STRAIGHT & LEVEU Espie "Butch " Joyce 2
AlC NEWS
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AEROMAIL
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PASS IT TO BUCK!
E.E. "Buck" Hilbert
5 THIRTY FIVE YEARS AT THE OUTER MARKER/Dutch Redfield
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MTO '99/Jerry Cox
10 FUEL VALVES - CARE & FEEDING/ CyGalley 11
TYPE CLUB NOTES/Freddie Ludtke
13 THE BIGGEST LITTLE FLY-IN IN THE WEST/
Holly Palmer 16 BACK FROM THE ASHES/Budd Davisson 21
MORE VINTAGE EAA AIRVENTURE
22 MYSTERY PLANE/H.G. Frautschy 24 WELCOME NEW MEMBERS/ CLASSIFIED ADS 30 VINTAGE MERCHANDISE
Publisher
TOM POBEREZNY
Editor-in-Chief
scon SPANGLER
Editor
HENRY G. FRAUTSCHY
Executive Editor
MIKE DIFRISCO
Contributing Editor
JOHN UNDERWOOD
Graphic Design Specialist
BETH BLANCK
Photography Staff
JIM KOEPNICK LEEANN ABRAMS MARK SCHAIBLE
AdvertisinglEditorial Assistant
ISABELLE WISKE
• SEE PAGE 28 FOR FURTHER VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION INFORMATION
ST
EL
by ESPIE "BUTCH" JOYCE
PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION
Doug McConnell is my counterpart at our sister organization, the International Aerobatic Club. Recently, Doug wrote to his members regarding the mutually beneficial relationship we share with EAA. He did it so well, I'd like to share his many of his com ments with you. All VAA 'ers are also members of the EAA. Thjs has been auto matic ever since the VAA became an official division of the EAA at its very inception nearly 30 years ago. In fact, we can thank Paul Poberezny for helping the VAA get started when Buck Hilbert and others expressed an interest in organizing a special place for park ing and enjoying vintage airplanes. Did you know that Paul was a member of the VAA? Did you know he still is? Can you guess what his VAA number is? That's right- VAA # 1. When you receive your new membership card each year, you also receive a listing of the many EAA benefits that are automati cally yours. But there are many other marvelous EAA benefits enjoyed by the VAA which are not listed in your renewal mailing and about which members may have little knowledge. VAA offi cers and directors are more aware of these since the benefits of EAA services and support have a lot to do with the successful day to-day management of our large and complex organization. An active VAA friend recently asked me to explain how our affiliation with the EAA helps the VAA and what, if any, cost is involved. Dealing with the cost first, EAA membership includes the world-class Sport Aviation magazine which takes careful measure to include lots of exciting information about VAA activities and re lated subjects. They reach 180,000+ farilllies and friends, many of whom are then drawn to VAA membership (EAA is the single largest source for new VAA members). The balance of your EAA dues goes toward the many services and headquarters office sup ports given to VAA free of charge. Beyond that, a portion of VAA membership dues are directed to EAA for various specific man agement services. The following is a partial list of EAA support services and ben efits: 1) Financial accounting services including monthly statements, cash management, investment fund management, pur chasing controls, receivables management, audjting, IRS reporting and related; 2) Membershjp services including renewal notifica tions and administration, benefit package mailing, handling of dues, special programs management, chapter development and insurance programs; 3) Merchandising assistance including mer chandise vendor selection, warehousing, inventory control, mail-order fulfillment, mailing and sales accounting; 4) Vintage Airplane editorial support, plus layout and design services in cluding graphic arts and production; 5) Human Resources services including recruiting, interviewing, contracting, payroll
management, benefits packaging, staff training and professional development, staff supervision, division coordination, executive office space, administrative office space, office furniture, office equipment and utilities; 6) Membership promotion, brochure de velopment, website tie-ins, advertising and direct mail programs; 7) U.S. government liaison and lobbying including FAA, NTSB, NASA , congress and other agencies; 8) EAA AirVenture con vention support and privileges including headquarters meeting space, aircraft display area, member parking, staff cars/carts, fo rum schedules, special events privileges and accounting; 9) Exciting museum displays for vintage aircraft, including Pioneer Airport, and Hall of Fame displays including production of bio graphical summaries for presentation during induction ceremonies which are also managed by EAA; 10) Sponsor de velopment and revenue sharing (such as the recent very beneficial long-term Ford Motor Company program); 11) Spe cial technical support projects such as logo redesign 12) Board of Directors support with EAA representation on VAA Board and VAA representation on EAA Board, including also special presentations and coordination by EAA president's staff; 13) And other legal, marketing, administration, sponsor relations, and related counsel and assistance. In summary, VAA's extremely valuable affiliation with EAA is harmoruous and vital for daily operations and long term growth. If VAA had to pay for all of the free services and courtesies extended by the EAA, and/or had to pay the full going rate for the paid ser vices provided, the total cost of enjoying our membership with other vintage airplane enthusiasts would increase dramatically. And, if VAA were to lose its affiliation with the huge EAA mem bership body, our membership recruiting and development would experience an unexpected stall/spin event! The good news is that nothing is imposed on VAA by the EAA in exchange for their friendship and support (there is no "price" to pay other than modest fees for services). In other words, they don't attempt to interfere with our programs, policies or activities. In ad dition, the EAA is very careful about extending very high-class professional courtesies as they go about their business. The EAA management and staff are helpful, welcoming, supportive and en couraging in every way. The bottom line is that we enjoy a unique family relationship with the EAA with a 30-year history and long term horizon. VAA's continuing affiliation with this world-class recreational/sport aviation organization will assure lasting benefits for VAA members and future members for many years to come. My thanks to Doug for so eloquently highlighting the many benefits of being affiliated with EAA. Ask a friend to sign up in the VAA - Join us and have it all! ...... VINTAGE AIRPLANE
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VAANEWS compiled by H.G. Frautschy
THE COVERS FRONT COVER . .. The "Spirit of Dynamite" is the appellation given to Monocoupe NC 2064 by its first owner, R. L. "Pete" Brooks, because he said "... it took off like I lit afuze to a rocket." The name stuck for the rein carnated 110 Special when built up by Freddie Ludtke, and by the current re storer/owner/ pil ot Richard Smith . EM photo by Jim Koepnick. He shot it on Fuji film using a Canon EOS1 n equipped with an 80 -200 mm zoom lens. EAA Cessna 210 photo plane flown by Bruce Moore. BACK COVER . .. "Loening Out of Coco Solo" is the title of this award winning oil painting by Don DeGasperi of Albuquerque, NM. Presented with an "Excellence" ribbon during the 1999 EM Sport Aviation Art Competi tion, Don's painting depicts a Loening OL-9 on a southeast heading over Gatun lake and the Panama Canal. The marking are of Utility Squadron One (VJ-1 B) operating from Fleet Air Base, Coco Solo, CZ in the early 1930s. Don has been a consistent contrib utor to the Sport Aviation Art Competition, and has won a total of nine awards. A self-taught aviation artist, Don served over 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a Master Sergeant. He was both an engineering draftsman and a technical illustrator during his Air Force years. His civilian career were also spent as a technical illustrator with Dow Chemical and then later the Los Alamos National Lab. A private pilot, Don enjoys other aviation hobbies, including designing and building model airplanes and aer ial photography. He is available for commissions, and can be reached by writing to him at 975 Antelope N.E., Albuquerque , NM 87122, Email meca@rt66.com. Check his web site at: http://www.members.tripod.com/ DeGasperi 2 NOVEMBER 1999
FOREIGN MAILING The Vintage Aircraft Association is truly an international organization, with over ten percent of our membership com ing from outside of the United States. One of the challenges we have to meet each month is ensuring that our interna tional members receive their magazines in a reasonable amount of time. Overseas members have been telling us their mag azine delivery over the middle portion of 1999 was sporadic. Our Canadian and overseas magazine delivery is achieved using a separate company outside of the U.S. Postal Service. Since the mailing of the October issue, a new company has been responsible for making sure each of those international members received their magazine within seven to twenty one days. So far, the response we ' ve received has been very positive. To our Canadian and overseas members , we welcome your comments regarding your magazine delivery in October and No vember. If you wish, you can Email them to us: vintage@eaa.org or send it via reg ular mail to Vintage Airplane, P.O.Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wl54903-3086. MINNESOTA SPORT AVIATION CONFERENCE It's time again for the Minneapolis Convention Center to host the Minnesota Sport Aviation Conference and Flight Expo 2000. Over five thousand aviation enthusi asts attended last year's Flight Expo. They will again be descending on the convention center on the 12th and 13th of February 2000. The Conference will again offer a broad range of seminars attracting everyone from the seasoned enthusiast to the prospective sport avi ator of tomorrow. For more information, call the Minnesota Dept. of Aeronautics at 1-800/657-3922 or write to Wayne Petersen: wayne. petersen@dot.state.rnn.us If your state aeronautics department hosts a similar event, we'd love to help you get the word out. they can Email their notice to us here at vintage@eaa.org or send it via regular mail to Vintage Air plane, P.O .Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. CASSVILLE FLYING & REPAIR SERVICE AUCTION Starman Brothers Auction Service will be conducting an auction in Cassville, MO at Timberline Airpark. In cluded in the items will be a 1948 Indian
Chief motorcycle, a 1939 Harley David son Model 45 and various wood props. Also included are a 3 -cylinder Anzani radial engine and a complete OX-5 . For more information, contact Starman Bros. at 402/592-1933. GENE COPPOCK Gene Coppock, best known for his restoration of a Stinson Model A tri Motor, winner of the "Multi-Engine Transport Class Champion" at the 1979 EAA Convention, has passed away at the age of 71 . Roberta Coppock wrote to tell us that Gene was diagnosed with liver cancer late in the spring, and died July 3,1999. His family history and per sonal health did not show him predisposed to contracting cancer, ex cept in one area, something all of us should be paying more attention to - our use of carcinogenic chemicals during the restoration of our aircraft. Many of us use compounds known to be detri mental , such as Methyl Ethyl Ketone , Acetone, and others, but give little thought to hand, skin and lung protec tion. We should be more careful. Gene retired from United Airlines, and he was an active restorer for much of his life, completing a Piper J-3 just last March. In the past he also restored an Aeronca L low-wing, and flew and main tained his Beech Baron. Gene's Stinson Model A is now a part of the Yellow stone Aviation collection. Our condolences to Roberta and the Coppock family, and to Gene's many friends. THE WICHITA 4 Bruce Bissonette, one of the tireless men who keeps adding to our knowledge of the early days of aviation, has neatly bundled four fellows whose destiny was intertwined into one easy-to-read vol ume. Bruce weaves the lives of Clyde Cessna, Jacob Moellendick, Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman together as they put Wichita, KS on the map as the "The Air Capital." Sprinkled liberally with photos of the men and the airplanes they produced, "The Wichita 4" is full of the excitement and challenges met by the companies, people, and the men who led them up to the years of WW -II. To get your copy of the 148-page book, you can write to Bruce at 3908 Titanic Av., EI Paso, TX 79904. The cost is $25 post paid. You can also order it from EAA by calling 1-800-843-3612 (the EAA order number is FOI714). ....
