VA-Vol-32-No-5-May-2004

MAY 2004

VOL. 32, No. 5

2 VAA NEWS/H.G . Frautschy

5 COMEBACK DAD

Susan Edsall

8 THE LOUGHEAD F- l

Cedric Galloway

10 THE VINTAGE INSTRUCTOR HAZARDOUS ATTITUDES Doug Stewart 12 THE "CLAW" ANOTHER TIEDOWN SOLUTION Tim Fox 13 THE MOTH THE WORLD'S TRAINER Budd Davisson

12

18 WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE BUILDING AND RESTORING 20 JOHN MILLER RECALLS I NEVER MET MY FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR John Miller 24 MYSTERY PLANE/H.G. Frautschy 26 PASS IT TO BUCK SPRING HAS " SPROINGED"/Buck Hilbert 27 WHO RECEIVED PILOT CERTIFICATE NO.1?

IT'S NOT WHO YOU THINK! Ev Cassagn eres 28 NEW MEMBERS 29 CALENDAR 30 CLASSIFIED ADS

Publisher Editor-in-Chief Executive Editor News Editor Photography Staff Production Manager Advertising Sales Advertising/Editorial Assistant Copy Editing

TOM POBEREZNY scon SPANGLER MIKE DIFRISCO RIC REYNOLDS JIM KOEPNICK JULIE RUSSO LOY HICKMAN 913-268-6646 ISABELLE WISKE COLLEEN WALSH KATHLEEN WITMAN

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Executive Director, Editor VAA Administrative Assistant Contributing Editors

HENRY G. FRAUTSCHY THERESA BOOKS BUDD DAVISSON DOUG STEWART JOHN MILLER

Front Cover: "Quick Henry, the Flit! " No, you wouldn 't want to extermi足 nate this trio of Moths, which make up the bulk of the DeHaviliand Moths which were on display at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2003. Bud Davisson 's article on the Moths here in the United States starts on page . EAA photo by Lee Ann Abrams, shot with a Canon EOS-ln. EAA photo plane flown by Bruce Moore.

Back Cover: EAA Master Artist John Sarsfield, 6541 St Vrain Rd, Longmont, CO 80503 created this acrylic panting of a moment in time during t he 1914 Sch neider Cup trials, held in Monaco. The British fielded their diminutive but f ast entry in the race after first landing and dunking the biplane while it was equipped with a large single float.

Cutting the float in half and building a set of more stable twin floats from the single float allowed the Sopwith Tabloid to go on to with the last Schneider Cup race held before the outbreak of WW-I. You can contact John at John@Sarsfield.com or by phone at 303-702-0707.

STRAIGHT

Be LEVEL ESPIE "B UTCH" JOYCE PRESIDENT. VINTAGE ASSOCIATION

Spring cleaning checklist

One of the stated objectives of the Vintage Aircraft Association is to pro­ vide continuing educational content to the membership. Through how-to articles in the magazine and on our website, we share the collective knowledge of the many experienced members who send us material to publish. If you think there's a topic we haven't covered lately, let us know.

And if you have something you'd like to contribute, feel free to contact your editor, H.G. Frautschy. The fastest way to get material to him is via e-mail at vintage@eaa.org.

To be sure we have the best in­ formation possible, we often partner with the other EAA divi­ sions and affiliate. In cooperation with NAFI, the National Associa­ tion of Flight Instructors, we are in the process of creating a pair of checklists for vintage pilots that will remind you of the tasks that should be done before you head out to fly, especially if you've not flown for a few months. Many of us take a portion of the winter months off. As I've mentioned in the past, we can always tell when the first good flying weekend weather of the season has broken out in a section of the country; the accident reports increase substantially.

Undoubtedly, none of those pilots who bent their precious airplanes set out to have an accident, but we often can see the steppingstones of the path that led them to the crunch at the end.

Starting down the path to make a flight, even when that little voice in the back of your head is says, "Think about it again!" can be very tempting.

H.G. would like to relate a quick story on how assessing your competency at

any given moment can make one pause and think.

Early spring can give us some of the most wonderful flying weather imaginable here in central Wiscon­ sin, but like much of the country, it can change literally overnight. I had the opportunity to fly the Aeronca 60 miles away to an overnight destina­ tion. I'd be leaving in the afternoon, and easy transportation to my final destination was on the other end of my flight. The weather both days was forecast to be sunny with rea­ sonable temperatures both days.

Since I was leaving about midday, I doubLe-checked the forecast for the next morning. It was more of the same, with one addition-a forecast for gusty winds of about 18 mph, and the forecast direction didn't match either of the runways I had available at my home or destination.

Now later in the year, with a bit of dual instruction to brush up on my Landings and a good dozen or so hours in this year's logbook, I would have considered flying the trip, since the airplane's crosswind capability could handle it, and my skill set would be up to speed. But not at this time of year. I got in the car and drove to the destination, instead of pointing the spinner at it and worry­ ing about the wind forecast all night.

As it turned out, even later in the year I would have had trouble, since the actuaL wind speeds the next morning were a good 5-10 mph higher than forecast!

Rusty Sachs, the new executive di­ rector of NAFI, shared these checklist items with us. H.G. was using the last item to help him make his go/no-go decision. Think of it as your aviation spring cleaning checklist.

• Legal Medical certificate current?

Flight review current?

Sufficient landings/takeoffs

in last 90 days?

Pilot certificate, medical

certificate, and

photo ID handy?

• Physical Illness?

Medication?

Stress?

Alcohol?

Fatigue?

Emotion?

• Knowledge V-speeds?

Weight and balance?

Hours of sunset, sunrise?

Local frequencies?

Traffic patterns and landmarks And finally, the big question: Does my confidence match my skills?

We'll be sharing this checklist with each member who renews or signs up with our VAA approved insurance program, administered by AUA Inc. We hope each of you will take it to heart, and help keep both the air­ planes and their crews safe and sound.

We're always looking for new members. Ask a friend to join us, so they too can enjoy the benefits of VAA membership and have it all!

YAA NEWS

EAA

CALLS

ON FAA TO RE-DO AIR TOUR NPRM

In its official comments, EAA reiterated its strong opposition to proposed new regulations for air tour operators. EAA concluded that the proposed rules were not justified by any safety data, nor was there an indication that the proposal would enhance safety. In addition, the rules as currently proposed would be devastating to many small businesses and the general­ aviation industry in general.

"EAA has maintained that the best thing the FAA could do would be to pull this proposal and start over," said Earl Lawrence, EAA vice president of indus­ try and regulatory affairs. "As written, FAA has gone much farther than the original congressional mandate requested. It would destroy many areas of general avi­ ation created strictly for historic or demonstration purposes. EAA and other aviation organizations have offered many simple, common-sense recommenda­ tions that would meet the congressional mandate, enhance safety, and preserve the viability of many small businesses."

BUILD YOUR AIRVENTURE: SPORT PILOT/LIGHT-SPORT AIRCRAFT

Want to learn everything known about the proposed new sport pi­ lot/light-sport aircraft (SP/LSA) rules? Better get to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2004, where an unprece­ dented volume and variety of resources will be available.

Begin at EAA's Sport Pilot Center, located on the southeast corner of Knapp Street and the main entryway, just west of AeroShell Square. EM ex­ perts and FAA sport pilot national office staff will be on hand full time to answer your questions regarding pilot certification, maintenance issues, eli­ gible aircraft, and most anything else regarding the new rules.

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MAY 2004

Congress mandated that FAA improve safety in air tour operations over national parks and monuments.

The proposed regulations did not distinguish between operations or aircraft, treating large commercial air tour operators the same as private, one-aircraft opera­ tions, such as a person who operates a two-place, open-cockpit aircraft for local sightseeing flights. They would also place all historic aircraft flights under the same regulations, potentially stifling unique flight op­ portunities as those found in EAA's B-17 bomber, Ford Tri-Motor, and Spirit of st. Louis replica. Many EAA members also operate private historical and sightseeing activities with, for example, unique vintage aircraft.

"The way these rules would improve safety is by forcing many small operators out of bUSiness, as they would be unable to afford the massive adjustments necessary to meet the new requirements," Lawrence said. "That's similar to stating that the nation could improve traffic safety by forcing sightseeing buses and vehicles out of business. While that may be techni­ cally true in a minimal way, it is a callous and uneducated way to shape policy./I Aviation organizations are working together to urge FAA to recall the current NPRM, while making practi­ cal suggestions for new rules. Joining EAA in the effort are the Aircraft Owners and Pilots ASSOCiation, Gen­ eral Aviation Manufacturers Association, National Air Transportation Association, Helicopter Association In­ ternational, and the United States Air Tour Association. Also participating are a large number of independent air tour operators.

"This is where you'll find the peo­ ple you need to talk to, the information you need, the literature you want," said Ron Wagner, man­ ager of EAA field relations and sport pilot center director. "We'll also have plenty of different light-sport aircraft examples parked alongside the tent.

We're all eager to bring everyone up to speed regarding what we feel will be the most significant development ever in personal aviation."

Those planning an LSA purchase who aren't quite sure what qualifies can inquire at the Sport Pilot Center.

We're there to help you.

And speaking of aircraft, look throughout the grounds for the special sport pilot prop cards desig­ nating sport pilot-eligible aircraft.

Look in the ultralight and vintage aircraft areas, or simply along the flightline.

Also planned are plenty of SP/LSA-related forums , so be sure to check the daily schedule, or go online at the EAA AirVenture website forums search page, www.airventure.org/search.htmi.

INTERNATIONAL YOUNG EAGLES DAY

Help EAA Young Eagles launch the second century of flight by participating in the International Young Eagles Day (IYED) on June 12, 2004. Established in 1994, IYED focuses international atten­ tion on Young Eagles. Last year, more than 10,000 Young Eagles

were flown on IYED alone. As al­ ways, EAA Young Eagles needs your participation year -round, but if you have a rally planned, please let us know at YoungEagles @eaa .org and place your material order as soon as possible, so we make sure you have everything you need for a successful Young Eagles event.

VAA CHAPT ER 3 OPEN HOUSE

Flabob's fifth annual gathering of vin­ tage aircraft is expected to attract nearly 200 outstanding examples of antique and classic planes on May 15.

EAA Vintage Aircraft Chapter 33 will host its fifth annual open house at Flabob Airport on May 15. The event, which is free and open to everyone, expects to attract nearly 200 antique and classic aircraft, a few dozen vintage cars and hot rods, and 500 to 1,000 people.

"It's a real laid back affair, a gather­ ing of beautiful airplanes and old friends," said Chapter President Leo V. Williams. "We don't really plan much other than ways to provide food and how to park all the planes that are flown in. Some resident ex­ perts have arranged to give fabric covering and welding demonstra­ tions, and a radio-control model airplane club will be flying its air­ planes. But, clearly, the emphasis is on socializing, looking at aircraft, and watching them fly around in the pat­ tern. There will be a flea market, and we'll be staging flights for EAA's Young Eagles program. You never know, some lucky kids may get to fly in open-cockpit biplanes. Otherwise, it's all relaxation and fun."

Early arrivals can expect to be met by parking marshals around 8:00 a.m., and typically, things wrap up for the day by 4:00 p.m.

POP GEARS UP FOR FLIGHTLINE SAFETY People from around the world come to EM AirVenture Oshkosh for primarily one purpose: to look at thousands of aircraft th at converge on Wittman Re­ gional Airport. To protect these airplanes-and spectators-the POP (Protect Our Planes) Team monitors flightl ine activities to make su re visitors abide by the time-tested Oshkosh rules: no smoking except in designated areas, and no food or drink on the flightl ine.

POP now seeks vol unteers to j oin its tea m from Monday, July 26 (the day before the convention) through Sunday, August 1. POP pat rollers must be at least 14 (ages 14-17 need a parent/ guardia n with them) and enthu­ siastic. No experience is necessary- all you need is a smi le-and there's a place for people of all fitness levels. It's a great way for families and/or groups to enjoy EAA AirVenture "from the inside." If you 're interested in volun­ teer ing, e-mail ProtectOurPlanes @ya h oo. com or visit http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/ ProtectOurPlanes.

Many participants come from the Southern California area, and most have been there for all of the fly-ins. For further informa­ tion or to make reservations for Young Eag les flights, please con­ tact Kathy Rohm at 909-683-2309, ext. 104, or kathyrohm@aol.com.

GOLDEN WEST BOASTS VARI E TY OF AIRCRAFT , ACTIV I TIES

The sixth annual Golden West EAA Regional Fly-In is a three-day aviation celebration for all ages.

Military flybys, homebuilts, classic vintage, warbirds, ultralights, pow­ ered parachutes, hot-air balloons, and even a blimp wil l be at the Marysville, California, (MYV) air­ port on J u ne 18-20. Friday is dedicated to youth and Young Ea­ gles, while Saturday features an air show and military flybys, and Sunday the Eagles of Liberty War­ bird Air Show. All three days start with a pancake breakfast and fea­ ture educational forums and workshops. For more information, visit www.goldenwestf/yin.org, or call 530-741-6463.

NOT I CE OF ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING

In accordance with the fourth re­ stated bylaws of the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc., notice is hereby given that the annual busi­ ness meeting of the members will

NAFI

NAMES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Longtime flight instructor Rusty Sach s is the new executive director of the National Association of Flight In­ structors, an EAA affiliate.

A NAFI Rusty Sachs Master In­ structor, he comes to NAFI from Signal Avi­ ation Services, Lebanon, New Hampshire, where he was chief pilot and director of training.

A former Maine helicopter avi­ ator, he teaches single- and multiengine, rotorcraft-helicop­ ter, and instrument airplane.

A longtime EAA and NAFI member, Sachs relishes the chance to do something spe­ cial on a national scale in aviation. "We're about to be hit by enormous growth with sport pilot/light-sport aircraft.

There will be lots of transition­ ing ultralight instructors who will need a fraternity of in­ structors from whom they can draw expertise. We're working to make NAFI that fraternity."

continued on page 28 VINTAGE AIRPLANE

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VAA's "Friends of The Red Barn" VAA Convention Fund Raising Program The Vintage Aircraft Associa­ tion is a major participant in the World's Largest Annual Sport Avi­ ation Event - EAA AirVenture Oshkosh! The Vintage Division hosts and parks over 2,000 vin­ tage airplanes each year from the Red Barn area of Wittman Field south to the perimeter of the airport.

The financial support for the various activities in connection with the weeklong event in the VAA Red Barn area is principally derived from the Vintage Air­ craft Association's "Friends of the Red Barn" program.

This fundraising program is an annual affair, begin­ ning each year on July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year. This year's campaign is well underway, with contributions already arriving here at VAA HQ. Our thanks to those of you who have already sent in your 2004 contributions.

You can join in as well. There will be three levels of gifts and gift recognition: Vintage Gold Level - $600.00 and above gift Vintage Silver Level - $300.00 gift Vintage Bronze Level - $100.00 gift Each contribution at one of these levels entitles you to a Certificate of Appreciation from the Divi­ sion. Your name will be listed as a contributor in Vintage Airplane magazine, on the VAA website, and on a special display at the VAA Red Barn during AirVenture. You will also be presented with a

special name badge recognizing your level of participation. During AirVenture, you'll have access to the Red Barn Volunteer Cen­ ter, a nice place to cool off.

Gold Level contributors will also receive a pair of cer­ tificates each good for a flight on EAA's Ford Trimotor redeemable during AirVen ture or during the summer flying season at Pioneer Airport. Silver Level contributors will receive one certificate for a flighat on EAA's Ford Trimotor.

This is a grand opportunity for all Vintage members to join together as key financial supporters of the Vin­ tage Division. It will be a truly rewarding experience for each of us as individuals to be part of supporting the finest gatherin g of Antique, Classic, and Contem­ porary airplanes in the world .

