
The Antique/Classic Division activi ties involved greater participation than ever, and thanks to the hardworking chairmen , co-chairmen and volunteers, each committee did its job splendidly . The Antique/Classic Chairman for the Convention was Bob Lickteig, with Co Chairman Roy Redman. The Antique/Classic area with a new porch on the Red Barn was the talk of the Convention. AI Kelch and Bob Lumley were responsible for the design and construction of the porch and, with minimum assistance completed the job just in time for the ' 81 Convention . This new addition to the Red Barn was named the Frie ndship Porch and , in an appropriate ceremony, was dedicated to all Convention volunteers. Manpower Chairman Jack Copeland with Co-Chairmen Ray Olcott and Bob Lumley did an outstanding job. Thanks
to Art Morgan, Chairman of Parking and Flight Line Safety, along with Co Chairman Bob Herman and Bob Braver, there were no parking prob lems. The Antique/Classic Fly-Out to Wautoma , WI had 40 aircraft and 100 people, a most enjoyable outing thanks to Bob Lumley. The reunion of past grand champions and reserve grand champions arranged by AI Kelch brought out seven aircraft. The reacti vation of~ the picnic resulted in 420 peo ple enjoying fine food and a great social hour, thanks to Bob Kelly. The first photo contest of the Divi sion attracted 26 entries. Jack Mc Carthy not only organized this activity but gave complete photo coverage of all Antique/Classic activities. The Head quarters Staff at the Red Barn was busy throughout the Convention with Kate Morgan , Ruth Coulson and Jo Olcott handling merchandise sales double the amount of previous years. The Parade of Flight had 93 planes participating with Phil Coulson and William Benedict doing an excellent job of organizing. The Type Club Headquarters Tent was full with ten clubs conducting their business. The group was honored during the week when EAA Convention Chairman Tom Poberezny spoke to them. Type Club Chairman Butch Joyce was planning on a larger tent for 1985. The forums handled by Ron Fritz and Gene Morris had the largest attendance on record. Roy Redman had a merchandising and chapter stand which was busy all week, signing up 121 new Division members and talking with 20 members interested in forming new chapters. The merchandising and chapter stand was constructed by Stan Gomoll. Dan Neuman arranged for and con ducted 18 interviews with aircraft own ers. This was more activity than ever for that committee. Coordinating the requirements of press people in the Antique/Classic area were AI and Lois Kelch and they did their usual superb job. The security of the Antique/Classic area was the re sponsibility of Chairman Dave Shaw, with Co-Chairman Jack Huffman, Dale Fauw and Tom Auger. These men did an excellent job in the performance of their duties. Last but not least, the aircraft judges were to be congratulated for a job well done . The Antiques were judged by Chairman Dal e Gustafson with Co Chairman Pete Covington. Chairman George York judged the Classics along with Co-Chairman Dale Wolford. Of course, those listed above are only a small percentage of the total number of volunteers who participate at Oshkosh and are responsible for
making the Annual EAA Convention the greatest aviation event in the world. Without them, it would not happen. The top awards at Oshkosh '84 went ANTIQUE: Grand Champion - Stin son SR-5E, N14187, 1. Tom Laurie , Newport Beach, CA. Reserve Grand Champion - Stear man C3R, NC794H, Jeff Robinson, Ar leta, CA. CLASSIC: Grand Champion Cessna 140, NC4135N, Rick and Kathie Paige, San Mateo, CA. Reserve Grand Champion - Rawdon T-l , N5160, Terry Chastain, Manches ter, MO. REPLICA: Champion - Gee Bee Model Y, N718L, Ken Flaglor, North brook,IL. One of the greatest thrills at Oshkosh '84 was the appearance of the Rutan Voyager, the aircraft designed to circumnavigate the earth, non-stop. It was flown to Oshkosh by Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager from its home base, Mojave, CA. The first EAA Air Academy, which ran from July 15-August 4, 1985, far ex ceeded all expectations in its impact on participants. The program will defi nitely be scheduled again in '85. The election results announced at the Annual Antique/Classic Division business meeting during the Conven tion indicated that all incumbents were reelected with the exception of Direc tor Robert G. Herman who was un seated by Advisor Espie M. "Butch" Joyce. In the November 1984 issue of VIN TAGE the name of Dennis Parks ap peared on the masthead as a feature writer as a result of his monthly contri butions of a column called " Vintage Literature." It first appeared in the July issue and was an on-going series describing periodicals from the vintage years of aviation.
1985 - ANTIQUE/CLASSI C DIVISIONS 15TH YEAR Commitment for G rowth "Welcome to 1985 . Welcome to your Antique/Classic Division ' s 15th year of service and leadership," were President Bob Lickteig'S opening re marks in his first editorial for the year in VINTAGE. He went on to pay trib ute to the group's founding fathers and re established the Division's goals for the anniversary year with the theme COMMITMENT FOR GROWTH. In that same January 1985 issue of the magazine, Paul Poberezny wrote an editorial "Looking back .. . Look ing Ahead" in which he recalled calling the first Antique/Classic meeting to or der. Aims and goals were discussed and, particularly the help that would
be needed for the Antique/Classic en thusiast during the Annual Conven tion. Past president and current treasurer " Buck" Hilbert , the Division's first president Dave Jameson, and past sec retary and director Kelly Viets all con tributed guest editorials in the April and June issues of VINTAGE. They reminisced about the early days of the Division and their involvement with it. The EAA Aviation Foundation con tinued to receive all additional STCs from the FAA for the use of auto fuel in aircraft; the most recent being for several models of B&B Aviation (Bel lanca) Northwest - Rankin Porterfield and S.L. Industries (Aero Comman der) aircraft. The Foundation also re ceived STC approval for the use of auto fuel in the Lycoming 0-235 and 0 290 engines. Early in the year some personnel changes occurred in the Division when, due to personal commitments and other considerations, two long-time directors , Al Kelch and Claude Gray, resigned. In January , 1981 Claude and AI were named Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the EAA National Judg ing Committee formed by the EAA Board of Directors. In this capacity they were responsible for writing the EAA Aircraft Judging Manual and they leave this legacy which will serve EAA in a constructive manner for many years to come. The Antique/Classic Board of Directors named Advisors Ray Olcott and Dan Neuman to serve out the un expired terms of Kelch and Gray. The Board also appointed three new advi sors: Timothy V. Bowers of Woodland, CA Phillip Coulson of Lawton, MI and W. S. " Jerry" Wallin of Kent, WA. With the March 1985 issue , THE VIN TAGE AIRPLANE had grown to 32 pages and the back cover was also in color. Looking ahead to Oshkosh '85 scheduled for July 26 to August 2, this Antique/Classic Division made plans for three new activities , in addition to all the regular ones. These include a riverboat dinner cruise , a program to present each registered aircraft owner or pilot a Participant's Recognition Plaque and a week-long Antique/Clas sic Workshop which will give members an opportunity for hands-on experi ence in aircraft woodworking, dope and fabric. President Bob Lickteig wrote, "With our 15th Anniversary year celebration continuing, we once again are making plans to be a major sponsor of the EAA Air Academy '85 . .. It 's going to be a great Convention. Make the An tique/Classic area your headquarters for Oshkosh '85. Welcome aboard. Join us and you have it all!" ... VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
a first at
OSHKOSH
by H.G. Frautschy
The Very first Airplane,
at the Very first fAA fly-In Convention
This is a spin-off article to Gene Chase 's Antique/Classic 25th anniver sary series of reports on the history of the organization.
Of the thousands of air craft to land at the Oshkosh fly-in when it first opened in 1970, what was the very first to arrive? It seems appropriate that a signifi cant event such as this should be opened by an antique homebuilt, experimental, replica , biplane which was a Blicker Jungmeister flown by Sam Burgess (EAA 16214). H e arrived on July 1 after completing a 50 state trip, starting in Hawaii! The
original intent was to finish the junket at the new fly-in site. Starting from Chino, California for the continental flight on 1 April 1970, four months were scheduled for the trip; however, no major mechan ical problems or significant weather de lays were encountered and his arrival was earlier than planned. The EAA was kept informed of his progress as he flew around the country, visiting EAA Chapters, sending post cards with just a quick notation , such as "State #33 ." Upon arrival at Oshkosh, he was met by EAA President Paul Poberezny. His only "close call " was holding for traffic over Lake Winnebago . If the Warner had failed at this time, what a finish this would of been to an otherwise uneventful Excursion Around America. Paul dubbed the
(Above) Completion of the 50 state trip at the new EAA Fly-In site at Oshkosh, WI. Note the Basler Flight Service sign on the gas truck. A picture was taken at each stop to confirm Sam's arrival. (Left) The JM was off to an easy start with Hawaii being state No.1, the most difficult for a mainlander; Sam was starting backward by claiming the 50th state first. The 165 hp Warner was a new surplus engine from the Australian RAAF donated to them on WW II lend/lease for their Fairchild 24s (Ar gosy, UC-61). It performed nobly dur ing the 86 takeoffs and landings.
10 JULY 1996
flight "The Spirit of Flight #2." Number 1 was a flight to several states by An ders Ljungberg, EAA 2836, during 1960, in the P-5 Pober Sport built by Paul Poberezny and his brother Norman in 1959. The BUcker was parked by Basler Avi ation in Steve Wittman's old hangar, the same building where he had built Bonzo and other famous racers. Sam returned to Hawaii until the fly-in started. The trip was made to prove that a homebuilt aircraft could be safe and re liable. Articles on the 50 state trip ap peared in the October-November issues of SPORT A VIA TION with the BUcker on the front cover. Many letters were received, with one from Dave Jameson encouraging Sam to write a full-blown book on his trip. Three years later "Jungmeister Junket (50 States in a Bi plane)" was published.
