Va vol 35 no 3 march 2007 by EAA Vintage Aircraft Association

GEOFF ROBI SON PRESIDE NT, VI NTAGE A IRCRAFT ASSOCIATI ON

Abusy time for us all

As I write this column for the March issue of Vintage Airplane magazine, it is mid-February here in the great winter wonderland of northeast Indiana, and I would bet a moderate sum of money that a lot of you are as tired of old man winter's antics as I am. Anyway, by the time you read this, we will be moving toward some milder weather condi tions, and we can get back to spend ing more quality time hanging out around the airport. I am really looking forward to throwing the doors open to not only the fresh air, but also the oc casional visitors and hang-abouts who stumble in to see what we are up to in our new chapter hangar at the DeKalb Co unty Airport (GWB). This should prove to be a productive year for us, as we have a number of chapter projects in the works. Speaking of Vintage Aircraft Asso ciation (VAA) chapters, have any of you ever given any serious thought to starting a local VAA chapter in your region? Belonging to an EAA or VAA chapter is really an excellent way to enhance your aviation experi ences, and it is also an excellent op portunity for you to engage yourself in various aviation-based social op portunities. Whether or not you are a pilot and regardless of whether or not you own an aircraft, these types of opportunities are often excellent proving grounds to immerse yourself in a myriad of exceptional aviation related, not to mention fun, expe rien ces. Check it out at www.EAA.

org/chapters/activities/startchapter.asp. I can assure you, you won 't regret it. It's hard to believe AirVenture 2007 is only a short four months away now, and as you can imagine, we are hard

at work planning and preparing for another excellent experience for the many thousands of visitors we host each year in the VAA area of the con vention grounds. Please give serious consideration to assisting us in our efforts to see that the 2007 event de velops into our best effort yet. The financial support for the various activ ities in connection with the weeklong event in the VAA Red Barn area is un derwritten by a yearly special conven tion support fund. This effort, as many of you are aware, is the VAA's Friends of the Red Barn program. Be sure to check out our newly revised and im proved offerings to those who support this vital VAA program . You can read more about it starting on page 8. Be a part of the movement, and be sure to be there to see it all in action. You can read more about it and sign up online at our website, www. VintageAircraft.

org/programs/redbam.html. I'm sure you have heard in the recent past that EAA and the Vintage Aircraft Association have been working hard for a number of years with the FAA to unlock the virtual death grip that has withheld access to the orphaned aircraft data nec essary to properly maintain our beloved vintage aircraft, and now it appears as though those efforts could soon begin to bear fruit. The FAA recently filed its proposed reauthorization bill. Within that bill, which will soon be hotly de bated before the U.S. Congress, the FAA is seeking permission to release aban doned type certificate or supplemental type certificate data to private individ uals so that aircraft airworthiness can be properly maintained. This proposed change was heavily lobbied for by EAA and the Vintage Aircraft Association. If

approved, this initiative would virtually eliminate the dilemma for owners who are reqUired to maintain their vintage aircraft to approved data, even though that data could not be released due to intellectual property laws. For further information see the story on page six of this month's Vintage Airplane magazine. As critical an initiative as this is, it's also relevant here to recognize yet again that the relationship between the FAA and the EAA/VAA has never been stronger. Many thanks to Earl Lawrence and the Government Programs office of EAA and to our VAA executive director, H.G. Frautschy, for their hard work in assur ing that this critically important initia tive has an honest chance to progress. It was also quite gratifying to see the U.S. Congress' recent response to the FAA's newly proposed funding struc ture. Talk about a cold shoulder from this august body! I cannot remember any other recent hot button issue re ceiving such a blunt and decisive reac tion as this "dead on arrival" initiative. Sometimes, they actually manage to get it righ t. Remember, Now is the time to be gin planning your journey to EAA AirVenture. We promise you an ex perience unmatched anywhere else in aviation. EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007 The World's Greatest Aviation Cele bration-coming July 23-29, 2007. VAA is about participation: Be a member! Be a volunteer! Be there! Let's all pull in the same direction for the good of aviation. Remember, we are better together. Join us and

have;tall

N E VOL. 35, NO. 3

2007

MARCH

CONTENTS

I Fe

Straight & Level A busy time fo r us all by Geoff Robison

News

FAA Attemps to Loosen Grip on Abandoned Vintage Aircraft Data EAA,VAA efforts lead to potential relief for owners and restorers by EAA Editorial and Government Programs Staff

Restoration Corner Assembly and Rigging by Gene Morris

Bellanca 260 John Morrison 's Triple-Tail Love Affair by Budd Davisson

Horsepower: Is More Really Better? Courtesy of the Luscombe Association by Gerry Sheahan

Recollections of Chicago's Curtiss-Reynolds Airport One of the golden age of aviation 's jewels by Kenneth McQueen

The Vintage Instructor HAT check by Doug Stewart

Pass it to Buck Where did I go? by Buck Hilbert

Mystery Plane by H_G. Frautschy

Calendar

Classified Ads

COVERS

FRONT COVER: John Morrison's going-places machi ne is this brightly-painted Bellanca 260, which

he flies with his two sons . Read more about it in Budd Davisson 's article, beginning on page 14 .

EM photo by Jim Koepnick.

BACK COVER: "Yellow Lure " is the title of th is award-winning painting by aviation artist Sam Lyons

of Woodstock, Georgia. EM's Vette/ Blust Seaplane Base served as the inspiration as the sum足

mertime setting for this beaut ifu l painting. To learn more about obtaining a print of Yellow Lure , visit

Sam 's website at www.lyonsstudio.com.

S T AFF EAA Publisher Executive Director/Edi tor Managing Editor News Editor Photography Advertising Coordinator Classified Ad Coordinator Copy Edi tor Director of Advertising

Tom Poberezny H.G. Frautschy Kathleen Witman Ric Reynolds Jim Koepnick Bonnie Kratz Sue Anderson Daphene Van Hullum Colleen Walsh Katrina Bradshaw

Display Advertising Representatives: Northeast: Allen Murray Phone 856-220-7180, FAX 856-229-7258, e-mail: n//elllllllrrny@milldsprillg.(olll Southeast: Chester Baumga rt ner Phone 727- 532-4640, FAX 727-532-4630, e-mail: cbnulll/ // @milldsprillg.colll Central: Todd Reese Phone 800-444-9932, FAX 816-741 -6458, e-mail: todd@ispc-lIlng.com Mou nt ain I< Pacific: John Gibson Phone 916-784-9593, e-mail: jOllIIgibsOlr@ispc-lIl(/g.colll Europe: Willi Tacke Phone +4989693 40213, FAX +4989693402 14, e-mail: wi//i@(lyillg-pnges.(olll

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Air Tour Final Rule Issued Part 91 Operators Relieved After a nearly three-year process, the FAA has released the final version of the National Air Tour Safety Standards, amending or adding rules to CFR Part 61,91, 119, 121, 135, and 136. EAA members who operate busi nesses within Part 91, General Oper ating And Flight Rules, asked EAA to address the notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) back in 2003. EAA and its Vintage Aircraft Association made comments in print and at a pub lic meeting in Washington, D.C., op posing the proposed rule as drafted. Other industry representatives includ ing Rick Pellicciotti (who created a Ya hoo website so Part 91 operators could easily communicate), Rob and Bob Lock of Waldo Wright's Flying Service, Greg Herrick of the Aviation Founda tion of America, and Brent Taylor of the AAA were all united in their op position of the rule. In fact, more than 2,300 comments were registered with the FAA, the vast majority of them not in favor of the rule. As written the rule would have, in effect, moved those commercial op erators who offered rides or flight ex periences into Part 135 operations. As written by Bob Lock of Waldo Wright's Flying Service, "Unless there was an enormous amount of give and take with the FAA, in no way could a 50- to 75-year-old aircraft meet the current requirements of Part 135. Overnight, this business would have ceased to ex ist had NPRM 4521 passed with the elimination of the 25-mile exception, of that I am certain ." The additional aircraft and paper work requirements and the elimina tion of the 25-mile exemption would have driven most of those operators out of business. After considering the numerous comments, the FAA's final rule does not move Part 91 operators into the arena of Part 135 operators, and while it does impose additional safety re2

MARCH 2007

q uiremen ts (in particular, req uire ments for the use of life vests for flights over water, and the addition of pop-out floats for helicopters not so equipped that are used in over-water sightseeing flights), it does not signifi cantly impede those who operate their businesses as Part 91 operations. Our thanks to all members and or ganizations who joined in fighting this proposed rule. In particular, I'd like to single out Bob Lock of Waldo Wright's Flying Service, who was the first among us to recognize the signif icant impact this proposed rule could have, and who rallied the troops with a "call to arms" that was cogent, reasoned, and above all, passionate about the small businesses that day in and day out offer the public a unique way to experience flight.

FAA Reaffirms Young Eagles Flights Not Subject to New Air Tour Rule February 22, 2007 - A week of work by EAA and FAA has ensured the future vitality and success of the Young Eagles program, by removing possible barriers that were part of the new air tour rule announced earlier this month. EAA President Tom Poberezny, along with EAA's Earl Lawrence and Doug Macnair, met Thursday with FAA's se nior leadership, including Administra tor Marion Blakey. They discussed the air tour rule's possible effect on Young Eagles, especially limits on what air craft could be used for Young Eagles flights, plus additional restrictions on pilot qualifications and frequency of Young Eagles activities. "Everyone we met with at FAA assured us that there was no intent to harm the Young Eagles program in any manner through the air tour rule," Poberezny said. "FAA's staff showed true concern for the program and immediately moved toward a positive solution." When Poberezny arrived at FAA headquarters the agency had, in antici pation of the meeting, drafted a letter

clarifying Young Eagles flights as non compensation flights. The letter em phasized that the air tour rule does not apply to Young Eagles flights where the pilot does not receive compensation. The final version of that letter will arrive at EAA within the next few busi ness days. In addition, Administrator Blakey and FAA senior officials pledged that technical corrections would be made to the air tour rule's preamble before the rule takes effect on March 15,2007. For EAA members who plan on flying Young Eagles, it means they may con tinue to operate as they have in the past when providing Young Eagles flights. "The rapid, positive resolution to this situation is an example of the out standing working relationship between EAA and FAA," Poberezny said. "FAA has helped provide the environment where nearly 1.3 million Young Eagles have been flown, and they continue their support of what has become the largest youth education program in aviation history. We are very pleased with the outcome and appreciate FAA's immediate attention to this issue."

EAA Voices Strong Opposition to User-Fee And Fuel Tax Hike Proposal What EAA and other general avia tion groups saw coming for months arrived on February 5 when it was revealed that user fees were a cen terpiece of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Avia tion Administration Fiscal Year 2008 budget request. The Bush Administration aims to appropriate money to fund creation of a user-fee bureaucracy for various aviation services. It also proposes a nearly 400 percent increase in the fuel taxes paid by general aviation opera tors and a series of fees for GA access to the nation's busiest airports. The budget proposal would transfer con trol of agency funding and oversight away from Congress and dramatically

Proactive Advocacy: EAA's Prescription for What Ails Recreational Aviation

EAA hosted more than a dozen FAA leaders for the two-day 2007 Oshkosh Recreational Aviation Sum mit January 16-17, where the issues discussed ranged from sport pilot/light-sport aircraft and experimen tal/amateur-builts to warbirds, aerobatic regulations, air shows, vintage aircraft, and air tour operations. EAA received deadline-sensitive commitments from the FAA to act on the wide range of topics. "This is really the roll-up-your-sleeves meeting, charting the course for what we need to work on," said Jim Ballough, FAA director of flight standards. "This is the way we get things done. Get the issues on the table and chart the course." John Hickey, FAA director of aircraft certifica tion, went a step further. "When you look at what we're working on as reflected in the list of ac tions-a strong focus on vintage and orphan air craft issues that have plagued the community for years, just to name a couple-2007 could well be a watershed year. I can't imagine these being ad dressed without the (EAA-FAA) relationship and the winter meetings." The " relationship" he referred to is a product of EAA's unique approach of "proactive advocacy." By seeking well thought-out, consensus-driven solu tions to problems instead of taking a more adver sarial approach, two sides can find and occupy the common ground. The result: issues are dealt with be fore they become full-blown problems, thereby ben efiting EAA members as well as all those who seek to participate in aviation. "We highly value our working relationship with the FAA," said EAA President Tom Poberezny. "Our philosophy of proactive advocacy, not reactive, ad dresses the issues and makes better use of every one's time. Every year that we do this, it goes more smoothly, and things get done. It's not that the is sues have gotten any easier, but we come in better prepared and better able to address the issues."

Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft The FAA intends to publish a final rule change regard ing certification of amphibious special light-sport air craft (S-LSA) with a reposition able landing gear by May 2007. The FAA is devising plans to provide on-site registra tion at Sun 'n Fun and EAA AirVenture Oshkosh for transitioning ultralights to experimental light-sport aircraft (E-LSA). This will not only provide a service to those needing to make the transition, but also create more awareness stressing that owners need to get the conversion process started well in advance of the loom ing January 31, 2008, deadline. Amateur-Built Aircraft A mutual goal is to determine a regulatory framework for aircraft that do not fit within the confines of the amateur-built category, while preserving the 51 percent rule. The FAA is intent on addressing builder assistance activities that fall outside the 51 percent rule. Aerobatics The International Aerobatic Club (lAC) seeks to extend the fuel-carry exemption that exists for performances to practice flights, plus change the rule requiring paper work in the aircraft for practical and safety reasons. lAC also argued that the FAA ramp checks at lAC contest events are unnecessary as lAC's thorough inspections of aircraft and paperwork are more than sufficient. Warbirds EAA Warbirds of America is following up summit discussions by working with warbird industry rep resentatives and the FAA to further define the FAA's program plan for oversight of vintage and exhibition aircraft. Aircraft operating limitations will also be ad dressed this year. Vintage Aircraft Fleet FAA and EAA officials continued discussions on ways to address the airworthiness needs of the vintage aircraft fleet, including modern methods and materials that of ten conflict with existing regulations. VINTAGE AIRPLANE

reduce public control of how the FAA exercises its discretionary spending. "DOT and FAA have attempted to distract from the user fee issue in their public statements by saying that rev enue from general aviation would con tinue to be collected via a fuel tax, but they fail to acknowledge that the fuel tax would be increased dramatically and a whole series of user fees would be implemented for FAA services that today do not carry a charge," said Doug Macnair, EAA vice-president of govern ment relations. New fees known to be in the bud get proposal as this issue went to press would affect aircraft certification and registration; appointment and/or des ignation of designees used to certificate amateur-built aircraft and light-sport air craft; and airman medical certificates. "EAA remains categorically opposed to user fees," Macnair added. "Such a system will not enhance safety, it will not improve services, and it will add barriers for thousands of recreational aviators while being a costly burden to the federal government. EAA contends that the current sys tem of excise taxes on general aviation fuel and airline passenger tickets works, and has worked well for nearly 40 years. In fact, the Airport and Airway Trust Fund received record revenues the past two years and is on course to do so again in 2007. Congress must approve a new fund ing plan or reauthorize the existing one before it expires in September. Several congressional leaders have told EAA that they have more questions than answers regarding the user-fee proposals. EAA and the GA community will continue to communicate the many flaws of the user-fee proposal to those in congress and elsewhere in government, as well as the general aviation community. "This is a coordinated effort on the part of the air carriers and the admin istration to implement a user fee-based system," Macnair said: "[t must be met with a coordinated effort in defense of general aviation because it threatens to eliminate the freedom of the average American to enjoy flight. " Individuals can also have a profound effect on how this plays out. Contact II

MARCH 2007

your elected representatives to tell them about the seriousness of this is sue and the direct impact it will have on you, your family, your business, and your community. For contact informa tion, visit www.House.gov and www.Sen ate.gov. To learn more about the user fee issue and why EAA thinks it's a bad idea, read EAA's briefing paper. Go to www.EAA.org and look in the Advocacy section of the member's only area .

nounced on www.AirVenture.org. EM AirVenture 2007 Performers (as of February 1, 2007-more will be added, and the list is subject to change with out notice) • AeroShell Aerobatic Team, T-6s • Dan Buchanan, Hang Glider • Kirby Chambliss, Edge 540 • Pat Epps, Aerobatic Bonanza • Kyle Franklin, Cub Comedy • Mike Goulian , Extra • Debby Rihn-Harvey, Hurricane 2

Top Air Show Performers Locked in for the Big Show

• David Martin , Extra

What do Sean D. Tucker, Patty Wagstaff, Kirby Chambliss, Debby Rihn-Harvey, Mike Goulian, Kent Pi etsch, Matt Younkin, and Kyle Frank lin have in common? Besides being among the world's best pilots, they are also among the many top per formers who have confirmed their appearance at The World's Greatest Aviation Celebration-EAA AirVen ture Oshkosh 2007. "Each of these performers work as a headline act at dozens of air shows throughout the country, but they come together at EAA AirVenture to make an all-star roster of the ' best of the best,"' said Tom Poberezny, EAA president, who flew as a member of the renowned Eagles Aerobatic Team. "Air show performers are eager to fly at Oshkosh because it represents a major achievement in their careers, flying in front of the most knowl edgeable and appreciative audiences on the air show circuit." Also confirmed to appear this year are the AeroShell Aerobatic Team, Dan Buchanan, Pat Epps, David Mar tin, and John Mohr. Additional air show performers will be announced as they are confirmed. The afternoon air show is an antic ipated spectacle each day at EAA Air Venture, providing an exciting way to round out a full day on the Os hkosh flightline. Prior to each day's air show, there is also showcase fly ing featuring a variety of aircraft, old and new, that shows the depth and breath of the aviation community. Exact daily performance schedules will be finalized in the weeks prior to EAA AirVenture and will be an

• Kent Pietsch, Interstate Cadet

• John Mohr, Stearman • Sean Tucker, Oracle Challenger • Patty Wagstaff, Extra • Matt Younkin , Travel Air Mystery Ship

In Honor of Those Who Have Fallen

People often take pencil rubbings as mementos at EAA's Memorial Wall. At EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007, a solemn dedication ceremony will be held on Sunday morning, July 29, to honor those who have gone before us. EAA's Memorial Wall, located just behind Fer gus Chapel adjacent to Pioneer Airport, provides an everlasting tribute to our fallen comrades by memorializing their names on a beautiful wall constructed of stones brought to Oshkosh by EAA members from all over the world. The ceremony includes a special name recognition tribute and a miss ing man flyover. Each inductee is also remembered in a memory album kept at the chapel. It is a wonderful way to honor those that have gone before us. Contributions for including a name on the wall are held in EAA's endow ment in perpetuity. To learn how you can include the name of your departed loved one, visit www.EAA.org/support.

Applications need to be submitted by April I, 2007, for inclusion in this year's dedication ceremony.

u.s. Air Force to Mark 60th Anniversary at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh The U.S. Air Force has always had a major presence at EAA AirVenture Os hkosh, but in 2007 it will kick it up a notch when it commemorates its 60th anniversary. The U.S. Air Force will bring its special exhibit, Heritage to Ho rizons, to mark the occasion, filling a lO,OOO-square-foot pavilion with more than 30 displays recognizing the nota ble people and aircraft that have been part of the Air Force's first 60 years. As one of the Air Force's officially des ignated events, EAA AirVenture will also host a sizable contingent of current mil itary aircraft during the weeklong event. The exact aircraft and appearance dates will be released as they are finalized. "The U.S. Air Force has always been very supportive and enthusiastic in its participation at EAA AirVenture, featur ing airplanes such as the F-l17 stealth fighter, F-16, and C-5 and C-17 cargo aircraft in past years, up to the amaz ing F-22 aerial display that was a high light last year," said Tom Poberezny, EAA president and AirVenture chair man. "We are very excited to host the Air Force at Oshkosh as it commemo rates its 60th anniversary, recognizing the occasion with fellow aviators from around the world." Along with Air Force headquarters in Washington, D.C., other units support ing the 60th anniversary EAA AirVen ture appearance include the Wisconsin Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve Command, Air Force ROTC, Air Force

Academy liaison officers, and Air Force Recruiting Service. In addition, the Air Force Recruit ing Service will bring the popular Cross Into the Blue exhibit with several hands-on activities. The anniversary commemoration adds to EAA AirVenture's always-popu lar warbird activities. The hundreds of warbirds that gather at Oshkosh each year include World War II-era aircraft from the U.S. Air Force's predecessors, as well as those from other branches of the U.S. military and other air forces from around the world. For more information, visit www.Air Venture.arg.

Doolittle Raider Thomas Griffin to Speak at Museum

A 8-25 launches off the deck of the USS Hornet in Doolittle's Raid in 1942. In April 1942 the situation on the warfront was grim for the United States. The]apanese had bombed Pearl Harbor just four months earlier, and America needed a victory. President Roosevelt and his advisers conceived a plan to deliver that much-needed vic tory to the U.S. military that came to be known as Doolittle's Raid. On March 27, Thomas Griffin, one of Doolittle's Raiders and the naviga tor in B-25 Plane 40-2303, will speak about this famous and daring mission during a special Winter Speaker series program at the EAA AirVenture Mu seum . The free program begins at 7 p.m. in the museum's Eagle Hangar. Other upcoming museum events: • Open Cockpit Weekend : An ex tra-special peek into the museum's collection, April 14-15 • Pioneer Airport Opening Week end: May 5-6 • Living History Day: Step Back in Time at Pioneer Airport, May 12

SportAir Workshops Coming to California, Michigan Anyone can learn the skills necessary to build his or her own airplane, and EAA's SportAir Workshops are teaching future homebuilders throughout the country. Let us help you achieve your dreams of building and flying your own aircraft. On March 24-25 (previously sched uled March 17-18), a workshop is scheduled at Watsonville, California, at Aircrafters on the Watsonville Mu nicipal Airport. Classes offered include Composite Construction, Sheet Metal Basics, Fabric Covering, Electrical Sys tems and Avionics, and What's In volved in Kitbuilding? April 14-15 a series of courses is slated for Belleville (Detroit area), Michigan, at the Michigan Institute of Aviation Technology. Space remains for Com posite Construction, Sheet Metal Ba sics, Electrical Systems and Avionics, Introduction to Aircraft Building, and What's Involved in Kitbuilding. To learn more about these and other scheduled workshops, visit www.SportAir.org or call Mark Forss at 800-967-5746, ext. 2.

EAA 8-17 Tour Set to Begin This Month There are plenty of opportunities to see EAA's beautifully restored and main tained B-17, Aluminum Overcast, when it heads out for its spring 2007 tour be ginning at the end of the month. The 2007 tour kicks off at North Las Vegas Airport March 30-April I, followed by scheduled stops in Cali fornia, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado. A fall tour is also planned, with locations to be an nounced at a later date. See the complete tour schedule and make a reservation for an unforgetta ble flight mission at www.B17.arg.

EAA Sport Pilot Programs at Major 2007 Aviation Events EAA will present the latest sport pi lot information and issue free sport pilot student pilot certificates to EAA members at several major aviation events in 2007, beginning with the Sun 'n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, Flor continued on page 38 VINTAGE AIRPLANE

FAA ATTEMPTS

TO LOOSEN GRIP

ON ABANDONED

VINTAGE

AIRCRAFT DATA

EAA, VAA efforts lead to potential relief for owners and restorers EAA EDITORIAL AND GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS STAFF and the Vintage Aircraft Associa tion, as well as other interested individuals and orga nizations, have been working for years to unlock the regulatory vault that holds the orphaned aircraft data neces sary to maintain vintage aircraft, and it appears those efforts could soon begin to payoff. In its proposed reauthorization bill to Congress, the FAA has pro posed legislation that would allow the release of abandoned type cer tificate (TC) or supplemental type certificate data (including b lue prints) to individuals upon request, so they can maintain the airworthi ness of their vintage aircraft. This

EAA

MARCH 2007

would remedy the current Catch-22 surrounding orphaned TCs, where owners are legally required to main tain and modify their aircraft using approved data, even though the data is unavailable because the owner of the type certificate cannot be found or is no longer in existence. The legislation wou ld provide au thority to the administrator to re lease engineering dat a possessed by the FAA related to an abandoned type certificate or supplemental type cer tificate for an aircraft, engine, propel ler, or appliance to a person seeking to maintain the airworthiness of such a product. The legislation would also al low the release of any associated sup plier-approved data for that prod uct.

This is a direct result of EAA and VAA's ongoing dialogue with the se nior FAA management team and has been the topiC of considerable ex amination in recent years at the an nual EAA/FAA Winter Recreational Aviation Summit held in Oshkosh. EAA and VAA are pleased to see some progress after years of work on this complicated issue. "We appre ciate the FAA's willingness to work with EAA and EAA's Vintage Aircraft Association as we improve the safe and cost-effective maintenance of vintage aircraft," said H.G. Frautschy, the executive director of EAA's Vin tage Aircraft Association. "In re sponse to long-standing requests from EAA, the FAA had attempted

pinge on the legitimate and legal Flight Control Cables

right of TC or STC owners to main Custom Manufactured! tain their data as proprietary infor mation and profit from that data provided they continue to support the product," Frautschy explained. "We in no way want to harm any individual or company economi Each Cable is Proof Load Tested cally through this proposal. How and Prestretched for Stability ever, for those corporate entities * Quick Delivery that have been defunct for what is * Reasonable Prices often decades, and who are no lon ger providing support to the owners * Certification to MIL-T-6117 of their products, it falls squarely on & MIL-C-5688A

the vintage aircraft owners to main * 1/16" to 1/4"

tain their aircraft in accordance with *Certified Bulk Cable and

that original engineering data. If it Fittings are Available is not available for legal reasons, the owner is genuinely caught between ~McFarlane· a rock and a hard place, and indeed safety is ultimately compromised. McFarlane Aviation Products "This proposa l is an excellent McFarlane Aviation, Inc. 696 E. 1700 Road start but is by no means the com Baldwin City, KS 66006

plete solution to the data avail 800-544-8594

ability problem for older aircraft," Fax 785· 594·3922

www.mcfarlaneaviation.com

Frautschy continued. Specifically, sales@ mcfarlaneaviation.com

when known type certificate hold ers are unwilling to release mainte VIs,{ nance-related data, vintage aircraft r--------------------------------- owners receive no Continued Oper ational Safety (COS) support of the type certificate, as required by FAR 23.1529 and Appendix G to Part 23. "EAA and its Vintage Aircraft As sociation will continue to work with the FAA and Congress on this issue as they have recognized the difficulty mechanics, restorers, and owners have encountered while diligently attempt ing to maintain vintage aircraft to their type certificate requirements." We'll keep you advised of the leg islation's specifics when the Bush administration's budget request to Congress is made public. Mem bers from both organizations will be encouraged to help support this legislation by contacting their con gressional representatives when bill numbers and specific legislation be come available. Since it 's likely to have been released between pub lishing cycles for Vintage AirpLane magazine, we suggest checking the EAA and VAA websites at www.EAA. ~)

org and www. VintageAircraft.org for the latest information. ......

q /I!