Won't you please join those of us who recognize the tremendously valuable key role the Vintage Aircraft Asso­ ciation has played in preserving the great grass roots and genera l aviation airplanes of the last 100 years? Your participation in EAA's Vintage Aircraft Associa­ tion Friends of the Red Barn will help insure the very finest in AirVenture Oshkosh Vintage Red Barn programs.

For those of yo u who wish to contribute, we 've included a copy of the contributi on form. Feel free to copy it and mail it to VAA headquarters with your donation. Thank you.

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VAA Friends of the Red Barn Nam e______________________________________________ EAA#_______________VAA# ______________ Address____________________________________________________________________________________ City /Sta te/Zi p _______________________________________________________________________________ Pho n e _____________________________________ E-Mail___________________________________________ Please ch oose your level of participation: _ Vintage Gold Level Gift - $600.00 _ Vintage Silver Level Gift - $300.00 _

Vintage Bronze Level Gift - $100.00

o Paym ent Enclosed

o Please C harge my credit card (below)

C redit Ca rd Number ______________________ Expiration Date ___________ Signature_____________________________

Mail your contribution to:

EM VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOC. PO Box 3086 OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086

*00 you or your spouse work for a matching gift company? If so, this gift may qualify for a matching donation. Please ask your Human Re·

sources department for the appropriate form .

Na m eof Company __________________________

The Vi ntage Aircraft Association is a non- profit educa tional orga nization under IRS sOl c3 rules. Under Federal Law, the deduction fro m Federal In­

come tax for charitabl e contributions is limited to the amount by which any money (and the value of any property other than money) contributed

exceeds the value of the goods or se rvices provided in exchange for the contributi on. An appropriate receipt acknowledging your gift will be sent to

you for IRS gift reporting reaso ns.

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MAY 2004

Comeback Dad

From

Into the Blue

published by St. Martin's Press SUSAN EDSALL

Dad, my sister, and I were sitting in a hallway in the hospital-Dad in a pink plastic chair with metal arms and Sharon and me on the floor, feet out­ stretched, backs against the wall, waiting.

My father, Wayne Edsall, had just turned 72 years old several days ago.

In the last 30 years he had rebuilt nearly a dozen antique airplanes. His current project, a 1945 Airmaster, was his most difficult project yet, with one 34-foot long cantilevered wing and no instructions. Not that he'd had any in­ structions with any of the planes he'd built, including a Howard, a Curtiss, two Tiger Moths, a Waco, a Stinson, a BT-13, and his dream plane, a 1932 Fleet biplane. The Fleet Series 9 was one of only 11 ever built, and as far as Dad knew his was the only one of the that series still flying. It was when he was flying her over the vast expanse of the Gallatin Valley in Montana that Dad felt closest to God. Dad spent every evening out in what our family called his "sandbox"-a hangar-turned-shop where there was al­ ways an antique airplane being rebuilt.

Always. Big band music playing on the radio and he and his pal, Bud Hall , working away with felt, tape, irons, paint, wires, hoses, and who knows what all. We referred to all that went on out there as "Wayne's World."

This is how I knew my father : a re­ builder and pilot of antique airplanes.

That's how everyone knew him.

So it was particularly shocking when, sitting next to him in that anti­ septic hospital hallway, an unnervingly cheerful speech therapist bounded up to Dad, clapped him on the back, grabbed his hand as if shaking it in ad­ vance of giving him a coveted award, and blurted out with unflinching con­ fidence, "Hello, Mr. Edsall! I hear

you used to be a pi­ lot! Well, you won't be able to do that again, but we'll get you up and around doing something!

You bet we will! " Used to be a pilot? I don't know what else the therapist said. Her sparkling ideas about what else she might get Dad to do besides fly became background noise as I watched any remaining hope drain from my father's face.

He turned one flat shade of battleship gray.

Susan and her dad, Wayne with his BT-13.

A week earlier my fa­ ther had suffered a now. I knew that if Dad couldn't fly, debilitating stroke as a complication from heart surgery. This was his first he would just as soon not breathe. day in the rehab center, and this And most particularly I knew that it was the first he had heard that the wasn't that Dad couldn 't fly, it was staff's assessment was that he would that Dad couldn't fly yet. not recover enough to be able to fly.

What I didn't know was how we I knew the situation as well as the were going to get him from not know­ therapist did: Dad couldn't talk, could­ ing his ABCs and his 1-2-3s to talking n't count, couldn't track a sentence, to the tower on the radio and getting couldn't tell time, couldn't conjure his flaps down and his trim set for the names of his family, couldn't re­ landing. Then there was teaching him member that the letter "b" made the all the math he would need to know sound "buh" as in boy, couldn't walk to get back to rebuilding the Airmas­ in a straight line, couldn't hold a fork, ter, including dividing fractions. a cup, a glass, couldn't spread jam on The notion of teaching Dad how to do, well, everything, was overwhelm­ his toast. Certainly couldn't fly.

But I knew some things the thera­ ing. When we weren't crying from pists didn't know. I knew that my seeing him so debilitated , we were father was the most bullheaded man pleading with the therapists for a dif­ ever born. I knew that the flying com­ ferent prognosis or hunched in the munity in Montana was the most hospital cafeteria booth staring into a spirited group of men and women you cup of bad tasting coffee without one could pOSSibly want rooting for you. I single idea for how to proceed. We knew that the family we were all a weren't helped by what we saw around part of had never taken no for an an­ us-dozens of stroke patients disabled, swer before and wasn't about to start depressed, and dependent who, along VINTAGE AIRPLANE

5

with their families, were trying to come to terms with a life altered. One of the chief functions of the hospital staff, it seemed, was to speed that coming-to-terms process along, help­ ing us get used to the indisputable fact that things would never be the same.

Only we would not come to terms.

Dad would fly again. On this our fam­ ily chose to agree. It wasn't like we sat down as a family and thought through this whole thing and then decided that maybe we could find a way to make this happen. To even think that Dad wouldn't fly again would have been, in our family, a bald act of be­ trayal. Dad flew. That's how my sister and brother and I knew him as a fa­ ther, and it's how my mother knew him as a husband. On this there was no dithering. It was a fact as true as the sun rising each morning and Dad wanting lunch at noon.

Our job was to figure out how to bushwack our way back.

So we pursued it like we'd pursue a flight plan. The first thing we did was decide the destination: Dad would fly again in one year. I sat in the hospital hallway, Dad in the familiar pink plas­ tic chair and myself cross-legged on the floor in front of him, and I held his hands. I looked him in the eye, and I promised him that he would fly again in a year. I asked my father to promise me that he would stick it out for one year and that he would put his shoulder to the wheel of making this happen. What I got from him was dead, hopeless silence. I held on.

"Promise me, Dad. You will fly in one year. Give me a year, Dad . Give me one year. You will fly again ." I would not let go of my father's hands. If he was the most stubborn person ever born, then he had raised me as the second most stubborn. Finally I felt the squeeze of his hands in mine and he forced out, as best he could with his limited capabilities with thought and speech, "Oh-k-k-k-k-ay."

I sat with my sister in the hospital cafeteria. She lived in North Carolina, I lived in Vermont, and Dad lived in Montana. We were grateful he didn't live in Japan , but we could hardly have lived further from one another 6

MAY 2004

and still be in the continental United States. We hatched our plan. She would go out to Montana for two weeks and work with Dad in some ver­ sion of "school" every morning. I would go out and relieve her for two weeks doing the same thing. We would do this for three months and then reassess.

So Dad grabbed

the stick. Bud leaned

to the side so Dad

could see the

instruments, and

Dad flew the plane

like he'd never

been gone.

The travel arrangements agreed to, we still had a big problem : no curriculum. We had no clue how to teach Dad how to read, talk, count, do math. And our attempts to get materials from the therapists were met with stony resistance. The speech therapist put her foot down, telling Mother in no uncertain terms that we needed to leave speech ther­ apy to the professionals, that Mother needed to get back to being Dad's wife, and we needed to get back to being Dad's daughters.

But the plan of the professionals was three one-hour speech therapy sessions a week. There was absolutely no way that Dad, with that meager help, was going to get back to mum­ bling coherently to himself, let alone talking to the tower. Rather than per­ suade them otherwise, I bypassed the beleaguering prognosis of the professionals and hightailed it to Border's bookstore, spending a good six hours scouring the bookshelves in the teacher resource section. I concentrated on books geared to kindergartners learning to read, write, and tell time. Once we made some progress I'd up the level of difficulty to second grade and start in on

math-first simple counting and then addition of single digit numbers. l'll admit that I put my head in my hands and cried more than once that afternoon in the bookstore. It was breathtaking to be faced with having to teach my father to read "See Jane run" when just two weeks ago he had taken me on a flight over the Gallatin Valley in his spit-shined BT-13, which he had painstakingly restored.

Sharon and I had a plan, and we stuck to it. For the next three months at 8:00 every single morning we were at the dining room table, newly con­ verted to a classroom, and started in .

We began with flashcards of the al­ phabet. He had to relearn the sounds.

His big hang-up was the letter " W ," which he always said had the sound "duh". Of course he thought that.

Every other letter had its own sound in the name of the letter. "B" is "buh"; "w" is "duh". It only made sense.

That's how far back we started.

Then we moved from letters to sim­ ple words like ball, cat, dog, egg, farmer. Then we tried writing the words. We had our morning blocked out into 30-minute segments with a five-minute break between each one, and we ran those mornings like drill sergeants. There was no feeling sorry for Dad, no giving in to how tired he was-or we were. There was no time off for a nice day.

The only dispensation was when planes flew over the house. Pilot friends usually left us alone in th e mornings, but by afternoon, they of­ ten came by in threes, buzzing the house and then landing on the grass airstrip out back, taxiing up to the porch. Dad could hear them from miles away-the distinct thumpety­ thump of round, antique engines.

He would jump up from the table no matter what we were working on and go outside, shielding his eyes from the sun and spot the planes in the distance. As they dipped low to­ ward the house, the growl of their engines swirling in the yard, he would pump his fist in the air in salute. It was all I could do not to lay my head down on the dining room table and cry a rain barrel full. My

father did not belong on the ground.

When the pilots came in to land, it was clear that school was over for the day. They would gather on the porch, I would ferry out coffee and cookies, and they would talk to Dad. He would pitch in while they waited-some­ times interminably-for him to finish his sentence. Their friendship , their impromptu visits, and their support were his lifeline.

There were the obvious hurdles of getting him to speak, read, write, do mathematical calculations and reason.

We tackled those with a very carefully laid out plan, gleaned from the books for teachers, which we plodded through unfailingly each day. Every single morning Dad would start with a memory warm-up, read out loud from Henry Kisor's book Flight of the Gin Fizz, write words and phrases from the stack of flashcards, and do reasoning problems like /lin this list of items which one doesn't belong: fork, spoon, plate, bicycle." We kept scrupu­ lous track of our progress, just like plotting a cross-country trip from checkpoint to checkpoint, enabling us to see, for example, that the speed of Dad's reading had moved from 19 words a minute to 80 and knowing that we were aiming for 110.

But the psychological hurdles were less easy to tackle methodically. Dad battled constant fear that he would never be able to think straight again, let alone speak, write, and calculate.

At one point three weeks into /lschool" he was discouraged about his lack of progress. Sharon and I had kept care­ ful records of all his work in a three-ring binder. I put the binder in his lap and showed him where he started and where he was at right then.

It made him even more terrified. He hadn't remembered being so bad. All he could say was, /lyou don't know what it's like way out here."

He also battled the gnawing fear that he would never again be pilot in command. This expressed itself in many ways from the simple and pro­ found feeling of being utterly overwhelmed, to feeling apprehensive about even going up for a ride in someone else's plane. We had to not

only get his brain working again, we had to get him back into an airplane as a passenger, back into his hangar, back behind the control wheel of his own Cessna 185, then finally behind the stick of his beloved Fleet. The psy­ chological hurdles for Dad became hurdles for us, too. Fear of failure was our constant companion. But there was nothing to do but plod on.

We did not, however, plod on alone. His flying buddies were waiting in the wings, willing to do anything to get Dad back in the air.

Bud, his best buddy, owns a Bird­ dog. He kept bugging Dad to go for a ride in it. Dad kept turning him down.

But Bud hadn't become best friends with Dad by relenting every time Dad said no, so Bud kept at it. Every night he would call or come by. Of course he had Dad at a disadvantage because Dad couldn't talk very well. But still Dad refused. We weren't exactly sure why. Maybe the idea that he would never be pilot in command again was gaining on him. Maybe he was wor­ ried that if he got that feeling of freedom you get when you fly and then were denied ever being a pilot it would be too much for him. Whatever the reason, he kept turning Bud down.

Finally by mid-May, Bud wore him out, and Dad agreed to go flying in the Bird Dog. When they got into the air, Bud in the front and Dad in back, Dad's blood ran like it hadn't in months. Two months in the /lclassroom" had taken the starch out of him. Being 7,000 feet in the air and over the Rocky Moun­ tains, flying over the headwaters of the Missouri, checking out the herd of elk in the Spanish Peaks rekindled the pilot's life in him . Bud called back on the intercom. /lWhy don't you take the controls, Edsall?"

So Dad grabbed the stick. Bud leaned to the side so Dad could see the instruments, and Dad flew the plane like he'd never been gone.

Bud got on the radio and called out the news to the other pilots that were in the air. /lEdsall's flying the Bird Dog! Even got a little finesse for a change!"

The radio crackled back with other pilots who let out the breath they had

Susan Edsall's terrific 288-page hardbound book de­ tailing VAA member Wayne Edsall's jour­ ney back to the skies will be pub­ lished in May. Into the Blue: A Father's Flight and a Daughter's Return, is be­ ing published by St. Martin's Press and will be available in bookstores and on the web in time for Father's Day.

been holding for too long. /lYou're in the air Edsall! I knew you could do it!" /lWhat a great day when Wilbur and Orville closed the bicycle shop, eh, Edsall?"

At least we had Dad in the airplane.

Now we had to get him back in his own planes, behind his own controls as pilot in command. And back into the hangar.

It was that flight, up in the blue Montana sky with his flying buddies conveying their good wishes on the radio that gave Dad his second wind.

He tackled the books every morning with renewed hope. Not getting back into the air was not an option. Al­ though he wasn't out of the woods just yet, he could see that we were not just going in circles. We had made tremendous progress. And no matter how frustrating, tiring, discouraging, or just plain damned difficult it was to stick with the grinding-it-out work of reconnecting the pathways in his brain, he was gaining on his dream to be back in the air.

So Dad appeared unfailingly in the schoolroom every morning at 8:00, and so did we. All of us propelled by his dream to fly.

June 6, just two and a half months since Dad's stroke, Dad went lip in his own plane. Although he wasn't pilot in command, he was behind the con­ trols with a check pilot in the passenger 's seat. It all came back to him . All of it. Flying was as much a part of him as breathing. He handled the radio, the takeoff, the flight over the Spanish Peaks and the Madison continued on page 28 VINTAGE AIRPLANE

7

THE LOUGHEAD

f!eap~ :

'F-l

Originally publish ed in the November 19ft9 issue of Vintage Airplane

I

n 1916 Allen and Malcolm Loug­ head began writing the second chapter in their saga as pioneer airplane builders. They established the Loughead Aircraft Manufactur­ ing Co. in the rear of a garage near the Santa Barbara waterfront. Their finances were meager, but they were ambitious.

