VA-Vol-32-No-12-Dec-2004 by EAA Vintage Aircraft Association

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LANE VOL. 32, No. 12

2004

COVERS

CONTENTS

Straight and Level

Aeromail

VAA News

Reminiscing with Big Nick Reprinted from Vintage Airplane July 1974 by Nick Rezich

FRONT COVER: Syd Cohen's Ercoupe is a beautiful example of a vintage airplane you can still buy on a budget. See Budd Davisson 's article beginning on page 14 for more on making your dream of aircraft ownership a reality. EM photo by Phil High, EM Cessna 210 photo plane flown by Bruce Moore. BACK COVER: Last year it stole the show when it was on wheels, but this year Chris Price trumped his own work by adding a pair of Heath floats to his Heath Parasol. It was selected as the Grand Champion Seaplane of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2004. See Oshkosh Oasis for more seaplane activities. VM photo by H.G. Frautschy

The Vintage Instructor Landings by Doug Stewart

Pass It to Buck Porterfield 35-70 by Buck Hilbert

Entry Level Vintage "Is there a cheap way?" by Budd Davisson

Oshkosh Oasis The Vette Seaplane Base 2004 by Kathie Ernst

Mystery Plane

STAFF Publisher Editor-in-Chief Executive Director/Editor VAA Administrator News Editor Photography Production Manager Advertising Sales Classified Ad Manager Copy Editor

by H.G. Frautschy 26

Classified Ads

GraphiC Design

Tom Poberezny Scott Spangler H.G. Frautschy Theresa Books Ric Reynolds Jim Koepnick Bonnie Bartel Julie Russo Loy Hickman 913-268-6646 Isabelle Wiske Colleen Walsh Kathleen Witman Olivia Phillip

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

GEOFF ROBISON PRESIDENT, VI NTAGE AIRCR AFT ASSOCIAT ION

Transitions of a Different Sort

Where did the flying season go? The coolness of winter weather has already touched us (in some cases slapped us), and this is the time of year when any thing over SO°F becomes a real blessing. This past flying season went particularly fast for me, and I have to tell you that I have never enjoyed a flying season as much as I have this past year. I purchased a Cessna 170A in March, and the fun be gan from that moment on. The transition from my C-8S Cessna 120 to the IS0-hp C-170 was a challeng ing and educational experience, which also proved to be a great revisit of all the do's and don'ts of flying these wonderful taildraggers. In early June I was off to Canada to participate in the annual 70 Knotters' trip. What's a "70 Knotter," you ask? This is a great bunch of guys and gals who get together every year and travel around the country. The name comes from the cruise speed of many of the two-place lightplanes that were flown on the tours when they started in the 1970s. This was my second year of attending this gad-about and I have never learned so much about flying in such a short pe riod of time. My companion on this trip was a 16-year-old young man named Da vid, and we had a great time. We learned all about border crossings, and dealing with Canadian and American customs, and as is always the case, we renewed some old friendships. The rally location was Sky View Airport, just east of the Ca nadian Customs Office in Sarnia. Some of the group toured the Dia mond Aircraft factory in London, On tario. I would highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in the area. Just be sure to call ahead and make an appoint ment. Also be sure to ask for permission to park on their ramp, as it makes it very 2

DECEMBER 2004

convenient for your visit. We also visited an early 1800s operat ing historic village in Morrisburg, Ontario. Check it out online at www.uppercanada village. com. This place was unbelievable. They have an operational bakery, a saw mill, a schoolhouse, several restaurants, operational farm machinery, and a black smith's shop. You actually felt like you had stepped back in time to the early 1800s. Again, the airport is right across the street, with a short hike to the front gate. The sights we flew over were often times breathtaking. As you can tell by my dissertation, we had a grand time, and I cannot wait to see where the 70 Knotters will take us next year. There were many other weekend trips, and an occasional day trip to the odd fly-in breakfast or chapter get together that added to a very fulfilling 2004 flying season. By the time you read this column, the fall VAA Board meeting will be in the history books. The business of operating your association is not only challenging, but I find it exhilarating and at times even entertaining. As I have stated in the past, I inherited the reins of an association that stands on firm financial ground. The real challenges we face as an organization include a diverse number of issues. Fore most on our minds is the responsibility of retaining this firm financial footing. There is also the challenge of sustaining the many membership benefits we offer on a continual basis. Some of these ben efits are self-sustaining, such as the insur ance program. Many of the other benefits we offer as an association are AirVenture related, and to a lot of our members they see such benefits as equally important, and should all be retained. I agree with this concept, but I also be lieve we need to annually review these ben efits not only for their worth and value, but

also for their value versus expense. To date I would respond that I see each and everyone of these benefits to have been proven to be popular, and of good value. But we also need to under stand that these member benefits come as not only an added expense to the or ganization, but these are expenses that continue to inflate on an annual basis, and this is where the challenge to con tinue offering these benefits comes into play. What will the outcome of this con tinuous review be? At this point I would speculate that priority one will be to not only re tain each of these valued benefits, but to also continue to enhance them to a point where we can attract as many new members as pOSSible, and to also attract more and more members to attend our annual convention and take full advan tage of what their VAA membership af fords them. I will make it a pOint in my next column to keep you informed about the business transacted at the November Board meeting. It would also be appro priate to remind everyone that the VAA Board meetings are always open to the membership. So if you are ever interested in observing your VAA Board in action, please feel free to come by. Your best op portunity for doing this of course is at the VAA annual membership meeting that is held during the convention in Os hkosh. We are always eager to hear from the members regardless if it's a positive or a negative interaction; we appreciate the opportunity to give a listen to whatever's on your mind . Time and again we hear thoughts and ideas that simply never crossed our minds in the past. Remember, ask a friend to join us so they too can enjoy the benefits of VAA membership and havft~

Thanks Butch! When Vintage Airplane magazine arrives in the mail, it gets opened immediately, and the first thing I read as I slowly walk from the mailbox to the house is "Straight and Level." After the August issue I will be one of many who will miss Butch's words. Butch, thanks for being a great president of the Association for so many years. Many of us appreciate your accomplishments and the en ergy and effort you have put into that job for all of us. Ken Woodard North Andover, Massachusetts

Bh!riot's Crossing The referenced article reminded me of my mother's mention many years ago of her experience of view ing the Bleriot channel-crossing monoplane following its history making flight. At the time Mother was a young nurse in her home city of London. After th e July 25, 1909 , epic flight, the Selfridge Store placed the airplane on display in London to be seen July 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th. Mother was given a small card setting forth all performance and technical data.

I have made a photo negative of this historic document and offer a copy herewith to repro duce in the Vintage Air plane magazine. With warmest regards, David H. Kenyon Eugene, Oregon

Parks ID Greeting from sunny Florida ... my wife and I moved down here after finally calling it quits on Connecticut winters . We live in the Spruce Creek fly-in commu nity in Daytona Beach and are en joying it very much . I'd hate to see a fellow Parksman get in trouble with the ghost of old Oliver Parks so I figured I bet ter "correct the record" on a cap tioned pict ure in the August issue of Vintage Airplane. In the "Remi niscing with Big Nick " article on page 7, the middle photo is de scribed as a KR-3 1 Challenger. As an avid (or is it rabid?) researcher and collector of early Parks" stuff" I guess the nitpicker in me couldn't stay silent . .. it is in fact a Parks P-l. NC962K was manufactured in September of 1929 sportinll

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marvellous leat 0 l~~ation {or some few years ~~f 'nearly 9 miles. m \ \ mln~~~;ale the e.cnt . C S T oUf Y to A rlenay. h3 dlstanCnumenl was erected to has been £ 560 olfcr<.. 1 by u\e country Gig It rom kr;ble at the time t ~t a mo the Pox du V oyage 0 I e aC -,):ll l,~ .'!>hed lO coosloO'eredJ ;37;ro{ 'thiS year. M, B\enotn~yonAlghl of 25 tmles 10 an d~:~!~~: in les ~ ~ha:\ on" ( \ o UY { I' the first cross- COU erformlOg 1lIe