In 1971 the Jungmeister was donated to the EAA Museum for its historic value and is presently on display in the Air Adventure Museum. When the JM had only ten hours on it, Paul Poberezny made a trip to Hawaii with the Air Na tional Guard in a KC-97 refueler and flew the Jungmeister. This was his 107th home built to be flown, many for the very first time. Since then Sam Burgess has built two Pitts and another BUcker, powered by an Allison turboprop engine of 420 hp. That airplane holds the NAA/FAI world record for time to climb to 10,000 feet (2:18). This unit has since been re placed with a Russian 9 cylinder radial Vedenyev engine of 360 hp. At age 79, Sam is presently building a Knight Twister biplane with the intent of even tually racing it at Reno, Nevada. Two days after the Convention, when
Sam departed for the AAA Fly-In at Ottumwa, Iowa, he experienced an un usual sight. Taking off to the west and looking to the left for a view of the parking area, he did a double take as hundreds of air craft appeared to be still parked there. How could this be? On a second look it was revealed that each aircraft had been perfectly out lined by the multitude of tire kickers as they inspected their handiwork, tram pling the verdancy from the grass.
(Editor's note: My kids refer to the little grass airplanes as "airplane ghosts." You can always tell where the most popular air planes were parked - the grass around them is trampled until it is devoid of color, and a bright green wing, [uselrrge and tail appear in base relief in the turf when the real air plane taxis away.)
*'
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
The 15AC Sedan
eronca's Family Airplane by H.G. Frautschy
I'm sure it's always been a fantasy of many of us who love old airplanes to find a very original , low time example of our favorite airplane. Paul and Pam Work man lived that dream a few years ago. As the proprietor of a busy aircraft and auto upholstery shop, Pau l Work man has always been an avid classic air plane man, and Aeroncas in pa rticular. He has had both a 7 AC Champ (he dated Pam with that airplane) , a 7GC and finally a 1950 Aeronca Sedan , N6665K, which came to the Work mans when they started adding children to their family . Before buying 6665K , Paul had been searching for a Sedan, and ran across a little used example in Washington Court House , OH. In 1986, when they first contacted Bob Rolfe about the Sedan, Bob just wasn't interested in selling the airplane. It had been in his family for a number of years , having belonged to a close relative of his , Richard Rolfe of Sabina,OH. Richard was the first owner after A e ronca dealer Porter Kauffman took delivery of the Sedan after its man ufacture in 1948. He was a minister, and he us ed the Sedan for preaching in an unusual way. It seems that Richard thought that the work of the Lord should come from on high , literally, so in early July of 1949, he had the Sedan fitted with an ATR 100 watt, 12v to 120 v inverter, a pair of 12 volt batteries, a pair of Quadraflex trumpet speakers and two 100 watt a mplifiers. All of this was hooked up to a Webster Model 180 wire line r ecorder (the predecessor to th e modern day reel to reel tape recorder). Cincinnati Aircraft Service and Airborne Communications, Inc. at Lunken Airport did the work. 12JULY1996
A year later, Richard had the inverter rep laced with a single cylinder gasoline engine driving a generator. (The 337's are a little unclear on th is - if the amp li fiers needed AC voltage, the generator's output wo ul d sti ll need an inverter to bring it up to the req uired 110vAC, but no mention is made of the inverter in the second form 337.) He also had an addi tiona l speaker insta ll ed. The system must have worked reasonably well - Paul Workman talked to severa l locals who
Found unused in Ohio, Paul and Pam Workman spent two years restoring a very original four-place Aeronca. recalled they heard " The Word " from the Sedan cruising above. It must have not been too e ffective , (but I'll bet it was disconcerting!) for the Sedan really didn 't get much use. By the time Bob Rolfe took possession of the Sedan, it was still a low time airplane. It sat until the 1970's, when Bob got '48H flying in 1976. Amazingly , by the time the decade of the '90s began , the Sedan had just slightly more than 200 hours to tal time on the airframe, and the engine had even less, since it had been zero timed by the Continental factory after the camshaft fai led with only 22 hours, 30 minutes on the engine. The C-145 en gine had a rash of these rep lacements early on in the production of the engine, whe n some of the camshafts were im
properly heat treated and they fai led. Paul Workman had not really thought much abo ut 1048H since he was turned down by Bob Rolfe in 1986. Besides, he had found 6665K, a later model (1950) Sedan, and he and his family had been flying it for a few years. But in the win ter of 1989, Bob Ro lfe called Paul and asked if he was still interested in buying '48H . Pam and Paul had to do some quick work with the calculator. Knowing the Sedan needed a complete restora tion, it would need cash to put it in flying shape. But oh what a project! It truly was an original airplane. The speaker installa tion of the past did not disrupt the struc ture in any way , and the rear seat was sti ll intact. All of the little things that can be so hard to find were still there the small map light on the bottom of the instrument panel , a larger red flood light above the pilot mounted below the top of the windshield, a ll the instruments , and the" Aeronca Sedan" trim piece set in the center of the panel. Topping it all off was the Harvey-Wells model ATR-3 radio , still intact and installed in the panel, just as it was when it was put in on July 31 , 1948. Even the antenna and loading coil were still on the airplane! Happily, the airframe had never been substantially damaged , with only a men tion of a rudder spar inspection done once to check for suspected damage after the wind slammed the rudder over one day. It was a real gem to find , and Pa ul just couldn 't turn it down. The new garage would have to wait , and on December 16, 1989, Paul and his dad Ben went to pick up the flying pro ject. It was a bit chilly that day - 7°F - so the Continental needed a bit of persua
sion to get started, but once it was run ning, Ben and Paul flew formation back home with their new prize. With just a little more than two years to go, the Workmans decid ed that the Aeronca Convention scheduled for 1992 was th e ir goal. All the fabric was re moved, and the project took over th e Workman basement. Only a couple of small areas needed attention with the welding torch , a nd then all of the tubing for the fuselage and tail surfaces was sandblasted. A coat of epoxy primer was then app li ed , with a topcoat of zinc chromate primer on top of that , stric tly for appearance. With such an original a irplane, there was no doubt the direction Paul intended to go with the restoration. A ll of the wood in the fuselage needed replacement. The Sedan is no differe nt than other late model Aeroncas. It too used the fami liar triangular rear fuse lage configuration, with the outside shape de fined by a set of wooden formers and stringers. Paul used fir and pine ply wood, a nd replaced all of th e str in gers. All of th e wood was painted with spar varnish. Since recovering would have to be done in the basement near the gas fur- ~ nace and hot water heater, the cover- ~
ing process chosen was the STC'd Blue River system using Ceconite 7600 fabric. Even with the water based Blue River sys tem , a strong smelling solvent is used to activate the cement for tapes and seams, so good ventilation is still necessary. Paul liked the process, particularly since it was more pleasant to work with than dope , and not nearly so mind altering! The final finish is Randolph Ranthane, chosen by Paul to prevent uneven fading be tween the metal and fabric surfaces. The orig in al color scheme was main tained, with the fuselage painted Santa Fe Red and the trim color Tucson Cream, a very close match to the original Packard Straw. Ben Workman, Paul 's dad and the family lA , was the paint foreman on the job, and he spent a lot of his time helping the Sedan project along. Originally Sedans were delivered with unpainted wings , but it didn ' t take too long for a service letter to be issued by the factory in Middletown detailing the
t
:i
(Above) Pam and Paul Work man, Zanesville, OH, the restor ers of Aeronca 15AC Sedan 1048H. (Left) UAL Captain (retired) E.E. Buck Hilbert, now the proud owner and pilot of four eight Hotel. "Aeroncavorting" in the Sedan is high on his list of fun things to do!
(Above) The interior owes a lot to its Champ and Chief predecessors. The early Sedans used the same control wheels from the Chief, and so were the glove box doors and ashtrays (now used for holding pencils). The Harvey Wells ATR-3 radio no longer functions, but it has been a part of the instrument panel since 1948, shortly after the Sedan was built in Middletown, OH. Paul Workman was able to find a fabric for the seat cushions and side panels that closely re sembled the original fabric. (Left) Now a resident of Buck Hilbert's Funny Farm, the Sedan flies nicely out of the northern Illinois grass strip. 14 JULY 1996
procedure for painting the wings. Not too many people wanted to continue polish ing the top and bottom of 200 square feet (wait - that would be 400 sq. ft.!) of wing. The corroded control cables were re placed, and so was the side window plas tic. A new windshield was purchased from LP Aero Plastics, and the interior was refinished as closely as could be de termined. Paul found out that the interi ors of the Sedans were not finished con sistently. Even a visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's library didn't turn up anything consistent. By talking with some owners of other early produc tion Sedans, and using some of the paint left in the corners, the original green/gray color was applied. Only a couple of ex tra switch holes had to be plugged in the panel, leftovers from the days when the speaker system was installed. Those of you familiar with Sedans may wonder why there is no neat panel overlay, such as on the '48 and '50 Sedans. The early airplanes had a basic VFR panel, and not until the later mod
els was a panel overlay made. The glove box was retained on the right side of the panel, and the old Harvey-Wells radio was re-installed. Paul wanted to put the old "V" antenna on again, but the air plane wouldn't fit in his T-hangar with the wire running from wingtip to the ver tical fin. As a professional interior man, you can imagine how frustrating it was for him when he couldn't find an exact match for the interior fabric. Fortu nately, one of his fabric salesmen came to the rescue with a medium width cor duroy that looked just like the fabric seen in the photographs Paul had been using for research. The wings needed a bit of work, in cluding the replacement of one leading edge skin, and a general clean up of the fittings. Paul also converted the wingtips to being secured by screws instead of riv ets, allowing more complete inspection of the wing panels. One more change made to the wings was the replacement of the rubber fuel
cells with welded aluminum fuel tanks, engineered by Paul and his dad Ben, an IA. A one time STC was applied for and eventually granted, although Paul says it was not an experience he would care to do again. Making the tanks was easy, but the approval process was a bear. The engine, a Continental C-145-2, is one of the early production six cylinder powerplants from the factory in Muskegon, MI. As mentioned before, it had suffered a camshaft failure early in its life , and since it had sat inactive for extended periods, there was some con cern about the condition it was in . But when Paul removed the cylinders, oil pan and accessories to inspect its innards, he was pleased to find it looked brand new, with no corrosion evident. After the ac cessories were gone through, the engine was reassembled and repainted in the original Continental blue/gray with black cylinders. With the Aeronca Convention fast approaching in 1992, the Memorial Day holiday wasn't spent watching the lndiVINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
anapolis 500 - it was time for the big push to get the airplane completed. With Paul at the airport putting the finishing touches on th e fuselage and engine in stallation, Pam spent the weekend pol ishing the wings at home in the backyard, and bugging her neighbors when it came tim e to flip them over or mov e them around. To maintain its original appear ance, the Workmans decided to keep the wings natural aluminum, but after one year of trying to keep the metal looking good, a great looking silver paint was ap plied. By the end of the next week, it looked like an airplane was about to fly , and with a week to spare, '48H was ready for its first engine run. Sunday saw the first flight after th e restoration, and later in the week, both 1048H and N6665K were loaded up and headed to Middletown. On the way from Zanesville to Middle town, their youngest daughter started feeling a bit qu easy, and not wishing to christen the new interior in that way , a landing was made at Washington Court House. Before they had stopped the prop from turning, they knew they had an engine problem though - one mag neto coil had died. Ben Workman, flying '65K, continued on ahead to H ook field in Middletown. A quick call to friends who were also on their way to the Con vention brought a replacement coil. By th e time the re pairs could be made , it was late evening, so Paul and Pam spent the evening with their kids in a motel. After staying the night in central Ohio , 1048H was flown to the Aeronca factory, just in time for the convention.