Berton R. Rodman, Santa Barbara financier and machine shop owner, was elected president, Allen first vice president, Malcolm secretary and treasurer, Norman S. Hall ad­ vertising and sales promotion manager, and Anthony Stadlman factory superintendent. A Czecho­ slovakian mechanic and engineer, Stadlman first worked with Allen in maintenance of the Curtiss Pusher that Loughead flew during his barn­ storming in Illinois.

In mid-summer of 1916, a 21­ year-old garage mechanic and architectural draftsman , son of a prominent Santa Barbara contrac­ tor, became a frequent visitor at the factory on State Street. He knew the Lougheads by reputation. He had seen their Model G at the Panama­ Pacific International Exposition the year before. And he wanted a job­ anything at all, as long as it was connected with aircraft. The young man was the farsighted John K. Northrop, who would become one of the most talented designers in 8

MAY 2004

aviation history, whose contributions to the progress of fly­ ing would include the celebrated Lock­ heed Vega and the famous Northrop Flying Wing bomber.

The Lougheads hired Northrop and put him to work helping to shape the hull of their new fly­ ing boat, called the The F-l powered by two Hall Scott engines. The F-l. A self-taught en- wingspan is 74 feet; length is 35 feet. gineer, Northrop

understood stress analysis. He de­ workmanship. For example, wing signed and stressed the wings of the struts were of steel, bolted top and flying boat, the world's largest sea­ bottom, and encased in streamlined plane at that time.

wooden fairings . The Lougheads It was built to carry 10 persons, also developed a rustproofing including pilot and copilot, and process for metal parts that greatly increased their durability. was of wood and fabric construc­ tion, with engine cowlings and The F-1 was notable, addition­ fittings of metal. The upper wing ally, because it inaugurated a design spanned a monstrous 74 feet, and configuration that became famous the 47-foot lower wing carried pon­ years later on the Constellation-a toons beneath each tip. Two 160-hp triple-finned tail, mounted on Hall Scott engines hung between metal booms attached to the hull the wings on either side of the hull. and wings.

It was a tractor-type craft 3S feet By this time the United States long with a gross weight of 3,700 was on the verge of entering World pounds, a useful load of 3,100 War I. The Lougheads offered to pounds, a top speed of 84 mph, and place their factory and "personal a cruising speed of 70 mph. services as trained pilots" at th e government's disposal "in event of Throughout it showed every evi­ dence of practical design and careful trouble with any other foreign

power." The Santa Barbara News­ Press reported the company also planned to offer its F-1, then under construction, to the military. Work was rushed in hope of completing it by April 1917.

"With a little added equipment we could turn out each month two machines," the story quoted Allen.

"We are patterning our new ma­ chine in line with government specifications, and it would be available for immediate use for ob­ servation and reconnaissance work, to which it is especially adapted."

After the United States declared war on Germany and the Central Powers, the Navy-anxious to build up its air arm-displayed in­

terest in the Loughead F-1 and arranged for it to be flown to North Island naval base near San Diego for testing. Allen first flew it at Santa Barbara on March 28, 1918.

The formal launching followed what the News-Press described as an "impressive christening and dedicatory ceremony." First pas­ sengers were Mary Miles Minter, noted silent screen actress who made a number of movies in Santa Barbara, and her sister.

On its trial hop the F-1 made a circular flight that demonstrated in­ herent stability although there was too much area in the counterbal­ anced ailerons. The problem was quickly solved, and a short time

Allen and Malcolm Loughead atthe controls of the F-l.

The F-l inaugurated a design configuration that became famous years later on the Constellation-a triple-finned tail.

later the plane winged to North Is­ land, setting a nonstop over-water mark-180 miles in 181 minutes.

Navy officials began a series of rigid flight and structural tests that spanned three months. These con­ vinced them the Lougheads knew how to build an airplane, but the craft was ruled out because of a de­ sign standardization policy. The government was concentrating pro­ duction on specified aircraft types, and the seaplane design it chose was a Curtiss HS21. Accordingly, the Lougheads' first military con­ tract was to construct two seaplanes patterned after the Curtiss. The trial order was on a cost-plus-12-percent basis, plus spare parts.

"We took a beating on the deal," Allen recalled later. "We invested between $4,000 and $5,000 in nec­ essary alterations to the basic HS21 design and weren't reimbursed for our expenditures."

At the peak of production, em­ ployment at the small Santa Barbara plant rose to 85 men. Northrop, then in military service at Camp Lewis, was furloughed and returned to Santa Barbara to help turn out the two planes.

Meantime, the Model G contin­ ued its successful career. Soon after the Lougheads arrived in Santa Bar­ bara, Allen used the place to make the first crossing of the Santa Bar­ bara Channel by air, carrying two passengers and completing the 60-mile trip in just one hour.

Even though the Navy had turned down the F-1, the Loug­ heads remained convinced of its potentialities. After its return to Santa Barbara from the North Is­ land tests in August 1918, the factory promptly rebuilt it at a cost of $10,000 into a landplane configuration with a landing gear arrangement that consisted of two main gears and a nose wheel. This modification was called the F-1A. References: Of Men and Stars: A History of Lockheed Aircraft Corp., by Philip L. Juergens . .......

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

9

THE VI N TAG E INSTRU

Hazardous

attitudes

DOUG STEWART

The night before I was to ferry an Aeronca Champ from Massachusetts to Florida the following day's surface winds were forecast to be from the northwest at 30 knots, gusting to 40, with the moderate turbulence that always accompanies those high winds. Snow was also in the forecast for later in the day, and would re­ main in the forecast for the next several days. It was clear that if I did­ n't get going early the next morning I would be grounded for the rest of the week.

Why is it that whenever you want the briefer to be wrong, he or she is­ n't ... but when you are counting on the forecast to hold true, it does­ n 't? Has anyone else ever noticed that? Well, the following morning showed that the former was to be the case.

The wind was howling as I back­ taxied to the departure end of the runway. It was blowing hard enough that the rudder wasn't suf­ ficient to keep the air-knocker going straight down the runway. I needed to help out my directional control with a bit of brake as well. In doing so I noticed that the right brake seemed to have even less effective­ ness than the meager amount I expected from the original ex­ pander-type brake on the Champ.

The thought ran through my head that perhaps I should abort the flight. Two-and-a-half hours after takeoff I would be in New Jersey and in need of fuel. (With only 13 gal­ lons of total fuel, the fuel range matched my bladder range per­ 10

MAY 2004

fectly!) Every possible runway that I could use would have a 70- to 90-de­ gree crosswind. "Would I be able to control the old Champ with a weak brake?" I deliberated with myself.

However, I was determined to make the flight, and that was affecting my thought process.

The thought

ran through

my head

that perhaps I

should abort

the flight.

It made me think of one time when I had ferried this same airplane in the opposite direction. In similar winds I had landed at Stewart Inter­ national Airport (SWF), diagonally across the runway. Because of the high, gusty winds I had opted to do a wheel landing. As I slowed down, once on the runway, I slowly came forward with the stick to keep the tail up in the air. I still had some stick left, when, with the tail still up in the air, the airplane came to a stop. "Yikes! What am I going to do now? If I bring the tail down, I'm go­ ing flying again." I said to myself. It then took close to 15 minutes to taxi the short distance from the runway to the FBO. I considered all this information as I performed the simple run-up

and before-takeoff checks. "Yeah, I can handle it! " was my answer to my self-questioning mind. "I've flown in this stuff before .. .in fact, in this very same plane. No problem .. .1 can handle it!" r responded with de­ termination , as I came in with the power and departed on the flight.

Here I was, exhibiting the classic hazardous attitude, "macho," along with some typical operational errors. r sometimes wonder why my middle name isn't Votan. (The ancient Mayan god of warfare and death.)

How often have I started forging that accident chain, before I ever leave the ground? I know I am not alone in this. The accident reports bear witness to the fact that the chain of events leading to an accident quite typically begins prior to takeoff.

Well, two-and-a-haJf hours later found me at Tom's River, New Jersey.

The winds were reported to be from 350, variable 330 at 31 knots, with gusts to 38 knots. I would be landing on Runway 6. If luck were with me, my arrival would coincide with the winds from their most northerly vec­ tor, and least velocity. You'd think by now that I would know that Murphy never rests. Sure enough, he wasn't.

As I had done in this airplane be­ fore, I opted to land diagonally

across the runway to gain as much of a head wind component as I could . Only this runway was nowhere near as wide as the one at SWF. I landed on the left main, and as I slowed down I finally ran out of stick. As the tail wheel touched the runway I immediately brought the stick all the way to the left, and back into my gut. And that's when the proverbial yogurt hit the fan.

The rudder and tail wheel were not going to provide enough force to counter the strong crosswinds. I was going to need the right brake to keep things going straight. As the nose of the Champ started to yaw to the left, I pushed on the right heel brake with all my strength. But that weak brake wasn't going to be any match for the strong wind. Here I was at the start of a ground loop, and there was nothing left for me to do.

No, I was not exhibiting another hazardous attitude, that of resigna­ tion, I was doing all that I could ... all that I knew ... to keep from ground looping, but the winds were too strong. The right wing started to drop as we spun around, and was soon dragging on the pavement at the edge of the runway. As the tail came facing into the wind, the left main gear dropped back down to the runway, and we came to a stop. I sat there, stunned, for several moments before starting the arduous task of taxiing in to the FBO. Luckily, the damage to the old Aeronca was minimal. I had scraped some fabric off of the metal bow at the wingtip. A bit of 100 mph tape would patch things up enough to continue the flight to Florida, with­ out the need for a ferry permit. But I learned an important lesson that morning. Hazardous attitudes are go­ ing to get you!

Had I applied the antidote to the macho hazardous attitude, that be­ ing "taking chances is foolish," had I not been so determined to deliver the airplane on a predetermined schedule, I would not be having to explain to the owner of the Champ why his airplane had duct tape on its wingtip. It could have been much

worse. It might have ended with me standing on the carpet, trying to ex­ plain why I had wrecked a wonderful old airplane.

It was this incident that finally smacked me upside the head. I have some hazardous attitudes, and it is time to start dealing with them.

First, I have to recognize them. But recognizing them is not enough.

Then I not only have to come up with the antidote for the attitude, but apply that antidote as well!

There are five hazardous attitudes that have been recognized by those who study human factors. They are macho, anti-authority, resignation, invulnerability, and impulsivity. For each of these attitudes there is an ap­ propriate antidote. I personally think that there is not one pilot out there who does not have at least one, if not several, of these attitudes . The first step is learning to recognize that we harbor these attitudes within our­ selves. The second step is to learn the proper antidotes for these haz­ ardous attitudes. The third, and I feel hardest, step is to apply the antidote.

In the situation I described, on this ferry flight I allowed a variety of operational errors to lead me into thinking that I could handle the sit­ uation. I knew it was risky. Isn't all flying risky? In this situation I was definitely taking a chance. Had I ap­ plied the antidote that "taking chances is foolish," I would not have attempted the flight. I would have probably delivered the airplane to its owner a week later than promised, but it would have been delivered in its pristine condition, not with one wing scarred.

In the next several articles I would like to take a look at all five of the hazardous attitudes and their appropriate antidotes. Learning to recognize and correct these atti­ tudes will go a long way in taking us from being good pilots ... to being great pilots. It's an ongoing process for all of us.

Doug flies a 1947 PA-12. He is the 2004 National Certificated Flight In­ structor of the Year. Visit his web site: www.dsflight.com. ........

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11

The hammer provided is small and may not be the most efficient for driving the II-inch stakes into hard ground, but the claw part of the hammer is definitely helpful in pulling the stakes out.

The "Claw" can be obtained through several sources, but I bought mine from its manufac­ turer, Hunting Solutions. The company can be reached at 601­ 932-5832, or on the web at www.theclaw.com. The "Claw" re­ tails for $119.95.

TIM

There are times I believe I'm a weather magnet. As we all know, when we fly out somewhere for an overnight or fly-in, tying down our aircraft becomes an issue when the seemingly inevitable wind­ storm arrives . I have some experience at this as an Oshkosh volunteer each year.

I check tiedowns on thousands of planes on the flightline. It al­ ways surprises me how many people fly in and never consider how they are going to tie down their vintage investment. During the week I also get the chance to observe various methods of tying down airplanes and how well they work. There have been several arti­ cles in Vintage Airplane on how best to do this, but I think one method outshines the rest.

In my experience, the best tiedowns are the ones that have multiple-point anchors in the ground. This method assures a firm grip with the ground in al­ most all soil conditions and makes an incredibly strong anchor point 12

MAY 2004

Fox that is removable when you get ready to leave. Many of the an­ chors I've seen are homemade, but there are a few out there you can purchase.

My choice was a setup called the "Claw." This is an aviation tiedown sold as a set consisting of three an­ chor assemblies, nine stakes, tiedown ropes, and a small claw hammer in a nylon carry/storage bag. Each anchor assembly con­ sists of a centerpiece with a ringbolt where you tie your ropes.

There are three legs that fold out when placing the assembly on the ground. The stakes go into the ground through the holes at the end of the legs at an angle, in to­ ward the center point of the assembly. Like the claw of a bird of prey, the grip on the ground is sub­ stantial. Even in soft ground, this set has not come loose in heavy winds. At an Illinois fly-in last year there were winds strong enough to break two tent poles on my tent, but the "Claw" held fast and the plane did not move.

..\ .

."

~ \ ...::::~."'~r' ~~ · I · ,

'.

. ,

j ',.

.

'., "

The U.S. had its Stearmans and Fairchilds. Germany had its Jung­ mann. The entire rest of the world, it would seem, had the deHavilland Tiger Moth.

The U.S., understandably, has a geo-centric view of training during World War II-it's hard for us to re­ member that although thousands of pilots, both U.S. and foreign, went through the Stearman/Fairchild/Vul­ tee/Texan training pipeline, we weren't the only country teaching people to fly. In fact, the number of pilots trained by the Stearman is probably closely matched by those trained in the ubiquitous Tiger Moth because so many countries used it.

And so many countries built it.

In countries like Australia, where 1,000 'Moths were built and nearly a third of the production is still fly­

ing, it is the Stearman that is the oddity, not the Moth. And it was nearly that way at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh '03 because there were no less than five examples of Geoffery deHavilland's fragile-looking bi­ plane parked on the line.

One of the spark plugs of the American Moth movement is Mike Williams of Columbus, Indi­ ana. Mike and his shop (Mike's Hangar, 3811 River Rd., Colum­ bus, IN 47203,812-375-1954, www.mikeshangar.com) have a strong reputation for restoring a wide range of biplanes, Pitts to Wacos, but Tiger Moths represent a healthy proportion of his total business and he says business is good. And he says there's a reason for that.

"In the last few years more and

more people have begun to discover the Tiger Moth," he explains. "As the price of Waco and Stearman projects have sky rocketed and the supply has begun to get tight, peo­ ple have looked elsewhere. There are about 65 Tiger Moths here in the U.S., about a third of which are fly­ ing. There are about 300 in Australia with another 300 scattered through Canada, Europe and other places.

So, U. S. pilots are discovering what the rest of the world already knew: the Tiger Moth is a terrific little air­ plane. They're fun and easy to fly and not that difficult to restore. As long as you pay attention to a few basic rules, that is.

"Oddly enough, there was even a little known variant of the Cana­ dian Tiger Moth that was built for the USAAF, the PT-24. They were VINTAGE AIRPLANE

13

built, but never delivered and sat around a Canadian airfield and rot­ ted until they were just pushed down into a low spot in the terrain and covered over. A few years back, Tom Dietrich exhumed some of the remains and came back with parts and some data plates. I have one of the data plates so, who knows, maybe a PT-24 will fly again."

So, it seems the U.S. barely missed being listed amongst the countries that used Tiger Moths for training.