Dear H.G. Frautschy, I have included 2 photos taken ap proximately December 1934 of a Ryan monoplane purchased as a Ryan Ml. All of the old books show the M I to be an open airplane and the M2 to be a cabin airplane. It did not have any kind of windshield. For some reason people insist that it (the airplane in these pho tos) is an M2. It was a good flying airplane. When passenger hopping they would put four in the front cockpit and a thin one in the rear cockpit with the pilot. The ISO hp Hisso engine put it in the air after a very short run. Maybe we will fmd out what it is. I un derstand that one was rebuilt in Virginia. Sincerely yours, Harry C. Luecke Winston Salem, NC
frame or two mixed in." Taking a close look at the photos you can see the extra stringers added to the sides of the M-2 in the photos, and the
distinctive rocker box covers and ex hausts of the Hisso engine. There were 19 M-2 airplanes built in 1927-2S. H.G. Frautschy ......
Dear Harry, The airplane in the photos is a Ryan M-2, as described by Door Carpenter and Mitch Mayborn in the long out-of print book, "Ryan Guidebook," published in 1975/76. I'll quote from the caption accompanying the photo of a Hisso powered M-2 on page 11. "Quite similar in appearance to the M-I series, which saw improvements introduced on each succeeding aircraft as it was built, the M-2 was powered by the same series of engines . The most common was the Wright-Hi spano or Hisso E-ISO . Other installations in cluded the Hisso A-ISO and E-2 of200 hp. Externally the M-2 was identifiable by the addition of fuselage stringers to the otherwise flat sides of the M -1. The M-2 was a rugged and dependable air plane and was operated by a variety of private individuals and companies. One of the M-2's (c/ n 22, G-CAJK) was used on skis in Canada and floated out to sea on an ice floe and was lost. Con struction/number range was from II through 29 with an M-I and M-32 air
VINTAGE AIRPLANE
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PASS IT TO BUCK
by E.E. "Buck" Hilbert
EAA #21 VAA #5 P.O. Box 424, Union, IL 60180 Dear Buck, It is with great pleasure that I read
your column every month. Your old airline stories remind me of fond memo r ies from the past, when my dad was flying for EAL out of ATL. He retired after 30 years, just before things got re ally bad. Things have sure changed we used to fly kites off the end of 27 with 404s, 6s, -7s, Connies, etc . all flying right over us on short final. What a sight for a young kid! Then along came the fences - you know the rest. There is nothing like round engines! I had the chance to fly the EAA B-17 for a birth day present from my wife a few years ago. Sitting there watching that big spinner and prop lumbering along right next to you is almost hypnotic, like sit ting in the back of a boat and watching the water speed by as you zoom along. I wasn't fortunate enough to pursue a flying career when I became old enough due to slight color blindness, but the fly ing bug stays with me. I fly my '47 140 regularly, and own half of a wrecked '717ACA. (How many airplanes can say they have a mag for each cylinder?) This brings me to my question. Com mon to a lot of old Champs is the rotted out bottom of the entry step. Do you know of a source for the blister shaped bottom half of the step? If necessary, I am able to fabricate one , but would rather not have to go through that. If you are ever down SE Virginia way, or into Maryland, look up The Po tomac Antique Aero Squadron on the web at http: //www .avialantic.com/ paashom.html. They have a wonderful fly-in each May on an old DuPont es tate now owned by the state of Maryland. Several OLD planes show up every year. Keep up the good work! David L. Cheek, Smithfield, VA David: Thanks for the kind words. Yes, times have changed and I some times wonder if we aren't dinosaurs and too dumb to realize we're dead. If the government has its way, airplanes, guns, 4 NOVEMBER 1999
and anything else we enjoy will be con trolled; there won't be any users like you and I. They'll be talking to them selves about what a wonderful world it is with nothing to interfere with their of fice gossip. You might try Safe Air Repair and see if they have a blank. I had to fabri cate my a few years back. It rusted out from within and I took some steel, shaped it with hacksaw cuts to the form I wanted, welded up the saw cuts and put a flat plate on top of it all. I then re welded it to the arm and there it is today. Works fine! PUERTO RICAN CLASSICS
Dear Mr. Hilbert First of all, I want to congratulate you for all your terrific articles you write in Vintage Airplane. My name is Cuso Ortez, and I have been a VAA member since 1990. I love old airplanes and down here in Puerto Rico we have a few interesting models, including one Aeronca L-16 and a Lus combe 8E both of which I ferried from Florida. I've enclosed a picture of the Lus combe with me at the controls. It was taken just north ofEI Morro Fortress in San Juan . Luis Herrera who is also a prominent pilot took the photo. The photo was taken from a 1968 Cessna
172. Enrique Gutierrez owns the Lus combe. I fly banners for Aerial Sign Co. here in Puerto Rico. I use a Super Cub PA-18 and a Piper J-5 that came out of the factory on 12-7-1941, the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. The J-5 had a 180 hp engine, no electrical system and a low pitch prop. Later, I can write details on this particular airplane, including photos and videos. Take care,
Sincerely,
Cuso
Thanks for the note and the photo, Cuso. We waited a while before we published it, only because we wanted to be sure and print it in color! We all look forward to seeing a photo and a note about your J-5 banner-towing machine. It sounds like quite an airplane. Over to You, f'( -.z:<. 4'
~t(ck
•
ears
I
att
Outer Marker
Continuing Dutch Redfield's early aviation carreer; he flies his First Paying Passenger; and Learrns to Fly Floats
As I taxied the Waco F2 back to the hangar following some afternoon spot landing practice, Harry Ward gestured to me not to shut the engine down. He came alongside the cockpit and shouted, "Taxi back of the hangar and I've got ten bucks for you! " I taxied around the corner where the airplane was out of view from the rest of the airport. Here, Harry sort of poured a somewhat inebriated gentle man up on the wing walk of the lower wing and into the front cockpit. Harry, in the prop stream, leaned into the front cockpit and secured my pas senger's seat belt. Then, as he stepped back to the ground, he said to me, "He wants to loop the loop!" Carrying passengers for hire with a private license was against regula tions, to say nothing of aerobatics for hire, yet ten dollars would buy me a lot of gasoline. Harry slipped me the
ten dollars the next day. The F-2 climbed steeply with only one passenger and my usual light load of fuel. I flew south away from the airport for a few miles to a posi tion behind the hills where I couldn't be seen. The Waco picked up speed as I nosed her over into a shallow dive . A light back pressure on the control stick produced increasing "G"forces as the cow led engine led our new arc up through the sky . As we steeply climbed the distant horizon appeared to come down, brushing through the upper wing center section, the engine cowlings, then quickly disappeared under the lower wings leading edges. To maintain orientation and rates of pitch change during the arcing firm seated climb, I turned my head and searched for and re-found the slowly revolving, tilting, horizon off
the stubby left wing tips that were now pointing straight forward. Then back forward with my vision as the now inverted horizon fell past the upper wing panels and dropped past the nose. Near the top of our arc, rapidly dis sipating speeds were confirmed by the softening sounds of flight and by the laboring Continental. Then we arced for the fields and section lines and fences below, and the moans and whistles of flight rapidly increased in shrillness and intensity, and the flat but streamlined flying wires buffeted in protest of their increasing loads and distorted airflows. The unloaded, un stressed landing wires which support the weight of the wing structure when ground borne, and now waiting to do their work, bowed gently as they fol lowed us around. That this vertically planed invisible
by Holland "Dutch" Redfield VINTAGE AIRPLANE
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looping arc was completed, I knew when the now dissipating cyclonic washes of our beginning arc climb were flown through with a "whump" of the airframe at the bottom of the loop. As another arc was beginning, my first paying customer turned and glanced back at me, then quickly turned back inside as the pressing "Gs" again took over. A couple more loops and I started a long descent for home. Back behind the hangar again, as the prop clattered to a stop, Harry helped my wobbly new friend step from the lower wing to the ground and asked him how it was. "Great!," he muttered, "That was until I looked around and found I was up there with a darn kid!" In late May, we flew the F2 to Ithaca at the south end of 35-mile long Cayuga Lake, there to make a seaplane of her. Ithaca was cho sen because its airport closely bordered on the shore of the lake. In the Ithaca hangar we hoisted her on a chain fall suspended from a hangar beam, removed the small tail wheel assembly, disconnected the brake cables and lowered her landing gear and wheels to the hangar floor. She looked odd hanging there minus her landing gear. We slid the two floats under her and then care fully lowered her and knocked in place the bolts of the float support struts. Oh Lord, she was beautiful! But her floats seemed so very bulky and so long, and the whole rig seemed so far from aerodynamically pure, and she stood so high with her tail in an attitude close to that of an airplane in level flight. Color-wise her aluminum floats were a pleasing match for her black fuselage and silver wings. What a lovely thing she was. We had worked hard for many hours and it was late afternoon when the Waco was at last perched on a flat four-wheeled dolly. We trundled her awkwardly across the airfield to a spot near the lakeshore where she was poised with her bows over the water. A pail full of water wet the dolly's surface and we shoved her off. She bobbed, then steadied, as she slipped into her new element. We pulled her back alongside the grass-clumped 6 NOVEMBER 1999
From an unchecked, unflared glide, I had literally flown the airplane right into the water while belieVing I had many many feet
yet to descend. shoreline, and how easy to move her; what light airs cause her respond. One hand could gently move her about, or easily restrain her. Her summer home was to be nosed up on a wooden ramp on the shore of the Seneca River , west of Bald winsville, and north of Syracuse. For many months she would be out in the wind and rain-not in the spe cial spot that was reserved for her near the doors in Ward's hangar. It was getting late and where the air plane now was at Ithaca, she would be unprotected and in a very poor spot for the night. I was anxious to get her out of there and bedded down in her new home. I climbed in and pulled the handle of the air starter, which cycled com pressed air and prime fuel to the waiting cylinders, and the Continental came to life. With only an idling en gine she was already moving. Barb, at the wing tip, walked along with her and eased her away from shore. How effortlessly she moved through the water and with only the pull of her idling propeller, and with her new tail-high stance, how much better I could see to taxi . Looking forward of the lower wing leading
edges I could see the float bows and the forming bow waves. Looking straight down from the rear cockpit behind the lower wing trailing edges I could see the sterns of the floats and the bub bling stem wakes and the trailing water rudders. What a soft yet grooved response to the float's rudder blades and the plane's air rudder, simultaneously deflected into their appropriate streams when my feet positioned the rudder pedals. How freely she glided. I stopped the engine and she coasted, and went, and went. I had no brakes to stop her and I'd have to be careful when I got her home, and plan well her inertia dissipation lest I bash her into her new ramp. For many weeks I had reviewed in my mind just how to fly her. Now the sun was getting low and I felt the pressures of time. There was little written material on how to do it, nor was there anyone I knew who had flown a seaplane. It was lonely out there in the lake as she bobbed in the gentle waves . "Well, "1 said to myself, "It's got to be done sometime," and I eased the throttle full forward and pulled back the control stick. The propeller picked up and threw back heavy white spray from the float bows as the bow waves moved further and further aft and the setting sun re flected the spray being thrown onto the lower wings. With little assistance from me, the bows rose higher and higher, and the bow waves raced rapidly aft. Then, of its own accord, the nose began lowering and she softly rocked forward onto the float steps . The floats were now planing with less and less of their under surfaces con tacting the water as she gained speed. She was accelerating rapidly. The Waco lifted off and water streamed from the lower wing trail ing edges and off the end of the float keels. We climbed steadily and there was a much heavier, yet very pleas ant, feel to her as the pendulumed floats suspended below gave her a new and beautiful lateral stability. I was pleased at both the way she flew and how uneventful had been my takeoff. It was only a 30-minute flight to her new home and I began to think, "But now I've got to get her down!" We soon circled the tree