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the model's usual OX-5 motor. In 1932, it was replaced by an OXX-6 and in 1935 replaced again with a Milwaukee Tank V-502 engine. This changed the designation from a P-1 to a P-1-T. I have pic tures of 962K with the same paint scheme but with the Tank engine ... the photo in the article must be prior to June 1935 when it be came the P-1-T. After over four years of begging and prodding the FAA, I now have the maintenance and ownership re cords for all the Parks airplanes ... Arrow, P-3, P-4, P-1, P-2, and P-2A (except for one Detroit-built P-2A which must really be buried in a dark warehouse somewhere and is not able to be found ... yet.). My next step in the research depart ment is to try and contact the pre vious owners listed in the records for any photos or stories they might have. I do like the detective work and this "thrill of the chase" has led me to many of Parks' earli est students with much informa tion and memorabilia from their days at the school. My Parks P-2A is still in North Canaan, Connecticut...I'm still saving my nickels to begin the restoration. In the meantime , I bought a 1939 J-4A Cub Coupe to keep my sanity down here. Very nice shape with a Cont. 65 and the "pre-art deco"-type instrument panel, cowling, etc. Regards, John Thomas Port Orange, Florida Parksp2a@cfl·rr.com I'v e heard it said that typos, like continued on page 27 VINTAGE AIRPLANE

VAA Calendar Being Reprinted For those of you who ordered and received your inaugural issue of the 2005 Vintage Aircraft Association Cal endar, you have a surprise coming in the mail. Due to a technical problem during the production of the calen dar, the large photos of each airplane were printed with substandard resolu tion. To their credit, the folks at Turner Publishing have agreed to reprint the calendars and mail new copies to each of the members who paid for and re ceived their calendar. You can expect to see your new copies within a few weeks of receiving this issue of Vintage Airplane. Shipping for the new calen dars is expected near the end of this month or very early in January. We appreciate your patience, and due to their below standard appear ance, we ask that you destroy the old calendar once you've received your new copy. If you have any questions, or would like to order a copy (a very lim ited overrun is produced) you can call Turner Publishing at 800-788-3350.

Friends of the Red Bam If you would like to make a con tribution to VAA's Friends of the Red Barn campaign, there's still time to make your donation before the end of the year, should you desire the deduc tion on your 2004 taxes. There are new expanded giving categories for the 2005 campaign, and you can check on the new levels at the VANs website at www.vintageaircraft.org, or by calling VAA HQ at 920-426-6110. We'll have full details regarding the newly ex panded Friends of the Red Barn 2005 campaign in next month's issue of

"O ur symposium exposed the at tendees to a wide variety of sport pi lot experts, helping them learn how they can build their business in the new sport pilot/light-sport aircraft market," said NAFI Executive Direc tor Rusty Sachs. "They also had op portunities to take demonstration flights in dozens of light-sport aircraft available on site." Speakers appeared during the two morning sessions and included John and Martha King of the King Schools; Paul Hamilton, founder of Hamil ton Training Systems and Adventure Productions; Jack Vandeventer, sea soned CFI and marketing expert; Bob Mackey of Falcon Insurance Agency; Carla Larsh, chair of the EAA Ultra light Council; Martin Weaver, head of the FAA's Light-Sport Aviation Branch in Oklahoma City; and Ed Downs, president of American Sport Flying and widely respected aviation writer. What made the symposium unique was its "Trade-A-Flight" program, where participants received a coupon for a free demonstration flight from an ultralight instructor in their area. "When the CFI trades the coupon for the demo flight, the ultralight instruc tor fills in the back of the coupon and mails it to NAFI for a complimentary membership," Sachs said. Future events will likely be held in conjunction with other major avia tion events, perhaps EAA regional fly-ins. More information will be an nounced as plans develop. "Flying is matchless," said one participant, "but learning new ways to share it with the world-and make money doing so-is a little bit of heaven./I

Vintage Ai/plane.

NAFI Plans Sport Pilot Symposium Series Bolstered by the success of its inau gural Sport Pilot Symposium, attended by more than 40 CFls, EAA affiliate the National Association of Flight In structors (NAFI) is planning additional sessions for the coming year. 4

DECEMBER 2004

EAA SportAir Workshops Lock in Several 2005 Dates For those looking to achieve the dream of building their own aircraft, EAA SportAir Workshops has con firmed several Workshop Weekends, each of which include Sheet Metal Basics, Composite Construction, and Fabric Covering, and a course on elec

trical systems, wiring, and avionics. Courses will be held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on January 29-30; at the Sun 'n Fun Campus in Lakeland, Florida, on February 26-27; in Dallas, Texas, on March 5-6; and in Watson ville, California, on March 19-20. For more information and to register, visit www.sportair.com or call 800-967-5746.

Free SPILSA Member Briefing Before SportAir Workshops Each night before a scheduled EAA SportAir Workshop, EAA provides free sport pilot/light-sport aircraft brief ing for all interested EAA and NAFI members, followed by a question and answer period. Watch EAA's website for details as each SportAir Workshop approaches.

29th Annual EAA Sport Aviation Art Competition The EAA AirVenture Museum is now accepting entries for the 29th annual Sport Aviation Art Contest, a showcase for some of the best avia tion art in the country. Past compe titions have been based on a single overriding theme, such as last year's "Launching the Next Century of Flight." That all changes this year, as artists may submit artwork in one of four separate categories that better reflect EAA membership: - Warbirds-All military aircraft - Antique/Vintage-Pre-1945 aircraft - Sport Aviation-General aviation, ultralights, light-sport, and aero batic aircraft - Open Category-All other aviation related artwork not covered above, such as commercial, space, etc. Another addition to this year's com petition will be a $250 prize to first place winners of each category. The work judged "Best of Show" will be awarded $1,000. The deadline for entries is March 25, 2005. For more information and entry forms, visit www.airven turemuseum.org/art or contact Mary McKeown at 920-426-6880. ......

REMINISCING WITH BIG NICK Reprinted from Vintage Airplane July 1974 by Nick Rezich THE HOWARD STORY SECOND HALF OF PART Two

All Howards were good stable fly ing machines. The only goofy ones are the twisted wing Navy jobs. I per sonally like the 11 over all the rest, as it was the best performer of all and had the best feel. The basic structure remained virtually unchanged from the 8 through the 12 and was built like a brick outhouse. All the while the factory was in operation, the ci vilian Howards were never involved in a fatal accident. Oh, they broke 'em up, but no one was ever killed or seriously injured. I remember a few good ones. We had an 8 that belonged to a furniture company in Indiana that went on its back so hard and so fast that it did not scratch the wheel pants. Damage amounted to windshield, cabin roof and vertical fin-no bent tubes in the fuselage. We had another beaut ... a brand new 15 that belonged to a peanut man in Minneapolis. This was a beautiful two-tone red job with a white pin stripe. This guy was fly

ing it home from the factory and got into some weather between Lone Rock and La Crosse, Wisconsin, and flew it, full bore, into the ground at a nearly level attitude. He knocked off the gear and went sliding on the belly. When the noise stopped, he and his lady friend got out, called the factory and said come get it and fix it. They go on and on. We had a black and gray 15 which we nicknamed liThe Hearse." This guy was showing his ranch to some friends and flew it into a tree. He came out of it with a broken ankle. The airplane needed two new wings, new flippers, new gas tanks, all new metal, new motor mount, and prop. We fixed it. The llfuzz" got into the act, also. We sold 3 Howards to the CAA-all these were loaded with special radio gear and with all that on board an in spector couldn't find Kansas City! He put it down in a field and proceeded to bust it all to hell, but we fixed that one, also. This same CAA Howard almost cost me my life. We were waiting for the special radio gear to be returned

to the factory after the accident so that we could finish assembling the airplane and we were short of fac tory space, so we decided to hang the fuselage from the ceiling until the radios came in. As we were hoisting it in place, a cable broke and the fu selage rolled over and came down inverted. I was standing to one side during the hoisting, but when the fuselage rolled, I was directly under neath and the cabin roof knocked me to the ground and out. What saved me from becoming a pancake was a bench and the motor mount lugs. As the fuselage was coming down, the motor mount lugs caught the edge of the bench and stopped it from crush ing me. When I recovered and found out that the cable they were using was rope instead of aircraft cable, I stormed into Steve Sanyard's office and proceeded to tear the hell out of him. As purchasing agent he bought the rope cable as a money saver in stead of aircraft cable. Needless to say, we put it back up with aircraft cable! We had very few working acciVINTAGE AIRPLANE

The ghost of Howard-made by the paint shop when a layoff was announced.