The DH 82 Tiger Moth was a nat­ ural evolution from a long series of DH Moths going clear back into the 1920s. Little of significance changed through the years other than the fuselage was changed from wood to steel tube structure and the engine was standardized on the Gypsy Major 1C, a 373-cubic inch, 142-hp, inverted four-cylinder en­ gine that, although appearing thoroughly antique, is actually eas­ ier to maintain than most of its peer group.

"For one thing, the 'Moth engine is the same that was used in the Moth's replacement, the DHC-1 Chipmunk. Because of that, al­ though they were supporting the Chipmunk with stores of WWII sur­ plus engines, they were still manufacturing spare parts well into the 1950s.

"Still, you have to remember that you're looking at a 60-year-old en­ gine that's a 75-year-old design. Its reliability is really good, almost up to modern standards, but supplies of a few items, like magneto parts, are getting a little short, although there is an STC'd Slick conversion available. Plus the engine does have its peculiarities so you have to se­ lect your overhaul shop carefully because there's quite a learning curve. We've overhauled them for years, but we're still learning and, because there are so many small parts in the engines, they can really suck up the labor hours.

"Also, you have to know where to go to get certain things done.

There are speCialists who deal with 14

MAY 2004

the cylinder heads and the carbs.

This is not a mainstream engine so you can't depend on mainstream shops. Still, there's a little subcul­ ture of shops that really do know what they're doing when it comes to certain components.

"As far as operating them, they have a couple little things you have to pay attention to. Like adjusting the valves every fifteen hours. You also have to remove the rocker arm covers and fill them with oil be­ cause, unless you've put in a lubrication system, the rockers are splash lubed. It's easy to do the valves and the oil at the same time."

One of the Moths at Oshkosh was owned by Dave Harris, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, and he had a lot to say about the differences be­ tween the different Moths.

"My airplane is an Australian­ built airplane and was originally produced without brakes and with a tailskid. Only the Canadian airplanes had brakes although most of us have added them. Mike did my airplane and he uses Cub brakes, which are a bladder, or expander tube, type of brake, but even those are getting hard to find and are expensive.

"Although I didn't need them, Mike also had original wheels cast

for Tiger Moths which are 7 .5-inch rims using an odd tire that has to be imported from England. Right now they are running about $550 a pair delivered."

Dave says, "My airplane was pro­ duced in October 1941 and has an English landing gear. The Canadian gear locates the wheels eight inches further forward so the airplanes have much heavier tails probably needed because their brakes were so effective and the forward position was needed to prevent nose overs.

The English-style gear ground han­ dles better and the airplane three-points better."

Some of the other differences be­ tween the various species of Tiger Moths involve the slats and wing leading edges.

Williams says, "The English, Aussie and some New Zealand 'Moths had slats. The down unders had plywood leading edges and Canadians had hard leading edges on the lowers only and no slats or spin strakes."

When it comes to FAA certifica­ tion, Tiger Moths can be confusing.

Mike says, "The fact that there are any Moths at all certified in Standard Category can be attrib­ uted to Cliff Robertson. He had an

Dave Harris peers up at the EAA camera ship as they head into the late after­ noon sun. The fabric bunched up on a frame behind the cockpit is a hood that can be pulled over the aft cockpit during instrument instruction.

English Moth and he jumped through all of the FAA's hoops to get his airplane put in Standard Category. Prior to that , all Tiger Moths were certified in Experimen­ tal-Airshow/Exhibition category. An Air Force general later did the same thing to an Australian airplane.

"To get an Australian or English Moth put into Standard Category, you have to do a 'conformity check' in which you match the airplane in question to the airplane the type certificate was issued on. If you can prove you have the identical air­ plane, as defined by th e Type Certificate, then your airplane can go into Standard Categor y and won 't have any of the operation re­ strictions Airshow/Exhibition category carries.

"Right now a little over half of the Australian and English Tiger Moths are in Standard Category, while none of the Canadian birds are because no one has gone through the process yet and estab­ lished a precedent. When they do, all the rest of the Canadian air­ planes can be certified to that TC." Because th e basic design of the Tiger Moth goes back to th e mid­ 1920s, the airframe is mu ch more antique than th e Stearman, which

was designed nearly fifteen years later, and the difference shows. Plus the Tiger Moth is English and that shows too.

Dave Harris says, "When I started looking at Moths it was partly be­ cause it was obviously such an antique but built at a later time. Its fuselage is the usual welded tubing, although built in three sections and bolted together. The wings are fairly complex wooden structures, so you have to look very, very care­ fully when picking a project. In my case, [ found an airplane that was fairly complete and had some inter­ esting history.

"When it wa s surplused by the Australian Air Force, it was bought by a New Zealand crop duster and that 's what it did for years. Then a local pilot decided he wanted to fly the London Daily Mail Trans Oceanic race in it. He had it fitted with a 7S-Imperial gallon fuel tank and an eight-gallon oil tank with a pump to transfer it to the main tank.

"The airplane wound up stuck in th e mud in Bellingham, Washing­ ton , and the pilot abandoned the race and sold the airplane. Clay Henl ey of Athol, Idaho, bought it and got it put into standard cate­ gory so he could use it in his flight

school where he was renting it out for solo flight.

"The airplane was disassembled for restoration and when Clay died in 1977 it went into long-term storage./I After Dave bought the airplane he went through a period of self-ed­ ucation . At the same time he was looking for someone to help him with the restoration.

"I was at Oshkosh and Jack Hooker mentioned Mike because he'd made some original style Sut­ ton harnesses for some of Mike 's Tiger Moths. Mike had his English Moth there and we started talking."

Mike Williams says, "Dave really wanted to get his airplane done and he sort of followed me home."

Both of them agreed on a basic checklist of items to go over when looking at a project for possible restoration.

Dave started, "First of all, do a very complete inventory and make sure it is all there. Because there are so many small parts, it's really easy to be missing something that's hard to find. Items like mag switches are practically non-existent. And you'll need the right kind of altimeter be­ cause some of them had the Kollsman windows calibrated in millibars and that's not FAA-legal to fly with."

Mike says, "Yeah, things like the windshield are hard to replace, if they are missing or badly broken.

The windshield [frame] is a cast bronze unit that nothing else used.

The nose bowl is the same way. You can repair almost anything, as long as you have something to start with .

Unfortunately, however, the nose bowl is one of the first things to dis­ appear or be damaged when an airplane is wrecked or disassembled.

"The gas tank is something you have to look at carefully," Dave says. "It's big enough you can gen­ erally tell whether there is one with the project, but open it up and check it with a flashlight. It's made of 'tin plate,' which is a kind of gal­ vanized steel and they can rust along the seams or where water has been pooling. To replace them is VINTAGE AIRPLANE

15

expensive and they have to come from England or New Zealand."

Mike jumps in and says, "And don't forget to count the flying/land­ ing wires and inspect them. They are carbon steel, not stainless, so they'll rust and even a little rust pit makes a flying wire unusable."

"Wood is a big concern," Mike says. "There's lots of it, which means there are also a lot of glue joints and it's not uncommon to find most of the glue joints have let go. I think it's casein glue so mois­ ture and age can ruin it."

Mike continues, "The airplane is typical of 1920's design in which 16

MAY 2004

they used a lot of small pieces, rather a smaller number of big ones, in an effort at making the airplane light. In some places, like the tail for instance, there are lots of places for moisture to do its thing and lots of wood to warp. Plus, there are some AD's on the tie rods on the bottom of the fuselage so they will probably have to be replaced.

"The wings are like any other all­ wood wings and you have to inspect them carefully. You can ex­ pect to find some bad glue joints or bad wood, but as long as the spars are sound and in good shape, you can repair the rest. You can replace

the spars too, but replacing the spars on a wing as complex as a Tiger Moth's isn't a lot of fun.

"In general, when it comes to restoring a 'Moth airframe, if you like working on wooden boats, you're going to love a Tiger Moth," he says.

Dave had something else to say about another facet of the airplane.

"One thing that drives you nuts, if you'll pardon the expression," he grins, "is the hardware. When the airplanes were brand new, they used four different types of bolts and fittings: Whitworth and British Fine, British Standard Pipe and Met­

ric and, if the airplane has been fly­ ing in recent years, you can count on finding some AN hardware in there. Your toolbox quickly gets very heavy because you're carrying around so many extra wrenches. liThe factories also had an aggra­ vating, if effective, way of making sure bolts didn't loosen up. In criti­ cal areas, they just took a hammer and peened the end of the bolt over," he laughs. lilt was effective though. You never find any of those bolts loose and getting the nuts off can be a bear.

"You can still get the hardware new from England, but where it

doesn't show, most folks are switch­ ing over to AN hardware."

Tiger Moth owners love to talk about how the airplane flies and, in this case, one of th e OSH air­ planes was being flown by CFI Rich Davidson, of Hanover, Indi­ ana, who prefers to be referred to as "retired barnstormer." He spe­ cializes in teaching people to fly old airplanes (first hint he likes those kinds of airplanes: his e-mail is ifitsoldillflyit@msn.com).

"O ne of the biggest problems is teaching people who have flown only modern airplanes or late gen­ eration tailwheel aircraft how to fly one with this much drag and wing area. The tailwheel aspect of it isn't difficult because the airplane lands at a fast walk and is super docile, but the pilot has to get it ready to land and to some pilots that's not as easy as it sounds.

"In the first place, the pilot has to be able to "feel" the airplane be­ cause it is very much an antique, with light wing loading and little direct forward visibility. Therefore, inexperienced pilots tend to lean outside to see, inevitably moving the controls and violating the number one rule of tailwheel fly­ ing-touch down straight. If he thinks he has to see forward or he's going to fly without moving his feet and feeling the aircraft, he'll never get it lined up at the last mo­ ment because the nose will always be moving right or left.

Also, the airplane sits on the ground in a very steep attitude.

That means the pilot has to really rotate the airplane as he's flaring in ground effect. This all happens much more quickly than in mod­ ern airplanes because, as soon as the nose starts up in the flare, the airspeed immediately begins to drop off, so it's easy to flare high and run out of airspeed while many feet off the ground . That's no big deal because the airplane won't do anything stupid, but it's not the way it's supposed to be done. And it doesn't look good.

"In reality, it's really hard to drop II

the airplane in hard because even if you stall it, the bottom wing is still flying and won't let you fall. Geof­ frey deHavilland once did a demonstration where he flew the entire final approach with the stick clear back against the stop using power to arrest his descent. He hit hard, but not enough to hurt him.

In a normal approach, it'll fly with any amount of power on it.

"Because it has so much wing and lands at about forty-five miles an hour, in a crosswind it behaves a lot like a kite. On roll-out it's not uncommon to find you're running out of aileron to keep the wing down. The solution to that is to angle into the wind. If there's any wind at all, the landing roll is ridiculously short and landing at an angle to the runway works re­ ally well."

Mike adds, "In the air, they are really fun. When you do a loop it is so tiny you expect to see your own tail on the way down.

"O ne of the things I really like about Tiger Moths, in general," Mike Williams says, " is the social side of them. If you go anywhere wearing a Tiger Moth hat, you can be guaranteed of people walking up to tell you they learned to fly in one, or to find out if you have one and compare notes. The airplane at­ tracts a very outgoing type of person. When I take a 'Moth to a fly-in, I'm always guaranteed of having a dozen people hanging out around it."

The Tiger Moth is one of those airplanes that has always just been "there." It appears, however, that the times, they are a changing and the slow-moving bird from across the pond may be catching up with American icon trainers.

"Besides," says Mike Williams, "You gotta love an airplane that only needs a Crescent wrench and a ball peen hammer to do field main­ .... tenance."

For further information, contact: The de Havilland Moth Club http://www.dhmothclub.co.uk/ VINTAGE AIRPLANE

17

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE

BUILDING AND RESTORING

Duane Larson's midlife project was a great airplane with the performance to get in and out of small strips in the United States where he could pursue h is other passion, fishing. Starting with a perfectly good 1963 Cessn a 205, h e added a Horton short takeoff and landing (STOL) kit, oversize tires, a n ew Continental 10-550 from Texas Skyways (holder of the 300-hp conversion supplemental type certificate for the 205), and a new in terior from AirMod . Cincinnati Avionics did a n ew instrument panel, which includes a full Garm in panel, a Stormscope, and a SkyWatch TAS (traffic advisory system).

He topped it off with an interesting color scheme that includes a charging buffalo on the tail. The fish near those small strips better be ready as this fire-breathing buffalo charges out of Golden, Colorado!

FIRST PROJECT

18

MAY 2004

Dick Coltey of Poultney, Vermont, is thrilled with the results of his first attempt at aircraft restoration, which he did with the patience and support of his wife, Dianne.

Dick also was lucky enough to have the help of Neal Hewlett, the owner/operator and A&P mechanic with an IA who runs the Granville, New York, airport (B01). He also thanks Dick Bovey, the airport operator at Argyle, New York, and Kathy Bailey for their help in getting him started with the fabric work on his 1946 Cessna 140.

'46

TAYLORCRAFT

This 1946 Taylorcraft BC120 has plenty of cross-country time, but for the last 25 years, it was in a truck! Disassembled for re-covering in 1979, it moved three times with the Austin family around the United States. With the help of his kids, Laurel and Garrett, Gary Austin of Woodstock, Georgia, rebuilt and re­ covered the Taylorcraft. He also had great help from Glen Archibald and Glen Linc­ sheid, with special help from Bill Johnson.

Looks like Laurel's ready to go flying!

GREAT PUMPKIN After 13 years of on-and-off restoration work, Bob Winters of Springfield, Ohio, and EAA Chapter 610 have com pleted and flown his beautiful Piper ]-5A Cub Cru iser. Writes Chapter 610 Technical Counselor Scotty Mark­ land, "Bob spent his working time between his duties flying for Evergreen Airlines and flying his Stinson 108 on 70 Knotter excursions.

"Bob retired from Evergreen and com­ pleted this airplane on 14 November 2002.

The Cub has a Continental C-85 engine for power, and fl ies very nicely. EAA Chapter 610 members assisted Bob during his restoration./I

OSTEEN ' S CESSNA 170 Nearly destroyed in a windstorm in 1998, Keith Osteen's Cessna 170 would have been scrapped if it were not for the fact that Keith's an airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanic with an inspec­ tion authorization CIA) who just couldn't bear to see another 170 parted out. He took four years and nine months to rebuild the airplane, includ­ ing the difficult-to-find landing gear box and tail cone. In addition to the new interior and beautiful paint job, a top overhaul was done on the engine.

Keith, who hails from Brevard, North Carolina, would like to thank Gary Hendrickson and Jim Young for their invaluable help on the project.

CUSTOM STEARMAN Gerry and George Taylor of Coopersburg, Penn­ sylvania, bought this Stearman in 1991, knowing it needed a complete re-covering job. Work was begun at Sport Aviation on the Van Sant airport in Erwinna, Pennsylvania. For the past five years, the two have met each Saturday to work on the Stear­ man, which was re-covered using the Superflite II covering process. They added the wheel pants and a turtledeck to the airframe to help complete the custom look of their 220 Lycoming powered bi­ plane. It's now based at Van Sant along with seven other Stearmans.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

19

Reprinted with permission from the American Bolrlaritta"sac!E For more information visit www.bonanzamg.

W

hen I learned to fly 80 years ago I never met my flight instructor. That's right! My flight instruc­ tor wrote a book, away over in England during World War I, where he was in charge of flight instruction.

He was Capt. Horatio Barber, RFC, DSO-a pioneer pilot before that war.

The book came to my hands from an uncle who was in training when WWI ended. He gave me several books on aviation, including one titled Aerobat­ ics, a word coined by Capt. Barber.

