VA-Vol-33-No-9-Sept-2005 by EAA Vintage Aircraft Association

VOL. 33 , NO.9

2005

CONTENTS

C OV ERS

Straight and Level

FRONT COVER: Thinking about buying or restoring a light·

VAA News

by a the son of C. G. Taylor himself, Bob Taylor, or you can

EAA AirVenture 2005 VAA Aircraft Awards

bui lding or restoring by Budd Davisson in this issue of

Reminiscing with Big Nick

Koepn ick . Shot with a Canon EOS 1n on Fuji Velvia film.

Th e Pylon Club-Part II

EAA photo plane flown by Bruce Moore .

plane? You can restore a Taylorcraft like this beauty rebuilt choose to buy one already restored. See the article on Vintage Airplane. EAA photo by chief photographer Jim

by Nick Rezich BACK COVER: One of the high lights of this year's EAA Art

The First Practical Airplane

Competition was the submission of this painting by Hous·

Part II: The season of success by H.G. Frautschy

t ied " Era of Enchantment," captures the look and feel of a

Restoring Versus Buying: The Realities

ton, Texas, resident Jonathan Frank. The oil painting, ti· sandy tropical beach being overflown by one of Pan Ameri· can 's oceanic clipper ships du ring the late 1930s.

Being objective about your restoration by Budd Davisson 20

The Forgotten Performers Part II: NC251M is resurrected by Vic Pike

Mystery Plane by H.G. Fra utschy

Pass it to Buck Prop'er Behavior by Buck Hilbert

Th e Vintage Instructor Try it . . . you'll like it! by Doug Stewart

Calendar

Classified Ads

STAF F

Publisher Editor-in-Chief Executive Di rector/Editor Adm inis trative Assistant Managing Editor News Editor Photography Production Manager Classified Ad Manager Copy Edi tor Director of Advertising

Tom Poberezny Scott Spangler H.G. Frautschy jennifer Lehl Kath leen Witman Ric Reynolds jim Koepnick Bonnie Bartel julie Russo Isabelle Wiske Colleen Walsh Katrina Bradshaw

Display Advertising Representatives: No rtheast: Allen Murray Phone 609·265· 1666, FAX 609·265· 166 1e·mail: allemllllrray@milldsprillg.com Southeast: Chester Baumgartner Phone 727·573·0586, FAX 727·556·0 177 e·mail; cballmlll @milldsprills.com Central: Todd Reese Phone 800·444·9932, FAX 816·74 1·6458 e· mail: to<ld@Spc-mag.com Mountain " Pacific Keith Knowlton" Associates Phone 770-5 16·2743, e· mail: kkllowltoll@eaa.org

GEOFF ROBISON PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

Oshkosh 2005

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 200S is now in the record books. By all mea sures, this year's premier event has clearly been labeled a huge success. You have oftentimes heard me extol ling the accomplishments of our vol unteers and staff, and although I am always amazed at their efforts, I have failed in the past to recognize another critically important group of members. Who am I referring to? Why the many members who have chosen to bring their beautifully restored vintage fly ing machines to this event. A lot of folks just take this Hercu lean effort for granted. One would an ticipate that with the increasing cost of flying, maintaining, and insuring these treasures, who could possibly expect so many of you to make the trip to Oshkosh and tie down your aircraft in a field, exposed to all the el ements for days on end? What would it be like at EAA AirVenture if this trend were somehow reversed? I don't like thinking about it. Your efforts are not only recognized, but are sincerely appreciated as well. You folks are really the icing on the cake when it comes to providing a wonderful display of our aircraft types at our annual event. It should also be noted here that the quality of vintage restorations continues to amaze us all. I hope that this phenomenon contin ues long into the future so that our grandchildren and their children can also experience and enjoy this excep tional display of Vintage aircraft at Oshkosh for many years to come. There were so many wonderful at tractions and events and so many breathtaking moments to observe this year. Of particular note, of course, were the arrivals of White Knight and

SpaceshipOne, followed by Global Flyer. The crowds were stretched for what had to be at least a mile long, and the depth of the crowd was truly reminiscent of the early arrivals of the Concorde SST in years past. There were many photo ops, in particular, when the F-4 and the F-16 flanked by two P-Sl Mustangs flew by repeatedly, I actually forgot to take a picture. I was absolutely mesmerized by the view of these unique aircraft in tight for mation together. The reaction of the crowd was also unique. It was loud and emotional. What a response! There were many other success sto ries at AirVenture. However, I really have to single out and mention one of Vintage's newest programs that be gan at AirVenture 200S. One of our own Vintage board members had this crazy idea of demonstrating the proper techniques of propping an air craft. This concept was borne out of a conversation between Dale Gustafson and Dave Clark. With the assistance of Dave Clark (also a VAA board mem ber), and Gene Chase (director emer itus), they arranged for EAA's Cuby (the black one, built by EAA Founder Paul Poberezny) to be parked in the front yard of our Red Bam Headquar ters, and twice daily a seminar was held that assisted our many members in learning the fine art of safely prop ping a Vintage airplane. The depth of the crowd observ ing these lessons was remarkable. We consistently averaged SO-60 attend ees per session. Special thanks to Jerry Brown for assisting us by sharing his expertise in this effort as well. Also, many thanks go to Norma Joyce of AVA Insurance Agency for sponsor ing this very worthwhile effort.

Each year at AirVenture, there are two very special awards presented to our valued volunteers who provide untold hours of dedicated service to the Vintage Aircraft Association. This very special recognition began under the leadership of Art Morgan. Art rec ognized early on that each year there were many standout individuals who were deserving of special recognition. As a result, Art started the "Volunteer of the Year" awards program. When Art passed away, this pro gram naturally became known as "The Art Morgan Volunteer of the Year Memorial Award ." Each year at AirVenture, during the Vintage Air craft Association Membership meet ing, we announce the current year's winners. I am pleased to announce that the "Vintage Flightline Volunteer of the Year" for 2005 is a fine gentle man from Sonoma, California, by the name of John Watts. John is the gen tleman who is having way too much fun stopping traffic with his stop sign at the Classic Taxiway crossing in the Vintage area at each year's event. The second award is known as the "Vintage Behind the Scenes Volunteer of the Year," and this year's reCipient is Joanne Fox, from Fort Wayne, In diana. Joanne is known as one of our "secret weapons." She can accomplish more logistical tasks in one hour than most of us can do in a full day. Con gratulations to each of you. You're ef forts are not only greatly appreCiated, but you are a hoot to work with. Let's all pull in the same direction for the good of aviation. Remember, we are better together. Join us and have it all.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

EAA Continues Efforts on Sport Pilot 'Double Standard' At AirVenture, EAA and t he FAA met to address an unforeseen "dou ble standard" in th e sport pi lo t rule. Pilots who ho ld a sport pilot certificate and a valid U.S. driver's license are allowed to exercise sport pilot privileges wi t hout an FAA medical certificate. But an impor tant exception, added late in th e rule-making process in response to FAA concerns about safety, says that individuals certificated as pri vate pilots or higher cannot fly as sport pilots: • If they were not issued a med i cal certificate at the time of th eir most recent application, • If their most recently jssued FAA medical certificate was revoked or suspended, or • If their most recent authoriza tion for a special issuance medica l certificate was withdrawn. The double standard occurs be cause a pilot who applied fo r a medical but didn't receive it, or who had a medical but lost it be cause of medical condition, cannot fly as a sport pilot. Meanwh ile, an individual with an identical med i cal condition who never applied for a medical or never had a med ica l revoked can fly as a sport pilot with a driver's license. The meeting was positive and drew out a coopera t ive excha n ge of ideas, with several possible solu tions offered and con sidered. Both groups pledged to share the ideas with their respective headquarters and to continue the dialogue.

EAA Membership Sweepstakes Winners John and Kim Sery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, are the lucky win n ers of a newly refurbished, better-than new Piper Cherokee 140 in the an nual EAA Membership Sweepstakes. The drawing took place at the end 2

SEPTEMBER 2005

EAA AirVenture 2005 Wow. What else can we say? Except for a true deluge on Monday evening, the weather was perfect, the attendance up, and the aircraft were, well, amazing. Greg Herrick and Cody Welch managed to corral seven tri-motored airplanes, five of which were displayed in the VAA area, with six flying at one time during the af ternoon showcase. It was quite a sound! In addition to the tri-motors, we'll have plenty to report on in the October issue of Vintage Airplane. Stay tuned!

of the air sh ow o n Sunday, July 31, at EAA AirVenture. O th er sweepst a kes w inne rs in cl ude: • Harley XL 1200C Sportster: An drew Roberts, Roa noke, Virginia • Joh n Deere lawn tractor: Go r do n and Sh ei la Pa rk e r, Se quim , Washington · BOSE Aviation Headset X: Kurt Rathgaber, Mish icot, Wiscon sin Also d raw n at th e end of EAA AirVenture on Sund ay, Cindy Mc Neight of Sm yrn a, Georgia, is the lucky wi nn er of eith er a J ag u a r XK8 convertible or a Ran ge Rover Sport after winning the annual EAA Young Eagles Raffl e.

• Charlie Nelson, founder and pres ident of the Swift Museum Founda tion Inc. and the Swift Association. Both m en will be inducted dur in g th e Hall of Fa m e ceremo ni es h eld during th e Hall of Fam e din n er th e eve nin g o f Octob e r 2 1, 2005 . We' ll have m o re on th ese two m o st-deserving men in future issues of Vintage Airplane. A limited amount of tickets are avail able to the gen eral public for this event, which is h eld in the Ea gle Hangar of EAA's AirVenture Mu seum . Co ntact th e EA A Deve lo p m ent Office , 800-236-1025 , fo r in fo rm ati o n concerning ticket sa les and availability.

2005 VAA Hall of Fame

Vintage Airplane Cover Wrap A number of yo u h ave co n tact ed u s regardin g the reinstate m ent of th e us e of cover wra p on your magazine, and we appreciate your enthusiastic fee dback. We do need to clarify one item. A few ha ve n o ti ce d the print in g o n the n ew co v e r wr a p r e

The VAA boa rd of djrecto rs and th e VAA Ha ll of Fa me co mmittee are pleased to a nn o un ce that this year's inductees fo r the VAA Hall of Fame are as follows: • Dick Knutson of Lodi , Wiscon sin, noted res to rer an d ex pert o n Piper aircraft restorations.

lated to renewing your member ship. This appeal to renew should not be confused with the "Last Is sue" cover wrap some may have seen if their renewal date hap pens to coincide with the date of the magazine being mailed. The "Last Issue" cover wrap is writ ten in bolder type-don't worry, it would be difficult to misinterpret its meaning should it show up in your mailbox! We appreciate each of you who renew on time or early. Over two thirds of you whose renewal date is nearing help us by renewing on the first or second mailing. That level of response helps keep our costs down each year. Thanks!

at reasonable prices back in the hands of the aviation community. I would also like to invite any of you who are aviation book col lectors to think to the future and make arrangements for your li braries. Please consider the EAA li brary as a destination for your col lection, and make provisions to ensure that happens. The EAA li brary is your library and preserves the history of aviation for you and for future generations. You can contact the library by call ing 920-426-4848 for more infor mation about donating a book or your collection. Thank you.-Susan Lurvey, EAA Library / Archives Manager

VAA Calendar

EAA Museum Events

Don't forget, the 2006 VAA Cal endar, as published by Turner Pub lishing, is available to you by ad vance order only. Don't miss out on this beautiful 17-by-II-inch wall calendar featuring the pho tography of EAA's chief photogra pher, Jim Koepnick. The Free Skies Forever 2006 VAA Calendar can be ordered only through Turner Pub lishing and will highlight the air craft of yesteryear, along with our special tribute to VAA's outstand ing volunteers. Be sure to check out the advertisement on page 24, and get your order placed today. Each calendar costs only $15.95 (p lus $3.95 S&H) and can be or dered by calling Turner at 800 788-3350. The calendars need to be or dered no later than September 30, 2005, for shipment in November, well in advance of Christmas. Or der one or, better yet, two (one for a gift!) today!

The EAA AirVenture Museum has plenty to offer the vintage airplane enthUSiast, and this fall is no excep tion. A trio of events certain to ap peal to fans of old airplanes are on tap. They are the following:

EAA Library Book and Periodical Donations The EAA library is in need of book donations. Donations are the primary way the library increases its holdings. In addition, we use the duplicates for the annual AirVen ture book sale. The sale is very pop ular and puts good aviation books

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mous airplane. The experience is capped by a 30-minute flight. Take the controls in the only Spirit of st. Louis replica that flies under lind bergh's original registration num ber, N-X-21 1. Ford Tri-Motor Fantasy Flight Camp

October 14-16. 2005

EAA's 1929 Ford Tri-Motor keeps alive the early days of passen ger transport spirit. This program gives participants a new under standing and appreCiation for one of aviation's "classic" deSigns-af fectionately referred to as the "Tin Goose." The experience is capped by a two-hour flight, during which participants can log 0.2 hours at the controls.

