VA-Vol-29-No-3-March-2001

MARCH 2001

The Magazine of the EAA VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

STRAIGHT AND LEVEUButch]oyce

2

VAA NEWS

4

AEROMAIU HG. Frautschy

5

SPORT PILOT/ Scott Spangler

6

FROM THE ARCHIVES/ HG. Frautschy

7

AIR MAIL FOR SMALL TOWNS/ Earl Stahl

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13 THE WAY TO OSHKOSH/ Bill & Katherine Smith

20 MTO LUSCOMBE FLY-IN/ Gene Horsman 22 VINTAGE PRODUCTS 24 TYPE CLUB NOTES/ HG. Frautschy 25 PASS IT TO BUCK! Buck Hilbert 27 MYSTERY PLANE 28 NEW MEMBERS 29 CALENDAR 30 CLASSIFIEDS

www.vintageaircraft.org Publisher

TOM POBEREZNY

Editor-in- Chief

SCOTT SPANGLER

Executive Director, Editor

HENRY G. FRAUTSCHY

VAA Admillistrative Assistallt

THERESA BOOKS

EXe{:lIlive Editor

MIKE DIFRISCO

COlltributillg Editors

JOHN UNDERWOOD BUDD DAVISSON

Art/Photo Layout

BETH BLANCK

Photography Staff

JIM KOEPNICK LEEANN ABRAMS MARK SCHAIBLE

Advertising/ Editorial Assistant

ISABELLE WISKE SEE PAGE 31 FOR FURTHER VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION INFORMATION

EL

by ESPIE "BUTCH" JOYCE PRESIDENT, VI NTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

Are you headed to Sun 'n Fun in Lakeland, Florida next month? As the kick-off of the fly­ in season, it really gets the cobwebs swept away. Are you prepared? Is your plane as ready? Perhaps an hour with an instructor brushing up on your skills might be a good idea, and making one last inspection well in advance of yo ur journey should be included in your plans. What?

You haven't had a chance to get down to Lakeland and enjoy the first major fly-in of the season? See if you can't clear off a few days in your schedule, and get to Florida for the fun - you won't regret it. See VAA News on page 2 for more information on Sun 'n Fun. The guys and gals in the Vintage Aircraft area have al­ ways been great hosts. A great source of enjoyment each year is seeing the new restorations that have been com­ pleted over the winter.

Occasionally I receive a comment regarding the differ­ ent ways a restoration is accomplished. A few of our members feel that restorations which are accomplished by professional restorers should not be given th e same recognition as those rebuilt by restorers who turn every nut and bolt on their own airplanes. We've discussed this subject in the past, and for the benefit of our newer members, please allow me to explain our position on this matter.

The aircraft is judged and scored on a standard form using a pOint system. The score is based solely on the quality of the restoration. In this way, the owner, or person who did the restoration, and any possible political factors are not included in these fac­ tors. It's the airplane's fidelity to originality and workmanship that matter. At Oshkosh we take great care to assure that political and personality factors do not affect the final score.

Restoration of an aircraft is a different ball game than constructing a homebuilt aircraft. EAA has done a great job assisting the individual builder. The Technical Coun­ selor program, EAA's great Information Services and Government Services .offices and now the SportAir Work­ shops help to educate members who want to learn different building skills. You have the freedom to build and mOdify your homebuilt aircraft, as you would like, as long as the ideas will pass the final inspection. Then you will be issued a repairman's certificate, making it le­ gal for you to continue to do your own work and inspections on your airplane.

That is a heck of a lot of freedom and trust given to

you, the builder, by the FAA. This freedom is a direct re­ sult of the effort put forth on your behalf by Paul Poberezny, EAA staff and volunteers. EAA's continued work with the FAA over a 40-year span has established a great deal of credibility with the agency.

Now when it comes to the restoration of an airplane, one built by a manufacturer and issued a standard air­ worthiness certificate, a different set of rules and regulations have been in place for a long time. It can be a daunting task for any individual. If you want to restore a type-certificated airplane, you have several choices. You can go to A&P school and get your licenses, which will allow you to do all the work yourself (except for the final sign off by a A&P with an Inspection Authorization). Or you ca n find a person "with the proper license" who is willing to allow you to work on the restoration while they monitor the restoration to make sure it is being done correctly.

Finally, you can take your project to a professional shop and pay them to hand it back to you as a com­ pleted restoration, ready to flyaway. You can also use any combination of the above to reach the desired re­ sults. When we choose to feature an airplane here in the pages of Vintage Airplane, we're careful to clearly depict how the restoration was accomplished . We feel it is our responsibility to encourage the high-quality restoration of all aircraft, especially those in our judging categories. lf that means we show the excellent work done by a pro­ fessional restorer for a wealthy individual, then we'll highlight the fact the airplane was done in that fashion.

The creation of the Sikorsky S-38 replica is a great exam­ ple of what can be accomplished when a great deal of money can be dedicated to re-creating an historic air­ craft. Highlighting that airplane certainly does not detract from featuring a restoration by someone like Harold Armstrong, one of vintage aviation's most ac­ complished restorers, who does so for his own personal satisfaction. It simply means that we must look at each project from different perspectives. I hope you'll join us in enjoying all of the many ways these wonderful air­ planes are kept in the air.

VAA is aware that we have fallen short assisting mem­ bers in learning more about restoring airplanes. Rest assured we're working on solutions. We're discussing the scope and concepts involved in have a dedicated vintage airplane restoration class. If you have any thoughts along that line, we'd love to hear from you. Let's all pull in the same direction for the good of aviation. Remem­ ber we are better together. Join us and have it all. ......

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

1

VAANEWS

compiled by H.G. Frautschy

COVERS

Front Cover ... Family ties can be the strongest, even when it's related to abeautiful piece of machinery.The father and son team of Bill and Steve Scott searched for this particular Stinson 108, which had been flown many years ago by Bill. Now fully restored, they've flown the airplane to Florida and Wisconsin for the two major EM Fly-Ins. Roscoe Butch, alongtime friend of Bill's, accompanied him during our photo mission during Sun 'n Fun 2000. EM photo by Mark Schaible, shot with aCanon EOS1n equipped with an 80-200 mm lens on 100 ASA Fuji slide film. EM Cessna 210 photo plane flown by Bruce Moore.

Back Cover...Aviation's Golden Spike is the title of John Sarsfield's acrylic painting, which depicts the first non-stop transconti­ nental flight across the United States. The painting was awarded aPar Excellence ribbon.

Flown by Us. O. G. Kelly and J. A. Macready, US Air Service, they used aFokker T-2 (F. IV) monoplane powered by a420 hp Liberty en­ gine. Two previous attempts had failed, but on the third try, acomplete flight was made over the 2-3 May 1923. Taking off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, at 12.36 p.m. ET, they ar­ rived at Rockwell Field, San Diego, California, at 12.26 p.m. PT on May 3. Their route took them over Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; St. Louis, Missouri; Kansas City, Missouri ; Tucumcari , New Mexico; and Wickenburg , Arizona. They flew 2,516 miles , using 26 hours, 50 minutes to complete the flight. Only afew weeks before the transcontinental flight, Kelly and Macready established anew world's endurance record for airplanes. Over atwo­ day period, April 16-17, they used the same Fokker T-2, spending 36 hours and six min­ utes to fly ameasured course of 2,518 miles.

No prints are available of the painting, but you can reach John Sarsfield, Longmont, Col­ orado, at 303/702-0707 for more information on his paintings.

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MARCH 2001

SU N ' N FUN

The 27th Sun 'n Fun Fly-In will be held April 8-14, 2001 , at Lakeland Linder Airport in Lakeland, Florida.

Sun 'n Fun traditionally "kicks off" the international fly-in and air show season. Last year, more than 650,000 people and 8,000 aircraft partici­ pated.

Education remains the focus of Sun 'n Fun's weeklong activities. Fo­ rums covering topics that range from aircraft construction, mainte­ nance and restoration to buying insurance and hundreds of topics in between will be presented by avia­ tion experts from around the world .

Workshops, sharing a wide range of hands-on instructions with builders, will run continuously from Sunday through Saturday. Additional areas will be offered in a discussion and demonstration format.

Aircraft of every size, shape and description can be found along Sun 'n Fun's fl ightline, including vin­ tage, aerobatic, ultralight, Warbird, rotorcraft, experimental-category and everything in between. Activi­ ties include a superb daily air show featuring the world's top performers and a full line-up of eve ning pro­ grams.

In addition, more than 450 com­ mercial exhibits repres enting th e leading edge of aviation technology will offer everything from aircraft kits to components. For more infor­ mation, access the Sun 'n Fun web site-www.sun-n-jitn.org-for regular convention information and links to the NOTAM for arrival and depar­ ture procedures.

If you'd prefer, a free videotape is available for pilots who wish to fa­ miliarize themselves with the 2001 Sun 'n Fun VFR Arrival Procedures.

Call Sun 'n Fun at 863/644.2431 to request a copy of th e video, which will also be mailed with a paper copy

of the NOTAM, and handy 3x5" booklet containing key information in a cockpit friendly smaller size.

You can also view still shots from the video at http://asy.faa.gov.

If you're planning on flying into the event, please prepare a sign, readable from outside your airplane so the volunteers directing you to a parking spot will know wher e to send you. Vintage Parking and Vin­ tage Camping would be good choices to let them know you want to park with your fellow Vintage air­ plane enthusiasts.

We'll see you there!

EAA SPORTAIR TIG WELDING WORKSHOPS

Aircraft builders and restor ers seeking to develop or refine their TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding skills now have an outstanding op­ portunity to learn more abut TIG welding at EAA SportAir Workshops to be held throughout 2001. The workshops are provided by EAA, The Leader in Recreational Aviation, in association with Lincoln Electric.

These workshops, held at the Alexander Technical Center's state­ of-the-art workshop at Griffin, Georgia, offer hands-on experience with TIG weldin g (also known as GT AW -gas tungsten arc welding).

TIG welding has become the pre­ ferred welding method for aircraft builders and restorers because of the strength of the welds and the ease of the welding operation.

Included during instruction by the SportAir Workshops' profes­ sional staff are such topics as proper equipment and preparation; TIG fundamentals; power settings; using this welding method on aircraft; and more.

Upcoming sessions include: • March 2-4 • May 18-20

• • •

June 8-10 (advanced) July 13-15 Aug. 24-26 Oct. 5-7 • Oct. 26-28 • Nov. 30-Dec. 2 • The Lincoln Square Wave 175 TIG welding unit will be used for in­ struction throughout the series.

Students will spend time in a class­ room learning the basics of welding before spending the majority of the session in the welding booth, learn­ ing and practicing the techniques needed to weld 4130 tubing, steel plate and aluminum. Lincoln Elec­ tric professionals will be on hand to assist students with development of their welding skills.

Each class is limited to 12 stu­ dents, with registration fees including all instructional sessions and materials. For more informa ­

tion or to register for any EAA SportAir Workshop, call 800-967­ 5746 or visit the SportAir website

and adults 65+. For information, call 650/726-2328.

www.sportair.com.

TYPE CLUB HONORS

The TIG Welding Workshops are part of the EAA SportAir Workshops series, with more than 40 sessions throughout the country designed to assist aircraft builders and restorers.

Two of aviation's finest type club folks have passed away. J.J. "Jonsey" Pau l died late in February in Hous­ ton, Texas. As near as we can tell, as chairman of the National Stinson Club for 35 years, he was the longest serving head of any vintage aircraft type club.

Alice Bergeson, who with her hus­ band John, ran the Cub and Luscombe C lub s until recently, passed away in January. Long a fix­ ture in a variety of type club newsletters, the Bergesons have many friends among Cub, Luscombe and Bucker owners and pilots.

Our condolences to the families and friends of both Jonsey Paul and Alice Bergeson. ~

PACIFIC COAST DREAM MACHINES

On th e west coast, April means the fly-in season is in full swing, and one of the great events is the 11 th Annual Pacific Coast Dream Ma­ chines show, a gathering of all things motive and mechanical. Over 2,000 flying, driving and working ma­ chines will be on display. The show will be held at Half Moon Airport on Sunday, April 29, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 5-14

INTERNATIONAL VAA HALL OF FAME

On this page is the nominating peti­ tion for the VAA Hall of Fame. If you wish to nominate an individual who you believe has made a significant contribu­ tion to the advancement of aviation between 1950 and the present day, please make a copy of this form, fill it out, add supporting material and send it to: Charles W. Harris, P.O . Box 470350, Tulsa, OK 74147-0350. Please mark the envelope: VAA Hall of Fame, Attn: C. Harris.

Please be as thorough and objective as possible. Attach copies of materials you deem appropriate and helpful to the committee.

The person you nominate must have advanced the field of aviation during the period 1950 to the present day. They can be a citizen of any country, and may be living or dead. Their contribution could be in the areas of flying, design, mechan­ ical or aerodynamic developments, administration, writing, or some other vi­ tal, relevant field, or any combination of fields that support aviation.

To be considered for induction into the VAA Hall of Fame during 2002, pe­ titions must be received Sept. 30, 2001.

Please attach any supporting material with your petition for the committee's review.

Person nominated for induction in the VAA Hall of Fame:

Name _______________________________________________________

Street___________________________________ Phone Number _________

City State Zip _________________

Date of Birth If Deceased, Date of Death ________________

Area of contributions to aviation ___________________________________

Date or time SJlilIl of the nominee's contributions to aviation. Must be between 1950 · to the present day.

Describe the event or nature of activities the nominee has undertaken in aviation to be worthy of induction into the VAA Hall of Fame. _______________________

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

Has the nominee already been honored for his/ her involvement in aviation, and/or the contribution you are stating in this petition? (Circle one) Yes No If yes, please explain the nature of the honor and/or award the nominee has received.