831

to develop a legal process that would allow it to release data from type cer tificates that were obviously aban doned. But existing laws restricted FAA's ability to release such data be cause it was deemed to be intellec tual property even though the owner of record had long since ceased to exist. This proposed legislation will go a long way toward helping own ers and mechanics gather the infor mation they need to maintain these historic aircraft." Data could be released provided the following circumstances are met: The certificate containing the re quested data is inactive for at least three years . The TC owner of record , or the owner of record's heir, cannot not be located. The designation of such data as pub lic data will enhance aviation safety. "Clearly, we do not want to im

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE

The VAA annual fund raising campaign fuels VAA activities at AirVenture Oshkosh H.G.

FRAUTSCHY

For more than three decades, the vintage

structures. But how does all of this work get

airplanes and their enthusiasts have had their

funded . To be certain, almost all of the labor

own special area during the annual EAA con

involved is performed by our dedicated and

vention. Over the years it's been a picturesque

talented volunteers, but what about the cost of

scene of the finest restored airplanes seen in

supplies and hardware?

this country, a gathering place for aviation peo

That's where our Friends of the Red Barn

ple and their magnificent machines to share

come in - it provides all of us, who wish, the

knowledge and friendships. We 've been privi

opportunity to assist in the vital financial sup

leged to see many one-of-a-kind airplanes in

port of the Red Barn area of EM AirVenture. It

our area. Remember the Gee Bee R-1 replica

gives us the unique opportunity to be an es

built by Steve Wolf and Delmar Benjamin?

sential element of an event that has no peer in

How about the lineup of Howards and Cessna

the entire world , that being the world renowned

195s? We can't forget the special Type Club

annual EM AirVenture Oshkosh gathering.

parking area, where we host many examples

We're most appreciative of the contribu

of a particular manufacturer's airplane. More

tions made by hundreds of VAAers who see

recently we 've been the Oshkosh home for the

the tangible benefits of supporting their fellow

inspiring National Air Tour, the thunderous Tri

VAA members in this manner. As a critical part

Motor reunion, and the American Barnstormers

of the VAA budget, the fund pays for such di

Tour. All of this is possible through the efforts

verse items as VAA awards presented during

of the nearly 500 VAA volunteers, the volunteer

the annual EAA aircraft awards program, spe

VAA board of directors, and the VAA staff.

cial recognition for our many volunteers , and

Their passion is what makes it a great place

expenses associated with our special displays,

to be throughout the week of AirVenture , and

forums, and educational areas such as the

why so many visitors and aviation enthusiasts

VAA Workshop tent and the Type Club tent.

come back year after year to work, relax, and en

Your annual contribution made in the first

joy aviation's premier event, EAA AirVenture Osh

half of 2007 will directly benefit this year's con

kosh. It's a place to rekindle old friendships and

vention activities and programs. There are now

make new ones. A time to relax and enjoy avia

seven levels of gifts and recognition, including

tion , learn something new, and rub elbows with

a new Diamond Plus giving level , which entities

our fellow aviators. As you can imagine, it takes

you to all benefits plus your choice of a Ken Ko

some fairly substantial financial resources to underwrite such an event and the Vintage area

tik aviation art print. A portion of Ken's artwork

at EAA AirVenture is no exception .

can be viewed on his website at www.KenKoti kAviationArt.com.

For the past four years , the Vintage Aircraft

Please consider actively partiCipating in the

Association has, by necessity, elected to un

2007 VAA Friends of the Red Barn campaign.

derwrite its EAA AirVenture activities with funds

You donation may be tax-deductible to the ex

other than members' dues. The proceeds from

tent allowed by law, and you can enhance your

this fund pay for all sorts of volunteer activities

partiCipation if you work for a matching gift

and improvements to the VAA area. It serves as working capital for improvements such as

company. You can do so by copying and filling out the form included on these pages, filling

the new kitchen for the popular VAA Tall Pines

out and sending in the form included in the

Cafe, as well as for upkeep of many structures.

mailing that will arrive in your mailbox soon , or

There 's never a shortage of windows that need

by donating online at www.VintageAircraft.orgj

caulking, doors that need to be replaced, and roofs that need to be repaired . Plus, every year

programs/ redbarn.html. If you desire more in formation concerning the VAA's Friends of the

something new must be created to serve the

Red Barn campaign , feel free to give us a call

needs of th e members and visitors , as well

at 920-426-6110. We'd be happy to speak

as replace some of our most aged or obsolete

with you!

MARCH 2007

Many services are provided to vintage aircraft enthusiasts at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. From parking airplanes to feed ing people at the Tall Pines Cafe and Red Bam, more than 400 volunteers do it all. Some may ask, uH volunteers are provid ing the services, where is the expense?" Glad you asked. The scooters for the flightline crew need repair and batteries, and the Red Bam needs paint, new win dowsills, updated wiring, and other sun dry repairs, plus we love to care for our volunteers with special recognition caps and a pizza party. The list really could go on and on, but no matter how many expenses we can point out, the need remains constant. The Friends of the Red Bam fund helps pay for the VAA expenses at EAA AirVenture, and is a crucial part of the Vintage Aircraft Association budget. Please help the VAA and our 4OO-plus dedicated volunteers make this an un forgettable experience for our many EAA AirVenture guests. We've made it even more fun to give this year, with more giv ing levels to fit each person's budget, and more interesting activities for donors to be a part of. Your contribution now really does make a difference. There are seven levels of gifts and gift recognition. Thank you for whatever you can do. Here are some of the many activi ties the Friends of the Red Barn fund underwrites: • Red Bam Information Desk Supplies • Participant Plaques and Supplies •Toni's Red Carpet Express Repairs and Radios

.Caps for VAA Volunteers

• Pizza Party for VAA Volunteers • Flightline Parking Scooters and Sup plies • Breakfast for Past Grand Champions •Volunteer Booth Administrative Sup plies • Membership Booth Administrative Sup plies

.Signs Throughout the Vintage Area

• Red Bam and Other Buildings' Main· tenance •Tall Pines Cafe Construction

.And More!

Dilamond Plus $1250 Ken Kotik Aviation Art Print

Close Auto Parking

Full Week

Two Tickets to VAA Picnic

21ickels

1Person/Full Wk

2People/Full Wk

* * * * * *

Tri Motor Certificate Breakfast at Tall Pines Cafe Special FORB Cap Two Passes to VAA Volunteer Party Special FORB Badge Access to Volunteeer Center Donor Appreciation Certificate Name Listed: Vintage Airplane Magazine, Website and Sign at Red Bam

* * *

* * * * *

VAA Friends of the Red Barn

Name_____________________________________________________EAA#________ VAA#________ Address_______________________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip ________________________________________________________________________ Phone_________________________________________E-Mail_____________________________________ Please choose your level of participation:

___ Diamond Plus $1,250.00 ___ Diamond Level Gift - $1,000.00 ___ Platinum Level Gift - $750.00 _ Gold Level Gift - $500.00

___ Silver Level Gift - $250. 00

___ Bronze Level Gift - $100.00

___ Loyal Supporter Gift - ($ 99.00 or under)

___ Your Support $___

o Payment Enclosed (Make checks payable to Vintage Aircraft Assoc.) o Please Charge my credit card (below) Credit Ca rd Number _________________________ Expiration Date ______ Signature___________________________________

Mail your contribution to: EAA, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOC. PO Box 3086 OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086

*00 you or your spouse work for a matching gift compan y? If so, this gift may qualify for

a matching donation. Please ask your Human Resources departm ent for th e appropriate form.

NameofCompany ______________________________________________________

Tile Villtage A ircraft Associa tion is a non-profit edllca tional olgarlization IIIlder IRS SOlc3 rules. Under Federal Law, the deduction from Federal Income tax for charitable contributions is limited to the amollnt by which any money (and the value of allY property otiler than money) contribllted e.~ceeds the vallie of the goods or services provided in exchange for the contribution. An appropriate receipt acknowledging your gift will be sent to YOll fo r IRS gift reporting reasons.

VINTAGE A I RPLANE

Editor's Note: "Assembly and Rigging" is the title of this ninth installment of t h e "Restoration Corner" series. Author Gene Morris is an airline captain living in Texas . He also serves on the Vintage Aircraft Association Board of Directors.

Assembly and Rigging BY GENE MORRIS EAA 81175, Ale 1877

Now that you've brought your airplane up through all the vari ous stages of rebuilding/restoring, you have probably learned all that you can absorb about good working habits. You will, of course, continue with these habits, and you will have gotten to know your airframe and powerplant mechanic with an in spection authorization (A&P/IA) very well by now. Hopefully he can be considered an expert on your airplane. If not, I would at least contact someone who has been there before ... even if it's by telephone, you can pick up a lot of good ideas. The Internet is another terrific way to contact other owners and restorers. This is not to say that your A&P is not capable, but it's part of sharing experiences and ideas with each other. My restoration experience is lim ited compared to some, but I have helped several people where I, and am very happy and flattered to do so. I once flew our old Travel Air 4000 to Hartford, Wisconsin from our home (then) near Chicago, so the FAA could compare it with Tom Hegy's to determine if they were constructed alike. They were, and they gave him his engine installa tion STC on the grounds that mine once had the same engine installed in 1937. If you are a newcomer to antique or classic airplane circles, you will find that nearly everyone is eager to

help you, especially if it doesn't cost anything.

Tail Surfaces You can probably assemble the tail feathers all by yourself. Just con tinue with your good habits and be sure to use a level to get things nice and straight. For instance, someone with past experience might save you some work with horizontal stabilizer ad justments. Some vintage aircraft require the installation of washers under the stabilizer leading edge at tach points or may have more than one bolt hole for mounting these pieces. Some knowledgeable tips could prevent you from having to take it apart after you've flown it and found it out of rig. The same situa tion exists for some vertical fins. Believe it or not, I once saw a turnbuckle tightened up too tight to pivot on an elevator "up" horn and the turnbuckle failed during a landing flare about four feet above the runway. (Editor's note-In that case, it's likely that not only was the nut tightened excessively, but that the wrong hardware was used to attach the turnbuckle rod end to the control horn. Only clevis bolts are to be used in those applications, with the appropriate grip length used to prevent the nut from squeezing the fork end. Overtighten ing a too-short bolt can cause the turn buckle fork end to bind on the horn, or fracture the fork at its base.-HGF)

REPRINTED FROM

MARCH 2007

Vintage Airplane

What a landing, but there was no damage! In your assembly of mov able items, they must be allowed to move. If the empennage is braced with streamline wires, treat them care fully using masking tape or similar protection on the crescent wrench used to adjust them. The tightness will be a consensus between you and your A&P. Be sure to guard against pulling the surfaces out of plumb. Also, you will notice that one end of the wire has right-hand threads while those on the other end are left-hand. Your good working habits will insure that you do not lose the left-hand jam nut! Most aircraft have specified lim its of control surface travel, so you should use your bubble protractor for that step.