The book was used in training pi­ lots to fly the Avro S04-K, the English training plane. It is still in mint con­ dition and I treasure it. My uncle knew I had been enthralled by air­ planes and flying ever since I was 4-1/2 years old, in 1910, when I saw Glenn Curtiss land in a field across the road from my father's farm. He landed there to refuel on his famous IS2-mile flight down the Hudson River from Albany to New York in a primitive bamboo, cloth and wire fly­ ing machine.

When I saw that little kite-like fly­ ing machine take off and fly down the river 'til out of sight, I lost interest in becoming a steam locomotive en­ gineer. Later, and older, I studied those books instead of such boring subjects as Latin all through high school, knowing that I would defi­ nitel y fly. Unlike my school pals, I had a definite goal.

In the summer of 1922 I had a 10­ minute ride in a WWI "Jenny" at Asbury Park, New Jersey. Then, in the spring of 1923, a barnstorming pilot 20

MAY 2004

came to Poughkeepsie, New York, my hometown, in an unbelievably de­ crepit Jenny. I was working at my usual summer job in a machine shop, but each day after work I would ride my 1920 Harley out to the meadow where the pilot "Swanee" Taylor was flying in the afternoons and evenings, hopping passengers on their first air­ plane rides.

The airplane had the five-year-old original wartime fabric covering that had been given coats of house paint to try to preserve it for another year or so. lt had been standing out in the weather for the five years since the end of the war. The engine, however, was a brand new war surplus Curtiss OX-S of 90 horsepower, with a wood propeller, which had been made in a former pi­ ano factory right in Poughkeepsie.

The plane, a IN-4 Jenny, com­ monly called a "Canuck" because it was made in Canada, had belonged to the well-known early-bird pioneer pilot Ruth Law. (I met her once in 1914 when she had let me sit in the seat of her original Wright biplane.)

The "Canuck-Jenny" was actually a hybrid, with long upper wings in­ stalled in place of the normal shorter lower wings; thus, it had three bays of wing struts and long lower ailerons.

With all of that extra wing area, it had low-speed landings and takeoffs.

Swanee was a native of Texas and had learned to fly in the war but too late for combat. He was a rather wild­ ish guy, mainly interested in the local speakeasies, friendly when sober, bel­ ligerent when drunk. But I admired him for his flying and he was quite

impressed by my knowledge of the mechanics of the plane and its engine and of aerodynamics, gained from the intense studying of my books.

I helped him all that summer, serv­ icing the plane and engine, subjects in which he had little interest or knowledge. We had many discussions about the art of flying. Then, in the middle of October, he decided to dis­ continue barnstorming until spring and spend the winter in New York City. He decided to hop the plane over to another field to leave it for the winter and gave me my second air ride, in that hop. It was dusk, and the hop was only about five or six minutes. He let me take the controls, but I violently over-controlled, so he took control again and landed.

After tying the plane down with stakes and ropes, he told me that he could obtain another war surplus plane in the spring for far less than the cost of reconditioning this old one. He then said he was abandoning the Canuck and I could have it for my own! "No Bill of Sale," he said.

"It's yours ." (At 17, I didn't even know anything about Bills of Sale.) In addition, he said that if I would re­ condition the plane, he would teach me to fly it! What a surprise for a boy of not quite 18!

With my wildest dream fulfilled, I could hardly contain my excitement at being the owner of a real airplane. I went home on my Harley with sense enough to keep quiet about it. That evening while eating a late dinner saved for me by my wonderful mother, the family assumed that I had merely

gine after school, all alone, chocking the wheels and tying the stick back with the seat belt. I had be­ come skilled at cranking the propeller by hand while working for Swanee.

I would taxi around the field at gradually increasing speeds. By doing that, I could learn how to prevent the airplane from making uncontrolled sharp turns, called ground loops, by use of the control stick in the same direction and opposite rudder. There were no brakes and only a tailskid.

After much practicing, I was able to make 90- and 180-degree turns by controlled partial groundloops. By the end of October, I was taxiing at higher speeds across the field without groundlooping and actually lifting the tail off the ground while taxiing fast, all with full control and without groundlooping. This ingrained the habit of using the stick to control di­ rection with ailerons by moving the stick in the direction of a starting groundloop, and opposite rudder­ very important.

By the middle of November, I dared to lift the wheels slightly and briefly off the ground, keeping the wings level while doing so. The normal steel or bamboo wing skids under the lower wingtips were missing, so when I dragged a wing into the grass, the aileron would be lifted by contact, and that would lower the opposite aileron.

That would then keep that wing lifted uncontrollably and the dragging wing could not be lifted . In that case, the throttl e had to be quickly closed to stop the forward motion and airspeed to let the wings come back to level.

brlef daylight before dusk, or on weekends-a time when the family still assumed I was riding my Harley.

On some rainy or windy days when I was not "flying," there were chores to be done around the house. So some days were devoted to that work, which I did quicker than usual so I could get out to the field before it was too late.

By December I was making more prolonged grass-cutting hops, back and forth across the field. Fortunately there was no snow. I was getting ex­ cited about the possibility of really projecting my grass-cutting hop out over that stone wall into the great blue sky. But I knew all too well that I would be in deep trouble without any practice with banking and turning.

In the book Aerobatics, Barber ex­ plained the art of making turns by banking, not by the rudder as in a boat. He explained that if not properly kept in a proper bank controlled by the ailerons and straight into the air by the rudder, skidding outward or sliding inward would occur. In the open cock­ pit, skids and slides could be detected by wind on one cheek or the other. Of course, in those grass-cutting hops I could not practice such banking.

One day, when I went out to "fly" I found that some vandal had stolen the entire rear cockpit instrument panel, along with its altimeter, tachometer, oil pressure gauge and compass. There had been no airspeed indicator, just as in most Jennys. I was able to obtain another oil pressure gauge and there was already an automotive water tem­ perature gauge, called a Motometer, in the radiator cap.

"'1'1; UJ.l.I'E: to make-and install a replacement instrument panel to prevent that cold propeller blast of air into my face, I just had to accept it with my motorcycle helmet and goggles. The wind was strong on my neck and penetrated down into my shirt to chill me. I finally made a plywood panel, with only an oil pres­ sure gauge.

On Saturday, December IS, 1923, my 18th birthday, the weather was fair and very mild for December. I was making those hops across the field and while doing so was mentally arguing with myself about the advisa­ bility of throwing all caution to the wind by hopping over that stone wall and" going for broke." It was very tempting to do it on my 18th birth­ day, which was also only two days before the 20th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flights in 1903.

On one of the grass-cutting passes, my mind was on those thoughts when I realized that I had gone too far and was certain to crash against that stone wall. I was forced to make up my mind instantly to open the throttle wide and hop over it.

As the landing gear wheels brushed through the bushes, I had a terrific feeling of both despair and commit­ ment, hard to describe. My feet were rapidly trembling on the rudder bar in excitement. I was both excited and lonesome, off the earth with no one to help me! I did not dare to look anywhere but over the engine ahead, with its valve rocker arms working fu­ riously and the tops of the trees passing under me in my peripheral vision. I just don't have words to deVINTAGE AIRPLANE

21

scribe my feelings, almost dreamlike, unbelievably slowly floating.

I just kept the wings level and con­ tinued, slowly gaining altitude, the tops of the trees getting farther and farther below me. What a lonesome sensation! My feet were still rapidly vibrating on the rudder bar in the ex­ citement, a sensation that I have never since experienced. I had a sen­ sation of slowly drifting away from home and safety.

I had never been in that area and therefore had no idea of my location.

I was getting higher, perhaps 500 or more feet, but without an altimeter I had no idea. Finally, I decided that I had to practice turns and started to do so. Of course, I slipped and skid­ ded but remembered what I had read in the book about feeling the wind on one cheek or the other, so finally got control of it by the rudder.

I was too busy flying to look at my wristwatch, but must have practiced the turns for a quarter- or half-hour before feeling some confidence in the turns. By that time, I was totally lost and at a much higher altitude. I had finally slowed down the hard-work­ ing engine by ear-no tachometer.

I knew the sun was in the south and if I were to fly with it to my left, I would be heading west, toward the big Hudson River. It finally appeared.

I turned and followed it southward and saw the big black iron railroad bridge ahead of me. Just to the south of it, I could see the big factory of the De Laval Separator Co., along the east side of the river at Poughkeepsie, where my father was probably in his office on a Saturday morning. But wait, I thought, maybe it is after­ noon! I looked at my watch for the first time. Yes, it was long after noon.

As I looked down at the city, Main st. looked very crooked. I had always thought it was straight when driving on it. I turned and followed it. Ac­ cording to my present memory of the view, I must have been at about 1,000 or 1,500 feet altitude. I followed the street and then the road, leading to the meadow, but was much too high to make any attempt to land. Besides, that fi eld looked like a mere postage 22

MAY 2004

stamp, with big trees on the approach end and the stone wall on the other.

In a few seconds I was past it and started a gradual turn to the left to get back to it with the aid of the road again. I did that about three times be­ fore I finally got down fairly close to the tops of the trees.

... HE WAS ABANDONING THE CANUCK AND I COULD HAVE IT FOR MY OWN! "No BILL OF SALE" , HE SAID. "IT'S YOURS." When I tried to come in over the treetops to land, I was much too fast, with too much power on.

I do not know how many attempts I made, but finally got down low enough to bounce the wheels and go around again.

I finally decided to fly over to the other field where Swanee had been hopping the passengers. He had glided over some wires, closed the throttle and landed. I went over there and did the same and made a fairly good landing, with one little bounce, for I had really had a lot of practice in those grass-cutting hops. Solo No. I! What a thrilling feeling! I had not crashed my precious airplane. I was trembling with excitement, but then remembered that Swanee was far be­ hind on his payments to the farmer who owned that field, and he might come and demand the airplane. So, full of confidence, I took off and went back to the original meadow, only a short distance.

After several attempts over those trees, I got the plane down with one graceful bounce. Solo No.2! After all, the plane had those extra long wings and landed very slowly, but it also had a tendency to float too far. I had carefully observed Swanee's warnings that the nose must always be kept pointing down a little when gliding for a landing, never up to or above horizontal. The Jenny had a sharp stall and no airspeed indicator.

I taxied back to the tree area and there was a man in a little Ford pickup car who had been watching me make those attempts at landing.

I still had the engine running and was about to take off for a third solo.

The man in the car got out and came over near the plane and shouted, "That shore was purty, the way you come down. D'you take people up?"

Evidently he liked that graceful bounce. I hesitated a moment, then on the spur of the moment, realizing that he thought I was a real aviator, yelled above the noise of the engine, "Sure!" I then realized I had commit­ ted myself.

He yelled, "How much does it cost?" I pOinted out over the side of the cockpit to a big white sign on the side of the fuselage that read FLY $5.

He said, "How much is that?" I real­ ized that he could not read, so yelled back, "Five dollars." He said, "I ain't got that much." I asked him how much he did have and he dug a pock­ etful of change out of his pocket, and I said, "Get in."

The engine was still running so I stood up in the cockpit to direct him to step on the proper area of the lower wing and climb aboard as he handed me the change. I needed that cash to buy a few gallons of gasoline, at about 10 or 12 cents per gallon. I climbed down and put the seat belt on him and got back in and took off.

The gauge on the tank indicated almost half-full. I gave him about a six- or eight-minute ride while I cir­ cled around to make the landing.

When I taxied back, there were two people in another Ford and they paid me $5 apiece for their rides, longer ones, one at a time. Oh, boy! I was in the money!

I was so excited that I just sat down to rest while I absorbed what I had done. It was dusk; the sun had set. I tied the plane down and went home with two empty five-gallon cans on the carrier of the Harley after empty­ ing the partially full one into the airplane tank.

During those two last flights, I had circled widely and noticed that there were long streams of cars going in

both directions on a newly con­ structed concrete road that had just been opened for traffic. I had been told that it was the first concrete road ever, or anywhere. It had been a dusty dirt road and was now the only paved road leading in and out of Pough­ keepsie, other than the macadam north-south road known then as Al­ bany Post Road.

People had never seen such a smooth road and everyone wanted to ride on it. They were driving about 12-15 miles to its end and then back.

The road passed a large farm with a hayfield that was level and plenty large enough for flying, right next to the new road.

I had a wild plan in mind by the time I got home. It was dark and no one noticed the two empty cans on the motorcycle. After dinner I went for one of my rides. It was Christmas vacation time. I went to the motor­ cycle club and called a motorcycle friend of mine and told him to meet me at the club. I had the cans filled and he said he would take them to that big field the next morning while I went to get the airplane and fly over to it. He had known of my in­ terest in flying but could hardly believe that I was actually flying al­ ready. Neither could I! The next day was fine weather and Sunday. I got up early and rode first to the farm and paid the owner, Mr. Tchennis, $5 for the use of the field that day, and got a receipt for it, then rode over to the other field to get the plane and fly it over to the big field, leaving my Harley. It was easy to land in that big field.

It was not long before the parade of cars started along that new con­ crete road. When the drivers saw the plane sitting there, they stopped, climbed over the old stone wall and came over to look at it. Very few peo­ ple, at that time, had been closer to an airplane than one flying over them. They started buying rides. The worn appearance of the plane did not seem to bother them . They paid $5 apiece, quite a lot of money for 1923. [n fact, many whole families lived on that per week.

My motorcycle friend, Ted Weeks, helped the people in and out of the plane and away from the propeller and I collected the money. Swanee Taylor had never had it as good. I was getting paid for my practice landings! No other student pilot ever had it as good.

THE FIELD LOOKED

LIKE A MERE POSTAGE

STAMP, WITH BIG

TREES ON THE

APPROACH END AND

THE STONE WALL ON

THE OTHER.

It went on all day, especially brisk after noon when people came out of the church right across the road.

One of the passengers I recognized.

He was Mr. Goebler, the second in command under my father at the De Laval Separator plant. He had known me from the day I was born, but did not recognize me with my helmet and goggles on when he climbed aboard. When he got out and turned to hand me the $5 he asked, "Say, aren't you Theodore Miller's son?" I had to admit it.

"I didn't know you were already an aviator. Your father never mentioned it to me." I said, "Oh, I've been flying quite a while." I had to admit that my dad did not know about my fly­ ing. He went away, shaking his head, and I knew my goose was cooked for he would go into Dad's office in the morning (Monday) and tell, or maybe even telephone him sooner.

Finally, near dusk, the activity slowed and I hopped the plane back to the meadow where I could tie it down . What a day! My pocket was full of money. Ted rode over and I shared some of it with him. I went home in the dusk from my "motorcy­ cle tour. " Dad was home but didn't say any­ thing, so [ was confident that Mr. Goebler had not called him. The next day at school, I was so elated that [ was stimulated to work at school harder.

When I got home earlier than Dad I did the chores, like stoking the fur­ nace and carrying out the ashes and the garbage, for I was antidpating al­ most anything could happen. But Dad didn't say a thing; he just read the paper quietly. At dinner, he didn't say anything either, in fact, I felt that maybe Mr. Goebler had not told him.

After dinner, he sat down to read the paper again and finally said to me, "John, Mr. Goebler said you gave him a ride in Swanee Taylor's air­ plane." I admitted it and told him the entire story.

We had a very nice conversation about the whole procedure. He had known that I had driven a car with­ out permission or any instruction and that I had taught myself how to type by the touch system. He didn't really think it was such a difficult task to teach myself to fly. He men­ tioned that he could do it. I didn't argue that point.

He finally said, "John, I know that airplane is in terrible condition. You had better not fly it any more until you fix it up properly, and now you have the money to do it after school is out for the summer."