Other information _____________________________________________ Person's name submitting this petition: _____________________________ Street ___________________________________ Phone Number _________ State Zip _________________ City VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

VINTAGE

ER GRUMMAN WIDGEON

Dear Henry G., When I went with Pan Am in 1943, it was as an instrument instructor, giving Pan Am pilots training on all aspects of low fre­ quency radio range flying and man­ ual direction finder tracking. ADFs were unknown at the time. There were no artificial horizons, no ADFs, VORs,ILSs. For this type of training Pan Am had four Widgeons (below) with 200-horsepower Rangers and with wooden props. These airplanes were modified with a third set of controls, throttles, and instruments at a com­ pletely closed-in position aft of the captain's seat.

To the right of, and adjacent to, this third set of controls sat another student who took manual DF loop bearings from an enclosed loop antenna mounted atop the fuselage, rotateable by a control knob in the ceiling. With earphones on, the sec­ ond student would take a loop bear­ ing, set up the relative bearing observed on a plastic hand-held con­ verter and then call out the QDM (magnetic bearing to the station) to

4 MARCH

2001

the student at the adjacent third set of controls, who would make correc­ tions left or right in track solely by the QDM bearings voiced to him.

Let downs could be made under poor weather conditions.

I have many hours of Widgeon flying. The airplane was strongly built. With an engine inoperative it would lose altitude slowly. Although the airplane could operate from the nearby waters of Flushing Bay, it was airline policy not to do so, and take­ offs and landings were conducted on the runways at Pan Am's base at La Guardia Field.

Sincerely, Holland Redfield Long Island, New York RANGER MAINTENANCE

Dear H.G., Re: your article in Vintage Airplane on the Ranger powered Widgeon . After WWII Ranger engines and parts were available at near junk prices. I rebuilt a Fairchild 24 C8F and replaced the Ranger 390D with a 6-440 C-2 which I also overhauled. The six-cylinder Ranger is the smoothest engine I have ever

flown behind, but that's not what I'm writing about. My experience may help others. I had the good for­ tune of going through Pratt & Whitney Engine school and the instructors were top notch and really knew their stuff. I was told that when setting up an engine, if you want performance, not to trust tim­ ing marks. The inline Rangers have an overhead camshaft driven by a tower shaft with four bevel gears that are splined to the shaft. By find­ ing top, dead center on No. 1 and adjusting a combination of gear teeth and splines you can get perfect timing. I did this and also polished the intake manifolds and made sure the pipes were perfectly aligned. I don't have a dynamometer to test the engine, but by carefully flight­ testing the airplane performance, I could work backwards and obtain engine HP. As you know, rate of climb is a function of excess horsepower. My calculations, after carefully weight­ ing the airplane, and on a near stan­ dard day at approximately sea level indicated that the engine was putting out over 190 horsepower!

That's about 9 percent more than the engine specification . With the old 390D the Fairchild was pretty anemic, but with the 6-440 C-2 it was a great airplane. FAA wouldn't let me increase the gross to that of the later 24 Rs from 2,400 to 2,550 lbs. I found out later that it was NOT because of structural, but because the aircraft was originally certificated under a rule that says you had to clear 50 ft. obstacle in 1000! With the 6-440 C-2 we were getting off in 500 ft. on less.

Sincerely, John Beebe White Stone, Virginia

Sport Pilot: A vintage opportunity

by scott Spangler any aviators speak of a time when aviation was simpler, a time when pilots were noted for their stick and rudder skills instead of system management.

When the FAA publishes its sport pilot notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), to a great degree these days will be back because sport pilot is more than a pilot certificate, it's a package deal that includes aircraft certification and mechanics.

M

PILOTS & INSTRUCTORS

The sport pilot certificate is de­ signed for people who want to fly simple, lightweight, two-seat aircraft for fun and recreation. To earn the certificate you must be at least 16 years old and able to read and speak English. You'll also need some form of medical certification. Sport pilots will reportedly have two options: they can hold a third-class medical certificate or a valid U.S. state dri­ ver's license.

If you already hold a pilot certifi­ cate, you can fly as a sport pilot by meeting its eligibility and training re­ quirements (verified by instructor logbook endorsements) and adher­ ing to the privileges given to sport pilots. If you want to re-exercise the privileges of your other certificates, you'll need to meet their specific re­ quirements.

For example, because you've been flying as a sport pilot and using its "driver's license medical" option, you let your medical expire. To exer­ cise the private pilot's privilege of night flight, you have to get a cur­ rent third-class medical certificate and fulfill the night recent-experi­ ence requirements.

So what flying privileges should sport pilots enjoy? Based on what we know now, you will be able to fly lo­ cally-and cross-country-in day VFR conditions with one passenger.

Sport pilots cannot fly for hire, and they cannot fly in Class A, B, C,

or D airspace without prior permis­ sion of the ATC facility responSible for that airspace. ("Prior permission" means a phone call or radio trans­ mission requesting a clearance into the airspace.)

Because the majority of the air­ craft sport pilots will fly have flying qualities different from standard­ category aircraft, the FAA will create a cadre of flight instructors who are qualified to teach in them by "grandfathering" pilots who hold advanced or basic flight instructor ratings from one of the ultralight as­ sociations, such as EAA, the AeroSports Connection, and the U.S. Ultralight Association.

The grandfathered instructors will meet part or all of the flight profi­ ciency and aeronautical experience requirements applicable to the air­ craft they fly, in addition to taking the knowledge test on the funda­ mentals of instruction that is required of all flight instructors. Un­ like flight instructors who teach in standard-category aircraft, sport pilot instructors will not need to earn a commercial pilot certificate or an in­ strument rating.

AIRCRAFT & M ECHANICS

Sport pilots will be able to fly a diverse group of aircraft that fall into four broad categories: fixed­ wing, trike, powered parachute, and rotorcraft. What they all have in common is that they cannot have more than two seats, a maximum gross weight of 1,232 pounds, and a stall speed of no more than 39 knots (45 mph).

Sport pilots can also fly standard­ category (type-certificated) aircraft if they meet these requirements, and the list of applicable vintage aircraft that do is short: the early Piper J-3 and PA-15 Vagabond, the prewar Er­ coupe 415C, and the Aeronca 7AC Champ. Any later modifications that raised an individual airplane's gross

weight above the 1,232-pound limit would make the airplane ineligible for use by a sport pilot.

To vintage enthusiasts this might be discouraging, but there are a lot of sportplanes that look like Cubs, Champs, T-Craft, and others, not to mention World War I biplane fight­ ers. Certainly a look-alike Cub isn't the same as one born in Lock Haven, but both of them fly. And flying a sportplane that fits the vin­ tage mold offers other benefits. You don't have to worry about scroung­ ing for or making parts, and you can fix your own airplane without having a certificated mechanic sign off on your work.

Part of the sport pilot proposal is a new subcategory to FAR Part 21 that will enable existing and future sin­ gle- and two-seat lightplanes­ including those now used for train­ ing ultralight pilots under an exemption to the FARs-to be certifi­ cated as experimental light aircraft.

The owners of these aircraft would not have to meet homebuilding's "51-percent" rule, but they will get a repairman's certificate so they can maintain and inspect the aircraft they assemble.

The FAA would also create a spe­ cial airworthiness certification category in Part 21 that wou ld allow manufacturers to sell new light, ready-to-fly light aircraft without the restrictive requirements of FAR Part 23 certification.

WAITING FOR THE WORD

More than any proposal issued by the FAA, sport pilot makes today­ and the future-the good old days of flying, and it does it with an accept­ able degree of safety and a minimum of burdensome restrictions.

When is the FAA going to publish the NPRM? The latest word is April.

And as soon as the FAA publishes it, we'll spread the word and present it here and on the EAA website. .....

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

5

E

c

s

In 1929, Oshkosh resident Robert

w. O'Hara traveled to Nome, Alaska for the wedding of his brother Floyd.

During his visit, he snapped a few photos of aviation activities there in the remote outpost. Here are a few of the shots he took during his visit.

From Top to Bottom This postcard of a Wien Alaska Airways Hamilton H-47 Metalplane was included in O'Hara's collection. A Pratt & Whitney Hornet engine of 525 hp powered the H-47 .

A Canadian-registered Fairchild 71 sits on a pair of wooden skis with its wings folded back for storage. A preheat blanket is draped over the Pratt & Whitney Wasp, as the crew gets ready to fly. The other shot shows an American registered Fairchild 71 with engine cover as it is parked in the snow.

What appears to be a Bellanca 300-W Pacemaker sits on front of one of the airport shacks at the Nome airport, with just a light dusting of snow on the ground. The registra足 tion number is not visible, but it is known that Merrill Wien obtained NC354W, SIN 303 and used it in his Alaska operations. Could this be it? Can anyone add to our meager information regarding this airplane?

6 MARCH 2001

~ £1'1 f StAhl

f'Arr one 0f",htee

ir transportation was growing rapidly in the late 1930s, with routes crisscrossing the na­ tion between major cities.

Not wanting to be left out, many smaller communities, some without airports, be­ gan clamoring to benefit from more rapid transit to spur economic development.

Under pressure from Con­ gress and with concurrence of President Franklin Roo­ sevelt, the Post Office Department (POD) in early 1938 outlined plans for two experimental routes to transport mail, without stops, to small cities and rural communities, some with populations under 1,000.

A

The idea of delivering and pick­ ing up mail and small packages "on the fly" was decades old. Before World War I military organizations made limited experiments. After the war a number of visionaries and inventors demonstrated various con­ ce pts at Boston, Long Island, NY, Whittier, CA and Seattle with mod­ est success.

EARLY EXPERIMENTS The most determined advocate was dentist Lytle S. Adams. In 1928, after toying with the idea for years, he demonstrated a novel method of mail delivery in Seattle, Washington.

The process involved depositing an incoming container in a ground­ mounted apparatus and simultane­ ously picking up a catapulted outgo­ ing bag. (See page 10 graphic 1) Having thus gained some favor­ abl e attention, his equipment was set-up on the aft deck of the giant ocean liner 5.5. Leviathan with the aim to reduce time for mail to cross the Atlantic. On the first trial his Fairchild FC-2 pilot met the ship at sea where outgoing mail was accu­ 8 MARCH 2001

(On the previous page) Center Photo: During the fall of 1939, All American Aviation staged this demonstration of an aerial pickup on the Mall in Washington, D.C. for Post Office and congressional bigwigs. This view is looking east towards the u.s. Capital, with General Grant's statue in the background. Courtesy of the u .S. Postal Service. Top Left Photo: Poor weather the day before forced this All American Aviation Stinson SR-10C to spend the night tied down between the pickup poles at one of the pickup sites. Courtesy of Earl Stahl. Bottom Left Photo: The envelope of a letter plucked from the deck of the ocean liner U.S.S. Leviathan, using the Adams air pickup/delivery system. Bottom Right Photo: Each pickup site required a local messenger to prepare the protective cargo container for pickup, and to retrieve the con­ tainer after the aircraft dropped it. Courtesy of Earl Stahl

The trailing cable has just contact­ ed the transfer rope to capture the outgoing load. The grapple will then slide to the knotted end (in this case, to your right) while the container, slowed by a friction device, moves to the opposite end.

Courtesy of Earl Stahl

,r-- - .

A perfect delivery during a pickup/drop-off at Johnstown, Pennsylvania during the spring of 1940. The pole mark­ ers are missing due to grapple or storm damage. Courtesy of Earl Stahl

'", rately deposited on board. It too k, however, 13 tries to capture the bag containing mail arriving from Europe-the rollin g and pitchin g motion of the smoke-belching vessel made accurate placement of th e delivery "bag" cable into the relative­ ly narrow deck-mounted apparatus nearly impossible. That project was rapidly abandoned.

Once the pickup contrivance was removed from the ship, it was set up

'.

at Youn gstown, Ohi o , wh e re th e Clifford Ball Airline conducted limit­ ed testing on its airmail rout e between Pittsburgh and Cleveland .

(S ee pa ge 10 g raphi c 2 .) Within months the Ball Airlin e terminated the service, citing equipment prob­ le ms and costl y dam age t o their Fairchild FC-2 aircraft.

In 1934 the apparatus was again relocated, this time to a floating plat­ fo rm in a small la goo n n e xt to

Northerly Island, in the midst of the Chicago World's Fair, liThe Century of Progress./I For several months Braniff Airlines used Stinson Detroiter SM-1's to make three flights daily between the fair and Chicago's major airport. Braniff declared the service successful but refused further involvement with such a venture.

Abandoning the unwieldy ground structure, the ever-determined Dr. Adams conducted further experi­ ments at Thomasville, Georgia, and Morgantown, West Virginia. Trying a new approach, two upright poles were used to hold aloft a loop of thick hemp rope; the attached out­ going container rested on the ground beneath. The pickup plane, a Bellanca CH, trailed a cable with a four-prong hook to capture the rope with bag, which was then reeled aboard.

EXPERIMENTAL SERVICE AUTHORIZED To respond to smaller communi­ ties desire to join the unfolding air age, during the spring of 1938 Congress authorized establishment of experimenta l airmail services to serve rural America. Despite limited enthusiasm among top managers of the Post Office Department, bids for operating two routes totaling 954 miles with were solicited. The routes had 52 pickup locations chosen. The demonstration period was to be for one year. To determine the practica­ bility of such a service, the region selected for testing was one of rugged terrain with potential for severe, unpredictable weather year­ round. One zigzag route was to be laid out between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Huntington, West Virginia, the second from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.