bordered and straight but short stretch of river in the gathering dusk, then backed off for a long, straight, slow descending approach. We were below the bordering trees now and slowly descending toward the river's surface. Finding light sur face ripples from which to project the geometry by which to flare her for landing was quite different but I found not difficult to apply. I felt her down the last few feet using considerably more power than with an airport land ing. The floats touched and the keels knifed the river's surface. How yield ing it was, how smooth the surface and the ride, how the planing floats seemed to softly buzz on the light rip ples. How very, very different than an oleo'd and wheeled landing gear meet ing the sodded surface of an airport. Deceleration was rapid, and com pounding, as the planing support of the float bottoms faded. As she swished off the steps, the buoyancy of the floats took over and we were again floating and gliding steadily and smoothly with nothing but her idling propeller again pulling her along. What a delight everything about this first flight in a floatplane had been. I was keenly aware at that moment what a very different world of flying was opening before me. An aviator friend, George Sawyer, who owned the riverside camp where the Waco was to be kept, helped me tie her to her newly-built ramp, then I was invited in for dinner. I was ecsta tic as we talked of my first seaplane venture. It was now dark outside. In a couple of hours Barb showed up and we threw some extra lines on her in the beams of the car's head lights. As we backed away, the Waco was now alone in the dark, the river lapping the stems of her floats. I did n't like to leave her there. When we returned to the river sea plane ramp the next day, I was relieved to see the Waco still there. It was a lovely spring morning and as we readied the airplane for flight we waved to passing tugs towing or pushing deeply laden barges, and oil tankers low in the water. The Seneca River here was also part of the Barge Canal system across New York State from Buffalo to near Albany. Our plan was to fly her down to Onondaga Lake near Syracuse for some practice where I hoped to find
out much more about the characteris tics of a floatplane . We eased her down the ramp, then swung her around so the stems of the floats were lightly resting on the planks. I climbed in and started her and again she was immediately mov ing and underway. We taxied slowly down the river, warming the engine as the tree'd green river banks slipped steadily by the wing tips. How to tally different from a land plane restricted to airports, all of which are cursed with the sameness of paved runways, and hangars, and parking lots, and gas pumps. I was still aglow with the success of my one seaplane takeoff and land ing of the day before, and in a short while, I was to find out, "It really isn't always that easy!" We took off, and I banked gently to follow a bend in the river. As we climbed, the tops of the bordering trees off the wing tips came down even with, then fell steadily fur ther below her spray streaming wings. As we banked into our first ap proach, the lake's surface was lightly rippled from a soft, but now fading , morning breeze. I made several land ings and takeoffs and was learning and really savoring the many new and wonderful feels of a seaplane. Satisfied that I was making progress, I turned and climbed away from the lakefront circuit pattern that I had been flying, then to perhaps ad vertise that a seaplane was now based close to town and ready to do busi ness, we flew down over the city for a few minutes. Upon our return the lake's surface was like glass, but was completely un noticed by me. Any surface ripples left over from the now faded morning breeze were gone and what wave patterns had been produced as a result of my earlier takeoffs and landings had long ago splashed ashore and been dissipated. Such conditions can be lethal to the un wary and the ignorant, and I was well qualified in both respects. I didn't know this though, as the Waco descended to ward the lake, gliding smoothly through the warm, stable, morning air. There was not a tremor in the sky, only the soft vibrations and sounds of the engine at a very reduced thrust. What a grand morn ing to be flying! Unconcerned, and certainly now a bit complacent, I was looking forward to yet another nice touchdown, after which
I planned to taxi to a shore side beach to see if we couldn't sell a few late morn ing seaplane rides. As the Waco got lower and lower, as do all airmen on all landings, I projected forward and slightly down ward, an angled line of vision toward the lake's surface . My eyes began probing and searching for something to come into view that could be fo cused upon, thus establishing the end of this line, from which the angular changes of landing could be evalu ated and controlled. By evaluating the angles formed be tween this projected vision line, and the level plane of the landing surface, the airman can establish, and vary, his final approach descent to achieve touchdown at an aimed-for spot. At very low heights, he shifts vision forward again, forming a new and much shallower angle with the surface, applying control and power to cause this new geometric angle to flatten slowly, thus effecting an always hoped for gentle touchdown. It seemed we had been descending for some time and I was puzzled why I wasn't picking up a ripple or something on the surface as I had been doing all morning. This had given me no prob lems earlier-when - "wham!" The two float bows struck and dug in deep. From an unchecked, unflared glide, I had liter ally flown the airplane right into the water while believing I had many, many feet yet to descend. The deceleration was ferocious, and I was slammed for ward with my right shoulder down . Somehow, I was able to get the stick back and the throttle full open, and the Waco came up out of there flying as I straightened myself in the cockpit and looked around in shocked surprise. From what I heard later, we cre ated quite a boom and quite a splash, but there was no damage except for my pride. We had hit the water aw fully hard! This was an early lesson on seaplan ing that I learned well. Descending toward a mirror-like surface, it is ab solutely impossible for an airman, regardless of experience, to determine angles or height. A similar problem exists when landing on new-fallen snow, or a black-paved surface on a rainy night. But there are other easy ways of doing it provided awareness is there and the condition anticipated. ...... Continued Next Month VINTAGE AIRPLANE
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by Jerry Cox The 3rd annual Luscombe Fly-In at Coles County Airport at Mattoon, Illi nois (MTO) took place on June 11, 12 and 13. Lousy weather in some areas kept many folks from attending. Even so, by Thursday evening, with prepara tions underway , the "Win Me" Luscombe from the Don Luscombe Aviation Historical Foundation was there, the first Renaissance Luscombe was there and Gene Horsman from
Colorado had gotten by the weather to arrive by early evening. In addition two gentlemen from Canada, Harry and Lloyd Clark, members of the Fly ing Farmers group had driven in because of the weather, and Walter Smith had arrived on a visit from Saudi Arabia, by commercial jet and rental car, of course. Rick Duckworth, semi nar speaker, had driven in from Michigan because of bad weather in his area.
Friday morning brought on a lot of haze and although sunny, visibility was not that good. It began to bum off by noontime however and more air planes began arriving through the day. There were 12 Luscombes in by noon and 18 by 5 :00 p.m. By then the weather was threatening and eight air craft were moved into the big hangar, but the storm moved around us. John Dearden of Renaissance Air craft LLC arrived about 6:00 p.m. with the brand new Luscombe (well, new in March). Folks flocked to get a look at that beautiful new bird. It is really gorgeous, both inside and out. By Sunday, just about everyone pre sent had a chance to get a close look at the airplane. Saturday was a much more pleas ant day, though hot and humid. By the time judging had stopped in late afternoon there were 36 registered aircraft and 12 people registered who did not fly in their own aircraft. From the description of many, weather was a big factor from just about all places in the country. The turnout would have been much bet ter otherwise we are sure. During the afternoon, Jack Norris spoke about propeller technology, Canadians all! From left to right, Lloyd and Harry Clark, and Mr. and Mrs. Richard Marcus, with Luscombe C-FEPO.
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Nine Luscombes are nestled in the hangar, with a few outside.
and particularly how it pertained to Luscombes. Doug Combs of the Don Luscombe Aviation Historical Founda tion spoke on the Turbine Luscombe now being rebuilt and his unfortunate accident with the airplane. Even though wearing a neck brace, Doug had not lost his sense of humor. They believe that a bug had plugged the right fuel tank vent and when he went to the Aux fuel pump there was no way the fuel could be picked up with the vacuum in the tank. Doug also spoke about general Luscombe problems as did Rick Duckworth . Rick had a lively discussion going on various prob lems that were brought up by the folks present. John Dearden spoke on the Re naissance Luscombe and answered questions about the pro duction to be. Doug Combs addressed the DLAHF agreement and quality control problems af fecting the new airplane. Judging went on during the af ternoon with a team offour judges and by dinner time the results
were in. After the meal, the trophies were awarded and many great door prizes were drawn. The Award Winners were: Grand Champion, 8F, N1448B, Steve McGuire of Ponca City, Oklahoma; Reserve Grand Champion, 8F, N1947B, Jerry Cox and Scott Rose of Mattoon, Illinois; Outstanding 8A, N37080 (really was an 8A/C), Mike
Bowers of Mt. Juliet, In diana; Outstanding 8E, N 1750K, John Livesay and Mike Potter of Pana, Illinois; Outstanding 8F, N9927C, Robert Kellogg of Louisville, Kentucky; Outstanding T8F, N1827B, Irwin Reeb of Belleville, Illinois; Peo ples Choice, N 1448B, Steve McGuire of Ponca City, Oklahoma; Longest Distance Flown, 8A, N25342, Gene Horsman of Golden, Colorado (773 NM one way) Many thanks to Shan non Youakim, Airport Manager, Rick Reed the FBO, the Charleston, Illinois Lions club for food and Jerry Cox and other volunteers for a good fly-in. An item discussed was the possibility of moving the fly-in to a weekend in August or September next year to avoid the bad weather syndrome in June. Fly-In chief Jerry Cox asked the group to consider this and let him know. On the spot response and dis cussions since the event have indicated that it was a good idea. After search ing the calendar for a satisfactory date, the weekend of August 25-27, 2000 was decided on. See you there! ~
The People's Choice award winner, and the Grand Champion of the MTO Luscombe Fly-In is Nl448B, proudly owned and flown by Steve McGuire of Ponca City, OK. VINTAGE AIRPLANE
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FUEL VALVES • CARE AND FEEDINO
By Cy Galley nother neglected component on your airplane is the fuel shut off valve. Many owner/pilots take it for granted and never touch it. It most likely is left in the ON position all the time. I guess people think that if they ever need to turn it off, it will function properly. Actually checking the function of the valve is part of a good annual. Turning it off will check two functions. First of all, will it even move? Some valves are "gooked up" with dried fuel dye, varnish from old auto gas, or complete seizure from corrosion and not a trace of any lu brication, due to fuel exposure over the years and lack of any exercise . Sec ondly, if it will move to the OFF position, will it actually completely stop the flow offuel, or will it leak a drip or two or more? It could be like the valve that was in our Cessna! We had to whittle a wooden plug for the fuel line to change the plastic float because the valve leaked so fast. We actually lost a full load of fuel at an annual when 42 gallons leaked out overnight. The bottom line is safety . "How would you shut off the fuel if you had in in-flight fire? How would you tum off the gas to a leaking carburetor with a stuck float?" At Oshkosh we have com pletely drained tanks to eliminate the possible fire hazard. Losing your plane to fire is bad enough, but what if you also destroyed an entire row! Your valve needs to be turned to the shut-off position at each annual. Then you or your mechanic can remove the gascolator bowl and all the filter screens in order to check them for foreign mate rial contamination. It is hard to work if fuel continues to run from a tank. It is a fire hazard. With low-wing planes, a leaking valve might show up when your fuel pressure gauge begins to fluctuate at idle because it is letting air into the fuel lines rather than leaking gas out. Suck enough air, and the engine will stop. This is an other source for a vacuum leak that can make the pressure gauge flutter. Many fuel valves are the cone type.