I took the plane apart on Christ­ mas Day and with a team of horses and a hay wagon borrowed from the farm, moved it to Mr. Barne's barn with permission to store and work on it, without charge. I ordered all the necessary war surplus materials from Dayton Airplane & Supply Co. After graduation the next spring, Ted Weeks and another friend helped me entirely re-cover the plane and re­ pair some weather damage to the wing ribs, etc.

By mid-summer I was flying again, giving rides to Ted and other friends.

I then sold the plane and went to en­ gineering school, with no more flying until after graduation, four years later.

Then I had a proper checkout under the new regulations in another plane that I rebuilt from a wreck. [ was is­ sued Certificates A&E #2906 and Transport Pilot # 5945 . Today, that field where [ did the Sunday passen­ ger-hopping is part of the Dutchess County Airport. .......

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

23

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F EBRUARY'S MYSTERY ANSWER

Robert Brown, Marietta, Georgia, sent us this scan of a brochure produced to sell the Regent Rocket 260.

Our February Mystery Plane came to us from the col­ lection of Louis P. King of Houston, Texas. In a happy coincidence, the Swift Club ran a photo of the same airplan e in its newsletter dated the same month­ Charlie Nelson and I had a good laugh over it!

Here's our first letter: A surprise to see the February issue Mystery Plane­ the Johnson Regent. My father, C.H. "Bud" Chapman, and Dean Porter of Brownsville, Texas, had the airplane for a period during 1958-1960. I spoke with my dad re­ cently, and here is what we can recall, hopefully with some accuracy.

The Regent and Johnson Rocket were both designed

by Pop Johnson. I recall most people referring to the Regent as a "Rocket" and that the aircraft was either as­ sembled or maintained at the Pan American facility in Brownsville. Dad based and flew the Regent at Addison Airport in Dallas for a period before it was sold to Dick Carrol, an airport and ag-plane operator in Aledo, IlliTHIS MONTH' S MYSTERY PLANE

nois. The aircraft was in Experimental category with seats for four or five . The Regent was powered by a geared Lycoming engine in the 260-hp range and had slightly less than Bonanza performance. It had a yellow and black over white paint scheme at the time. I recall a snapshot later sent by Dick Carrol showing the plane with another paint scheme. Dick eventually made a forced landing in New Mexico, and although no one was hurt, the Regent was destroyed by fire.

I went to fly in the Regent with my dad only once, and we were unable to take off due to a rough mag or some other problem on the engine run-up. Dad learned to fly in 1938, and after the Regent he bought a Beech Travel Air twin . Dean Porter died a number of years ago. Dad lives now in Overland Park, Kansas, and we still enjoy flying together in our Bonanza and Buzz Penny's Pasped Skylark. Hopefully, you'll hear from more people who have more accurate and detailed in­ formation about the Regent.

Jack Chapman Gravois Mills, Missouri SEND YOUR ANSWER TO: EAA , VINTAGE A IRPLANE , P.O.

3086, OSHKOSH, WI 54 903-308 6 . YOUR ANSWER 10, 2004 , FOR IN­ CLUSION IN THE A UGUST 2004 ISSUE OF Vintage Airplane.

COMES TO US FROM THE COLLECT I ON

Box

OF THE EAA LIBRARY.

NEEDS TO BE IN NO lATER THAN J UNE

You CAN ALSO SEND YOUR RESPONSE VIA E­ MAIL. DON'T FORGET , WE'VE GOT A NEW E-MAil ADDRESS FOR YOU TO USE WHEN SENDING IN YOUR RESPONSE. S END YOUR ANSWER TO mys­

teryplane@eaa. org. B E SURE TO INCLUDE BOTH YOUR NAM E AND ADDRESS (ESPECIAllY YOUR CITY AND STATE!) IN THE BODY OF YOUR NOTE AND PUT "(MONTH) MYSTERY PLANE" IN THE SUBJECT LINE .

24

MAY 2004

Charlie Nelson of the Swift Club sent us this different view ofthe Regent Rocket.

And our second letter with a bit more information: This is easy! It's the Regent Rocket 260 designed by Ru­ fus Summerfield "Pop" Johnson and built in Henderson, Texas, by Regent Aircraft Corp. Walter R. Smith was presi­ dent and]. Mitrovich was chief engineer. First flight was made by Johnson in April 1951 at the Rusk County Air­ port in Henderson.

The Regent Rocket 260 was powered by a 260-hp Ly­ coming GSO-435. Gross weight 3,150 pounds, five seats, wingspan 30 feet 6 inches, wing area 154 square feet, and cruising speed quoted at different times as between 177 and 200 mph.

Regent Aircraft was reported to have moved first to Pearland, then in 1953 to Edinburg, Texas. It was reported that there were plans for a 400-hp version. Harlingen has also been mentioned as a location. There may have been a later move to McAllen, Texas, and the FBO there, Mr. Fer­ guson, acquired an unfinished fuselage. Johnson later built a factory in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he intended to build this airplane as the Johnson 260 with a 260-hp Continental 10-470. There was also a proposed twin-en­ gine Johnson 450. These were advertised using the corporate names of Crescent Aircraft and Aerosonic. John­ son went to prison for financial dealings in Lafayette.

I am told that there was an unfinished airframe with the engine mount fittings on the wings for the twin-en­ gine version.

The flying Regent was destroyed in the 1960s when it landed on a road in New Mexico after an engine failure, then caught fire and burned. Mike Nalick, a Navion afi­ cionado in Minnesota, eventually purchased the unfinished Regent. I am not aware of its present location.

Pop Johnson was a machinist who had worked as an Army aircraft mechanic. In 1923, Johnson, like many others in that era, built what he felt was an improve­ ment over the Curtiss Jenny. He was later associated with Alexander Aircraft and Culver, possibly as a dealer or distributor.

About 1940/1941, Johnson built the first prototype Swift, which bore a strong resemblance to the Culver Cadet. Construction was steel tubing fuselage and wood wing. Johnson made a deal with Globe Aircraft to develop and build the aircraft. They soon parted ways, and Globe reengineered the Swift as an all-metal aircraft.

Johnson built the prototype Johnson Rocket 125 about 1942 with a Lycoming 0-290 engine. At the end of World

War II, the Rocket was developed into the tricycle-gear Rocket 185 (powered by a Lycoming 0-435), which was certificated in 1946. The dealers, organized as Rocket Air­ craft, eventually took away control of the program from Johnson. Approximately 20 aircraft were built at a plant near Meacham Field in Ft. Worth.

In December 1947, Johnson Aircraft Corp. of Grand Prairie, Texas, began work on the Johnson Bullet. It was initially to have been a two-place design but soon devel­ oped into a four-place. Irwin Weise, who had worked on the Rocket, was chief engineer. Unlike Johnson's earlier air­ craft, the Bullet was all metal. In September 1948, it was announced that Johnson Aircraft would move to Stewart Airport in Tyler, Texas. Pop Johnson made the first flight of the Bullet on January 23,1949. In March 1949, Aircraft Mfg. Co. was formed with local oilmen S.J. Taylor and W.E. Stewart (owner of Stewart Aircraft and Stewart Airport) as the primary stockholders. It was announced that Aircraft Mfg. Co. would build the Bullet while Johnson Aircraft would handle distribution and sales. Sam Gibbons, who ran Tyler Flying Service at Stewart Airport, became secre­ tary-treasurer. Mike Blatnick was the inspector.

The IRS seized the assets of Johnson Aircraft, and Air­ craft Mfg. Co. purchased them at auction in February 1950. Johnson went to Henderson, Texas, where he began work on the Regent Rocket in May 1950 for Regent Air­ craft Corp. Taylor was one of the investors in Regent.

Aircraft Mfg. Co. completed certification of the Texas Bullet on November 30, 1950. The most notable changes from the prototype were elimination of the "jet assist" exhaust thrust augmenter and relocation of the horizon­ tal stabilizer to a higher location, out of the wing wake, with a jackscrew to trim the front of the stabilizer rather than the elevator trim tab used on the prototype. The prototype was never brought to the approved type de­ sign configuration. Five aircraft were built and registered with standard airworthiness certificates, the last in No­ vember 1951.

I own a Texas Bullet and would be interested in hearing from anyone with more information on Johnson and his aircraft.

Robert A. Brown Marietta, Georgia Other correct answers were received from Thomas Lym­ burn, Princeton, Minnesota; Wayne Van Valkenburgh, Jasper, Georgia; Dick Aaron, Sussex, New Jersey; Roy Ca­ gle, Prescott, Arkansas; Wayne Muxlow, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Geoffrey Woodard, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania; Don and Ann Pellegreno, Rhome, Texas; Steve Eastburn, Urbana, Illinois; Orval Fairbairn, Daytona Beach, Florida; Jim Montague, Lake Elmo, Minnesota; J.e. Black, Lake­ land, Florida; Pete King, Woodstock, Georgia; Joe Sills, Leander, Texas; George A. Rodda, Columbus, Indiana; Jack Erickson, State College, Pennsylvania; Roger Baker, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Stan Price, Grapevine, Texas; and Thomas Hesselgrave, Houma, Louisiana. .......

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

25

PASS

IT TO B UCK

BY E.E. "BuCK" HILBERT, EAA #2 1 VAA #5

P.O. Box 424, UNION, IL 60180

Spring has "sproinged"

After last month's EAA Skiplane Fly-In report, this one is a warm pleasure to write. Spring, with all its vagaries, is well on the way here in Northern Illinois, and the sap (read "Buck") is starting to run.

At the time of this writing we are pack­ ing to attend the Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In at Lakeland, Florida. I hope I'll see many of the friends we missed because we weren't there last year. Both wife Dorothy and I were down with medical problems. Not certificate threatening, but slightly inca­ pacitating at the time. We are both back at it and will be at the Vintage headquarters or around the EAA headquarters building.

This month marks the 17th anniversary of this column. The intent was for it to be a sort of "Dear Abby" of the Vintage Air­ craft Association, and that we did. Over the years we have seen and heard from many of our Vintage members with prob­ lems, suggestions, and questions. Some were about airplanes, some had to do with regulations; some were orchids, while oth­ ers were onions.

When the column was first started, it was interesting to note that once in a while someone would catch one of the de­ liberate errors Jack Cox and I would insert.

We used to chuckle about that, but it did give us a clue that at least we did have readers. I don't do that too often anymore, but I still catch it from some of the real purists out there in the ranks.

The "Mystery Plane" column always seems to create calls and mail. Often­ times, although I can't give them an answer, it makes for great conversations.

Our editor, H.G., unearths some of the rarest and weirdest of airplanes. I enjoy reading about them, and sometimes I feel a little pang of regret that I didn 't know what it was. It's always an education, and I look forward to seeing it.

Once again, as I did back in May 1987, I'm going to ask for member participation.

26

MAY 2004

We can always use hints and ideas that would be of value to our fellow enthusi­ asts. Personal experiences, procedures that enhance safety or make flying easier, maintenance items that educate any and all of us, and fly-ins and VAA Chapter ac­ tivities; all are welcome. Don't worry about preparing a manuscript or your writing abil­ ity. If you have something, maybe a picture, write on a slip of paper and stick it to the back of it, telling "what and where." Our editor will clean it up and see that it makes the grade. Your name might even be in print, and that's a "hoot" as one of our members would say.

As an example, and this dates back to that first column, if you have a two-tank fuel system-right and left, or fore and aft-managing the fuel burn can some­ times present a problem. How do you do it? Well, back in '87, I was flying a Fairchild C-8, an early F-24. I stopped to see a friend (now old), Don Genzmer, and asked how he managed the fuel burn on his F-24.

He looked at me and then said, "Got a watch?" "If you're taking off, use the fullest tank; then when you get to cruise, look at your watch or the clock on the dash. If the minute hand is on the right side of the twelve, use the right tank, and when it gets to the left side of the six, use the left tank. Reach­ ing your destination, back on the fullest tank for landing."

Now you lucky guys with a fuel selector that has BOTH can ignore this "tip," but those of us that have separate selections, this tip makes for one less mental hazard.

I wish I had thought of this when flying my L-5. That Stinson had the most unreliable gauges I have ever encountered, other than the Varga Kachina. Both of these air­ craft are flown by time rather than what's reading on the gauges . The L-5, with its low compression 0-435, would burn just

about anything you fed it, short of Jet A, but at a prodigious rate. I'd fly on one tank for an hour, switch to the other for another hour, and be assured I had 15 minutes left in each tank. No more! When those 15 minutes were gone, or the engine burped, then it was back to the other side and scoot for the nearest gas pump.

This tip was just the kind of information we wanted to see and share with our fel­ low members. We haven't seen too many of these tips as of late, so maybe it's time to solicit some input. Come on, guys and gals, if you have a pet theory, out with it. Let the world know. You may be giving out information that you think everybody knows, or should know, but remember, every day there are new members coming in, and this item you take for granted may be a breath of fresh air for someone who has never had your kind of experience.

Speaking of experience, number three son, Lee, the one with the ambition and verve to fly to a frozen lake in sub-zero weather so he could change over to skis and make the EAA Skiplane Fly-In, recently brought a SeaBee along with the owner back to Illinois from Mississippi. His re­ mark, when I asked him how it went, was, "You can't buy experience like that!"

This will probably generate some acid comments from SeaBee owners, but he said flying this machine was sort of like driving a Mack truck with both front tires flat and no power steering.

Bucking a 15-knot head wind and indi­ cating about 90-92 mph, it was a nine-and-a-half-hour trip, with four stops (to refuel and regain strength to carryon). It sure enhanced his appreciation for our Champ.

And with the happy thoughts of spring, and the many fine flying days to come, it's "over to you"!

WHO RECEIVED PILOT

CERTIFICATE No.1?

It's not who you think!

Ev CASSAGNERES It may come as quite a surprise as to who received the very first pi­ lot certificate in this country.

I first heard the story from the daughter of that very pilot. Here is the story.

For many years Nel MacCraken lived on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C. Nel and I had become good friends during the time I was researching the history of Charles A. Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis airplane at our National Air and Space Museum.

She was quite a socialite in the D.C. area due to her father's high position in the government. When she learned I would be coming to D.C. to work on the NYP, she would arrange a party at her apart­ ment, hiring a caterer and inviting some of aviation's elite so I could "network" for my research efforts.

I shall never forget those parties, and the wonderful old-time avia­ tion people I met there.

Nel MacCraken had a large col­ lection of memorabilia on her father-William P. MacCraken ]r.­ who at the time of Lindbergh's flight to Paris was Assistant Secre­ tary of Commerce for Aeronautics.

He had been an attorney, in addi­ tion to having been a wartime Air Service flying instructor. He was the first head of the new agency.

This was at about the time when new federal regulations were being written that required certain equipment on airplanes, and for pilots to have a certificate.

Also at this time there was a 37­ year-Old attorney and former combat pilot by the name of Clarence M. Young, who was chief of the Air Regulations Division of the government's new Aeronautics

The first 10 Pilot Certificates under the Department of Commerce regulations were issued to: William P. MacCraken Jr. , Assistant Secretary for Aeronautics Clarence M. Young, Director of Aeronautics, issued CAL. No. 69 Ralph G. Lockwood , Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce Parker D. Cramer, Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce Frank H. Jerone, Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce W.R. Jones, Cliffside Park, New Jersey Robert Gast, Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce W.N. Breigan, Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce Richard H. Lees Jr. , Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce D. DeR. M. Scarritt, Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce Two other early certificates of note:

64 Philip R. Love , Anglum, Missouri 69 Charles A. Lindbergh , Robertson Aircraft, Anglum, Missouri Reference: American Aircraft Directory, Supplement to First Edition, 1927, published by Aviation Publishing Corp., New York City, Page 18-29

Branch of the Department of Com­ merce, under MacCraken.

When the powers-that-be de­ cided to issue certificates to pilots, they met in a conference room somewhere in our nation's capital.