Wings Some folks get the urge to taxi their pride and joy before install ing the wings. A word of caution is in order here. On a tail dragger, the wings represent a Significant amount of weight aft of the land ing gear. This translates into an air frame without wings that is very light in the tail, and even a slight application of brakes while taxiing could result in a sudden shortening of the propeller. How do you sup pose I would know that? Up to now, you've slaved over your airplane for months and prob-

N OVEMEBER 1986

ably are still peeling dope off your fingers, your wife has thrown away all your dope/paint-laden clothes, and I hope somewhere in all the la boring you have planned to have a wing-raising party. If you are prone to parties, this is another for your list, don't let anybody stumble into your nice straight stringers, etc. Installing wings on an airplane can vary all the way from putting up a simple lift and putting in two bolts (or is it four?) as on an Er coupe, to hanging four wing panels on a biplane. To make it simple and very basic, I'll start with the typical high wing monoplane like the Champ, Cub, Taylorcraft, etc. The wings attach to the fuselage with a bolt at the front spar and one at the rear spar. If it were not for your friend holding up the wing tip, it would fall to the ground . A real must for this opera tion is three or four drift punches to get that initial hold on the holes until you can line them up for the bolts. Also, you should have a fiber hammer to tap in the bolts. Take care not to ruin the threads during this process. Before the wings went up in place, you should have fastened the lower strut to the fuselage. All that is required now is to raise the strut up to the wing and, 10 and behold, it will fit perfectly. I don't know of an airplane that will not stand upright with just one wing panel-unless it's Ken Hyde's Jenny. I know for a fact that the old Travel Air stood up, almost straight, with both wings on one side. After both wings are on and the ailerons are in place, you will once again get into the cable tension game. Thank goodness for ball bear ing pulleys, because a little too much cable tension on the old type pulleys can really make for stiff controls. A common error at this point is getting the aileron cables crossed . Be sure that you have them properly iden tified and tied off correctly be fore putting the wings on . Sometimes, if the cables are crossed, the movement one way will be heavier than the other. Again, how

Gene Morris flying his 1931 American Eaglet, NC548Y.

do you suppose I would know that? There are a couple of things to bear in mind when rigging the aileron cables. Naturally you will want the control wheel or stick to be centered when the ailerons are even. That will be your job. On most airplanes the ailerons should droop just slightly, perhaps 1/ 8 inch or maybe a little more. Rigged thusly the air load will streamline them in flight. If this is all done correctly, you should not have to touch them again. On this hypothetical airplane we are assembling, you will notice that only the length of the rear strut is ad justable. This is to adjust the proper angle of wash-out at the wing tip (when specified). The length of the front wing spar is fixed to maintain the angle of dihedral as designed into the aircraft. After the two struts are attached to the wing, stand at the tip and look toward the fuselage, sighting

down the bottom of the wing. The wing panel should have a slight twist in it, with the trailing edge at the tip being about Vz inch higher than the wing root. This is called wash-out, and it's obtained by in creasing the length of the rear strut. It's also a good idea to stand in front of your airplane and eyeball for uniformity of the wash-out on the left and right panels, just like you did with your model airplanes. Wash-in and wash-out apply to all wings regardless of structure, i.e., struts, wires, or however they may be attached. Do not under any circumstances allow the wings to be washed in (trailing edge at wing tip lower than root rib). This condition will cause the tips to stall first, and your airplane will b e real nasty to fl y. Conversely, when the wings have wash-out, the wing root stalls first, giving a straight-ahead stall as well VINTAGE AIRPLANE

as retaining aileron control for a longer period of time. Of course, you have seen that all fuel lines are in place in that tiny little space between the wing root rib and the fuselage as well as the wiring to the wing lights and the pitot/static lines. Be sure the wing-to-fuselage fairings (when used) are in good shape and fastened securely to the airframe. We once had a PA-12 in Alaska that nobody could land de cently. We finally determined that the wing fairing was loose just be hind the windshield, and during the landing flare that little bit of fairing sticking up adversely affected the airflow over the tail surfaces! One more thing about wash-in and wash-out. Since the ailerons have the same amount of droop with the stick or wheel centered, they will be adjusted correctly. Should your airplane fly straight and level, hands off, and one aile ron is up and one is down, do not re-adjust the ailerons! Correct the

condition by lengthening the rear strut to the wing with the "Up" aile ron. Make the adjustments in small increments, then test fly until the ailerons remain even. Don't be hesitant about asking questions, and always be observant. For instance, Cessna 140As and some others with single struts have an ec centric bushing at the rear spar fitting to adjust for wing heaviness . Some airplanes don't have any wing adjust ments. My 1940 Culver Cadet is one of those and, as you might expect, it flew wing heavy. I did not want to correct it by installing an adjustable aileron tab, so I flew it for months with a large rubber band stretched be tween the stick and the Landing gear lever. I finally broke down and put a tab on it. My 1931 American Eaglet has no elevator trim system at all, so we carry the rubber band on cross country flights, attached to the seat belt and over the stick. The result ing back pressure on the stick cor-

WHAT OUR MEMBERS

ARE RESTORING

""'a;

-----..... --~ -

REARWIN SKYRANGER

1948 LUSCOMBE 8B

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RES TORING Are you nearing completion of a restoration? Or is it done and you ' re busy flying and showing it off? If so, we'd like to hear from you. Send us a 4-by-6 inch print from a commercial source (no home printers, please-those prints just don't scan well) or a 4-by-6-inch, 300-dpi digital photo . A JPG from your 2.5-megapixel (or higher) digital camera is fine. You can burn photos to a CD, or if you're on a high-speed Internet connection, you can e-mail them along with a text-only or Word document describing your airplane. (If your e-mail program asks if you 'd like to make the photos smaller, say no.) For more tips on creating photos we can publish, visit VAA's website at www.vintageaircraft.org. Check the News page for a hyperlink to Want To Send Us A Photograph? For more information, you can also e-mail us at vintageaircraft@eaa.org or call us at 920-426-4825. 12

MARCH 2007

rects a slight nose-heavy condition. The price of staying original!

Biplanes I only have experience with one biplane, our old Travel Air 4000. On that plane the center section is adjust able fore and aft, which changes the CG location. That needs to be done for different engine installations, etc. Most biplanes have center sec tions and the sequence for install ing the wing panel is: 1) center section; 2) lower panels; 3) upper panels. When the lower panels are installed, the tips are supported by the landing wires. The tips of the upper panels are supported by the outer interplane struts. Rigging these birds can give one gray hairs because when one wire is adjusted, one more will probably need re-adjusting. Rigging specifica tions are available for most airplanes, and these instructions should defi nitely be followed. I would guess that it's really a good feeling to put a bi plane together and have it fly per fectly the first time! If the flying and landing wires aren't "streamlined into the slipstream, they may flutter during flight. This condi tion should be remedied immediately, as flutter can mean failure. If you are not already familiar with the rod terminals, you should know they have a small opening called a witness hole in the side of the shank. This is the gauge to assure that the rod end is screwed into the terminal at least that far. The proper threading of each end must be verified by insert ing a piece of safety wire into the wit ness hole. If the wire goes through, not enough threads are engaged. Share your fun and problems. Once again, you are doing this proj ect for fun or some sort of personal satisfaction, and nothing is more gratifying than to share you fun, and problems, with the rest of us . We all love airplanes and airplane people, so if this is your first restora tion project, you have much to look forward to when you start flying it to fly-ins, especially the greatest of them all ... Oshkosh! ~ II

eJ.

55 ~-!I!~~tion

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8 rnazca

LIN COL N

MERCURY

JAGUAR

BELLANCA

ome airplanes seem to resist being rebuilt. You get a start on them, things look as if they're going along smoothly, and then something happens and you back up two paces. Move ahead, and then back up again. The entire project has a sawtooth progress pattern. The only thing that is a given on those projects is that if you don't keep push ing, they aren't going to happen. If you don 't believe that, ask John Mor rison about his Bellanca 260.

MARCH 2007

First, it's a straight Bellanca 260. Not a 260A. Not a 260B. A straight 260, the first of the 260-hp, nose-dragging, tri ple-tail speedsters from Bellanca. Sec ond, you need to ask John how far he can throw his complete toolbox when things go very wrong. But, we're get ting ahead of ourselves. John came into aviation hon estly-he was born into it. His dad flew P2Vs as a Navy reservist when he wasn't shepherding an American Air lines bird around. Plus, his maternal grandfather was associated with the

Granville brothers of "Gee Bee" fame to the pOint that the grandfather and John's great uncle owned and raced a Gee Bee Model "E" Sportster (the same airplane that Zantford Granville was killed in) for a short time in the early 1930s. "Dad would take my brother and me down to LaGuardia or JFK; this was during the early 1970s, long be fore 9/11 and the TSA . We had the run of American's 727s, 707s, BAC 111 s parked at a gate or in the han gar," John says. "I spent a good deal

of my childhood building model air planes and reading just about every thing that had to do with aviation. I also had a strong interest in taking things apart to see what made them work. Sometimes I'd even put them back together. /II started flying when I was 16. The official lessons were in a C-1S2 at Wa terbury/Oxford, Connecticut; the real lessons were in a 7DC Champ at a grass strip called Candlelight Farms. I suppose that is how the bug for older airplanes bit.

/II attempted to major in mechani cal engineering and fly at the same time. Flying eventually won out over engineering, so I transferred to South eastern Oklahoma State University for its aviation program. My first real avi ation job was as a lineman for South easter's FBO, refueling and tending to the college's airplanes. I did some flight instructing as well while I was at Southeastern. By the time I gradu ated I had added CFII and Multi-I to my tickets." John graduated from college and

like every other young pilot, found that both his first job and lunch money were illusive. /II picked up a job with a flight school/FAR 135 operator in Laredo, Texas, doing flight instructing and air taxi flying. I was hoping after col lege to fly with the Air Guard, but this was 1982, and there was a glut of airline pilots on furlough going back to Guard and Reserve units due to the PATCO strike, early effects of deregu lation, Braniff shutting down, Frank Lorenzo, oil embargos, so after about eight months of long days and pea nut butter and jelly sandwiches, I was able to go active duty Air Force and right into pilot training. "I went through T-37s and T-38s at Vance Air Force Base, then tran sitioned into the KC-13S. I always thought it sort of ironic that I re fueled little airplanes in college, so what did the Air Force have me do? Refuel bigger airplanes while doing 400 knots." The measure of whether or not a pi lot is truly an av-junkie is whether he gets too much flying on the job and then doesn't need it on the side. In this case, John is definitely hooked. "While I was stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base in New York, to keep myself in touch with my roots, I bought a Cessna 120 that we nick named 'The Paul Poberezny Special' because it was painted in the EAA paint scheme. The little airplane fol lowed me around for the rest of my Air Force career and to FedEx. "Even though I was flying in the Air Force, I kept my CFI active and gave a lot of civilian flight instruc tion when I was off duty, includ ing some ATP training for my fellow USAF colleagues." Fortunately the airlines started a huge expansion in the late '80s when John's initial USAF commitment was up. "The military flying was reward ing, but my heart was really with the airlines. So I took advantage of those SAC alert tours to prepare my resume and send out applications to the airlines. "American Airlines had a nepo tism rule, which was a bummer be VINTAGE AIRPLANE

The distinctive triple tail of the Bel lanca 260.

The 260, which includes a cozy back seat, is a comfortable ride for four.

cause flying for them was my dream. I was the one they said couldn't be hired because my dad worked there . I hadn't given much thought to Fed eral Express because it was a relatively 16

MARCH 2007

new airline, but since we were spend ing our days off in Memphis, I began to notice this purple air force morph ing there. Couple that with its recent acquisition of "Flying Tigers" and its

international routes, and flying night freight became more appealing to me. So, I sent them my resume, inter viewed, and was offered a job! I have been with them nearly 17 years now, most recently as a captain and check airman on MD-lls. "I married and was expecting our first child early in my FedEx career. It wasn't long before the old C-120 wasn't going to work as a family air plane. It just so happened that a ratty looking Cessna 170A that I knew about became available. So, I rationalized the need for a back seat and bought it. I flew it exactly once before deciding some of the wiring needed work and the panel n eeded rebuilding. And well, you know the rest . One thing leads to another, and I found myself 'refurbishing' the entire airplane.