16 JULY 1996
The Sedan was immediate ly de scended upon by the crowds , who all oohed and ahhed over a very original airplane. That fly-in saw the Workmans win the first of a series of awards for their efforts in restoring the Sedan. It also won a major award at the Mid East Regional Fly-In , and was also selected as the Best Class II (81-150 hp) Classic award winner at EAA OSHKOSH '94. The Workman fa mily enjoyed flying '48H all over the midwest during the summers of 1992 and '93, but in the fall of 1993 , it becam e obvious that their other Sedan, 6665K, needed a major en gine overhaul , and the equity in '48H was going to have to pay for it. E.E . " Buck" Hilb e rt , our re sident Aeronca nut, had heard me mention this particular Sedan in glowing terms, and when he asked, he found it was available. Paul and Pam took Buck's b e loved Champ in trade for the Sedan. In Octo ber 1993, the Sedan came to live at the Funny Farm in Union , IL where it quickly became a favorite. It's just right for a economical flight to a midwestern location (7.5 gph at 2450 rpm) and is roomy and quit e comfortable to fly. Whil e not particularly fast (105 mph cruise) , it handles lik e a larger, heavier Chief, and it bas plenty of baggage room and space for the kids in back. It really is a shame more of th ese airplanes were not made. Whil e Paul Workman was flying the airplane, the engine began to make a lit tle metal that was showing up on the oil screen. After changing a piston that was self-destructing, it appeared to be OK ,
but metal continued to show up on th e screen. It continued to do so after Buck bought tbe airplane, so in conjunction with the annual in the fall of 1995 , we changed the engine with another C-145, and he also added an Aviation Develop ment Corporation (ADC) oil filter sys tem with oil bypass warning light. The de tails of the installation were spelled out in Buck's column in the November issue of VINTAGE AIRPLANE. Nearly 40 hours later, the filter system works beautifully, with the 3 mic ron screen catching anything that happens to make it into the oil. Since the restora tion , the airplane has proven to be quite reliable and generally maintenance free, and I'd be remiss if [ didn't thank Buck publicly for the tim es h e has lent my family and me th e Sedan - it's our fa vorite airplane, and our goal to shoot at when setting our priorities. The love the Workmans have for this particular airplane is still evident, and they're like most pare nts, hoping th eir " children " lead a good life after they leave home . Home on the Funny Farm is as pleasant as it can be for four e ight Hotel, as it keeps company with its other Aeronca brother s, th e C-3 and the Champ, plus the Nicaraguan Fleet, who seems a bit confused by it all. It 's \earn ing to a djust. Champ? Ye p , after a while , Buck really missed the 7AC, so when Paul mentioned to him that he was thinking of selling the Champ Buck had trad e d on the Sedan, Buck bou ght it back. Th e stable is now full of Middle town wonders. Wh a t more could an Aeronca man want? ...
John W Preiss'
Cess
195
by Norm Petersen
~_________________ __ _- h_ _____~______~~______________________~ ~
:c
John Preiss and his lovely wife, Beverly, pose for DeKevin Thornton's camera in the sparkling sunshine augmented by the brilliance of the polished Cessna 195. Cruising above the clouds, the Cessna 195 really comes into its own - a true Businessliner - as the advertising people called it in 1951 . This was lUxury air travel at its very best some 45 years ago.
The winner of the "Best Restored Classic Over 165 hp" at Sun 'n Fun '96 was an immaculate Cessna 195A, N2JP, SIN 7712, flown to Lakeland , FL, by John W . Preiss (EAA 462642, A/C 24168) of College Station, Texas. Win ning awards is not a new phenomenon for John and his 195, having garnered the Reserve Grand Champion "Lindy" at Oshkosh '94, just a few tiny points be hind Roy Foxworthy's bright red John son Rocket 185. This particular 195 had actually started the winning trend way back in 1983 when it earned a trophy at EAA Oshkosh that year for its owner at the time, Paul Walter (EAA 90497, A /C 2342) of Waukesha , WI. Eventually, Paul Walter brought the 195 to EAA Oshkosh '92 where John
Preiss and his girlfriend, Beverly, spot ted it and started negotiations. On Sep tember 14, 1992, the sale was completed and John W. Preiss owned Cessna 195, NI95PW, as it was registered at the time. A fascinating sidelight to this story is the fact that John W. Preiss has an identi cal twin brother, James M. Preiss (EAA 410655, AlC 20593), of Germantown, WI, who is ten minutes older than John and if ever two brothers were cut from the same cloth - this would be it! John is a Boeing 737 Captain for Southwest Airlines and James (Jim) is a Boeing 737 Captain for United Airlines. Both mad e their solo flights on their sixteenth birthday, June 16,1974, in the same Cessna 150 Aerobat, and both earned their A & P rating from Blackhawk Technical College in Janesville, WI. (The twins were classmates of EAA's Director of Maintenance, Daryl Lenz.) The term, "They have been flyers all their lives," could easily apply to the Preiss twins, however, they were flyers even be
fore they were born. One week prior to their birth, their father, Erhard, took their mother, Lydia (very much in a family way) , for a flight in the back seat of an Aeronca Champ! Jim still chuckles when he tells the story. The boys grew up in an aviation envi ronment as their father, Erhard Preiss , was an FBO and flight instructor. On man y family flying trips , one youngster would work the control wheel while the other would work the rudder pedals. On the return trip, they would reverse duties. To use an old cliche "These were the best of times." Jim Preiss had restored a Cessna 180 in the 1980's and was quite acquainted with the amount of work involved in a restora tion. After John had purchased the 195 in 1992, he asked Jim to help with the job of restoring the big five-place Cessna. (Jim had earned his Inspection Authorization by this time.) On February 24, 1993, the project began. The engine was sent to Jacobs Service, Inc. in Payson , AZ, and even tually re turned as a zero time Jacobs R-755-B3 of 275 hp. The prop was in perfect shape but all accessories needed overhaul and every hose and clamp was replaced . The start ing circuit was modified to the later con figuration to eliminate the heavy current drop and improve the engine starting ca pability, especially in cold weather. A new instrument panel was built with all instruments being overhauled or re placed. The radios were upgraded with the installation of new Narco avionics with complete wiring harnesses, circuit breakVINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
ers and new antennae. The entire set of cabin windows was replaced (some are crank down) along with a new windshield. A new interior was sewn by Lydia Preiss, the twins' mother, who had learned seam stress skills in Germany before coming to the U.S. The result was an interior that is absolutely outstanding and had the judges smiling from ear to ear. The 195 had come from the factory with crosswind gear - an option that is not usually compatible with original style wheelpants. New straight axles were in stalled along with new Cleveland wheels and brakes per STC and a search was be gun for a set of the rare aluminum wheel pants with their special shape that fit a 195. After a year of inquiring (along with a special bit of accidental luck!) a pair was finally located , purchased (many $$$$) 18 JULY 1996
and were totally reworked and installed with new backing plates. When polished to a glistening shine, these tall , narrow wheelpants are in a class by themselves. Up front, the old Montgomery spinner was removed and a new Cessna type, as used originally on the 195, was installed (more $$$$). The result is rather striking as the more pointed nose on the 195 spin ner gives it that original look and really shines when polished. John discovered that three different pain t schemes were used on the 195 se ries, depending on serial number. Even though his airplane was not previously painted correctly, he was able to get as sistance from Cessna and a few others, so he was able to layout a correct paint scheme for the proper serial number, 7712, built in July 1951, and making its
first test flight on July 12, 1951. The air plane was taken to Central Aviation, Inc. in Watertown , WI , for final painting by Randy Effinger and his very capable crew. The 18 month restoration effort was finished just prior to Oshkosh '94 includ ing the massive polishing job on the alu minum with Rolite polish. The 195 was flown to Oshkosh and displayed in the Antique/Classic area for a couple of days. Before the Convention was finished, John Priess and his new bride, Beverly, were off to Hawaii on their honeymoon and brother, Jim, was delegated as a commit tee of one to attend the awards ceremony. Late in the program, Cessna 195, N2JP, was called out for the Reserve Grand Champion "Lindy" award, and Jim walked up on stage to accept it for his brother.