All American Aviation (AAA) was a tiny company Dr. Adams had formed some years earlier. Once implementation of pickup routes was imminent, Adams, who consis­ tently lacked capital, solicited noted soaring pilot, Richard duPont to wit­ ness demonstrations of pickups at Morgantown, West Virginia. Sensing

During 1934 this letter to a local philanthropist was picked up from the lagoon at the Chicago World's Fair" A Century of Progress."

potential for success, duPont, who was young, ambitious and wealthy, agreed to provide financial backing and became president of All American. Only one bidder, All American Aviation, responded with an offer to provide the service. They were awarded both routes. Their bid price to fly the route across Pennsylvania was 32 cents per plane mile. Service to Huntington would cost 43 cents per mile.

With contracts in hand, an entire organization to carry out the mission had to be quickly assembled.

Pittsburgh was selected as the hub of operations. Personnel including managers, flight crews, and airframe and engine (A & E) mechanics were hired. Also, sites with unobstructed flight paths had to be located at vari­ ous communities for installation of ground equipment. At each commu­ nity a messenger was needed to han­ dle mail, set-up the station to dis­ patch and receive the exchanged mail containers. DuPont promptly ordered the marginally reliable pick­ up equipment he had earlier seen demonstrated be immediately criti­ cally reviewed and modified, as required. Then there was another matter: they had no aircraft!

During the many years of experi­ menting, Adams had never owned any of the variety of planes used.

The various types included aircraft from Travel Air, Fairchild, Burnelli, Stinson and Bellanca. Upon winning the contract, five new Stinson SR­ 10Cs were ordered by Adams at a

cost of about $11,500. The order was placed without detailed evaluation of the variety of modern planes available. As soon as they were deliv­ ered, their cabins were stripped for installation of pickup equipment.

PICKUP SYSTEM MODIFIED Meanwhile, newly hired opera­ tions manger James G. Ray, former WWI aviator, flight instructor, auto­ gyro and aircraft test pilot, promptly assembled a task-team to upgrade the pickup system. Pilot Norman Rintoul and mechanic Victor Yesulates, who had worked for Dr. Adams in earlier experiments, were placed on the team. An engineering firm was called upon for consulta­ tion and engineering services.

Within several months upgraded concepts were agreed upon to modi­ fy the pickup apparatus to be installed on the planes, as would be the equipment required at eac h ground station.

Issues addressed in arriving at rec­ ommendations to improve airborne and ground equipment were numer­ ous. For example, the delivery bag accelerated to the speed of the air­ craft in just a few seconds.

Controlling those forces became a major concern of the team , so Adams' simple in-plane device had to be improved . In their new approach, an air/oil shock absorber (an oleo strut) with a stress-attenuat­ ing stroke of 24 inches was provided to hold the onboard end of a 55-foot long, 3/16/1 diameter, stranded-wire VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

FROM 1928-34 LY TL E S.

AOAMS REFINEO

THI S CONCEPT OF A FUNNEL-T RAP CATAP UL T

WITH

IN EXPERIMENTS AT Si:ATTLE

FOLLOWEO BY OEMONSTRATIONS AT SEA ON OCE AN-LINER

"LEVIATHAN",

BALL AIRLINE

IN PENNSYLVANIA /OHIO AND

BY CLIFFORD

AT THE CHICAGO WORLD' S FAIR

"CENTURY 1928 SEA TTLE OEMDNSTAA T I ON

OF PROGRESS"

AIR PICKUP/DELIVERY by

DR . LYTLE

EXPERIMENTS

S. ADAMS

GROUND APPARATUS (IN SIMPLIFIED CROSS-SECTION) RECEIVE

TO

INCOMING & ENGAGE/CATAPULT OUTGOING CARGO

Graphic 1

CLIFFORO BALL AIRLINES CONOUCTED EXPERIMENTS AT YOUNGSTOWN, OH., NEW CASTLE S BEAVER FALLS, PA. USING OR. ADAM'S SYSTEM: TRAIL_ ING A CABLE THROUGH A SLOTTED, "V" SHAPED STRUCTURE, MAIL WAS DEPOSITED WHEN A FRANGIBLE CONNECTOR SEPARATED. A STEEL BALL AT CABLE'S END THEN ENGAGED A SLOTTED THIMBLE TO CATAPULT OUTGOING MAIL IN THE DIRECTION OF FLIGHT. PILOTS TROWBRIDGE SEBREE S LOWELL SCROGGINS FLEW FAIRCHILD FC-2 AIRCRAFT.

Graphic 2

FIRST AIRLINE PICKUP MAIL EXPERIMENTS, CLIFFORD BALL AIRLINE (C.A.M.

10 MARCH

2001

11)

1930

cable that would trail below and behind the plane. The cable would be wound out and in by a hand operated reel. At the cable's lower end was a four-prong, eight-pound grappling hook.

The modified ground equipment would consist of two 30-foot high sturdy steel poles set in concrete, 60 feet apart. Large wooden parallelo­ grams, painted orange for better visibility, were placed atop the poles. Instead of Adams' loop of transfer rope with the mail contain­ er resting on the ground, a single length of hemp rope with the out­ going mailbag placed near the cen­ ter was held aloft between the posts by spring clips.

With this scheme (See page 12 graphiC 3) a pilot would approach a pickup site at a moderate speed fly­ ing at 50-70 feet altitude. The grap­ ple would then be below the height of the horizontally suspended trans­ fer rope. Upon contact, the stretched rope was pulled free of the clips holding it to the poles. The hook then slid along the new-trailing rope to one end . Meanwhile, the mail container slid toward the other end, being decelerated by a simple attach­ ment fixture with parallel wooden jaws that moved tightly together to exert a high frictional force to slow the rate of reaching the rope's knot­ ted end. Just before the plane crossed the poles, an identical mail container and transfer rope were released by the pilot to free-fall to the ground, where it could be picked up by the local attendant.

BUILDING AN ORGANIZATION

In preparation to starting opera­ tioos, pilots with experience flying in the variable climatic conditions of the Allegheny Mountains were sought. An Airline Transport License with at least 4,000 flight hours, acquired over a period of no less then ten years, was a minimum qualification. Also, despite the con­ tract's intent to operate these mail routes only under "visual contact" conditions, being proficient in instrument flying was required.

Norman Rintoul, who flew many experimental pickups, was deSignat­ ed Chief Pilot at a salary of $175 a month. Others hired were: Holger HOiriis, famed trans-Atlantic pilot; Camille Vinet, one-time Pennsylvania Director for Aeronautics; James Piersol, barn­ stormer and columnist for newspa­ pers; Thomas Kincheloe, barn­ stormer and charter pilot. Two reserve pilots, Raymond Elder and Lloyd Juelson were also employed.

At startup, five flight mechanics were selected; all had to have "A&E" licenses. They would have responsi­ bilities for the mail, preparing the pickup apparatus for airdrop deliver­ ies, and then bringing picked up cargo aboard to be sorted for deliv­ ery to upcoming stations or the ter­ minal. At terminal stops they would inspect, service and make minor repairs to the aircraft.

Locating adequate picku p sites near each community was an imme­ diate necessity. Ground stations required clear approaches from either side; also the flight path could present no hazard to those on the ground. Suitable spaces at airfields, parks, pastures and even a cemetery were found.

DIRECT AIRMAIL FOR SMALL TOWNS

Service on Route 1002, Pittsburgh to Huntington, West Virginia, start­ ed on May 12, 1939. Route 1001, Pittsburgh to Philadelphia with a terminal stop at Harrisburg was initi­ ated two days later. To accommo­ date typical business needs, each route would provide morning and evening service, six days a week.

With concurrence of the POD, some of the planned pickup stations would be phased-in later over sever­ al months.

A large quantity of philatelist's mail to be carried on first flight had been posted at most communities.

In anticipation of the greater vol­ ume, three Stinsons departed Pittsburgh for the initial run to Huntington. A large crowd of specta­ tors assembled to witness the pio­

neering arrival at nearby Latrobe, where Norm Rintoul made a perfect delivery and pickup. Minutes later sections two, then three appeared.

Each following pilot missed grab­ bing their outbound bags, so they had to try again. As experience was gained, such misses became infre­ quent. Two days later, Route 1001 was initiated to Philadelphia, first traveling north as far as Corry, near the New York border, then heading southeast, diagonally across the state. Again, large crowds gathered to see how mail-on-the-fly would be handled. In fact, throughout the decade of service to follow, specta­ tors frequently came to pickup sites to glimpse an interesting event.

CHALLENGES FOR FLIGHT CREWS

Except for the relatively flat ter­ rain near Philadelphia almost all round trips would be over the Appalachian plateau, ridge, and val­ ley regions. Unlike the numerous high-peaked mountains of the west, none of the mountains along these routes exceed 3,500 feet; yet the region had already earned the repu­ tation as an "Aviator's Graveyard."

Sudden, harsh electrical storms with heavy downpours are common from spring through fall. Low stratus clouds sometimes cloak mountain ridges and dense valley fogs occur frequently. From mid-Fall to mid­ April snow and ice, along with strong, gusty winds can prevail. Back then these circumstances were fur­ ther worsened by vast amounts of pollutants being spewed into the atmosphere by steel mills, chemical plants, paper mills, and other heavy industries.

The POD contract specified that visual contact with the ground be maintained so flying was rarely above 500 feet altitude. With some stations fewer than ten miles apart, pilots would often make their way through valleys or gaps, or if neces­ sary, skim across ridges. Minimum altitude restrictions, if any, were largely ignored. To safely and effi­ ciently fly that low, a pilot's famil­ iarity with landmarks was of upperVINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

AIR PICKUP WITH GRAPPLE (1939 - 41) STINSON SR-IOC

the incoming bag on a nearby mound. Meanwhile, the local atten­ dant hoisted the mailbag to the top of the poles while in a rowboat. At another station in deep water, incoming mail was dropped on the post office yard.

ONE-YEAR DEMONSTRATION ENDS J/ ~ "

HE MP ROPE (So' ,- ONG)

STEEL. G AAP ~E

( a'-OlIN OS)

Graphic 3

most necessity. Train tracks, road intersections, electrical transmission lines, a distinctive barn, water tower or a church steeple could be valuable guideposts to the next pickup poles.

The Stinsons were equipped with primary instrument flying facilities of the era, airspeed, altimeter, rate of climb, turn/bank, artificial horizon, compass, and directional gyro. They also had low frequency radio trans­ mitter/receivers.

By summer all of the planned sta­ tions were being provided service.

Routes were becoming familiar to flight crews, and with practice, accu­ rate deliveries and pickups were being achieved. Service was expand­ ed to include air express; small pack­ ages under 26 pounds would be transported along with mail.

With the prospect of winter and its shortened hours of daylight, con­ cern was expressed about keeping the afternoon schedules late enough to receive outbound postings near the end of business days. Tests in darkness were commenced at Wilmington, Delaware. It was deter­ mined that a ribbon of red neon lights around the large markers atop the pickup poles as well as horizon­ tal range lights along the flight path on each side of the pickup station could be sighted as many as six miles 12 MARCH

2001

away. However, once the last three stations of Route 1001 were illumi­ nated in that manner and scheduled in total darkness during mid­ November's often severely murky weather, the idea of night service was soon abandoned as too risky and all schedules were returned to daylight.

During the first winter of opera­ tion, an exceptionally severe February blizzard closed the Pittsburgh hub for three days. Trunk airlines, including TWA, were stopped when snow could not be cleared from runways. All American was the exception. Pilots Rintoul and Vinet coaxed their Stinsons airborne after downwind, downhill runs on a rutted, snow-packed ramp. Upon return, they landed uphill. Many ground attendants at snow-bound communities along their routes had trouble matching the flight crews' achievements.

Versatility of the system was again demonstrated in late winter when heavy rains caused severe flooding along the Ohio River Valley. Rising waters halted train, truck and Star route surface deliveries of mail at numerous places including Parkersburg, West Virginia, where pickup poles were surrounded by five feet of water. The pilot dropped

As the contracted year of service neared end, All American, satisfied they had conclusively demonstrated that rural community airmail was possible as well as practical, applied for establishment of permanent routes. By the final day of service, despite an unusually severe winter, they had flown 438,000 miles, made 23,000 pickups while com­ pleting 91.6 percent of the sched­ uled operations.

Service on the two routes ended on May 13, 1940. On that day, in his required report to Congress, the Post Master General stated in part: from a safety standpoint it is inter­ esting to note that notwithstanding the fact that the operation had been carried on over mountainous terrain with Single-motored planes, and without the usual supervision by Civil Aeronautics Authority, the car­ rier has operated a full year on the two routes without a single casualty.

For a new type operation, this record of performance is without precedent when all conditions are consid­ ered." He stated further, it was demonstrated conclusively that pickup service could provide improved airmail service and, there­ fore, recommended that Congress authorize permanent routes.

Unfortunately, various agencies of government did not act in a timely manner to ensure continuity. It took some months for both houses of Congress and other agencies to pro­ vide a legal basis to establish new, permanent routes. After much dis­ content, communities were greatl y relieved when the low-flying Stinsons could again resume work on August 4, 1940. /I

••

•

To be continued in next month's issue of Vintage Airplane. ...

Stinson Station Wagon

The

THE

WAY

TO

by Katherine Smith as told by Bill Smith photography by Mark Schaible

T

he father and son team of Bill and Steve Smith collab­

orated on the restoration of their "family" Stinson 108.

Before they could get started, they took a journey . ..

One evening, about 11:15, the phone rang. My heart jumped a beat or two as I became aware of the sharp ringing and my wife's shaking of my shoulder, saying, "Wake up, Bill."

We knew who would be on the other end of the line; it would be our son, calling from Santa Rosa, in northern California. With the receiver in hand, and doing my best to sound wide awake, I answered, "Good evening, Steve."

Not noticing the sleep lingering in my voice or the indulgent light touch of sarcasm, he lunged into the con­ versation, heading right straight to the main topic on his mind. "Dad, let's fly the Cessna to Wisconsin and go to the air show. You know, the one in Oshkosh. You've heard of it, haven't you?"