Jake powered 15. The ship is now in Minnesota.

dents and very little absenteeism. We trained our own fire brigade and they saved the factory twice. It seems to me that all aircraft factories are the same ... they always place the welding department and the dope shop back-to-back. Howard was no exception. The south wall of the dope shop was the divider between the welding department fitting weld ers and the spray booth. The welders would hang their lighted torches on hangers while turning over parts ... with the flame pointed toward the wall! Well, one fine day one of these torches burned a hole in the wall and WHOOM! We had a fire! When I first saw it, the flame was about the size of a basketball. By the time I sounded the alarm, which was at my desk, the whole west wall of the spray room was a flame from floor to ceiling. Behind that wall on the outside we had stored about 20 barrels of dope thinner. All I could think about was that soon we would have Roman candles going off all over the place when those barrels 6

DECEMBER 2004

went, and that would take care of the factory. This is hard to believe, but BE LIEVE-YOU-ME, the factory fire brigade grabbed their assigned ex tinguishers and rushed in and put out that nitrate dope fire .. . just as they ran out of extinguishers and the sprinklers went off. While this was going on, we had one complete airplane in there being sprayed with silver dope, which was removed, be lieve it or not, without fire damage. When the fire department arrived, we were in the process of cleaning up and were back in production the next morning. If that fire brigade had taken 30 seconds longer to respond, we would have lost the factory! That fire taught me a lesson .. . I needed more protection. First, I turned the welders' benches 180 degrees; next I moved the dope storage area; I dou bled the number of extinguishers; and cut exploSion doors in the roof. The next fire took place while I was in Florida on the Gulf Oil Tour and the Miami Air Races. It happened

on the second shift. Mike Bernat, the foreman, was spraying a set of wings with black nitrate dope when he no ticed the black turning to orange. When he turned around, the whole dope room was in flames. Again, the trained fire brigade extinguished the fire and saved the factory. The wings? They were O.K.-no fire damage! Yes, we were lucky . . . but the answer to some of that luck was a good and well trained fire brigade who were not scared to go into the potential blast area. Speedy response and the proper type of extinguishers were the keys. As I said earlier, everybody at Howard was super. We built a super airplane with su per people and then we built some super, SUPER jobs . . . like the ISP that went to George Mason, presi dent of Nash Kelvinator. This was the most expensive Howard ever delivered . It had everything super special-paint, interior, radios, two doors-the works. Another super spe cial went to Merrill C. Meigs when he was in Washington, D.C., with the War Department. The company ordered a scale model of this airplane to be delivered along with the air plane. My brother, Mike, built the model and I must say it was super. Detail was so fine-it even included miniature maps in the seat pockets. It

The Pure Oil 8 ... before and after.

was mounted on a simulated runway with grass sides enclosed in glass. We built some super Howard ISs for the duPonts, Shell Oil bought two, Texaco one, Pure Oil two, and Humble Oil one . Several gover nors bought Howards; Mr. Putman, president of Chicago and Southern Airways bought one, and the Free French bought some. The list goes on and on . 1941 was our banner year ... then BAM! The war. What could we build for the war effort? The gutless 18 was going to C.P.T., but it was not accepted as a primary trainer by the Army. About the time it looked like the end for the 15, 10 and behold if 01' "Slim" Freitag, vice president and top salesman, didn't come up with the answer. He returned from Washing ton with an order from the U.S. Navy for 30 custom built Howard DGA 15Ps. These first 30 airplanes were

built the same as custom jobs, in cluding a high-gloss silver finish and plush interior. This now paved the way for other military orders, which included the ambulance and instru ment trainer. Later came a sub-con tract to build the Fairchild PT-23. This was when B.D . DeWeese and the Navy decided to twist the wing on the 15 and goof up a good airplane. We stepped up production to one a day and received the Navy "E" Award .. . and I was promoted to plant superintendent. In the meantime we were build ing a plant in West Chicago next to the St. Charles airport (now the DuPage County Airport) . The new plant would build PT-23s on one side and NH-1s on the other. The army was in a hurry and wanted the PT 23s before the new plant could be finished. I was sent to St. Charles to get the 23 program rolling as well as

Humble Oil's red and white 15, one of many Howards sold to the oil companies.

the NH-l. I used my Culver Cadet, which I bought the year before, to commute the 15 miles or so between Muni (present Chicago Midway) and St. Charles. The first PT-23 was built in an old warehouse in Geneva, Illinois, and assembled at the St. Charles Airport. The next six were built at the airport. We then moved into the new factory and used the hangar as the fly-away hangar. It was here in St. Charles that we had our first fatal crashes. The air port then had two grass runways-a long E/W and a short SW/NE. Two Navy aviators were picking up two NH-1s; the wind was W-SW about 15, gusting to 25. The pilots were in structed to take off west. As they tax ied out, one pilot decided to take off SW without informing the other pi lot or the hangar. The airplane taking off west was airborne first ... the one taking off SW met the westbound plane at the intersection and he flew right through it. The westbound craft crashed and burned and the other landed on fire-the pilot survived. Surprisingly, the surviving aircraft did not suffer much collision damage. We also had a PT-23 crack up. This time an Army pilot was taking delivery of a PT and the engine quit on take off. He just kept on climb ing and turning until he spun in. The company test pilots never put a scratch on any airplanes all during the production days of Howard Aircraft. V I NTAGE A I R P LANE

The only near mishap with a Navy Howard came when the NACA cowl came loose and tore up the airplane. This was really funny when it happened. You would have to know Walt Diaben, the test pilot, to fully appreciate this story. This was GH-2, built by the main plant, and Walt was west of Muni putting the airplane through final flight test-which included a dive to 280 plus mph. It was during this dive that the cowl came loose . It took the windshield out, that big chunk of tin then took out the compass, and the stabilizer adjustment han dle (all on the roof). The rest of the cowl went over the wing, taking out part of the left wing, flap, and left flipper. In the meantime 01' Walt got on the radio and called a May Day to the Muni tower-which we could hear on our hangar monitor. Well, he never turned off the mike after the first call and all we kept hearing was, "Whoa, you #$*)%! Whoa, you %*(#$)! Whoa, you %*($)#!!!" He landed with full power to control the ship. Later, he told us his only worry was whether the fuselage rib stitching would hold . He said the fuselage sides bulged out like a balloon and he was glad that fabric was stitched! Walt was killed after the war while working for International Har vester-by a B-23 propeller. Howard continued to grow with the military contracts and the new plant. Everything was going fine until 1944; the power struggle was on which ended with the plant closing down before the war was over. Only two aircraft plants were shut down during the war-How ard and Brewster. With our growing prodUction, we sub-contracted many parts and assemblies in the Fox River Valley area just west of Chicago. I became president of Valley Aircraft along with my duties at Howard. When the power struggle was under way, the first order of the day was to eliminate the old original staff and I became a target-and a good one. I was slated for plant 8

DECEMBER 2004

A production Navy job-built by the main Howard factory in Chicago.

manager and the new group didn't want this. They wanted to milk the government dry with bootleg sub contracts, phony payrolls, phony consultants, etc. I was one of their biggest obstacles ... so I had to go . But how? Well, I was single with only my mother as a dependent. Those (expletive deleted) went to the Draft Board and told them they had a new plant manager and I could be taken off the deferred list. When the word came down to How ard Aircraft that I was re-classified to lA, the stuff really hit the fan. The preSident, Mr. B.D. DeWeese, went to the Draft Board and wanted to know why. He was informed that his office had directed the Board in its action. DeWeese then went to the U.S. Navy contract representa tive, a Captain. He went to Wash ington to stop the action, but it was too late. By the time he got the red tape untangled, I was on my way to

Fort Sheridan along with about 20 other faithful Howard employees. That was in July 1944 and How ard closed its doors less than a year later. End of story? No!! Before I left Howard, I took with me all the phony records, phony sub-contracts, etc. When the war was over and I was operating the Pylon Club, I was paid a visit by the FBI, which was investigating the de funct Howard Aircraft Corporation. I was still mad at those (expletive deleted) and was ready and willing to spill my guts to the FBI. Before I testified, I called my boss, who was president of Howard when it closed. I told him I would keep my mouth shut if it would hurt him. He told me to tell everything and he would back me all the way. I thanked him and spilled my guts ... end of story ... end of Howard Aircraft. Next-the Model 18 Howard .. ......