Perhaps the real joy for Jim was calling his brother in Hawaii and calmly informing him of the award - almost nonchalant like! (Brothers have been known to pull such things on each other.) John and Beverly we re jumping up and down with excite ment , wishing they could have been on hand for the presentation. With many ideas from the Antique/ Classic judges, the Preiss boys have been steadily improving the big Cessna to where it looks better than ever. At Sun 'n Fun '96, the 195 ran off with the award for Best Restored Classic Over 165 hp and the Preiss "gang" was indeed happy. Their next goal is Oshkosh '96 where they plan to make another run at the big prize. An interesting coincidence happened when prior to purchasing the 195, John was telling one of his friends, Jeff Sandlin,
at Southwest Airlines about the big cabin Cessna and learned that Jeff's fathe r had owned a 195 for quite a number of years. After purchasing the airplane, he showed Jeff some photos of the 195 and men tioned that a man named A . E. Edwards had owned the airplane for a long span of years. John was really surprised when Jeff blurted out, "A. E. Edwards is my father! " In 1994, John flew the 195 to Denton, Texas, where Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Edwards, now in their eighties, had the unusual op portunity to see the very same airplane that they had taken such good care of over many years and flown the Cessna over 3200 hours. The reunion was very special to John and the Edwards family and made the airplane even more special to the Priess family . Although the original N number of the
Cessna 195 was N1014D , that number is currently in use and the owner is not will ing to give it up. Therefore, John chose to use N2JP, which was available at the time. Eventually, John says it would be quite an achievement to get the original number back on the airplane. John Preiss is the very first person to admit that he has had a great deal of assis tance and help on the 195. His father, Er hard Preiss, started the love of aviation in the boys during their early years and the workmanship on the Cessna is dedicated to his memory. Erhard passed away in 1980. John's wife, Beverly, has been very patient and supportive during the restora tion process. In addition, John is ve ry grateful for the help and expertise of his brother , Jim, the overseeing IA on the project who is totally unafraid of hard VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
(Above) The unique split-flap employed on the 195 is designed for drag to slow the airplane down for landing. It contributes al most nothing to lift. Look at the sparkling interior of that wing when the flap is pulled down for inspection. (Above left) For genuine comfort, it is hard to beat the rear seat of a Cessna 195. This interior was completely sewn by Lydia Preiss, the mother of both John and Jim Preiss. This seat is ca pable of handling three persons with ease, making the 195 a true five-place airplane. (Left) The totally restored instrument panel, complete with up graded avionics, is a thing of beauty and function. The throttle uses a friction lock collar while the propeller and mixture con trols each employ a vernier control for fine adjustment. This particular 195 has the dual yoke in deference to a "throw-over" yoke as used on some models.
work . Special thanks are also in order for the twins' mother, Lydia Preiss who used her seamstress skills so well. Other contributors were Ji mmy Vick ers of Lubbock , Texas , a fo rmer Cessna dea ler who flies his own 195, Captain Jeff Kilponen of Southwest Air lines , who sparked John Preiss' interest in the Cessna 195 in the first place, and John Swander of
20 JULY 1996
DeSoto, Kansas, who provided some ex cellent ideas and much help to the restora tion. Tim McCarter, a pilot and mechan ic for Amph ib, Inc., contributed expertise and support to t h e rebuild a nd the I n ternational195 C lu b and Eastern 195 Cl ub were most he lpful in getting N2JP back in the air - along with helping all 195 owners keep them there .
John wo uld especially like to thank the Cessna Aircraft Company for designing and building a true classic aircraft that pi lots such as as he and his twin brother, can continue to appreciate and enjoy. To this we add our congratulations and very best wishes in the future for making N2JP such a dazzling airplane. It is indeed a credit to its restorers. ...
Type Club
NOTES
by Norm Petersen Compiled from va rious type club publica tions & newsletters
From the Monocoupe Flyer,
Bob Cool baugh, editor, 703-590 2375
Adventures of a Warner
Engine Owner
George Olson - January 1996
Abo ut 1979, while ove rhauling the 145 HP Warner for my Fairchild 24, a crack was fo und in one of the cylinder barrels. Parts were really hard to find , but a fri e nd in L o ui svill e, C la ud e C urr y, wh o I a m so rr y t o say is no w go ne, t o ld m e th a t hi s fri e nd , Bud Nea t , a lso in Lo uisvill e , had th e re ma inin g Wa rn e r pa rts but he was n' t se llin g a nythin g. H e offe r e d t o ca ll Bud and tell him my situation and ca ll m e b ac k . L a t e r , he told m e th a t I should go ahead and call Bud, which I did. Bud said that Claude told him all about it and to come over and see if we co uld fi nd one that was suitable. The parts were in the basement of his man ufacturing buildin g. We to ok fla sh li ghts and Bud showe d me wh ere th e cylinders were, to ld me to pick one out a nd we nt bac k upsta irs. Th e re we re pallets filled with hundreds of cylinder asse mblies . Th ere were cylind er ba r re ls st ac ked abo u t e ight fee t hi gh o n o th e r pa lle ts, boxes of parts all o ver the pl ace, about 40 barrels of studs and other small steel parts, some engines in vario us stages o f asse mbl y, big crates of baffling and tools of all descriptio ns. It was hard to be lieve , like be ing in a candy store. The cylinder I picked o ut loo ke d like it ha d a goo d hea d o n it but the barrel had rust in it that looked like brown fur. T here must have bee n so me o il o n th e surface to st a rt with beca use it was n 't pitte d and it didn ' t need plating after all. T h e n Bud a nd I h a d som e co ffee
and he told me the story abo ut how he and ten others decided to build Grea t Lakes Bipl a nes in hi s ma nufacturing buildin g. Th ey we re goin g t o build e leve n a ll toge the r , th ey wo uld be all th e sa m e and wh e n th ey fini s he d , th ey'd draw straws to pick their plane. Bud hea rd a bout th e a ucti o n of th e Warner factory inve ntory in (She ldo n) Iowa. These were all the parts remain ing afte r a ware hou se fire whe re the y we re stored . Bud put in th e winning bid a t the auction and picked up o ne semitrailer load of parts. When Me rlin B oc k bo ug ht out th e fa ct o ry ea rli e r a nd m o ve d th e p a rts to Io wa , th e r e were 10 semi-loads, but this one trailer was all that was left. With Bud 's pur ch ase , thou gh , th e Grea t L a kes Bi planes wo uld now all have Warner en gines. But, afte r a couple of years the buildin g e nt e rpri se e nd e d beca use eve ryo ne had a diffe re nt view of how lo ng the e ffort should las t. Eve ryo ne took their project home and some we re finished separately. When the projects we nt o ut th e door , th e W a rn e r pa rt s we re put in th e base m e nt o ut of th e way. They were there whe n I saw them in 1979. Th e F a irchild r e bu ildin g jo b was fini shed in 1980 and I flew it until 1985 whe n th e numb e r 4 link r o d br o ke . Thi s time I neede d a lo t o f pa rts, so it was back to th e we ll. Bud wa nte d to se ll a ll th e parts, no t just th e o nes I needed, a nd I kn ew e no ugh by the n to realize that I could sell them and hope full y get my money back. So, this time , aft e r s om e pri ce nego ti a ti o ns , we s tru c k a d ea l for a ll Bud ' s p a rt s . I r e nt e d a 24- fo o t tru c k a nd with th e help of a fri end and Bud Neat's grand so n , we moved o ne loa d (ha lf o f th e parts) to my 16 x 22 foot garage . That fi ll ed it up. Another frie nd offe red to
let me put a semitrailer on his farm, so I bought a pretty good used 40 footer. Whe n we got th e seco nd load , Bud 's g rand son g ot thr ee of hi s coll ege fri e nd s to he lp so th e re we re 6 o f us loading. It only took four hours, while th e fir st load ha d ta ke n a ll d ay. M y pickup tru c k was use d to mov e th e parts in my garage to the trailer when ever I needed to make a trip out there. Aft e r about six w ee ks my wife sa w that th e part s we r e se llin g, so s he started speaking to me again . In with the e ngine parts were prints, productio n reco rds, test reco rds a nd pape rwo rk o f a ll kind s, but the T ype Ce rtific a t e d oc um e nt a ti o n wa s los t somewhere along the way. In 1989 the FAA called and as ked if I had the Type Certificates . Th ey had some boxes in Chica go that th ey wa nte d to give to the Type Certificate holder to get then out of their way. Curiosity got the best of me and started me on the search for th e Typ e Ce rti fica t e. Th e require me nts we re to trace own ers hip from the last known owner to the present. I had to get a ffid avits fro m all the own e rs sin ce Clint o n M ac hin e Co mp a ny sold out. They were the las t owners of th e T ype Ce rti fica te wh o we re regis tered with the FAA. This provided an interesting pursuit a nd I m e t a lo t of h e lp ful p e opl e . J ames Thomas Smith, who bought the part s fr o m C lint o n M a chin e C o ., cou ldn ' t be fo und . Th e nex t own e r , Duke H attah, died in the late 60's and hi s re lati ves co uldn 't be fo und e ithe r. The sea rch co ntinued unsuccessfull y. January, 1993 rolls around , and some o ne a pproaches me to bu y th e T ype Certificate to build engines in Spain , of all pl a ces. Th e n , in 199 4 , som eo ne wante d it to bui ld Wa rn e r e ngin es in Czechoslovakia fo r Blicke r JungmeisVINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
ters they were building. I received a letter in December, 1994, from the FAA stating that during a move to an off airport location they found a re quest dated June 13, 1980, in a fo lder that was mislabeled, to make new Data Plates and Type Certificates. It was in Bud Neat's name. He had held the Certificate all along. All that was needed was an affidavit from Bud Neat, which was accomplished imme diately. The new Type Certificates ar rived in May, 1995. Oh yes, about those boxes the Chicago FAA had - They were shipped to the Atlanta FAA Certification of fice. The FAA people there invited me to visit them and look at the con tents. It was nice to meet some of the people I had been talking to on the phone for so long. One full day was spent helping them sort through the boxes. There were folders of corre spondence (some of it mine), Warner blueprints and boxes of microfilm of all the Warner prints. There were about 1200 microfilm prints per box. Since there were duplicate sets of Warner blueprints on microfilm , they offered me a set, which I gladly ac cepted. Warner Engine Facts and Figures