That did it. Now I was fully awake.

Had I heard right? What a question!

I'd dreamed of going to the air show for years. Every pilot knows about Oshkosh.

"How? Do you want to fly your Cessna to Oshkosh?"

"That's right. We'll fly it together.

You'll be in the right-hand seat, okay?"

I knew it was in top condition to wing us across the southwestern United States, then north across the oil fields of Texas and the grain belt of the Midwest. The plane was ready, but were we? I had not taken an air­ man's physical in several years. Steve had yet to make the big trip, and having flown only recently from Santa Rosa to southern California.

Having purchased the Cessna about a year ago, he'd carefully followed the renewing of his flight schooling.

The flying lessons we'd given him as 14 MARCH

2001

a gift on graduating from high school had gone unused for years. There had never been enough time while training for his profession as a physi­ cian and then an orthopedic surgeon.

After hanging up from our conver­ sation, I considered all the pros and cons such a trip would entail. Sleep was forgotten. Thinking about it, probably something would come up at the last minute to put a stop to the proposed trip anyway. I'd discovered orthopedic surgeons are often in­ volved, preoccupied people.

Someone is always breaking some­ thing; hips, legs, knees all seemed to be in constant peril for someone.

Something would probably happen

to stop us as the last minute. I would not allow myself to become too ex­ cited at this pOint.

However, the next day I did pur­ chase the air charts for what would be the proposed southern route to Oshkosh from Long Beach, Califor­ nia. It would be good practice for me, a way to tune me up. I plotted and re-plotted our route many times over, planning the mileage for each fuel stop plus alternative landing spots along the way. We would fly the highways. Special visor caps were ordered that proclaimed us the crew of N5211M, a pristine Cessna 172.

The caps were matches for the great color scheme of the plane's red, white and navy blue paint.

A modern nav/com, transponder and new and overhauled instruments fit neatly into the origi­ nal instrument panel. The Smiths' attention to the many little details that make a comfortable, well-done restoration are evident in this photo.

The interior of the Stinson closely follows the original design, with a comely combina­ tion of fabric and vinyl. The Stinson "bow and arrow" logo is neatly embroidered on the inset patch of fabric.

Now then, at this point in time, Steve had never managed time for a cross-country other than what was required for hi s license. Never had there been a flight of the duration and miles required for the proposed trip across country to Oshkosh. He had yet to fly solo through the Los Angeles air corridor, which tests the nerves of all small plane pilots . So here we were planning a 4,OOO-mile cross-country, myself an ex-pilot, in­ structor, commercial aviator with an

instrument rating that had not been used in years, now 68 and experienc­ ing some health questions. Well okay son, we'll give it a go!

Without a doubt I felt much more confident of the trip coming to fruition when Steve's wife an­ swered a call from me one evening.

"Steve is out shopping for a light­ weight tent to sleep in under the wing of the Cessna." All the hotels, motels and even the college dormi­ tori es in Oshkosh were booked up.

Some up to five years in advance!

She'd put our name on the waiting list, however.

Steve has always been a planner.

This trip was to be no exception. In his careful preparation for the trip, he went into action. To master the intricacies of th e air corridors, he flew twice from Santa Rosa into the Los Angeles area with an instructor.

They flew the Cessna following the coast one time and next down the valley following California Interstate 5. Now more confident, he seemed to feel assurance in crossing the Los Angeles Airport at the precise alti­ tude, and watch th e air traffic cross, landing beneath him. There is truly something about watching the jet airliners lined up for two runways from the direction of the Banning Pass and Palm Springs, bright land­ ing lights on, coming in for landing below you. Your altitude is 3,500 feet

crossing their runway intersection coming in from the north. During the big plane's takeoff, you seem to see their dark shadow first, then the silver jet itself, emerging from below you, taking a turn out over the ocean between the beaches of Santa Mon­ ica, Marina Del Rey and Catalina Island. Their altitude gain is very swift. Quickly they are even with you, traveling upward and away in a sweeping, arcing turn while still climbing.

Our luck held out, when a patient of Steve's asked if we'd like his reser­ vation in a dormitory room he'd reserved for his personal test pilot.

Just in case, we still included our tent and sleeping bags in the packing.

The day of departure finally ar­ rived. My wife and I had weighed every ounce I was taking and felt good about the small amount it reg­ istered. Steve was late taking off from Santa Rosa. Fog and haze had kept him on the ground until mid after­ noon. It was five o'clock in the afternoon when I spotted the Cessna winging across the sky over Signal Hill and Circling for a landing. I scru­ tinized my son with some pride as he executed a perfect landing even though he had a crosswind gusting across the east/west runway. Five in the afternoon in Long Beach gener­ ally always has a strong breeze from the ocean inland from about three p.m. on, and today was no excep­ tion.

Packing the Cessna quickly, Steve had the fuel tanks topped off and we were prepared for departure, wanting to at least clear the Los Angeles basin so we could get an early start the fol­ lowing morning. Otherwise, we could not have left Long Beach until after ten a.m. because of the famous "Catalina Eddie," west coast pilots' moniker for the perSistent, low clouds present each morning this time of year. Bermuda Dunes, ap­ proximately 125 miles east and in VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

the desert would be our destination for tonight.

Now, besides the tent and sleeping bags I men­ tioned before, we packed light weight aluminum beach chairs, binoculars, sun hats, our visor caps with the call letters stitched on, signaling mirrors, two Swiss Army knives, survival gear, metalized aluminum Mylar blankets, tubes of a powerful sun screen and sprays of potent bug repel­ lents, two dozen fat-free nutrition bars, plenty of bottled water, and a variety of cloth­ ing packed into our two duffel bags.

All together it weighed a little more than 100 pounds. Not bad!

We were in the air and on our way at six p.m. Bermuda Dunes closed down at seven. We just made it, and were taken to a motel for the night off Highway 111. The next morning we had a five-thirty start.

Tucson, Phoenix, EI Paso, Odessa and Lubbock were on our route.

With El Paso sitting at 4,000 feet of elevation, we rounded the foot of the Rocky Mountains and watched out our window at 7,500 feet at the passing plateaus and mesas soaring up from the dry desert floor.

Proceeding North across Texas to Amarillo, we landed in the late after­ noon. Our intention was to take off the next morning about five a.m. again. Instead, we had to wait for clearance until after ten. Amarillo has ground fog too.

As expected, we encountered some reported thunderstorms that morning and on into the afternoon.

What a weather reporting system is in operation across the United States!

We were guided around weather cells by the controllers at every checkpoint en route. These guys re­ ally know what they're doing. As we flew into their control areas and were handed off by our last con­ troller, perhaps sitting in Denver, we'd hear, in machine-gun like rapid-fire speech, "Cessna N5211M . . . Change your heading left five de­ 16 MARCH

2001

grees, we have a weather cell on the radar we'd like you to avoid. Proceed on heading 010 degrees for five min­ utes, then return to your original heading." These communications were very welcome, as you can guess.

Some of the weather cells were significantly voluminous and at one point we were looking directly out our windshield at a menacing anvil­ shaped cloud. Over our radio came the welcome call in a sweet Southern female voice, "Cessna, fifty-two eleven Mike, I can guide you around the thunderstorm you're approach­ ing, or set you down at the nearest airport. Last plane went around it just fine, I believe I can do the same for you."

Steve and I looked at each other and Simultaneously gave the thumbs-up. "Thank you, Manhat­ tan, Kansas approach, we'll accept your directions to proceed." Maybe six drops of rain landed on our wind­ shield as we followed the controller's explicit directions.

Following EAA, Oshkosh instruc­ tions, we topped off our fuel tanks a hundred miles out from Wittman Field. Landing the plane at Dubuque, Iowa, we took on our fuel and pro­ ceeded to our destination, Oshkosh.

The next series of events sounds impossible but this is the way it hap­ pens in Oshkosh. Remember, neither Steve nor I had experienced or been told anything quite like the follow­ ing happened. We were in for a surprise, as we used the Convention

arrival procedures as detailed in the NOTAM. As we flew over Ripon, we spotted the railroad tracks leading toward the airfield. We kept our heads on a swivel looking for other airplanes.

Locating the tracks was a little diffi­ cult since a double row of trees sheltered them from our line of sight at the required 800 foot elevation.

Locating them however, we then fol­ lowed the tracks for nine miles, north to the Fisk intersection.

At Fisk, our radio crackled and a controller's voice said, "Blue and white Cessna, if you read us rock your wings, do not answer commu­ nications, follow our instructions."

What, they've spotted us? Look­ ing down we could see the intense strobe lights marking the intersec­ tion. Steve moved the yoke gently and the plane responded with a slow rock to the port and starboard. There was a pause, and then the con­ troller'S next verbal request was like an electric current shooting through both of us. We were looking about us sharply. Our adrenal glands boosted their flow and I am sure both our heart rates increased con­ Siderably.

Movement in the sky glinted and caught both of our attentions. Five planes were circling Rush Lake with us. There was no time to watch. Steve was following the twin-engine plane ahead of us and we were a part of an endless circle of aircraft. I noticed a whitening of Steve's knuckles.

Ahead of the Beechcraft was a small green and white checked stunt plane. What was in front of that plane I couldn't tell you. We were too alert to look off any distance. As we came back around the lake, our radio crackled, "blue and white Cessna, you're clear to land. Keep your pattern south of the water tower and the gravel pit. Come-in using a continuing tight turn, clear to land on runway two-seven past the terminal building. Exit runway at your first turnoff./I The rapid-fire message was clipped and precise.

There was no further communica­ tion directed to us.

What he wanted us to do was to land halfway down the runway. I watched Steve on the controls as he spun the Cessna on its wing tip and put it into a dive at the green dot painted far down the runway. He touched down at the same instant a plane only seconds behind us landed short on the same runway.

Over our microphone came, "That's the way to go, Cessna./I Immediately after touch down, we spotted a flag man standing fur­ ther up the runway, waving to us in great arcs. The feeling was that we'd just executed an aircraft carrier land­ ing, but there was no time to think about it. We were to go, and the sig­ nal was unmistakable, we were to hurry, to the first taxiway and turnoff. Plainly, his flags said, "Get off the runway, FAST!/I The plane following up received the same message. The flag man pointed at the next airplane in line, this time showing an area well down the runway from where we had turned off, still rolling at a very good speed. The controllers were simulta­ neously landing more than one airplane on the same runway. One short, one long.

Every hundred yards, more flag men signaled us. Each took care of us, directing us to our tiedown spot.

One side of the airfield was already filled with planes. Our side was just More evidence of the Smith's meticulous workmanship is shown in the landing light lens and retainer for the Stinson .

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

(Top) The STCd installation of a 180 hp Lycoming incorporates the same cowling as the original Franklin engine installation. The Smiths have chosen Unison's solid-state Lasar ignition system to provide the spark for the Lycoming.

(Left) The incorporation of a bag­ gage door to the 108's design is very handy, and prevents dam­ --.:!i~ age to the cabin interior when loading bags or boxes.

beginning to experience their incom­ ing load. By the following day, 10,000 planes would be tied down on Wittman Field.

The following day, Steve and I walked along the lines of planes. In the Vintage Aircraft Association's parking area we came to the premier location of observing the air show activities. There sat a line of Stinsons, 108-1's, 108-2's, 108-3's, Gullwings, military types, all sorts of them. The 108-1's were the same planes my dad and I flew in the late 1940's and early 50's. We'd sold the plane around 1957. Looking at them now, all lined up, they are still things of beauty in my eyes. Both of us felt the grip on nostalgia. What would Eddie Stinson think of them now? Long after his unfortunate death, the 108 series that bore his name was built by Con­ solidated-Vultee . How proud he would have been to see "his" planes on display at EAA AirVenture.

Now the story really begins! Once Steve spotted them, he kept dragging 18 MARCH

2001

me back to the row of Stinsons. This kept happening throughout the week of our stay. He certainly did have something on his mind!

"Dad, think about it. We'd get to sit on the front line next year if we had a Stinson."

"It looks that way, Steve. You know, that is what I taught your grandpa to fly in."

"I wonder if it's possible that the same Stinson you and Grandpa flew could be here?"

"My guess would be that NC97979 is long gone, Steve. Think how many years ago that would have been.

Close to fifty. I doubt it would still be around."

"Let's look for it anyway. It could be right here. Maybe if not in the Stinson line, it could be out on the field somewhere. Come on, we're go­ ing to look."

"Steve, there are more than ten thousand planes here."

"If we find it, we'll buy it Dad! We'll search the whole field, if we

have to."

"Steve, think about it. Who's go­ ing to work on it? You?" "It will make a great project for you, Dad. You know you like to have a project going. Let's just see if we can locate old 97979. I'd like to have it back in the family again. You and Mom used to fly in it with me. I can remember it. Ryan will like flying it when he's old enough . Wouldn't it be great, Dad, just think, four genera­ tions of Smiths flying 97979."

We never did find it on the field that week. After the Convention, fly­ ing home from Oshkosh, Steve and I talked. Most of the conversation concerned what it would be like to have a Stinson, that same Stinson, back in the Smith family again.

Back in Long Beach, I called the FAA to see if the plane could still be registered. It was amazing the ease with which the plane was located .

All it took was a call to Oklahoma City. The information was mine. IT WAS REGISTERED! NC97979 was in Vermont! Milton, Vermont, to be ex­ act. A call to the owner was informative. The Stinson had not been flown for six years. He told me it was sitting in his garage, but no, he really didn 't want to sell it.

The seller remained reluctant to talk about selling it for about five conversations. He kept saying he was going to fly the plane again, even though it had been in his garage for the last eight years. Finally, after sev­ eral conversations, I found out why the plane was in his garage. It had been in a "small accident" and needed some work to make it airwor­ thy again!