"I was really close to having it fly ing again when another FedEx pilot walked up with a check and said, 'I want your 170,' and I flinched . I tried to go a year without another airplane, and should have looked for a 12-Step Airplane Junkie Recovery Program." John had already decided he needed another four-place airplane, but this time he decided he wanted something that was faster but still had a little character. Speed wasn 't everything. "I was enamored of the triple-tail Bellancas, especially the 14-19-3s. I flew one while I was in college and

"I WAS

was in boxes. However, a lot of new ECI parts were included. "The airplane had some modifica tions, such as aux fuel tanks in the wings, main gear doors, and a new instrument panel. The good part was that I could get a look inside the wings and see that the wood was in excellent condition. "The seller was running an FBO that he was trying to make into a re pair station specializing in Bellancas and said he'd bolt it together and I could fly it out of there in short or der. I should have known that noth ing goes that easily. But we made a deal, and I gave him 50 percent to get started on the airplane." John waited a few weeks, and then a month . Then, at six weeks, when he hadn't heard anything from the seller about progress on the airplane, he made the call. "I had a little trou ble getting through, but when I did I found the IRS was shutting down the FBO. I weighed the Morrison options: wash my hands of it and stand in line be hind the IRS in bankruptcy court for maybe 10 cents on the dollar or pay off the existing bank lien on the air plane and take the project on myself. I decided to do the latter, and that's when Jim and Rosie Stark came into the picture. "I heard about Jim through the grapevine. He was reputed to be a great wood and fabric guy. He had just finished up a Stearman project and was looking for something else to try. So I ran up to Milwaukee to visit with him . I was really impressed by the workmanship on the Stearman, as well as his Steen Skybolt project with a 200-hp Ranger. He also was a partner in a Viking, so he had some knowledge of Bellancas. Jim agreed to take on the Bellanca project, which was a blessing, as my wife and I were now expecting our second child. "I got a phone call from Jim a few

ENAMORED

WITH THE TRIPLE TAIL

BELLANCAS" -John fell in love with them. Even though they are a nosedragger, they are still a Cruise master. "Looking through Trade-a-Plane, the few available seemed to be run ning $20,000 to $30,000, but they were then 35-year-old airplanes with the original fabric, run-out engines, and obsolete radios. No one to my knowledge had yet to thoroughly re store a 260." In the course of his searching, he contacted the Bellanca-Champion Club. And one of its members said he had a 260 project he might be will ing to sell. "I jump seated up to Milwaukee to look at it, and it was definitely a project, as it was taken completely apart. Whoever had owned it before had stopped partway through a total restoration. The fuselage had been re covered in Poly-Fiber, and the engine

days later letting me know that he already had the airplane in his shop in Sullivan, Wisconsin. I commented that was quick, but he said he was worried about the IRS seizing every thing at the FBO, even though I had cleared up the bank lien and had title to the airplane." When John was able sit back and study the airplane he realized that maybe he'd done okay, despite the aggravations he'd just been through. "The previous owner used the air plane to commute between his busi nesses in Birmingham, Alabama, and Minneapolis. He was the one who had the aux wing tanks and gear doors installed. Plus he jammed a lot of stuff into the panel. Unfortunately, between the time I first looked at the airplane and Jim moved it to his place, several of the radios, including the Stormscope, disappeared . How ever, I figure that for a little more than the going price of a flying 260, I now had known quantity with good spars, fresh fabric, and a fresh engine." Even though a lot of work had been done on the airplane, there was still a lot to do, so John and Jim went to work. The Morrisons decided that the airplane might as well have a proper rebuild, not the bolt-it-to gether-and-fly-it concept that started the ordeal. John says, "From the onset, Jim wasn't very pleased about the tapes on the fuselage, so he redid them. Then to make matters worse, he was spraying and sanding the finish when he found static electricity or some thing had sucked the fiberglass insu lation up, and it was stuck to the back side of the fabric. That wouldn't be a big deal, but you could clearly see in the outside surface where it was stuck to the inside. Jim finally got that straightened out, but not without a lot of sanding and elbow grease. "If we had it to do over again, we would have been better off stripping the fuselage and starting over. We also redid the panel and yanked out a lot of the extra gauges and radios. At the same time we installed a GNC-300 to replace the missing DME and ADE" As the airplane was going together, VINTAGE AIRPLANE

A pair of under-wing fairings that are vaguely reminiscent of the landing gear fairing pods on the Curtiss P-40 hide the actuating mechanism for the Bellanca's retractable landing gear_ John had to do something about all those boxes with engine parts in them. "I took everything I could find that looked like it belonged in an en gine over to Glenn Millard. The en gine is an IO-470F and appeared to be in pretty good shape, which wasn't hard to see because nothing was as sembled. So, Glenn spread everything out, did an inventory, then built me a new engine, which has been running great, so far. Also we've added GAMI injectors and an engine analyzer that shows that at 65 percent power, we're burning about 11 gallons per hour at 160 knots true airspeed. "The fuel and hydraulic systems are pretty complex, so we called the Bellanca factory for some advice . We also needed their help in rigging the airplane. This was in 1998, and they weren't much help because they were barely staying in business. Now, how ever, the company is owned by sev eral former employees. It is doing business as Alexandria Aircraft LLC, and they are great to work with. "We should also mention Tom Wit mer of Witmer's Aircraft Services in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, who pro vided a lot of assistance and is a gold mine of knowledge on these airplanes. " I was never a fan of the original 1960 factory paint scheme of red, yel low, black, and white. However, the factory schemes on the tail-wheeled 18

MARCH 2007

Cruismasters really complemented the lines of the airplane. I came up a variation of that while on one of my 12-day FedEx trips through Asia. "Jim introduced me to Randy Ef finger at Center Aviation in Water town, Wisconsin. His shop did the paint and upholstery, after Lisa picked out the fabrics. I went to the Super flight forums at Oshkosh, and Dip Davis showed me how easy it is to do a spot repair on Superthane, which is why I chose that paint. "The internal antennas are from Advanced Aircraft Electronics. I wanted to put an ADC oil filter on it, but we weren't sure it would fit, so while we were at Oshkosh in 1998, Jim borrowed a filter from the ADC people at their booth, and we drove down to Watertown to see if it would fit, and it did. "The airplane finally came to Mem phis on Memorial Day of 1999. We took it to AirVenture 2000, but stayed only for the first four days of the fly in. Jim and Rosie called me from the awards ceremony and told me that the airplane won the Reserve Grand Champion-Contemporary Award, which positively blew me away. I never expected anything like that." Just because the airplane had been restored doesn't mean John either stopped learning about it or stopped working on it (unfortunately).

"After I started flying it, I found one of the airplane's two weak points is its 'Rube Goldberg' fuel system. It has 90 gallons spread among five tanks with two selector valves but only two fuel gauges: one for the main tank selected and the other for the aux tank selected. You have to be religious about managing the fuel. I wish there was a way to STC the MD II's fuel system controller into it. In the meanwhile, the Masten engine analyzer with the fuel totalizer func tion and the clock will have to do. "I had been flying the airplane a couple of years when I made a ma jor 'oops' and discovered the other weak point. I had removed the co pilot floorboard and was under the panel when I barely bumped the gear handle and the manual hydraulic pump handle. Just that fast the right main retracted and dropped the wing to the floor. "I crawled out from under the air plane, walked around it once, turned around, and threw my entire tool chest out the door. I was not a happy camper, but the airplane wasn't done messing with me. As we were trying to jack the air plane up and get the gear leg down, the other one folded. My tools were already scattered around out front, or I would have thrown them again. It turns out II

continued 0/1 page 40

Hors ower:

Is More

etter?

the Luscombe Assoc BY GERRY SHEAHAN

At the Lus com be forum during this past year's EAA AirVenture, there was a lengthy discussion on the pros and cons of different engines and engine con versions in the standard Model 8 Luscombe. What inspired this discussion was a chance encounter I had a few days earlier with a Luscombe Association member from Georgia. As we spoke, I men tioned to him that my airplane had an 0-320 lS0-hp Lycoming. He im mediately said that it was a conver sion he hoped to do on his 8S-hp 8E, and he pressed me for many de tails on the conversion itself and how the performance was improved. Al though I bought the airplane with that engine, I've owned it since 1976 20

MARCH 2007

than it re ally wants to go." I thought about that conversation for a couple of days, and those thoughts led to the discussion at the Oshkosh forum. Steve Krog, who heads up the Lus combe Association's newslet ter efforts, thought that topiC would make an article that could give a dif ferent perspective to many members thinking of doing an engine change or upgrading to a different Luscombe with a different engine. He tells me that the Association gets lots of ques tions on this. (So do we here at EAA/ VAA headquarters.-HGF)

(no, that's not a typo) so I had a fair amount of in formation to share. As a result, we spoke for quite some time, and I gave him as much honest in formation as I had, as well as a cou ple of opinions. Without intending to, I'm afraid I might have disappointed him. To summarize our conversation, I seemed to be telling him, "If you want a faster airplane, buy a faster air plane. Don'tpush a 100-mph wing

While the majority of my 1,000 plus hours of Luscombe time is in my lS0-hp powered airplane, at last count I've soloed 16 different Lus combes with engines big and small. And that includes two clip-wing Luscombes; thank you, Bill Bradford and Chuck Forrester! With that in mind, the following is simply my opinion on different engine combi nations in the Model 8 airframe. 65-hp Lycoming: If you see a Luscombe cowling with a small

dipstick immediately behind the prop, that's a 65-hp Lycoming. It's a smooth-running engine that doesn 't seem to produce the power of an equivalent-rated Continental. (Look at the length and pitch of the prop; it seems to bear that out.) Many have been converted to Continentals for that reason. There aren't many small Lycomings around anymore. 65-hp Continental: Probabl y the most common engine pow ering Luscombes today. Its light weight makes for a very nice flying airplane .. .it flies like a leaf. That is especially true if efforts are made to reduce the overall weight of the airplane. While the lack of a starter and electrical system reduces the airplane's utility, it is light-sport air craft eligible, which increases its de sirability. Some old-timers talk about the pull-type starters with a cable or rope into the cockpit that were in stalled on some 65-hp Continentals, especially in Aeronca Chiefs. To me, those starters fall into the "bigfoot" category. I've never seen him, either. (J have a cab le-actuated McDow ell starter on my Aeronca Super Chief. It was installed as standard equipment on the 65-hp Aeronca Chief, 85-hp Su per Ch ief, and on a number of Taylor craft airplanes built right after World War II. It works great, if the engine is in tune and you don't abuse the starter by yanking on the handle. Before you ask, no, I won't sell it.-HGF) 75-hp Continental: The orig inal 75-hp engines in Luscombes were fuel-injected units in Deluxe 8Cs. I have flown one of them and remember it was a bit problematic to start when hot. The lack of parts and maintenance knowledge of the Ex-Cell-O units led to many of them being converted to carburetors. Also, many A65s have been "converted" to A75s, but I put that in quotes be cause to do a true conversion you have to change to four-ring pistons. Some will say yo u just change the timing and make a minor carbure tion change. Not really. In either case, what is true for a 65 hp is true

for a 75 hp: no electrical system but a nice flying airplane if kept light.

"If you want

afaster airplane,

buy afaster

airplane.

Don't push

alOO-mph wing

faster than it really

wants to go."

85-hp Continental: My dad and I owned one of these Luscombes for years before I bought my airplane. The electrical system, battery, starter, voltage regulator, wiring, two gas tanks, lights, radios, instruments, extra trim, parking brake, and up holstery were nice, but the perfor mance of the airplane suffered as a result. And the extra 10 or 20 hp wasn't enough to overcome the ex tra weight. It started well, it ran well, and the airplane flew well, but it didn 't have the "lightness" on the controls the lighter airplanes did . On hot days when many people like to fly, a heavy 85-hp Luscombe doesn't get off well and doesn't climb that great. Even here in Wisconsin, in summer we had to be a bit selec tive on the strips we flew into or the loads we carried ... or both. 90-hp Continental: Better than the 85 hp because it can operate in a slightly different rpm range with a different prop. While the weight is often the same, it gets off better and climbs better for that reason. There have been a few converted to a 90

hp with no electrical system; a good friend owns one, and I've flown it a number of times. It's a performing airplane, but a starter is a nice thing to have, and he doesn't . lOO-hp 0-200 Continental: This is a conversion; they weren't built this way. The primary reason for the modification was the short age and expense of 85-hp crank shafts. While this might seem like a natural route to go for an upgrade, think it through. A good friend spent time, effort, and money to re place the 90 hp in his Cessna 140 with an 0-200, and in the end he insisted that his performance at best was no better than the 90 hp and actually believed it went down! The reason? You'll be using a certified prop on that 0-200, and most certi fied 0-200 props are off Cessna 150s and are only 69 inches long. Also, an 0-200 is slightly wider, so your baffling won't fit and you'll have to do some cowling work. Lastly, there is the paperwork/approval issue to deal with. Given the new position of the FAA concerning field approvals and one-time STCs (which is pretty much "no more of either"), you'll have to jump through a number of hoops that have surprised people once they we re already committed to the project. Do your homework before starting this conversion. And then realize you might not achieve the performance improvements you hoped unless you experiment with different props that might not be le gal on that 0-200. Especially think it through if you already have a 90 hp. Lycoming Conversions, 0-235, 0-290, and 0 -320: To my knowl edge, neither the McKenzie nor the Larsen conversions are currently on the market, so doing one of them would be a paperwork challenge or might not even be possible unless you go experimental. j'll just address the installation in brief and the airplane that results. On my 0-320 McKen zie conversion, the battery is moved aft one extra bay, making installa tion and servicing difficult because VINTAGE AIRPLANE

:~~~~~~~~i~~~~~

is the thethrough only access cockpit. There is ap proximately 14 pounds of lead bolted on various pOints of the tail. The firewall needs beefing up to go from a three-point to a five-point engine mount. The Lycoming has a starter gear on the front of the engine, requiring a new nose bowl or reworking the existing Luscombe one. There are a number of ways this can be done: Mark An derson's numerous conversions use a Piper-type nosebowl. It looks nice, but like other similar fiberglass units, it no longer looks like a Luscombe. I've seen a Lycoming T-8F wearing a drastically reworked Luscombe cowl ing that is longer but looks original right down to the nosebowl. Nice, but massive work. The truth is many modified nosebowls (mine included) are not very attractive. The good news? Lycoming en gines produce more power and of ten have parts that are more readily 22

MARCH 2007

'~~~i~~~~~~§;;~ control air loadssurfaces on the

)jt:==lJr-' \.