The attendees at that meeting, ac­ cording to Nel MacCraken, were the president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge; Orville Wright; William P. MacCraken ]r.; Clarence M. Young; and pOSSibly others.

This would have had to be around late 1926 or early 1927.

When the question arose as to who would be issued Pilot Certifi­ cate No. I, it appears that everyone in the room strongly felt that Orville Wright should be No. 1.

When this was suggested, Orville flatly stated, Hell, everyone knows I am the first pilot to fly, I don't need it, give it to Bill Mac­ Craken," which they did. Clarence Young got NO.2.

Nel MacCraken had that origi­ nal certificate at her home, encased in plastic, to proudly show to anyone who visited her. I believe it is now with all of her memorabilia at the General Dou­ glas MacArthur Memorial museum in Norfolk, Virginia.

Interestingly, the original Air Commerce Regulations were dis­ tinguished by their brevity, simplicity, and directness.

They laid down a set of com­ monsense air traffic rules, and provided for the registration, cer­ tification, and inspection of aircraft, and the certificating of pilots and aviation mechanics.

Categorically, and rather sim­ ple, the pilot certificates were transport, industrial, and private.

It was a start. .......

II

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

27

VAA NeWS

continued from page 3

Comeback Dad continued from page 7

be held at the Theater in the Woods on Sunday, August I, 2004, at 1 p.m . at the 52nd annual conven­ tion of the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc., Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Notice is further given that the election will be held as the first item on the agenda at the business meeting. Five Class III directors (three-year terms) and one Class IV director (three-year term; who re­ sides within 50 miles of Oshkosh) shall be elected. In accordance with the fourth restated bylaws of the Experimental Aircraft As­ sociation Inc., the Nominating Committee has submitted the fol­ lowing candidates:

Range, and the landing of that tail­ wheel airplane back on solid ground.

He handled it all flawlessly.

He was out of the woods regarding his own abilities. He was even out of the woods regarding his psychological barriers. The remaining woods to get out of was with the FAA. He needed his medical certificate back. It wouldn't be good enough for Dad to always have to have a check pilot with him. To com­ plete his dream, Dad had to fly alone.

Dad called the VAA and EAA and got sympathetic and expert help on precisely how to put in his applica­ tion. He had his heart monitored, his stress test complete, and on Septem­ ber 22, six months to the day after he had his stroke, he put his application Class III for his medical into the gaping maw Curt Drumm Bob Gyllenswan of the outgoing mailbox at the post Susan Dusenbury Vern Raburn office.

Now all he could do was wait.

Bill Eickhoff Barry Valentine He couldn't fly his Fleet without his Class IV certificate because nobody but him Louie Andrew Curt Drumm knew how to fly it. He tried to put the gnawing worry in the back of his mind Alan Shackleton

Secretary, EAA Board ofDirectors""'" while he spent the fall flying with Bud

to the fly-in breakfasts they arranged on almost every Sunday morning, the winter snatching every sunny day to patrol the Rockies, and every spring af­ ternoon walking with dread to and from the mailbox awaiting word, each trip down the driveway newly imagin­ ing how he would react if the news wasn't good.

All that time the Fleet stood sen­ tinel in the hangar waiting, too. If Dad didn't get his medical back, he would have to sell her.

Strange as it seemed to me at the time, when I looked at the Fleet's hulk­ ing, commanding frame sitting almost defiantly in the hangar, I had the weird feeling that she would not be sold.

Our daily, methodical work was over, work that had a rhythm and progress that could be tracked. The work of waiting had none of that, and it was the hardest yet. There was no activity. There was no routine. There was nothing-nothing-we could do.

Except wait. And do a daily tall y. ....".

Which we did for 162 days.

NEW MEMBERS Mark Hyderman Edmonton, AB, Canada Robert]. Little Lloydminster, AB, Canada Gary Clayton Newmarket, ON, Canada James D. Springer Echo Bay, ON, Canada Mascouche, QC, Canada Mario Poulin ' Pete Croagh Lantau, Hong Kong Sverrir Olafsson Hafnarfjordur, Iceland Andrew Rombach Hauptwil TG, Switzerland F. Leland Jones Anchorage, AK Donald R. Lane Homer, AK Pell City, AL Dean Courtney Clark McGlothin North Little Rock, AR Olga Graziano Benson, AZ · John Matthew McMahan Mesa, AZ Phoenix, AZ George L. Mothershed Edward Whitehead Yuma, AZ Clyde Davis Laytonville, CA Ralph H. Finch Davis, CA David Gaines Lodi, CA Elverta, CA Rob Roy Gerolamy Grass Valley, CA Jeff Jungemann Wheeler O. North Carlsbad, CA Timothy Roberts Oakland, CA Ronald Thompson Paso Robles, CA Solvang, CA Carl R. Walston 28

MAY 2004

John D. Carlson Ocala, FL Tom Dunn Lake Placid, FL Albert Harrington Spring Hill, FL Newberry, FL Jorge Lorie Lawrence L. Straub Casselberry, FL Greg Blosser BarneSville, GA E. Bruce Cumming Powder Springs, GA Donald C. Jabat Locust Grove, GA Richard Kemp Canton, GA Muscatine, IA Ryan Stacy Virg Carothers Rock Island, IL William Frank Drasler Waukegan, IL Paul S. Wallem Rockford, IL Dracut, MA Michael Tgibides Mark Donigan Mechanicsville, MD Watervliet, MI Robert Koshar Mike Moening Ann Arbor, MI Harry Peckham Oakland, Ml Tore Ro Sparta, MI Charles K. Sandager Albert Lea, MN Tom Westbrook Indinola, MS Creston E. Stewart Bozeman, MT Joe Craig High Point, NC Nags Head, NC John Ratzenberger Omaha, NE Clague Hodgson

GaryLuft Donald G. Ducharme Mark Kennedy Mark Abrams Robert Avner William Bancroft, Jr. Gordon Murray Roger Parnow E. A. Felmlee Captain Paul Redhead Samuel Andrews Kenneth T. Mcqueen Chris Etrnanczyk William M. Gray Larry Crawford Darrell Grigsby Louis F. Hock John T. Molumphy AI Nash Theodore Purvis Scott Chambers Richard N. Merz Robert B. Mitchell Frederick Breisch, Jr.

Lincoln, NE Keene, NH Derry, NH Reno, NY Flushing, NY Hubbard,OH Hudson, OH Crestline, OH Cleavland, OK Eugene, OR Muncy, PA Bryn Athyn, PA Bestpage, TN Fort Worth, TX Aldie, VA Big Stone Gap, VA Waynesboro, VA Roanoak, VA Falls Church, VA Poquoson, VA Monroe, WA Plymouth, WI Hazelhurst, WI Cody, WY

FLY-IN CALENDAR

r

J:,......~~~~__....._. "'......-;,.

The (ollowing list o( coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter o( in(ormation only and does not constitute approval, sponsorship, involve­ ment, control or direction o(any event (fly-in, sem­ inars, fly market, etc.) listed. To submit an event, send the in(ornzation via mail to: Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Or e­ mail the in(ormation to: vintage@eaa .org.

In(ormation should be received (our months prior to the event date.

MAY 7-S-Burlington, NC-Alamance County Airport (BUY) VM Ch. 3 Annual Spring Fly-In. All Classes welcome. Info: Jim 843-753-7138, or 276-638­ 8783, eiwilsoll@/lOmeexpressway.net.

MAY S-Kennewick, WA-Vista Field, EAA Ch. 391 Fly­ In Breakfast. Info: 509-735-1 664.

MAY 14-1S-Kewanee, IL-Muni (Ell) 2nd Annual Midwest Aeronca Festival. Camping on field, breakfast, flying events. Info: 309-853-8141, www.allgelfire.colll/stars4/aeronca(est.

MAY 14-1S-Porterville, CA-(P1V) WAMM Western Assoc. of Mooney Mites Semi-Annual Fly-ln. Info: 135f/yer@sosil1et.l1et or mooneYl1lite@mool1eymite.com.

All owners and enthusiasts welcome.

MAY IS-Riverside, CA-Flabob Airport, EAA Vintage Ch. 33, 5th Annual Open House. 200+ vintage air­ craft and dozens of vintage cars and hot rods are expected. Fabric covering demonstrations, radio controlled aircraft flying, welding demonstrations, and a flea market. Young Eagles flights. For more information or to make reservations for Young Eagles flights, contact Ka thy Rohm, 909-683-2309, ext. 104 or kathyroill1l@aol.col1l.

MAY IS-Middletown, OH-Middletown Municipal Airport (MWO). "Chris Cakes" Pancake Breakfast Fly-In, 8am-Ipm. Sponsored by the Middletown Aviation Club. Info: Bob 513-422-9362.

MAY IS-Romeoville, Ilr-Lewis University Airport (LOn 33rd Annual EAA Ch. IS Fly-In Breakfast, 7am-Noon,. Adults S5, under twelve n. Info: 630­ 243-8213 MAY IS-Warwick, NY-Warwick Aerodrome (N72), EAA Ch. SOl Annual Fly-In, Info: 973-492-9025, or donprov@optOl1lille.l1et.

MAY 21-22-Columbia, CA-28th Annual Continental Luscombe Assoc. "Gathering of Luscombes." Info: Jim lie Patti, 559-888-2745 or www.luscol1lbe-cla.org.

Advance registration strongly encouraged at gn ievill@gmu.edu.

MAY U -Troy, OH-WACO Field (IWF). VM Ch. 36 Old Fashioned Barbeque Fly-In, Ilam to 4pm.

Lunch at noon. Young Eagle Flights will be given, weather permitting. Info: Dick and Patti 937-335­ 1444, dickm/(lpatti@aol.col1l; or Roland and Diane at 937-294-1107, naviolJ@>gemair.col1l.

MAY 29-Zanesville, OH-Riverside Airport. EAA Ch. 425 Fly-In, Drive-In Breakfast. 8 am-2 pm.

Pancake, sausage, and egg breakfast served all day.

Lunch items served from II am-2pm. Info: 740­ 454-0003.

JUNE 4-S-Bartlesville, OK-18th Annual Biplane Expo.

All aircraft and airplane enthusiasts are welcome.

Static displays, forums, seminars, lie exhibits. Info: Charlie Harris 918-622-8400.

JUNE 4-6-Columbia, CA-Bellanca-Champion Club West Coast Fly-In, (022). Camping, hotel/motel facilities, Friday BBQ, Saturday steak dinner/mtg.

Advance registration strongly encouraged. Info: 518-73 1-6800, Robert@bellallca-champiollclub.com or WWlv.bellanca-champiollclub.col1l.

JUNE 5-6-Washington, lA-Fly Iowa 2004 lie Diamond Anniversary of D-Day, usa Show­ Dance Evening of 5th. All aircraft welcome.

Info:www.f/yiowa2004.com JUNE S-Tunkhannock, PA-Skyhaven Airport (76N).

Skyhaven Pilots Association Pancake Breakfast.

7:30 am-I pm. Camping available. Info: 570-836­ 4800 or skyhavell@epix.net.

JUNE U-13--Gainesville, TX-Gainesville Municipal Ai rport (GLE). Texas Ch. Antique Airplane Assoc.

41st Annual Fly-ln. Info: Jim 817-468-1571.

JUNE 12-Ghent, NY-KJineki li Ai rport (NY I), EAA Ch. 146 Summer Fly-In Pancake Breakfast, 8:30­ noon, S5 . Fly-in or drive-in , all welcome. (Gas available at Columbia County Airport, IBI.) Rain date 6/13. Info: 518-758-6355 or W1vw.eaaI46.org.

JUNE 13-Nottingham, UK-Nottingham Tollerton Airport. Today's Pilot 2004 Fly-In. Sat evening party for early arrivals. Camping available. Info: 44 0 1780 755131 or Stephen.bridgewatel@keypublisiling.colll.

JUNE IS-IS-Lock Haven, PA-19th Annual Sentimental Journey to Cub Haven 2004 . Fly in, drive in, camp. Info: 570-893-4200 or ;2Cl1b@kcnet.org.

June 17-20-Knoxville, lA-Bellamy Field, (OXV).

Ercoupe Owners Club 2004 National Convention.

Info: Mike, 515-287-3840, ppcmike@hotmail.com.

Full info at "~vw.ercollpe.org under 2004 Convention button.

JUNE 17-20-Middletown, OH- (MWO) 12th Nat'l Aeronca Assoc. Convention. Air Force Museum and Aeronca plant tours. Aeronca aircraft judging and awards, Aeronca forums, banquet with speak­ ers. All welcome. Info: 216-337-5643, or bwmatzllac.@yailoo.col1l.

JUNE 26-Gardner, KS-Gardner Municipal Airport (K34). Greater Kansas City Vintage Aircraft Fly-ln.

Enjoy vintage aircraft at the "Greatest Little Airport in Kansas!" Info: Jeff, 816-363-6351, ;sllllens@kc. rr.col1l.

JUNE 26-Prosser, WA-EAA Ch. 391 Fly-In Breakfast.

Info: 509-735-1664.

JUNE 26-27-Bowling Green, OH-Wood County Airport (lGO) Ch. 582 Plane Fun 2004. Young Eagles, pancake breakfasts, aircraft displays, pilot forum s, antiques, warbirds, homebuilts, and auto displays. 9am-5pm both days. Info: John, 419­ 666-0503, ;bmcavoy@tllevavz.col1l, or WIVW.eaa582.org.

JULY l O-Gainesville, GA-{GVL) EAA Ch. 611 36th Annual Cracker Fly-ln. 7:30 am Pancake Breakfast lie Fly-ln. Judging in several categories, trophies, awa rds, rides, food lie drinks. All day fun for the entire family. Info: 770-531-0291 or WIVW. eaa611.org.

JULY 17-Zanesville, OH-Parr Airport. EAA Ch. 425 Fly-In, Drive-I n. 8 am pancake, sausage and egg breakfast. Lunch served II am-2 pm. Info: 740­ 454-0003 AUGUST 13-1S-Alliance, OH- Alliance-Barber Airport (201). 6th Annual Ohio Aeronca Aviators Fly-ln.

Breakfast Sat lie Sun. 7- l1am by EAA Ch. 82.

Primitive camping on field, local lodging avail­ able. All welcome. Info : 216-337-5643, bwmatzllac.@yailoo.colII, or www.oaaf/y-il1.colII. AUGUST 14-Cadillac, MI-Wexford County Airport (CAD), F1y-ln/Drive-In Breakfast, EM Ch. 678.

Info: 231-779-8113, ;dpasilad@llOtmail.com.

AUGUST 21-Newark, OH-Newark-Heath Airport (VTA). EAA Ch. 402 Fly-In Breakfast. Info: Tom, 740-587-2312, tmC@alil1k.coll1.

AUGUST 21-Broomfield, CO-Jefferson County Airport. 8th Annual JeffCo Aviation Assoc. Fly-In, 7am-noon. Trophies awarded in 9 classes.

Drawing for a free flight in Dick Jones T-6. Info: Daril 303-423-9846.

AUGUST 27-29-Mattoon, IL-Coles County Airport (MTO). 2004 Luscombe Fly-In. Forums, Luscombe judging, shower, camping, electrical hook-ups. $50 distance award. Info: Jerry 217­ 234-8720.

AUGUST 28-Niles, MI-Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport (3TR). VAA Ch . 35 will host its annual Corn and Sausage Roast, I l am-3pm. Coffee and donuts for early arrivals. Rain Date: 8/29. Info: Len, 269-684­ 6566 or tripacerlen@yailoo.com.

SEPTEMBER 4-Marion, IN-14th Annual Fly-In Cntise­ In, Marion Municipal Airport. Event features antique, classic, contemporary, h omebuilt, ultra­ light, lie warbi rd aircraft and vintage cars, trucks, motorcycles, and tractors. Panca ke Breakfast.