I began a campaign ... every two weeks, Bob in Vermont would re­ ceive a call from me. Finally, probably in an attempt to get rid of me, he told me the plane had been flipped into a snow bank and had a broken top support. He hadn't got­ ten around to the inspection and repairs that would be needed. Added to that bit of news, he next told me the plane had been metalized, adding SO pounds of weight to it. Not some

(Left) Bill Smith and his longtime sailing friend and co-pi lot, Roscoe Butch. (Below Left) Bill, Ryan and Steve Smith at the 2000 Copperstate EAA Fly-In in Mesa, Arizona .

connoisseurs dream, b u t sti ll NC97979.

I called Steve with the bad news.

"Dad, maybe we could do the re­ pairs, perhaps he'll let it go at a good price! We can recover it . Let's go to Vermont and take a look if he'll de­ cide to let go of it."

Well, Bob decided to sell his pride and let us have our joy. When we got to Milton, Vermont, never did we contemplate the sad condition in which we'd find the old Stinson . Its var io u s pieces were strewn across Bob's yard. The good news was they were all there, including an addi ­ tional airframe, and even an extra set of wings complete with birds' nests.

Two good points, I think? And then and there in the back woods of Ver­ mont we purchased the wreck of the original NC97979!

Steve was determined to have the plane. Parts and pieces and all. He'd even reserved a h uge truck, stuffed with the plane parts, for his mother and me to drive back to California.

How's that for determination? So we loaded up NC97979 into this huge

truck and it was back to Long Beach Municipal Airport. You won't believe this, but they must have known it was coming back and saved our hanger of SO years ago for us.

NC97979 is home . As luck would have it, it's right back in the very same spot when earlier Smiths had flown from and felt the freedom of flight.

Now the next chapter of our Stin­ son saga begins!

PHASE II - THE REMANUFACTUR­ ING OF STINSON NC97979

Once in hanger number nine, the work began. Steve, Sandra his wife and even then-two-year-old Ryan all pitched in. However, the total job seemed impossible. The further into the plane we got, the worse it be­ came. The first Aircraft Inspector we hired wanted us to balance it on old tires and weigh it down with old bat­ teries . Don't think so. As we stood around wondering if it would ever happen, our guardian angel appeared in the form of Al Gerbino . AI was and is a talker of the first order and a great friend. He couldn't stand to see what was happening to us, and took over our lagging spirits . He had his men make up a steel jig to put the body of the plane in and straighten it . He oversaw the welding of the broken frame. He straightened the twist out of the fuselage and told us what to do next. Thank goodness for

the goodness of angels.

It needs to be said here, The South­ west Stinson Club owes Al Gerbino and our son a big debt of gratitude.

AI did it all out of the goodness of his heart, a large one, and Steve paid for materials and then donated the jig to the club. That jig is responsible for the repair of at least ten Stinsons, which would not otherwise be flying.

Here are a few particulars on the restoration. The engine is a 180 hp Lycoming, installed under an STC. The Poly-Fiber covering was expertly installed by Lola M. Labarger, who has been covering airplanes for over 40 years. She even had all the pat­ terns for the Stinson. We did our best to match the interior and exterior color schemes and only used modern materials and components where they added to the safety of the air­ plane.

We did get to fly the Stinson to Oshkosh, and if it's possible, we had even more fun than our first trip. We started the trip in 1999 with about 20 hours on the airplane, and were chagrined to discover the alternator pulley had come loose, slipped for­ ward and cut a neat hole right in our beautiful cowling. Home again, we fixed the cowling and were thrilled later in 1999 when we received the top Classic award at the Copperstate fly-in in Arizona. A trip to Sun 'n Fun with my friend and co-pilot Roscoe Butch gave us the opportunity to fly formation with EAA's photographer Mark Schaible and his pilot, Bruce Moore. Mark took over 100 photos of our Stinson. The Stinson was pre­ sented with the "Best Custom Classic" award at Sun 'n Fun . Steve regretted being unable to make the trip due to the pressing demands of his medical practice, but he made sure he could make the next excur­ sion to Oshkosh last year.

It's been a joy to re-experience flying the Stinson, and our adven­ tures continue. See you around the fly-ins! ......

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

2000 Midwest Luscombe Fly-In (MTO) Text by Gene Horsman Photos by Jerry Cox

he 4th Annual MTO Lus­ combe Fly-In was held at Coles Co unty Airport, Mat­ toon, Illinois, on August 25, 26, and 27. MTO is the airport identifier for the airport and the name has stuck as the fly-in's name.

The past three years the event was held the last weekend in June, but this year, with hopes to avoid the typical Midwest summer weather, it was decided to make it the last weekend in August. But par for the course, as in the past, lousy weather again reduced attendance.

Saturday evening we responded to reports of approaching severe weather which included a tornado sighting just a few miles northwest.

A few Luscombes had already de­ parted. As in the past we quickly squeezed sixteen, you hear right, SIXTEEN Luscombes into the big hangar and all but a few were placed in individual hangars, with the re­ maining few planes securely tied down on the ramp. Then the rain, thunder, and lightning came, with reported winds gusting to sixty knots. Thankfully there was no hail and the planes surv ived the storm unscathed. So much for moving the fly-in to late August in an attempt to avoid the June thund erstorms and tornadoes!

There were 44 Luscombes in at­ tendance, from all over the country, with 19 states represented. Some folks drove in and some flew non­ Luscombe aircraft in. We won't mention any names or models to

T

20 MARCH

2001

(Above) The big winners at MTO 2000 were: (left to right) Best 8F, N 1947B; Members Choice, Reserve Grand Champion, and Best T8F, N211G; Grand Champion, Best 8E, Nl168K; Best 8A, NC45504. (Below) Retreating to the hangars was necessary during MTO 2000, as the rains did come.

protect the innocent.

Models present ranged from a 1939 8A through a 1959 8F. There were two relatively rare T8F models and we would be remiss not to men-

tion the Turboprop Luscombe, NC2638K, "Don's Idea," of the Lus­ combe Foundation. Looks great, sounds great, and is capable of backing up under its own power,

(Top)lf the weather's going to be crummy, you might as well talk airplanes while safe and dry in the hangar! (Middle) Mark and Yvonne May's Grand Champion and Best 8E features this beautifully appointed interior. (Bottom) The Reserve Grand Champion, Member's Choice and Best T8F was this Luscombe flown to MTO 2000 by owners Dan and Karen McNeil, Placerville, CA.

on the ground. It is the newest and most unique of any of the models present.

Saturday morning a triangular race was set up, but the weather did­ n't look very good, so only six planes signed up and four of them dropped out at th e last minute. Mark May won the 85 hp category and Jerry Cox won the 90 hp category.

On Saturday afternoon Rick Duck­ worth led a seminar with much Luscombe information dispensed , followed by a lively question and answer session. Doug Combs of the Don Luscombe Aviation Historical Foundation, now the owners of the Luscombe Type Certificate, answered many technical questions, and inci­ dentally, donated the awards this year. Jack Norris talked about his up­ coming book on propeller data and information on long distance cruis­ ing in a Luscombe. He only mad e two fuel stops coming from Califor­ nia to Mattoon.

We finished the day with a great meal and an awards presentation conducted by Doug Co mbs and Jerry Cox, the MTO coordinator.

A debt of gratitude is owed to Jerry and Donna Cox, Jerry and Do­ lores Adkisson, Central Illinois Air and Doug Combs for making this a great weekend despite the weather problems.

Award winners wer e : Best 8A, NC45504, Jim Zazas, Carthage, NC; Grand Cha mpion and Best 8E, Nl168K, Mark and Yvonne May, Chapmansboro, TN; Best 8F, N1947B, Jerry Cox and Scott Rose, Mattoon, IL; Reserve Grand Cham­ pion, Members Choice, and Best T8F, N21lG, Dan and Karen Mc­ Neil, Placerville, CA; the distance award was split between 8E, N2028K, of Jack Norris of North­ ridge, CA, and the T8F, N211G, of Dan and Karen McNeil of Plac­ erville, CA. It was decided to schedule this year's event for the same weekend in August, minus the tornadoes, of course. The dates are August 24, 25, and 26, 2001. See you then! ......

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

21

VINTAGE PR

A Perfect Polish Job? It's a six-sixty!

by Charlie Nelson, Founder and President, International Swift Association

hat is a "six-sixty polish job"? It is a polish job that was done six months ago and then flown over 60 hours coast to coast and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Midwest. Visits to th e Florida Keys, Colorado, Texas, and Wiscon­ sin, plus many other stops, were made. In the process, it was exposed to dust, dew, fingerprints, and rain.

The next question is always, "What polish do you use?" The an­ swer is not just one word; as a matter of fact, it cannot be answered in one sentence. A "six-sixty polish job" is the result of a polishing process best explained in a 30-minute instruc­ tional video developed by the Swift Museum Foundation, Inc. All of us who have polished "un_ painted natural aluminum aircraft" know it is a lot of work. We all want to know about a better way to make it look better and last longer, with less time and effo rt. No method we know of is easy; how eve r, we do know ways to produce better results and have it last longer.

Your qu es tions asked at fly-ins and via phone calls, e-mails, and let­ ters continue to remind us there is an ongoing desire by many aircraft

W

22

MARCH

2001

owners to know more about polish­ ing aluminum.

Years ago, the most common questions asked at a fly-in included: "What is it? What engine have you got? What does it cruise at? Is it a ground-looper?" In recent years we have noticed a shift in the questions.

Now, most of the questions center around polishing. Therefore, to help us avoid repeating the same story over and over again about the process we now follow, we've de­ cided to share our expertise and experiences.

We have assembled the experi­ ences of the owners of a number of pristine polished Swift aircraft to at­ tempt to combine their experiences into a method that works for us and will work for others as well. Our in­ structional video covers the proper tools, products, materials, and all lev­ els of polishing from A to Z. We show you how to start with a rough, ne­ glected surface or a recently polished piece of aluminum and make it re­ ally shine like nothing you've ever seen in the past. Often, a stubborn, hard-to-remove milky haze can be seen in a polished surface. We'll show you how to get rid of that haze,

Is this man: Trapped inside a transparent air­ plane sculpture? Using an excessive amount of zinc oxide to prevent a sunburn? Stuck at an airport without a bathroom? None of the above-he's just showing how sharp a polish job can be done on a metal airplane using the system now available from the Swift Foundation.

even if you just finished polishing with another product or method. Fi­ nally, we demonstrate ways to preserve the beautiful finish and avoid frequent repolishing.

Hundreds of copies of the instruc­ tional video have already been delivered to aircraft owners around the country. We do believe you will see an overall improvement in the quality of polished "unpainted" air­ craft this year at all the major events and on airport ramps everywhere.

The homespun video, polish, tools, and supplies may be purchased from the Swift Museum Foundation, Inc. All proceeds generated from the sales of the information and materi­ als go to the tax-exempt Swift Foundation. Contact Steve Roden at the Swift parts department, Monday through Friday, 9:00-5:00 ET: call 423/744-9696, fax 423/745-9869, or e-mail swiftlychs@aoi.com.

DRIPPANS

Airplanes can be messy, and noth­ ing is more annoying than stepping in a puddle of fluid as you work on your engine. That's where Drippans

come in. These newly developed pans are designed to protect floors from those irritating drips of oil, fuel, and hydraulic oil. The overlap­ ping sides allow you to interlock different pans to match your re­ quirements, making Drippans an indispensable piece of hangar equip­ ment. They work great in the garage under your cars as well! You can or­ der Drippans from Drippans, 8891 Airport Rd., C-6, Blaine, MN 55449, by calling 763/786-5004, or by visit­ ing www.goldenwingsmuseum.com.

The 24-by-30-inch pan retails for $16.95, and the 18-by-48-inch pan costs $18.95. Shipping costs $5.00 for the first pan and $2.50 for each additional pan.

CURTISS QUICK DRAIN HOSE

We're all familiar with the ubiqui­ tous Curtiss drain valve, which has been standard equipment in the avi­ ation world for over 50 years. Now,

Curtiss is introducing a new line of drain hoses that mate perfectly with their drain valves. In most cases, a simple push and twist action locks the Quick Drain Hose in place. Inter­ nal O-ring seals assure a drip-proof connection, with 5 feet of clear vinyl hose attached to the connector.

There are five different hose fitting configurations, and you can get free information on these new drain hoses by contacting Curtiss Superior Valve Company . Send them e-mail at quickdrain@earthlink.net, or by clicking on their website located at www.curtissuperiorvalve.com. Tele­ phone them at 602/230.2387 or fax at 602/230.2487.

SUPER CUB FUSELAGES

have been completed and shipped to the "lower 48," Canada, Europe, and Alaska, and production is in full swing. A new fuselage costs $10,250. Doors, "tail feathers," etc. are also available at regular prices.

A deposit gets you a delivery date and your "Cub" is on its way to its next half century of flying or per­ haps even immortality. For more information contact Airframes Inc., at 907/892.8244, www.supercubs.com or e-mail: info@supercubs.com. ......

Super Cub owners and builders will be pleased to know complete new fuselages are now available from Air­ frames, Inc. of Big Lake, Alaska. Fully FAA approved under STC & PMA, many modern and popular improvements are in­ cluded at no ad­ ditional cost or FAA paperwork. Refine­ ments include using all chromoly tubes and fittings, improved door mechanism, ex­ tended baggage, 180-pound regular baggage capacity, re­ movable rear seat bar, "dog leg" bulkhead reversed, top deck "X" 1998 RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION tubes, tail reinforce­ ment, shou lder har­ AVAILABLE TO QUALIFIED BUYER ness attach tubes and more. Customer re­ quests and additions such as float fittings can be accomplished before shipping.