available than some small Conti nentals. Lycoming engines make the airplane get off and climb faster as well as cruise faster, though in the case of an 0-235 or an 0-290, perhaps not that much faster. The bad news? Lycoming Lus combes are typically heavier, perhaps much heavier, after the con version, reducing the useful load. Not only is considerable work in volved from nose to tail (literally!), but also the resulting airplane loses the lightness of control that lighter airplanes have . Because it weighs more, it stalls faster, making approach and touchdown speeds higher. Because it's going faster, the

are higher, making the stick forces heavier. As much as I like my airplane and the way it climbs, it doesn't fly like a Luscombe anymore. The front end doesn't even look like one. If you are considering upgrading your horsepower or buying an air plane with a bigger engine, first ask yourself: "Why am I doing this?" If your answer is for better takeoff and climb capability, just know that going from a 65 hp to 85 hp won't accomplish that, because most 85 hp airplanes have weight penalties that increase utility but reduce fly ing qualities. If your answer is that you want a faster airplane, your wing was designed to go about 100 mph, and if you push it faster, you'll pay the price in induced drag. In duced drag is lift you don't use, and it means your airplane is not flying efficiently. Want proof? My 150-hp Luscombe will cruise 140 mph or a

bit more, but it's burning 10 gallons an hour. At the same speed, my 180 hp RV-6 is only burning 6 gallons because it was designed to cruise faster. Overall Lycomings are thirst ier, and your range will be reduced unless you slow down to Continen tal speeds. Final thought: It was common for airplane owners back in the '50s and '60s to increase speed by chang ing the pitch of the prop or install ing a "cruise prop" where the rpm stayed the same but the cruise speed increased due to the prop taking a bigger bite of air with each revolu tion. What many of them didn't understand was the relationship be tween manifold pressure and rpm. Just because your tach says your en gine isn't turning fast doesn't mean it isn't working hard. Ten-speed bi cycles are nice, but it's hard to pedal uphill in 10th gear. If your prop has been on the airplane for a long time and is taking too big a bite, your en gine is doing the same thing. Check the length and pitch of your prop. Make sure it 's correct for your en gine and that you can turn rated rpm in the air using a digital ta chometer through the windshield. The correct prop might help over come what you perceive as a lack of takeoff and climb performance. The wrong prop can't pedal up that hill in 10th gear! For other Luscombe resources, visit VAA's Type Club pages at www. VintageA ircraft.org/type. .......

This article appears courtesy of the:

Luscombe Association

Steve Krog

1002 Heather Ln.

Hartford, WI 53027

Phone: 262-966-7627

Fax: 262-966-9627 E-mail: sskrog@luscombeassoc.org

Website: www.LuscombeAssoc.org

Dues: $25 U.S. &Canada, $30 Int'l

Newsletter: Luscombe Association

Newsletter, 6/year

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Recollections of Chicago's

CURTISS-REYNOLDS

A I R p o R T

One of the golden age of aviation's jewels BY KENNETH MCQUEEN

the heady days of the 1920s, as the trauma of World War I began to fade, aviation of fered an attractive and seemingly endless promise for the future. Improvements in aircraft and engine design resulted in ve hicles relating much more closely to airplanes we see to day than to those of the preceding decade. Late in 1929, to the north/northwest of Chicago, Cur tiss-Reynolds Airport was established for private and com mercial aviation. Located at Shermer and North Lake Avenues, it was a mile or two northwest of the village of Glenview, which in that period boasted the grand popula tion of 1,900 souls (now more than 20 times larger). The airport's name, which differed at times, was to honor avi ation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and the banker who financed its development. The expansive spirit of the country at the time the air port was started tended to affect its features. Private avia tion was seen as the next big leisure activity, and airports were to exhibit characteristics of country clubs. To this end the entry area of this 4S0-acre airport was made attractive with landscaping around the parking lot between Shermer Avenue and the hangar. Also, on the operational side of the hangar, large elevated and covered observation decks were installed in expectation of many casual spectators. Other amenities, including a restaurant, were installed. The hangar was steel and roomy, with plenty of windows and large access doors. They consisted of five connected sections oriented north and south near Shermer Avenue, with a concrete apron along its east side. Although the fly ing field was equipped with two runways, the good grass sod was most often used, especially by small airplanes. The brand new airport was christened just nine days before the market crash marking the beginning of the Great Depression. Despite the dampening effect of the country's financial problems, during the decade of the 1930s, Curtiss-Reynolds was witness to a rich and varied scene of aviation activity. 24

MARCH 2007

This account is nothing more than a series of homely recollections by a then-young person who lived less than a mile southward and to whom the airport became a sec ond home. To he and his friends there was always a good reason for a bike ride up there to see what was going on. Does anyone remember "Colonel" Roscoe Turner? He was a flamboyant figure of a flier in those days, appearing in his uniform of riding pants, knee-high boots, military style coat and cap, plus a white scarf. His airplane at Cur tiss-Reynolds was a Lockheed Vega. As a tireless promoter he was not above commercialization, and his airplane was boldly emblazoned with the name "Curlee Clothes" after a clothing line of the time. Always the clown, Turner was once seen with one foot in a tail wheel dolly, using it as a big roller skate, and get ting a laugh out of his friends and audience. There were plenty of airplanes to check out in the han gar, including Wacos, Aeronca C-3s, Taylorcraft, Stinsons, Beech Staggerwings, a Boeing tri-motor, and a Davis para sol. Another parasol, probably one of a kind, languished in the hangar. The wing planform was a perfect circle, enough to give an aerodynamicist the willies with the as pect ratio of 1.0. Its ailerons, extra large in proportion to the rest of the wing to eke out a modicum of roll author ity, looked incongruous. (Editor's Note: This was undoubt edly the Nemeth Umbrella Plane, built in the early 1930s and last seen by the late lim Barton, languishing on the dump heap at nearby Palwaukee Airport, sometime around World War ll.-HGF)

Another unique resident was the Flying Flea. Henri Mi gnet, its developer, moved to this country from France and settled in the south hangar section at Curtiss-Reynolds. For several years he and his group worked on improvements to the airplane in a walled-off corner of this hangar. One afternoon the Flying Flea group scheduled a dead stick landing test. The engine was cut with the airplane at several hundred feet altitude, and it proceeded to glide in successfully despite a somewhat rock-like steep glide an

Aviation cadet quarters.

gle. The group was very happy with the outcome. One morning the Graf Zeppelin, the majestic German dirigible, paid a visit to the airport while on a tour of the United States. During the period when people were on their way to work, this huge vehicle spent a protracted amount of time loitering at low altitude in the vicinity, undoubtedly waiting for its tethering crew to arrive. A major recollection of this event by local residents was of the resulting unprecedented traffic jam that stretched for miles on all roads to the airport. The National Air Races were held at Curtiss-Reynolds in 1930. Certain small boys were allowed out onto a flat part of their grandfather's house roof, to better be able to see the pylon racers. Among those raced was the Gee Bee (not seen again by one observer until in tight formation flights with a Howard DGA at EAA AirVenture 2000).

The author's father, out of work at the time due to the depression, put on his World War I Army uniform and had a job directing traffic at the airport during the races. Afterward, the dis mantled grandstands were stacked in a high, orderly pile in an iso lated building on the south edge of the air port. For probably no good reason, a door to this building was not locked, and small boys were able to get in and climb around in the huge pile of grandstand parts. An airport employee knew they were up there and shouted at them but was helpless in attempts to reach them. It was with great juvenile glee that they realized their safety in lofty hiding places. During one period a feeder service was established by United Airlines, linking Curtiss-Reynolds with the Chicago municipal airport (now Mid:vay). A Boeing 247 loaded passengers one afternoon and took off, turning to a heading for Chicago. At this point an engine quit. With out even a wing-waggle, the airplane continued on course with a feathered prop, obviously preferring to land in Chicago with its extensive maintenance facilities. Early during the airport's existence Chicago radio sta tion WGN erected a tall, guyed transmission tower close VINTAGE A I RPLAN E

MARCH 2007

A few of the airplanes and places seen by the author at the airport during the golden age of aviation in the 1930s.

Steannan PT-17

by, west of Shermer Avenue. It was like the old adage " You could tell it was an airport by the flight obstruction ." Although it seemed outrageously in the way, nobody ever tangled with either the guy wires or with the mast it self. WGN's transmission tower is now 4 1/5 miles directly west of O'Hare airport, on the west side of Route 53. On weekend afternoons a ge nial young man named Jerry and dressed in a suit and tie had the job of hawking airplane rides for $5. You could always hear Jerry or see him waving a book of tick ets. One day to the author's com plete surprise Jerry called to him, "Ken, you're always here; help fill this airplane!" Before I knew it, I was clambering into a Stinson Reliant with other people, for a free first flight. It was a never-to be-forgotten thrill, actually be ing up in the air and seeing the North Shore communities and various landmarks like the beau tiful BaHai Temple in Wilmette. I was forever after indebted to Jerry. I still remember the pilot's name; he was Slim Savage. A lot of gOings-on at the air port were simple and hands-on, like people out in the sunshine re-covering a fabric wing. A long needle was used, stitching through VINTAGE AIRPLANE

the wing from upper surface to lower and back again, fas tening the fabric on left and right sides of each rib . On a particular weekend the wind was strong out of the west, but not too high to prevent flying. This prompted a number of attempts at really slow flight across the ground. At any given time several airplanes could be seen over the airport, heading west and trying to be the slowest. An Aeronca C-3 managed to get down to about zero ground speed before stalling out. Special aviation events were staged at Curtiss-Reynolds in 1933, in connection with the Chicago World's Fair. During one air show a small open pusher plane was flying erratically at low altitude in front of the audience when the "befuddled" pilot pulled back power and called out to those below, "How do I get this thing down?" An attempt was made from the field one summer for a flight endurance record by a monoplane named the Ques tion Mark for the occasion. (The airplane was an Army Air Corps Atlantic-Fokker C-2A trimotor. Flying over the Los Angeles area, the Air Corps crew set a world record for en durance with the Question Mark in the winter of 1929.) In flight refueling was accomplished by a system light-years simpler than the means by which present-day military aircraft are kept aloft. A hose with a nozzle was trailed be low the refueling plane, and a crew member on the Ques tion Mark refilled the tanks by gravity feed! The airplane flew around seemingly forever. It could be seen by day or heard by night, droning in endless circles throughout the vicinity. At times it was forced to fly in other areas to avoid bad weather. At the pres ent time the outcome of this old-time protracted effort remains a question mark in the mind of the writer. (I've fOllnd no evidence of a record being set with this airplane at Curtiss-Reynolds; any input from our readers would be appre ciated.-HGF)

In 1936 the Navy established a presence at the airport, 28 MARCH 2007

leasing the northernmost sections of the hangar. Opera tions included a naval reserve unit with Grumman FJ type biplane fighters and other single-engine Navy types. Training of nava l aviation cadets also was conducted. At one point a snow fence was erected in an east-west direction all the way across the center of the field, proba bly in connection with some drainage rehabilitation proj ect. Wouldn't you believe it, but an FJ returning at night ran smack dab into it while taxiing. It was a forlorn sight out there the next day. Late in the 1930s the U.S. Army Air Corps, predecessor to the U.S. Air Force, established an aviation cadet train ing facility at the airport, run by a civilian contract or ganization. The two-story barracks building was located kitty-corner on the southwest edge of the airport, housing both Army and Navy cadets. The Army used the good old Stearman biplane for flight training. One incident is remembered in which two were landing simultaneously and, unfortunately, in the same airspace. The resulting very-low-altitude collision com pletely shredded the airplanes. The single mass of wreckage was at the terminus of a path of wood fragments, with the left wings of one airplane jutting vertically out of the pile. Equally strange, it seems that nobody was really hurt. In this period, hostilities in Europe were becoming in creasingly ominous. In 1939 and 1940 our country still was not ready to go to war. However, the Navy was desir ous of expanding its Glenview operations, and early in 1940 it bought Curtiss-Reynolds Airport and surrounding acreage, which included Pickwick golf course, for what was to become the Naval Air Station Glenview. The air port owners were paid about one-sixth of what originally had been invested to build the airport in the inflated con ditions of 1929. The countryside was transformed. Quite a few houses acquired in the purchase were moved to new locations,

using a house-mover's roadway constructed of large tim bers and sporting curves, turns, and branches. These be came homes for base staff, at their new spots around the remainder of the golf course. Long military-style runways were laid plus two very large-diameter circular concrete pads. In line with the expected concentration on primary flight training with N3N Yel/ow Peril biplanes, these circular takeoff and landing areas permitted a much higher density of op erations than possible with relatively narrow runways, due to the relatively short ground runs of this aircraft type . Initial climb-out and final approach directions were flexible, depending only on wind direction and not on runway orientation. With this arrangement it was amazing to see how many N3Ns could be taking off and landing at the same time. From our home it was quite a sight. A modicum of longitu dinal and lateral spacing was all it took, and a lot of airplanes were passing over your roof in a short period of time. The only untoward incident recollected with regard to the base had to do with a Navy fighter taking off on Runway 9. Some problem obviously eXisted, because just a little off the ground, beyond the east base boundary and road, the airplane pancaked into the west side of the north-south railroad embankment, leapfrogged over the tracks, and belly-flopped in on the opposite side with very little speed left. The pilot sustained a cut finger while exit ing the airplane. The impact shifted a stretch of the entire embankment and its railroad tracks to the east, a sort of a joggle. Five minutes later the Hiawatha passenger train from Chicago to Milwaukee came past at 60 miles per hour. The day continued to be lucky, the train navigating the jog with out leaving the tracks! Wonder what kind of a dipsy-doo it was for the riders? By now Glenview NAS itself is history, the base decom

missioned, all the concrete pulver ized, structures and fixtures gone, and the entire property returned to civilian uses. The only remaining parts-the venerable Curtiss-Reynolds han gar, the control tower, and a pair of the adjoining pod facades-are now a historic site. Memories of the old airport of which it was a part now exist only with historians and among those who were fortunate enough to have been there. It was a remarkable period with a simplicity and a freedom fondly remembered. The spirit endures today among those in aviation for its enjoyment, and especially among individuals willing to commit in the flourishing build-your-own-airplane arena. To learn more about the Glen view Hangar One Foundation and the new Naval Air Station Glenview Museum, visit www.HangarOne.org. The museum, located at 2040 Lehigh Avenue, Glenview, Illinois, is open weekends, Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sun day from 12 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Other times for tour groups can be arranged with a phone call to 847-657-0000. . . . .