A
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These are fairly inexpensive, work well and are easy to repair. With that said, the valve used in our Cessna Skyhawk is not a cone type but a valve that is opened by pushing a ball away from an O-ring seal. My Bellanca Cruisair came with a two valve setup with a selector and a shut-off valve. It later used a three-way valve that could select either tank and shut it all off. These valves have a common design feature. They are a very simple cone type of shut-off valve. The handle is part of or con nected to a cone-shaped piece of steel with holes that will match the inlet and outlet ports of the body. This cone or spool piece rotates in the valve body that is machined with a taper to match. When the holes are aligned with the handle in the ON position, and the holes in the cone part of the valve are blocked when the valve is turned to the OFF position. Early VariEzes had problems with this kind of valve. A plastic spool was tried but was not sat isfactory. But many of the older Aeroncas, Cubs, and T -crafts used these valves for years. These valves can sometimes be re turned to service without even removing them from the airplane but only after draining all the fuel if it is a gravity fed system. On a low wing, one just needs to get the fuel level below the valve. Using just a small tab of Parker's Fuelube to coat the spool, it can be reassembled and placed back in service. This will cure most external leaks and make the handle easy to turn. Some handles can be placed on the shaft in the wrong position. With the Cruisair, the handle has an AD to pin it to the shaft so that it is indexed to function correctly. One also needs to check after reassemble to see if it turns off and doesn't leak. What if it doesn't tum off even if it doesn't leak, even after the grease job? Buy another? You've got to be kidding. You might not like the price, IF you can find an original for your certified air plane. Even good new valves for experimentals are expensive. You can rebuild it by completely removing the
valve from the aircraft. This also re quires draining the fuel system . Disconnect any remote fuel controls such as a Citabria would have. Carefully remove the fuel valve, taking care not to round off any wrench flats on the valve or the fittings, or to twist any of the lines. Completely disassemble the valve and let it soak in a small can containing acrylic lacquer thinner or MEK. Lacquer thinner or acetone may also work, but not as well. Dry the components and check for any damage such as scoring of the cone. The valve body is usually brass, and the cone is steel. Obtain some "valve LAP PING compound" from a local auto supply or small gas engine repair store. DO NOT use valve grinding compound. The latter is too coarse. Lapping com pound or an equivalent should be used. Apply a small amount around the cone part of the valve and assemble the valve, pushing and rotating with just hand pressure. Can't find lapping compound? Use toothpaste instead. Rinse the old compound off and reap ply some more fresh compound. Do this two or three times until the valve cone and body have a nice, smooth, even satin look to both mating surfaces. Completely flush and rinse the com pound from the valve components with clean thinner or petroleum solvent and apply a small amount of Parker Fuelube (Wicks #PARKER FL or Aircraft Spruce #09-25300) to the cone. This fuel-proof grease comes in a I-lb. can and works miracles on old fuel valves. Parker Sea lube is another product with similar properties. Lightly coat the valve cone and reassemble the unit and install it in the aircraft. Before placing your or der for a multi-lifetime supply, see if you can't bum some off your FBO or mechanic. It is like "Bryicream"-a lit tle dab will do you for several decades. Make sure that you get the handle on in the right position so that the placards agree with the operation. Do a thorough leak check of the lines and fittings be fore you and your A&P mechanic return your plane to service. ......
TYPE CLUB
NOTES
by H.G. Frautschy Compiled from various type club publications & newsletters
MONOCOUPE The Accident ... By Freddie Ludtke From The Monocoupe Flyer, edited by Bob Coolbaugh
October 13, 1994: The pilot is fine, just some red sore spots from the safety harness , but NC2064 is gone. It be came uncontrollable, just like the DC-IO that went down near Sioux City. My son, Rick, was flying over our small strip, which is cut out of the tall fir on the northern peninsula near Port Angeles, Washington. He heard a bang from behind and the right rudder pedal went full forward . The 'Coupe yawed right and immediately spun. Attempt ing a recovery, Rick found he couldn't move the left rudder pedal forward . He thought, "I can fix that," released his shoulder harness, reached down and pulled the right rudder pedal as far aft as it would go . Wedging his foot be hind the pedal to hold it, he was able to recover from the spin, controlling the remaining yaw with cross-controlled ailerons. With the altitude remaining, he per formed a controllability check, finding that the ship would snap roll to the right with the addition of even a little power and sink like a stone if slowed up. Rick was able to control the snap tendency by judicious coordination of power, speed and cross-controls. He realized at this point that the elevator was jammed, allowing only limited throw which was accompanied by heavy buffeting. Also, the rudder was jammed to the
right, with his foot holding it back somewhat toward center, but not enoug to stop the continuing right hand tum. He could only slow the rate of tum, re sulting in an uncontrollable right spiral. Realizing that he could not land under control at the airstrip, he slowed as much as possible, about 65 KIAS, and flew sideways and under marginal con trol into the 60-80 foot fir trees bordering the airstrip. The 'Coupe broke into five pieces. The fuselage was severed behind the wing and hit the ground backwards, nose up, with the "G" meter pegged at 12 "Gs ." The seat back and the cross tube behind the seat were bent by Rick' s multiplied weight. Fortunately his head was supported by the shoulder harness, which was attached to the tube that goes across under the rear spar. Chances are that this prevented his head from being jerked back on im pact, which would have caused a serious neck injury. When I built the fuselage from scratch, I incorporated the 90A W drawing tube sizes and then added more structure to comply with the more stringent nose-over requirements in the current FAR Part 23. Beefmg up the main load structures paid off in the crash. For example, the left wing ripped away upon striking the trees, snapping the lift strut with it. Investi gation revealed that the lower longeron
lift strut fitting was undamaged. The heavy attach bolt had sheared in two places at the fitting, leaving the fitting intact. The shear strength of that bolt exceeds 50,000 pounds! The cabin re mained intact, along with the gear. The aft fuselage and empennage were de stroyed, as was the wing. The engine was tom down for inspection. Inspection of the tail provided an immediate answer to the cause of the crash. The "Bang" Rick heard was the structural failure of the left elevator hinges. They tore away from the eleva tor spar, allowing the airflow to bend the left side of the elevator back and up, tilting it far over the rudder and forcing the rudder full right. As you all know, the majority of this Monocoupe was hand-built in my shop in the late 1980s. However, I used a 1937 Model 90A empennage, clipping it slightly to resemble the 110 Special tail. The hinges were the original factory welded assemblies! Analyzing the cause of the failure of the hinges showed an alarm ing defect which must have slipped through the factory. It is this defect that prompted me to ensure that the Monocoupe owners were alerted to a potential problem in their own 'Coupes. The small finger patches over the hinge tubes separated from the ele vator spar tube. The hinge tubes were not welded to the spar tube before the finger patches were welded over the VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
TYPE CLUB
NOTES
smaller hinge tubes. In fact, there was a VOID between the hinge tubes and the spar tube . Paint was in the void. The finger patch welds had very little penetration. The "Spirit of Dynamite" was a great friend and a ticket to many ad ventures. I shall always remember our last adventure to the Monocoupe Fly In at Creve Coeur. My son was safely returned by its strong 90A cabin struc ture and I a m thankful for that. However, when I made the decision to use that 1937 elevator, 1 placed a fault in that airplane that almost kill ed my son. A very sobering thought. Fortunately Rick has a strong desire and love of flying-a great motivator. This gave him that "I'll fix it" attitude which got him through this episode. He never became emotional, stopped think ing or even thought of those last two words that appear at the end of airline cockpit tapes. He controlled himself, controlled the 'Coupe and walked away. All he had to do was unstrap, climb down out of the trees and brush the fir needles off. As Rick walked out to call us, he met a local crashing through the forest, yelling about a crash. Rick
12 NOVEMBER 1999
calmed him , saying, " 1 know. It was me." The next day Rick was scheduled for his Commercial Pilot check ride with the FAA examiner. He decided to take it and passed. Let's all check the hinges on our el evators and rudders. From Bob Coolbaugh, Mo n o coupe F lyer Editor : Freddie taught both so ns to fly in his J-3 Cub and moved to advanced aerobatics with them in the C/ipwing Coupe. Based on Rick's levelh eaded performance, I'd say Fred's lessons took.
LESSONS LEARNED DEPARTMENT First and foremost, Rich has shown us that yo u never give up thinking , plotting and fighting to overcome a problem in the air. Hindsight is easy, but it took a stroke of genius to figure a way to regain rudder authority as he was spinning into the ground. With the rudder jammed to the right and left rudder pedal not effective in centerng it, Rick quickly ducked down to pull on the right rudder pedal by hand. For whatever reason, this worked enough to save his life . I wonder how many
others, when faced with the failure of the obvious, would simply push harder on the left pedal until impact? It takes a calm pilot to walk the tightrope with a plane so marginally controllable, and it takes a skilled one to accept the in evitable crash and plan for it and actually fly the plane into the crash in stead of cursing fate . Congrats, Rick and do us a favor-take your Dad out for a glass of hi s favorite poison-tell him it 's on us, if you want, but in your heart you have to know that it was he who taught you to fly a Clipwing, which gave you th e confidence and character to overcome your brush with the angels. Aw, heck, forget the glass, buy the old coot a bottle! There is a flying job out there for Rick-as a test pilot, a fighter pilot or as a member of an airline crew. 1 know I sure wou ld like to have him flying with me! Vintage Airplane Editor's Note: Freddie and the Monocoupe Club are to be commended for getting the word out regarding the cause of this acci dent in 1994. For the next chapter in NC2064 's saga, please turn to page 16.- HGF ~
BY HOLLY PALMER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE FALL
ifteen years ago, co-founders of the West Coast Piper Cub Fly-In Bruce Fall (who has owned Cubs for most of his 54 flying years) and Monte Finley invited a few Piper Cubs to Lompoc Airport. The Annual "Sentimental Journey" Cub Fly-In in Lock Haven, PA was an aw fully long way to go for a West Coast pilot (and it could get expensive). Since that first Lompoc Fly-In, more and more Cubs show up every year; there were many new faces among the familiar this year. Even though the Fly-In is advertised to start Friday, usually the first Cubs arrive on Thursday. For years, Larry Holman of Canby, Oregon has arrived in his PA-18 Su per Cub on Thursday, winning the First Arrival Award every time - but this year he was beat by only one minute by John "Solly" Solomon of Aurora, Colorado in his J-3. It turns out that neither even knew the other was in the pattern!