Sept. 30-0ct. 2. 2005

A truly unique opportunity! EAA operates the world's only two-seat, dual-control replica of the Spirit of St Louis. Over this incredible week end you will be immersed in the history of Charles Lindbergh's fa-

Learn more about all three camps at www.airventuremuseum.org/flightops/ fantasycamp/ or call 800-236-4800, extension 6820. You can also e-mail for more information by writing to airacademy@eaa.org. ........ VINTAGE AIRPLANE

VAA AIRCRAFT AWARDS

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2005 ANTIQUE AIRCRAFT (BUILT PRIOR TO 9/1/45 )

RUNNER UP

PRESERVATION

William Smith, Franklin, PA 1937 Monocoupe 110 SpeCial, N2064

Sydney Cohen , Wausau , WI Ercoupe 415-D, N94196

ANTIQUE GRAND CHAMPION

Michael Wendt, Columbus , NE 1941 Boeing PT-17 N9686F ANTIQUE RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION

Thomas Dinndorf, Baudette, MN 1938 Stinson SR-l0J , N21104 ANTIQUE BRONZE LI NDY - JU DGE'S CHOICE

Iren Dornier, Clark Field, Pampanga, Philippines, 1936 Dornier Amphibian DO 24ATI, RP-C2403

SILVER AGE ( 1928- 1 936)

PRESERVATION

RUNNER UP Richard Hornbeck, Bowdoinham , ME 1929 Waco ASO, N608N

George Willford, Waterville , OH Piper, PA-12, N3309M MOST UNIQUE

CLASSIC 2005

( SEPT I , 1945 TO DEC 31 , 1955 )

Wayne Poppy, New London, WI Hiller UH-12B N90577

CLASSIC GRAND CHAMPION

OUTSTANDING AERONCA CHAMP

Robert Baker, Dorr, MI Aeronca 7AC , NC84020

Brandon Jewett, Brighton, CO Aeronca 7AC, N1968E

REPLICA AIRCRAFT

John , Hudec, Collinsville , OK 2004 Waco UMF-5, N14377 WORLD WAR II TRAINERI

CLASSIC RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION

OUTSTANDING BEECHCRAFT

James Dyer, Brighton, CO - Piper, N78759

Mike Barron, Perry, MO Beech C-45H N241

CLASSIC BRONZE LINDY OUTSTANDING CESSNA 120/140

LIAISON AIRCRAFT

Frank Iacovelli, Arlington Heights, IL 1940 Boeing A75 , N725FR

Henry Roux, Willow Street, PA Cessna 140A N5398C

CLASS I (0-80 HP )

Nicholas Howell , Aurora, CO Aeronca AC , N85313

TRANSPORT CATEGORY

James Rollison, Vacavil e, CA 1943 Beech, N69044

OUTSTANDING CESSNA 1701180 CLASS 11 ( 81 - 150 HP )

Carl-Erik Olsen, Orinda, CA Scandinavian Aero KZ VII, N159KZ

CUSTOMIZED AIRCRAFT

Robert Simon, Del Mar, CA 1943 Boeing N2S-3, N9039H WORLD WAR II ERA (1942-1945 )

Robbie Vajdos, Louise, TX 1942 Stearman B75Nl, N93WW

OUTSTANDING CESSNA 1901195 CUSTOM CLASS III ( 151 - 235HP)

Kent & Sandy Blankenburg, Grovelancjj, CA Luscombe llA, N1666B

Danny Davis, Arcadia, OK Aero Commander 520, N590W

Ronald Tarrson, Santa Fe, NM 1940 Spartan 7W, N17662

OUTSTANDING LIMITED PRODUCTION

SILVER AGE ( 1928-1936)

Barry Holtz, Fairport, NY Grumman G-44A, N402E

ANTIQUE PLAQUES OUTSTANDING WORLD WAR II MILITARY TRAINER/LIAISON

Beau Bradley, Sheridan, MT € e s na 195A N252BB OUTSTANDING ERCOUPE

CLASS IV (236 HP & HIGHER)

BRONZE AGE (1937-194 1 )

Lewis Shaw, Dallas, TX Waco CUC-2N14625

Donald Lindholm, Phoenix, AZ Cessna 170A, N1424D

Ward Marsh, Dixon, CA Ercoupe 415-C, NC93404 OUTSTANDING LUSCOMBE

arold Roeske, Roxbury, CT Silvaire Luscombe 8F, N1885B OUTSTANDING PIPER J-3

LARGE CLASSIC

LAQUES

Raymond Cook, Spring Grove, IL Piper J3C-65 I09H

BEST CUSTOM CLASSIC

Bill Bradford, Independence, MO Luscombe 8A, NX2133K

Hal Skinner, Springfield, OR 1941 Interstate S-lA, N37262

CLASSIC PLAQUES

CONTEMPORA~Y

2005

(JAN 1, 1956 TO DEC 31, 1967 ) CO

TEMPORARY GRAND CHAMPION

Dean Richardson, Stoughton, WI Cessna 80H, N2451F

MONOPLANE

CUSTOM CLASS D ( 236 AND UP )

CUSTOM MULTI ENGINE

Russell Williams, Issaquah , WA 1938 Ryan Aeronautical SCW-145, N18914

Christopher Gardner, South St. PaUl, MN Ryan Navion, N721CM

Mike Adkins, Butler, TN Piper PA-30, N4YA

SEPTEMBER 2005

CLASS I SING L E -E NGINE (0- 160 HP )

Jack Demyan , Pasadena , MD Champion FC, N7596B CLASS II SI N GLE- E N GINE ( 16 1-230 HP )

Chris Bruck, St. Peters , MO Cessna 182B, N182HD C L ASS III S I NGLE - ENGINE (23 1 HP & HIGHER )

Giffen Marr, Fort Worth, TX Piper Comanche, N5272P OUTSTANDING CUSTOMIZED

J.M . Dwight, Chehalis , WA Cessna 182A, N6119B

CONTEMPORARY PLAQUES OUTSTANDING BEECH SINGLE - ENGINE

Richard Wh ite , Plymouth , WI Beech A23A, N701DW OUTSTANDING BEECH MULTI-ENGINE

Don Binns, Ft. Myers, FL Beech E18S, N7765N

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OUTSTANDING CESSNA 170/172/175

Patrick Halligan, Eagan, MN Cessna 172, N7252A OUT5TANDING CESSNA 1801182/210

Mark Holliday, lake Elmo, MN Cessna 182, N5609B OUTSTANDING CHAMPION

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Robert Gutteridge, Santa Rosa, CA Champion 7FC, N7557B OUTSTANDING PIPER PA-18 SUPER CUB

Oct. 14-16

Mark Warren, Coatesville, IN Piper PA-18A 150, N960VS

Oct. 15-16

OUT5TANDING PIPER PA-24 COMANCHE

Columbus, OH (Columbus State Community College)

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AndY Pell, Fremont, MI Mooney M20C, N6691U OUTSTANDING PA-22 TRI-PACER

Oct. 22-23

Chicago,IL (lewis University)

Nov. 4-6

Frederick, MD

OUTSTANDING LIMITED PRODUCTION

BEST CONTINUOUSLY MAINTAINED

l elan'iSpafKs, San FranCiSCO, CA Bellarl'ca 17-30, N6665V

SEAPLANE AWARDS OUTSTANDING FABRIC FLOATPLANE

Dana Smith, Lindsay, ON, Canada Piper PA-18, C-FZSK OUTSTANDING METAL FLOATPLANE

Brent Wenger, Hayward, WI Cessna 170B, N3287A

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Marc Stamsta, Hartland, WI Aeromere F.8l Falco, N212SF

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RandY St. Julian, Garrettsville, OH Piper PA-28-180, N4815l

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OUTSTANDING MOONEY

James Raleigh, Mexico, MO Piper PA-22/20-150, N7117B

Denver, CO (Westwood College)

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REMINISCING WITH BIG NICK THE PYLON CLUB-PART II by Nick Rezich Photos courtesy of Nick Rezich The Pylon Club opened officially on Valentine's Day with Bob Babb, the aluminum welder from Howard Aircraft, serving as chief mixologist and my brother Frank and I assisting behind the timber. Opening night was gangbusters-we were wall to wall in people, and they were standing five deep outside trying to get in. The club was an overnight success. Word about the Pylon Club spread like fire throughout the aviation industry and auto-racing fraternity, which resulted in every night being New Year's Eve. The Pylon Club started out as a sa足 loon, but it wasn't long before it also served as an employment agency, a ground school, an aviation consultant service, a charitable institution, and a center for EAA recruiting, aircraft sales, blood donors, and marriage and divorce counseling. The club also introduced many firsts, including the first public use of

the now popular "Gone Flying" signs. The "Gone Flying" sign came about due to my absence while I was flying weekend air shows or flying for the non-skeds. About four months after the club was opened, I signed on with several non-skeds to fly and supply flight crews out of Chicago on a demand basis. What I mean by "on a demand basis" is that a flight would leave Burbank for New York with stops in Kansas City and Chicago with only a crew of two pilots and the required stewardess. They'd be out of time by the time they reached MDW. During the '50s the FAA was riding herd on all the non-skeds and checking papers and logs at every stop. Nine times out of 10, when a flight would arrive at MDW, the airplane was legal, but the crew wasn't to go on to "La Garbage," so a fast phone call to the Pylon Club was in order to furnish a fresh crew for the New York leg. It was during

this time that I hired extra barkeepers and the "Gone Flying" sign evolved. The two daytime barkeepers were mail carriers from the post office one block west of the club, and the night crew came from the Midway control tower. I'll skip over Roy and Milo, the daytime help, at this time because they are a whole story by themselves. The tower guys were watch supervisors at MDW who loved to fly and enjoyed the company of other pilots. I would like to name them, but with all but one of them still being with the FAA, I don't think it is ethical at this time to remind some supervisor about their activities some 25 years ago. The "Gone Flying" sign saved a lot of explaining as to my whereabouts. When I was away flying an air show, we would hang the air show poster under the sign, and if I was out on a non-sked trip, we would hang a strip with my destination and retum

Reprinted from Vintage Airplane February 1975 6

SEPTEMBER 2005

date on the sign. I don't know now taking on the shape of a where Flying picked up the idea major event that would require of its "Gone Flying" sign, but funding and much help. I called on club member and believe you me, it was the Py lon Club that originated and old-time EAA favorite "Pete" Myers to join me in the Travel popularized it. The Pylon Club's success and Air and the Bailey Super Cub worldwide notoriety was not a for the air show portion and result of my sole efforts or pop Mike Burson for the chute ularity, but that of the people jumps. We now had an air and happenings that were a show not much different than part of the club. a regular weekend show. We re Many people were responsi cruited Walter Brownell, former ble for the success of the club, test pilot for Howard, and John but I must single out a great Murray as pilots for the airlift. humanitarian who played a We printed official kite contest major role in the club and my rules and entry forms, ordered trophies, and lined up a panel well-being. The late "Dan" Clark was of judges, cooks for the spare ribs, an official starter, and my the president of his family's Dan Clark holding his winning kite, the Pylon Club firm in Chicago and resided Special No. 43. Number 43 was the racing number brother Mike for the beer. in a modest home close to the for the Rezich Brothers Goodyear racer. Another trip to Bailey Air club. Dan was a close friend of port was necessary, this time to Benny Howard, and it was through Airport was a private airport operated obtain permission to bring beer on Benny that I met Dan while working by the Bailey brothers, Charley and the premises. Permission was granted for Howard. Dan was an avid auto Don, on their father's farm, and it was with the mutual agreement that no racing and air racing fan and a guy best thought that we should obtain beer would be served until after the who the whole world loved, and he approval of the Bailey family before air show and all airplanes were put in tum loved the world of people. we dragged all the saloon people down away for the day. We adhered to the agreement religiously; however, we It was Dan Clark who intro to their peaceful and quiet farm. duced the club to the world of busi The following Saturday Dan and I learned a thirsty lesson the first year. ness, which included such names as drove down to the farm to seek per We flew until sundown, giving rides the Rothschilds of European banking mission for our wacky contest. During in the "Clark Airlines" BT-13. fame, Sherman Brothers Furniture, the hour-and-a-half drive to the farm, By sundown many tongues were and numerous other world figures of we concluded that we were defeating hanging long and dry, including yours industry. As a regular club member Dan the purpose of our boasting-mainly truly. The following years we made knew everybody who came through that kids today don't build their own some modifications to the airlift by the doors and vice versa. He was as kites as we did in the years past. It adding more airplanes and pilots so much a part of the club as I was. was then decided to open the con we could get to that beer sooner. Our first annual picnic was a re test to all of the Pylon Club's mem The kite contests were good for sult of a bragging contest we had bers and their families. We now had business due to the publicity gained over who could build and fly a kite a program-a special fly-off between from the annual event. We had con higher than the other. The more we Dan and me, and an open contest for testants come from all over the coun bragged how good we were, the more all. When we announced our crazy try just for the contest and picnic. I the customers encouraged us to have program to the Baileys, they were still get letters to this day inquiring a contest. What started out as a pri overjoyed and suggested we hold the when and where the next contest is vate boasting affair now turned into contest on a Sunday so they could going to be held. Dan always won our a full-blown contest with everybody participate by furnishing fresh sweet personal kite fly-offs. He proved his wanting to witness the outcome. This com for a corn boil and making lem pOint every year-he was the better tickled Dan, and he agreed to the fly onade for the thirsty. Hence, the idea kite builder! off with the stipulation that the kites of a picnic. Driving back to the club I could tell stories about Dan for the would be homebuilt, and no box kites Dan suggested we send invitations to next 10 years and never run out of ma were allowed. all of the out-of-town members and terial ... like the time he led a six-car The site of the contest was to be make it a huge gala affair complete caravan up to race driver Bob Muhlke's the Bailey Airport in Lowell, Indiana, with an air show, an airlift, parachute Clover Club in Skokie, Illinois. where Dan kept his BT-13 in a hangar jumps, etc.-the works! This was a two-level, wall-to-wall along with my Travel Air. The Bailey Our little private kite contest was carpeted saloon that was the gatherVINTAGE A I RPLA NE