DOUG STEWART

Landings Several weeks ago on a beautiful fall afternoon I sat in the back of my Super Cruiser as a dear friend of mine flew us down to Candlelight Farms Airport, located in western Connecticut. We were flying there so she could fly a PT-17 Stearman. She has long admired the airplane that was used to teach so many pilots how to fly prior to WWII, and I thought it would be a great treat for her and a way of saying "thanks for all the help she had given me during the previous year. Tim Preston runs a marvelous operation, offering Stearman training out of the Candlelight Airport during the summer, and moving to the Mid-Florida Airport for the winter months. His Stearman is a 1941 N2S4, built originally as a PT-17 but then taken over by the Navy and converted. Tim is not only a CFI, but an IA as well and he keeps his Boeing in pristine condition. If you are interested in flying with him, check out www. f1ytailwheel.com. (He also offers training in a J-3 Cub.) My friend had been a little nervous about flying this big biplane, particularly the landing phase. Although she had many hours in my PA-12, it appeared quite small when parked beside the PT-17. I assured her that it would probably be an easier airplane to fly than the Super Cruiser, and that as soon as she recognized just how much higher her posterior would be above the ground in the flare, she would have no problems with the landing. II

She did, after all, thoroughly understand that a landing is not just one short moment where and when we transition from air-bound to ground-bound, but that it is a five-phase sequence of events. If we know where we are and what comes next, it becomes a very simple process. The only thing that would be different for her would be the sight pictures (well, I guess the sweet rumble of that big round engine turning at a much slower rpm than she was used to would be different too). As soon as she got used to the proper landing attitude, I was confident that her landings in the Stearman would be as fine as her landings in the Super Cruiser. So what are those five phases? They are the glide; breaking the glide; dissipating the energy; touching down; and rolling out. I have observed more landings than I'll ever remember, but most that I remember are remembered because they were examples of the fact that the pilot did not understand those five phases. Just spend a little time on the flightline of any major fly-in and you'll have ample testimony to the fact that many pilots don't quite have a complete appreciation of the progression of phases leading to a safe landing. Let's take a closer look at those five phases.

The Glide. The glide has to be on target and on speed. By on target I mean that the pilot has chosen an aim point on the runway. The aim point

could be the touchdown zone marks, the numbers, a centerline (I quite typically choose the second centerline when landing at shorter runways), or an area of different color grass (this works great for me at my home base of Kline Kill Airport) . Whatever you have chosen as your aim pOint, you must now make sure that it is not moving up or down in the window. If it's moving up, you'll land short of your mark, and vice versa if it's going down. But now, in addition to keeping your aim point constant in your Sights, you must assure that you are on speed. You must fly the appropriate approach speed for your airplane. If you are too fast, you will indeed get to your aim point, but then you'll float forever in the next phase. And if you get too slow you'll rival gliding granite in the ensuing sink.

Breaking the Glide. For most of us, vision is the most useful tool in this phase. We need to know when to start pulling back on the stick or yoke to break our glide, and transitioning our visual aim point down the runway is the best way to do it. But it is not only vision alone that helps us through this phase . It is a proprioceptive moment, meaning that it uses all the senses. I once had a client who had some major vision problems. I told her at the outset of her training that she was facing some perhaps insurmountable obstacles, but through steadfast determination she reached a point where she could VINTAGE AIRPLANE

grease it on repeatedly. She couldn't see for beans, but by using every other sense that she had (hearing, touch, etc.) she would "feel" her way into excellent landings. Obviously if we don't time the breaking of the glide correctly, we will either fly into the runway, with all the correlated problems that will present, or find ourselves at the next phase at an altitude that will result in an arrival rather than a landing at the conclusion of that phase, which is ...

Dissipating the Energy.

SELECTED WORKS FROM A 20 - YEAR RETROSPECT I VE OF

EAA CH IEF' PHOTOGRAPHER JIM KOEPNICK jim Koepnick' s

If we have come down the glide slope on target and on speed, and if we have broken the glide at the proper height above the runway, we now have to dissipate our energy. It is in this phase that I see many pilots yield to the hazardous attitude of resignation. They take a laissez faire attitude, and it's kind of que sera, sera until they touch down. We have to remember that we cannot stop flying yet. As we dissipate the energy still stored in o u r airplane, we will have to continue to increase the deflection of our control surfaces as we dece lerate. In a full-stall landing, this means that we wi ll have to keep pulling back on our stick or yoke to deflect the elevator more and more, maintaining the proper landing attitude, as the elevator gets less and less effective in our decreasing speed. (The same holds true for ailerons and rudder if landing in a crosswind!)

Touchdown. This phase will occur just once, if everything preceding it has been done correctly. If you are not in the proper attitude, and have not dissipated enough energy, it will undoubtedly occur more than once. I could probably write a whole article on this, and the following phase, particularly for taiIwheel pilots, but suffice to say that if everything prior to this phase has been flown properly, it will occur 10

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just once. Unfortunately many pilots act as if this is the conclusion of the landing scenario, and relax the pressures they maintain on the controls, forgetting that it's not over 'til the fat lady sings. She's only just clearing her throat as we now enter the final phase of the landing scenario ....

Rollout. For you Ercoupe pilots it's a pretty simple phase. But if you happen to be flying a close-coupled taildragger in a strong crosswind, it's probably the most exciting and demanding phase of the landing. We must remember to maintain proper control deflection while we maintain directional control. There are way too many incidents that occur during this phase of the landing that never make it into the statistical databases. We cannot become complacent now, lest we find ourselves off the runway in a less than fortuitous situation. So if we can keep track of where we are in the landing sequence of events, and can manage our aircraft's energy properly, every landing should be a great one. Perhaps you have heard it said that "a good landing is anyone that you can walk away from ... a great landing is one in which you can use the airplane again." There is no reason why all of our landings shouldn't be even better than that. Now you might be wondering how my friend's landings went in the Stearman. Many eyes were on her as she came in for her first landing. She was on target and on speed; she broke the glide at the proper moment and held the plane off as she dissipated the energy. When she touched down there was a slight bounce (of about six inches), but she kept working, not relaxing the controls, and the next touchdown she stayed down. Her rollout was right down the center of the grass runway. Her first landing in the PT足 17 was much more than great. May all your landings be as good! ~

E.E. "BUCK" HILBERT

Porterfield 35·70

Editor's note: This ({Pass it to Buck" is one of his ftrst columns, published in the November 1988 issue of Vin tage Airplane. Buck recently had to undergo an overhaul of his personal hydraulic system, and since he's a bit sore from that surprise event, I thought the last thing he needed was an editor poking him with a stick to get his column in! So enjoy, for the next couple of months, the ({Best ofBuck. "-HGF

"Wow! A 35-70 Porterfield!" The person I said it to was looking all around for a rifle, not an aeroplane. This was his first exposure to the Por terfield Flyabout of the mid-1930s. We were at the Waco Fly-in at Ham ilton, Ohio, and the year was either 1973 or '74. This poor little machine was sitting in a hangar looking just about as shabby as 30 years of neglect could make it. I was drawn to it as were a few other people and eventu ally Bill Hogan gave me the owner's phone number. I called the fella only to find out there was no way he was going to sell it, especially to me! I guess I came on kind of strong with my remarks as to how could he do that to the poor airplane and if he left it that way much longer it'd be nothing but scrap rather than junk like it was now. I guess I woke him up though, because from the records I see that he had the Hogans recover it for him and then overhaul the en gine as well. This was all done in 1974; the Hogans flew the airplane a couple

of hours and then put it back in the hangar again. With about 130 hours total time on the airframe and almost a zero-time engine SMOH! Again I was down at the Waco reunion-this time in 1982. In talk ing to Bill I learned that the airplane was still there and still just "set ting." Again I called the man, and this time he was no more happy to hear from me than he was the last time. "This was my father's air plane, and I'm not about to sell it!" Well again I took him to task about it just setting and deteriorating and insisted that he do something with it. He did! He sold it to Dick Simp son, a friend of a friend who had grown up with the Hogans and had known about this airplane from the very first time it landed at Hamil ton. This was okay with me. Even though I was disappointed that I didn't get the machine I knew that Dick would really take care of it. Now the real attraction I had to this machine is that I could remem

ber when I was a budding lineboy at the old Elmhurst Airport outside Chicago. This was a new airplane then. It was a racy, sporty perfor mance machine in comparison to the "Cubs," Taylorcrafts, and Aeron cas of that day. It even had a round engine on it with 70 horsepower. It would race along at 95 mph in dicated! That was a flat 25 big ones better than your average "Cub." Of course the stall speed was also 20 mph faster, but it sure was a good cross-country airplane! I would add here, that some day I hoped I could handle one of those hot little airplanes. Now here it is 50 years later and I have just come in from the hangar where one of these little jewels is ensconced. I flew it home, here in Union, Illinois, all the way from Birmingham, Alabama. When Dick finally was able to purchase the Porterfield a couple of things came to light. The total time on the airplane was "estimated" to be less than 140 hours. It had been VINTAGE AIRPLANE