F
It was one of those extremely rare sum mer weekends on the California Central Coast where fog was nonexistent, sun was plentiful, temperatures were mild, wind was minimal, sunsets were gorgeous, and little yellow airplanes proliferated in the skies. July 9, 10 and 11 happened to be a perfect choice for the 15th Annual West Coast Piper Cub Fly-In at Lompoc Airport, Lompoc, California. Plenty of J-3s, PA-12 Super Cruisers and PA-18 Super Cubs, a couple of J-2s, PA-ll Cub Specials, PA-22 Tri Pacers, L-4s (military versions of the J-3), and a J-5 Cub Cruiser, J-4 Cub Coupe, and PA-16 Clipper flew into Lompoc from California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Arizona. Of course, other "rag-wings" were heartily welcomed, including the infamous Cub look-a-like Aeronca Champs and Lus combe Silvaires, and a couple of Stinsons, a Porterfield, a Citabria and a Cessna 140. More than 50 "Cubs," many other rag-
wings, and who-knows-how-many "spam cans" were registered on the field; and some who couldn't fly their Cubs drove in. One group of 11 Cubs flew in together from the Washington/Oregon area. They took two days to get to Lompoc, spending one night partying at the "Flying Flana gans" almond ranch and private strip near Merced, CA. Members of the group, Jerry and Brenda Burr, from Burlington, WA took the Far thest Distance Award in their highly modified J-3 Cub, and have attended 14 of the Lompoc Fly Ins. Jerry comes for the "comfortable, unstructured events and fun, where he can just visit with friends and other Cub owners he hasn't seen for as long as a year. We used to bring our kids, but they've grown up and moved out-so we come by ourselves now." CFr Kathryn Perry from Sultan, WA made the two day trip with her two young VINTAGE AIRPLANE
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(Top) Doug Morlan, Vacaville, CA, and his J-3, flying over classic California country. (Second from Top) Kathryn Perry, Sultan, SA, J-3 Cub is working on her spot landing with a young passenger in the front seat. (Second from Bottom) Keith and Molly Littlefield with sons Sam and Ben. Molly flew her Cessna 140, while Keith and Ben flew the J-3 Cub. They met at the fly-in in
1993. (Bottom) Ryan (L) and Dale (R) Weir, Kent, WA, J-3 won "Prettiest Cub," "Most Original Cub," and "Youngest Cub Pilot" (22-year old-Ryan).
children; and her solo student Al Wirtan (278 logbook hours) brought his Cub as well. Other long-time attendees with the same group, 737 Airline Captains Keith Littlefield and Molly (Flana gan, of the famous "Flying Flanagans") Littlefield of Kent, WA joined us again this year with their sons Ben (almost three years old) and Sam (three months old). These two met at our Fly-In in 1993, married and attended again in '95, '97 (to show off their first-born to their Lompoc Family) and again in '99! The Oldest Cub Pilot Award went to Retired Marine Paratrooper Col. Bruce Meyers from Snohomish, WA, who flew his J-3 R.A.F. in "Flit fire" colors. The beautifully restored J-3 NC422 I I , owned by Dale Weir (also with the Kent, WA group), and flown by his 22-year-old son Ryan took the Prettiest Cub and Most Original Cub awards. Ryan received the Youngest Cub Pilot Award. One obvious reason people enjoy the Lompoc Cub Fly-In is the wonderful , homemade food. Friday night fare always in cludes generous servings of steaming hearty spaghetti, garlic French bread, salad, and tables full of homemade desserts (pre pared by the local EAA 275 and Lompoc Valley Pilots Association members). Famous Lompoc Style tri-tip barbeque is served on Saturday night-and there is always plenty for second helpings. Breakfast on Saturday and Sunday includes hotcakes, sausage, local strawberries, orange juice, milk and coffee. Ham burgers and hotdogs are served for lunch on Friday and Saturday. One new aspect of the Fly-In this year is added ramp space. Lompoc Airport is in the process of extending its runway, and adding additional taxiways and parking on the "hotel and restaurant" side of the airport. This enables planes to be parked within a few feet of several hotels and many restau rants as well as local shopping areas. So, if one would rather eat at a local restaurant instead of the "Big Hangar," many choices lie within close walking distance. After lunch on Saturday, participants were briefed on the rules of the spot landing and flour bomb drop contest. For the spot landing, one or both of the main gear had to touch down and stay down as close to the chalk line as possible, without hitting before the line. The closest distance was 25 feet past the line (if you don't include the visiting Long EZ, who just touched down to say, "Hi!"). Martin Leonard ofMt. Baldy, CA won the Spot Landing Award in his J-2. If you don't know Lompoc Airport, you may not realize that we have pretty stiff, gusty prevailing winds that can be crosswinds just a few feet above the runway, so give these guys a break. Ken Hetge of Tehachapi, CA in his J-4 Cub Coupe, with Jeff Sears as his bombardier, won the flour bomb drop at a total of 26 feet for two bombs. Bombardier Jeff was actually the youngest pilot at the fly-in-he is currently 16 14
NOVEMBER 1999
(Top) This sharp PA-11 Cub Special belongs to Jeff Montgomery, Kent, WA. (Second from Top) Martin Leonard, Mt. Baldy, CA, is a study in concentration as he lands the only J-2 present. He must have visualized the landing pretty well - he won the Spot Landing contest! (Second from Bottom) Col. Bruce Meyers ("Oldest Pilot Award") with his 1940 J-3 Cub in RAF " Flitfire" colors. (Bottom) John " Solly" Soloman (left, 1946 J-3) and Larry Holman (right, Super Cub) goodnaturedly dicker over who was actually first to arrive.
years old, soloed in his Cessna 150 to the fly in from Bakersfield, CA, and was scheduled for his private pilot check ride on July 20, the day he turns 17! Usually, after game time on Saturday, groups of Cubs take off for tours of our beautiful central coast. One such trip, including six Cubs, went over to Point Conception, then on down the beach and cliffs along the coast. If you have a slow plane, the trip is worth the planning. Awards, presentations, and entertainment commenced after dinner on Saturday, in the Big Hangar. For their efforts over the last 15 years Bruce and Nyla Fall, and Monte and Laura Finley were presented with a plaque to hang in the Lompoc Airport Ad ministration Building. Also recognized for their assistance with the Fly-Ins were the Lompoc Valley Pilots Association, Local EAA 275, and the Santa Maria Valley 99s. For those who don't know, Bruce's wife Nyla passed away this last winter after a lengthy illness. For the second year now, belly dancers performed for the crowd (one of them a local pilot); then music played in the back ground while everybody reminisced, drank beer and soda, and laughed until midnight. After all the Cubs left on Sunday, a drawing was surprisingly discovered on Runway 25 (we always take our own airplanes out to play after our guests leave - it's tradition). The artist used col ored chalk to sketch Monte Finley's comical "Cubbie," the drawing stretching way across the runway, and about 20 feet tall! It took a little detective work to figure out who the culprit was. He signed his work "Doug." Well, two Dougs appeared on the registrant's list, but only one of the Dougs used colored chalk to elaborately mark his Cub's spot on the ramp! We know who you are-and we know what you did. It was great, and feel free to do it again next year! Local EAA Chapter 275 and the Lompoc Valley Pilot's Asso ciation members are very proud of their little, albeit growing, airport. With increasing and hard-earned community support, Lompoc Airport is gaining popularity among citizens and city ad ministration. A strong aviation community combined with prudent airport management enabled funds from the FAA and other sources to finally complete several long awaited Master Plan projects. Included are our new south side taxiway (immedi ately adjacent to many hotels, restaurants, and stores) and ramp area, recently funded plans for a 1,000 ' extension to the runway (for a total runway length of 4,600') and revitalized ramp areas. Eventually, new hangars and aviation related businesses are planned for recently acquired airport propelty.
-continued on page 29 VINTAGE AIRPLANE
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Proofthat you can't always believe your eyes was parked on the south side of the Theater in the Woods, Air Venture '99. There, its pug nose defiantly in the air, sat NC2064. It should have been dead. A source for spare parts, but there it was. Without meaning to, the airplane stood as a monument to Fred Ludtke's crafts manship and sheer tenacity and the unbelievable love, which so many people have, for the Monocoupe breed. It also stood as a monument to the concept that even a young boy's dreams can come true. NC2064 was brought to Oshkosh '99 by its owner, Richard Smith and his wife and partner Georgeen. The very fact that the airplane still exists is something of a miracle. The fact that a young Richard Smith had once stood in a dark hangar staring at Woody Ed mondson's 110 Special and vowing to someday own such an airplane adds another, more human, dimension to that miracle. Smith was born and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia when the air port was still a military fuel stop for airplanes headed overseas . Every Sunday his grandfather would take him down to the airport to watch the airplanes come and go. Every time they did, young Smith would say to himself, "I'm going to do that. I'm going to fly airplanes." He was barely into his teens when he'd ride his bicycle to the airport where he began hanging out doing whatever odd jobs they'd give him. Soon he was a regular, pumping gas and washing airplanes for flight time. At the time, one of his regular cus tomers was the legendary Woody Edmondson and his airplane was the equally legendary 110 Special Mono coupe. Edmondson called Lynchburg home and even when he was away for extended periods of time, the Mono coupe stayed in the back ofthe hangar, its small outline taking up almost no floor space. Young Smith designated himself the 'Coupe's unofficial crew chief, keeping the airplane washed and polished and in a perpetual state of readiness, even though Edmondson often wouldn't visit for months. The payoff however was well worth it. Al most every time Edmondson showed up, he'd say, "Come on, kid, let's go flying," and in minutes, Richard Smith would be rolling and looping around 18
NOVEMBER 1999
the sky in the company of his, and everyone else's, hero. Small wonder the aviation bug bit him hard. Also, small wonder that another of his promises to himself was that someday he'd own a clipped wing Mono足 coupe of his own. Edmundson, incidentally, wasn't Smith's only inspiration, or the Monocoupe the only airplane he promised himself he'd own. Another frequent visitor was a petite brunette, Betty Skelton, and he lavished his caretaker skills on the tiny biplane known as Lil' Stinker: He again made himself a promise. This time - that he'd own a Pitts Special some time in his life. By the time Richard was 16, he soloed and had his CFI only a few years later which, as with so many others became his ticket to higher flight time. As he built flight time, he eventually gravitated to Franklin, Pennsylvania where he has worked for the same flight department, which he has managed for 30 years. Although he became a professional corporate pilot, he never forgot those promises he made to himself. He fulfilled the first one when he pur足 chased the first of five Pitts Specials, he'd eventually own. "I'd buy one, fix it up, then sell it to buy a better one. That's the way I owned my air足 planes. I kept moving upwards by fixing them up as I went."