The following information was gath ered over the course of the successful acquisition of the Warner Type Cer tificates and from Warner Aircraft Corporation records . These records were included with the remains of the Warner Company which I bought from Bud Neat of Louisville, KY. This will attempt be an attempt to sort and con dense the jumble of papers to present that which is of most int erest to Warner engine owners. The Warn er Aircraft Corporation was founded by William O . Warne r in 1926 and its address was 20263 Hoover Avenue, Detroit, MI. Officers in 1929 were William O. Warner, President & General Manager, Edward N. Hartwick, Vice-President & Treasurer, W. J . Jarvie, Secretary. In 1950 the of ficers were R. E. Cecil , President, Carl F . Lang, Secretary-Treasurer , and Leonard W. Quart, Manufacturer 's Agent. William O. Warner was a Di rector, but retired . The Warner Air craft Corporation was merged with Clinton Machine Company located in Clinton, Michigan in April of 1950 . The reason for the merger, according to the Proxy Statement and notice of Stock Holders meeting of February 20, 1950, was that Warner Aircraft found itself without a product except for the hydraulic units and it had lost money every year since the war. The assets of Warner were transferred to Clinton 22 JULY 1996
Machine Company in exc han ge for shares of common stoc k of Clinton, which were distributed to Warner shareho lders. The president of Clin ton Machine Co mp any at that time was Donald D. Thomas. In 1952, Clinton Machine Co. so ld the aircraft eng in e parts, prints and some tooling to the Detroit Harvester Co. which was owned by James Thomas Smith. He owned it for a very short time. I was never ab le to find Mr. Smith. In about 1953, Detroit Harvester Co. sold the remaining Warner assets to Duke Harrah , Inc., located in Niles, Michigan. Duke Har rah sold Warner parts until 1963 when he sold the Warner assets to M & B Flying Service located at Sheldon Re gional Airport in Sheldon, Iowa. Duke Harrah died in the late 60's. Merlin Bock and Elmer Meuke were partners in M & B Flying Service. There were several semitrailer loads of parts which were put in a large hangar. In 1966 the building burned in a fire started by someone working on a mower. There was one semitrailer load that was sal vaged. Bud Neat from Louisville, Ken tucky, brought the remains at auction. The sales records end December 31, 1945, so the years 1946 to 1950 are less clear. Grand total of all engines sold through December 31 , 1945, is 3572. Today there are 437 Warner engines on aircraft registered with the FAA. The papers I have showin g sales records and Type Ce rtificate Data Sheets are quite interesting. There were severa l projects in the experi mental department in 1945. The fol lowing interesting note is copied fro m the 1945 monthl y progress report book. 550-X, 200HP, New experimental e ngin e. Pre liminary and final tests conducted, toge the r with bolt de flec tion measurements. Power calibration conducted with standard induction housing. 50 hours endurance running compl e ted. Power calibration con ducted with control induction with var ious carburetor positions. Engine now having cam settings and valve timing worked out for both standard and split cam. Active Signed: S. A. Christiansen Test Engineer Other projects in development were, experimental engine 585-X which is 585 cubic inch with a 5 inch bore & 4.250 stroke. A 2 cyl. Model 140-X, horizontal opposed industrial engine and model 12850-3, a single cyl. utility engine. I wonder if the last two engines were the key to the Clinton merger? (In 1950 Clinton was the second largest pro
ducer of gasoline e ngines in the 3/4 to 3 hp range.) Warner also manufac tured wheels, axles, brakes, skis, prop hubs, shock struts and hydraulic units. These production plans also trans ferred with the Type Certificates. Included in the records are several books and inventories. One is a book showing each engine sold, in numerical order, starting with the first engine sold. It lists engine number, Airplane, Owner and Address. A sample page from this book is included. Also in cluded is a chart listing standard en gine model and serial number designa tions and deviations from standard. By referencing this list , and the data plate on your Warner engine, you can determine how your engine was con figured when it left the factory. Bear in mind that your engine may have been changed substantially over the years during overhauls. From the Cessna 150 - 152 News
Safety - Avoiding wire Strikes Skip Carden, editor 919-471-9492
"The Terrible Truth About Wire Strikes" a new video and a compan ion pamphlet from AOPA Air Safety Foundation debunks many misconcep tions about these accidents. There are an average of 115 reported general avi ation wire strikes a year, but only an estimated 10% of strikes are reported. The video and pamphlet give some commo n-sense tips on how to see and avoid wires: • Scan on both sides of the aircraft. Look for towers or other supporting structures, which are easier to see than th e associated wires themselves. Fly over the top of the tower rather than between the supporting structures. • Nature doe sn ' t mak e a stra ight line . Strips of inconsistent vegetation, crop edges, land boundaries and roads can indicate a wire path. • Flight below a ridge line or in a canyon puts a pilot in the "wire envi ronment. " • Avoid antennas by a horizontal distance greater than the vertical height of the structure. Guy wires can extend at a 45 degree angle from tower top to the ground. • A pull-up is usually the best ma neuver to avoid an unexpected wire . In most cases, the pilot sees the wire too late to bank away successfully. The video is priced at $10 plus $3.25 shipping. The pamphlet is free with a 6 X 9 self-addressed envelope with 55 cents postage affixed. AOPA ASF, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, MD 21701. 800-638-3101.
PASS db
BUCK
by E.E. " Buck" Hilbert EAA #21 Ale #5 P.O . Box 424, Union , IL 60 180
Our twenty fifth Anniversary re union see ms to be shap ing up . T write to eac h of th e origi na l 100 members, asking th e m to be with us at EAA OSHKOSH. So far, the replies are run nin g about fifty-fifty. Those that are coming are enthusiastic about the whole thing and are just as interested today as when we started the Division. Mo re to come! As I read the history of the Division it triggers memories of events past. The discussions th at Pa ul Pobe rezny and I had over the titl e " Division " and hi s concerns that it was a word that would conjure up thoughts of a group that was seceding from EAA. Happily, it proved to be somet hin g we've ne ver had to worry abo ut - EAA is still th e prime mover in Sport Aviation , and the vari ous " Divisions" have "acce ntuated the positive" as that old song goes! The letters I receive are most wel come and can eit her be a real boost or a n education. I got ed uc ated on old time stunt pilot Howard Dutton from one of our ear ly me mb ers, Capt. Jim Barton (AA, retired) who kn ew him personally. Jim responded with clip pings and a phone ca ll so we could an swer that query. Then I also got a letter fro m one of the San Diego antiquers who said r was off base on my Chapter One open house co lumn regarding the weat her for that weekend. He said it was much better than I had indicated, and that it was the first time the whole group was able to fly up together. A great time was had by all , and the fly-in weather was great. I'm not going to re mind him th at sev era l people got stuck in Riversid e all day Sunday waiting for it to let up. I on ly wish there was room to pub lish each and every lette r we receive. T try to answer each one personally, and usuall y do as time permits. I also ge t requests for parts and pi eces of infor mation and on occasion I'm able to be of some help. Once in a while I stub my
to e. R e cently , a me mb er called and asked if I could help him find a Cub al timeter. I had one and sent it to him . A wee k later I got it back. Wrong color! Min e's black , he ne e d ed one cream faced. Oh well, I tried! Number one son Robert, your editor H .G . a nd I flew down to Middle town , OH for the Aeronca get together. H.G . a llow ed me to rid e with him in " my" Se d a n , while Bob took hi s C h a mp. Originally we had planned to take both Champs, but min e deve lo ped a lea ky exhaust valve so it had to stay home. Wally Baldwin wa s our host down the re, while Bob Hollenba ugh a nd his wife H e len look e d after H .G. W a lly squired us around town. He's writing a book on Aeronca and expects to go to press shortly. This man is a walking en cyc lop e dia as far as Aeronca is co n ce rn e d. Hi s D ad worked th ere when th ey were building th e C-3s , Ks, Low Wings a nd later the C hamps, C hi efs and Sedans. W a ll y's dad bought the prototype Champ after its nat ionwide demonstration tour, ove rhauled the A 65, and gave it to Wally when he came
home from the Air Force after WW II. Wally currently fli es a Champ with the same paint scheme and rues the day he ever sold the original. H.G . will be writing up the trip and printing pictures of all the beautiful air planes in a future article, but I want to say is that it was a great bunch and even thou gh Bob a nd I , a long with D a le Gu st afso n got draft e d to jud ge air planes, we enjoyed it immensely. Over to you,
Here are a couple of photos that ought to raise a few eyebrows, courtesy of Aeronca retiree John Houser. These two shots show the installation of a Aero marine AR-3 engine in an Aeronca C-3. Rated at 55 hp running 2400 rpm, the AR-3 might look familiar to many anti quers - the design and manufac turing rights were sold to Bur nelli, and then later (1938) it became known as the Lenape "Papoose" after Burnelli sold off that portion of its business to Lenape Aircraft & Motors, of New York city. As detailed in the 1939 edition of "Aeros phere," the AR-3 weighted in at 150 Ibs., and had a pair of Bendix magnetos powering the two ignition circuits. The Aeronca E-107 engine developed 26 hp, the later E-113 was rated at 36 hp, and the final version, the E-113C was listed as producing 40 hp. With the 55 hp of the AR-3, this early model C-3 must have been a good little performer. This par ticular 3-cylinder engine produced too much vibration to suit the engineers at Aeronca, so no production aircraft were sold with this engine/airframe combination. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
Vintage Seaplanes
by
Norm Petersen
Summer's here, and its time to think about flying off the water. Our resident web-footed pilot, Norm Petersen, has provided us with a look at waterbirds. 24 JULY 1996
Kyle Meints' Cessna 1708 (Left) Pictured at the Vette Seaplane Base at Oshkosh '95 is a pretty 1955 Cessna 170B, N4453B,
SIN 26797, mounted on a set of Edo 89-2000 floats, all decked out in a matching paint scheme of white with red trim . The pretty Continental 145 powered seaplane is the pride and joy of Kyle Meints (EAA 360394) of Augusta, MI, who purchased the 170B on floats in Minnesota about ten years ago. Kyle in stalled the STOL kit on the wings, painted the entire airplane, and then painted the matching floats the next year, all in PPG two-part urethane. A factory seaplane since new, the 170B has 2400 TT of which Kyle has flown about 400 hours since acquiring the f1oatplane. This airplane spent about the first 25 years in New England before coming west to Minnesota. Congrats to Kyle Meints on a sharp looking Cessna 170B f1oatplane.