delivered from the Porterfield factory at Kansas City to Hamilton, Ohio, in 1936, a new airplane. It never left Hamilton until Dick came and picked it up and flew it home to Birming ham, Alabama. From what I have been able to learn, the original owner had" gone West" several years before I came on the scene. The estate proceedings just caused the poor little machine to lie idle for so long that even the original "N" number was given away when it was dropped from the register. It was NCl6490. The Hogans got the num ber NC17 490 issued to the airplane when it was re-registered and put back on the books. New logs were made up to replace the originals that had somehow disappeared into the past as things sometimes do; the total times shown in these logbooks are backed up by the Hogans' testimony. They had known the machine since it ar rived there. Dick Simpson took some dual in the airplane, and then enough prac tice solo to assure himself that he could handle this hot machine. After all, most of his flying experience has been in "Cubs" and then for the past lO-or-so years in his Cessna 182 with a training wheel up front. He just needed a little practice, is all. Well, he made it to Birmingham, and flew it a little around home only to have the front main bearing in the LeBlond eat itself up. Guess what? Overhaul time! And that he did. The whole bottom came out of the en gine and was re-done. Then the top as well, and for the next two years he had a hobby. He cleaned and he lightened. He removed about 65 pounds of battery-box and wiring, and heavyweight plywood floor boards and the baggage compart ment door, and side windows and ex tras that had been added to this air plane to help it along, only it made it heavier than it really needed to be. In the meantime Dick acquired an E-2, a J-2, a ]-3, and still had his 182. Then he came across a Fleet Two. And that was the camel that fell through the straw. He suddenly realized there was 12

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no way he could ever finish all these projects. This is where I came in. I had looked at the airplane when he had it stuffed in his hangar all dis assembled, with the engine all apart, and listened to what he was doing despite the difficulty of locating parts and such. I expressed a more-than idle interest in his final result. He got it all back together after EAA Osh kosh '85, and I went down to look at it. I was enthused, but not enough to spend any money. I had three kids in college and had just retired from UAL so I wasn't in any shape to let go of my left hip pocket flap. Then again in 1986 Dick offered me the airplane, and again in 1987. He knew I secretly wanted it, and that it was just a matter of time. Well, the time was NOW! I went down there and flew the machine August 25th, bought it, and started home with it Friday the 26th. Bingo! Right? The realization of a boyhood dream. I got another dream airplane! Wow! How lucky can you get? Well, 48 minutes after I took off for Union from Talladega, Alabama, I was sitting on the airport at Gun tersville, Alabama, with a three-cylin der Le Blond engine. "What?" Yes! I had stuck exhaust valves on both the lower cylinders! Dick Lusk from Gun tersville, a retired Air Force mechanic, jumped in and gave me his full at tention. We diagnosed the problem and got with it. Marvel Mystery Oil and a little exercise got them work ing again, and two and a half hours later I was on my way again. I was headed for Tullahoma, Tennessee, but circumnavigated the new ARSA at Huntsville, Alabama. I widened my circle of uncertainty when I cut across those big green hills. When I found the road northeast of Hunts ville it was the wrong one and the town I thought was Tullahoma was Shelbyville. I decided to press on. I got as far as Murfreesboro, about an other 25 miles north, when I had a valve stick again. This time I knew what to do. I borrowed a car, buzzed into town, picked up a couple cans of leaded regular, some 50-to-1 outboard

motor oil and a quart of Marvel Mys tery. This all went into the gas tank along with the leaded regular and I liberally saturated the valve stems, guides, sprigs, and half the rest of the airplane with the same stuff. After half an hour all was working again and after being pleasantly surprised that the lineman knew how to prop an airplane, I was on my way. Another detour around the east side of Nashville and then westward towards Harrisburg, Illinois, my planned RON spot. I didn't get there! As I was approaching Hopkinsville, Kentucky, just north of Fort Camp bell, the LeBlond let me know it had had enough for the day. I looked at my watch, decided to humor the engine and landed. I couldn't have picked a better place or better time. The people there were super! Abso lutely SUPER! They gave me a cour tesy car and offered me all kinds of help. I met one of our EAA types there. Wish I knew his name for sure, but Bill showed me his Bellanca Cru isair, and then offered to drive me into town or help me anyway that he could. When I found out that he had been working all day after putting in a full night shift out at Fort Campbell in their simulator program, I sug gested he go on home and get some sleep. He promised that if I was there the next morning and needed help he'd be more than happy to assist. I drove into town, got a motel, called Dick Simpson and let him off the hook for the night, and after a bowl of soup I bought some Lemon Pledge polish, some more oil (Mystery and outboard) and went back out to the airplane. I liberally doused all the valves, added a little more to the gas, rotated the engine 50 or 60 times, and cleaned up the whole airplane before I went back to town and sacked out. I was up at oh dark thirty and actu ally lifted off at 6:55 the next morn ing. The engine was running great! So great that I made it all the way to Effingham, Illinois, where I had planned to stop because I knew they had auto gas. Here again I was made as welcome as a warm rain in sum

mer. Courtesy car, a friendly smile, and a pat on the backside, and after breakfast I was on my way again to ward home. I had a dozen or more alternates picked out in case the Le Blond acted up again, but I threat ened to call home for a trailer if it did it again and firmly "told" that engine it was replaceable with an 0-290-D if it didn't want to do the job. The bluff worked and it ran like a jewel the rest of the way. A little light rain started about Champaign, Illinois, and persisted all the way to Joliet, which was where I had planned my next Mogas fuel stop. A happy tailwind was push ing pretty good and the fuel gauge said there was plenty of reserve so I continued on to the Funny Farm. I landed with six and a half gallons still in the 17 -gallon tank. I guess the reason I'm telling all of you about this is because in my "Pass it to Buck" column of last month, I advocated the VFR direct type of flying I have just completed. Well, maybe it wasn't all that direct, but it was VFR, and it was all done about 1,200 to 1,500 feet above ground level, and it was very scenic and without radios, loran, or federal as sistance. I saw only ONE airplane the entire way. (So much for our crowded skies.) And I never had less than eight or ten miles visibility all the way home. I also have a tremendous sense of personal accomplishment and a really nice looking airplane in my hangar to boot! A look at Juptner's Vol. 6 will tell you all the technical detail about the little beast. You won't find this par ticular airplane listed though because it was dropped from the register, as I said, but it is serial number 190, man ufactured May 19, 1936. It's orangish red with iridescent blue trim-about as original as you can get. It's per haps the world's lowest-time antique with less than 160 hours total time. No dings and cracks in the cowling or metal work, and although it isn't a super sanitary trophy winner, it is a11 original and it's MINE! -z:;2.. L Over to you, c.f!-,Itt.[,,/G VINTAGE AIRPLANE

irplanes aren't cheap. No matter how you look at it and no matter how much work you think you can do yourself, they just aren't cheap. So, what does a person do who doesn't have the income to plunk down $25,000 to $50,000 for an airplane? Is there hope for those of moderate means? In the first place, we have to define "cheap" and we have to recognize certain realities, the first being that if a person is having trouble paying the rent, then this is probably not a discussion for them-cruel, but real

A 14

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istic. If, however, the budget allows an extra $300 a month for frivolities, there's definite hope. Three hundred dollars a month is the payment on a $15,000 loan at 7.5 percent inter est for five years or $20,000 for seven years. Just for the heck of it, let's use $15,000 as a budget and see what we can do with it. There are a lot of ways you can go when trying to become a vintage air plane owner. Here are the most obvi ous ways: -Buy the best flying airplane you can for $15,000 -Buy a flying airplane that needs

TLC and upgrade it -Locate a project and have it re stored -Locate a project and restore it yourself Partnerships-Two Wallets Are Always Better Than One