ing place for all the Indy 500 drivers and owners. The six-car caravan contained the members and friends of the Pylon Club band that was invited to perform at Muhlke's dur ing the "Indy 500 Week." Muhlke had arranged to have Merle Bellenger's Indy 500 winning race car on display along with the own ers and drivers of the rest of the field. The evening was quite festive, with most everyone be ing pretty well bent out of shape by 2:00 a.m. When it was time to go home, Dan lined all six cars behind his new Hudson and cau tioned all of us not Big Nick behind the timber at the Pylon Club. to race or pass him and that he would lead us home us. About 10 minutes later Dan and without getting pinched. I must say the copper return, and Dan gives here that Dan loved to drive at high us the crank up signal. As we start speeds, so it was hard to believe that up, I notice the squad car pulling in we would make it back to the Pylon front of Dan's car with the red flash Club without a race with Dan. Nev ers on . I knew it-we were going ertheless, we followed. All went well to the slammer! Damn you, Dan! and legal for the first 10 miles when, Damn me for following! Suddenly, suddenly, Dan puts his foot into it. we were running at SO mph again . As we are going through Cicero, Il With the police car in front and the linois, a place no Chicago driver last car doing 60. I don 't know to should get pinched, sure enough, this day what Dan said to the cop the race lasted about 2 miles when per or what he paid .. .if he paid ... a squad car pulled all of us over to but I do know that we were escorted the curb. As the two burly cops ap at SO mph to the Chicago city limits proached Dan's car, Dan gets out and turned loose! When we all arrived back at the and tells the copper that all the cars belong to him, and he will take care club, I asked Dan how did he do of all of them. About now I knew it and how much did it cost...he we were all going to spend the laughingly told us to be careful night in the pokey and that it was driving home. Then there was the time we all going to cost a bundle to get out of were driving to my brother Frank's this one. Dan and the No.1 cop per exchange some good words and wedding reception. I had just pur then drive off in Dan's car while the chased a new Dodge and was driv No.2 boy watches over the rest of ing at 30 mph to break it in when 8

SEPTEMBER 2005

Dan pulled up be hind me and started pushing me. We went through the busy intersection of 79th and Ash land Ave . doing 55 mph-Dan was pushing and laugh ing Jo Anne, my wife, was screaming, "Stop! Stop!" . . . and I was steering like hell, hoping and praying nobody pulled out in front of me. That gutless Dodge would never have out-acceler ated Dan's Hudson, so I rode it out. We turned the tables on Dan one nigh t. He had a home in Miami and would visit his mother regularly. Before going on his visits he would al ways stop in the club and tell me his schedule and check to see who would be flying the trip. His favorite airline to Mi ami was Delta, and it would do anything to please Dan. When I found out what flight Dan was going on, I called the Delta station manager and told him I would like to bring my band from the saloon out to Midway and set up on the ramp alongside the load ing ramp to give Dan a surprise send-off. The manager said it was okay with him if it was okay with the airport. The airport's okay was no sweat because John Casey, the airport manager, was an old friend of mine and a club member. We put the band between the DC-7 and the terminal out of sight from the waiting lounge. When Dan walked out of the terminal, we started by playing "Danny Boy" followed by "Moon Over Miami" and the Pylon Club's Signature song, "When the Saints Go Marching In!"

Ole Dan damn space for customers. near fell off the The club was opened boarding ramp with during Mardi Gras, surprise . The cap and to mark the oc tain met Dan at the casion the band doorway and ad adopted the song vised him that he "When the Saints Go was Delta's first ce Marching In" as our lebrity to be boarded Signature number. with an orchestra. So, when we would When they fin open the night's first ished boarding all show I would lead the passengers, we the band out of the went into our Dix saloon playing the ieland show num "Saints" and would ber. This brought march up the back the whole plane of my car, over the load to the door, roof, and down the and the captain was hood while bang leaning out of the ing drums. We then cockpit for a better would march down look and listen. to the corner and All the black por back-all the while ters were on the playing the "Saints." ramp doing a jig, My new Dodges were saying, "MI. Clark a huge mass of dents that would have sho' goes first class." By this time the been on my cus whole terminal con tomers ' cars if they Big Nick at the drums back in the Pylon Club days. If you've seen him fly verged on the Delta parked in front. the Travel Air, you've seen only haN the show •.. he doesn't walk on cars ramp. We kept play People would too much anymore, but he still plays a mean set of drums! ing, waiting for the come from all over skipper to start the

the continent just engines, but unbeknownst to me, bridges (with my Culver Cadet), to see that march, and I didn't dare he was waiting for us to stop and but I wasn't crazy. disappoint them. leave the ramp.

During the '50s Chicago was still A friend of mine had a saloon After about 40 minutes the sta operating two-man streetcars on down the street, and most times I tion manager advised me that he 63rd Street, which ran in front of would march the band through her had to release the flight because an the club, and whenever I felt devil saloon and back, and in doing so, I incoming flight needed the gate . ish and generous I would run out would clean out all of her custom The Delta flight was over an hour front and flag down a streetcar and ers who would follow us back to my late getting off, but not one pas invite everybody on board in to the place. Her place had a large set of senger complained. Dan spent the saloon for a free drink, play them doors, so one night I jumped into whole trip explaining the band and a fast number on the drums, and an M.G. that my bass player owned telling the passengers about the Py send them on their way. The first and drove it into and out of her lon Club and Crazy Nick. I have al few times I pulled that stunt I damn place before anybody realized what ways wondered what the captain near got run over by the streetcar. had happened ... Crazy Nick? No and station manager filed as the But after the motorman got to know way! We had some crazy customers reason for the one-hour delay in the spot and word was passed on, also, like Merle F. Buck, who played departing MDW. he would slow down and stop right a piano concert in the rain on the ~ don't know why they called me in front of the place and inform the street in front of the club. Yes, the Crazy Nick ... sure, I stopped street riders it was okay to leave the car. I piano belonged to the club. cars and invited the passengers in drove the coppers nuts! I'm late again-gotta run. Next for a drink, and I wa lked on auto First-time customers could never month I'll tell you about Crazy Bart mobiles, drove sports cars through figure out why I parked my own ... the blood run ... the python lady other's saloons, and flew under car out front instead of leaving the .. . the Pylon Club and EAA. ...... V IN TAGE AI RPLA NE

THE

q.JMi

PRACTICAL AIRPLANE

Part II: The season of success H.G. sing all they knew from the 105 flights made with the 1904 Flyer II, the Wrights completed the Flyer III over the winter of 1904-1905, using the hardware and engine from the previous airplane. It took some time for the craft to be assembled, and poor weather hampered their start in 1905. By early summer of 1905, they were ready to resume flying at Huffman Prairie. With revisions to the machine, which they thought would cure the pitch instability, the new craft weighed 850 pounds, including enough water and fuel to run the engine for an hour. To remedy the odd characteristic they encountered when the airplane slid sideways in a turn, they added a pair of vertical semicircular vanes between the for ward rudders' twin surfaces. They had built a new shed build ing closer to the Simms Station in terurban trolley rail stop that ran along the road along the north west side of Huffman Prairie. Char

(UJ

SEPTEMBER 2005

FRAUTSCHY

lie Taylor had been serving as their "airport manager," overseeing and participating in the construction of the 1904 and 1905 sheds, and working on the revised engine de sign. Still using the basic horizontal four-cylinder design they had used for the 1903 Flyer, it could now produce 16 hp and would eventu ally produce 20 hp during the 1905 season. At one pOint during testing it produced 22 hp for a short time. By June they were ready, and on June 23, they pulled the weight up to the top of the derrick, and Orville piloted the first attempt that Friday: Wilbur Wright's Diary F, 1905, pages 1-3: Friday, June 23, 1905 (1.) First flight. O. W Time 9-1/2 sec. WW. 8-3/ 4", C.E. T. 76 Ft. wind [at 45° ]. Distance 272 ft. over ground. The left wind was struck in landing and four ribs were cracked at rear left corner. [Power insufficient. Missing explosions. *] The machine was fitted with two semicircular ver tical front vanes (7 sq. ft.), and was

very hard to control. Picture. A couple of explanations are needed at this pOint. Each flight was timed by the pilot, in this case Orville Wright, as well as at least one observer on the ground. For this event, Wilbur Wright timed the flight, and Charlie (C.E.T.) made an observation about the current con ditions, presumably with an ane mometer. It also mentions a 45 crosswind. The items in brackets denote sentence fragments added from Orville's diary. The troubles from the previous year continued to dog them, and the next day, an other type of accident took place. Wilbur continued in his Diary F: While getting ready for first start the anchor stake was pulled from the ground and the machine ran down the track with O. W doubled over the front handle riding backwards. For tunately no serious damage to man or machine. It was the second time the ma chine's restraining stake had got ten loose, and the Flyer had been

Lead Photo: The beginning of the flying season, 1905. Orville Wright is at the controls of the Flyer III on June 23. Wilbur appears to be running alongside, while Charlie Taylor stands to the far right. On the extreme right, the weight-driven catapult derrick is visible. This is the first photograph taken by the Wrights of that apparatus. With the engine developing a misfire, the flight lasted only 9-112 seconds and covered 272 feet. The Flyer III was hard to control and landed heavily on the left wing, breaking four wing ribs.

pulled down the rail before one of the brothers was ready to fly. Both times Orville leapt to the front of the Flyer, and at least one time he depressed the lever for the forward rudder so the machine wouldn't rear up at the end of the rail and smash itself into the prairie. While photos were taken that day, the control difficulties ap peared to preoccupy the brothers, as no other photos appear to have been taken until September. The ninth flight of the season was at

tempted on July 14, 1905. Wilbur Wright's Diary F, 1905, pages 6-7: Friday, July 14, 1905 Wind N. W. 6-7 miles [straight

ahead] (9.) First {light. O. W Distance 568 ft. Time about 12 sec. Anem.-251 meters. The machine seemed to steer all right laterally, but after attaining high speed began to undulate some what and suddenly turned downward and struck at a considerable angle breaking front skids, front rudder, up per front spar and about a dozen ribs, and lower front spar and one upright. The machine rolled over on front edge. O. W was thrown violently out though the broken top surface but suffered no injury at all. /n repairing machine a number of changes were made. F[ront] rudder in creased to about 84 ft. and placed 12 ft. from front edge of machine. Turns upward 31° and downward 26°. Total weight about 870 lbs. Owing to very hard rain the field became {loaded and delayed us several weeks.

that fl ying at speeds approaching 35 to 40 mph could be dangerous, but this accident was a close cali, and they knew it. Amazingly, once again Orville came out of the ac cident with nothing more than bumps and bruises. They had to come up with a solution to the sta bility problem that had perSisted since December of 1903, or the un dulations they regularly encoun tered would prevent them from making an airplane that could be considered safe to fly. In the 1912 disposition men tioned in part I of this story, Wilbur wrote about the risk:

"/n 1905 we built another machine and resumed our experiments in the same field near Dayton, Ohio. Our par ticular object was to clear up the mystery which we had encountered on a few oc casions during the preceding year. Dur ing all the {lights we had made up to this time we had kept close to the ground, usually within ten feet of the ground, in order that, in case we met any new and mysterious phenomenon, we could That was it.

make a safe landing. With only one life Both brothers had long known to spend we did not consider it advisable

September 7, 1905. Flight 23. After suffering a nearly disastrous crash on July 17, the brothers completely redesigned the forward rudder (elevator), moving it further out in front of the machine and increasing its surface area. The changes paid off, and by this flight, they were able to control the airplane consistently. Orville made two complete circles with the Flyer III during a 2-minute, 45-second flight. VINTAGE AIRPLANE

t t

The 41st flight, the second of two flights on September 29, 1905. After the Wrights' warm·up flight of one circle in the morning, Torrance Huffman, the owner of the prairie the Wrights had borrowed for their flying experiments in 1904 and 1905, was present for this flight, which lasted an astounding 14 circles of the field, traveling 19,570 meters in 19 minutes, 55 seconds, according to Wilbur's stopwatch time of Orville's flight. The Flyer III averaged 36 miles per hour. Wilbur took 12 photographs of the flight, which lasted until Orville ran the Flyer Ill's gas tank dry.