John Van Andel's J-3 Cub on 1140's These photos of a 1940 J -3 C65 Cub, NC30482, SIN 4863, mounted on a set of Edo 54-1140 floats were sent in by Ralph Koutnik (EAA 261425) of Bellaire, Ml. Tied down at the Antrim County Airport at Bellaire, the pre-war J-3 Cub is owned by John Van Andel (EAA 343387) of Ft. Pierce, FL. Special note should be made of the extreme ly clean condition of the
1140 floats which do not show their age (40 to 50 yrs.) and have had their compartment covers re moved . (The 1140 floats are easily distinguished from the larger 1320 floats by the si ngle cover be tween the struts. 1320 floats have two covers be tween the struts.) Apparently the boot cowl on the Cub has been replaced or repainted as the forward end of the lightning stripe is missing. A li ght weight , pre-war Cub , with wood spars and 1140 floats, makes for a sporty seaplane that is pure fun.
U. S. Forest Service Stinson SR-SA
Odell Matthis' Republic Seabee (Left) This beautiful custom Republic RC-3 Seabee, N87493, SIN 44, is the pride and joy of Odell and Diane Matthis (EAA 262957 , AIC 10206) of Havelock, NC. No stranger to EAA, Odell brought the highly polished Cessna 140A Patroller, N5332C, SIN 15452, that was featured in the October 1986 VINTAGE AIRPLANE and pic tured on the back cover. The Seabee features extended wings with drooped tips , tinted glass and a big Lycoming GO-480 engine of 295 hp. The fancy paint scheme is overall white with red and gold trim . This particular 1946 Seabee spent many years in the Seattle area before going to Anchorage , AK, for a number of years. It is now based near the seacoast of North Carolina where Odell and Diane (who is also a pilot and 9ger) can make full use of the amphibious capabilities. The FAA register lists 275 Sea bees remaining of the over 1050 that were built by Republic and Downer.
(Left) This photo from back in the early 1940' s was contributed by Wiley Hautala of Ely , MN. The Stinson SR 5A, NC5045, mounted on Edo 38-3430 floats was flown by veteran Ely, MN, seaplane pilot Milt Nelson for several years until 1943 , when the 245 hp Ly coming engine quit one day and put the SR-5A in the trees - and that was the end of NC5045 . Milt Nelson , who is presently in his eighties , soloed a Travel Air bi plane at Superior, WI, in 1933 and logged approximately 15, 000 hours on floats while flying for the U. S. Forest Service over a period of twenty years. He says the SR-5A was a nice flying airplane and did a very respectable job on floats al though it couldn 't handle the heavy loads of a Beaver or Norseman. Note the 1937 Ford grill in the foreground and the Travel Air S6000-B seaplane in the back ground which was flown by Bill Leithold of Ely, MN. Ironically, at one time Milt Nelson owned a Fairchild FC-2 on Fairchild floats . Today, those very same floats are in the EAA Aviation Museum, completely restored by John Parish, and ready for installation on the EAA Foun dation's Fairchild FC-2W. VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
Fly-In Calendar
The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of
info rmation only and does not constitute approval, sponsorship, involvement, control
or direction of any event (fly-in, seminars, fly market, etc.) listed. Please send the
info rmation to EAA, Att: Golda Cox, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Information
should be received four months prior to the event date.
JULY 23 - ZANESVILLE, OH - EAA Chapter 425 Annual Pancake Day at Parr Airport. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Oshkosh bound pi l ots encouraged to fly-in, eat and refuel . Contact Don Wahl, 674/454-0003. JULY 26-27 - COFFEYVILLE, KS - Funk Aircraft Owners Assoc. Reunion. Contact: Gene Ventress, 70275 S. Montic ell o, Lenexa, KS 66227. JULY 26-27 - AFTON, WY - Callair Radio Controlled Model Aircraft Fly-In, sponsored by the Callair Museum and Aviat Aircraft, Inc. For info call joan Michaels or Audrey H enning, 307/886 -9887 , FAX 307/886 9880. JU LY 26-28 - RED LAKE, ONTARIO, CANA DA - Norseman Float Plane Festival. For more info, contact the Festiva l Committee at 807/727-2809. JUL Y 27-29 - KEOKUK, IA - Sixth World Wide ga thering of L-Birds, then en masse up to Wisconsin for EAA great OSHKOSH '96 on August 7. Contact Irv Linder,
3 79/524-6378. JULY 28 - GRANTSBURG, W I - EAA Chapter 875 Wildrice Pancake Breakfast. JUL Y 28 - WEYBRIDGE, SURREY, ENG LAND - Brooklands Museum. "Aircraft of Surrey" Fl y-In. Contact: julian C. Temp le or Peter Edmunds, Brooklands Museum Trust, 07932 857387 or FAX 07932
855465. JULY 31- WAUKESHA, WI - (UES) tst Annual Great Stearman "F l y-Up" to EAA Convention. Call Stan Markus for more info: 474/567- 7499 or 965-3776. AUGUST 1 -7 - OSHKOSH, WI - 44th
Annual EAA Fly-In and Sport A viation Con vention. Wittman Regional Airport. Contact John Burton, EAA, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. 414/426-4800. AUGUST 3 - ST. PAUL , MN - Lake Elmo Airport Aviation Days Fl y- I n Pancake Breakfast, Aircraft Disp l ay and Young Eagles Day. Rain Date A ugust 4. Contact 26 JULY 1996
Dick Wicklund, 672/777-9742. AUGU ST 3 - ELLSWORTH, KS - EAA Chapter 7727 Fly-In breakfast (Os hkosh stop-over) and Cowtown Day. Call Dale Weinhold, 973-472-4027 (w) or -4309 (h) for info. AUGUST 18 - BROOKFIELD, WI - Cap ita l Airport. EAA A/C Chapter 77 Vintage Aircraft Display and Ice Cream Social, Noon - 5 pm. Midwest Antique Airplane Club meeting as we ll. For info call Capital Airport at 4 74/787 -9550. AUGUST 18 - EAST TROY, W I - Inti. Cessna 720/ 740 Assoc. Wisconsin Brat and Corn Roast. Arrive at 77 a.m., eat at 72 :30 p.m. Bring a dish to pass and a buck. Call Matt and Carole Rybarczyk, 474/767-0920. AUGUST 25 - BELMOND, IA - NC Chapter 73 annua l p icnic. Call 575/444-3637 for info. AUGUST 26 - WEYBR IDGE, SURRY, ENG LAND - Brooklands Museum. " Biplanes and Vintage Aircraft " Fly- In . Contact: ju l ia n C. Temp l e or Peter Edmunds, Brooklands Museum Trust, 07932 857387 or FAX 0 7932 855465. AUGUST 2 7-29 - YOUNGSTOWN, OH BARTLESVIL LE, OK AND EL CAJON, CA Staggerwing Beech Commemorative Tour. Ca ll William Thaden, 207/439-7767 fo r info. AUGUST 30 - 31 - HA YWA RD, CA - EAA Antique/Classic Chapter 29 Fourth Annua l Antiq ue Fl y- In and Airshow. Free Earl y Bird Dinner to all display aircraft on Friday. This is a northern California points event. Contact Bud Field at 5 70/455-2300. AUGUST 30 - SEPT. 1 - PROSSER, WA - EAA Chapter 397 25th Anniversary Fl y- In at Prosser airport. Call Cormac Thompson for info: 509/786- 7034. AUGUST 30-31 - MOCKSVIL LE, NC - Tara Airbase (5NC7) 77 th Annua l "Anything That Flies" Fly-In. Private Fly-In - atten dance at your own risk. Fo r info ca ll 704/284-2 76 7 or 970/764-0007.
AUG UST 31 - MARION, IN - Sixth Annual Fly-In/Cruise-In breakfast sponsored by the Marion High schoo l Band Boosters. Antiques, Classics, homebuilts, and Antique, classic and custom cars wel comed. For information, contact Ray johnson at 3 77/664-2588. SE PT 1 - ZANESVILLE, OH - Riverside Airport. EAA Chapter 425 Labor Day Weekend Fly-In, Drive-In Breakfast. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sandwiches, etc. from noon to closing. SEPT. 7 - OSCEOLA, WI - Simenstad Field. 76th Annual Wh eels and Wings Air Fair. Train rides, pancake breakfast fly-in. Free event shu ttle bus. Pilots check class 0 NOTAMS for specia l airport conditions. For info call 77 5/755-3300. SEPT. 13-15 - URBANA, IL - Frasca Field. Byron Smith Memorial Stinson Reunion Fly-In. Ca ll 708/904-6964 for info. SEPT. 13-1 5 - JACKSONVILLE, IL - Ercoupe Fly-In. Call 2 77/546-0585 for info. SEPT. 20-2 1 - BARTLESVILLE, IL - Frank Phillips Field. 39th Annual Tulsa Regional Fly-In sponsored by EAA NC Chapter 70, AAA Chapter 2, EAA Chapter 70, EAA lA C Chapter 70 and the Green Country U ltralight Flyers. Call Charlie Harris for info: 978/622-8400. SEPT. 21-22 - ROCK FALLS, IL - Whiteside County Airport. (SQI). North Central EAA "Old Fashioned" Fly-In. Fly market, camp ing and food on field. Call Gregg Erikson, 708/5 73-064 7 or Dave Christianson at 875/625-6556. Pancake breakfast Sept. 22 - 0700 - 7700. SEPT. 22 - WEYBRIDGE, SURRY, ENGLAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In. Contact: ju l ian C. Templ e or Peter Edmunds , Brooklands Museum Trust, 07932 857387 or FAX 07932855465. SEPT. 27-28 - SANTA YNEZ, CA - 8th Annual Western Waco Assoc. Reunion. Call jon A ldrich, 209/962-6727 or Barry Branin, 7 74/545-7476 for info. SEPT. 28 -29 - ZANESVILLE, OH - John 's Landing A irfield 5th Annual Fall Fly-In sponsored by EAA NC Chapter 22 of Ohio, Hog roast on the 28th, breakfast both days. Antique, classic, homebuilts, warbirds wel come. For more info call Virginia at
674/453-6889. SEPT. 28-29 - LEXINGTON, TN - Tennessee Taildraggers 72th Annual Fly-In. 907/968 2864 or 901/968-4022 for info. OCTOBER 4-6 - REDDING, CA - Benton Fi eld . EAA Chaper 157 Oktoberfest. Contacts: Bruce Taylor, 976/275-6456 or Arma l Owens, 976/243-4382. OCTOBER 13 - TOWANDA, PA - Towanda airport (N27) Fly-In Breakfast - all you can eat. Eggs, sausage, pancakes, 100% pure maple syrup. 7 a.m. -7 p.m. OCT. 1 3 - ZANESVILLE, OH - Riverside A i rport. EAA Chapter 425 and the A RTH RITIS FOUNDA TlON Hog Roast. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Contact Don Wahl at 614/ 454-0003. OCTOBER 13 - WEYBRIDGE, SURRY, ENG LAND - Brooklands Museum Fly-In . Contact: ju l ian C. Temple or Peter Edmunds, Brooklands Museum Trust, 0 1932857381 or FAX 01932855465. OCT. 18-20 - KERRVIL LE, TX - Southwest Regional Fl y-In. For info ca ll 800/221 7958. Vendors should call 270/914-3746.