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE

BY DOUG STEWART

HAT check In the wee hours of the morning of August 27,2006, a CRJ-100 was cleared by the tower of the Lexington, Ken tucky, Blue Grass Airport to take off from Runway 22, a 7,300-foot long runway. As most of us know, the crew mistakenly taxied onto Runway 26, which is only 3,500 feet long, and at tempted to take off. The airplane ran off the end of the runway, impacting the airport perimeter fence and trees, and crashed. All but one of the people aboard the airplane died, and the air plane was destroyed by impact forces and the post-crash fire. (The first offi cer was the only one to survive. He lost a leg and suffered brain injuries.) I know that many of us in the gen eral aviation world were asking these questions: How could they have done that? Didn't they check their compass and horizontal situation indicator (HSI) with the runway heading? Obvi ously they didn't, and I'll address that in just a little bit. Earlier this week the cockpit voice recorder transcripts were released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and they show that the pilot and copilot talked about their kids and their dogs as they taxied to line up on the runway. The chatter was in violation of an FAA regulation that bans "nonessential cockpit conversa tion" during taxi, takeoff, and landing. The last word recorded on the cock pit voice recorder was the pilot saying "whoa" just before the Bombardier re gional jet smashed through a fence at the end of Runway 26, became briefly 30

MARCH 2007

airborne, and then crashed in a field. Now these were professional pi lots, flying under Part 121 of the CFRs, which strictly regulate things like "ster ile cockpits" and other essential items of effective crew/cockpit resource man agement (CRM). Even with the regula tions that they were obliged to observe, they managed to make some horrible mistakes and decisions, and as a result, 49 people are no longer with us. But what about all of us who do not have to fly with that type of regula tion? Is there anything that we can take from this accident that might pre vent us from coming to a similar ca tastrophe? Absolutely, even if we are flying a Single-seat airplane that was built in the '30s and we are operating out of a sleepy grass airstrip. Clearly the biggest mistake the pi lots of the CRJ made was to take off on the wrong runway. Early on in my flight-instructing career, I came up with an acronym to help keep me, as well as all my clients, from making that same mistake (along with a cou ple of others). The acronym is HAT check, standing for heading, altim eter, transponder. As I line up for takeoff on the run way, the first thing I do is take care of the H (for heading) of the HAT check to ensure that the runway heading, my compass, and my directional gyro (OG) are all in agreement. If anyone of the three is in disagreement, then there is definitely a problem that needs to be resolved prior to applying takeoff power. Failure to do so might gain you

an appellation similar to one gained by a Curtiss Robin pilot, a Mr. Corri gan, numerous years ago. I know I am not the only pilot who has announced, as I back-taxied on the runway of a small nontowered airport: "Boondocks traffic, Super Cruiser back taxiing Runway 29," as I eagerly set my OG to 290 degrees so as to minimize my time prior to takeoff. Of course the only problem was that I was heading 110 degrees as I did all of this. The only thing that saved me that late afternoon, as I took up an easterly heading after departure (according to my OG), was that the sun was shining directly in my eyes. Something was ob viously wrong. In this somewhat hu morous (and embarrassing) anecdote, the only thing injured was my ego. But when we are operating at a busy airport, with multiple runways, and kick up the ante even more by adding nighttime to the mix, there is no doubt whatsoever that ensuring that your OG (or HSI) , your compass, and the run way heading are all in agreement will lead to greater longevity as pilots. The next letter in the HAT check acronym , A for altimeter, is not as critical as the H if operating in day time visual meteorological condi tions (VMC), but it could lead to an early demise if it is dark out or there are clouds obscuring your vision out side of the airplane. Again, I know I am not the only pilot who has mis takenly set my altimeter having an error of 1,000 feet. Now if you have set your altimeter 1,000 feet too low,

the possibility of coming to a screech ing halt on the downwind is nowhere near as great as when you do the op posite and set it 1,000 feet too high. Just a few weeks ago I was working with a client in my PA-l2. As we ap proached the airport and were descend ing to pattern altitude, I noticed the houses appeared to be getting much bigger than they usually do. Question ing my client as to proper pattern alti tude, I got the correct answer, but when I asked how much further we might be descending, I was a bit dismayed to hear II another 800 feet." (Indeed, the altimeter showed another 800 feet to descend to pattern altitude.) I sug gested that we ignore the altimeter for the time being and fly "out the win dow" and that we check the altimeter once we were ground-bound. When we did that, the altimeter indicated we were 1,000 feet above the ground. Ob viously if this incident had occurred at night, or in low instrument meteoro logical conditions (IMC), I would most likely not be writing this article. The last letter in the HAT check ac ronym is T, for transponder set to alti tude. I know that many of our vintage aircraft might not even have a tran sponder, and some of you who have one don't like to use it. However, I make a point of turning mine on if for no other reason than the fact that it might give a heads-up of my pres ence to one of the many pilots who are zooming around in their glass-paneled aircraft, hardly ever looking outside of the cockpit. With their traffic informa tion service (TIS) systems at work dis playing all the transponder replies on one of their big glass screens, hopefully my blip will appear there, and even if they don't see me from their window, as they fly by they will be aware of my company and avoid me. Another reason for ensuring that the transponder has been set to alti tude prior to takeoff, when departing into Class C or B airspace, is to avoid having departure control ask you to "recycle your transponder" (that's the controller'S nice way of saying: "Turn it on, dummy.") Had the pilots of Comair flight 5191 checked their HATs at the door, there

might not have been an accident that morning. But another thing that con tributed to the accident chain was the fact that the pilots did not maintain a "sterile cockpit." Under Part 121 of the CFRs they were mandated to do this, but pilots operating under Part 91 are not. However, we should all take note that if a "sterile cockpit" works well in an airline cockpit, we would be well advised to adopt a similar policy in the cockpits of the aircraft we fly. If all of us were to embrace the con cept of limiting our cockpit conversa tions with our passengers to only those things "essential" to the safety of flight whenever we are operating, not only in the air, within the airport area, but also on the ground, the safety of every one would be improved exponentially. We just can't be as effective as we need to be in all the sundry things that re quire our attention prior to takeoff, and during the climb-out, when we are engaged in conversations about the wife and kids, yesterday's ball game, or the latest and greatest joke. So please

brief your passengers on the II sterile cockpit" concept. If we want to remain pliant, we need to be silent. (Of course this is just as important during our ar rival as it is in the departure.) The accident in LeXington was a tragedy, made more so by the fact that it was so easily preventable. Hopefully we can take the lessons learned from analyzing the mistakes those pilots made and apply them to our own fly ing. Remember how important it is to ensure that you are departing on the correct runway. Run a HAT check (or its equivalent) prior to takeoff. Main tain a "sterile cockpit" whenever you are in an airport environment. Doing these things will help ensure that you experience many more days of...blue skies and tail winds.

Doug Stewart is the 2004 National CFI ofthe Year, a NAFI Master Instructor, and a designated pilot examiner. He operates DSFI Inc. (www.DSFlight.com) based at the Columbia County Airport (lBi) near Hudson, New York. ......

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

BY BUCK HILBERT

Where did I go?

A bit less than a year ago, my avi ation flame began to dim while on a trip to Athens, Greece, to visit our daughter, Leslie, the second secre tary at the U.S. Embassy in Athens. My wife, Dorothy, otherwise known as the "Hangar Queen," had been an avid EAA volunteer for more than 35 years . She'd started her volunteer work helping me with the Antique & Classic Division and then later at the EAA Wearhouse , where she worked tirelessly for a month or more every year until just the year before, when she re tired from that phase of volunteer 32

MARCH 2007

work. On the trip, she began having problems ascending stairs and walk ing on uneven ground. Back home, the medics determined that Dorothy was a silent stroke vic tim. My priorities changed. My life long partner in EAA aviation needed help, and now it was my turn. The search for a return to health met with d ead ends, and the doc tor's outlook didn't give us any hope. We knew the ordeal could only end with her eventual demise. The medics gave us a time sched ule, and they were right . It took just about eight months. During that time span, my every waking moment, and some of my

dreams as well, were for only one purpose. To help. To help in any way I could. I shut down all outside activity. I put airplanes and aviation out of my mind . I became the cook and housekeeper. I spent most of my days and nights as the nurse's aide and the chauffeur, doing whatever I could for her. We were fortunate in that we had time to reflect, time to talk, time to plan, and near the last, I had time to grieve even before the final ending. My partner's gone. I've accepted that fact, and the best way I know of honoring her memory is to get back to the things she encouraged me in doing all these past 45 or more years. I'm going to get back into the EAA mainstream. It's time to get back to division activities, and I'm even planning on joining a local chapter again. Maybe H.G. Frautschy, our editor and executive director, will let me write again (l never really let you stop, old friend.-HGF) . And just maybe, Earl Lawrence will have me back in Government programs. I'll be seeing you again on the flightline. Look for me at Sun 'n Fun; I'll be there. Until then, it's .. . Over to you, I(

(( ~"-cJ,

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• Received private pilot certificate in 1969 • Owns two

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BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE PHOTO IS PART OF THE

Send your answer to EAA, Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your answer needs to be in no later than April 15 for inclusion in the June 2007 issue of Vintage Airplane.

EAA LIBRARY COLLECTION.

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 your note, and put I/(Month) Mystery Plane" in the subject line.

DECEMBER'S MYSTERY ANS W E R

Here's our first letter about the December Mystery Plane: The Mystery Plane pictured in the December 2006 issue is the prototype of the Curtiss Model] circa 1914 . The photo was taken in Hammondsport, New York, at Kingsley Flats on Keuka Lake. Attached are two photos (one identical to yours) of the craft. In足 teresting that your copy has CUR足 TISS removed from the side of the plane. (We couldn't leave that big clue along the side of the biplane's 34

MARCH 2007

fuse lage, now could we?-HGF) Glad to be of help. Rick Leisenring, Curator Glenn H. Curtiss Museum Hammondsport, New York

And from one of our earliest VAA membe rs in Michi gan, we have this response: The December Mystery Plane is a Cu rt iss Mo de l J. Since there is water in the background of the ph oto, it is a pretty good bet that the photo was taken on the shore of Keuka Lake at Hammondsport, New York. (Yes, see above.-HGF) This appears to be the first version of this airplane, which had 300-foot equal-span wings with four ailerons. It was initia lly tested on floats, and it apparently needed more wing area, so subseq uent versions had a 40-foot 2 inch upper wingspan, 30-foot lower wingspan, and ai lerons only on the upper wings. Perhaps the photo was taken just before or just after the initial test flights on floats. The engine was an OXX engine with dual ign ition and a larger bore than standard. It was rated at 100 hp. The airplane had two seats in tandem, but with con tro ls only in the rear cockpit. Two model J's were furnished by Curt iss to the Army Signal Corps in San Diego in 1914. One of them estab lished a record 1,000 feet/m inute climb in September of 1914. I'm guessing the pla ne could only climb that fast for 100 or 200 feet from maximum-speed level flig h t. Both planes were destroyed in accidents. The Model J design was progress ively refined into t h e models N, IN, IN-2, IN-3, and finally the famous World War I Jenny IN-4 military trainer. These refinements were subtle, and the Jenny strongly resemb les its ances tor, the Model J. Most of this information was gleaned from the book Curtiss: The Hammondsport Era 1907-1915 by Lou is S. Casey, former curator of aircraft at the Nationa l Air and

Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Lynn Towns Ho lt, Michigan Other correct answers were received from Brian Baker, Sun City, Arizona, and Jack Erickson, State College, Penn sylvania. An extensive article on the Model J, written by Wesley Sm it h, will be featured in next month's issue of Vintage Airplane. .......