Info: ray;oill1sol1@FlyII1Cruiselll .col1l o r www.FlylnCruiseln.com SEPTEMBER 4-Prosser, WA-EAA Ch. 391's 21st Annual Labor Day Weekend Posser Fly-In. Info : 509-735-1664.

SEPTEMBER 4-Zanesville, OH-Parr Airport. EAA Ch. 425 Fly-In, Drive-ln. 8 am pancake, sausage, egg breakfast. Lunch served II am-2 pm. Info: 740­ 454-0003.

JUNE 18-20

Golden WeSt EM Regional Fly-In Marysville. CA (MYV) www.goldenwestf/yin.org

JUNE 26-27 Rocky Mountain EAA Regional Ay-In Front Range Airport (FTG) Watkins. CO www_rmrfi_org

JULY 7·11 Northwest EAA Ay-In Arlington, WA (AWO) www.nweaa_org

JULY 27·AUGUST 2 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Oshkosh, WI (OSH) www. airventure_org

SEPTEMBER 18-19 Virginia State EM Ay-In Petersbu rg, VA (PTB) www.vaeaa.org

OCTOBER 1·3

Southeast EM Regional Fly-In

Evergreen, AL (GZH)

www.serfi.org

OCTOBER 7·10

Copperstate EM Regional Ay-In

Phoenix, AZ (A39)

www.copperstate.org SEPTEMBER 4-6-Cleveland, OH- Burke Lakefront Airport. 2004 Cleveland Nat'l Air Show. Exciting air shows and displays. Finish line for U.S. Air Race Inc's Nat') Air Race and Air Cntise (CA to Cleveland) celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Cleveland's Nat'l Air Races of 1929. Info: 216-781­ 0747 or www.clevelal1dairsllow.coll1 .

SEPTEMBER S-12-Galesburg, lL-Galesburg Municipal Airport (GBG) 33rd Nat'l Stearman Fly-ln.

Everything Stearman! Fun and camaraderie.

Aerobatic, form ation, short-field takeoff and spot-landing contests. Aircraft judging and awards. Technical seminars. Aircraft parts lie sou­ venirs for sa le. Dawn patrol and breakfast.

Lunch-time flyouts . Pizza party. U.S.O. show.

Anual banquet. Info : Betty 309-343-6409, stearlllall@Stearlllal1f/yin.col1l, or Mvw.stearrnanf/yin.colII. SEPTEMBER IS-Bartlesville, OK-48th Annual Tulsa Regional Fly-In . Info: Charlie Harris 918­ 622-8400.

SEPTEMBER 18-Ghent, NY- Klinekill Airport (NYI), EAA Ch. 146 Fall Fly-In Pancake Breakfast, 8:30­ noon, S5. Fly-in or drive-in, all welcome. (Gas available at Columbia County Airport, IBI.) Rain date 9/19. Info: 518-758-6355 or WIVW.eaa146.org.

SEPTEMBER 2S-26-Nashua, NH- Boire Field, adjacent to the College. Daniel Webster College 2004 Aviation Heritage Festival. Aircraft, speakers, activi­ ties. Adult admission is SIS, children 6-12 are S7, and children under 5 get free admission. Special discounts for families, seniors, veterans, and groups. Info: 603-577-6625 or W1vw.dwc.edll.

OCTOBER 1-3-Pottstown, PA-Pottstown Municipal Airport (N47), Bellanca-Champion Club East Coast Fly-In. Info: 5 18-73 1-6800, Robert@bellal1ca-clwlllpiollcillb. col1l, or lVww.bellanca-clwmpioncillb.com.

OCTOBER 2-3-Midland, TX-Midland Int'l Airport, AIRSHO 2004, Commemorative Air Force HQ. Info: 432-563-1000, est. 2231 or p"blicrelations@Ca(1lq.org.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

29

VINTAGE

TRADER

Something to buy, sell or trade?

TAKE SOME OF THE EXPERIMENTING

OUT OF HOMEBUILDING

May 14-16

Griffin, GA

• llG Welding

May15-16

Griffin, GA

• Finishing and Spray Painting

May 22 - 23

Frederick, MD

• Sheet Metal Basics • Fabric Covering • Composite Construction • Gas Welding • Electrical Systems and Avionics

june 4 - 6

• RV Assembly

june 11-13

Denver,CO

• RV Assembly

june 25-27

Griffin, GA

• TIG Welding

Lakeland, R.

• RV Assembly

june 25-27

Sun 'n Fun Campus

• • • •

Introduction to Aircraft Building Sheet Metal Basics Composite Construction Electrical s and Avionics

Classified Word Ads: $5 .50 per 10 words, 180 words maximum, with boldface lead-in on first line.

Classified Display Ads : One column wide (2.167 inches) by 1, 2, or 3 inches high at $20 per inch. Black and white only, and no fre­ quency discounts.

Advertising Closing Dates: 10th of second month prior to desired issue date (Le., January 10 is the closing date for the March issue). VAA re­ serves the right to reject any advertising in conflict with its policies. Rates cover one insertion per is­ sue. Classified ads are not accepted via phone.

Payment must accompany order. Word ads may be sent via fax (920-426-4828) or e-mail (c/as­ sads@eaa.org) using credit card payment (ali cards accepted). Include name on card, complete ad­ dress, type of card, card number, and expiration date. Make checks payable to EAA. Address ad­ vertising correspondence to EAA Publications Classified Ad Manager, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 BABBln BEARING SERVICE - rod bearings, main bearings, bushings, master rods, valves, piston rings. Call us Toll Free 1/800/233-6934, e-mail ramremfg@aol.com Website www.ramengine.com VINTAGE ENGINE MACHINE WORKS, N. 604 FREYA ST., SPOKANE, WA 99202.

Airplane T-Shirts

150 Different Airplanes Available

WE PROBABLY HAVE YOUR AIRPLANE!

www.airplanetshirts.com 1-800-645-7739 THERE'S JUST NOTHING LIKE IT

ON THE WEB!!

www.aviation-giftshop.com A Website With The Pilot In Mind (and those who love airplanes) Warner engines. Two 165s, one fresh O.H., one low time on Fairchild 24 mount with all acces­ sories. Also a fresh D.H. 145, 1938 Fleet 10F, Helton Lark, and Aeronca C-3. Find my name and address in the Officers and Directors list­ ing and call evenings. E. E. "Buck" Hilbert.

Flying wires available. 1994 pricing. Visit www.f/yingwires.com or call 800-517-9278.

~EAA

.AI

~JilltJlI fAllil

WORKSHOPS 1-800-WORKSHOP

---~--1-800-967-5746

YOU CAN BUILD IT! LET EAA TEACH YOU HOW.

30

MAY 2004

For Sale - 1939 Spartan Executive, 3500TT, 10 SMOH. 214-354-6418.

Lycoming engine, 0-145, J3 mount, wood prop, manual, accessories, MD 410-529-0868.

R-975's Radials, for restoration projects or static display. Cutout R985 for museum display, showing internal moving parts. Moran Aviation: davidc@moran.co.i1972-3-9097749

Membership Services Directo!y-

..lI NT-AGE

~

AIRCRAFT ENJOY THE MANY BENEFITS OF EAA AND THE EAA VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION ASS0CIATION

"

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

windsoc.k@aoi.com Secretary

Steve Nesse 2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea, MN 56007 507-373-1674

stnes@deskmedia.com

Vice·President George Daubner 2448 Lough Lane Hartford, WI 53027 262·673-5885 vaaflyboy@msn.com

85 Brush Hill Road Sherborn, MA 01770 508-653-7557

sstl()@\comcast.net

Phone (920) 426-4800 Fax (920) 426-4873 Web Site: http://www.eaa.org and http://www.alrventure.org E-Mail: vintage @ eaa.org

EAA and Division Membership Services 800-843-3612 _.... _. _. __ . FAX 920-426-6761 (8:00 AM-7:00 PM Monday - Friday CSn • New/ renew memberships: EAA, Divisions (Vintage Aircraft Association, lAC, Warbirds), National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFl) • Address changes • Merchandise sales • Gift memberships

Treasurer Charles W. Harris 7215 East 46th st.

Tulsa, OK 74147 918-622-8400

cwh@hv5u.com

DIRECTORS Steve Bender

EAA Aviation Center, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh WI 54903-3086

Programs and Activities

Dale A. Gustafson 7724 Shady Hills Dr. Indianapolis, IN 46278 317-293-4430 dalefaye@msn.com

EAA AirVenture Fax-On-Demand Directory _.. ___ ... _....... _____ .. .. .. 732-885-6711 Auto Fuel STCs .. ___ .... . .... _920-426-4843 Build/ restore information . .. . _920-426-4821 Chapters: locating/ organizing _920-426-4876 Education ........ ____ ....... 888-322-3229 • EAA Air Academy • EAA Scholarships

an tlquer@inreach.com

Jeannie Hill

P.O. Box 328

Harvard, IL 60033-0328

815-943-7205

dinghao@owc.net

John Berendt

7645 Echo Point Rd.

Cannon Falls, MN 55009

507-263-24 14

mj bfchld@rconnect.com

Steve Krog

1002 Heather Ln.

Hartford, WI 53027

262-966-7627

sskrog@aol.com

Robert C. "Bob" Brauer 9345 S. Hoyne

Chicago, lL 60620

773-779-2105

photopilot@aol.com

Robert D. " Bob" Lumley

1265 South 124th St.

Brookfield, WI 53005

262-782-2633

Dave Clark

635 Vestal Lane

Plainfield, IN 46168

317-839-4500

davecpd@iquest,net

Gene Morris

5936 Steve Court

Roanoke, TX 76262

817-491-9 110

n03capt@flash.net

John S. Copeland lA Deacon Street Northborough, MA 01532 508·393-4775 copelandl @juno.com

Dean Richardson

Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Associ­ ation, Inc. is $40 for one year, including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION. Family membership is available for an additional $10 annually. Junior Membership (under 19 years of age) is available at $23 annually.

All maj or credit cards accepted for membership.

(Add $16 for Foreign Postage_)

1429 Kings Lynn Rd Stoughton, WI 53589 608-877-8485

VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

Phil Coulson

28415 Springbrook Dr.

Lawton, MI 49065

269-624-6490

rcouison516@cs.com

Geoff Robison

1521 E. MacGregor Dr.

New Haven, IN 46774

260-493-4724

chief7025@aol.com

Roger Gomoll

8891 Airport Rd, Box C2

Blaine, MN 55449

763-786-3342

S.H. " Wes' Schmid 2359 Leleber Avenue Wauwatosa, WI 53213 414-771-1545 shschmid@milwpc.com

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

pJedgedrive@msncom

lumper@execpc.com

dar@aprliaire.com

EAA

Current EAA members may join the Vintage Aircraft Associato n and receive VINTA GE A IR­ PLANE magazine for an additional $36 per year.

EAA Me mbersh ip, VINTAGE AIRPLANE magazine and one year membership in the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association is available for $46 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not in­ cluded). (Add $7 for Foreign Postage.)

Gene Chase 2159 Carlton Rd. Oshkosh, WI 54904 920-231-5002 GRCHA@Charter.net

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

-',

EAA Aviation Foundation Artifact Donations ______ .... _920-426-4877 Financial Support ... . ... _____ 800-236-1025

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

lAC

DIRECTORS EMERITUS

Flight Advisors information .... 920-426-6864 Flight Instructor information_ .. 920-426-6801 Flying Start Program ... . ...... 920-426- 6847 Library Services/Research ...... 920-426-4848 Medical Questions ... . . . .. .. .. 920-426-6112 Technical Counselors .... . . _. . 920-426-6864 Young Eagles .. _. .. ____ ...... 877-806-8902 Benefits AUA Vintage Insurance Plan .... 800-727-3823 EAA Aircraft Insurance Plan ___ 866-647-4322 Term Life and Accidental ..... _800-241 -6103 Death Insurance (Harvey Watt & Company) Editorial ______ ... ...... ..... 920-426-4825 .. . ____ . . .... .... . __. _. . FAX 920-426-4828 • Submitting article/photo • Advertising information

Current EAA members may join the Interna­ tional Aerobatic Club, Inc. Division and receive SPOR T AEROBATICS magazine for an addi­ tional $45 per year.

EAA Membership, S POR T AEROBATICS magaZine and one year membership in the lAC Divisio n is available for $5 5 per year (SPOR T

AVIATION magazine not included). (Add $15

for Foreign Postage.)

WARBIRDS Current EAA members may join the EAA War­ birds of America Division and receive WARBlRDS magazine for an additional $40 per year.

EAA Membership, WA RBIRDS ma gaZin e and one year membership in the Warbirds Divi­ sion ~s availabl e fo r $50 pe r yea r (SPOR T AVIATION magazine not included). (Add $7 for

Foreign Postage.)

EAA SPORT PILOT Current EAA members may add EAA SPOR T PILOT magaZine for an additional $20 per year.

EAA Membership and EAA SPOR T PILOT magazine is available for $40 per year (SPOR T AVIATION magaZine not included) . (Add $16

fo r Foreign Postage_)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS Please submit yo ur remittance with a check or draft drawn on a United States bank payable in Unit ed States doll a rs. Add required Foreign Postage amount for each membership.

buck7ac@mc.net

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

Copyright ©2004 by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association

All rights reserved.

VINTAGE AIRPlANE OSSN 0091-6943) IPM 40032445 is published and owned exclusively by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Associalion of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published monthly at EM Aviation Center, 3000 Poberezny Rd., P.O. Box 3086. Oshkosh. WISCOnsin 54903-3086. Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EAA Vintage Aircraft Association. P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Return Canadian issues to Station A, PO Box 54, WindSOf, ON N9A 6J5. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPlANE to foreign and APO addresses via surface mail. ADVERTISING - Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken.

EDITORIAL POLICY: Readers are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests enlirely with the contributor. No renumeration is made. Material should be sent to: Editor, VINTAGEAIRPlANE. P.O. Box 3086. Oshkosh. WI 54903-3088. Phone 9201426-4800.

EM'" and SPORT AVIATION"', the EAA Logo'" and Aeronautica~ are registered trademar1<s. trademarks, and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Inc. The use of these trademarks and service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is smctly prohibited.

The EM AVIATION FOUNDATION Logo is a trademark of the EAA Aviation Foundation. Inc, The use of this trademark wilhout the permission of the EAA Aviation Foundation, Inc. is strictly prohibited.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

3 1

David Howie Redmond, WA

• Participant in the Seattle Museum of Flight's Centennial Parade flight fo commemorate the Wright brothers first flight (holding the commemorative patch in snapshot) • Owner of 1929 Fleet Bi-plane ­ NC432K and 1948 Stinson - NC976C

"I am very happy with AUA. I am just a phone call away from them and when I do call, I feel real southern hospitality on the other end of the phone. I wouldn't think of changing to another company."

- David Howie

~\~int(j;ae' 41~'UlJff

Association Insurance Program

Lower liability and hull premiums for multiple aircraft carrying all risk coverages • No hand-propping exclusion parts endorsements • Discounts for claim-free renewals carryipg all risk coverages

The best is affordable. Give AUA a call - it's FREE!

800-727-9823 Fly with the pros ... fly with AUA Inc.

To run, or to rest. With a 390-hp supercharged V8 coupled to a 6-speed ZF automatic transmission and Jaguar's

Enhanced Computer Active Technology Suspension IECATS!. it's one less decision you have to worry about.

~2004

Jaguar Cars

learn more about the 2005 5-TYPE at jagua rusa.com/S-TYPE

a;a~C&~ Vehicle Discount