to attempt to exploTe mysteries at such great height from the ground that a fall would put an end to our investigations and leave the mystery unsolved. /I Even while keeping close to the ground and rarely exceeding 20 feet in altitude, accidents were happen ing on a regular basis to both O.W. and W.W., as they referred to each other in their pocket notebook di aries . If they flew any higher, acci dents such as Orville's on the 14th of July would most likely be fatal. A major revision was made to the layout of the Flyer Ill 's design during the rebuild of the machine. The for ward rudder was increased from just over 52 square feet in surface area to 84 square feet, and it was moved from 7.32 feet to 11.7 feet in front of the wings. The greater surface area and added moment arm meant the added ballast weight could be removed. They resumed flying on Thursday, August 24. Three flights were made, and the changes to the Flyer proved to be on target. The Flyer had become 12

SEPTEMBER 2005

more controllable. One other aspect of the flights proved to be noteworthy enough that Wilbur felt it needed to be mentioned. At the end of his diary en try for that day, he jotted down, IINoth_ ing broken in any of these three flights. II That was a big change from their previ ous experiences. Soon the flights started lasting over a half a minute on a regular ba sis, and as the brothers became ac customed to the aircraft's handling, without having to concentrate on overcoming the pitch instabil ity, flights like the ones made on Wednesday, September 6, 1905, were obtained: (20.) 1st trial. O. W 620 meters [in] 40-1/5 sec. W W 37 sec. C. E. T. 37-4/5 sec. Distance over ground. 1,688 [ft.] (21.) 2nd trial. O. W [Speed through air] 16.5 [meters per sec). 4,730 meters [in] 4' 54 sec. W W 4' 46-% sec. C. E. T. 4' 47-2/5/1." Four rounds offield, and landed at starting point. The pitch instability problem seemed to be fixed; they no longer

had to endure the ever-increasing undulations that would end in an abrupt landing, which often meant repairs, some major, would have to be made. Their confidence in solv ing the riddle began to relax them as well. In one entry concerning a flight on Wednesday, August 30, 1905, by Orville, Wilbur wrote that the flight was "A very comical performance." Orville's landing resulted in break ing the ends of four wing ribs. There was one more problem that kept them from making even longer flights. Their accidents were not re stricted to the problems with pitch stability. A curious loss of speed and a subsequent "arrival" in the hum mock-filled pasture was still happen ing with annoying frequency. Wilbur wrote in his 1912 dispo sition: 17he machine had reached the ground, in the peculiar cases J have mentioned, too soon fOT us to deter mine whether the trouble was due to slowness of the correction or whether it was due to a change of conditions, which would have increased in in tensity, if it had continued, until the machine would have been entirely overturned and quite beyond the con trol of the operator. Co nsequently, it was necessary, or at leas t advisable, to discover the exact cause of the phe nomenon before attempting any high flights. For a long time we were un able to determine the peculiar condi tions under which this trouble was to be expected. But as time passed, we began to note that it usually occurred when we were turning a rather short circle. We, therefore, made short circles sometimes for the purpose of investi gating and noting the exact conduct of the machine from the time the trouble began until the landing was made./I Time after time, the vexing "pecu liar cases" occurred during 1905, as they had in 1904. Wilbur continued: IIAt one time we thought it might be due to the fact that the ma ch ine, in circling, did not face exactly in the direction of the line of motion. To test this point we disconn ected the rudder wire from the warping wire and oper ated the rudder by an entirely separate

Another of the 12 photographs taken of flight 41 shows Orville flying 60 feet over Huffman Prairie. Compared to the 1904 machine, one can clearly see how far forward the Wrights placed the elevator after the July 17 crash.

INTERESTING WRIGHT WEBSITES: www.wrightexperience.com www.first-to-fly.com

Plenty of Wright materials here, including a nice collection of photographs of all 19 aircraft produced by the Wrights and their company. Also included is a delightful interview and caricatures of the Wrights by Kate Carew, a well·known journalist and artist working at that time for the New York World. www.rootcandles.com

In addition to their current business, a short summary of the A.1. Root company history is maintained on this site, and it includes full excerpts of the January 1 and January 15, 1905, articles written by Amos Root about his experiences at Huffman Prairie the previous year. www./ibraries. wright. edu/ special/ wrighCbrothers/ The Online Archives of Wright State University. There is an extensive collection of

Wright materials within the library's collection , which was donated to the university by the Wright family in 1975. References :

A number of published sources were consulted to compile these articles, chief

among them: The Bishops Boys, A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright, by Tom Crouch The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, including the Chanute-Wright Letters ,

Volume 1, 1899-1905, edited by Marvin W. McFarland , Aeronautics Division of the Library of Congress Kill Devil Hill, Discovering the Secret of the Wright Brothers , by Harry Combs ,

with Martin Caidin The Wright Brothers, by Fred C. Kelly

You can see the original Wright Flyer ilion display at the Wright Brothers Aviation Center at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton , Ohio. Log onto www.carillonpark.orgfor park hours and other information.

handle. The trouble, however, contin ued as before. A flight. .. was made on the 28th of September, 1905, with the rudder wires entirely disconnected from the warping wires. When it was no ticed that the machine was tilting up and sliding toward the tree, the oper ator turned the machine down in front (emphasis ours-VA Ed.) and found that the apparatus then re sponded promptly to the lateral control. The remedy was found to consist in the more skillful operation of the machine and not in a different construction. The trouble was really due to the fact that in circling, the machine has to carry the load resulting from centrifugal force, in addition to its own weight, since the ac tual pressure that the air must sustain is that due to the resultant of the two forces. The machine in question had but a slight surplus ofpower above what was required for straight flight, and as the additional load, caused by circling, increased rapidly as the circle became smaller, a limit was finally reached be yond which the machine was no lon ger able to maintain sufficient speed to sustain itself in the air. And as the lifting effect of the inner wing, owing to its reduced speed, counterbalanced a large part of the increased lift resulting from the greater angle of incidence on that wing, the response to lateral con trol was so slow that the machine sank to the ground, usually before it had been brought back to the level again . . . . When we had discovered the real nature of the trouble, and knew that it could always be remedied by tilting the machine forward a little, so that its fly ing speed would be restored, we felt that we were ready to place flying machines on the market. " The brothers clearly understood the nature of wing loading and how the additional load of turning flight was affecting their airplane. They knew that maintaining forward speed was essential, and by doing so they avoided the slide to the inside of the turn they had been fighting. With the problem solved, higher flights of 40 to 60 feet in altitude were com monplace. By the beginning of Oc tober, they were flying the Flyer III at will, and flight times started being VINTAGE AIRPLANE

The last photographed of 1905. Wednesday, October 4, 1905, 4:32 p.m. The brothers' sister, Katharine, as well as their father, Milton, were present along with nine others (including Charlie Taylor) when Orville flew for 33 minutes, 17 seconds on Wilbur's stopwatch, covering nearly 21 miles. Now they were confronted with new mechanical difficulties. As their flight times increased, they began to experience overheated bearings. By this flight, they'd added an oiler to the rear bearing on the axle under the chains, but not on the front bearing. You guessed it, the flight ended as the front bearing overheated. Orville shut down the engine while in flight and g1ided 400 feet to land in front of the storage shed. His record for flight endurance would stand for exactly one day-on October 5, 1905, Wilbur would keep the Flyer III in the air for 30 laps of the field, flying 38 minutes, 3-1/5 seconds, according to Orville. The slightly more than 24-mile flight would stand as the record until they resumed their flights in 1908.

measured in half-hour increments, instead of half a minute. The weather hadn't helped them much either. In a letter t o Octave Chanute, dated October 18, 1905, Wilbur wrote: li Th e wet weather of this year has very much interfered with our practice by keeping the ground so wet and soft that we have been entirely prevented from operating many days when the sky was clear. Th e labor of moving the machine on wh eels has been greatly increased, and the over ex14

SEPT EM B ER 2005

ertion produces quick exhaustion, so that only a few flights can be made at a time. The wet grounds did not permit us to resume experiments till the last week of September, but the next two weeks were so fin e that we did more fly ing than in all our previous flights of three years put together. On the 26th we passed the ten-mile mark for the first time with a flight of 17,961 meters in 18 min. and 9 sec. The exhaustion of the gasoline supply ended the fl ight. /I For a week, it seemed that every

time they mounted the Flyer on the rail and launched it, the pilot set a new record. Th e only limitin g fac tors were the gasoli n e su pply and th e n ew prob lem of ove rhea t ing bearings. Th e e n gine a nd ch ain d rive tra n smission were ru nning so long that the transmission bear ings would run out of lubrican t, so t h ey added oil cup s to th em. The same thing happen ed occasionally t o th e fro nt en gine bearing. Th e airp lane co uld b e fl ow n alm ost wh en ever it pleased them, and on the 5th of October, Wilbur flew the Flyer for the second to th e last time that yea r. He remained aloft for 30 laps over Huffm an Prairie, fl ying 38,956 me ters (24 .2 miles) in just over 38 minutes. The weather that fall was st ill u nse ttl ed , a nd th e last fli ght of th e 1905 season, on Mon day, October 16, lasted only a bi t more than a minute. Delays prevented Wilbur from flying un til a 5 p. m . laun ch , "t oo lat e for extended fli ght," according to his di ary en try. It would be over two years befo re eith er broth er woul d t ake to t h e air agai n-on May 6, 1908, in Kitty Hawk, North Caro lina. Th ey t ook the 1905 Flyer III t o th eir o ld ca m p on th e Out er Banks to kn ock th e rust off of their flying skills before th eir fi rst major public flight dem onstrations in the Un ited States and Fran ce . By the fall of 1905, they knew they had a practical airplane. Now all they had to do was sell it. It would prove to be as great a challenge as either of them would ever face. ...... All of the images presented in this article are available as digital downloads from the Library of Congress website. Start your search at www./oc.gov/ rr/ print/

catalog.html.

Tap the blue "I'm ready to search " but ton, and when the next page comes up, click on the · W· hyperlink, or scroll to the very bottom of t he page. The Wright Broth ers Collection is number 57. Once you 're at the search page for the Wright Collec tion, just enter a keyword such as "1904" and a list of images will be presented. Have fun. There are plenty of interesting images-more than 300 Wright images scanned from their original glass plate negatives are part of the Library of Con gress' collection.

~Inc. SU PE R.I AIR

PART S.

INC .

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~-:S;'

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veryone in this part of avia tion is a wannabe restorer. We're all gripped by a some times-irrational dream that we can take a lump of coal and, through a lot of elbow grease and a small amount of money, turn it into a dia mond. That part of the dream is ab solutely sound. Where it falls apart is when we convince ourselves we can do it more economically than we can buy the same airplane already fin ished. This, too, is possible, but only under specific circumstances. Quite often the real joy of the proj ect is found in the process of restor ing, and the fun of flying the restora tion is just a by-product. However, that fun can come with a price. If you don't want your joy flattened by a financial steamroller, it's a good idea to stand back with a sharp pencil and cold eye and do a serious evaluation of not only the airplane, but also the person you see in the mirror each morning. It's only after totally understanding the person holding the hammer that we can turn our eye toward the restora tion process and why we should or shouldn't be doing it.

Why Are You Doing This? The answer to the above question had better be, "Because I like working with my hands and creating things that fly," not "Because I want something 16 SEPTEMBER 2005

cheap to fly." If you want to fly more than you want to build, you had bet ter find a flying airplane or pick a very, very cosmetic restoration project. Oth erwise, you'll get discouraged. You have to love the airplane and the process of restoring if you expect to finish.

Time There is little argument that time is the only truly nonrenewable re source on the planet. We have a lim ited supply, and it has to be carefully spread around for us to accomplish, share, and be what we are supposed to be. For that reason, the concept of doing something in our "free" time doesn't hold water. No time is "free." It all comes from somewhere. Most of us have inflexible blocks of time, like jobs: semiflexible blocks, like sleep: and what we usually view as flexi ble blocks, such as family time, TV time, etc. Unfortunately, though, that univer sal view of time is actually backward, in terms of getting an airplane restored. It's a running joke throughout avia tion that airplanes lead to AIDS, avi ation induced divorced syndrome, which is almost always the result of the reverse thinking above. Family and rela tionships should not be treated as time piggy banks from which we can steal hours and transfer them into our proj ect. This kind of thought pattern in evitably leads to "project resentment"

within the family or relationship. It's a mistake to "take" time from the family to work on an airplane, but it's a huge benefit if a family "gives" you that time. A family that resents a project be comes an impediment and often dooms the project, the relationship, or often both. A family that is made a part of the project, however, and that is behind it becomes a great source of support, and the airplane then becomes a gath ering pOint for everyone involved. It's a wonderful thing when an airplane is referred to as the "Smith Family Cub." That means relationships have bene fited from the airplane and vice versa. What the foregoing means is that you have to carefully look at your life and see if you actually have the time and family support to do a restoration and, if so, at what level. Do you have to take Jenny to soccer every Tuesday and Thursday, and does Scott have lit tle League on Saturday? Evaluate the demands on your time, and recognize which time blocks you can steal from (TV, sleep, golf) and which blocks you can't (family activities, job, etc.). Then come up with an "available time bud get" and see how it fits against a pro posed project.