Ale NEWS
Continued from page 2
in two a rea s to mos t VFR pilots - th e Surface Aviation Observation (SA) will now become the Aviation Routine Weather Re po rt (Metar) with an addi tional report , the Aviation Selected Special Weather report (Speci) added to it when dictated by changing weather conditions. A new international format will also be adopted to replace the Ter minal Forecast (TF) issue d by the Na tional Weather Service. The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) will be the new format for this forecast. The new formats will be a combina tion of new and o ld abbreviations, but the seq ue nces will change, a nd so me components will be reported in a differ e nt format. For many of us who us e DUATS briefing services and exercise the plain language option , these changes will be transparent, but be careful - tem perature/dewpoint spreads will be given in degrees Celsius, and sky cover defini tions will change. Other parts of the se quence reports will be a lso be revised. The new form a t began with the NWS transmissions that were issued a t 0800 UTC, July l. For mor e infor m at ion and a card that details the new Metar format, con tact yo ur nearest Flight Service Station or yo ur loc a l FAA Flight Standards District Office.
LUSCOMBE FOUNDATION 8E GIVEAWAY The Don Luscom be Aviation Founda tion is doing it again! A small total of only 2800 tickets will be sold to help raise funds used to continue the expa nsion of services of the Foundation to Luscombe owners, and to fulfill the Luscombe Type Certificate purchase contract. You can see the work done to restore the 1996 "Win Me" airplane in the acco mpan ying photos. This air plane has all the Luscombe options and has been fully inspected and rebuilt with the latest information on Luscombe repa irs from the foundation . For a more informa tion, including the price of tickets and a brochure, call the OLAF at 602/917-0969 or fax them at 6021917-4719.
NO 80 OCTANE AT WITTMAN FiElD If you've always plann ed on fueling up with 80 octan e fuel during EAA O s hko s h , you'll nee d to buy it from someo ne other tha n Basle r Flight Ser vice, the FBO on Wittman Field. Basler
EICHER/ KIMBAll GEE BEE Z fliES ! The Gee Bee Z recentl y completed by Jeff Eicher and Kevi n Kimball was first flown on June 24 and agai n on the 25th by Delmar Benj amin . Delm ar explored the handling characteristics of the "z" in a series of flights that culminated in a roll and knife edge flight. He reports a stall speed at about 75 mph indicated. rt quickl y ac celerates to 210 mph, and the n conti nues to build up more speed up to 230 mph . Delmar reports that it is hands off stable in both pitch and yaw! 130 mph is used on fi nal to keep the "Zs" sink rate at a comfortable level. We'll have more on the first flights of this beautiful Gee Bee replica next month , but until then, congratulatio ns to Jeff and Kevin, and their test pilot, Delmar Benjamin.
has informed EAA that they will not be selling a ny 80 octane fu el for resale dur ing th e EAA Convention. Du e to tighter tank te sting rules e nforced by the EPA , Basler has storage facilities sufficient o nly for the qua ntities of 100 LL a nd Jet A neede d durin g the Con vention , but th e re 's no roo m left for a quantity of 80 octane. After exploring other options, Ba s ler re luctantly de cided to drop carrying 80 octa ne avgas, which they had only had available dur ing th e EAA Fly-In. Since Basle r has also chose n not to offer a uto fuel , if you prefer not to burn 100LL in yo ur vin tage e ngine, yo u may wish to plan your flight with a fuel stop after yo ur depar ture or prior to your arrival. Basler will be offering 100 octane avgas at the same price as last year, $2 .15. If you really prefer to run your e ngine on 80 octane avgas, the closest airport with that fuel is the tailwheel friendly fie ld at Hart ford, WI (HXF), located 41 statute miles SSE of Oshkosh . Hartford Aero Ser vice, 414/673-5350 is the FBO , and he's aware of the situat ion, and is planning on having his 10,000 gallon tank topped off in time for the Convention.
CUB MONUMENT IN BRADFO RD Thanks to the impetus provided by Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox , a mon ume nt will be e rected o n the site of the old Taylor Aircraft company in Brad ford , P A. For more details o n the effort being spea rh eaded by George Welsch Continued on page 31 VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27
The April Mystery Plane proved to be a tough one, so we ' ll continue that course with the July Mystery Plane. This hand some biplane's photo was sent in some time ago by Richard E. Sampson, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Answers need to be in no later than August 25, 1996 for inclu sion in the October issue.
by H.C. Frautschy
April's Mystery is still just that - an unknown. Lennart Johnsson, of Eldsberga, Sweden , sug gested that it might be the creation of the Eng lish designer Harold Bolas and his partner , Capt. Goodman-Crouch, who both emigrated to the USA and settled in Rhode Island. After re viewing an article on the Crouch-Bolas "Drag onfly," it's obviously not our Mystery Plane. Our thanks to Lennart for giving it a shot. The second shot I ' ve included in this month's edition may help jog the dim memory of someone else. You can see that the airplane is not particularly large when compared to the pilot crouching on the bow. Also, tip floats have been added to the lower wings, and you can plainly see the biplane configuration of the horizontal tail. We can leave this Mystery Plane file open, and perhaps someone will rec ognize it. ... 28 JULY 1996
New Members
Robert K. Ad ler .................. .. .. ...............Naples, FL
James O. Johnson .........................Kenansvi lle, NC
Joseph B. Brown, Jr. .....................Panama City, FL
Paul Johnson ...................................... Rockford, IL
Richard Peters ............ .. ...................... Hinckley, IL
Jeff Bruebaker ...... ................ .. .... ........ Hamler, OH
R. L. Johnson ...... .... .. ....... ... ... ...... .... .......Aledo, TX
Robert J. Pinkerton ...................... ..santa Anna, CA
Phillip L. Patterson .........................Tullahoma, TN
Paul G. Catrou ........ ............ ...... .... .Greenville, NC
H. Floyd Jones .................. ............ .water Mill, NY
Rene Popp ..................................... Vienna, Austria
Darryl Chin .......................................Modesto, CA
James H. Jones .....................................Payson, AZ
Bill J. Pottage
Donald L. Clingerman ...................... Grayling, MI
Alan R. Jose............. Niagra Fa ll s, Ontario, Canada
.......... .. .......Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
Ned E. Corman ............................... Harri sburg, PA
Larry Kanaster ...................................Torrance, CA
Todd W. Rader ..............................Jacksonville, FL
John Davis .........................................Houston, TX
Paul J. Keenan .......... .. ........................ Kerrville, TX
Joe Ramotowski .................. ...... Un iversa l City, TX
John M DeMars ........................N. Hollywood, CA
Cha rles Keppen .................................Madison, sD
Eric O. Richardson .............. ................Coloma, MI
Thomas Robert Dollimore .......... Rexdale, Ontari o,
Richard W. Land ....................... New Carlisle, OH
Louis D. Ross, Jr....... .......................Covi ngton , LA
Canada
Cliff Larrance ................ ...... .Port Townshend, WA
Milton Ruesch .... .. .............................Medford, WI
J. Sampson ... ....................................... Wichita, Ks
Gary W. Donald ........................ .... Jlorissant, MO
Delmer Lawrence............................ Rensselaer, IN
William Grant Dorsett.. ........................... Alvin, TX
Thomas J. Leahy .................... Chippewa Lake, OH
Bill Scott .................. ....................Kernersville, NC
W. Heyward Dropla ...... .... .. ............ Charl otte, NC
Louis J. Leftwich ............................Winter Park, FL
M. B. Shores ......................... .......... ..En-cinitas, CA
George M. Eastman ....................Westminster, CO
George C. Lem ieux ......... .. ...... ........... .. Livonia, MI
Andrew L. Sm ith .................. ... .. .....Cloverdale, CA
John Faccin .. .... .. .... .. ...................Crystal Falls, MI
Cory E. Linnane.... .. ....................... schaumburg, IL
Ronald P. Sm ith ........................ ...Washington, DC
Robert Farr ..............................Houghton Lake, MI
Paul Mandel ................................ Kansas City, MO
Lance D. st. Armand ............................Anson, ME
Jeff Foley ... ............................Roanoke Rapids, NC
Carl F. McC lellan .. .. .. .................. ...Richardson, TX
Wayne Strader ............................... ...Ardmore, OK
Jon Michael Fox ..........................Moses Lake, WA
Robert C. McDa nnell ......................Wood stock, IL
Richard B. Strawn ............. ............... .. Fruitland, ID
Robert J. Furlong ............. .. .. ............scottsdale, AZ
Roy R. Mcintire ............................ Long Beach, CA
John Taylor ......................................... .5augus, CA
David M. Gampfer........................Columbus, OH
Howa rd S. Meeks ...... .................. Cocoa Beach, FL
Ferne Thomas ..... .................... Pilot Mountain, NC
Raymond L. Gebhard .....................5ioux Falls, sD
Joseph Mezera ........................... Worthington, OH
Harold Thornpson ........................ ..Whitakers, NC
Richa rd L. Gillespie .... ............ ...... ...Ft. Meyers, FL
Mike Millette .... .... ................. Rodondo Beach, CA
David L. Todd .. .............................. shreveport, LA
Mark Haag ......................................... Houston, TX
Janice D. Milligan .................. .. .....san Ramon, CA
David Tumulty ...................................Houston, TX
Barry Halsted .... ..................... Fountain Val ley, CA
Jay G. Miner .......... .. ..... ..... ... ...............seattle, WA
Robert W. Vance .... .. ................... Greensboro, NC
William R. Harper ...................... Beverly Hills, CA
Cha rl es Moore .............................. Gibsonville, NC
Ron J. Wassink .. ..........Wroxeter, Ontario, Canada
Val P. Hattemer................ ..................Dayton, OH
N. A. Morey ...... .. ............ Pukekohe, New Zealand
Dennis B. Wassmann ..........................Moraga, CA
John Hitzke
Ri chard E. Newton .. ...............................Luray, VA
Ken Whittet
.. ......................... Redcl iffe, Queensland, Australia
Anthony B. North .............................. Windsor, CT
................Pitt Meadow, British Columbia, Canada
Peter Hook ......................................Lakeville, MN
J. K. O'Neal .................................. san Antonio, TX
Gary Lee Wilii ams ............................Plymouth, MI
Robert K. Howie, Jr............................. Decatur, IL
Bruce J. Olson ...... .. ...... ............... Hudson, Canada
Rocky L. Zahner .. ............ ..................Madison, WI
Thomas H. Hughston ...... .............. Brownsville, TX
shigeru Ota ....................................... Tokyo, Japan
J. G. Zavar .. .. .......... .. .. ........................ Gaffney, SC
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
MEMBERSHIP
INFORMATION
EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is $35 for one year, including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION. Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually. Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $20 annually. All major credit cards accepted for membership.