We're going to assume you're go ing this alone. In reality, however, the partnership concept works ex tremely well on a vintage airplane because many of them aren't the kind of machines you take for an en tire weekend and go to the Bahamas or someplace distant, so scheduling

is rarely a problem. Having a partner doubles your buying power or halves your expenses. Either way, finding a good partner is often much harder than finding a good airplane. You can always make a weak pilot stron ger and you can generally work out the financial factors, but if a person is a jerk, you can't do much about it and none of us wants to live with a jerk. So, pick partners carefully. Buying a Flying Bird to Go Flying The assumption here is that you're going to buy an airplane, fly it pretty much as is, and then resell it without spending any time or money on it. There are a surprising number of airplanes that can be had for $15,000. However, at that level you're working at the bottom of the airp lane food chain and, not only are the pickings slim, but sometimes they are pretty ugly. For that reason there are a few rules that you must follow because quite often buying cheap gets expen sive when something breaks and the airplane is no longer a bargain. Also, if you buy smart, chances are you can fly the airplane for several years and sell it for more than you paid for it. The Cheapskate's Guide to Buying a Fly ing Vintage Airplane - Don't bu y a n a irp lane that has

flow n very little fo r t h e past few years. Unless the price is low enough to cover tearing the engine down for a complete inspection, you could be buying problems. Lycomings especially love to de velop rust in areas you can't easily inspect (rear cam lobes) and that rust eventually goes through the engine, eating bearings and other important stuff in the process. - Do n ' t bu y a n a i rpl a n e th a t is w ithin a few hu n dre d h o u rs of TBO. Even if it runs perfectly and will give you several hundred hours of trouble free flying, you'll have troubles reselling it. Plus, if it goes sour, it's going to take a lot of money to get it flying again or you'll have to dump it and lose a good part of your investment. - Don' t bu y qu estio n a bl e l og books. Give preference to those with complete logs that show their entire history and speak of good maintenance. - Don't buy a questio n a ble over h a ul. Look for familiar names in the logbook, especially from the last overhaul, and check up on the names you don't know. - Stick w ith p opular engines. It's hard to beat the A-65 Continental and it's harder to support many of its peers, such as the 0-145 Lycom

ing or 90-hp Franklin. They aren't bad engines, but should any prob lems develop, you'll have more trouble finding parts and mechan ics that understand them. - Avo id deteriorat ed a irfra m es. Rust, rot, and corrosion are good reasons to walk away from an air plane regardless of how cheap it is. Unless you're qualified to do the repairs yourself, you're talking about a money pit. - Buy at the top end of th at airplane's price bracket. Every airplane has a price range that is driven by con dition. Let's say the price range for normal (not the super cream puffs) Luscombes is $12,000 to $20,000. It makes more economic sense to extend the loan out to seven years from five so you have the $20,000 to buy the best one available. That one will give you less problems, e.g., cost less money, to keep running and you stand a better chance of recouping your investment when you sell. A dog will always bring dog prices and they usually cost more to keep flying. - Give preference to popular types, if you plan on reselling. Although "fringe" airplanes, such as the Por terfields, Interstates, Funks, etc., represent the best buys in terms of flying airplanes, if you're think-

VINTAGE AIRPLA NE

Locate a project and have it restored.

ing about reselling, remember that those airplanes are less expensive than something like a Cessna 140 for a reason: the market has deter mined it's willing to pay more for a 140 than a Porterfield. Keep that in mind when thinking of reselling. • Ignore the reput ations of air planes and get the facts. Aviation is rife with old wives' tales about airplanes . Go to the type clubs and get the facts, plus get a flight in whatever you're thinking about buying. A classic example of un earned reputations is the suppos edly "squirrelly" Luscombe: it han dles fine as long as you're checked out properly. Its reputation stems from pilots who haven't really learned to fly and they blame the Luscombe, when it's really the pilot's fault. • Buy on condition, not appear ance. Look past the paint and in terior to see the actual condition of the airplane. You can fly with ugly paint for years but shiny paint won't make the engine last any longer or cure corrosion. • Double check Airworthin ess Di rective (AD) compliance. Some of these airplanes have gone for years without having ADs brought up to date. You don't want to be the one caught holding that bag. Buying a flying airplane that needs TLC and upgrading it.

This is every buyer's dream: buy an ugly airplane, spend a few weekends 16

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cleaning and polishing, and have an airplane as good as those that cost more. We said it was a dream and it usually is. The costs associated with fixing anything more than the most trivial cosmetic problems always drive the investment above the ac quisition cost of the top airplanes in this bracket. The chances of this working out are slim but definitely not impossible. If this is to happen, the following conditions absolutely must be present: - Low- to mid-time engine with good history - Basic airframe is clean with no rust, corrosion, or bad dings. - Exterior has only cosmetic prob lems like paint but fabric and metal are good. - All ADs are complied with. - Instruments and radios (if any) are serviceable and legal. - Overall condition is above average; appearance is below average. - Primary problems are of a hygienic nature, which a good bath and a little paint (very little) will fix. This is a very iffy proposition that requires you to really look at the air plane closely and put a sharp pencil to the plans you have for it. Too of ten we let our enthusiasm carry us away and we would have been better off buying the most expensive air plane of its type. This concept works best when the owner can do much of the work and there are few, if any, parts that must be bought.

We can make this short and to the point: this is not the way to get into vintage airplanes inexpensively and especially not for $15,000. Shop rates vary wildly, but $25 to $35 per hour seems to be about average, which is about $250 per day. Now, think how many days it will take someone to do whatever it is that your airplane needs. Let's say six weeks to disassem ble, cover, and repaint your airplane? That's 30 working days or $ 7,500 and doesn't include materials. Or, shop around and get prices for dif ferent segments of it. Recovering at $10,000, engine $8,000, so now we have spent more than our $15,000 and we haven't even bought an air plane yet. To put it simply: you can't pay someone else to do the work and get into vintage airplane projects on the cheap. Locate a project and restore it yourself.

This has real possibilities, but again, only if certain things happen or are present. The first move, however, is to evaluate yourself before you evalu ate a project. It's super common for people to get all enthused about the airplane, and then, when the gritty reality of restoration sets in, the air plane starts gathering dust. It would probably surprise all of us to know how many classic airplanes are sit ting in garages and barns not being worked on. Self Evaluation

-Are you pro j ec t oriented? When you start a project, do you keep after it day after day, or, as the enthusiasm wanes do you let it slip in favor of other activities? Be honest here. -Do you have the workspace? A dou ble garage is more than enough for most two-place airplane projects. It's amazing how good a Luscombe or 120 looks sitting in a double ga rage workshop. It can be done in a single garage, but only if there's

storage space available for com pleted components. -Do you have the time? There is no such thing as "free" time. It all comes from somewhere and for most folks that means family and family activities get short changed. This has to be examined closely. More than one project has been abandoned because it was caus ing too much unrest in the house hold. Or conversely, the project continued but the marriage didn't. Get the family into the project, or at least make sure you aren't building resentment by not being where you're supposed to be. -Do you have the skills? This is a nonquestion because you can learn any skill. Besides, everything you do must be rechecked by an A&P anyway. In fact, one of the most valuable skills you can de velop would be the ability to make friends with A&Ps and convince them to come check your work in exchange for barbeque or some thing. For those skills you don't want to learn, e.g., welding, paint ing, etc., you can bring the project right up to the ready-to-weld or paint stage and pay to have the fi nal work done. Most of the cost of either types of work is in the time spent in preparation. Once ev erything is cut and fit in place, two hours of actual welding is a huge amount of welding. Ditto painting. The cost is in the

disassembly, cleaning, masking, and prepping. Actual spraying time to paint an entire airplane probably isn't two hours including all the small parts, if they are well organized and ready to shoot. Project Evaluation