The cockpit of the 110 Special is tight, but the bright red and white interior makes it a cozy spot to enjoy some speed, Monocoupe style. Richard's 'Coupe cockpit is equipped with the stuff a fast airplane needs to zip though just about any airspace you want. A transponder and a Garmin GNC 250XL GPS/Com lets Georgeen take care of the talking and navigating. VINTAGE AIRPLANE
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Eventually he was able to purchase a 90A Monocoupe with a 145 Warner on it and he found himself closer to his eventual goal of owning a 110 Special. "That air plane was a little rough, having had a poor restoration done, so I spent a year and a half restoring it the way it should have been in the first place. " He flew it for something over 110 hours and reports he "... worked on it for about five hours for every hour of flight time." As early as 1994, he had been trying to get Fred Ludtke to sell him his 110 Special, but with no success. Then Fred's son was flying the airplane, the elevator hinge let go and the airplane wound up in the trees. If the airplane had been anything but a 110 Special, that would have been the end of the story. However, the little clipped wing monsters seem to have some sort of magnetic appeal to them. Although most sources report only seven 11 Os were actu ally built by the factory, another several dozen were the result of people bringing their 90A's back to the factory to have their wings shortened. Johnny Livingston's clip wing was one of those. In addition, in recent times a number have been hand built. Smith says 12 clipped 'Coupes are flying, the ma jority of them being modified 90' s or homebuilts. Ludtke's airplane was built in the tradi tion of the modified airplanes when he put it together in 1987. Wanting it to be li censed as a Monocoupe, rather than a homebuilt, he acquired a 90A fuselage and serial number. Then using just enough of the fuselage to satisfy the Feds, he con structed a new fuselage of 4130, rather than the original mild steel. He used factory drawings when building the wings. The airplane was to be are-incarnation of the original NC2064, which was a 110 Special built for R. 1. "Pete" Brooks. 20
NOVEMBER 1999
Brooks, heir to the Astor fortune, is reputed to have some financial stakes in the Mono coupe company and his airplane was named "Spirit of Dynamite" because he said, "...it took off like I lit a fuse to a rocket." Jackie Cochran borrowed the airplane to raise the light plane, I OOKM closed course record for women to 173.097 mph in 1939. Brooks sold the airplane to a clergyman, Leonard Peterson, who when not minister ing to his flock, was performing airshows which featured low altitude outside loops. The inevitable happened at Richmond in 1940 and the airplane was destroyed in a flaming crash. All of the factory airplanes were custom built so none of them are exactly alike. However, the original 110 Specials used the narrow door that could clear the strut when it was opened, while most others have the wider, round bottom door that folds up as it bumps against the strut. Smith says Woody Edmondson's airplane, N36Y, was the last clipped coupe to be built. When Ludtke began rebuilding his airplane for the second time in 1994 after the accident, he went back to his original factory drawings for the clipped wing, which is ten feet shorter than the original 32-foot wing, but with the same number of ribs. They are just moved closer to gether to give the wing more strength during aerobatics. Second time around, Ludtke knew exactly what needed to be done to build the airplane faster than he did the first time. Smith refers to his airplane as a replica, even though it is licensed in standard cate gory. Again, enough of the original airplane was used to justify calling the restoration a repair. He however says the majority of the airplane is new as every major component was absolutely trashed in the accident. The current engine is a 165 Warner
which he says gives the airplane tremen dous performance but is getting difficult to support. In fact, he had just bought a six-bolt hub to run a wood prop while his metal prop is in being overhauled and the search for the hub proved to be both diffi cult and expensive . He hemmed and hawed about buying the hub, but his wife stepped in and talked him into parting with the money. He says, "She's the great est wife and a major part of this project. The interior was her design and the air plane seldom leaves the ground that she's not in it. She does all the GPS navigating and handles all the communications." He reports the airplane cruises at about 145 mph at 1800 rpm and 165 mph at 2,050 rpm, but he prefers the lower rpm to preserve his engine. He says he starts his approach at 110 mph on down wind, slowing it to 100 mph as he comes around on final and sets it into a slip for the last part offinal at 90 mph . At 90 mph he says it sinks fairly rapidly and describes the touch down and rollout as "... tender" with his feet barely tapping the rudders to keep from over controlling. He strongly recommends riding with another Mono coupe pi lot the first few times, even though the airplane isn't really hard to fly . For the first few hours, however, it's just too easy to get excited and cause problems . The ability to control the air plane better on the ground is also why he's installed a bigger, more normal tail wheel than the tiny original. He doesn't feel as if it's smart to compromise safety in the interest of originality. So what's next for the Smiths? He says Georgeen eyes every Staggerwing as it comes in. And, although it's a big jump, he thinks they may try to do it. After all, he's gotten the first two airplanes on his wish list. He might as well add another. ......
Family activities have always been a big part of the annual EAA Convention, and this year EAA added a new dimension to the event. KidVenture, sponsored by Nestle, was a big hit, with thousands of youngsters enjoying the hands-on activities and displays. Volunteer Alden Frautschy (above) instructs a group of budding rocket scientists how to build "Straw Rockets, " lung-powered mis足 siles built up with soda straws and sticky labels. At another set of tables (below), par足 ents and kids worked together to complete model rockets, kindly donated by Estes. These are just two of the wide range of events and activities youngsters enjoyed.
Cubs make such wonderful airshow watching airplanes ...
Hey, this guy looks familiar ... Former Vintage Airplane editor Mark Phelps has a vin足 tage airplane to call his own. Mark recently purchased this 1954 Beech Bonanza, and has been enjoying the 155 knot airspeed.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE
21
by H.G. Frautschy
We had a few takers of the August Mys tery Plane. Bob Pauley sent in his article on the airplane, first published in the Great Lakes Pilots News. Here's Bob's extensive writeup: The Bendix Corporation has been asso ciated with aviation for a long time and is probably best remembered for the Bendix trophy, awarded each year since 1931 to the pilot who established the fastest transcontinental speed record. The his tory ofBendix dates back to 1914 when a young inventorfrom Moline, 1L, Vincent Bendix, developed an automobile starting motor drive that later became known as the "Bendix Drive. " The rights to his in vention were sold by Bendix to the Eclipse Machine Company. By 1919 over one million had been built and almost every automobile then being manufac tured was equipped with a Bendix Drive. After he had signed the agreement with Eclipse, Bendix was free to devote his talents towards other ideas, and in 1923 hejoinedforces with a French in ventor who had developed an internal expanding brake shoe. 1n 1924 heformed a new company, the Bendix Corporation, and began producing this advanced vehi cle braking system, which was in great demand throughout the automotive in dustry. By 1928 General Motors had become his major customer and that same year General Motors aided Bendix financially with further plant expansions. This expansion included acquisition of the Eclipse Machine company that had been manufacturing his Bendix Drive. That same year the company's name was changed to the Bendix Aviation Corpora tion, and Bendix embarked on a period of 22
NOVEMBER 1999
expansion, buying other well known avia tion companies including Scintilla Magnetos, Pioneer Instruments and Stromberg Carburetors. It was during this period the company introduced the Bendix trophy to help stimulate aircraft designers to build better andfaster airplanes. 1n 1937 General Motors, which by that date held a controlling interest in Bendix stock, installed two oftheir own men on the Bendix Board ofDirectors. Later, in 1942, after Vincent Bendix had retired, one of
these men, Ernest R. Breech, became the new president ofBendix. Under his leader ship, and as a result ofthe huge war-time contracts, Bendix again expanded and made major contributions to the war effort by developing Radar, pressure carburetors, and the famous "Gibson Girl" emergency radio transmitter. Ernie Breech, however, was even then anticipating the problems the companyfaced in the post-war future - that ofconverting the huge Bendix empire back to peace time production. In 1944 Bendix formed an aircraft division at the sugges tion ofBreech (who was a private pilot) with the intention ofentering the post-war private aircraftfield. To head the new Bendix Aircraft Divi sion an experienced aircraft designer was brought into the picture. Athanas P. "Jack" Fontaine had been Chief Engineer at Stin son where he had designed the Voyager series, and later was Assistant Director of Engineering at Consolidated Vultee. The first order ofbusiness for the new division was to conduct a market study to determine what type ofairplane should be built. This resulted in the conclusion that the expected post-war aviation boom would demand a two-place, all-metal retractable
November Mystery Plane
Our November Mystery Plane is a gift f rom Fred Austin, Santa Paula, CA. He found the photo in Buenos Aires earlier this year. We try to keep the number of foreign Mystery Planes to a minimum, but some are just too fun to ignore! Send you r answers to: EAA, Vintage Airplane, PO Box 3086, 54903 3086. You answers need to be in no later than December 27, 1999 so they can be included in the February 2000 issue. If you prefer, you can E-Mail your answer to vintage@eaa.org Be certa in to include both your name and the address in the body of the copy and put "(Month) Mystery Plane" in the subject line.
landing gear airplane and, as a sec ondary need, a four-place all-metal should be offeredfor sale.Armed with this information, the small group ofengi neers, who worked in an office at 261 McDougal St. in Detroit, designed and built the Bendix Model 55 in a remark ably short period oftime. The first sketches were made in July 1945 by Vern Biasell, an ex-Stinson de signer who had been responsible for the L-5 series, and by mid-December ofthat same year the first airplane had been built and was ready for its testflight. The Model 55 was an all-metal low wing design with side-by-side seatingfor two and a retractable tricycle landing gear. The wing span was 33 '3", it was The Bendix Model 55, NX-341 03, SIN 2. This picture by Brian Baker was taken July 28,1957 at 22' long and it had an empty weight of Detroit City Airport when it was owned by the Detroit Technical High School. The airplane is shown here after its wings had been clipped to render it unflyable. 