How Much Time

Are We Talking About?

The question of time required is com parable to "how high is up?" It is, how

ever, something that you can control by the type of project you get into. Strip ping paint (an ugly job but a great place to save money) and prepping for new paint can run 60 to 100 hours easy ften much more. A full restoration on something like a Luscombe could run 1,000 to 1,500 hours (a pure guess) and much higher, if you're doing the pol ished-super-show-bird route, while a larger airplane like a straight-tail 172 may be 25 percent to 35 percent more. What does 1,000 hours mean in a normal life? At two hours a night, five nights a week plus maybe five hours on the weekend, you're at 15 hours a week, which is actually a lot of time. At that rate, 1,000 hours will eat up about 15 months, and that's if you keep a steady pace. Hey, no one said restora tion was either easy or quick! A serious restoration project, like doing a Stear man from the bones up, could take three to four times that amount. A lit tle daunting isn't it?

What Kind of Shop Facilities Do I Need? What kind of shop? If we're talking buying versus building, the obvious answer to one approach is "You don't need a shop at all. Just a bank loan." The other is "You need space that fits the project plus some elbow room." There have been T-6s restored in sec ond-story New York loft apartments and C-140s done in living rooms, but that's not conducive to finishing proj ects or enhancing marital bliss. Space. Almost any of the two-place classics are great two-car, or even one car, garage projects, but things start to get crowded as soon as you move into four-place aircraft, and a two-car garage is about minimum. With proper plan ning and a place to store large compo nents, it can still be done in a single car garage, but it isn't easy. Probably the most common size shop for larger projects is 30 feet by 40 feet, but, again, you can do with half that space, if you plan ahead. location. Given a choice between a smaller but adequate work space at home and a much larger one even a block away, pick the one at home. If you have to as much as put on a coat

and walk 100 feet, it'll slow the project down because you'll find after-dinner excuses not to go to work. Proximity

and convenience are everything when it comes to finishing a project. Lighting. There is no such thing as too much light. Scout around for used fluorescent fixtures, and get lots and lots of light in there. A bright work pLace is cheerier and more inviting, so you'll get more done. Tools. Tools required are driven by the type and degree of the restoration. A paint-and-interior or a purely me chanical restoration won't need rivet ing or welding equipment. If you're bringing it up to the ready-for-paint stage and farming the paint out, you won't even need an air compressor. A light restoration can be done with your normal hand tools. Paint. The subject of paint is worthy of an entire book, but suffice it to say that painting is an art learned through experience. If you're going to be criti cal about the final looks, get it totally prepped and masked, which is where most of the labor is invested, and get a pro to blow the final coats. If you want to tackle it yourself, be ready to con struct a crude paint booth out of plas tic sheeting, and your tools-required list will inl.rolve exhaust fans and high-end respirators or free-air supply systems, depending on the type of paint used. You'll also need a high-capacity air com pressor and good spray guns. Also, get a pro to advise you on the paint, because some of it will kill you in a heartbeat. The stuff that looks the best is the most lethal. Lay in a supply of Valium to pre pare you for paying the paint bill, be cause the price of most modern paints can be a real heart-stopper. Four hun dred dollars per gallon is common.

How Will We Handle the Money Question? Most of us don't have money lying around loose, so we have to carefully examine the finances of restoring or buying. If you're buying, the financ ing thing is pretty cut and dried, as there are lots of aircraft finance com panies ready to cut you a deal. Most restoration projects are airplanes that range from the classics to the contem

poraries, and buying the same airplane ready to fly will generally run from $20,000 to $50,000 dollars. Financed for five years at 8 percent, $20,000 is $635 per month, and you'll pay $2,896 interest over the term. If you borrow $50,000, you'll pay $1,037 per month with $12,275 in interest. If you take it out to seven years, the payment drops by about 20 percent, but the interest goes up about 40 percent. It's theoretically possible to finance a restoration project, but the problem here is that because it's not a flying air plane and there's a chance it might never be finished, banks aren't that crazy about using it for collateral, so they'll insist something else be used to secure the loan, probably your house. A project, however, once the initial purchase is made, can be scheduled to proceed at the rate the money is com ing in, so it can get by without having to be financed. Plus, you can schedule it so the big hits, like rebuilding the en gine, can be put off until the end. Another approach is to take out a line of credit on your house; then, when the airplane is finished, get a loan on the airplane to pay back the house note. In that situation the interest is deductible. This, of course, puts your house at risk; however, there's noth ing like the fear of losing your house to make sure you finish the airplane.

Project Orientation A major personality trait that has to be closely evaluated is what we'll call project orientation: When we get started on something, do we have the kind of mindset that lets us keep plug ging along even though, in some cases, we're talking years? Some folks just don't have that kind of brain. They keep looking too far down the line, hoping they'll see the finished product on the horizon, and when they don't, they realize how much further they have to go and get discouraged. Project orientation means that when you get into something like an airplane resto ration project, several things happen: Each part is a project in itself. The piece you're working on at that mo ment is the project, and you seldom think in terms of the entire airplane. VINTAGE AIRPLANE

it was restored. The prop was freshened up and the spinner replaced along with the tires. The asking price for the airplane is $52,500, but the owner will take $49,500. Let's call it $50,000. You do one piece at a time, and when there are no more pieces to work on, you must be done. It Is touched every single day. You may not physically work on it every day, but it's always in your mind, and you'll be ordering parts, doodling solu tions while on the phone, etc. Work sessions are goal-orlented. You walk into the shop with a specific goal in mind. For example, such and such a part will be finished before you walk out the door. Shop time Is scheduled. A certain part of each week is reserved to work on the airplane, and everyone around you knows that. You don't view it as a project that will be worked on "when I feel like it and the time is available." You make that time available, and af ter dinner you literally force yourself out of the TV chair and into the shop. After a hard day at work, that one step, forcing yourself to leave the comfort of an easy chair, is the hardest part of any project. However, once you've stepped into the shop, the energy takes over and you wonder why you had to work so hard to get your butt out of the chair in the first place.

Skills Required We purposely left skill as the last per sonal trait to be evaluated because it's essentially unimportant. There is noth ing in restoring an airplane that can't be learned by anyone. Besides, since you're working on a certificated air plane, all of your work has to be over seen and checked out by a certificated airframe and powerplant mechanic, so you're not likely to have something in the airplane that isn't safe. As for the skills, there are so many learning aids available that address ev erything from welding to fabric to sheet metal that you don't even need to know which end of a screwdriver to hang on to, and you can still learn the skills re 18

SEPTEMBER 2005

quired. This isn't brain surgery, folks. Of course, if you're handy with your hands and have a long history of building me chanical stuff, life will be easier.

Can It Be Restored Cheaper Than It Can Be Bought? Buy or restore is the big question, and, of course, there are about a billion factors to be considered, but we'll put together an analysis on a mythical air plane of the square-tail Cessna variety.

111e Buy Option: 111e Ready-to-F1y, Recently Restored 1957 Cessna 172 The airplane was restored less than two years ago and was a middle-of-the road, nice restoration aimed mostly at making it totally reliable and cos metically pleasing rather than a show winner, but it was still done right. It wasn't totally disassembled, but it was stripped and painted and the entire structure cleaned inside and out. It was painted with an aircraft urethane by a known aircraft paint shop. The hardware (pulleys, cables, bolts, etc.) wasn't replaced en masse, but was done on an IRAN (inspect and replace as necessary) basis. All of the glass was replaced at the time. The instrument panel overlay was repaired and some of the plastic interior side panels replaced. The complete interior was replaced with an AirTex unit, and all exterior screws and bolts were replaced with new stain less. The instruments were partially re built and are all working, and the avi onics are limited to a King KX-155 nav/ comm and a low-end transponder. When it was restored, the engine, an 0-300 Continental, had about 900 hours on it since major overhaul, which was done nearly 15 years before, but it was top overhauled using Supe rior jugs. The exhaust and heater sys tem were overhauled at the same time. The airplane has flown 125 hours since

Our Project Airplane The airplane, again a 1957 Cessna 172, has been sitting tied down at a southwestern airport for more than 18 years. It has no corrosion and, in fact, has pretty straight metal. The sun has done its usual thing with the interior (it's hanging in shards), and the Plexi glas is really ugly (you can actually see through some of it). The paint, which consists of at least three layers, the last looking like it was applied with a roller, is as you'd expect, nothing more than colored dust stuck to the metal. We paid $17,500 for it, where is, as is. There is some minor damage to a wingtip area where a storm tipped it up on the wingtip. Other than that, we can't see any other damage. When it was parked, the engine was fairly low time, about 450 hours, but even in that dry area, the engine is a huge question mark. The instruments all look baked , and it's unknown whether any of them are usable or not. The overlay panel is missing, while the interior side panels are cracked but intact. Tires are black, flat-bottomed lumps; most of the Fiberglas (wingtips, elevator tips, etc.) is cracked; and the screw hole areas are flaking. The radio stack is pretty sad: Mk. 12 Narco nav/comms and an ARC Cessna DME. We talked seriously about getting it ferriable and flying it the 500 miles home, but chickened out. Besides, we reasoned, assuming the dry air pro tected the engine's internals, there may be some good parts, and run ning the engine could cycle rust and silicon crude through it, ruining what good parts there are. So, we rented a car trailer and small Penske truck and came down to take it apart and truck it home. It took a total of three days and two nights; only half of one day was re quired to get it apart and on the trailer: we're good! We also came prepared

with lots of moving blankets, ratchet straps, and used tires to sit things on. Here's a list of what the airplane needs and what we decide to do about it. Our goal is to be as original as we can without going overboard. Also, it's to be an airplane we use a lot for family vacations, not a "Judge Me" special. Engine. Rather than doing a complete overhaul, we tear it down and find it has a lot of good parts that don't need overhauling and still meet new limits, The jugs, however, have surface rust and one is cracked, so we have them all overhauled rather than going with new ones, We split the case and do an IRAN on everything. We go for a Slick mag conversion and new wiring harness. We also change the pull-type starter to a B & C key starter. We have the work done by a local shop and get a good price. Airframe. It's super dirty inside and out, SO we strip it down to the bare aluminum and replace all the cables, nuts bolts, etc. because so many have rust on them, We can't do sheet metal work, so we have the wingtip repaired and some cracks on the nosebowl repaired. We strip the paint ourselves, disassemble it, and mask it for painting, but have a local automotive paint shop do the final coats. We assist by racking up all the small parts for painting and trying to make it so all the painter has to do is blow the paint. We also repair all the Fiberglas parts ourselves and rebuild the brake assemblies and master cylinders, Interior. We install an Airtex interior ourselves, including carpets, and go for a replacement panel overlay. Instrument panel. We scrounge around and find used/rebuilt replacements for about half the instruments and send the rest out for overhaul. We spend a lot of time doing interior detail paint work on small interior parts and have the local auto paint store make US some spray cans that exactly match the color of the original plastic parts, SO we can use Fiberglas to repair the plastic and paint them ourselves. Avionics. We install a King KX-97

comm and a low-end transp onder and purchase a handheld GPS that we mount on the control yoke.

Figuring the Costs First of all, one of the biggest re aliti es of a proj ect like this is that no matter how you fi gure it, the total you come up with is going to be wrong. Sometimes very wrong. A lot of guys just doubl e their estimates and are still usually wrong. This is not encouragin g. However, below you' ll find a qui ck spreadsheet that can at least give yo u a guide, If you download thi s Exce l spreadsheet from www.vintageaircraft.org, you'll be able to play "what if" ga mes to your heart's content. Th e blue numbers are the ones yo u can change, and the final cost will roll out on the bot tom, Leave everything else alone. If you screw it up, just download it again. The numbers we've put in the dif ferent areas are our best-guess esti mates, but as you get actual quotes on things like cylinders or engine rebuilding, you can plug them in and make the final total more accurate, The most important thing to come out of the spreadsheet is that it's obvi ous that it's going to take some luck and a lot of elbow grease to restore an airplane as cheaply as you can buy it. Too often the seller of any restored airplane is taking a hit on what he has in vested, and his loss becomes the pur chaser's gain, This is especially true if any of the major work (engine, pain t, etc.) is farmed out. Th e minute you have a pro do an entire section of the restoration, you've just driven the price above what you can sell it for. It's an ugly truth, but still a truth. On the other hand, there's only one way to make an airplan e truly yours, and we don't n eed to tell you that is by liberal injections of your personal sweat. It may not be the smartest thing to do finanCially, but simply writing a check can't possibly give the same personal satisfaction as being able to say, "I did it myself."