Deciding what makes a good proj ect isn't easy and price is most of ten the least important part of the equation. -Size. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Luscombes and 140s are good little weekend garage proj ects. A Tri-Pacer is a little more la bor intensive and a 108 Stinson is a quantum leap up the time and complexity scale. If you opt for a bigger airplane, make sure that you want that airplane more than life itself or you'll run out of steam. -Condition. If the airplane is a proj ect, why did it stop flying? Was it damaged? What kind of damage? Some types of damage are easier to fix than others and much of it is outside the capabilities of a back yard restorer. How much storage damage does it have in the form of beat-up skins, ribs, etc. What about storage conditions? Was it dry or wet? Is there rust or corro sion? These are hard to fix. Were mice making an apartment house of the airplane, complete with their nasty hygiene habits? -Type ofconstruction. Differentindi viduals have different affinities Some like wood, others are

more comfortable with aluminum or rag and tube. Each material re quires different skill sets and abili ties and all demand a thorough understanding of FAA-acceptable repair techniques. This is where a good A&P is worth whatever he or she charges for guidance. -Damage assessment. An airplane that has been in a serious accident is generally better left for the pros or semi-pros unless the damage is minor or limited to rag and tube airplanes, which lend themselves better to amateur repairs. -Completeness. An airplane that is missing parts is an airplane that is going to cost a lot in phone calls and aggravation. Plus those parts aren't cheap. Don't under estimate the problems associated with replacing something fairly minor like an aileron or parts of the control system, for example. If the airplane is only disassem bled into its major components (wings/fuselage/engine), it's easy to see what is or isn't there. But, if it's a true basket case or a project someone has already totally dis assembled to work on, doing an inventory is a major task that ab solutely must be accomplished before money changes hands. Also, if this is to be an accurate restoration, as opposed to a sport flying restora tion, it's critical that all the trim pieces on the interior and cowling be accounted for. This inventory will be the basis for arguing price with the owner. The price should reflect missing parts. -Engine. If the engine is missing, the project had better be very in expensive, if you're going to finish up for less than $lSK. If it is there, it has to be determined if it's a use able engine, a core to be rebuilt or a bunch of mangled parts that sort of look like an engine but aren't. Don't be afraid to argue for pulling a jug for inspection. The longer the engine has been hiding under a workbench, the more likely it is to be just a parts donor. A project VINTAGE AI RPLANE

with a fresh engine is worth a size able premium. -Paperwork. DON'T BUY A PROJ ECT THAT HAS NO PAPERWORK OR DATAPLATE. This is something the pros seem to be able to pull off, but the average guy isn't set up jousting with the FAA Registration Branch. In the first place, without a data plate the airplane has no of ficial identity and that means you have no way of proving it's yours or it hasn't been stolen. Without a data plate there is almost no way you can license it. Don't even think about trying to get it licensed as an Experimental aircraft. The FAA won't allow a formerly certified airplane to be moved to that set of certification categories. Treat the paperwork exactly the

same as if you were buying a flying airplane and you'll avoid major hassles later on. And don't plan on working this out later. It would be a real bummer to finish an air plane and then find you can't li cense it. -Proforma budget . Before buying the project, sit down with a pencil, or better yet, a computer spread sheet, and work up a budget for parts, materials and outside labor. Mentally walk through what you have to do to the airplane start ing at the front and working back. Make up three columns labeled "Least," "Expected" and "High" and put numbers in each of the columns. This should give you a range. If possible, get your local A&P or EAA Technical Counselor

Editor Low-buck Picks We're goingto skip the obvious Luscombe/120/140/Champ/T-craft mainstream aircraft and talk about some you may not have thought about that can be fit into the $15K budget.

Aeronca Chief-This is a side-by-side Champ; good Super Chiefs (85 hpj probably won't be in the $15K budget. 65TAC-Defender-Pre-war/wartime tandem, pick carefully because of age.

Piper J-4 Cub Coupe-A side-by-side Cub that for some reason hasn't skyrocketed in price like the J-3. Good project but rare. Colt-A two-place Tri-Pacer. $15K should buy a reasonable flying airplane or build a good project. 125 Tri-Pacer-This is an early Tripe w/0-290 but look for a good engine and prepare to do some welding. Check the engine carefully-the 0-290 is an "orphan" engine as far as Lycom ing is concerned.

Interstate Cadet A-65-lsn't really enough power but still flies okay. Some had Franklins.

Ercoupe Thousands out there, $15K will buy a flying airplane or super project.

Funk Both pre- and post-war models, a good flyer, and fairly fast. Has a T-bar control! yoke system. A real antique in a tiny package.

Cessna 150 Don't laugh. The square tail, pre-1963 models are true contemporary classics but look for a good engine, as the 0-200 is expensive to overhaul.

Stinson lOA Hasn't caught on at all. Two-place but could use more power (can't everything?). This will probably be a project. 18

DECEMBER 2004

to sit down and go through it with you. An extra set of eyes is well worth the effort. Then add at least SO percent and you'll be close to what it'll cost to put it back in the air. At that point you're ready to start arguing with the owner about the price. -Location. Proximity has a lot to do with the worth of a project because transportation is such a problem. Although the airplane that is on the other coast may be a much better project at a better price, by the time you get it home it won't be much of a bargain. At the same time, you have to evalu ate the balance between projects: it may well be worth the time and money if a distant project will re quire enough fewer parts and work to justify the trip. -Where t o look . Trade-a-Plane is always the first place to start look ing, along with Barnstormers.com and the classified section of maga zines, including Vintage Airplane. However, the best deals will al ways be found on bulletin boards at fly-ins and at local airports. A lot of airplanes are in the hands of people ready to dump them just to get them out of their hair and they usually aren't advertised. -Typ e club i s i m p ortant. The more popular the type, the stron ger the type club will be and that's important. If you're restoring a Porterfield, you'll have a much smaller number of people to help you than if doing a Luscombe or 120/140. If you have your heart set on a given type of airplane, your first move should be to join that type club. It would take a book the size of the Manhattan phone directory to cover all of the bases on ways to get into vintage airplanes on a budget. We've covered some of the basics. Now it's up to you to spend some time bal anCing your checkbook and talking to everyone who will talk to you about entry-level classics and con temporaries. You may be surprised what you learn. .....

Oshkosh Oasis

The Vette Seaplane Base 2004 KATHIE ERNST

Like the water lilies that ring the perimeter of the base, Cub row extended southwest into the seaplane cove, thanks to the clever work of the seaplane docking crew.

DECEMBER 2004

While not a vintage airplane, the BE-103 is an interesting airplane that gets plenty of attention. This year I was fortunate to be offered a flight in a new Russian twin-engine amphibian, the Beriev BE-103. It's a rather unusual looking light twin, with its wing-in-the-water configuration. I had never seen anything quite like it before and was curious as to how it would fly. We had a very experienced crew at the controls; Skip Niedhardt (the Seaplane Pilot's Association's most experienced instructor) and Kent Linn (another seaplane pilot and the North American distributor for the BE-103) were the pilots. We embarked on our adventure in the late afternoon, hoping to catch a sunset flight. I must admit that it was a little unsettling to sit so low in the water, I but was reassured of its very sturdy construction. It handled remarkably well in both the air and in the water. It was a very enjoyable flight. "Spasibu," thanks to the Russians!

ne of the highlights of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2004 was the Vette Seaplane Base. It is truly one of the jewels of the convention. A short shuttle trip from the main grounds, and you find yourself in a hidden paradise. As you walk down the moss足 covered path leading to the floatplane cove, you encounter tiki lights and signs that warn of poison ivy. You can feel the stress of daily life slowly melt away. It's like going

to summer camp (but like camp, don't forget to pack your sunscreen and bug repellent!). There is no place quite like the seaplane base with the friendly and always helpful staff and the resort足 like atmosphere; it's a vacation in itself. You can take a leisurely boat ride around the protected cove and view all the different planes up close. You can enjoy the several cookouts the base offers each year, such as the perennial favorites-the

corn roast and the watermelon fest. (But get your tickets early because they are always a sell out!) Or, you can find a comfortable, shady spot and watch the day-to-day activities at the base . It's delightful to watch these little water birds take off and land in one of the most picturesque places in Oshkosh. Treat yourself to a little vacation next year at Oshkosh and visit the Vette Seaplane Base. You won't be disappointed!

The Outstanding Amphibian of this year's convention is Bill Bardin's Republic Seabee, which is based in Brockport, New York, not too far from where it was built at the Republic plant on Long Island. VINTAGE AIRPLANE

The Grand Champion Gold Lindy winner of all the seaplanes was Chris Price's fantastic Heath Parasol, mounted on a pair of Heath floats. It was Antique Custom Built champion at last year's EAA AirVenture. Chris buiH the floats using plans published in the Flying and Glider Manual of 1931, available from EAA by calling 800/843-3612. Chris was feeling a bit under the weather during the convention, but he graciously agreed to do some high-speed (okay, relatively speaking) runs on the bay outside of the seaplane base. See back cover.

Bill Schlapman of the Heath Parasol Club took this photo of Chris and his Heath just prior to starting. You can see how small the Heath and its floats really are. Each is buiH up with spruce framing covered in 3I32-inch mahogany plywood, with the floats then covered in lightweight aircraft fabric. With the changes he had to make to the airplane to power it with a Continental A-40, Chris wasn't too sure about the float rigging, so he built a shallow tank in his hangar to test the configuration! To fly it to the seaplane base from his hangar in Brodhead, Wisconsin, Price had to truck the Heath to Decatur Lake, just north of Brodhead. After takeoff during his initial test flight on floats, VAA member and volunteer photographer Nigel Hitchman captured these two dawn photographs of the Heath with Chris at the controls. Chris flew formation for a bit with the Curtiss Jenny restored by Frank Schelling, and being flown by Eric Presten. After the float installation was deemed proper, the Heath was fueled and then flown off the lake for a 60-mile cross-country flight to the Vette Seaplane base.