Thirty fuselages

1929 PITCAIRN PA-6 MAILWING

STEPHEN PITCAIRN (609) 259-3309

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

23

TYPE CLUB

Continental oil pump rebuilding

by Matt Rybarczyk, Wisconsin State Rep. of the Int'l Cessna 120/ 140 Assoc.

From the December 2000 Int'J Cessn a 120/140 Assoc. Newsletter.

I couldn't read the letters in the September newsletter #272 about starting up and not getting oil pres­ sure without responding.

I had this problem myself and learned a lot about these [Continen­ tal] pumps in the process of trying to make them work. I used to prime the pump through the oil temperature capillary tube hole. Eventually, though, it gets to the point that nearly every time you go flying you have to prime the pump. This is not something I want to do, nor do I want to let the engine run without oil pressure for 30 to 60 seconds, waiting to see if it's going to come up.

Once you have oil pressure there is nothing to worry about. The pump does not "pump" to create pressure.

The pressure is crea ted by the resis­ tance to flow of oil past the engine bearings and the pressure relief valve.

It's like putting your finger over the end of a garden hose to cause water pressure for cleaning or something. [f the resistance to flow were high enough, these pumps are probably capable of producing somewhere in the neighborhood of around 1000 pounds of pressure. Therefore the pump can have tremendous amounts of wear and still pump adequate amounts of oil to the engine, once it does start pumping.

The pu mp loses its prime because there is too much clearance between the gears and/or gear housing, and 24 MARCH 2001

the oil drains out over time. Yes, heavier oil will help alleviate this problem because it doesn't drain out as fast and tends to cling to the gears and housing a little better. So if you fly regularly, the pump does not have enough time to completely drain itself dry, and you will have oil pressure when you start up, unless the pump is very badly worn.

The simple fact is that if you're having this problem, your oil pump is worn out. [n fact, if the clearances in your pump are correct, it doesn't need any prime to suck the oil up the pick-up tube.

The only correct way to fix this problem, in my opinion, is to have the pump rebuilt. There are a num­ ber of places I found that work or have worked on them. Each place had a little different way of going about it. However, only a couple of them have an STC and can yellow­ tag the work so the part can be legally returned to service on a certified air­ craft.

One of those I talked with, Drake Air Inc., in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was my preference. They have an STC in which they weld up the gear housing and then re-machine it back Ollt to new dimensions and tolerances.

They install bronze bushings in the gear shaft holes. The whole process takes about a week, not including transit time, and it's sent back to you yellow-tagged and ready to put back on the airplane.

The gear shaft holes are where wear occurs, and this allows the gear

One of the high-wear areas for piston engines is the oil pump gallery. Using an STC'd process, the pump gallery on the Continental series of engines can be restored by Drake Air, Inc. This corroded example of the aft case cover of an A-65-8 is an unairworthy spare in the EAA Foundation'S collection . It shows some scor­ ing on the face where the oil gear impellers contact the case.

teeth to scrape against the gear hous­ ing, creating the wear and gouges you see on the housing walls. This and a new set of gears will give you a new oil pump. YOll won't ever have to worry about not getting oil pres­ sure again when you start up.

I would not recommend putting old, used gears into the new oil pump cavity. Do it right and you'll never have to worry about it again. Be­ tween the work Drake Air does and the new gears, you'll have about $600 invested. This is what I did and it's been well worth it. Don't forget, every time you run that engine wait­ ing for the oil pressure to come up, you're wearing it out.

For more information you may con­ tact Drake Air, Inc. 4085 Southwest Blvd., Tulsa, OK 74107. Phon e: 918/ 445-3545 or 800/ 542-6899. E­ mail: drakeair@ionet.net

PASS

IT TO

BU CK

by E.E. "Buck" Hilbert EAA #21 VAA #5 P.O. Box 424, Union, IL 60180

More heat and preheat!

The preheat articles have certainly generated many comments and sug­ gestions. I've had a number of calls and letters, and I'm really gratified at the interest shown. I wish we had room to publish all of them, but the few we have printed will show just how interested our members are.

I've been taken to task by some and lauded by others. But so far the pros, the guys who tear down the en­ gines and accessories and who see the heart of the matter, have all been of one voice. Their strong opinion is that internal condensation is a killer, and whatever we do, we have to take that into consideration.

People have written and called about severa l alternate methods of heat/preheat; some are very novel.

One fellow merely attached a hose to his automobile exha ust system and blew the hot exhaust over the engine while he stayed warm in his car. An­ other variation was to insert a panel in place of the side window of the car, with two hoses through that panel to the cowling. Then he ran the car heater blower at full hot and full high, waiting in the car while the very hot air warmed the engine.

There were others who did various preheats. Some used a small 11O-volt electric heater set on top of the en­ gine under a blanket or cowl cover of some sort. Others used the familiar propane heaters, both operating from AC and o r DC power (off the car or airplane battery).

These were all preheats. Now we come to the proponents of constant heat.

No one disagreed that the prob­ lem was condensation, us ua ll y

caused by uneven heating. Warming the oil but not the metal is the prob­ lem. The condensation collects in areas not privy to heating, and the result is rust and corrosion, certain premature death to an engine.

The Swift and the Cessna 170 peo­ ple have had problems with the C-14S Continentals. If condensation occurs, and water is present in the oil, the resul t is oil pan corrosion.

This is caused by condensation accu­ mulating in the pan, and the area never rea lly gets up to temperature to vaporize and eliminate that con­ densation. I have seen examples where it was so corroded you could literally poke a pencil through th e pan.

Keeping the heat on continually is a great idea if, and this is the prob­ lem, you can keep the entire engine compartment warm. The advantage h ere is this: the oil temp e rature comes right up, cabin heat is almost instantly available, and there is little chance of corrosion. A good case for a heated hangar. What?

One caller who, like our preSident, fli es a Beech Baron (I might add right here that he lives in a moderate cli­ mat e, unlike our Midwestern bone-chilling cold.), use s 100-watt li ght bulbs under a blanketed cowl­ ing. This assures him easy starts and a quick oil-operating temperature.

I had another respondent who was adamantly against this method.

He was worried about the possibility of gasoline and oil res idue possibly overheating and causing a fire. Un­ warranted, mayb e, but a consideration.

H.G. eve n put in his two cents

worth. He thinks all this procedure might do is give a mouse a well­ lighted home and a cozy place to nest. His thoughts on this are sim­ ple-long-term, "low-heat" systems result in moisture condensation on whatever area that acts as the transi­ tion zone between the cold and warm surfaces. In the case of the pad heaters left on all the time, that area appears, by the accounts we've read, to be the inside of the crankcase and/or internal gears and camshaft.

Based on what we've seen in our letters, it 's H.G.'s opinion that an overnight warm-up with a pan heater, followed by a flight-up to op­ erating temperatures, is fine. But leaving it on for days and weeks on end seems to be the problem. For the times he has preheated, when possi­ ble he's used a ceramic heater with a plenum and insulated ducts attached to the output and a cover over the cowl. Two hours of hot air blasting from it did the trick. He did point out that it really was only effective down to around IS-20°F-any colder was too cold for him, and the tem­ perature rise from the heater wasn't enough to make it worthwhile. I know that doesn't help those in hangars or tied owns without electri­ cal service.

The many-faceted engine heaters

-continued on page 27 VINTAGE AIRPLANE

25

This month's Mystery Plane comes to us from a batch of inter­ esting and rare airplane photos supplied by Ralph Nortel!.

Send your answer to: EAA, Vin­ tage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, VVI 54903-3086. Your an­ swer needs to be in no later than April 10, 2001, for inclusion in the June issue of Vintage Airplane. Due to changes in the Vintage Airplane production schedule, we have to move the due date back a bit over the next couple of months.

You can also send your response via e-mail. Send your answer to vintage@eaa.org.

Be sure to include both your name and address (especially your city and state!) in the body of your note and put "(Month) Mystery Plane" in the subject line.

The December Mystery Plane from the collection of Harry Luecke was fun for many of you. Readily identified, it was relatively rare even in its heyday.

Here's our first letter: Dear Mr. Frautschy, I think the December Mystery Plane is an Aeromarine 39A or 39B. Most likely a 39B since more of them were built. There were 50 model 39A 's 26 MARCH

2001

by H.G. Frautschy

built and 150 model 398's. At least there was a contract for that many.

The 39A had a 100hp Hall Scott A­ 7 A engine and the 398 had a 100 hp Curtiss OXX-6. On October 26, 1922 ,a 39B piloted by Lt. Cdr. Geoffrey DeChevalier, Naval A viator no. 7, made the first landing on the deck of the Navy's first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley.

The order for these planes (150) was placed in 1917 and was the largest order ever placed for aircraft by the Navy up to that time. In 1920 the Navy offered some planes for sale among which were some model 39B's.

Their sale price was advertised as

$3000.00 and the ad the Navy pub­ Lished stated this was considered their best buy. The ad stated all the planes were new and that most of them were still in the factory crates. There were seven different models of aircraft of­ fered for sale in the ad put out by the US Navy Bureau of Supplies and Ac­ counts.

VVayne Van Valkenburgh Jasper, Georgia And from the Northeast: The Mystery Plane shown in the December issue of Vintage Airplane is an Aeromarine 39B. To the best of our knowledge, the Rhinebeck Aerodrome

-Buck continued from page 25

Aeromarine 39B

Museum has the only known example of this aircraft in the world. Sadly, most of it was destroyed in a fire in 1966. The Aeromarine was being transported to another location on an open trailer for a cigarette advertise­ ment film-shoot. Ironically, a cigarette thrown from an oncoming car during transportation set the airplane ablaze.

Cole quickly pulled over and at­ tempted to extinguish the flames to no avail, receiving burns in the process. The remaining portions of the Aeromarine were stored in the attic of Cole's house and in 1984 the house was burnt to the ground by an arson­ ist while Cole was away in his Florida workshop.

We still have fittings and parts that can be us ed as patterns to build/restore the Aeromarine and all of the necessary drawings are still available. The Aeromarine was one of the six original World War I airplanes that Cole purchased in the 1950s from Roosevelt field to start the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. It would be great to have an Aeromarine flying in our airshows here at some point in the future.

Tom Polapink Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome

Hello again, H.G.,

That's got to be Keyport, New Jer­ sey's own Aeromarine 39, either an A

or B model. If it's an A model it has got the dreaded Hall-Scott 100hp en ­ gine. The B ha s the much more reliable Curtiss OXX-6. it was the U.S. Navy's earliest and most useful training aircraft. among others.

Yours truly, Gil Halpin From the famous and ancient Stormville airport, New York The final note is one included with the photo sent in by Harry Luecke.

This photo was taken about 1925 in Texas. it was one of the planes used by Robert T. Jefferson, Transport Pilot 92, during his barnstormer days.

I became acquainted with him in 1934 when he was chief pilot and in­ structor at Northeast Philadelphia airport. He soloed me in an Aeronca C-3 in four hours. After the flying school was sold, he flew for Aero Ser­ vice Corporation, flying photo missions. Many years ago, after a long day flying at high altitude, he came home, sat down, and died. It was the end of a long flying career. Many pi­ lots used to come for a half hour of instruction from him, just to get his TP 92 in their logbook. I never did get to know the make of these two air­ plan es, but the Red Goose was to advertise Red Goose shoes.

Harry Luecke

Lexington, North Carolina

......

with probes in the heads and wraps around the cylinders as well as the heat pads epoxied to the oil pans and tanks do the job well on the flat engines with oil pans, but what do we do with the old round engines with external oil tanks?

Now we have considerations most of us don't have to contend with. The oil tank usually has a baffled section that contains about 10 percent of the available oil.

This 10 percent warms first, and as the heat makes the oil less viscous, the surrounding oil leeches into the system as it warms up. In the old days the larger engines, like on the B-17, the DC-3, and the like, had oil dilution systems and pro­ cedures that used gasoline to dilute the oil and assure free flow. Right in the operations manual were ta­ bles based on temperature expectations.

The result was thinning of the oil, making the engine easier to crank and hopefully start, and as soon as the oil temperature got up to operating temperature, the gaso­ line evaporated and the oil returned to its original specifica­ tions. This was an alternative to draining the oil, taking it with you to the hotel or home, sitting it on the radiator all night, and when you wanted to fly, pouring it back into the tank.

The pad heater on the external tank isn't a bad idea. Just be sure the oil cap is open or vented so the condensation will be vented over­ board. This will assure warm oil to the engine almost as soon as you start cranking. Don't forget to put the oil cap back on!

H.G . and I would like to hear more from you users out there. It's been great, the response that we've gotten. Let's keep this going be­ cause it affects everyone of us that flies in cold weather climates, and what we learn helps us all.

Over to you, f(

~t(ck ~ VINTAGE AIRPLANE

27

NEW MEMBERS

Pieter De Bruijne ....................................... .

............................ Bergen NH, Netherlands

Yang Kuo-Shan .......... Toayuan City, ROC

Brian Molloy .......... County Meath, Ireland

Hans-joerg Berg ........................................ ..

............................ 32257 Buende, Germany

Henning Foro ............................................ ..

.............................. 1395 Hvalstad, Norway

David W. Friday ........................................ ..

.................... 11481 Riyadh, Saudia Arabia

Mario Prado ...................... La Ligua, Chile

Emanuele Sironi ........................................ ..

.................................. Nova Milanese, Italy Joseph Rudnicki ................ Apo, AE 09841 Charles Croft ............................................ ..

Salt Sp Island, British Columbia, Canada Luke Bowman ...... Picton, Ontario, Canada Timothy Dube .... Orleans, Ontario, Canada Ian McQueen ............................................ .. ...................... Ailsa Craig, Ontario, Canada

Thomas H. Sullivan .................................. ..

............ Little River, Saskatchewan, Canada

Joseph S. Hilbig ........................................ ..