Plug in your own numbers in this Excel spreadsheet. Download it

at www.vlntagealrcraft.org

SAMPlE PROJECT-19S7 CESSNA 172 I.oweot S17,500

Expected $17,500

IIf&hest

Purchase $$ Transport Truck rental w/ mileage $/ day No. of days Fuel costs S/gal mpg miles Trailer rental Motel S/ night No. of nights Food S/ day No. of days Transportation subtotal

S225 $75 3 S200 S2.4 12 1,000 $100 S255 $85 3 S90 S30 3 $920.00

S225

$225

S200

$150 S255

$225 $255

S90

$90

S800 S250 S350 S4,SOO S125 S200 S500 S300 Sl,200

S900 $300 $450 $6,000 $200 $350 $750 $400 $1,500

$1.100 $350 S550 SS,OOO S250 $450 $1,000 $500 $1,800

Labor Engine subtotal-expeeted

$1,000 S12,35O.00

$1.500

$1,800

Prop overhaul (fixed pitch) (constant speed)

S500 n/ a

$750 n/ a

S1.000 n/ a

$175 S600 $0 SO SO $1,700 S225 S175 S200 SO S300 $150 $175 $150 $0.00

S225

Component

Engine Complete overhaul Parts mags harness starter cylinder assemblies plugs hoses Misc. Alternator Induction/ cam rebuild misc. misc. misc. misc.

S17,500

Airframe

Stnpping chemicals $125 $400 Sheet metal labor Sand blasting SO Welding/tube repair SO $0 FaMc/ covering matenals $1,400 Cables, pulleys, bolts Fiberglas matenals S150 Brake repair, pads, hoses,CHIngs S125 S175 Tires/tubes Tailwheel rebuild/replace SO Windshield S250 Side Windows $100 Masking tape , etc $125 $0 Transport to paint shop Misc, $0.00 Misc so Misc so Paint Cost (three colors), pnmer S550 Paint labor, spray on~ (est.) S350 Complete paint SO Airframe subtotal-expeeted $5,250.00

$800

$0 $S50 S550 SO

SO SO SO S2,OOO S250 S200 S250 $0 $350 $200 $225 S225 SO.OO $0 $0 $1,000 $700 SO

Interior (aftermarket kits) $900 Seats Side panels S600 $290 Headliner Carpet $275 Interior total-expeeted S2,205.00

S950 S625 S310 S320

$1 ,100 $750 $450 $425

Instrument panel Instrument replacement Instrument overhaul Ovenay panel Misc. panels Seat belts Misc. Unknown Panel subtotal-expeeted

S600 $300 S250 SO S500 $500 SO.OO $4,150

Sl,800 $1,100 $350 $300 $600 S700 SO.OO

S3,500 $2,200

Avionics Radios (comm only) Nav units (handheld GPS) Navcom Transponder Intercom Unknown Miscellaneous Avionics subtotal-expected

S800 S400 $0 $1,350 $350 $0 $400 $4,250

Sl,OOO S650 $0 $1,500 S500 $0 S600

$1,700 $900 $0 $1,900 S7,509 $0 S750

TOTALCO$T$

Lowest S39,660

Expected $48,075

Highest S65,354

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

$400

S450 S700 $900 $0.00

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THE FORGOTTEN

PERFORMERS

Part II: NC251M is resurrected VIC PIKE

With its left wing and float torn off in a 1963 takeoff accident, it seemed to be the end of the airway for Bel lanca Pacemaker NC251M. It didn't end that way, as this month's install ment by Vic Pike shows us a good airplane is rarely down forever. In 1964 John Pike (EAA 711429, VAA 715987) entered the life of NC251M, despite the appearance that it had been extinguished. Now, John is an airplane man: private pi lot, CFI-II, single-engine seaplane, everything through ATP, A&P, AI, and type rated in Citations and Hawker 125s. For a livelihood, he is the proprietor of Big Sky Stearman Wings and, in that capacity, scratch builds new Stearman wings. In ad dition, he restores antique aircraft with a focus on Stearmans from stock to custom 450s. Currently, he is completing the woodwork on the one and only Fairchild 46 . This plane was con structed in 1937 as a fast (220 mph) six-place, low-wing mono plane powered by a 420-hp Ranger inverted V-12. The Ranger engine did not live up to expectations and 20

SEPTEMBER 2005

was replaced with a P&W R-985. The Fairchild's fuselage is wooden monocoque, similar in construction to the Lockheed Vega. The method was proposed as proof of the "Du ramold" process and as a labor- and cost-saving practice to avoid driv ing hundreds of thousands of riv ets; unfortunately, it turned out to be more expensive, which explains why only one was built. The 46 was first flown by test pilot Dave Lewis, who was so im pressed he purchased it from Fairch ild. It was sold after several years and passed through many owners, finally being left in the weather un til the woodwork was in shambles. Lewis rediscovered it in that con dition, repurchased the relic, and sold it to John. On the middle burner for John is a one-off sport plane that began as a Stearman fuselage. It's on the gear, and there's a Pratt & Whit ney R-1340 up front. For a cowling, John searched through his stash of trade goods and came up with one from a Ford Tri-Motor! If you want to soak up airplane ambience, go to

John's establishment. At birth, John was destined to fly. His father, Claude, a minister, built a glider as a boy and began powered flight in a J-3 Cub that he discovered in 1954, dismantled in a hangar at the McMinnville, Ore gon, airport. The owner was willing to part with the Cub but mentioned that rather than money, he really wanted a small car-top boat. Claude said, "You'll have your boat!" Able to build anything, Claude took $35 worth of plywood and after a few days returned with a boat and ex changed it for the J-3. Claude assembled the Piper and was so eager to get aloft, he began to fly from a nearby pasture with out official sanction. When the CAA (FAA) learned of this, pilot and plane were grounded for a year. Once the Cub was airborne legally, John became a capable co-pilot and was soon boring dependable holes in the sky as a lO-year-old. The Cub remains in the family but is now on floats, with a C-85/ 0-200 on the nose. Typical of most plane kids, John soloed on his 16th

Lead Photo: NC251M decorated with the Alaska Air1ines logo, hauled up on shore at Lake Hood in about 1946. H it was in that year, that would have been a brand new Aeronca Champ parked behind it.

birthday and earned his private on his 17th in the family's newly ac quired Stinson 108-I. In the spring of 1964, John was flying low and slow over the Willa mette Valley in standard Cub fash ion when, voila! That looks like air p lane stuff down there. Circling around, he landed on a conven ient grass strip and confirmed that at some time, the pile had been an airplane . CuriOUS, he went to t h e house and learned from Helen Poet the story of the Pacemaker's remains. Intrigued, John returned later with his father, and ultimately, they bought everything for $150. At that time, the Pikes' intention was to keep the parts as a memento, a piece of history, a novelty. But Chuck Rawson, the airframe and en gine mechanic from Mulino airport where John was instructing, came to see the wreckage and, after scru tinizing it for some time, said, "You guys should rebuild that and fly it." Hmm. The spark was kindled. How do you make a flying air plane out of a twisted tangle of steel tubes and a collection of splintered wood? Well, you start by eliminat ing everything that could never fly and try not to be discouraged with how little is left. The aft fuselage was determined to be one of the earthbound parts, and it was discarded. John corre sponded with August Bellanca, Gi useppe's son, and received some as Sistance, but on the ground, he took a more pragmatic approach. In Se attle, there existed another Bellanca Pacemaker, NC26E, intact but not airworthy, that was owned by Lloyd Rekow. Lloyd, like Clayton Scott (the two are friends), ran an aircraft modification business, Foreign and Domestic Enterprises, on nearby Boeing Field and is well known in the Grumman Goose community for his improvements to that type .

NC251M on the Columbia River.

Bellanca Pacemaker, NC251M, on the Oregon Coast.

John made arrangements to visit the Pacemaker and calculated tube placement and dimensions by tap ing butcher paper to the fuselage and tracing the positions. John and his father then re paired the right wing and, essen tially, scratch-built a new left one. Because Bellanca Pacemaker land ing gear isn't generally carried even by Aircraft Spruce or Uni vair, Claude whittled it from BT-13 stock and fitted tundra tires. Then came construction of new seats, a new panel, complete covering, paint, glass, and the untold other details involved in a reconstruc tion of this magnitude, including the fabrication of dual controls . Next came a run-out P&W R-985 from a duster, and it was over hauled with help from A&P-IA Cliff Krum, neighbor and good friend

of George Bogardus, the promi nent "Oregon outlaw" who illegally flew his homebuilt to Wash ington, D.C., after World War II in an effort to prove the viability of amateur built aircraft. After 15 years of part time but tedious hard labor, the old bird was looking more an d more like something that could return to the skies. Bellanca Pacemaker, Seria l No. 154, experienced a rebirth on sunny April 27, 1980, when Jo hn , w ith no previous dual in type, took off from the Pikes' private grass st rip near Oregon City, witnessed by a large group of family members and other airplane enthusiasts (incl ud ing me, EAA 180885, VAA 10444) . Everyone applauded, but the ap plause was overwhe lmed by the conspicuous rumble of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. VINTAGE A IRPLANE

Day. Harry had two connec tions in this story. First, he did the rib stitching on the wings when the p lane was reb u ilt by Bob Bohanan in 1961, and second, as John Pike earned his A&P at Port land Community College , Harry was head of the air craft program. Harry took a ride in the Pacemaker. But more was to come. In the mid 1940s when NC251M was flying nonscheduled for Alaska Airlines, the logs showed that acclaimed bush pilot Frank Barr frequently flew it. Frank came to Alaska as a 29-year-old aviator in 1932 and spent the next 16 years as an itinerant flier of the old school; he never be came IFR rated, although he made frequent flights u n Frank Barr (left), John Pike in the cockpit, and der IFR conditions. For five his brother Ted (right). years, he flew the week ly l,200-mile Kuskokwim River Two of th e participants that mail run for legendary pio da y were fellow antique airplane neer pilot Harold Gillam . In 1980, Frank was retired and restorers Stu Mitzel and his son/ partner, Mark. They flew in with living in Grants Pass, Oregon. John an equally impressive restoration, contacted him with an invitation a Travel Air 4000 powered with a to attend t he celebration, and he Wright 450-hp R-9 75-30. accepted. After Frank had been Another pe rson in attendance around the patch in the Bellanca, was an A&P by the name of Harry an attentive audience gathered un 22

SEPTEMBER 2005

der the wings to hear of his experiences, which included the Alaska method for loading freight in a Pacemaker. The preliminary task was to crank down the pilot's-side window . Then you piled in the payload, starting at the right-side firewall. Items were stacked to above t he windscreen and then at ceiling height clear back to the rear bulkhead. Loading con tinu ed until you either ran out of cargo or there was no more room, with only casual thought to weight and balance . Then you crawled into the cockpit through the open window and took off. Frank said he damaged the Pace maker only one time. He was sent on a rush trip to a hillside landing strip new ly built to serve a min e. He neglected to drag the site before landing and realized on a short, straight-in final that it sported a sig nificant down slope. He flared and flared and flared, but the ground de scended as rapidly as the plane did. With trees ahead and no opportu nity for a go-around, he slammed it on and ploughed into the brush, bending the prop. Considering his job security, he was relieved when the company wrote it up as an acci dent, but Frank said, "Being stupid is no accident." What a day April 27 was! The Pacemaker, the Travel Air 4000, and Frank Barr. Three icons in one after noon was almost too much. In 1980, John, his father, and his brother, Ted, flew the Pacemaker to Washington, D.C., Dallas, Texas, and then back to Oregon in sup port of the National Day of Prayer. In 1981, John constructed a belly pod and painted the Bellanca as Miss Veedol and was center stage in Wenatchee for the 50th anniversary of Pangborn and Herndon's record breaking flight from Japan in 1931.