The Bronze Lindy winner in the Seaplane category is this sharp Piper PA路14 mounted on a pair of amphibious Wipline 2100 floats, and owned and flown by Jon Gottschalk of Phillips, Wisconsin, up in the lake country of the state, northwest of Tomahawk.

"Okay, now that I caught it, what do I do with it?" Daria Chirhart, whose mom, Becky, and dad, Todd, are local Oshkosh residents who volunteer at the Seaplane base, spends part of her week catching the reptilian versions of amphibians present at the base.

The folks up in Hibbing, Minnesota, who run Tuffloats Inc., brought their company Stinson 108 to the base, mounted on their composite floats. The "Rainy River" floats displace 2,475 pounds, and weigh a total of 270 pounds. See them at www.tuffloats.com or call at 800路955路0237.

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THIS MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE

COMES TO US FROM THE ZIEGLER COLLECTION IN THE EAA LIBRARY.

Send your answer to EAA, Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your answer needs to be in no later than January 10 for inclusion in the March 2005 issue of Vintage Airplane. You can also send your response via e-mail. Send your answer to mysteryplane@eaa.org. Be sure to include your name plus your city and state in the body of your note and put (Month) Mystery Plane" in the subject line. fI

SEPTEMBER ' S

MYSTERY

ANSWER

Here's one we received via e-mail: The Mystery Airplane in the September issue is a no-brainer for me. It is a Thunderbird W-14. Having had the opportunity to help restore Den足 nis Trones' Thunderbird, it is hard to not recognize one when I see it. We feel that Denny's T-bird may be the last survivor of about 18 built. The one pic足 tured was a later version with the longer nose and underslung radiator. Restoration was completed a little over a year ago and the Thunderbird is cur足 rently based at the Brodhead, Wisconsin, airport. Kent McMakin Rockton, Illinois The other correct answer was received from ....._ _ _ _ _...;....0 Walter Bowe, Sonoma Skypark, California.

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T he fo llowing list of coming events is furn ished to our readers as a matter of in fo rm ation on ly and does not consti足 tute approval, sponsorship, involvement, contro l or direction of any event (fly-in , sem in ars, fl y ma rk et, etc.) listed. To r ~'~~g~..-.-""_ J'MN'~ subm it an even t, send the information .,. via m ail to: Vintage A irplane, P.O . Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Or e-mail the info rmation to: vintage@eaa.org. Infor足 mation should be received fo ur months prior to the event date.

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DECEMBER 2004

Warner engines. Two 165s, one fresh O.H. , one low time on Fairchild 24 mount with all accessories. Also Helton Lark and Aeronca C-3 project. Find my name and address in the Officers and Directors listing and call evenings. E. E. "Buck" Hilbert. Flying wires available. 1994 pricing. Visit www.flyingwires.com or call

800-517-9278. For Sale - 1939 Spartan Executive , 3500TT, 10 SMOH. 214-354-6418. A&P I.A.: Annual, 100 hr. inspections.

Wayne Forshey 614-476-9150

Ohio - statewide.

continued from page 3 diamonds, are forever. To keep the flavor of both the times and of Nick's delivery, we've done minimal editing to the 30-year-old "Reminiscing with Nick" series, and in this case, it bit us. Thanks for keeping us honest! If you have solid information regard ing Parks aircraft, feel free to con tact John at the e-mail address noted above. - HGF

More on Mystery Oil About the Marvel Mystery OiL .. I have a little bit of information that may be of interest. After being discharged from the Air Force in the early 1950s, I was able to go to work for North Central Airlines because I already had my A&P mechanic's certifi cate. I worked nights at first and when a plane terminated after its last flight we cleared up any dis crepancies that the pilots wrote up during the day's flights. If a pilot wrote that an engine ran rough at times, we would take a quart of M.M.O. up to the cock pit and run the engine up, and suck the quart of M.M.O. into the engine via the manifo ld pressure line that we disconnected from the gauge. We had the 9-cylinder Wright 1820 engines and it was usually a high-time engine that needed the treatment. It worked every time. I've used it in my own aircraft ever since whenever I felt a need due to a sticking valve. It won't help a burned va l ve, however. Some hope it will. Don Macar Duluth, Minnesota

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Vanderlei Nazareth . . .. . .. . ... Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil Stephen Anton elli . ... . .. . . . ...... Fayetteville, NC

Enrico Celant ................. Ispra Varese, Italy Jan MCDouga ld ....... . .. . . .. ..... Gold Hill, NC

Edmund Houtte .... . .. . ..... . .... . .. Palmer, AK Kurt M. Charpen tier ... . .... . . . Lyndeborough, NH

Brendan P. Carmody . . .. . ... .. ........ Fresno, CA Rand Peck . .. .. . ............. Mount Vernon, NH

Joseph Davis . . ............. . ... .. Firebaugh , CA Steven S. Dow ... .. . . . ............... Byron, NY

Mark Timothy Dean .................. Fresn o, CA Ch ristoph er Frank .... . ........ . ... . .Jamaica, NY

Ted G. Lumpkin ... . . .. ...... . .. . Inglewood , CA Josep h Prato . . ............... . ..... Livonia, NY

Tyler C. Peterson ... . ........ Diamond Springs, CA Jefferson Sh ingleton ................. Aubu rn, NY

James Reyner. ................. .. San ta Clara, CA Bru ce W. Mitton ................ . ... Fayette, OH

Paul C. Rzad . . ........... .. .. .. . . . Martinez, CA Timothy Sh oll ... . ............... Colu mbus, OH

Frank Hitlaw .................. . .....Sebrin g, FL Emerson C. Stewart .............. WayneSVille, OH

Daniel S. Jones . .. . ........ Panama City Beach, FL Edward C. Yess, II I. . ............ . Blanchester, OH

Randy Walls .................. . .. Kennesaw, GA Bill Jackson .. . ... . ... . .......Oklahoma City, OK

John A. Craig..... . . .. ..... . .... . . Sun Va lley, ID James D. Sheen . .... .. ......... . . Gettysburg, PA

Ray Fagre, Jr. .............. .. ......... Ath ol, ID Kenneth B. Carpen ter .. ............ Knoxville, TN

Thomas P. Baber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . McHenry, IL Dan Bush ... .. . .. ... . . . ... . ....... Roan oke, TX

Larry A. Lyons ...................... Stockto n, IL Tim Ell iott ..... .. ... . . . ..... Sulphur Springs, TX

David McCollough .... .. .. . .. . .... St. Ch arles, IL Nancy Hoffman ....................Yoakum, TX

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Alan N. Harder . .. .. . .. . .. . ...... Terre Ha ute, IN Blaine Hu nsaker .. . ..... .. . . ... Brigham City, UT

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VINTAGE

Membershi~ Services AIRCRAFT

ENJOY THE MANY BENEFITS OF EA A AND ASSOCIATION THE EAA V INTAGE A IRCRAFT ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President Geoff Robison 1521 E. MacGregor Dr.

New Haven, IN 46774 260-493-4724

chie{7025@aol.co11l secretary

Steve Nesse 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea, MN 56007 507-373-1674 shles@desk/lleriia.coJlI

Vice-President George Daubner 2448 Lough Lane Hartford, WI 53027 262-673-5885 vaa(lyboyCdJJnslI.colll

Treasurer Charles W. Harris 7215 East 46th St .

Tulsa,OK 74147

918-622-8400

cwh@hv5u.com

DIRECTORS Steve Bender 85 Brush Hill Road Sherborn, MA 01770 508-653-7557 sst l()@\:omcast.llet

David Bennett P.O. Box 1188 Roseville, CA 95678 916-645-8370

Dale A. Gustafson 7724 Shady Hills Dr. I nd ianapoli s, IN 46278 317-293-4430 daiefaye@111sll.C0111

Jeannie Hill P.O. Box 328 Harvard, IL 60033-0328 815-943-7205

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Espie "Butch" Joyce 704 N. Regional Rd. Greensboro, NC 27409 336-668-3650

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Gene Morris 5936 Steve Court Roanoke, TX 76262 817-491-9110

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Kent City, MI 49330

6 16-678-50 12

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