.............. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Michael Lee ........................ Fairbanks, AK

Ottis E. Myrick ........................ Warrior, AL

Billy J. Singleton .................... Thorsby, AL

Daniel J. Delany .......................... Mesa, AZ

Ivan Me Laws .......................... Payson, AZ

Danny 1. Metz .................. Sierra Vista, AZ

Perry S. Neal .......................... Phoenix, AZ

Robert T. Regester .............. Goodyear, AZ

Stephen Thompson .............. Scottsdale, AZ

Pauline Atilano ........................ Ontario, CA

Eric Barnes ........................ San Mateo, CA

Michael K. Brasier ........ Palm Springs, CA

John Chandler ............................ Davis, CA

Paul Clary .......................... San Rafael, CA

Robert P. Davis ........................ Quincy, CA

Leslie Day .............................. La Mesa, CA

Gerry Filby .................... San Francisco, CA

Dick Hersman ...................... Riverside, CA

Stephen Holifield .................... Sonoma, CA

Charlie Miller .................. Morgan Hill , CA

Dan O. Morris ...................... Hayward, CA

Jeff Pearson .................. Anaheim Hills, CA

Eddie Rohwedder .............. Aliso Viefo, CA

James Sands .................. Yucca Valley, CA

Michael Terry ........................ Ventura, CA

Ronald M. Wilcox ................ Lancaster, CA

Taylor Stephens ................ Fort Collins, CO

Gerald L. Vincent ...................... Cortez, CO

Lawrence Kurland .................... Sharon, CT

Richard R. LaQuerre .............. Endfield, CT

David P. Yarger .............. West Granby, CT

Joseph K. Larrimore .................. Milton, DE

Joseph Black .................. Winter Haven, FL

Bryce Bock ..........New Smyrna Beach, FL

28 MARCH 2001

Salvatore O. Capra ................ Lakeland, FL

William De Vries ...................................... ..

.................................... Boynton Beach, FL

Paul A. Donahue ............ N. Lauderdale, FL

Paul Gearen ...................... Jacksonville, FL

Raymond J. Kane .............. .. ...... Jupiter, FL

Fabio Labrada ...................... Palm City, FL

David Liddle .......................... Sarasota, FL

A. William McGraw .................................. ..

.................................. Fernadina Beach, FL

Carl A. Miller .................... Vero Beach, FL

Paul J. Schiebler ...................... Arcadia, FL

Robert D. Siedle .................... Lakeland, FL

Byron C. Starr ...................... Edgewater, FL

Dick Terhune ........................ Belleview, FL

Earl Webb .................. Saint Augustine, FL

Timothy A. Higgins .... .. ......Cumming, GA

Ken Taylor ................ Stone Mountain , GA

James E. Toombs ....... .Peechtree City, GA

DOIm Sensor .......................... .... Clinton, IA

Daniel J. Sokolowski .... W Des Moines, IA

Holbrook Maslen ........................ Boise, 1D

David W. Eiselt ...................... Wheaton, IL

Edward C. McKeown .......... Barrington, IL

Ron Campbell ...................... Loogootee, IN

Michael T. Gray ..... .......... .Indianapolis, IN

Eric A. Henricks ........ .. ...... lndianapolis, IN

David Jones .................... .... Terre Haute, IN

Terry Williams .......................... Elwood, IN

Ronald Scott Blum ................ Goddard, KS

Jim F. Maxwell.. .................. Concordia, KS

David Mueller. ................ ......... Verona, KY

Jerry F. Wilcher ............ Gravel Switch, KY

W. JeffYork........................ Lexington, KY

James F. Cooper .............. YoungsvilJe, LA

Gary Spiller .................... Baton Rouge, LA

Gene T. Brennan .................. Needham, MA

William S. Hunt.. ............ Winchendon, MA

Leonard Langer ................ GJoucester, MA

Charles Lohmiller .................... Sharon, MA

Curtis Simpson ........................ Holden, MA

Buck Carlton ...................... California, MD

Michael Gray ...................... Salisbury, MD

Russell Guibord ........................ Bristol , ME

James S. Guillaume .......... Farmington, ME

William Appleberry .................. Warren, MI

Robert B. Jackson ........................ Niles, MI

James C. Russell ...................... Pontica, MI

Keith M. Denbrook .................. Erhard, MN

Stanley N. Kittelson ............ Litchfield, MN

Terrence J. Schwartz ............... .Jordan, MN

Kenneth L. Algiere .............. Columbia, MO

Charles C. Green .............. Springfield, MO

Floyd E. Shewmake .. .. ............ Granby, MO

Ken Baird ................................ Raleigh, NC

Paul S. Cash ...................... Morganton, NC

M. David Laczko .................. Catawba, NC

Harold Norton .................. Bladendoro, NC

Alonzo J. Outlaw ...... .. ........ LaGrange, NC

Larry Peoples ...................... Louisburg, NC

Jack C. Phillips ............ ........ New Hill, NC

Douglas Reid .................. Thomasville, NC

Scott Smith ................. ........... New Hill, NC

Shawn Johnson ........................Omaha, NE

Jerry Lee May ........................ Kearney, NE

Keri-Ann Price .................. Portsmouth, NH

Robert L. Disch .............. Merchantville, NJ

Frank Mazza ........................ Bridgeton, NJ

Robert Ransom ................ Moorestown, NJ

Keith Allen Courson .......... Las Vegas, NV

Michael Duffy ...................... Bethpage, NY

William J. Holland .................. Bergen, NY

Dana Tarr .......................... Steventown, NY

Kenneth R. Ball ........................ Sidney, OH

Ronald F. Gossard ...... .. .......... Dunkirk, OH

Chris Hollinger ...................... Fairfield, OH

Ken Johnson ...................... Winchester, OH

Mark A. Mastrangelo .............. Mentor, OH

George Pais ................................ Milan, OH

Mark Homp ........................ Ponca City, OK

Edwin L. Richardson ................ Madill, OK

Cannon Braatz ............................ Bend, OR

David C. Kelly .................... Redmond, OR

Mark Minor .......... .......... Central Point, OR

Jack Cutler .................. ... .Wyomissing, PA

Michael Downend ............ Union Dale, PA

Barton Glass .................. .. .... .... Reading, PA

Craig S. Potter ................ Fairless Hills, PA

Robert Burr ............................ Franklin, TN

John Cross .............................. Houston, TX

Mike E. Hale .................... Georgetown, TX

Clifton E. Lamb ................ St. Hedwig, TX

Nick Leonard ...................... Pipe Creek, TX

Robert Lett ................................ Dallas, TX

James Lindsey .................... ..Amarillo, TX

Doug A. Loughmiller .................. Plano, TX

Mark Payne ........................ Lewisville, TX

Victor Poole .................... San Antonio, TX

Gordon B. Richardson .......... Caldwell, TX

Dennis Monell Smith ............ Houston, TX

P. A. Smith ................................ Dallas, TX

Keith Snodgrass ........................ Austin, TX

Kenneth G. Sorenson .............. Houston, TX

Jim Wolcott ...................... Grandview , TX

Danny S. Sorensen ................ Bountiful, UT

Donald Alexander ...... Mechanicsville, V A

Jack Chapman .................... Great Falls, VA

Susan Friedhoff ..................... .. . Aylett, VA

Ted Klapka .................. Fairfax Station, VA

Albert Seim ........................ Richmond, V A

Nelson G. Purinton .................... Bristol, VT

John W. Dueringer .............. Stanwood, W A

Frederick Lundeen ................ Olympia, W A

Andy Marcolin ...................... Sequim, WA

Neil Whittlesey .......................... Kent, W A

Gary Sheldon .......................... Madison, WI

Warbird aircraft stalic displayljlight demos. Pan­ cake breakfast 7a.m.-noon. Lunch served Noon- 3 p.m. Free breakfast for pilotsf/ying in with afull airplane. Fuel discount for f/ight demo pilots. Free parking and admission. Info: Alan 630/466-4579.

JUNE J6 - LaGrange, OB - EAA Ch. 255's 7th An­ nual Fly-In/Drive-In Pancake Breakfast, 8 a.m.-l p.m. Harlan Airfield (92 D) Info: Dale 440/355­ 6491.

JUNE 23-24 - Longmont, CO - Rocky Mountain EAA Fly-In.

Fly- In Calendar The following list ofcoming events is furnished to our readers as a mailer ofinformation only and does not constitute approval, sponsorship, involvement, control or direction ofany event (fly-in, sem­ inars,jly market, etc.) listed. Please send the information to EAA, All: Vintage Airplane, P.D. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Information should be receivedJour months prior to the event date.

APRIL 8-14 - Lakeland, FL - Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In. Info: www.sun-n:fim.org.

MAY 25-27 - Watsonville, CA - EAA Ch. 119 's 37th Annual Fly-In & Air Show. Info: 831/763-5600.

MAY 4-6 - Shelbyville, IL - "Mayday" Antique Fly-In. Shelby County Ailport. Breakfast Sat. & Sun. morn­ ings. Lunch available. Pig roast Sat. night. Two grass runways. One asphalt runway for training wheel equipped airplanes. Info: 217/774-4/ 11

MA Y 25-26 - Atchison, KS - 35th Annual Greater Kansas City Area Fly-In, Amelia Earhart Memorial Airport. Friday night potluck dinner for registered guests. Saturday catered Awards Banquet. Accom­ modations avail. in town, camping on the field. Sat. concessions avail. Info: Stephen 816/223-2799, 9m03@ponyexpress.net, or Jeffjsullens@kc.rr. colll

MA Y 5 - Wiscasset, ME - Katahdin Wings 99s host Maine Poker Run. Info: Ann at 207-882-5475.

MA Y 6 - Santa Paula, CA - Piper Cub Fly-In, in con­ junction with Santa Paula Airport First Sunday of the Month Fly-In. Info: 805/525-7081.

MA Y 6 - Rockford, lL - EAA Ch. 22 Fly-ln/Drive-In Breakfast, Greater Rockford Airport, Courtesy Air­ craft Hangar. Info: 815/397-4995.

MAY 6 - Dayton, OH - EAA Ch. 48, 38th Annual Fun­ dllY Sunday Fly-In Breakfast. Moraine Air Park.

Fly market, awards, lunch, vendors and much more.

Sat. night free camping with things to see and do.

Many antiques on thefteld. Info: 937/291-1225 or 937/859-8967.

MA Y 26 - Zanesville, OH (Riverside Airport) - EAA Cil. 425 Annual Memorial Day Pancake Breakfast Fly-lniDrive-In, 8 a.m.- 2 p.m. (Rain date May 27.)

Lunch items, airplan e rides after 11 a.m. Info : 720/454-0003 JUNE 1-2 - Merced, CA - 44th Merced West Coast Antique Fly-In, Merced Ailport. Info: Virginia or Ed 209/383-4632 JUNE 1-2 - Barlesville, OK - 15th Annual Biplane Expo, Frank Phillips Field. Info: Charlie 918/622­ 8400 or www. biplaneexpo.com.

MAY 12 - Rock Hill, SC - Wings & Wheels Day Fly­ IniDrive-In. Lunch available. Info: 803/329-4454

JUNE 3 - DeKalb, IL (DKB) - 37th Annual EAA Ch. 241 Fly-In/Drive-In Breakfast, 7 a.m.-Noon. Info: Ed 815/895-3888.

May 12-13- Green Sea, SC- Green Sea Airport and Myrtle Beach EAA Chapter 1167 Fly-In Air Festi­ val. 843/756-1497, shirshaW@Sccoast. net..

JUNE 3 - St_Ignace, MI Airport - EAA Ch. 560 An­ nllal Fly-lniDrive In Steak Out, Noon-4 p.m. Public welcome. Info: 231/627-6409 or 231-238-0914.

MAY 18-20 - Columbia, CA - 25th Annual Gathering ofLuscombes 2001. Aircraft judging, spot landing andf/our bombing competitions, and the 9th An­ nual Great Luscombe Clock Ra ce. Info: 360/893-5303 or 253/630-1086.

JUNE 3 - Russell, KS - Prairiesta Fly-In, Russell Mu­ nicipal Airport. Chuckwagon Breakfast, Military Static Displays, Walker Air Base Reunion, Antique Cars and Tractors, Rattlesnake Show. EAA Ch. 1214, Fuel100LL available onfield, RSL 16/34, 4402 x 75 runway paved, Unicom 122.7. Info: Rus­ sell 785/483-6008

MAY 19-20 - Winchester, VA - EAA Ch. 186 Spring Fly-In, Winchester Regional Airport (OK V) from 8 a.m.- 5p.m. Pancake breakfast 8- 11 a.m. Static dis­ play ofaircraft; airplane and helicopter rides, demos, aircraft judging, children 's play area, and more. Concessions, souvenirs, goodfood. lnfo: Ms. Tangy Mooney 703 / 780-6329 or EAA 186@netscape.net.

MA Y 19-20 - Hampton, NH - Hampton Ailfield Fly­ Market. Info: 603/964-6749.

MA Y 20 - Niles, MI - VAA Ch. 35 Hog Roast Lun­ cheon, Niles Airport (3TR).lnfo: 616/683-9642 or bobjackson@triton.net.

MAY 20 - Wanvick, NY - EAA Ch. 501 Annual Fly-In, Warwick Aerodrome (N72). 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Unicom advisO/y ji-equency 123.0. Food available, trophies will be awarded. Registration for judging closes at 2:00 p.m. Info: Michae1212-620-0398.

MA Y 20 - Romeoville, lL (L 01) - EAA Ch. 15 Fly-In Breakfast, 7 a.m.-Noon, Lewis Romeoville Airport.

Info: Frank 815/436-6153.

JUNE 8-9 - Akron, OH - Funk Aircraft Owners Assoc.

2nd Ever Reunion and Fly- In, Akron-Fulton Air­ port. Info: 302/674-5350.