In 1990, John purchased from Clayton Scott, after four hours of dual instruction, soloed a Waco 9 three Kenmore Air a pair of damaged Edo months before Lindbergh made his flight to Paris. He was station manager for 6470 floats that had originally been on a Noorduyn Norseman. They Vern Corst's Pacific Air Transport (first airmail service from Seattle to los Ange were stored in Kenmore's yard when les, March 8, 1926) at Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, before Portland's a drunk driver came off th e hill, Swan Island Airport opened. In 1928, he was a pilot for Seattle Flying Service, sit smashed through the cyclone fence, uated at the old "sand lot" on Marginal Way. Then it was Corst Air Transport and and crumpled them. Supplied with aluminum sheet and a barrel of riv Seattle-Bremerton Air Ferry, where he won a new Oldsmobile for flying a record ets, John rebuilt them and, consider number of passengers to and from the U.S. naval base. ing their gargantuan size, mounted In 1929, he flew a loening amphibian from New York to Seattle in 19 hours and the plane on the floats (rather than 35 minutes and then spent the next two years in Alaska flying the loening and a the floats on the plane). What is it like to fly a 75-year Boeing 204 A flying boat, where he was a colleague of Shutte and Kay. In the fall of old Bellanca Pacemaker? For start 1933, he began flying Boeing 247s from Portland to Salt lake for United Airlines, ers, John notes the plane is nose and in 1934 he became Bill Boeing's personal pilot, flying him all over Alaska in heavy, and in fact, it is placarded Boeing's 204 and a Douglas Dolphin. for the single passenger to sit in the rear seat in wheel configuration and later came a rare Douglas DC-5 (high-winged and tricycle-geared) that kept for 100 pounds of ballast in the bag Boeing in touch with his traveling racehorses. In 1941, Clayton became a produc gage compartment when solo on tion test pilot for Boeing and flew everything in its inventory up through 727s. He floats. Perhaps a contributing fac has flown more B-l7s than any other person. tor to this balance is that the P&W R-985 is 103 pounds heavier than Clayton Scott retired in 1966. Retired? Not a chance; he just moved full time to the original Wright J-6-9. This re his previously established Jobmaster Co., where float installations are engineered quires an inordinate nose-high at and certificated for a wide variety of planes, including Piper Aztecs and Cessna titude at touchdown, which virtu 195s. He also built a replica of Bill Boeing's first airplane, the B&W (Boeing & ally precludes a greased-on landing even by John, who can three-point a Westervelt), which is now in the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Oh yes, he casually C-180 with never a quiver. He refers acknowledges that for a number of years he owned the type certificate for the to Pacemaker landings as "arrivals." Howard DCA-IS, which he recently sold to the Howard Foundation. Stick forces are high. There are This remarkable pilot, engineer, mechanic, and entrepreneur has been continuo no flaps, and the stall occurs at 55 mph. John flies 80 mph on final ously employed in the aircraft industry for 77 years and, with all of his ratings in and 70 over the fence. He reports tact, regularly flies his Cessna 195 on floats. there is a delicate balance between I asked Clayton what airplane was the most gratifying to fly, and without hesita sink and float, and a little power tion, he said, "The B-52. Lightly loaded and with a minimum of fuel, we would take on final renders a more consistent glidepath. With the nose high, a off from Seattle and arc over the Cascade Mountains to land at Moses lake Air slip is mandatory for visibility. A Force Base and deliver them to the military." The twinkle in his eye underscored locking tail wheel contributes to a the delight of those flights. straight rollout. The Pacemaker's load-carrying capability is legendary, and Alan wildly optimistic. thunders right below the window, Hauan from Wilderness Airlines Despite its idiosyncrasies on and the sights, sounds, smells, and states that NC251M could routinely wheels, the Pacemaker on floats is vibrations that assault the senses, outhaul a Beaver. This is reflected another story. In this configuration, combined with sitting in the soul in a ground run with medium load John describes it as "a big, gentle of this historic airplane, make it being a tidy 600 feet. Landing roll is J-3." The Edo 6470s are a bit over difficult to decide whether you'll 1,200 to 1,500 feet. Empty weight is size, and in crosswinds, the plane grin or cry. 2,900 pounds, and gross is 4,880. tends to skate sideways. For 21 years, John flew the Bel In addition to the facts and fig lanca. In the fall of 2000, another to Takeoff is at 2,350 rpm with 37 inches of manifold pressure. ures, for someone who stands in tal refurbish was in order. After a com Cruise is 1,850 rpm, 28 inches, 110 reverence of 1920s and '30s air plete disassembly, he built two com mph, and 25 gph. The factory pub craft, flying in the Pacemaker is an pletely new wings but then discov lished the top speed as 160 mph at awesome experience. As it comes ered terminal corrosion in the original 10,000 feet, which John considers on the step, the big R-985 exhaust cabin section of the fuselage. ....... VINTAGE AIRPLANE

A beautiful day is not complete unless it is seen from the inside of a cockpit. The Vintage Aircraft Association is providing you with the opportunity to bring the magic of flight to your home, office, or hangar. Take flight with the 2006 VAA Calendar, Free Skies Forever! The gorgeous 17 x 11-inch full-color wall calendar is the perfect gift for yourself or your favorite pilot. Each month contains the amazing photography from the Vintage Aircraft Association and captures the spirit of flight. As a commemoration to the great aviators before us, the VAA 2006 Calendar Free Skies Forever contains great feats in aviation printed on the exact date of occurrence. Don't let this opportunity fly past you. Order your 2006 VAA Free Skies Forever Calendar by September 30, 2005. Calendars will ship in November for Christmas arrival. Or to order by mail, send your check/ money order to: Vintage Aircraft Association 2006 Calendar do Turner Publishing Company • P.O. Box 3101 • Paducah, KY 42002-3101

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H.G. FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE tOMES TO US FROM THE EAA LIBRARY'S

GARNER P. EMMERSON COLLECTION. WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF PHOTOS

IN THAT ALBUM THAT MAKE GREAT MYSTERY PLANES.

Send your answer to EAA, Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086,

Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your answer needs to be in no later than October 10 for inclusion in the December 2005 issue of Vintage Airplane. You can also send your response via e-mail. Send your answer to mysteryplane@eaa. org. Be sure to include your name, city, and state in the body of yo ur note, and put (Mon th) Mystery Plane" in the subject line. 1/

JUNE ' S

MYSTERY

ANSWER

(It is.-Ed.), then it's not a Curtiss. An drade lists 5256 as a 1917 Alexandria 10 flying boat trainer (serials A-5247 to A-5256). It gives no other data. II

The June Mystery Plane, also from the Emerson Collection, elicited only a pair of letters, the first from Wayne Van Valkenburgh, who thought it might be an Aeromarine Model 40F, and the second from Thomas Lym burn, Princeton, Minnesota. At first

Thomas thought it might be the Cur tiss F flying boat, but not everything matched. Here's what he wrote: "So, let's check John Andrade's U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Se rials Since 1909. Hmm ... if the num ber on the side in your photo is 5256

According to the penned caption included in the Emerson album, it is indeed an Alexandria. A second, closer photograph of the seaplane is shown on this page. Th e man standing in the cockpit is Garner Emerson 's fa ther, Edwin B. Emerson. The Alexan dria Airplane Co. built other designs under license, including the Briggs F flying boat (serial A3327, for exam ple), but we have no other informa tion on the company or the Mystery Plane itself. It's possible that Thomas' and Wayne's guesses as to the origin of the Alexandria 10's design may be correct, and the airplane is actually a modified license-built example of one of the Curtiss Fs, with a Httle Aeroma rine added to the mix. Any additional information would be welcome ........ VINTAGE AIRPLANE

E. E. " BU CK" HI LBER T

Prop'er Behavior

Buck's 1990 column on propping is simply timeless. Unfortunately, on a reg ular basis we still hear ofpropping acci dents that occur. During EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2005, thanks to the generosity ofAUA Inc., we ran a twice-daily seminar on the proper technique to use when prop ping an airplane. We'll show you more on that in the October issue. For now, let's all get a refresher from Buck on the "gotchas" that are out there when you're starting your vintage airplane. -HGF During the summer of 1940 when I was a line boy at the old Elmhurst Air port west of Chicago, we were running in a newly overhauled engine. In those days, there was a regular schedule for break-in after the overhaul was com pleted. We ran them up at half-hour intervals at increasing rpm until finally, after about four hours, we brought them up to takeoff power. Only then was it allowed to fly. Quite a difference as compared with today. Nowadays, you just put the power to it and fly at full throttle for the first hour. Anyway, there sits the Cub with the stick tied back and the engine run ning at about 1,000 rpm, unattended, doing its own break-in. I hasten to add that this airplane did not belong to us. Harbicon Airways would never do a thing like that! (Now, I'll tell you about a certain bridge you can buy.) Well, this fellow is posing his girlfriend alongside our Porterfield PL-SO. He has her standing by the door, liquidly draped around the wing strut, and he's trying to get her into the frame of that little camera. Some of you remember those box cameras with the neat viewfinder on the top. The trick was to put the subject squarely in the frame. It re 26

SEPTEMBER 2005

quired stooping over and shading the viewfinder with one hand while you backed up for the focal length. You guessed it! With all of us shoutin' and hollerin' he got a rapid l,OOO-rpm spanking! He never got the picture, but I'll never forget that moment. We all had a good laugh about it later, but "Spanky" never lived it down. For years afterward he would drop his pants to show people the result of his encounter. It didn't read Sensenich or Flottorp either. I propped many airplanes as the years went by and made a study of propping. Some engines were easy; some were downright recalcitrant. The easiest of the lot are the Kinners and R-98Ss such as on a BT-13. The Kinner will start every time with those Bendix mags throwin' a spark an inch and a half. You don't really prop the Kinner; you just gingerly pull it past compression and get the heck out of the way. I've had them back up on me and catch from the wrong way when they're too lean, but they'll go on the next pull. Again, it takes extreme care to be absolutely sure it isn't "hot." We were standing in the hangar one day working on a Ryan STA, and a good friend of mine was supervis ing (like any good sidewalk superin tendent). He was leaning up against the prop of my PT-22, but it wasn't quite comfortable enough for him, so he went to repOSition the prop. He turned it about 30 degrees, the im pulse snapped, and there was Carl stretched to his full height, his back against the STA's tail, with my PT-22's 90-inch prop whisking his fly. Fortu nately, it only hit about four cylin ders and then quit. Wow! I was up in

that cockpit and checking before Carl could even let out the breath he had been holding to make himself that skinny. The switch was at idle cutoff and the fuel was off. It turned out the airport owner's kids had been play ing in the cockpit and fooling around with the switches. The kid I think was responsible is now an aerobatic show pilot. He still likes to fool around. A year or so after this one, I was alone out front of the hangar at the same airport and I was going to take my two youngest kids for a ride in our Champ. I'd just gassed up and added a quart of oil and was ready to avi ate. There wasn't anyone else within close range, so I elected to prop it my self. I had the two kids side-by-side on cushions in the back seat under one belt. I put my right foot in front of the right tire and propped it seaplane style from behind. It was between the prop and the door. Just as I snapped it through, I heard my daughter say, "I'll help you, Daddy," and she shoved the throttle forward. It caught, of course, and there I was in a helluva predica ment. My right foot was the chock, the door won't let me get to the throt tle or the switch, and the engine is turnin' about 1,700 rpm. I'm dancing around in a circle, trying desperately not to lose it! If I pull my foot out from in front of the wheel it'll go for sure. I can't get around the door and under the strut, I can't grab and stop the prop at 1,700 rpm without chop ping my arm off, and I'm literally helpless. About the second I'm ready to give up and let it happen, the front door of the office bursts open and one of the guys comes running out to cut the switch. I would have kissed him

if I had the strength, but all I could do was sit down and mumble my thanks-over and over again. Shortly after this one, I was at the old Chicagoland Airport one day when a friend of mine who owned a T-6 had an experience. He was parked between two rows of airplanes and decided to prop the "Six." The battery had died long ago and, like most of us in the 1960s, he couldn't afford to buy a new one. He had been propping the plane for years, so it should have been no problem. This time, though, th rough a mismanaged mess-up, it started and went to 1,600 to 1,700 rpm like right NOW! Normally an R-985 or 1340 will fire, mutter, spang, and gradually accelerate to idle so slowly you can leisurely walk around the wing, crawl up to the cockpit, and still have time for a Coke and a sandwich before it finally clears its throat. Not this time. It tore down the line and went through two airplanes before it wrapped itself up in one of those cast-iron Navions. Paul himself

had quite a problem there. You can imagine how much insurance he had, since he couldn't even afford to buy a battery. It took him several years to payoff the damages to the other air planes, and he trucked his T-6 h ome, where it sat until he died. Same airport, same scene- almost the same tiedown. The STA had been flying for about four years. Our trusty Red Ba loney is go ing t o t ake h is niece up for a ride. There was n o one around, so he put her in the front seat, set up the engine controls, told her to hold the brakes, and started pulling through the prop. About four blades and away it went. It spurted right up to about 1,700 rpm . He dropped to the ground as the airplane rumbled over him, and he grabbed one of the flying wires under the wing as it went by. With him hanging on for dear life, the Ryan did two 360s between the parked pla nes. He was h ollerin ' fo r his niece to turn it OFF, but she mis understood and furth er complicated matters by jumping out and getting

knocked down by the tail as it swung by. About this time the engine quit be cause he did something right. He had turned off the fuel as I'd taught him to do wh en he propped it himself. Niece was bruised, but the airplane and everyone else was okay-so what caused the problem? He looked under the cowl, and there was the fractured end of the throttle push-pull rod! It broke from corrosion and wear right at the firewall. Lesson? You betcha! Next time, we tie the tail. We are learning! One day I propped Bob Heuer's Pitts when I saw him all alone. Then he asked me to untie the tail. A couple of months later I no ticed that Bob Davis, another aero batic pilot, had a tow hitch on his Pitts-Smith. What's he doing with a tow hitch ? Simple. He sez, "I can prop it myself, and then after I get in and all suited up and ready to go, I just pull the release and I'm free ." Lesson, there are some real practical people in the world. ~// l Over to you. c.!!./IAC/G

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Try it ... you'll like it!