1,043 pounds. The engine was a 100 hp Franklin driving an Annesley two-posi six-inch long propeller shaft extension that become Executive Vice-president and Di tion controllable pitch propeller. In an attempt to simplify production and gave the airplane a very streamlined ap rector ofFord Motor Company. Breech left pearance. A second airplane was completed Bendix that same month. reduce costs, the airplane had been de signed to make use of an automotive afew months later (NX-34103) and it also Breech's successor at Bendix was Mal had the e.xtension shaft, but in the interest of colm Ferguson, who did not share the production line concept starting with a ba sic keel moved along an assembly line. reducing costs, it had been decided to elimi enthusiasm Breech had shown for the light Many novel ideas were introduced to keep nate thisfeature in the production airplanes. plane program. In September the Bendix The first airplane was eventually modi Board ofDirectors announced they were costs to a minimum. For example, the tail fied to the short nose production design closing the Aircraft Division after having surfaces were designed so all three compo spent approximately two million dollars on nents (the fin and rudder, and the two which detractedfrom the original stream stabilizers and elevators) were identical, lined appearance. The Model 55 had a top the program. and each was made ofonly 12 parts, not speed of148 mph, a cruising speed of140 One contributingfactor to the board 's mph and a rate ofclimb of900 fpm, which decision was the realization that if Bendix counting the skin. The wing panels also fea tured simplified construction with the ribs far exceeded the performance ofany other had produced a lightplane, they would have two-place airplane then available on the been in direct competition with many other arranged in a zig-zag pattern which re duced the number ofribs required, yet still market. airframe manufacturers who were cus Progress on the production version of tomers of various Bendix divisions, and maintained the strength and correct airfoil shape. Only 19 parts were required to build the two-place Model 55 was moving for success ofthe Bendix lightplane could well either wing panel, again not counting the ward at a rapid pace and all of the have meant a substantial loss ofsales in skin. The wings used an original Bendix 416 requirements for an Approved Type Certifi other areas. The ambitious program came cate had been met. 1n the meantime, back in to an end and the Bendix Aircraft Division airfoil section that had a pronounced re flexed trailing edge which gave gentle stall a new office in Detroit, several hundred tool was disbanded. designers were working on the production characteristics. Jack Fontaine, who had been in charge AIso, the full span ailerons could be toolingfor the Model 55 and a plant had ofthe Aircraft Division left Bendix, but later "drooped" to serve as landingflaps which been leased in Garland, TX in which to returned to become President and Chair reduced the stalling speedfrom 53 to 47 build the airplanes. man ofthe board. The Bendix planes that Optimism among the Bendix Aircraft Di mph. had been completed (Editor'S note: Includ vision employees was high and by ing the Model 51 landplane and the 51 A The first Model 55 was completed in De cember 1945 and was taken by truck to September 1946 they were alliookingfor Amphibian, which we didn't include in this Windsor Airport in Canada for assembly ward to the introduction oftheir new design article - HGF) were donated to various to the post-war lightplane market. However, schools in the Detroit area so aeronautical and initialflight tests. The airport was cho senfor its close proximity to Detroit, but it an event that had taken place earlier that students could learn by working on them. year was to bring the entire program to an The Detroit Aero Mechanics High School, also offered a degree ofsecrecy to the pro ject, which kept it from the prying eyes of untimely end. Wayne State University, and the University Ernest Breech had been directly respon the press and competition. ofMichigan all received parts ofthe vari sible for the expansion ofBendix into a ous Bendix airframes, but unfortunately The maiden flight was made in late De cember of 1945 by Chief Test pilot Al corporation with annual gross sales ofmore none ofthem exist today. Schram, another ex-Stinson employee, and than one billion dollars, and his managerial Other answers were received from Larry he, plus two other test pilots then embarked talents had attracted the attention ofHenry Knechtel, Seattle, WA; Marty Eisenmann, on an extensiveflight test program. The first Ford. In May 1946 Ford announced that Alta Lorna, CA; and John Fink, Cha Bendix Model 55 (NX-34110) featured a Breech had accepted his offer and would wottesville, VA. ..... VINTAGE AIRPLANE
23
'*=mes NEW MEMBERS
Carlos Moyano .......................... ...... ......... Victor Mikell ............................ Petal, MS William M. McClure ....... ...... Hixson, TN ................... Santa Cruz de la Sie, Bolivia Jerry Scherer.. ...... ................ Billings, MT Brian Hagen .. ....... ...... ........ ...... Plano, TX A. Johannsson ....... ..Mosfellsbae, Iceland Anna F. Pennington .. ....Wilmington, NC Douglas 1. O'Connor .......... Houston, TX Ronald H. Smith ....... ... .... .... ... Bruno, AR Robert W. Ottaway ....... .... .. Bedford, NH JeffG . Quaid ....... .... ....... ..Carrollton, TX Allen Benjamin ... .. ......... ...... Pheonix, AZ Langford Keith ....... ...... ..Silver City, NM Joanne Roemer. ... Clear Lake Shores, TX James M. Dale ..................... McNeal, AZ Matthew K. Eaker. .............. Addison, NY Richard Rowles .............. Woodlands, TX Gerald R. Bartosh ............... La Mesa, CA Dave Fuller .................. ..Churchvi lle, NY Marlisa Horocks ................Park City, UT Robin M. Campbell... ......... Torrance, CA Sheldon Tieder ........ ........ Rhinebeck, NY Forrest Mcfaden .. ... ............... .Forest, VA Willard Carpenter ............ San Diego, CA J-!"ugo Visconti ................. Rhinebeck, NY Thomas A. Olgeirson ...... Uppervi lle, VA Allan G. Hanson ................ Somerset, CA Sheri L. G1adish .. ..........Miamisburg, OH David C. Wasulko .... Charlottesville, V A Bob Hixson ..................... West Point, CA Ray Lang .................... ... ... Columbus, OH David A. Bromels ......... Mt. Vernon, WA William McNulty .............. Vacaville, CA
Kent Faith ............. ....... ........ ... .Tulsa, OK John Ireton ... ..... .............. Anacortes, WA
Jim O'Brien .......... ............. Riverside, CA W. 1. Burdis ........ ..... .... .... Coraopolis, PA Chris J. Johnson .... .. ... .. ..... ..Tacoma, WA Dave Ormond .......... ... ..... .......Avery, CA James E. Chick .............. ... .. .Fairfield, PA Pete Karp .. ... ........ .......... Wenatchee, W A John Raley .. ..... .... .... .. .. .. Costa Mesa, CA Mark F. DeMario .............. Brockway, PA George J. Graphos ...........Green Bay, WI Andrew Wait ...... ........Corte Madera, CA George Ominski ............ .... Lancaster, PA John P. Reynolds ............... Janesville, WI Dwight L. Cresap ................... Niwot, CO Steven E. Warwick ............. Lansdale, PA Martin M. Smiltneek ..Oconomowoc, WI Dennis Raphael .... Colorado Springs, CO Erbin Baumgardner ............ Riceville, TN William E. Motsinger. .. ... Hurricane, WV C. 1. Calder III .. .... ........ ... ..... Goshen, CT
Jim Regan .... .. ..... ............ .Naugutuck, CT
John D. Hovan .... .. .. .Pembroke Pines, FL
James A. Sprigg ..... .... .. ..... Dade City, FL
VINTAGE TRADER
John G. Threlke ld ..... ......... .. .. Senoia, GA
David C. Camp .... ... .West Berlington, IA
Roger Acker .................. Taylor Ridge, IL
Jeffrey W. Fink ...............Love's Park, IL
Something to buy, sell or trade?
Jamie Kee .. ............ ........... East Peoria, IL An inexpensive ad in the Vintage Trader may be just the answer to obtaining that elusive part. .50¢ per word, $8.00 minimum charge. Send your ad and payment to: Vintage Trader, EAA Avia Charles J. Baxter. .. ... Bonner Springs, KS tioll Center, P. O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086, or fax your ad and your credit card Sal Catizone ... .. .... ... ... .. .. ...... Revere, MA number to 920/426-4828. Ads must be received by the 20th ofthe month for insertion in the issue the second month following (e. g. , October 20th for the December issue.) Raymond H. Clark .......... Groveland, MA
James Ryan ...... .... ......... .. .Winthrop, MA
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ramengine.com VINTAGE ENGINE MACHINE WORKS, N. 604 FREYA ST., SPOKANE, WA 99202.
Joseph Jarski ............................. Riley, MI Newsletters for Arctic/Interstate (6 Back issues/$9.00), Beaver/ Otter (3/$5.00), Norseman Najeeb Khan .......... .... ..Edwardsburg, MI
Samuel E. Mosshamer Grand Rapids, MI
(16/$21.00). $16.50/4 issues. Free sample: write, call, fax. ALL credit cards accepted. Dave Neumeister, Publisher, 5630 South Washington, Lansing , MI 48911-4999. 800/594 -4634, 517/882-8433. Fax: 800/596-8341, 517/882-8341 .
Lawrence C. Besser .... Hermantown, MN BROWNBACK TIGERlAnzani 90hp, need info and spare parts for this 6 cylinder twin row radial. Robert E . Lee ... ................ Lindstom, MN Ralph Graham, St. Paul, MN (651)452-3629, e-mail: GevonG@aol.com Donald E. Schlichting ... .... Mankato, MN
TAIL WHEEL CHECK-OUT available in a Classic 1941 J-3 Cub - dual or solor rental. Doskicz
Dan D. Huey .. ...... ................ Cl inton, MO Aircraft Specialties, Bally, PA (610)845-2366 Ben Morrow ...... ............ ....... Liberty, MO
Thomas W. Bobbitt ............. Jackson, MS
24 NOVEMBER 1999
Aeronca Champ-Helton Lark-Aeronca "K" Project-Aeronca C-3 Wamer 145 and 165 engines, (2) Curtiss Reed props. Let's talk. "Buck" Hilbert, FAX 815/923-4605. "E" buck7ac@mc.net
The Board ofDirectors ofOcean ReefClub
Key Largo, Florida
cordially invites you to attend
THE 6TH ANNuAL VINTAGE WEEKEND
December 3rd,4th and 5th, 1999
Honoring classic conveyances by air, land, and sea
~
~
and including
The Antique and Classic Airplane Fly-in
The Concourse d'Elegance ofAutomobiles
.:. The Antique and Classic Yacht Rendezvous I
~
RS VP
Participation includes welcoming cocktail party in a private bome Friday evening; SatllrdflY day-long celebration ofboats, cmos, and planes; [Jenuine Maine lobsterbake Saturday evenmg witb Tbe Bill Allred Jazz Band; awards and fm-ewell breakfast Sunday morning.
Marry ](jlby - (305) 367-5874
Because Ocean ReefClub is a private dub,
The Vintage Weekend is open only to
members and invited guests staying in
tbe Inn or Mm"ina.
O CEAN R EEF CLUB'
31
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VINTAGE AI RPLANE 25
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INC.
259 Lower Morrisville Rd ., Dept. VA Fallsington , PA 19054 (215) 295-4115 VINTAGE AIRPLANE
27
Membershi~ Services Directon'_ VINTAGE
AIRCRAFT Enjoy the many benefits ofBAA and the ASSOCIATION BAA Vintage Aircraft Association
~
OFFICERS President Esple 'Butch' Joyce P.O. Box 35584 Greensboro. NC 27425 336/ 393-0344 e-moil: windsock@ool.com Secretary Steve Nessa 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Leo. MN 5l:f1J7 507/373-1674
Vice-President George Doubner 2448 Lough Lane
HOrtfOfd. WI 53027
414/673-5885
e-mail;antique2@aol.com
Treasurer Cha~es W. Harris 72 15 East 46th Sl. Tulsa. OK 74145 918/622-8400 cwh@hvsu.com
DIRECTORS Robert C. ' Bob' Brauer 9345 S. Hoyne Chlcago. IL 60620
773/779-2105 e-mail: protopilof@aoi.com John Berendt 7645 Echo Point Rd. Cannon Fal~ . MN 55009
507/263-2414
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John S. Copeland l A Deacon Street NorlhbOfough. MA 01532 508/393-4775 &-mail:
copeland l @juno.COfn
Robert D. ' Bob' Lumley 1265 South 124th Sl. Brookfield. WI 53005 414/ 782-2633
e-mail: lumper@execpc.cOfn
Phil Coulson 284 15 Springbrook Dr. Lawton. M149065
616/624-6490 Roger Gomotl 321-1/2 S. Broactwoy #3 Rochester. MN 55904 507288-2810 rgomoll@ herilagehal~ . org
Dale A. Gustafson 7724 Shady Hill Dr. Indianapolis. IN 46278 317/293-4430 Jeannie Hili P.O. Box 328 Harvard. IL 60033
815/943-7205
Dean Richardson 6701 Colony Dr. Madison. WI 53717 608/833-1291 dor@resprod.com
Geoff Robison 1521 E. MacGregor Dr. New Hoven. IN 46774 219/ 493-4724 e-mail: chiefl025@aoi.com
DIRECTORS
EMERITUS
920/231-5002
11741 Wolf Rd. Grass Valley. CA 95949
EAA and Division Membership Services 800-843-3612 " " " " " ' " FAX 920-426-6761 (8:00 AM -7:00 PM Monday- Friday CST) • New/renew m emberships: EAA, Divisions (Vintage Aircraft Association, lAC, Warbirdsl. National Association of Flight Instructo rs (NAFl) • Address changes • M erchandise sales • Gift memberships
Programs and Activities EAA AirVenture Fax-On-Demand Directory .............................. 732-885-6711 Auto Fuel STCs ................ 920-426-4843 Build/restore information .... . . 920-426-4821 Chapters: locating/organizing .. 920-426-4876 Ed ucation ..................... 920-426-6815 • EAA Air Academy • EAA Scholarships • EAA Young Eagles Camps
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815/923-4591
e-mail: buck7ac@mC.net
Alan Shackleton P.O. Box 656 Sugar Grove. IL 60554.()656
530/268-1585
630/466-4193
antlquer@lnrecch.cOfn
103346.1772@cOflllUS'3!V8.com
Flight Advisors inform ation ... . . 920-426-6522 Flight Instructor information ... 920-426-6801 Flying Start Program " "" "",920-426-6847 Library Services/Research .. _... 920-426-4848 Medical Questions ............. 920-426-4821 Technical Counselors . . ... , . ... 920-426-4821 Young Eagles .. . ... . . . . . . . . . .. . 920-426-4831 Benefits Aircraft Financing (Green Tree) ... 800-851-1367 AUA .......................... 800-727-3823 AVEMCO .......... .. . . .. .. . .. 800-638-8440 Term Life and Accidental . ...... 800-241-6103 Death Insurance (Harvey Watt & Company) Editorial Submitting article/photo; advertising information 920-426-4825 , , , , , , , , , , , , , FAX 920-426-4828 EAA Aviation Foundation Artifact Donations ............. 920-426-4877 Financial Support ......... . ... 800-236-1025
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION EAA Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is $40 for one year, including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION. Family membership is available for an addi tional $10 annually. Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $23 annually. All major credit cards accepted for membership. (Add $16 for
Foreign Postage.)
VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION Current EM members may join the Vintage Aircraft Associaton and receive VINTAGE AIRPLANE maga zine for an additional $27 per year. EM Membership, VINTAGE AIRPLANE mag-azine and one year membership in the EM Vintage Air craft Association is available for $37 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included). (Add
$7 for Foreign Postage,)
E.E. ' Buck' Hilbert
ADVISORS David Benneff
Phone (920) 426-4800 Fax (920) 426-4873
Web Site: http://,eaa.organd http://www,airventure,org E-Mail: Vintage @ eaa,org
Gene Morris 5936 Sleve Court Roanoke. TX 76262 817/491 -9110 e-mail: n03capt@ftosh.net
S.H. "Wes" Schmid
2359 Lefeber Avenue
Wouwctoso. WI 53213
414/771-1545
shschmld@execpc.com
Gene Chase 2159 Car1lon Rd. Oshkosh. WI 54904
EAA Aviation Center, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh WI 54903-3086
lAC Current EAA members may join the International Aerobatic Club, lnc_Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an additional $40 per year. EM Membership, SPORT AEROBATICS magazine and one year membership in the lAC Division is
available for $50 per year (SPORT AVIATION mag azine not included). (Add $10 for Foreign
Postage,)
WARBIRDS Current EM members may join the EM Warbirds of America Division and receive WARBIRDS magazine for an additional $35 per year. EM Membership, WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the Warbirds Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included). (Add $7 for Foreign
Postage,)
EAA EXPERIMENTER
Current EAA members may rece ive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine for an additional $20 per year. EM Membership and EM EXPERIMENTER mag azine is available for $30 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not inciuded).(Add $8 for For
eign Postage_)
FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS Please submit your remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in United States dollars. Add required Foreign Postage amount for each membership_
Membership dues to EAA and its divisions are not tax deductible as charitable contributions,
Copyright © t 999 by the EM Vintage Aircraft Association
All nghts resen/ed .
VlNTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 009Hi9431IPM 1482602 is published and owned exclusively by the EM Vinlage Aircraft Association of the Experimenla1 Aircraft Association and is published monthly at EM Aviation Ceoter. 3000
Poberezny Rd., P.O. Box 3086. Oshkosh. Wisconsin 54903-3086. Periodicals Poslage paid at Oshkosh. Wisconsin 54901 and al additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EM Antique/Classic Division. Inc.•
P.O. Box 3086. Oshkosh. WI 54903-3086. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow alleast two months for delivery of VlNTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via suriace mail. ADVERTISING - Vintage Aircraft Association does nol guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferiQ( 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 renumeralion is made.Materiai should be sent to: Edrtor, VlNTAGE AIRPLANE, P.O. Box 3086. Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 9201426-4800. The words EM, ULTRALlGHT, FLY WITH THE FIRST TEAM, SPORT AVlATION, FOR THE LOVE OF FLYING and the logos of EM, EM INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, EAA VlNTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION, INTERNA TIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB, WARBIRDS OF AMERICA are ® registered trademarks. THE EM SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EM AVlATION FOUNDATION. EM ULTRALlGHT CONVENTION and EM AirYentu", are trade marks of the above associations and their use by any person other than the above association is strictly prohibited.
28
NOVEMBER 1999
- "Big Little Fly-In" from page 15 Lompoc Airport is gaining popularity in the aviation community as well. Not many General Aviation airports can boast hotels, restaurants and shopping within five min utes (or less!) walking distance of parking their plane! A coded security gate on the new parking ramp leads to a Quality Inn, Holiday Inn Express, and a Motel 6; restau rants include the casual Steak House & Las Palomas and just about any fast food place you can think of. If you want to bring you pet, a kennel is across the street. Rent-a-cars are a phone call away from the restaurant lobby or the airport administration building (of course, just about any airport "bum" you could find would be more than happy to give you a lift). Championship 18-hole La Purisma Golf Course lies five miles due east of the airport, for those who enjoy golfmg as well as flying! Other noteworthy reasons to vis it Lompoc are the famous namesake flower fields (most brilliant around June and July); the historical Lompoc Museum, hous ing thousands of Chumash Indian artifacts; the growing number of beautiful murals rep resenting Lompoc's history painted on 100 year old buildings, and the newest project:
restoration of Old Downtown. And if you do not already know, nearby Vandenburg Air Force base launches missi les on a regular basis-and boy are they a sight to see! Fifteen years of Cub Fly-Ins down, and how many more to go? We don't know.
But as long as you wonderful, supportive, happy people are willing to show up on our doorstep every year, we'll be happy to give you some Lompoc Airport hospital ity. Thank you, and we hope to see you next year. ~
The Quality Goes In Belore The Tag Goes On At Aircraft Specialties Services CRANKSHAns CRANKSHAn BALANCING CAMSHAns CONNECTING RODS
ROCKER ARMS
TAPPET BODIES MAGNAFLUXING ULTRASONIC INSPECTIONS
STARTER ADAPTERS
COUNTERWEIGHTS
CUSTOM MACHINING
At AircraH Specialties Services the quality really does go in before the tog goes on! Our Platinum Precision Process breathes new life into proven, seasoned steel porls. Experl personnel with years of experience and the latest equipment assures you more than just a serviceable pori. We remochine and recondition every pori to the very tightest OEM specifications. We also have a new state-of·the arl Digital CrankshoH Balancer. In addition, AircraH Specialties Services operates our own engine test cell. We continually test various makes and models of engines to insure our porls perform to top of the line, new specifications. This whole process can toke your proven steel porls and return them to you ready to provide like-new reliability and service. The quality you demand at prices you can offord, that's our Platinum Precision Process, only from AircraH Specialties Services. We also corry a full line of new nome brand aircraH porls. Our porls people are not just order takers, but knowledgeable experienced aviation people who insure you get the right pori for your application. Tires, batteries, brakes, lighting, plugs, engine and airframe porls are all available from AircraH Specialties Services. Call Bob or Greg today for complete information.
1.800.826-9252
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www.aircraft-specialties.com
VtNTAGE AIRPLANE
29
V00260 Airshow
V00261 Air Race
"'intage
V00259 Logo shirt
V00262 Airmail
ASSORTED VINTAGE T-SHIRTS
BLUE EMBOSSED DENIM JACKET
100% cotton tee featuring four different Vintage scenes. 5- 2X $12.95
Made of 100% cotton. Vintage logo embroidered on front with special embossed logo on back. V00241 M-XL $65.99 V00244 2X $65.99
VINTAGE MAROON JACKET
VINTAGE NAVY JACKET
The perfect jacket for the outdoors! This 100% nylon jacket features the Vintage logo embroidered in front. Also, for added convenience this jacket can be folded and made into a carrying pouch! V00126 s-XL $25.95 V00130 2X $25.99
Gear up for fall in this Acadia lined Jacket. Outer shell fea足
tures 100% waterproof nylon while the lining is a comfortable
cotton/poly blend.
V00118 M-X $35.95 V00131 2X $36.95
To Order Call: 1-800-843-3612
(Outside US and Canada920-426-4800)
DENIM SHORT-SLEEVED SHIRTS with Button-down collar by Three
Rivers. Features button-closure on pocket. Double stitching on sleeves
for durability. 100% cotton.
SM-XL V41263 $36.99*
2X V41267 $39.99*
COTTON PIQUE GOLF SHIRTS 100% combed cotton. Knit collar and cuffs. Two-button placket. Drop-tail with side vents. White SM-XL V41294 $32.99* 2X Khaki SM-XL V41299 $32.99* 2X Navy SM-XL V41289 $32.99* 2X
V41298 V41303 V41293
$34.99* $34.99* $34.99*
100% combed cotton. Knit collar and cuffs with beige trim. Five-button placket. Drop tail with side vents. V41284 Wine MD-XL V41281 $34.99* 2X V41288 Navy MD-XL V41285 $34.99* 2X Black MD-XL V41277 $34.99* 2X V41280
$37.99* $37.99* $37.99*
DENIM LONG-SLEEVED SHIRTS with button-down collar.
Similar to above shirt but in long-sleeved design. The shirts feature
two-button adjustable cuffs. Available in light-blue deninl or natural
colors.
V41271 $43.99*
Natural MD-XL V41268 $39.99* 2X Lt. Blue MD-XL V41272 $39.99* 2X V41276 $43.99*
JACQUARD GOLF SHIRTS
WASHED BULL DENIM CAP
WASHED PIGMENTED DENIM CAP
COTTON TWILL KHAKI GOLF-STYLE CAP
V00221 $12.95
V00223 $12.95
BRUSHED COTTON TWILL KHAKl/NAVY PRO STYLE CAP
V00222 $12.95
V00227 $12.95
BARREL BAG Show off the Vintage colors proudly at the hangar with this gold/navy Vintage imprinted barrel bag! V00237 $12.95
STUFFED BEARS These brown bears are an adorable accessory to any gift! Dressed in a gold Vintage t-shirt these bears make a great flying companion. $12.95 V00238 Lt. Brown Bear $12.95 V00239 Dark Brown
LADIES SMALL FLOPPY HAT V00133 $19.95
Feature adjustable leather closure strap. One size fits most. White V41260 $10.99* Khaki V41261 $10.99* Navy V41262 $10.99*
CLUBHOUSE JACKETS High quality jackets feature two-button adjustable cuffs, elastic waistband, inside coat hook loop, inside pocket with velcro closure and more! Contrasting color trim pieces and adjustable lanyard cord on collar make this jacket very distinctive. Shell and lining are both 100% nylon. Natural/Navy Trim SM-XL V41250 $63.99* 2X V41254 $66.99* Navy /Fst Grn Trim SM-XL V41250 $63.99* 2X V41254 $66.99* WORW CLASS NAVY SWEATSHIRT
This solid navy blue World Class sweatshirt by Jerzees fea足
tures unique embossed Vintage logo on front. Cotton/Poly
Blend.
M-XL V00252 $27.95
2X V00255 $29.95
MEN'S TRl-MOTOR SPORT WATCH V00219 $24.95
SMALL VINTAGE PIN V00258 $3.99 LARGE VINTAGE PIN V40120 $11.99 WHITE W/BLUE TWO-TONE MUG V00234 $4.95
MEN'S METAL BAND WATCH
V00215 $28.95
NYLON/POLY WINTER CAP WITH EARFLAPS VOOl44 $14.95
VINTAGE PATCH
V00257 $1.99
LEATHER BAND WATCH Men's V00218 $32.95 Ladies' V00214 LADIES LARGE FLOPPY HAT V00132 $23.95
(not shown) RABBIT FUR WINTER HAT WITH SIDE FLAPS.
LEATHER EMBROIDERED CAP WITH EARFLAPS V00137 $29.95
V00134 $32.95