Something to buy, sell or trade? An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part. .40¢ per word, $6.00 minimum charge. Send your ad and pa yment to: Vintage Trader, f AA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC Aviation Center, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086, or fax your ad and your credit card number to 4 14/426-4828. Ads must be received by Current EAA members may join the Antique/ the 20th of the month for insertion in the issue the second month following Classic Division and receive VINTAGE AIR PLANE magazine for an additional $27 per year. (e.g., October 20th for the December issue.)
EAA Membership, VINTAGE AIRPLANE mag azine and one year membership in the EAA AIRCRAFT Antique/Classic Division is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included).
lAC
Boeing Stearm an A751300; SI N 75 -2213 Excellent condition. Lycoming R680. Total air frame time from rebuild 91 .5; TSMOH 86.5. Army Air Corps Livery. $110,000. Bill Rose, 847/842-4713 (Joanne) (7196)
Current EAA members may join the Intemational Aerobatic Club, Inc. Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $35 North American SNJ-5; SI N 84-917 - Pratt & per year. Whitney R1340 . Excellent condition. TT EAA Membership, SPORT AEROBATICS maga 5495.2; TSMOH 111.6. Navy Livery. $145,000. zine and one year membership in the lAC Bill Rose, 847/842-4713 (Joanne). (7196) Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included).
WARBIRDS
Ryan STM; SI N 458 - Military Model of STA. Menasco C45 engine. TT 3209 .0; TSMOH 86.0. One of few existing in flyable cond ition. $130,000. Bill Rose, 847/842-4713 (Joanne). (7196)
Current EAA members may join the EAA Warbirds of America Division and receive WAR BIRDS magazine for an additional $30 per year. EAA Membership, WARBIRDS magazine and MISCElLANEOUS one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $40 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included). SUPER CUB PA- 18 FUSELAG ES -
EAA EXPERIMENTER Current EAA members may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine for an additional $18 per year. EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for $28 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included).
FOREIGN
MEMBERSHIPS
Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dol/ars. Add $13 postage for SPORT AVIATION magazine and/or $6 postage for any of the other magazines.
EAA AVIATION CENTER
P.O. box 3086
Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086
WEB SITE http://www.eaa.org
E-MAIL Vintage @ eaa.org
PHONE (414) 426-4800
FAX (414) 426-4873
OFFICE HOURS:
8:15-5:00 mon.-fri.
1-800-843-3612
MEMBERSHIP DUES TO EAA AND
ITS DIVISIONS ARE NOT TAX
DEDUCTIBLE AS CHARITABLE
CONTRIBUTIONS.
30 JULY 1996
New manufacture, STC-PMA-d, 4130 chromoly tub ing throughout , also complete fuselage repair. ROCKY MOUNTAIN AIRFRAME INC . (J . Soares, Pres .), 7093 Dry Creek Road , Belgrade, Montana 59714 , 406/388-6069, FAX 406/388-0170. Repair station No. QK5R148N . (2/97)
Babbit Bea ring Service - Camshaft regrind ing, cam followers reground , piston rings, pis ton pins, valves. For shipping instructions, call 1/800/233-6934. Jack H. Bunton, Machinist, Vintage Engine Machine Works, N. 604 Freya, Spokane, WA 99202 (11 /96) The Lu sc omb e Fo u nd a t i o n supports Luscombes with full service factory data. " WIN ME " restored Luscombe tickets $40 each or 3/$100. Most parts and factory sup port services available. Will meet or beat all legitimate commercial sources in price, selec tion and quality. All proceeds preserve the Luscombe heritage through development of a museum & archives. 602/917-0969, P. O. Box 63581 , Phoenix, AZ 85082. (9/96) AVIATION M EMORABILIA SALE - 1,800 sq . ft. of old aviation stuff. Airline, military, civil, WW I, WW II, Lindbergh, rare books, tin toys, photos, postcards, manuals, etc. Oshkosh Fly Market, spaces 376, 377, 378E. For more info, or to conSign goods, call 1/800/479-7952 . V-8 350 CHEVROLET CONVERSION WITH GEAR REDUCTION DRIVE. REPLACES ANY CURTISS V-8 , OX-5 . IDEAL PACKAGE FOR EXPERMENTAL OR REPLICA AIRCRAFT . VIDEO INFO PACK $20.00 REFUNDABLE WITH ANY UNIT PURCHASE. BUD ROGERS 407/324-9433. (9196)
FREE CATALOG - Aviation books and videos . How to, building and restoration tips, historic, flying and entertainment titles. Call for a free cat alog. EAA, 1-8oo-843-3612. Curtiss JN4- D Memorabilia - You can now own memorabilia from the famous Curtiss "Jenny, " as seen on "TREASURES FROM THE PAST." We have T-shirts, posters, postcards, videos, pins , airmail cachets , etc . We also have RIC documentation exclusive to this his toric aircraft. Sale of these items supports operating expenses to keep this "Jenny" flying for the aviation public. We appreciate your help. Send SASE to Virginia Aviation, P.O. Box 3365, Warrenton, VA 22186. (12/ 96) Ragw i ng Re pli cas Ultralight legal Aircamper, Heath , Pitt s, Duster, Triplane . Plans $52. Brochure $3. P. O . Box 39 , Townville, SC 29689. (3/97) Or i g i nal Br ass T ip Spark Plug s C - 26 Champion , new $19.00; military reconditioned $7.50 to $12.00. Tom , 770/478-2310. (9/ 96) Wanted - Piper J-5C paperwork, information, articles, pictures and parts for the Piper J-5C Model. Bob, Sr., 800/ 224-5522, Evenings 810/644-9081. (7/96)
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Ale NEWS
Continued from page 27
of Cornelius, NC and the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (who now occupy the location) please see the article in the July issue of Sport Aviation, page 11.
FLY-INS OF NOTE We always like to point out a few fly ins that may be of interest to many of you, and we try to "spread the wealth" by mentioning different events each year. For starters, check out the Craw ford Auto-Aviation Museum's " Wings & Wheels" festival held at the Cuya hoga County Airport in Richmond Heights, OH on Saturday and Sunday, August 10-11. If it's a transportation machine for land or air, it's probably th e re - antique bicycles, hot air bal loons , Indy and NASCAR pit stop demonstrations, and vintage aircraft. If you wish to fly in, you 'll be directed to parking and registration upon arrival. Call the Historical Society for more in formation at 2161721-5722. Next up is th e EAA All American Sport Aviation Fly-In , August 24-25 at Alliance Airport, Ft. Worth , TX . You name it, and it's at this fly-in and airshow.
Then there's the gra nd a dd y of a ll type club fly-ins, the National Stearman Fly-In at Galesburg, fL, September 2 8 at the Galesburg Airport (GBG). If you love the look and sound of the WW II era trainer, this is the place to be. As many as 250 Stearmans are expected to show up. This is no "park it in the grass and leave it there " fly-in either. Pilots will be testing their sk ill s with spot landin g co ntests, aerobatics, rescue drop and yo u'll probably see some for mation flying as well. This is their 25th anniversary, and to cap off the week's events, a usa style hangar dance will be held on September 6, at 6:00 p.m. Call Jason F. Turk, PR Director for the Fiy-In at 314/561-3827 for more infor mation . If you ' re a Cessna 1201140 fan , as many of us are, you may wish to take in the 18th Annual Cessna 120/140 Associ ation Convention which will be he ld September 25-29 at Fariba ult , MN. Speakers include Minnesota Hall of Fame inductee Dan Sowa , with a talk on aviation weather, Roy Redman, speaking on a common sense approach to rebuilding, and Continental repre sentative Bob Mose ley will give a talk on the small aero engines on Saturday. For more information , contact Bill Rhoades, 612/652-2221 fax 507/663 0098.
Finally, Marcia Gietz, 2358 Bolsover St. , Houston, TX 77005, 713/522-2456, Fax 713/522-2458 is putting together a big Stinson fly-in scheduled for May 1 4,1997. Plans are being made now for a get-together at Stinson Field, in San Antonio. If you're a Stinson person and think you can lend a hand or would like to add your two cents worth to the plan ning, Marcia asks that you contact her she's looking for as much help as she can get.
FOKKER NEARS THE END Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker was recently forced into bankruptcy , and no other companies decided to en ter into a bailout agreement for the air plane builder. Within the past few weeks there was a reprieve for the com pany that will allow it to complete the airplanes it has on the production line, keeping the airframe unit operating un til the end of the year. While other ele ments of the company will remain , it looks as though its 77 year long run as an airplane manufacturer will end soon. Fokker's current company history can be traced back to the year after the end of WW I , when Anthony Fokker re turned to his native Holland after his work in Germany to start the manufac ... turer that bears his name.
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31
Stanley V. Gomoll Soloed at age 16 in a J-3 Cub Bought first airplane at age 23 A&P License since 1949 Airline pilot for 25 years, retired January 199 J Antique/Classic Division Boord of Directors, member
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