The takeoff on this formation flight was going to be with a slight tailwind, but the downhill slope of the grass runway would compensate a little bit. We were taking off with the tailwind primarily because of the increased options we would have, going in this direction, in case anything went wrong. Going the other way meant clear ing trees at the end of the runway, and then nothing but a busy highway beyond the trees. As long as the wind didn't increase, there should be no problems. I was surprised at how quickly we were up off the bumpy runway, and flying in ground effect, especialJy with two of us on board. This time, rather than sitting in the back as the instructor, I was sitting in front, and Tom Decker was sitting in the back coaching me. It felt really refreshing to be receiving instr~cti~n for a change, rather than offenng It. Because we had become airborne before the Piper Pawnee in front of us, we stayed in ground effect until the Pawnee lifted off. We then flew through the turbulence behind the Pawnee and settled in for the climb, staying exactly 200 feet behind it. Tom instructed me to aim just a little below the Pawnee's tail. He told me that if the Pawnee turned, I should aim the nose of my aircraft toward the outer wingtip of the Pawnee. A big smile was spreading across my face as I settled in for the challenge. As the Pawnee banked into a turn to leave the pattern, I realized I was going to h ave to match his bank perfectly to stay in trail. If I banked too steeply, I would cut inside his turn , and if too shal low, I would fly outside of the Pawnee's arc. This didn't present too much of a problem, but I found that I was having trouble maintaining my vertical distance. As the Pawnee hit some lift, I found I could antici pate and thus maintain my relative vertical position. But when the Pawnee encountered sink, I often found myself flying right up into the prop wash and wake

turbulence of the lead airplane. Gosh, I hadn't had this much fun in an airplane in a long time. As we reached 2,500 AGL Tom told me to pull the red knob in the center of the panel. uOh no, the big red one!" I thought. As I pulled it, the towrope that had been maintaining that perfect 200 feet between the Pawnee and us shot forward toward the towplane. I guess if you hadn't figured it out yet, I was on an aerotow, in a glider. As that towrope appeared to shoot forward, we banked to the right, and the Pawnee executed a diving turn to the left, to head down and tow yet another glider back up into the sky. Now the fun was about to start in earnest! This was not my first time in a • glider. My first glider flight had been about 50 years ago. (In fact, that flight had been the first time in my life that there had been more than a few feet between my posterior and the earth, • and to this day, I have not forgotten it!) I also got to fly in the same glider I was now flying about two years ago, courtesy of the Valley Soaring Club, based at the Randall Airport (06N) in Middletown, New York (www.valleysoaring.org). It was a 1967 Schweizer 2-33 glider, one of the more common training gliders in use today. A client of mine, and now a good friend, Matt Blades, is the VP of the club. We had first met when he came to me to acquire his ASEL (airplane single-engine land) rating. He then later came to me to get tailwheel tran sition training in my PA-12. He had always given me a standing offer to come to his club and experience the exhilaration and joy of flying a glider. Thus, I found myself eagerly headed to the Valley Soaring Club at Randall, to pump some new excitement into my fly ing experience. I cannot recommend in strong enough terms my feelings that every power pilot should spend some time flying a glider. There are so many things to be re

I cannot

recommend in strong enough terms my feelIngs that every power pilot should spend some tIme flying a glider.

SEPTEMBER 2005

membered, relearned, or perhaps learned for the first time when flying a glider. To begin with, your feet are going to have to expe rience a reincarnation if they have been sitting flat on the floor of your spam can. Tailwheel-current pi lots will not have as much difficulty, but even I found that my feet did not work as well as they could have, at first. Gliders, with their much wider wingspan, have much greater adverse yaw whenever they are banked. If you are not prepared to compensate with sufficient rudder whenever rolling into or out of a bank, you will find the glider slipping through every turn. There is no inclinometer (that's the ball in the turn coordinator) to help you out, but there is a yaw string attached to the pi tot tube in front of the windscreen. Unless you know how to use your feet, when flying, you'll proba bly find that yaw string resembling a windshield wiper as you fly through your first few turns. The next thing to be remembered and refined is what it is like to fly in slow flight for extended periods of time, not only in straight and level flight, but more importantly, in turning flight. As we all know, one of the best ways to maximize flight time in a glider is to find some lift. Thermals (rising columns of air) are one of the best sources of that lift. To make the most of a thermal you have to fly a glider at a speed just slightly above the stall. And since most thermals are rather small in diameter, you need to constantly circle to stay in the thermal. But that's not the only challenge of fly ing a glider. We all know that as bank increases, so does stall speed. So here you are flying just above the stall, but to remain in the thermal you need to bank. If you bank too steeply, you'll quickly feel the first buffets of a stall, and now you're no longer climbing in the lift. If you don't bank steeply enough, you'll fly out of the lift. And then you're no longer climbing. Plus if you don't keep your turns coordinated, you'll find that slipping turns will rob from the benefit of the thermal. The last challenge that I have room to discuss rela tive to flying gliders is the landing. I have said more than once in this column that one of the least prac ticed maneuvers in flying is the go-around. Well, in gliders, you'll never get to practice that. Every landing is a dead-stick, spot landing. In gliders we have several fCm""Is-to help in that re gard. Spoilers, dive brakes, and the good old forward slip can all be used to aid us in putting the aircraft on the ground exactly where we want it. Needless to say, there is little room for error. If your only flying experience has been in a Cherokee or a Skyhawk, you'll have never really experienced a se rious forward slip. Those of you used to a Cub, Champ, or T-craft are more experienced in that technique, but not to this extent. Because gliders have large rudders to counter all the adverse yaw, these same rudders can

be used to get the glider almost perpendicular to the centerline of the runway while on final approach. By combining the slip with the use of the spoilers (on the upper surface of the wing) and dive brakes (on the bot tom of the wing), you can easily control the altitude. Pitch controls the airspeed. And just like a powered plane, you can fly final lion target. .. on speed" to a per fect spot landing. All without any power! There are many other challenges that flying glid ers present-enough challenges to keep flying a glider an exciting and enthralling endeavor for what I would think could well be the rest of one's flying career. I am not suggesting that you give up flying powered air craft, but I am suggesting that you should try flying a glider at least once or twice . Why, you could even fulfill the requirements for a biennial flight review or Wings program in one. Regardless of your reason, I can guarantee that fly ing a glider will teach you some new tricks and re mind you of some you might have forgotten. It will definitely put a smile on your face, and it won't disap pear overnight. It's almost been a week since I flew that glider, and I'm still glowing. In fact, I think I might have to make the time to get my glider rating. Why don't you try it? I think you'll like it.

Doug Stewart is the 2004 National CFI ofthe Year, a Master Instructor, and a DPE. He operates DSFI Inc. (www.dsflight. ~ com) based at the Columbia County Airport (1Bl). Ir======================================~-

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_ Started fiying in 1966 _ Enlisted in the US Air Force in 1968 _ Bought 1946 Swift N3324K in 1990s; currently has over 250 hours in the Swift

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Something to b u y , se ll or trade? 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 frequency discounts. Advertising Closing Dates: 10th of second month prior to desired issue date (i.e., January 10 is the closing date for the March issue). VM reserves the right to reject any advertising in conflict with its policies. Rates cover one insertion per issue. Classified ads are not accepted via phone. Payment must accompany order. Word ads may be sent via fax (920-426-4828) or e-mail (classads@eaa.org) using credit card payment (all cards accepted). Include name on card, complete address, type of card, card number, and expiration date. Make checks payable to EM. Address advertising correspondence to EM Publications Classified Ad Manager, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 BABBITT BEARING SERVICE - rod bearings, main bearings, bushings, master rods , valves, piston rings. Call us Toll Free 1-800-233-6934, e-mail ramremfg@ao/.com Website www.ramengine.com VI NTAG E ENGINE MACHINE WORKS, N. 604 FREYA ST., SPOKANE, WA 99202 CUSTOM PRINTED T-SHIRTS for your flying club, flight shop, museum. Free samples. Call 1-800-645-7739 or 1 828-654-9711

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REGIONAL FLY-IN SCHEDULE The following list ofcoming events is furnished to our readers as a matter ofinfor mation only and does not constitute approval, sponsorship, involvement, control or direction ofany event (fly-in, seminars, fly market, etc.) listed. To submit an event, send the information via mail to: Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Os hkosh, WI 54903-3086. Or e-mail the information to: vintageaircra(t@eaa.org. In formation should be received fOllr months prior to the event date. SEPTEMBER S-H-Galesburg, IL-Galesburg Municipal Airport.

34th Annual Stearman Fly-In. Techn ical seminars. Aircraft judging and awards. Aerobatic, fo rmation, short-field takeoff, spot-landing and flour bombing contests. Dawn Patrol, lunch-time flyouts, pizza pa rty, stage show, banquet and more. Info: 309-343-6409 o r stearman@stearmanflyin. com or www. stearmanflyin. com SEPTEMBER ll-Mt. Morris, IL-Ogle Co unty Airport (C55). EAA Ch. 682 Fly-In Breakfast. 7am-12pm . Info: 815-732-7268. SEPTEMBER 16-17-Bartlesville, OK-Frank Phillips Field (BVO) . 49th Annual Tulsa Regional Fl y- In . Info: www.tulsaflyil1 .com or Charli e Harris at 918-622-8400. SEPTEMBER 17-Poplar Grove, IL-Po plar Grove Airport. Vintage Wings & Wheels Muse um. Salute to WW II Combat Avia tors. Military aircraft displ ay and fly-by. Interviews with 12 WWII veteran s of air combat. Info: www.poplargrol.eairmotive.com/museum SEPTEMBER 17-18--Rock Falls, IL-Whiteside County Air port (SQI). North Central EAA "Old Fashioned " Fly-In . Forums, workshops, fl y-market, camping, air rally, awards, food & exhibitors. Info www.l1ceaa.org SEPTEMBER 22-25-St. Louis, MO-Creve Coeur Airport (lHO). Monocoupe Club Fly-In/Re union . Info: Frank Ke rner, (3 14) 277-4306 or monocollpe@sbcglobal.netor www. monocoupe.com SEPTEMBER 23-25-Sonoma, CA-Sonoma Skypark (OQ9). 32

SEPTEMBER 2005

Virginia State EAA Fly-In October 1-2, 2005 Petersburg, VA (PTB)

Evergreen, AL (GZH) www.serfi.org

www.vaeaa.org

Copperstate Regional

EAA Southeast Regional Fly-In October 7-9, 2004

EAA Fly-In October 6-9 , 2005 Phoenix, AZ. (A39) www.copperstate.org

23rd Annual West Coast Travel Air Reunion. Come to wine co untry for the largest gathering of Vintage Travel Airs. Info: 925-689-8182. SEPTEMBER 24-0 ntario, OR-Ontario Air Faire-Breakfast by EAA Ch. 837. Large wa rbird collection, aero airshow, car show, stage entertainment. Free admission. Info: Roger, 208 739-39 79 o r rlstps@aol.com SEPTEMBER 24-Topping, VA-Hummel Air Field. 10th Annual Car & Air Event. 8am-4pm. Featuring antique cars and planes, plus fire apparatus, tractors & engines, and arts & crafts. Info: (804) 694-5995 o r in(o@Wingsandwheels.us or www.wingsa ndwheels.us. SEPTEMBER 24-Han over, IN-Lee Bottom Flying Field (641). Wood, Fabric & Tailwheels Fly-In. Info: www.leebottom.com . OCTOBER 1-2-Midland, TX-Midland Int'l Airport. FINA CAF AIRSHO 2005 will commemorate 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II. Info: 432-563-1000 x. 2231 or pllblicrelations@cafhq·org OCTOBER S-9--Tullahoma, TN- "1932 to 200S-The Tradition Lives: Year of the Staggerwing" Staggerwing, Twin Beech 18, Bonanza, Baron, Beech owners & enthusiasts, Sponsored by the Staggerwing Museum Foundation, Staggerwing Club, Twin Beech 18 Society, Bonanza/Baron Museum, Travel Air Division, & Twin Bonanza Assn. Info: 931-455-1974 OCTOBER 14-15-Pineville, LA-EAA Ch. 614 Annual Fall Fly-In. Info: http://www.eaa614.org, margaretortigo@hotmail.com or 318-445-1772. VI N T A GE AIRP L ANE

Membershi~ Services VINTAGE

AIRCRAFT

ENJOY THE MANY BENEFITS OF EAA AND ASSOCIATION THE EAA VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATlON OFFICERS President

Vice-President

Geoff Robison

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Secretary Steve Nesse

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George Daubner

2448 Lough Lane Hartford, WI 53027 262-673-5885 vaa{lyboy@ms" ,(om Treasure r Ch arles W. Harris

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DIRECTORS Steve Bende r

Dale A. Gus tafso n

85 Brush Hill Road Sherborn, MA01770 508-653-7557

7724 5hady Hills Dr.

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David Bennett

Jea nnie Hill

sst 10@co mcast. lIet

dale(aye@mm.com

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

P.O. Box 328 Harvard, IL60033-0328 815-943-7205

John Berendt

Espie "Butch " Joyce

alltiqller@imeach. co11l

7645 Echo Point Rd. Cannon Falls, MN 55009 507-263-24 14 mjbfchld@rcolff1ect.com

dil,glzao@owc.net

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EAA Aviation Center, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Phone (920) 426-4800

Fax (920) 426-4873

Web Site: www.vintngeaircrn{t.org and www.nirventure,org EAA and Division Membership Services 800-843-3612 . . . . . ... FAX 920-426-6 761 (8:00 AM-7:00 PM Monday-Friday CST) - New/renew memberships: EAA, Divi sions (Vintage Aircraft AS50ciation, lAC, Warbirds), National AS50ciation of Flight Instructors (NAFl)

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Steve Krog

Robert C. " Bob " Brauer

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