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MAJOR FLy-INS

For details on EM Chapter fly-ins and other local aviation events, visit www.eaa.orgjevents

The following list of coming events is furnished to our readers as a matter of infor mation only and does not constitute approval, sponsorship, involvement, control, or direc tion ofany event (fly-in, seminars, fly market, etc.) listed. To submit an event, send the in formation via mail to: Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Or e mail the information to: vintageaircraft@ eaa .org. Information should be received fOllr months prior to the event date.

APRIL 27-28-Waco, TX-Texas State Technical College(TSTC). 5th Texas Aviation EXPO 2007 presented by The Texas Aviation Association. Five acres of ramp static display. A robust agenda of 60 hours of safety seminars, vast assortments of vendors showcasing their products and services, anticipating 700 to 1000 attendees, speakers George D. "Pinky" Nelson, former NASA Astronaut and J.w. "Corkey" Fornof, movie stunt aviation character. COME SHARE THE ADVENTURE! www.txaa.org MAY 4-6-Burlington, NC-Alamance County Airport (KBUY). VAA Chapter 3 Spring Fly-In. All classes welcome. BBQ on field Fri. Evening, EAA judging all classes Sat., Banquet Sat. Nite. Info: Jim Wilson 843-753-7138 or eiwilson@homexpressway.net MAY 6- Lock Haven, PA-William T. Piper Memorial Airport (LHV) Pancake Breakfast Fly·ln to Benefit Sentimental Journey Fly-In 8 am-12 pm. All you care to eat pancake breakfast $5 Adults, $3 children under age 10. Piper Aviation Museum open for tours . Call 570 893-4200 or 748-5123 for more information. j3cub@kcnet.org www. sentimentaljourneyfly-in.com MAY 31-JUNE 2-Bartlesville, OK-Frank Phillips Field (BVO). 21st Annual Biplane Expo. Info: Charlie Harris 918-622-8400 www.biplaneexpo.com JUNE 14-17-St. Louis, MO-Dauster Flying Field Creve Coeur Airport (lHO). American Waco Club Fly-In. Info: Phil Coulson 269-624-6490 or rcoulson516@cs.com www. americanwacoclub.com JUNE 20-23-Lock Haven, PA-William T. Piper Memorial Airport (LHV) Sentimental Journey Fly-In. Family oriented fly-in featuring antique and classic aircraft of all makes and models, especially PIPERS! Seminars, vendors, food , camping, 36

MARCH 2007

Sun 'n Fun Ay-In Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL), Lakeland, FL April 17-23, 2007 www.Sun-N-Fun.org EAA Southwest Regional-The Texas Ay-In Hondo Municipal Airport (HDO), Hondo, TX June 1-2, 2007 www.SWRFI.org Golden West EAA Regional Ay-In Yuba County Airport (MYV), Marysville, CA June 29-July 1, 2007 www.GoldenWestFlyln.org

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, WI July 23-29, 2007 www.AirVenture.org EAA Mid-Eastern Regional Ay-In Mansfield Lahm Airport, Mansfield, OH August 25-26, 2007 http://MERFI.info Virginia Regional EAA Ay-In Dinwiddie County Airport (PTS), Petersburg, VA October 6-7,2007 www.VAEAA.org

Rocky Mountain EAA Regional Ay-In Front Range Airport (FTG), Watkins, CO June 23-24, 2007 www.RMRFI.org

EAA Southeast Regional Ay-In Middleton Field Airport (GZH), Evergreen, AL October 12-14,2007 www.SERFI.org

Arlington EAA Ay-In Arlington Municipal Airport (AWO), Arlington, WA July 11-15, 2007 www.NWEAA.org

Copperstate Regional EAA Ay-In Casa Grande (Arizona) Municipal Airport (CGZ) October 25-28, 2007 www.copperstate.org

and entertainment daily. Come for the day or the week! Call 570 893-4200 or 748-5123 for more information. j3cub@kcnet.org www. sentimentaljourneyfly-in. com JUNE 21-24-Mt Vernon Ohio-Wynkoop Airport (6G4) 48th Annual National Waco Club Reunion. Check www. nationalwacoclub.com for more information and contact information. Or email/call Andy Heins, 937 313 5931 wacoaso@aol.com AUGUST S-Queen City, MO-Applegate Airport (15MO). 20th Annual Watermelon Fly-In & BBQ. 2pm 'til dark. Come and see grass roots aviation at it's best. Info: 660-766-2644 AUGUST S-Chetek, WI-Southworth Municipal airport (Y23). BBQ Fly-In. 10:30am Warbird displays, antique and unique airplanes, antique & collector car displays, and raffles for airplane rides. Procedes will be given to local charities. Info: Chuck Harrison - Office 715-924 4501, Cell 715-456-8415, fixdent@ chibardun.net; Tim Knutson - Home 715-237-2477, Cell 651-308-2839, n3nknut@citizens-tel.net AUGUST 17-19-McMinnville, OR-25th Annual West Coast Travel Air Reunion Come Celebrate the Rebirth of the Travel Air. Expected to be the largest gathering of Vintage Travel Airs in recent times. Held in conjunction with the

Northwest Antique Airplane Club Event. Info: Bruce McElhoe 559-638-3746 AUGUST 19-Brookfield, WI-Capitol Airport (02C). Ice Cream Social and vintage Aircraft Display, VAA Chapter 11. Dean London, 262-442-4622 SEPTEMBER I-Marion, IN-Marion Municipal Airport (MZZ). 17th Annual Fly-In Cruise-In. 7:00am until 2:00pm . This annual event features antique, classic, homebuilt, ultralight and warbird aircraft as well as vintage cars, trucks, motorcycles, and tractors . An all-you-can-eat Pancake Breakfast is served, with all proceeds going to the local Marion High School Marching Band. www.FlylnCruiseln.comlnfo: Ray Johnson (765) 664-2588 or rjohnson@indy.rr.com SEPTEMBER 21-22-Bartlesville, OK-Frank Phillips Field (BVO). 51st Annual Tulsa Regional Fly-In. Antiques, Classics, Light Sport, Warbirds, Forum, Type Clubs. Info: Charlie Harris 918-622-8400 www. tulsaflyin.com OCTOBER 5-7-Camden, SC-Kershaw County Airport (KCDN). VAA Chapter 3 Fall Fly-In. All classes welcome. BBQ on field Fri. Evening. EAA judging all classes Sat. Banquet Sat. Nite . Info: Jim Wilson 843-753-7138 or eiwilson@ homexpressway.net

55 ~a'!I!~~tion

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The F-350 SUper Duty already offers best-in-class maximum payload of 5,800 pounds and maximum towing capacity of 19,200 pounds. However, the new 2008 F-450 pickup widens the capability gap, offering a maxi足 mum payload over 6,000 pounds and towing capacity of more than 24,000 pounds- a 5,000-pound increase over the class-leading F-350. All of this added capability comes with the same increased level of refinement found in the new F-250 and F-350.

FORD F-SERIES SUPER DUTY-the industry's leading heavy-duty work truck and a mainstay of businesses throughout America, has been overhauled for the 200B model year. Ford's Super Duty pickup has been the leader in the over B,500-pound truck segment since launch,offering best-in-class payload, gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR) and trailer tow ratings. Offered in three cab styles- Regular Cab, SuperCab and Crew Cab-and with two bed lengths, the new Super Duty will feature a bold look inside and out, an all-new, more powerful, state-of-the-art Power Strokeil!> Diesel and a host of unique, innovative features not found on any other truck. And the line of Ford Super Duty trucks has been expanded for 2008, with an even more capableworkhorse: the new F-450 pickup.

EXCLUSIVE PRICING, EXCEPTIONALLY SIMPLE!

Ford Motor Company, in association with EAA, is proud to offer members the opportunity to save on the purchase or lease of vehicles from Ford Motor Company'sfamily of brands-Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Volvo, Land Rover and Jaguar. Get your personal identification number (PIN) and learn about the great value of Partner RecognitionIX-Plan pricing from the EM website (www.eaa.org) by clicking on the EAAlFord Program logo. You must be an EM Member for at least one year to be eligible.Thisoffer is available toresidentsof theUnited States andCanada.

Certain restrictions apply. Available at participating dealers. Please refer to www.eaa.org or caIiSOO-S42-3612.

LINCOLN

MERCURY

continued from page 5 ida, April 17-23. EAA experts will be on hand throughout each event to answer questions on sport pilot/light sport aircraft (SP/LSA) or any subject related to recreational aviation. At Sun 'n Fun, EAA staff will pres

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111;_

ent 11 forums throughout the week regarding the sport pilot initiative. Also visit the EAA Member Village Tent for other questions about EAA services and member benefits. Ron Wagner, EAA's manager of field relations, will conduct forums on a va riety of sport pilot-related topics at the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In (The Texas Fly-In) in Hondo Texas, June 1-2; the Rocky Mountain EAA Regional Fly In at Denver's Front Range Airport Gune 22-24); the Golden West EAA Regional Fly-In, Marysville, California Gune 29 July 1); and the Arlington Northwest EAA Fly- In , Arlington, Washington Ouly 11-15). All of the EAA regional events will also feature displays by vari ous light-sport aircraft manufacturers. Those are all a prelude to the big show, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007 Guly 23 29), which will again feature the EAA LSA Mall displaying many of the latest

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light-sport aircraft on Wittman Road south of AeroShell Square. A team of EAA sport pilot experts will staff the tent at the LSA Mall to answer any and all of your questions, plus a wide variety of sport pilot forums are scheduled. Check www.EAA.org/avlinks/f/yins. html for more information on na tional and regional events, and www. EAA .org/ events/index.htmi for local events and chapter fly-ins.

SWRFI to Welcome Gene Kranz, Hero of Apollo 13 Mission

Gene Kranz served as lead flight direc· tor for the Apollo 13 lunar mission.

Aerospace icon and a hero of the ill-fated Apollo 13 lunar mission , Eugene F. "Gene" Kranz will be the honored g u est at this year's EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In (SWRFI), slated for June 1-2, at the Hondo Mu nicipal Airport, Texas. Kranz served as lead flight director of the aborted April 1970 mission and played a cru cial role in safely returning its crew to Earth after an oxygen tank exploded and crippled the spacecraft shortly af ter launch from Cape Canaveral. His reso urc efulness and leader ship was instrumental in saving the Apollo crew and infused NASA with a sense of pride and accomplishment, which led to the development of the space shuttle. The Apo llo 13 mission was im mortalized in a smash hit movie in 1995. Actor Ed Harris' portrayal of Kranz earned him an Academy Award nomination. Kranz is credited with the phrase, "Failure is not an option," which is also the title of his 2000 book,

Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond. For more information, visit www. 5WRFI.org.

Membershi~ Services VINTAGE

AIRCRAFT

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

OFF ICERS Pres ident Geo ff Robi so n

1521 E. MacG regor Dr. New Ha ven . IN 46774 260-493 -4 724

chie(7025@aol.com

Vice-President George Daubner 2448 Lough Lane Hartford, W I 53027 262-6 73-588 5 vaaf1ybo)'@,ns" .(om

Secreta ry Steve Nesse

Treasurer Charl es W. Ha rris

2009 Highland Ave. Albert Lea, M N 56007 507-373 - 1674 slfles@cieskmedia.com

72 15 East 46th 51.

Tulsa, OK 74 147

9 18-622-8400

cwh@ hv5U.CO Ill

DIRECTORS Steve Bend er 8S Brush Hill Road Sherborn , MA 0 1770 508-653·755 7

Jea n nie Hill P.O. Box 328

Harvard, IL 6003 3-0328

815-9 43-7205

ss t 100comcas t.ll et

dillghao@v wc. f1 et

Dav id Bennett 375 Ki lldeer Ct Lin coln, CA 95648 91 6-645-8370 (lntiquer@inreach.com

Espie " Bu tch " Joyce 704 N . Regional Rd . Greensboro, NC 2 7409 336-668-3650

Jo hn Berendt 7645 Echo Point Rd . Cannon Falls, M N 55009 507-2 63-2414 mjbfchld@rcot1l1f'ct.co m Da ve Clark

635 Ves ta l Lan e Plainfi eld, IN 46 168 317-839-4500 da vecpd@;ques t ,l1et John 5. Copeland l A Deacon Street North borough, MA 0 1532 508-393-4775 (opeland l@junu,cum Phi! Coulson

2841 5 Spri ngbrook Dr.

Lawt on, M I 49065

269-624-6490

rcou/soIIS 16«(}cs .com

Da le A. Gustafson

7724 Shady Hills Dr.

In dianapoli s, IN 46278

3 17-293-44 30

dalefa ye@msll .col1l

w i lldsock@aol .(om

Steve Krog 1002 Heather Ln. Hart ford, W I 5302 7 262-966- 7627