J UNE 8-10 - Gainesville, TX Municipal Airport (GLE) - Texas Ch. , Antiqlle Airplane Assoc. 40th Annual Fly-In. Info: Jim 817/ 429-5385, Don 817/636-0966, or Janet 817/42 1-7702.

JUNE 9 - Elba Municipal Airport, AL (14J) - Ch. 351 hosts Fly-In, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Fly market,food, early arrivals welcome,free transportation to local mo­ tels, under wing camping permitted, restroom available in terminal, Young Eagles. No rain date.

GPS Coordinates: 31-24-59N 86-05-33 W. Info: Mike 334/897-1137.

JUNE 9-10 - Petersburg-Dinwiddie, VA - Virginia State EAA Fly-In. JUNE 10 - Sugar Grove, lL (KARR) - 17th Annual Aurora AirExpo sponsored by Fox Valley Sport Aviation Assoc.- EAA Ch. 579 and Aurora Munici­ pal Airport. Antique, Classic, Homebuilt, and

JUNE 23 - Zanesville, OB (Riverside Airport) - EAA Ch. 425 Pancake Breakfast Fly-In/Drive-In, 8 a.m.- 2 p.m. (Ra in dale June 24.) Lunch items and airplane rides after 11 a. lII. Info: Don 7401454­ 0003 JULY 7-8 - Hampton, NH - 5th Annual Hampton Air­ field Biplane Fly-In. Info: 603/964-6749.

JULY J 1-15 -Arlington, WA -Northwest EAA Fly-In. JULY 22 - Zanesville, OH (parr Airport) - EAA Ch. 425 Annllal Pre-Oshkosh Fly-lniDrive-ln Pancake Breakfast, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Lunch itelns and airplane rides after 11 a.m. Info: Don 740/454-0003.

JULY 24-30 - Oshkosh, WI - AirVenture Oshkosh 2001, Willman Airport. Info: 9201426-4800, www,airventure.org.

JULY 27 - Oshkosh, WI - Stinson Lunch, Oshkosh, 11:30 a.m. meet at the Vintage Red Barnfor afree, short bus ride to Golf Central Restaurant. Pay on your own at the restaurant. Sign up in Type Tent or caI/630/904-6964.

AUGUST 5 - Queen City, MO - 14th Annual Water­ melon Fly-In , Applegate Airport. Info : 660-766-2644.

AUGUST 10-12 -Snohomish, WA - 19th Annual West Coast Travel Air Reunion. Harvey Field (S43).

Largest Travel Air gathering for 2001. Local air tour, memorabilia auction and more. Info: Larson 425/334-2413 or Rezich 805/467-3669.

AUGUST 11 - Cadillac, MI - EAA Ch. 678 Fly­ In/Drive-In Breakfast, Wexford County Airport (CAD), 7:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Info: 213/779-8113.

AUGUST 19 - Dayton, OH - EAA Ch . 48 Pancake Breakfast, Moraine Airpark. Info: 937/291-1225 or 93 7/859-8967.

AUGUST 24-26 - Coffeyville, KS - Funk Aircraft Owners Assoc. 24th Annual Reunion and Fly-In Coffeyville Municipal Airport. Info : Gerald 302/674-5250.

SEPTEMBER I - Zanesville, OB (Riverside Airport) - EAA Ch. 425 Annual Labor Day Weekend Fly­ In/Drive-In, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Lunch items and airplane rides after II a.m. Info: Don 740/454-0003 SEPTEMBER 1 - Marion, IN (MZZ) - II th Annual Fly-In Cruise-In, Marion Municipal Airport. Pan­ cake Breakfast. All types ofaircraft, plus antique, classic and custom vehicles. Info: 765/664-2588 or rayjohnson@bpsinet.com.

SEPTEMBER 2 - Mondov~ WI - 15th Annual Fly-In, Log Cabin Airport. Info: 715/287-4205.

SEPTEMBER 7-9 - Sacramento, CA - Golden West EAA Fly-ln.

SEPTEMBER 7-9 - Marion, OH - Mid-Eastern EAA Fly-In. SEPTEMBER 14-16 - Watertown, WI (RYV) - 17th Annual Byron Smith Memorial Midwest Stinson Re­ union. Info: Nick or Suzette, 630/904-6964.

SEPTEMBER 21-22 - Abilene, TX - Southwest EAA Fly-In

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

29

VINTAGE TRADER

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Something to buy, sell or trade?

Classified Word Ads: $5.50 per /0 words. 180 words maximum. wilh boldf ace lead-in on firslline.

Classified Display Ads: Olle coillmn wide (2. 167 illches) by I, 2, or 3 inches high al $20 per inch. Black and white only, and no frequency discounts.

Advertisillg Closing Dales: 10lh ofsecond mOlllh prior 10 desired isslle dale (i.e .• January 10 is Ihe closing dalefor Ihe March issue). VAA reserves the righl to reject any advertisillg ill conjlicl with its poliCies. Rates cover one insertioll per issue.

Classified ads are not accepted via pholle. Payment must accompany order. Word ads may be sent via fax (9201426-4828) or e-mail (classads@eaa.org) using credit card payment (VISA or MasterCard). Include name on card, complete address, type of card, card number, and expiratioll date. Make checks payable to EAA. Address advertising correspondence to EAA Publications Classified Ad Mallager. P.O. Box 3086. Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.

MISCELLANEOUS BABBITT BEARING SERVICE - rod bearings, main bearings, camshaft bearings, master rods, valves. Call us Toll Free 1/800/233-6934, e-mail ramremfg@aol.com Web site www.ramengine.com VINTAGE ENGINE MACHINE WORKS, N, 604 FREYA ST. , SPOKANE, WA 99202.

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WANTED - 1950's era McCulloch radial two-cycle engines (aircraft), also known as Umbaugh autogyro engines . Radial design with even number of cylinders .

Complete engines or crankcase, and misc. parts. Send info, or picture if possible, to Joe Hicks, P. O. Box 159, Fisherville, KY 40023. 502-649-5833 WANTED - Aviation magazines from 1920s, '30s & '40s, "Air News" or similar types, single magazines or sets. Mail info or call , J. D. Hicks, P.O. Box 159, Fisherville, KY 40023. 502-649-5833.

McCauley 1B90/CM 70/40 Propeller (Experimental) newly reconditioned as per McCauley Service Manual by Prop Shop. $600, Phone/Fax 218-723-1126.

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German WW 1 Lozenge print fabric

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Vintage Aero Fabrics, ltd. 18 Journey's End, Mendon, VT 05701 tel: 802·786·0705 fax: 802·786·2129 website: www.avdoth.(om

30 MARCH 2001

• Cush ion upholstery sets • Wall panel sets • Headliners • Carpet sets • Baggage compartment sets • Firewall covers • Seat slings • Recover envelopes and dopes Free catalog of complete pro duct line .

Fabric Selection Guide show ing actu al sample colors and styl es of m aterials : $3 .00 .

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Membershi:R Services Directo!y_

VINTAGE

Enjoy the many benefits ofBAA and the

AIRCRAFT BAA Vintage AircraftAssociation ASSOCIATION EAA Aviation Center, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh WI 54903-3086

~

OFFICERS President Esple ·Butch· Joyce P.O. Box 35584 Greensboro. NC 27425 336/393.()3M windsock@ool.com

Y"oce·Presldent George Doubner 2448 Lough Lane

HartfOfd. WI 53027

262/673-5885 anHque2@a ol.cam

Secretary steve Nessa 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lee. MN 56007 f'lJ7/373- 1674

Treasurer CharlesW.Harris 7215 East 46th St. Tulsa.OK 74147 918/622-8400 cwh@hvsu.com

DIRECTORS DavId Benne" P.O. Box 1188 Roseville. CA 95678 530/268-1585 anHquer@lnreech.com

Jeannie Hill P.O. Box 328 Harvard. IL 60033 815/943-7205

dinghao@owc.net

Robert C. ' Bob' Brauer

Steve Krog 1002 Heather Ln. HartfOfd. WI 53027 262/966-7627 sskrog@aoi.com

9345 S. Hoyne Chicago. IL 60620 773/779-2105 phatopilat@aol.com John Berendt 7645 Echo Point Rd. Cannan Fal~. MN 55009

f'lJ7/263-2414 fchid@rconnect.com

John S. Copeland I A Deacon street Northborough. MA 01532 f'IJ8/393-4775 copeland l@juno.com

Phil Coulson 28415 Spnngbrook Dr. Lawion. M149065 616/624-6490 rcoulsan516@cs.com Roger Gomoll 321-1/2 S. Broadway #3 Rochester. MN 55904 f'lJ7/288-28 1O

rgomoll@hotmail.com

Dale A. Gustafson 7724 Shady HII~ Dr. Indianapolis. IN 46278 317/293-4430

Robert D. ' Bob' Lumley

1265 South 124th St.

Brookfield. WI 53005 262/782-2633

lumper@execpc.com

EAA and Division Membership Services 800-843-3612 •• • ••••• • • • •. FAX 920-426-6761 (8:00 AM - 7:00 PM Monday -Fri day CST) • New/renew mem berships: EAA, Divisions (Vintage Airc raft Association, lAC, Warbirdsl.

Na tional Associa tion of Flight Instructors (NAFI) • Address changes • Merchandise sales • Gi ft m embersh ips

Programs and Activities EAA AirVen ture Fax-On-Dem and Directory . . ... . ......... . . . .... . .... . .. 732-885-6711 Auto Fuel STCs . ............ . .. 920-426-4843 Buil d / resto re in fo rmatio n ... . .. 920-426-4821 Chapte rs: locating/organ izing .. 920-426-4876 Ed ucation ........ . ...... . .. .. . 920-426-6815 • EAA Air Academy • EAA Scholarships

Gene Morris 5936 steve Court Roonoke.lX 76262 817/491-9110 n03capt@flash.net Dean Richardson 1429 Kings Lynn Rd stoughton. WI 53589 608/877-8485 dar@apnlaire.com

GeoII Robison 1521 E. MacGregor Dr. New Haven. IN 46774 219/493-4724 chlef7025@aol.com S.H. · Wes· Schmid 2359 Lefeber Avenue Wruwatosa. WI 53213 414/771-1545 shschmld@gdinet.com

DIRECTORS

EMERITUS

Gene Chase 2159 Carlton Rd. Oshkosh. WI 54904 920/231-5002

Phone (920) 426-4800 Fax (920) 426-4873

Web Site: http://www.eaa.org and http://www.airventure.org E-Mail: vintage @eaa.org

E.E. ' Buck' Hilbert P.O. Box 424 Union.IL 60180 815/923-4591 buck7ac@mc.net

ADVISOR Alan Shackleton

P.O. Box 656

Sugar Grove. IL 60554-Q656

530/466-4193

Fligh t Advisors information .. . .. 920-426-6522 Fligh t Instruc tor in formation ... 920-426-6801 Flyi ng Start Program •••• • • •• • • • 920-426-6847 Lib rary Services/Research . .. . . . 920-426-4848 Med ical Questions .. . . . . . .. . ... 920-426-4821 Tech nical Counselors . . .. . . . . .. 920-426-482 1 Young Eagles .. . . . .... .. .. . .. .. 920-426-4831 Ben efits Aircraft Financing (Textron) . . . . . 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 Arti fac t Do natio ns ... ... .... . .. 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 Membersh ip (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 $36 per year.

EM Membership, VINTAGE AIRPLANE magazine and one year membership in the EM Vintage Air­ cra ft Association is availab le for $46 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included). (Add

$7 for Foreign Postage.)

lAC Current EM members may join the International Aerobatic Club , Inc. Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS magaz ine for an add itional $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 az in e not included ). (Add $ 10 for Fore ign

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 t he Warb irds Division is available for $45 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included). (Add $ 7 for Fore ign

Postage.)

EAA EXPERIMENTER

Current EAA members may rece ive EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine for an additional $20 per year.

EM Membership and EM EXPERIMENTER mag­ az ine 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 requ ired Foreign Postage amount for each memberShip.

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Membership dues to EAA and it s divisions are not tax deductible as charitable contributions.

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All nghts reserved.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091-6943) IPM 1482602 is published and owned exclusively by the EM Vintage Aircraft Association of the EXperimental Aircraft Associalion and is published monthly at EM Avialion Center. 3000

Poberezny Rd.• P.O. Box 3086. Oshkosh. Wisconsin 54903-3086. Periodicals Poslage paid at Oshkosh. Wisconsin 54901 and at addrtional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EM Vintage Aircraft Association.

P.O. Box 3086. Oshkosh. WI 54903-3088. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow at least two months for delivery 01 VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via suriace mail. ADVERTISING - Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertiSing. We invite constructive criticism and wek:ome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that COfTective measures can be taken. EDITORIAL POUCY: Readers are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in artK:ies are solely those of the authors. Responsitility for accuracy in reporting rests entirety with the cootnbutor. No reoumeration is made. Material shoold be seot to: Edrtor. VINTAGE AIRPLANE. PO. Box 3086, Oshkosh. WI 54903-3086. Phone 920/426-4800.

The words EM, ULTRAUGHT, FLY WITH THE FIRST TEAM. SPORT AVIATION, FOR THE LOVE OF FLYING and the logos of EM, EAA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, EAA VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION, INTERNA­ TIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB. WARBIRDS OF AMERICA are I!!J registered trademarf<s. THE EAA SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION. EAA ULTRALIGHT CONVENTION and EAA AirYenture are lrede­ marks of the above associations and their use by any person other than the above association is strictly prohibited.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

31

AUA would like to thank you - our customers - for your continued support. We appreciate having the opportunity to serve you. Together, we can continue partnering to provide affordable, quality insurance for vintage aircraft enthusiasts. Thanks again! See you at Sun 'N Fun!

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